The implosion of parties such as the ANC and Zanu PF must serve as a cautionary tale for those that fought to liberate the continent
Perhaps the most tangible area of progress since SONA 2025 has been energy stabilisation. The marked reduction in the frequency and severity of load-shedding, including extended periods without outages, reflects the cumulative impact of the Energy Action Plan and improved maintenance discipline at Eskom
For decades, South Africans have longed for a deeper expression of popular agency, not just through protests but by choosing the person who occupies the country’s highest office
The Blue Book explicitly warned that the production of food by African people in excess of their own requirements was undesirable, ‘as it diminishes their incentive to labour’
The Bandung Spirit remains relevant as a flexible framework for navigating hierarchy, asserting agency and preserving autonomy
A state-owned bank is a necessary intervention to break the grip of private finance over the lives of the poor
If it cannot defend electoral integrity, condemn repression or set minimum democratic standards for its members, then its legitimacy must be reassessed
In Venezuela, international sanctions, while framed as tools to defend democracy, have similarly deepened economic pain, blurring the line between moral pressure and collective punishment
Allegations of unlawful killings have never been tested in court — only procedural arguments have. If South Africa wants truth rather than narrative, the Cato Manor saga must be reopened
Sona thus serves as both a mirror and a map: it reflects where the government has been whilst charting its intended course
Under the theme “Driving sustainable investment in African mining,” this year’s Mining Indaba calls on stakeholders to confront a central challenge: ensuring that mineral wealth delivers lasting value for workers, communities and economies, writes Khothatso Khoapa
As the president prepares to deliver the State of the Nation Address (Sona), the country does so against the backdrop of the African National Congress’s (ANC) declaration of 2026 as the ‘Year of Decisive Action to Fix Local Government and Transform the Economy’. This convergence is not coincidental. It reflects a shared recognition within the […]
I am writing this letter because what has unsettled me most about the recent controversy involving Roedean School cancelling a fixture with King David School, Linksfield has become a window into something far bigger than sport. What troubles me is the deeper pattern it reveals about how elite institutions respond when young people express ethical […]
Africa’s mining sector will continue to evolve, and what differentiates the next phase is the speed and scale at which AI and workforce transformation are converging
The annual Mining Indaba in Cape Town this week again shines a spotlight on the importance of institutions and incentives if mining is to yield broad-based development across Africa
Women in science are solving real-world problems not only by discovering new materials or refining experiments, but by redefining what counts as a problem and what counts as a solution
The Malawi Electoral Commission has approached the high court to challenge a presidential order that would move its headquarters from the capital, Lilongwe, to Blantyre within three months.
Poverty in South Africa has reached crisis levels. Statistics reveal structural failures that demand urgent, coordinated action — not rhetoric — if dignity, democracy and social stability are to survive.
For the first time in a long time, Durban looks ready to step back into the spotlight.
The era of the bank CEO as a distant figure, satisfied with quarterly profits and other growth metrics, is fading
If a state can unilaterally suspend the rights of a racialised group or dump people onto foreign soil, no citizen’s rights are secure
Mining became an economic pillar because South Africa chose to develop it. Offshore oil and gas could do the same if we choose to
Century City stands as proof that long-horizon planning, private infrastructure investment and adaptive development can succeed
The Western Cape’s secessionist rhetoric is not a provincial eccentricity but a continental red flag
Local elections do not inspire liberation songs or grand manifestos. But they shape the terrain on which national power is won or lost
This is why hunger cannot be addressed
through food parcels, feeding schemes or emergency relief alone
Gqeberha’s crisis is not simply about water scarcity. It is about whose lives matter, whose voices are heard and whether South Africa is willing to confront the unfinished business of apartheid in its most basic public services
Responsibility without accountability does not strengthen democracy; it hollows it out.
The 2026 State of the Nation Address will outline ambitious policy goals. But policies implemented in digital silence will struggle to earn democratic legitimacy
Although critics like to believe otherwise, the country is not choosing sides in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Various regions in southern Africa share a common trajectory: improvement in the first two decades after the 1990s, followed by decline
As we approach World Cancer Day 2026, we must confront a harsh reality: we cannot simply “borrow” solutions from the Global North if we hope to save lives at home