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President Cyril Ramaphosa with twenty new Heads of Mission-designate. Photo: Marion Smith

A moment of diplomacy and global connection

The presentation of credentials is a cornerstone of diplomatic protocol, symbolising mutual recognition and the formal commencement of an ambassador’s duties

Reading resistance: Books that archive courage, dissent and institutional memory

South Africa’s fragile freedoms are recorded in classrooms, songs and satire. These books archive courage, dissent and institutional memory

Support: The principles underlying South Africa’s liberation from oppressive apartheid rule are captured at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. Norway continues to show solidarity  through development aid to those countries in need. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Struggles for freedom still relevant today

Shifting geopolitics is highlighting new and old arenas of conflict and violations of international law

There has been progress since 1994. South Africa now has a black middle and upper middle class but the means of production remain largely owned by white people and black people swelling the ranks of labour. Photo: Mujahid Saofodien/AFP)

A future without broad-based BEE and affirmative action is not possible

‘The new economic dispensation should match the aspiration for economic freedom and the fulfilment of the highest ideals of our democracy.’

(Graphic: John McCann)

Inkululeko a promise deferred

South Africa’s liberation struggle may have brought democracy, but it did not bring freedom

A nation cannot continuously live in fear; there comes a time when leaders, the people and the country to take a stand. Photo: Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Ukraine’s sovereignty is non-negotiable

It is against human nature to be enslaved, oppressed or occupied by another nation

Photo: Leon Sadiki/Getty

South Africa’s lack of an integrated transport system hinders freedom and equality

It’s expensive, time-consuming, limits people’s ability to work, get to school and hospital, and in some rural areas does not exist at all

We are all political animals by nature, so let us protect our freedom from the tyranny of false idols

The meaning of freedom and life in the age of false idols

We are all political animals by nature, so let us protect our freedom from the tyranny of false idols

Children’s book on Palestine gets blowback

The colouring book, designed to be both educational and engaging for children, aims to introduce young readers to Palestine’s history, culture and notable figures through an…

People’s power: Voters wait at a polling station outside the hostels in Umlazi, Durban. Voting remains critical to bring about the change desired. Photo: Marco Longari/AFP

To politicians and voters: With freedom comes the responsibility of freedom

Few recall the Bill of Responsibilities that accompanies the Bill of Rights. Unconfined freedom can be as devastating as legalised oppression

Celebrity charisma: Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine. Photo: Sumy Sadurni/AFP

Bobi Wine, Uganda’s democracy hunter

The documentary, Bobi Wine, the People’s President, shows the confluence of music and art in the pursuit of freedom and democracy

The empty Onkgopotse Tiro Hall at the University of Limpopo. Taken 11 March 2024 before the M&G Election Town Hall.
Pic by Scott Peter Smith
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WATCH | Town Hall Election Debate – charting the future in 2024’s landmark elections

The M&G and University of Limpopo host a forum to discuss, among others, what a coalition government could mean for South Africa.

A university that teaches but does not innovate, that researches but does not apply, will find itself detached from the society it is meant to serve and elevate
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M&G, University of Limpopo town hall will unpack elections

The M&G and University of Limpopo host a forum to discuss, among others, what a coalition government could mean for South Africa

Ahead of their time: Boom Shaka endorsed individuality, being openly yourself, whatever your sexuality, before it was a thing.
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It’s About Time! Quartet put the boom into SA musical culture

There was kwaito,and then there was Boom Shaka. We went in search of what it is about the group that made us fall so hard for them 30 years ago

ANC supporters march against South African power supplier ESKOM and to protest against power cuts on May 14, 2015 in Soweto district of Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Editorial: We are free for as long as we fight

It’s worth reminding ourselves that we still have agency to change our environment. For as bleak as might be, there is something great worth fighting for

Kgolo gives an insight into African customs and traditions

Heritage day: A reminder of the communal promise to work towards an equality for all country

Acknowledging the plurality of perspectives, opinions, priorities, emotions and interests of the different travelers on our transformation road is vital

Gender equality is good for everyone

When human capital is more diverse and more representative, companies are more creative, more sustainable and more profitable

‘Dominator culture’, bell hooks wrote,  ‘has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk, sameness instead of diversity’. Photo: Margaret Thomas/The The Washington Post/Getty Images

Remembering bell hooks: There is no way to be ‘everybody’

Radical feminist bell hooks taught us to sit with perturbation and vulnerability as we revel in difference

Epitome of ethics: Author and cultural critic bell hooks insisted that care, love and spirituality were the core of black feminist practice and freedom. Photo: Karjean Levine/Getty Images

A spirit guide to ethical black feminist thinking and praxis

bell hooks’s refusal to ‘get in formation’ foregrounded healing as the foundation to a communal liberatory agenda

Pro-democracy protests in eSwatini since (Photograph by Nkosinathi Masuku)

Defend journalists and media freedom in Eswatini

Journalists are censored through cruel and illegitimate detention, torture and the removal of means to disseminate information to citizens crying – and dying – for it