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SIU head Andy Mothibi.
COUNTRY

SIU heeds the ‘more orange overalls’ call

In an interview with the Mail & Guardian Data Desk, the head of SIU said it is fixing internal problems

  • M&G Data Desk
9 min read
(Graphic: John McCann)
ASSET FORFEITURE UNIT

NPA recovers nearly R12-billion

In the past year alone, the Asset Forfeiture Unit has recovered money and assets gained through corruption-related crimes

  • M&G Data Desk
5 min read
The great selloff: Luxury houses in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town linked to Gupta companies are being sold off. (Paul Botes/M&G)
ATUL GUPTA

Want a jet, a car, a house? Gupta sale is on

Money from the dodgy family’s assets will be used to settle debts. Eight companies are under business rescue – but what’s the point?

  • Thanduxolo Jika
  • Athandiwe Saba
  • M&G Data Desk
7 min read
In 2024, global coal consumption reached a record high, with commercial banks investing more than $130 billion across Asia, the US and Europe.. (Paul Botes)
COAL

The high price of coal connections

Eskom is spending R4.5m more on coal each day because of contracts that are lucrative for certain producers

  • Thanduxolo Jika
  • Sabelo Skiti
  • M&G Data Desk
5 min read
Together with a colleague, Nicholas Davis (above)coined the phrase ‘fourth industrial revolution’ a mere four years ago. One of his concerns about the 41R is the potential loss of a sense of individual agency. (Mattias Nutt/World Economic Forum)
4IR

What does ‘fourth industrial revolution’ even mean?

The M&G Data Desk aims to find out what 4IR really is

  • M&G Data Desk
9 min read
City spokesperson, Nthatisi Modingoane said that since the entry of the new administration, the City has worked steadily to improve our supply chain process which has historically fallen short of the required standard. (John McCann/M&G)
AVIS

Emergency! City of Joburg’s tender processes investigated

Three of Johannesburg’s biggest fleet tenders — amounting to billions of rands — bypassed the regular tender process

  • M&G Data Desk
8 min read
Mean streets: Children are neglected when their parent spends days in a lolly lounge getting high. It’s not only youngsters who are harmed; parents become afraid of their addicted offspring, who become violent. (Hiram Alejandro Duràn)
MG DATA DESK

‘Drugs are the tools for the youth to self-destruct’

A new report reveals that South Africa is the leading importer in southern Africa of chemicals to make illicit synthetic drugs such as tik

  • M&G Data Desk
6 min read
Uphill battle: Only two municipalities in the Eastern Cape achieved clean audits. This is despite millions being spent on consultants, employed to improve finances and other problems. (Delwyn Verasamy)
MG DATA DESK

Consultants a fruitless waste

Despite spending more on external services to plug gaps left by mismanagement data shows that municipalities are underperforming

  • Sabelo Skiti
  • M&G Data Desk
6 min read
Jozini township. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
2019 ELECTIONS

Jozini: Where youth actually vote

The youth of Jozini are determined to make a better future for themselves despite record unemployment

  • M&G Data Desk
  • Jacques Coetzee
6 min read
Over the past four elections the smaller political parties have been losing votes hand over fist — except for the Freedom Front Plus (FF+). (David Harrison/M&G)
ANC

Small parties are shrinking – except for Freedom Front Plus

​Over the past four elections the smaller political parties have been losing votes hand over fist

  • M&G Data Desk
  • Dinonofo Pico 1
4 min read
(David Harrison/M&G)
2019 ELECTIONS

FF+ gains traction in Mossel Bay

And it is not only white conservatives who are donning the party’s green and orange colours

  • Lester Kiewit
  • M&G Data Desk
6 min read
Neglected: There are no jobs to be found in Sezela, the townsfolk say. A large proportion of the town consists of pensioners who used to work for the Illovo Sugar mill. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
2019 ELECTIONS

Umdoni residents want change

Counting Every Person: The M&G Data Desk has analysed voting results across SA for the past 20 years

  • Paddy Harper
  • M&G Data Desk
4 min read
It is difficult for residents of informal settlements to follow guidelines to prevent Covid-19 transmission, such as hand-washing, in the absence of access to water. It is governments’ responsibility to provide these basic services. (Oupa Nkosi/M&G)
MG DATA DESK

Where voters won’t come out to vote

Many citizens in the North West have lost faith in elections, saying they do not get what is promised

  • M&G Data Desk
5 min read
Women wait for President Cyril Ramaphosa to address them in Alexandra (Oupa Nkosi)
2019 ELECTIONS

What women want

There are more women registered to vote than men. In response, political party manifestos have increased their attention to gender issues.

  • M&G Data Desk
5 min read
The ANC will leave a legacy muddied by political careerism, personality cults and corruption (David Harrison/M&G)
CENTRE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN

Trust in Presidency up, courts and media down — survey

‘Ramaphoria’ is not dead just yet despite a few bumps on the road to the elections

  • M&G Data Desk
  • Jacques Coetzee
4 min read
Urban bliss: Recently built houses at Siyathemba, a suburb of Kathu, accommodates people moved out of Dingleton, where Kumba Iron Ore wants to mine. (Oupa Nkosi)
ANGLO AMERICAN

The small town with the big money

Anyone who thinks mining is dead should head to Kathu in the far Northern Cape to find out otherwise

  • Athandiwe Saba
  • M&G Data Desk
5 min read
The handle, @PresJGZuma, had been registered nine months after the former president had been shoved out of office. (John McCann)
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Zuma’s first 100 days on Twitter

Now that he can’t call press briefings the ex-prez has taken to social media with mixed success

  • M&G Data Desk
  • Jacques Coetzee
4 min read
Despite the fact that shareholders have no power over Reserve Bank policy, ownership over the 2 million shares at the bank became the subject of a bitter battle at the ANC’s Nasrec elective conference in 2017. (Gallo Images)
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Who owns the Reserve Bank?

The SARB has more than 700 shareholders spread across the world with the second highest number of shares in German hands

  • M&G Data Desk
7 min read
(John McCann/M&G)
BUDGET

How state funds are sliced up

At R375-billion, education is the fastest-growing expense on the government’s bill

  • M&G Data Desk
  • Jacques Coetzee
2 min read
No degree: John Steenhuisen
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Off to Parliament, educated or not

After a spat between MPs over post-school qualifications, the M&G dataset reveals more than half of MPs have university degrees

  • M&G Data Desk
6 min read