Excitement, controversy and "toilet wars" all contributed to an unprecedented 57% of the electorate turning out to vote in the municipal elections.
The new NFP party in KZN has surprised even itself by gaining a share of the province’s votes big enough to trigger some frenetic horse-trading.
All eyes are on Ulundi to see how the new NFP party fares — and Nkandla, the traditional home of President Zuma, where many residents feel neglected.
The IFP’s Youth Brigade has vowed to defend party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s home from "invasion" by ANC Youth League president’s Julius Malema.
What do you do when you have less than three months before the next "final" deadline for the controversial Protection of Information Bill?
With former allies facing off on the election battlefield the race is on for KwaZulu-Natal .
No image available
/ 18 February 2011
SUV exhaust fumes and free T-shirts are probably the only guarantees the electorate can be certain of from politicians.
No image available
/ 16 February 2011
<i>Mail & Guardian</i> readers share their thoughts on a reporter, racial prejudice and much more.
Massive defections from Buthelezi’s stronghold could spell the end for the old order.
The ANC has denied the claims of a letter that it had offered former IFP chairperson Zanele Magwaza-Msibi a job.
Campaigning has begun early in eMangusi as the ANC attempts to consolidate its power.
The ANCYL walked out of a meeting with the Inkatha Freedom Party on Monday, Inkatha Freedom Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi said.
We may not know a lot about her, but we now know that Zanele Ka Magwaza-Msibi has many hats.
IFP leader Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Wednesday said there was still a rough sea of unfinished business between the ANC and the IFP.
When is a disciplinary hearing not a disciplinary hearing? When the Inkatha Freedom Party calls it an inquiry, it seems.
No image available
/ 30 September 2009
The IFP instructed its lawyers on Wednesday to start legal action against Jacob Zuma for a six-year delay in the application of 384 pardons.
No image available
/ 8 September 2009
An application by Bheki Cele seeking to interdict three IFP leaders from making defamatory statements against him was rejected on Tuesday.
No image available
/ 12 February 2009
The Democratic Alliance will not be intimidated by political thugs, party leader Helen Zille said on Thursday.
No image available
/ 26 January 2009
Election manifestos have very little impact on voters, political analysts said on Monday, after a flurry of manifesto launches over the weekend.
South Africa’s security chief on Friday accused rightwingers linked to the former apartheid government of fanning xenophobic violence that has spread to Cape Town, the second largest city and tourist centre. At least 42 people have been killed and thousands driven from their homes in 12 days of attacks.
Award-winning gospel star Vuyo Mokoena has died, his record company, Big Fish Music, confirmed on Friday. According to Big Fish Music, Mokoena died at 5.30am on Friday. Mokoena was admitted to hospital after experiencing blinding headaches. Tests subsequently revealed that he had developed a brain tumour.
The xenophobic attacks in Gauteng appeared to have subsided, a provincial spokesperson said on Wednesday. However, KwaZulu-Natal police are monitoring a possible outbreak of attacks there. ”There are no new reports of attacks,” said Thabo Masebe, deputy director of communications for the provincial government.
President Thabo Mbeki on Monday reiterated his call for an immediate end to attacks on foreign nationals in Gauteng, which have left 22 people dead and up to 10Â 000 seeking refuge in shelters. ”Citizens from other countries on the African continent and beyond are as human as we are and deserve to be treated with respect,” the president.
A special task team will investigate the cause of the recent xenophobic attacks in Alexandra and elsewhere in the country, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday. The team will make recommendations about steps required to prevent a recurrence of this ”negative tendency”, he told a media briefing.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is arranging a series of protests to stop the use of a grade 12 history book it describes as ”biased propaganda … poisoning the minds of children”. National protest organiser Albert Mncwango said on Tuesday that the book, titled In Search of History, is currently being used by schools throughout South Africa.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma criticism of the closure of teacher training colleges in the mid-1990s received backing from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Tuesday. An IFP education spokesperson urged Education Minister Naledi Pandor ”to urgently consider the reopening of teacher training colleges”.
President Thabo Mbeki is blatantly violating human rights, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) claimed in a document handed to Amnesty International on Friday. The party’s chief whip, Koos van der Merwe, handed a written complaint against Mbeki to a representative of Amnesty International in Pretoria.
It is a matter of hours to go before voting stations open for Saturday’s elections in Zimbabwe. The Mail & Guardian Online spoke to South African political parties and NGOs ahead of the controversial poll. ”Mugabe will rule again. It would be a miracle if he didn’t,” said the Inkatha Freedom Party’s Musa Zondi.
Political parties and union leaders were outraged on Wednesday over Eskom’s proposed tariff hike of 53% and the devastating effect it would have on the country. The Congress of South African Trade Unions said it was absolutely horrified at the proposal and demanded an extended consultation process on Eskom’s latest plans.
President Thabo Mbeki needs to urgently intervene to stop Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla’s ”sadistic games”, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) chief whip Koos van der Merwe said on Wednesday. ”The minister of justice can best be described as a sadist,” he said in a statement.
At least 125 students were arrested during a protest at Durban’s Mangosuthu University of Technology on Thursday, police said. Captain Khephu Ndlovu said the students would face charges of public violence and malicious damage to property.
Students, security personnel and police engaged in running battles at Durban’s Mangosuthu University of Technology on Wednesday. Rubber bullets were used by university security personnel and the public-order policing unit to disperse about 500 protesting students at the Umlazi campus, south of Durban.