Strings Attached: A Political Party Is Gatvol With a Puppet
FF Plus supporters are gatvol with a puppet, and the puppet is winning on points. Chester Missing posted one video; the faithful promptly lost their tempers, and two and a half weeks later…
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In Tshwane, Water Is Fit to Flush, Not Fit to Drink
When tap water becomes a health hazard, residents deserve more than tanker notices and bureaucratic excuses. Tshwane's chlorine failure, sewage pollution and silence left families exposed…
The Reinstatement Of Lumka Oliphant: What A Government Spokesperson Really Is
Government spokespersons are hired to communicate with the public, not to defend Ministers at all costs, Sandile Memela writes. He says Lumka Oliphant’s reinstatement offers an opportunity…
Capitalism Has Taught Us What to Loot
The goods people loot tell a story about the societies they inhabit. Bread and groceries on one side, luxury handbags and artwork on the other. Beneath the satire lies a harder question…
The South Africa the Rage Merchants Cannot Sell
David Lupafya’s experience with white farming neighbours offers a different picture of South Africa, one built on practical help rather than racial hostility. It is precisely the kind of…
Safta’s National Security Scare Has No Smoking Gun
Safta has invoked national security, foreign generals, and threats to the armed forces, but produced no names, contracts or evidence of wrongdoing. Behind the alarming claims lies an…
My Ruin Was Public. So Is My Recovery
From drunken nights in notorious taverns to mornings of shame at traffic lights, alcoholism stripped away Gogo Bathini Mbatha’s dignity. A year into recovery, he has found fellowship…
Black Wednesday and 49 Years of Trying to Bury an Unbreakable Spirit
They murdered Biko, banned his movement and tried to bury its philosophy. Black Consciousness survived apartheid, weathered political isolation and resisted co-option. Forty-nine years…
Weakness? Try carrying what Mbalula carried
Fikile Mbalula’s tears were not a political statement, nor an admission of weakness. They were the release of a month’s worth of pressure. The real shame belongs to those who watched a man…
Where Is the Evidence That Investors Are Walking Away?
When residents demand water, jobs and accountability, they should not be treated as enemies of investment, argues Seun Mogotji. He challenges Limpopo’s Premier to stop pointing fingers and…
The Trucks Are Full. Our Villages Are Not
Chrome and platinum leave Sekhukhune by the truckload, yet the villages beside the mines still wait for jobs, roads and a fair share. The community has written to the President and the…
South Africa’s Film Industry Could Be an Economic Powerhouse. The State Is Holding It Back
South Africa can shoot London, New York and Lagos without leaving home, and build hundred-million-dollar worlds from scratch. Yet the DTIC’s rebate has limped for two years, and the…
When Life Is Prolonged, But Suffering Cannot Be Ended
The law, medicine, religion and tradition all have a voice in the debate over assisted dying. But what about those enduring unbearable suffering? Drawing on his cousin’s condition, Jabu…
When the Final Click Becomes a Constitutional Question
The dispute over 181 ANC councillor candidates goes beyond an electronic submission button. It tests the relationship between electoral law and administrative procedure, while forcing the…
The Mob’s Only Question: Whose Side Is Your Mind On?
The attack on intellectuals no longer comes only from the powerful. Lately it comes from pseudo-activists, loud on social media and podcasts, who mine community grievances to elevate…
Mbeki Revisits Mandela’s Warning as the ANC’s Integrity Crumbles
Thabo Mbeki’s return to Nelson Mandela’s 1997 warning exposes a movement whose integrity has steadily eroded. With renewal resolutions gathering dust and self-serving interests entrenched…
She Hit Him. No, He Did Nothing to Provoke Her
When a man says his female partner assaulted him, the first question should not be what he did to deserve it. The first response should recognise the violence. Anything else risks turning…
I Was So Busy Fitting In, I Forgot Who I Was
Trying to fit in cost me more than I realised. I gave away my time, compromised my peace and let alcohol turn me into someone I barely recognised. Sobriety brought me face to face with the…
A Journalist Asked Questions. The Mob Came Calling
The press will ask uncomfortable questions, and public figures often resent being asked to account for themselves. But exposing a journalist’s phone number and allowing a digital mob to…
Sobriety Has Brought Me Face to Face With the Damage I Have Caused
Sobriety has helped Gogo Bathini Mbatha recognise what alcohol took from him and what his drinking cost other people. He can take responsibility, make amends and live differently, but he…