Asked in a Sunday Times interview if South Africa was ready for a white president, Pieter Groenewald, the leader of the Freedom Front Plus, retorted with an emphatic "No, we are too close to apartheid still". He said, "It would be difficult to convince traditional ANC voters to ditch the [...]
South Africa witnessed the filling of its largest stadium, the Calabash, at the instance of celebrating ten years of the Economic Freedom Front led by Julius Malema. Decorated as the former President of COSAS and ANCYL, Julius is by far one of the most seasoned leaders of his generation and [...]
In Politics, the concept Establishment "describes the dominant social group, the élite, who control a polity, an organisation, or an institution. In the praxis of power, The Establishment usually is a self-selecting, closed élite entrenched within specific institutions; hence, a relatively small social class can exercise all socio-political control". Suppose you thought South Africa does not [...]
In a democracy defined by a written Constitution with a clear distinction of authorities as a function of the separation of powers, the contest for political power can easily default on personalities than the actual demands the Constitution imposes on the leadership function. South Africa is facing an election where [...]
The total strategy was apartheid South Africa's response to what it perceived as the total onslaught to annihilate 'white power' and dominance on the African continent as represented by an industrialised Republic of South Africa. As a political survival construct aimed at making the apartheid crime against humanity a frontier [...]
For the South African post-apartheid political establishment, how they contest political power to remain firmly in their hands seems they must survive narratives every time they approach succession epochs. The 2022 Conference of the ANC was supposed to be a moment of triumph for the Paul-Mashatile-as-a-node establishment. What is now [...]
The past four elections for national and local government (2014, 2016, 2019, and 2024) have communicated voter sentiments about how they feel about those who govern them in all spheres of government. The granularity of details about the growing discontent at those that govern has voter numbers as evidence of [...]
The decline of political engagement in the structures of the ANC at the altar of a politics-for-money culture has impacted the value of being a member of the movement. There was a time in the history of the ANC, being its member attracted prestige because of how sophisticated those who [...]
In his tribute to Essop Pahad, under a hawkish watch of the ANC's most organised formation of elders and veterans outside its Veterans League, the 101 Veterans, Paul Mashatile invoked a Marxist adage to characterise the deeper issues inside his organisation, which are not in our immediate purview. He said Comrade [...]
It is rare to find a society, political parties, and civil society movements discussing the future of their country's leadership with the incumbent still in charge and pursuing a legally acceptable second term. This rarity is what a society like South Africa needs to project into the future whilst in [...]
