S.Africa set for political shake-up after historic vote

S.Africa set for political shake-up after historic vote

By Umberto BACCHI Johannesburg, May 31, 2024 (AFP) - South Africa's ruling ANC was on track to score its worst electoral result ever on Friday, with early tallies showing voters deserted the party in droves, ending its 30-year political dominance. If the African National Congress (ANC) is confirmed as dropping below 50 percent of the vote, it would force the party to seek coalition partners to […]

May 31, 2024 9

South Africa

Mayibuye! The 100-year-old slogan that’s stirred up divisions in South Africa’s elections

By Corinne Sandwith, University of Pretoria Political parties the world over use slogans, icons, colours, names and flags to establish their political and historical credentials. What happens when two political parties lay claim to the same history and the same symbolic capital? In South Africa, a conflict of this kind is being played out between the governing African National Congress (ANC) party led by […]

May 28, 2024 29

South Africa

Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe to become third largest in SA elections

A new opinion poll in South Africa shows that the party founded by former President Jacob Zuma, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, will become the third largest party after the May 29 elections. The poll, according to Bloomberg Africa predicts that the African National Congress will win 43.4% of the national vote, the Democratic Alliance 18.6%, and the MKP 14.1%. However, South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ruled that Jacob Zuma is […]

May 21, 2024 40

Business / Economics

South Africa’s security forces once brutally entrenched apartheid. It’s been a rocky road to reform

By Sandy Africa, University of Pretoria One of the important tasks that faced South Africa’s democratic government after 1994 was to reform the apartheid-era security apparatus. The African National Congress (ANC), which was voted into power, had a laudable vision in the 1990s for reforming the police, military and intelligence services. Determined that South Africans would never again be subject to the brutality of the security forces, […]

April 22, 2024 30

Opinion Pieces

After the euphoria of Nelson Mandela’s election, what happened next? Podcast

By Gemma Ware, The Conversation and Thabo Leshilo, The Conversation It was a moment many South Africans never believed they’d live to see. On 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president of a democratic South Africa, ending the deadly and brutal white minority apartheid regime. To mark 30 years since South Africa’s post-apartheid transition began, The Conversation Weekly podcast is running a special three-part podcast […]

April 11, 2024 23

South Africa

Democratic AlliancePredicts ANC’s Majority Loss in South African Elections

The Democratic Alliance asserts that the African National Congress is poised to lose its majority in the upcoming South African elections on 29 May. Despite receiving support from the National Treasury and stakeholders, the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters have jointly opposed the desirability of the DA's Responsible Spending Bill during a session of Parliament's standing committee on Finance. Dion George of the DA argues that passing the bill […]

March 27, 2024 23

South Africa

ANC loses case against the MK Party in SA Electoral Court

The South African Electoral Court has dismissed the African National Congress's attempt to prevent a new party, backed by former President Jacob Zuma, from participating in the upcoming general election. The ANC had argued that uMKhonto weSizwe had not met the criteria for official registration. According to the SABC, the country’s electoral court on Tuesday morning rejected that challenge. The ANC, according to the BBC, has said it accepts the […]

March 26, 2024 12

South Africa

uMkhonto we Sizwe Party Asserts Registration Decision Unreviewable Amid ANC Challenge

The uMkhonto we Sizwe party has stated that the decision by South Africa's Deputy Chief Electoral Official, Mawethu Mosery, to register their party is not open to review by the Electoral Court. This statement comes in response to a case filed by the African National Congress in the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein, seeking to invalidate the registration of the MK party. Dali Mpofu, representing the MK party, accuses the ANC […]

March 20, 2024 14

South Africa

Prof. Ntsikelelo Breakfast assesses Jacob Zuma’s impact on SA elections

Despite being a disgraced former president who was sent to jail, Jacob Zuma is turning out to be the political wildcard in South Africa's election campaign. This follows his dramatic decision to ditch the governing African National Congress for the newly formed party uMkhonto we Sizwe. We spoke to Here’s to SA-based political analyst Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast.

March 14, 2024 37