The competition for the top six leadership positions in South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), was no carefully choreographed script such as the one-candidate-per-election of Chinese Communist Party congresses. It was a rip-roaring, full-throated democratic contestation – as raucous as US primary elections. Even more so, with delegates’ repeated singing and dancing. This point […]

Award-winning writer, and Nelson Mandela’s authorised biographer, Charlene Smith was the first journalist to ever interview Cyril Ramaphosa. She thinks it was in 1982 or 1983. Here Charlene recalls some of her memories with the new ANC President over the years… He’d just formed the NUM [National Union of Mineworkers] and the offices were two […]

The top thought on most South Africans’ minds seems to be that new ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa must recall Jacob Zuma as President of South Africa. Calls for a recall have come from opposition leaders through to the general public sharing jokes on social media (most of the same image of Ramaphosa and Zuma, with […]

Rumours that President Jacob Zuma has instructed the South African National Defence Force to draw up plans for implementing a state of emergency may or may not be true. Nonetheless they are evidence of South Africa’s febrile political atmosphere. But any assumption that the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as the new leader of the African […]

According to South Africa’s opposition parties – the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – nothing has changed with the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC President… and the “corrupt premier league” is still at the centre of the organisation. EFF Commander in Chief Julius Malema tweeted: “Nothing has really changed, the core […]

Watch below as President Jacob Zuma hears that his Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has won the ANC leadership race, and will replace him as ANC President instead of Zuma’s ex-wife Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. If a picture tells a thousand words, a video says even more… #ANC54 The Moment #Zuma hears #Ramaphosa is the new president […]

The value of the Rand has risen all day as the chance of Cyril Ramaphosa becoming the new ANC leader became apparent… and as the news was confirmed Monday evening that Ramaphosa is the leading party’s new President, the Rand stood at R12.73 to the US dollar, and R17.10 to the British pound. People around […]

South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has been elected the new ANC President. This means that should the ANC win the next national elections, Ramaphosa will be the country’s president. The value of the Rand already began rising this morning as Ramaphosa was slightly in the lead… In the final tally, Ramaphosa received 2440 votes, […]

The hope was that in opening the 54th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma would rise to the occasion, seize the moment of his last address as party president with honesty and leave something worthy of history. For posterity to cherish. It sounded as though he was taking […]

The jokes have already started on social media as South Africa waits to hear who will be the next leader of the ANC: President Jacob Zuma’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa or his ex-wife Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma The 54th ANC National Elective Conference has been packed as 4,776 ANC delegates gathered to vote for the top six […]

The 54th ANC National Elective Conference is packed as 4,776 ANC delegates gather to vote for the top six leadership positions, including new party President… which is a close race between President Jacob Zuma’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ex-wife Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. So far Ramaphosa leads with 1,469 branch votes from across six […]

Former South African cricketer Pat Symcox, who represented his country 100 times, has lambasted DA and ANC ‘Fat Cats’ for not maintaining a sports club on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. And after posting his video less than 24 hours ago, many South Africans around the country have commented that the same state of ruin has […]

The suspense is tangible as the African National Congress (ANC) – South Africa’s former liberation movement that’s turned into a tired governing party – approaches its fiercely contested 2017 elective conference. By December 5, the party’s branches had largely spoken, and its provincial structures had consolidated the branch delegates’ voting preferences. The lay of the […]

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has put in place measures to secure the 54th African National Congress (ANC) Elective Conference… as the ANC battles it out to decide on its new leadership. Chairs may fly (as happened with the ‘Festival of the Chairs’ at an ANC conference in the Eastern Cape!) at […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has placed the Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia De Lille, on suspension, and has asked her to supply reasons to the Federal Executive on why she should not resign as the mayor. DA National Spokesperson Phumzile Van Damme said on Thursday night that the DA is acting in the interest of […]

EFF Commander in Chief (CIC), Julius Malema, has predicted that presidential contender Cyril Ramaphosa will win the election to be the new President of the ANC, and that Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will lose because she’s supported by ‘crooks’. Taking to Twitter, Malema said: “For those asking for my predictions, I think he will win. I […]

The African National Congress says it hopes that President Jacob Zuma will implement today’s judgment without delay, in the interest of South Africa. In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the ANC said it welcomes the judgment of the North Gauteng High Court in relation to the State of Capture Report Judgement on the Public Protector’s […]

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it welcomes today’s ground-breaking judgment by the North Gauteng High Court, dismissing President Zuma’s attempt to review the Public Protector’s State of Capture report, and its binding recommendations. “This means that the report stands, and confirms that the President must at once establish a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into “State […]

If you weren’t lucky enough to catch South African comedian Trevor Noah during his recent ‘There’s a Gupta on My Stoep’ tour, watch this excerpt which is even more relevant today as the Pretoria High Court has ruled that President Jacob Zuma must proceed with the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. Gupta Family Taking […]

PRETORIA – Judge President Dustin Mlambo ruled Wednesday that the prima facile evidence of alleged wrongdoing – uncovered by the former Public Protector (PP), Thuli Madonsela – justified the remedial action she ordered regarding the State of Capture report. Mlambo gave Zuma 30 days to appoint a Judicial Commission of Inquiry, with the Judge to be […]

PRETORIA – In a historic move, President Jacob Zuma has been ordered to personally pay the costs for his failed interdict application last year… when he tried unsuccessfully to stop the release of the Public Protector’s ‘State of Capture’ report. In a unanimous judgment, President Zuma has been ordered to personally pay costs the costs […]

Cape Town, South Africa’s second most populous city, is hurtling towards “Day Zero”: the day taps run dry. This is expected in mid-May, just weeks after the city’s new water supplies are due. Cape Town is quite used to surviving dry years. Water restrictions get it through and then dams refill, thanks to the wet […]

The last twelve months have been a confusing time for African democracy. We have seen coups that didn’t look like coups and elections that didn’t look like elections. In this sense, it was a year of illusions. As in 2016, the broad trend is clear: with a number of notable exceptions, the gains made in […]

A year ago – in November 2016 – Tshwane mayor, Solly Msimanga was a hero for cleaning up corruption in the city, and helping clean up trash in Pretoria’s CBD (which had been left by protesters). But yesterday AfriForum accused the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality of trying to implement a waste removal levy that they say […]

National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Shaun Abrahams, has granted President Jacob Zuma an extension to submit representations on why he should not be charged for the 783 counts of fraud, corruption, money-laundering and racketeering that stand against him. The DA’s Federal Council Chairperson James Selfe said while the DA is disappointed, it’s not at […]