Vol 61 No 25 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The balance in the ANC’s factional war has turned decisively in the President’s favour, leaving the Secretary-General few options
President Cyril Ramaphosa has scored in the ongoing battle against the faction bent on unseating him with this week's decision by the African National Congress's Integrity Commission that...
Vol 61 No 23 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The pro-Zuma ANC leader is standing his ground in the face of corruption charges, but his position weakens as pressure mounts
The 10 November arrest of the second most powerful politician in the ruling African National Congress on charges of corruption, following more than 100 graft-related arrests in recent...
Vol 61 No 22 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The medium-term budget is seen by some as a fudge in the struggle between liberalising reform and preserving the state sector
The government has firmly held the line against the left and the labour movement's efforts to defend ailing state-owned enterprises. President Cyril Ramaphosa is also boosting the Zondo...
Vol 61 No 21 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
President Ramaphosa has made a renewed commitment to review public ownership and plot out a major role for the private sector
After a decade of corruption, economic decline and a crippling pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled his Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, which does not go as far...
Vol 61 No 20 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
A combination of worsening power cuts and investigations into grand corruption in the state utility and its suppliers has forced a policy shift
The government is finally backing a plan that will open the state power utility Eskom to private investors, putting the energy sector at the core of the country's...
Vol 61 No 20 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
A spate of arrests of officials on corruption charges is leading to the door of Ace Magashule, Secretary-General of the ruling party
Within weeks Cyril Ramaphosa will face his toughest battle as President as he tests his authority against the second-most-powerful politician in the country, African National Congress (ANC) Secretary-General...
Vol 61 No 19 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Local and international buyers are circling the debt-crippled and state-owned Denel as it is forced to sell its assets to stay afloat
Denel, the remnant of the arms manufacturing and trading colossus Armscor that once propped up apartheid, is probably the least-known of South Africa's beleaguered state-owned enterprises.
Vol 61 No 18 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
If ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule isn’t caught up in a prosecution, the President’s clean-up could be stopped in its tracks
Leading South Africa's delegation for crisis talks in Zimbabwe on 8 September – no matter how tortuous – must have been a welcome break for Ace Magashule, away...
Vol 61 No 18 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
With backing from ANC leaders and vast evidence, the President can make good on his pledge to prosecute rogue officials
It may prove to be the most decisive two days in Cyril Ramaphosa's presidency. He went into the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress on 29...
Vol 61 No 17 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Allegations of Covid-related procurement fraud by ruling party officials are threatening to derail public confidence in the President
President Cyril Ramaphosa is in a desperate fight for the credibility of the African National Congress after a spate of arrests and asset seizures over fraud in the...
Vol 61 No 16 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The Covid-19 pandemic is revealing some uncomfortable truths about the country’s politics as the pressures and dangers increase
Most accept that the ruling African National Congress and President Cyril Ramaphosa started the pandemic well. The President masked up immediately and has stayed masked, unlike many world...
Vol 61 No 14 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
As an ANC faction moves to reinstate provincial officials and delay economic reforms, Ramaphosa’s credibility is on the line
As South Africa continues to ease its Covid-19 lockdown, President Cyril Ramaphosa faces a country teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, a ruling party more divided than...
Vol 61 No 13 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
With the ANC leadership united to fight the pandemic, President Ramaphosa may bring in liberalising reforms and end the bail-outs
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's post-Covid-19 budget is a balancing act that offers President Cyril Ramaphosa a chance to radically restructure the country's ailing state-owned enterprises (SOE) or submit...
Vol 61 No 13 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Debt-laden, dysfunctional and unable to find a modern role, the state arms-manufacturer is being steadily cut back
The debate about whether post-apartheid South Africa really needs its own arms industry and such a large military establishment has been raging since the country’s first democratic elections...
Vol 61 No 13 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
After a strong start mobilising people against the pandemic, Ramaphosa faces multiple complaints against the security forces and a looming economic meltdown
Civil rights activists, opposition politicians and business leaders are mounting legal and moral challenges to the lockdown, claiming it is being used as a cover for human rights...
Vol 61 No 12 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Using the pandemic as a pretext, top ANC officials jostle for positions, some arguing for radical and sweeping policy changes
Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa and his centrist supporters were locked in combat with followers of former President Jacob Zuma, African National Congress...
Vol 61 No 11 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
As the pandemic stretches out, the President is facing resistance from the public, business and political opponents
President Cyril Ramaphosa has bowed to mounting business and popular pressure to ease the lockdown from 1 June but has warned that the worst of the pandemic is...
Vol 61 No 10 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The public is starting to tire of one of the world’s strictest restrictions in response to Covid-19 as cracks appear in the political consensus
The armed forces are patrolling the streets to enforce a nationwide curfew from 8pm to 5am as citizens can only exercise between 6am and 9am, and no more...
Vol 61 No 9 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Economists question whether the immense Covid-19 relief package will just help business or the wider population
President Cyril Ramaphosa's 500 billion rand (US$26bn) stimulus to sustain South Africa's already precarious economy during the Covid-19 lockdown has been welcomed by business and opposition leaders, but...
The coronavirus outbreak has turned the spotlight on those in charge, highlighting successes and exposing deficiencies
With South Africa in the third week of a lockdown that may only be lifted at the end of April, and possibly not even then, President Cyril Ramaphosa...
Drastic measures to contain the pandemic, coupled with the Moody’s downgrade, have strengthened the President’s hand – for now
The South African government has vowed to respond to the double shock of the coronavirus pandemic and a credit ratings downgrade by making overdue structural reforms to prevent...
The pandemic could not have come at a worse time for an ailing economy already stressed to the limit
The collapse of the global financial markets, the tanking oil price, and the threat of a major global economic recession have radically altered the backdrop to South Africa's...
Strategic minerals on the continent will power the electric vehicle revolution and a restructured energy industry
More than any other continent, Africa has copious reserves of the vital minerals central to the transition to sustainable energy in the leading industrial economies.
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Vol 61 No 5 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
As the budget aims to cut public sector pay by US$10 billion and sell state assets, trade unions push back on jobs and wages
Threatening huge cuts in public spending but no serious tax hikes, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's budget of 13 February will unleash further political drama and perhaps trigger a...
Vol 61 No 4 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
With the main opposition party in turmoil, political players old and new are gearing up to form new political movements
The main South African opposition parties are in an unprecedented state of flux after the resignation of two black leaders rocked the Democratic Alliance late last year. Now...
Vol 61 No 4 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Punctuated by protests, the President gave an eloquent statement but he is leaving the heavy lifting to the finance minister
In the first of two last-chance bids by government to forestall a ratings downgrade on the country's credit rating to junk status, President Cyril Ramaphosa failed to convince...
Vol 61 No 4 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The President's speech to parliament on 13 February will say more about his fragile coalition of reformers than about the country he governs
For the past three decades each State of the Nation speech has been billed as the most important ever. Most – with the honourable exception of Nelson Mandela's...
Vol 61 No 3 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Ramaphosa grapples with economic crisis, corruption prosecutions and power shortages on a historic anniversary
The 30th anniversary of then-President FW de Klerk's announcement on 2 February 1990 of the release of Nelson Mandela nine days afterwards passed quietly as investors gathered to...
Vol 61 No 1 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The stage is set for the clash between state prosecutors and Ramaphosa’s ANC enemies. The first trials will open soon
Sympathisers with President Cyril Ramaphosa's project to clean up governance are frustrated with his agonisingly slow strategy. He needs to speed up the suffocation of his opponents within...
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