The 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa outlines the government’s priorities for economic growth, service delivery, infrastructure investment and the fight against crime. Constitutionally, SONA is not merely ceremonial. It is a foundational mechanism through which Parliament is enabled to exercise oversight and set the national policy agenda. In this sense, it remains one of the most important events in South Africa’s democratic calendar. At a time of persistent economic fragility, infrastructure strain and…

It is necessary to clarify from the outset: this opinion piece is not written by a political scientist but by a decolonial, Africana scholar. My interest lies not in the mere mechanics of “governance” or the liberal tropes of “good administration,” but in the more profound, more haunting questions of power, continuity, and the persistent coloniality that governs the South African state. For too long, the South African public has been fed a sanitised account of our transition; a narrative of…

Let me outline why I, Millicent Mmajapo Kgeledi, felt the pressing need to go to East London. Once in a while, things happen that remind you of the deep hypocrisy that surrounds us. I did not go to East London because it was fashionable to do so. I went because there is an urgent need to raise my voice. Those who claimed that EFF President Julius Malema endangered the lives of our people have, for years, turned their backs on…

Now that the festive season has passed, I find myself reflecting on an unsettling reality I encountered in rural communities: many young people cannot speak their native languages, and in some cases, this inability is celebrated rather than questioned. For some parents, their children’s fluency in English, often acquired through private schooling is treated as a marker of success, modernity, and upward mobility. This pride is understandable. English functions as a global lingua franca and remains a key instrument for…

Presidential, legislative, and municipal elections are scheduled in the Central African Republic on December 28, 2025. Of course, it is the presidential election that is attracting the most attention. The clear favourite among the seven candidates is the incumbent president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra. As highlighted by the British media outlet UKNIP, polls conducted by sociologists at the end of 2025 show that more than 80% of respondents in key regions view Touadéra’s policies as the main driver of progress in the…

Hosts and Africa’s number one-ranked team, Morocco, will certainly be the hot favourites to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which kicks off on Sunday. The Atlas Lions would be buoyed by the fact that they are playing in their own backyard, and with a population of almost 40 million, a lot would be expected from the North African nation. Morocco’s senior national team has grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years. They became the…

In a world where chronic diseases are accelerating faster than health systems can respond, artificial intelligence (AI)–powered telehealth has emerged as one of the most transformative tools in modern medicine. From remote cardiac monitoring to automated mental-health screening, digital care models are closing long-standing gaps for underserved communities who have historically faced limited access to physicians, specialists, and preventive health services. According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for 17.9 million deaths each year, with low-income…

For ten days, Johannesburg was not only the diplomatic centre of the world. It became one of the busiest media capitals on the planet. As South Africa hosted the first G20 Summit ever held on African soil, a remarkable convergence took place: domestic broadcasters, continental networks and global giants set up cameras and microphones across Nasrec, turning the event into a global newsroom. What unfolded was more than news coverage. It was a vivid demonstration of how a free and…

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos will on Monday, 1 December, announce Bafana Bafana’s final squad heading to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. Earlier this week, the Belgian named a 54-man provisional team. Each participating team can submit a list of up to 27 players, but the Confederation of African football (CAF) will only cover travel and accommodation costs for 23 players. This means the countries that take more than 23 players will be liable for the costs of…

The persistent and structural crisis of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa necessitates an analytical hermeneutic that decisively anchors its genesis within the enduring colonial matrix of power (colonialidad del poder), Foucauldian modalities of power/knowledge, and spatialized dispositifs of oppression and resistance. This colonial matrix establishes and sustains the racialised and patriarchal hierarchies that subsequently consign specific subjectivities and corporeal realities, particularly those of Black women, queer, and trans persons, to the necropolitical calculus and the status of social death…