ILYA ROGACHEV On 24 February 2022 Russia, being left with no other option to protect the people of Donbass from constant violence emanating from the Kiev regime which included not just threats, but daily shelling and bombardments of civil residential areas, as well as tackle strategic security threats to Russia, had to launch the special military operation in Ukraine for the purpose of its denazification and demilitarization. Russia came to stop the war against the people of Eastern Ukraine, launched…

China’s newly appointed foreign minister Qin Gang completed a weeklong trip to Africa, which took him to five countries, namely Angola, Ethiopia, Benin, Gabon and Egypt, from Jan 8 to 16. Qin was following in the footsteps of his predecessors who for the past 32 years have made it a norm to visit Africa at the start of each year to strengthen and set the agenda for Sino-African relations. The first of such trips that set the beginning of what…

 MOGOMOTSI MOGODIRI WHILST reflecting on the impact of the EFF “national shutdown”, my attention was drawn to a media statement on the use of the army to suppress legitimate protests in eSwatini released by the ANC in 2021. In it, the ANC emphatically scolded the eSwatini junta by stating, in part, that “the use of security forces to quell political dissent and the failure to address legitimate civilian concerns complicates the conflict and adds fuel to the fire”.  It is…

When I arrived on Wednesday the 22nd of March at the Pietermaritzburg High Court, to support President Jacob Zuma in his private criminal prosecution of advocate Billy Downer and Media24 journalist Karyn Maughan, I was met with the extraordinary sight of journalists who are members of SA National Editors’ Forum (SANEF), picketing with placards stating that the prosecution of Maughan was an ‘attack on media freedom’.  As I had to pass the SANEF picket line in order to get into…

“Ugly as his views about women may be, Trump represents the world that has disrespected women for centuries. His victory should be seen as a deadly blow to the fight against gender inequality that continues to persist” METJI R. MAKGOBA The world is still reeling from Donald Trump’s ascendancy to one of the most powerful offices in the international system.  From social to mainstream media, people are trying to come to terms with Trump’s election triumph.  As the US’s president-elect, he…

It is in the year 2017 that the African National Congress (ANC) will host yet another watershed 54th elective national conference post-Nelson Mandela’s death in 2013. Should Jacob Zuma not avail himself for a 3rd term of office as the President of the ANC; the much anticipated December 2017 national conference will produce his successor as the party leader and subsequently, the 1st citizen in case the electorate renew the mandate of the incumbent party. Hence, it is in the…

The president speaks with a forked tongue, writes MetjiR. Makgoba WHEN Jesus appealed to his disciples to uphold honesty in their deeds in the Book of John, he told them that the truth would set them free.  Jesus cut a high-minded figure and inspired his followers to love the truth. His values and sermons have since found expression in many societies across the globe and have been chiselled into law and institutions to encourage accountability and good governance. He envisaged…