Opinion

Nonsikelelo Nako

Research, Resistance and Results: Why Black Women’s Leadership Matters in Academia

There is a famous observation by civil rights activist Malcolm X that “the most disrespected…

Dignity CEO Dr Vivian Mokome
Dignity: Giving Hope, One Pad at a Time

In a country grappling with high unemployment, gender-based violence, and limited economic opportunities for women,…

Professor Grace Khunou
Africa Day Celebrations and the Gendered Contradictions of African Unity

Annually, Africa Day celebrations across the continent are filled with reminders of the promises of…

Emad Al-Sanousi

The ICC’s Silence on Iran: A Question of Jurisdiction, Will, or Selective Justice?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is pursuing its Gaza investigation at remarkable speed and is reportedly preparing arrest warrants for Israeli officials. Yet it remains conspicuously silent on Iran’s direct role in the conflict—a silence that becomes harder to defend as the evidence mounts. Iran has achieved a singular and damning statistic. After launching more than 400 missiles and drones toward Israel over nearly a month, Tehran has apparently failed to hit a single military target. The result is a…

Archives for Justice or Injustices?

Archives for Justice or Injustices?

From 8 – 12 June 2026, the International Council on Archives will celebrate International Archives Week under the theme #ArchivesForJustice. The theme explores how archives can support rights, preserve memory and shape a fairer future. Indeed, in order to promote justice, protect rights, preserve memory and facilitate accountability, archives are essential. They support legal, social, cultural, environmental, historical, and intergenerational justice by acting as reliable sources of information on choices, obligations and histories. This year’s theme positions archives as spaces…

OUPA NGWENYA

The Significance of the 1976 Student Uprising

Politics is about power. Power can oppress. Power can liberate. And power gained from the mandate of struggling people can be squandered. South Africa has become a laboratory where that squandering has been tested to its limits. Conferences like this one are meant to be a reality check. The question is simple: Is South Africa the picture of what liberation promised? Honesty in grappling with that question is what brings scholarship back to politics. Out of that scholarship, we are…

Matshela Koko

Two Grids, One Diagnostic: What Britain’s Constraint Crisis Reveals About South Africa’s 2030 Cliff

On 20 May 2026, Britain’s National Energy System Operator (NESO) issued a market notice restricting its ability to reverse power flows across interconnectors with France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium [2]. The restriction, effective immediately and in place until year-end, is the latest consequence of a structural problem that NESO’s own statutory reporting has been documenting for several years. According to the 2025 Annual Balancing Costs Report — published under Condition C9 of the NESO Electricity System Operator Licence —…

The Fortress State: Why South Africa’s Security Pivot is a Symptom Not a Solution

Reality Check: Why South Africa’s Crime Landscape Demands a New External Voice

The Gradient of Atmospheric Violence The quarterly drop in national murders is a testament to the tactical resilience of the SAPS, but it exposes a deeper, terrifying truth: we are celebrating a temporary sandbag barrier while the mountain of our socioeconomic crisis continues to fracture. As the latest crime statistics flash across television screens and political podiums, the official narrative is one of triumph. A 9.5% reduction in murders is, by any clinical metric, a positive trajectory. It represents 546…

How Communications and Marketing Support Internationalisation Efforts in Higher Education

How Communications and Marketing Support Internationalisation Efforts in Higher Education

Internationalisation in higher education has evolved over the past 20 years from a niche pursuit into a central component of institutional strategy, increasingly supported and championed through national legislation. It has become a multifaceted process involving various stakeholders within a university, including students, staff, leadership, and policymakers. Since the advent of COVID-19, the definition of internationalisation evolved from a primary focus on international student and staff mobility, exchanges,scholarships, collaborations, and partnerships to include curriculum development, intercultural competence, communications and marketing,…

Chepape Makgatho’s Art Exhibition is a Living Testimony of the Adage ‘There is No Place like Home’

The paremias “tšhipa e taga mohlabeng wa gayo,” is a Northern Sotho adage which literally means a “wildcat shines on its sand,” but figuratively means “there is no place like home.” Chepape Makgato used this adage as the theme of his art exhibition, which is unfolding at the Polokwane Art Museum, both as a celebration and as a piercing act of cultural advocacy. The theme was chosen because he felt comfortable for exhibiting in his hometown for the first time…

Another Perspective on the Pushback Against BEE and Equity Policies: Who is BEE Working for?

I know my views are going to be unpopular as always. While the anti-equity debate in South Africa usually focuses on efficiency or fairness, this opinion piece shifts the lens to a moral and structural failure on the part of the beneficiaries themselves. It is an attempt to create a modern application of Frantz Fanon’s warnings about the “national middle class” (or the national bourgeoisie) in post-colonial states: a class that serves as a transmission line between the nation and…

Abahambe’ and International Labour Political Economy: Cycles of Exploitation Since the 1800s 

The word Abahambe (let them go) carries a heavy resonance in the South African lexicon. It is a phrase often born of frustration and political theatre, yet it serves as a modern echo of a centuries-old structural logic.  When we examine the current state of the international labour political economy, particularly across the African continent, it becomes clear that we are not witnessing a series of isolated xenophobic outbursts or modern policy failures. Instead, we are seeing the latest iteration…

The Fortress State: Why South Africa’s Security Pivot is a Symptom Not a Solution

The RollsRoyce and the Rust: Why the NPA’s 74% Target Is a Mirage

Breaking the Berlin Wall in South Africa’s Criminal Justice System As a young man in high school, I spent many afternoons lost in the pages of Scotland Yard novels. I was captivated by the detective: methodical, sharp-minded, and quietly determined. He was not a bureaucrat chasing targets, but an artisan of truth, standing between chaos and order with intellect, patience, and institutional support. To my young mind, justice worked because the system respected those who did the hard work. Reality…

African Times