The 2011 local government elections have come and gone. The results have been released by what is arguably the most efficient elections management agency in the entire developing world, the IEC. Political analysts and statisticians are now grappling with the implications of the numbers and how these are reflective of [...]
The ANC’s cleansing ceremony at the Solomon Mahlangu Square in Mamelodi, supported by the Mahlangu family, raises fundamental questions about the liberation struggle legacy ownership. The gallantry and moral high ground that continues to characterise the South African liberation struggle has arguably made its legacy the most sought-after political asset [...]
The ANC was formed in 1912 as both a response to the exclusionary nature of the 1909 Convention that defined the borders of present day South Africa, and the rise of nationalism in Southern Africa. The founding fathers of the ANC sought to create a vehicle with which they would [...]
The terminological, conceptual and political breadth associated with the term ‘Boer’ as well as its multiple applications to mean different things to different people and political constituencies has evoked scorn and praise from a broad spectrum of South Africans. Whilst these interpretations are its strengths, in historical terms, it has [...]
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED FIRST BY THE THINKER: VOLUME 20 ;JUNE 2011 ISSUEThe use of metaphors and parables remains one of the greatest assets in the African education system. Supported by a rigorously used system of storytelling and use of symbols, metaphors have for centuries provided indigenous scholarship about and [...]
The 2011 Local government elections have come and gone. The political landscape and template has definitely changed. Voting patterns have been redefined with historical slogans been subjected to a new acid test. The Mandela and Mbeki era born generation is fast ascending the stage of political influence with ‘genetically modified [...]
The contest for municipal elections vote has not only brought to bear the importance of bread and butter issues, but began a process of redefining the balance of power in respect of claims to the struggle legacy. The inalienability of the ANC’s claim over the struggle history has never been [...]
The ANC was formed in 1912 as both a response to the exclusionary nature of the 1909 Convention that defined the borders of present day South Africa, and the rise of nationalism in Southern Africa. The founding fathers of the ANC sought to create a vehicle with which they would [...]
They know what it to be said isYet they know how sad saying it can beIn this sadness they cannot sayBut their right to say is guaranteedIt can only be noise when it is heardBut not all that is heard is good noiseFor the goodness of noise has become its [...]
The intergovernmental relations challenge of the Zuma administration is snowballing into a cooperation quagmire that requires political maturity similar to the pre-1994 democratic breakthrough elections. The political grandstanding of party leaders and spokespersons can only polarise the environment with grass and elephant consequences for the electorate. The need to understand [...]
