South African Current Affairs

Depending on which political analyst you listen to over the next few days, you’ll be told that the news that Agang leader Mamphela Ramphele will be the DA’s presidential candidate in this year’s elections is either a total gamechanger, or no gamechanger at all. The truth is that nobody can possibly know with any degree of certainty what impact the DA-Agang deal will have until the votes are counted. One thing that is clear, though, is that the move will have surprised nobody very much –…

Malwande Msongelwa found her brother dead at a bus-stop near her house. He had been stabbed. She called the emergency number, 10111. There was no response. By Adam Armstrong for GROUNDUP.

Ostensibly driven by claims of high levels of police inefficiency and a general breakdown in relations between community members and SAPS, the O’Regan Commission of Inquiry finally took off in crime-ridden Khayelitsha last week. The first four days of public hearings brought to light a combination of anguished allegations of poor policing, an attempted defence of police work in underdeveloped informal settlements, fear-tinged accounts of vigilante justice and - despite a perceived loss of…

Tuesday was a befuddling day in politics. The Democratic Alliance leadership, led by Helen Zille (still the DA's ELECTED leader) gave South Africans the impression that they could vote directly for their next president, whom they believe should be their new recruit, Mamphela Ramphele. (We can’t, obviously.) Then the ANC gave a rundown of their long, complicated process of compiling their election lists. The ANC did not, as expected, reveal the names on the lists. While there appears to be…

The Marikana Massacre strikes a deep chord amongst the workers in the platinum belt, currently on a protected strike at the world’s three biggest platinum producers – Lonmin, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum (Implats). THAPELO LEKGOWA & GREG NICOLSON give an update on what could be a marathon strike for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

In politics, some things are hard, and some are even harder. In a game that is all about making choices, any single wrong one can have an impact upon you, your party, and your country, for many years to come. This is one of the reasons why political parties under our system, where party bosses essentially choose a list of candidates to represent it in Parliament, have to manage this process so carefully. Everyone is going to fight for their space, and their place in Parliament, or provincial…

An official curriculum vitae for Thandi Modise, the controversial Premier of South Africa’s North West province, contains a number of false claims and glaring factual inaccuracies, AFRICA CHECK has discovered. By KATE WILKINSON and JULIAN RADEMEYER.

On Saturday, the Democratic Alliance gathered its new (and old) candidates at a Rosebank hotel, in order to show off their skill sets. This is the army they will take to battle. Good luck with that. By RICHARD POPLAK.

As protests continue to rage across the country, getting significant attention as we run up to the elections, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are following them faster than the Bang Bang Club. They want to be seen as the leaders of the New Struggle, and on the streets, no one does it so wel...

Elections 2014 will come and go, the ANC will be top of the pops, and a new bag of Liquorice Allsorts will fill the parliamentary benches. The great shake-up in South African politics looks set to happen after the elections – and metalworkers’ union Numsa is likely to play a big role in the new alignment. Numsa and a group of other Cosatu unions will put their federation on notice this week on a number of issues. Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim is also taking on the government’s enforcer…

South Africa was ranked worst in the world for road safety last year by the International Transport Forum, and with 1,376 fatalties in car accidents during the 2013 festive season alone, our roads are a dangerous place. Adding to this is the problem of illegal street racing, particularly in the Cape Town surrounds. Over the course of several months, SHAUN SWINGLER visited a gathering of illegal street racers in Gatesville on the Cape Flats. This is his insider’s account.

The death of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has renewed debate about his legacy, but there’s been little on its South African component. By HENNIE VAN VUUREN and ANINE KRIEGLER.

Are the media hostile to the ANC? Do they attack the dignity of ANC politicians? Do they operate to the detriment of the public interest? Is responsible and ethical reporting treated as less important than the protection and promotion of media freedom? By JEANNE PRINSLOO.

More than 50% of the country’s youth is unemployed. Every year another wave of school leavers adds to this number. Many are unemployable because they lack basic skills. To avert the coming national disaster and to address the country’s most critical problem a radical solution is needed.

Over the weekend main editorials once again lamented the reaction of police to what we still call the "service delivery" protests in Mothutlung and which led to the deaths of three people last week. That police were heavy-handed is trite. Already the Human Rights Commission has pointed out that if the police had implemented their own recommendations after the Andries Tatane shooting in 2011, these three fatalities would not have occurred. But there is a much larger dynamic that is playing…

Suspended Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has tried to stare down the leadership of the federation in an all-or-nothing battle for survival. After being accused of sexual misconduct, he and his allies tried to fight his suspension within the federation and in court, attempted to force...