The mass shootings that recently left 17 people dead in Carletonville’s Wedela township and 10 dead in Lwandle, Cape Town, within hours of each other are not merely criminal incidents. They are symptoms of a deeper national disease: the gradual erosion of the state’s ability to anticipate, prevent and respond effectively to violent crime. As the nation mourns, South Africans are once again confronted with a familiar cycle. Political leaders condemn the violence, police announce investigations, promises are made, and…

The United States has long framed its foreign policy as a defence of democratic values and human rights, but the reality is more transactional and considerably less principled than it presents itself, and its effects are felt directly on Namibia’s economy, its citizens and its institutions. It has become increasingly punitive, targeting those who exercise independent judgment with visa bans, aid cuts and economic pressure, while nations that align with American interests are rewarded. For Namibia, this foreign policy does…

Eskom’s recent operational results deserve to be taken at face value, because they are genuinely hard to achieve. The utility has now gone 476 consecutive days without loadshedding. Its year-to-date Energy Availability Factor has climbed to 67,79%, the highest level in six years, while unplanned outages have fallen to 19,47% of capacity, down 7,52 percentage points on the same period last year. Diesel expenditure on emergency open-cycle gas turbines has fallen 81,64% year-on-year, from R5,93 billion to R1,08 billion, and…

1976 marked a historic year for the South African liberation struggle when thousands of students took to the streets of Soweto fifty years ago, protesting Afrikaans being imposed as a primary language in schools. What began as a small protest ignited into a massive township insurrection that saw tens of thousands of students and workers around the country striking in solidarity, demanding justice in education and abolition of Bantu Education. Students from Morris Isaacson, Naledi, Orlando West and others poured…

South Africans have perfected a peculiar political art: we speak from both sides of our mouths and have cultivated the habit of knowingly fooling ourselves and anyone else willing to listen. We complain about broken municipalities, collapsing infrastructure, potholes, sewage in the streets, intermittent water, dysfunctional electricity systems, and councils that cannot perform the most elementary functions of government. Then, when election time arrives, we participate in another ritual, as though changing the name on a ballot paper would somehow…

As South Africans commemorate Heritage Month in 2026 under the theme “Reimagine Our Heritage Institutions for a New Era,” we are called not only to preserve our past but also to shape and invoke a complex imagination of a future grounded in human dignity, equality, justice, and community cohesion. Heritage institutions, including universities, must become living spaces that educate, empower, and inspire communities to address contemporary challenges while safeguarding our collective memory. Our heritage is far more than monuments, museums,…

Thirty-five years later, the history of SASCO remains inseparable from the broader struggle for a just, democratic and transformed South Africa. It is a history written not merely in conference resolutions and organisational documents, but in the courage of generations of students who refused to accept exclusion, inequality and injustice as their permanent reality. As former SASCO leaders and deployees who served at the Unisa National SRC from 2014–2016, we carry with us the pride and responsibility of having been…

Every year, South Africa pauses to honour police officers who have paid the ultimate price in service of the Republic. Wreaths are laid, candles are lit, names are read aloud, and solemn promises are made that their sacrifice will never be forgotten. Yet beyond the ceremonies and tributes lies an uncomfortable truth: we have become a nation far better at mourning our police officers than protecting them. While we publicly celebrate their courage in death, too many of those entrusted…

The argument over Eskom’s transmission assets has settled into two camps. Eskom chair Mteto Nyati warns that transferring the grid now could weaken Eskom’s balance sheet and land the state with a R110bn bill. Others say ownership hardly matters, since the grid remains a public asset either way, and the real question is whether constitutional accountability follows it once it is within an independent transmission company. Both deserve a hearing. Neither gets at what will decide whether South Africa avoids…

As we celebrate Administrative Professionals Day on September 2, it is worth reflecting on how much the administrative profession has changed, and how much change there is still to come. For a long time, the image of an administrative professional was relatively simple: answering the telephone, managing diaries, arranging meetings, taking minutes and keeping the office running. Those responsibilities still matter. However, today, administrative professionals are doing much more. We coordinate projects, manage stakeholders, support decision-making, organise conferences and events,…