THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Jun

07

2024

South Africa’s election results present 3 options for government: all are fraught with danger

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africans do not have a deep culture of coalitions. There have been a few coalitions at provincial and municipal levels but most of these were quite unstable. The outcome of the 2024 national election up-ended 30 years of electoral dominance by the African National Congress. The party garnered only 40.18% of the vote while the Democratic Alliance got 21.81%, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party 14.58% and the Economic Freedom Fighters 9.52%. That means that the country will need to learn to dance the coalition dance, a dance that under the best of conditions is fraught with partners stepping on each…

Jun

05

2024

By SIPHIWE NYANDA

“No coalition deal with Zuma, ANC must call a special conference for a new mandate”

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

I speak as a pained member of the ANC. I write as an aggrieved member of the Veterans League; as an angry member of the MK Liberation War Veterans (MKLWV), as well as a former Chairman of the uMkhonto weSizwe Council (MK Council) The former Deputy President of the ANC, Mr Kgalima Motlanthe penned a well-reasoned article in the Sunday Times on the issues the ANC cannot compromise on in seeking to form coalitions to take the country forward following the elections, which for the first time saw the ANC lose its parliamentary majority since the advent of democracy 30…

Jun

04

2024

By LAWRENCE HAMILTON

South Africa: coalition government won’t fix past failures – expect the private sector to play a bigger role in delivering power, transport and security

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

TO help save the planet, governments across the globe are choosing to adopt sustainable policies and encourage (or coerce) the private sector to do likewise. Given the climate crisis, most responsible governments are focusing on finding every possible means to meet existing needs without sacrificing the planet to meet the needs of future generations. In South Africa things are different. Although the country has presented guidelines for a just transition to greener energies, this has not been out of choice. It’s been out of necessity. It is mainly due to the collapse of the country’s energy infrastructure, not government leadership…

Jun

02

2024

By CORINNE SANDWITH

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

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

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 President Cyril Ramaphosa and the breakaway party Umkhonto weSizwe, (MK Party) associated with former president Jacob Zuma. At the centre of the fight between the rival parties is the word “mayibuye”, which has been deployed as an election slogan for the MK…

May

28

2024

By GUY BERGER

Hate speech and disinformation in South Africa’s elections: big tech makes it tough to monitor social media

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

There’s a growing global movement to ensure that researchers can get access to the huge quantity of data assembled and exploited by digital operators. Momentum is mounting because it’s becoming increasingly evident that data is power. And access to it is the key – for a host of reasons, not least transparency, human rights and electoral integrity. But there’s currently a massive international asymmetry in access to data. In the European Union and the US, some progress has been made. For example, EU researchers studying risks have a legal right of access. In the US too, some companies have taken…

May

27

2024

By HANNAH MUZEE

Men still dominate Uganda’s party politics – women’s participation is mostly cosmetic

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ELECTORAL gender quotas in Uganda – first introduced in 1989 – have increased women’s numbers in Uganda’s parliament to 34%. Today there are 189 women out of 557 members of parliament. But women politicians in Uganda continue to be restricted to minority representation. They are constantly battling stereotypes that seek to maintain the status quo of male dominance in political spaces. The electorate has additionally grown accustomed to believing that since women have seats reserved for them, they should stay out of the race for open seats. One of the reasons for this continued marginalisation is that the country’s political…

May

26

2024

By CALVIN D. ULLRICH

What is a secular state? How South Africa has tried to separate religion and politics

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE shifting relationship between state and religion has historically been a contested space and the focus of much scholarship. It is important for observers to understand this unstable boundary so that neither political nor religious actors undermine democratic freedoms. Calvin D. Ullrich, a theologian and philosopher of religion, examines the evolution of the state-religion context in South Africa. South Africa is often referred to as a ‘secular state’. What’s the background? The primary feature of a secular state is political secularism, which is the attempt to draw distinctions between state and religious institutions and their activities. According to this definition,…

May

25

2024

By CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

South Africa bids farewell to trailblazing jurist and human rights champion Justice Yvonne Mokgoro

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

WE gather here today to lay to rest a great South African, a champion of human rights, an outstanding jurist and an icon of gender justice. Through her life and through her work, Imbokodo Justice Yvonne Mokgoro was a pioneer. In so many respects, her legacy is a tribute to resilience, to principled activism and to steadfastness, no matter how great the obstacle or how difficult the climb. In 1994, upon its inception, she became the first black woman to be appointed to the Constitutional Court. Reaching that pinnacle was not a simple progression. It did not come easy. It…

May

23

2024

By KEALEBOGA J MAPHUNYE

Drained but proud: how it felt to organise South Africa’s first democratic election in just 4 months

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa’s historic 27 April 1994 national election marked the end of more than three centuries of colonial and apartheid rule. The period leading to the election was one of heightened political tension, with opponents of change working hard to derail the process through deadly violence. Political scientist Kealeboga Maphunye asks Mandla Mchunu, first deputy secretary of the adjudication secretariat of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa, about that moment. How difficult was it to organise the 1994 elections? Imagine building an aircraft while flying it at an incredible speed over a short distance, towards a destination where multitudes…

May

21

2024

By LEILA PATEL and YOLANDA SADIE

Over 26 million South Africans get a social grant. Fear of losing the payment used to be a reason to vote for the ANC, but no longer – study

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOCIAL grants to reduce poverty feature prominently in the campaign promises of political parties in South Africa’s 2024 national and provincial general elections, set for 29 May. The country’s social grants system is one of the largest in Africa in terms of number of beneficiaries. Research shows that this has helped reduce poverty. About 26 million to 28 million social grants have been paid every month to children, older persons, people with disabilities and the unemployed. The country’s population is 62 million. While some political parties propose expanding the grants system, others propose increasing the amounts. On the campaign trail,…