South Africa: Land Reform Benefits Elite and the Politically Connected

South Africa's land reform programme was supposed to ensure that the impoverished get to own and work the land. Now, only the politically connected and economically included are… Read more »

South Africa: Environment and Religious Groups Stand Together Against Nuclear Energy

The Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Earthlife have sent a letter to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy urging the government to… Read more »

South Africa: Fishers Express Their Lockdown Challenges On World Ocean Day

Fishing communities from around the country marked World Ocean Day on 8 June by raising a number of serious threats to their way of life experienced by South Africa's small-scale… Read more »

South Africa: Gauteng Official Shows Solidarity With Palestine

Dr Bandile Masuku, Gauteng MEC for health, together with other members of his team, was spotted wearing a mask that expressed solidarity with Palestine. His team were on an… Read more »

South Africa: Open Letter By Prof Thuli Madonsela

Dear President Ramaphosa, Read more »

South Africa: The Responsibility of the SA Reserve Bank

We welcome, finally, a written response to critiques of SA Reserve Bank (SARB) monetary policy, specifically, SARB research head Chris Loewald's "Depression risk a bad reason to… Read more »

South Africa: What Does the COVID-19 Crisis Teach Us?

In May 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic passed its first peak in Europe, over 5,000 researchers at more than 700 universities worldwide put their name to the opinion-piece printed… Read more »

South Africa: Bans Needed to Cope With Tsunami of COVID-19 Patients

Long-term public health expert LESLIE LONDON replies to an open letter to the President (published in Notes from the House, April) challenging the ban on tobacco and alcohol sales.… Read more »

South Africa: Ingonyama Trust Board's Missing Budget Another Failure to Account

The Ingonyama Trust Board has failed to get its R22-million budget allocation from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development because it was unable to submit… Read more »

South Africa: Housing Policy Fails to Support Delivery

Housing policy has tended to stand apart from economic objectives and disciplines, sometimes by design and sometimes by default. As a result, it has often hindered rather than… Read more »

South Africa: An Open Letter to Our President

Mary de Haas, violence monitor and an analyst from KZN, has written a letter to Cyril Ramaphosa about the lessons to be learned from lockdown. In so many ways it echoes the… Read more »

South Africa: Word of Warning to Smmes Under COVID-19

Hanno Bekker, the Founding Director of The Legal & Research Group, has found that many consumers and small business owners are under-educated on contractual clauses, such as… Read more »

South Africa: A Tribute to Professor Ben Turok

The Institute for African Alternatives deeply regrets the passing away early today of its Director, Professor Ben Turok. He will be remembered as an icon of the struggle for… Read more »

South Africa: Investigation Into Parliament Suicide Shows Victim 'Was Fighting a Fight That Was Not Heard'

The confidential, but comprehensive and unredacted Public Service Commission's (PCS's) report on the suicide of parliamentary manager Lennox Garane claims that parliament's senior… Read more »

South Africa: Finance Minister Backs Formation of Intelligence Unit Within SARS

Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni declared that he "fully endorses" the establishment of a unit within the South African Revenue Services (SARS) that is deployed to investigate and… Read more »

South Africa: From the Desk of the President Monday, 25 November 2019

Dear Fellow South African, Read more »

South Africa: If Only We Had Learned the Lessons of the Seriti Commission

Most political victories are won in courts these days. Most recently the Pretoria High Court set aside the findings of the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the Strategic Defence… Read more »

South Africa: Why South Africa's Plans for Universal Healthcare Are Pie in the Sky

Performance in South Africa's two tier health system - the public and the private - has been worsening for some time, writes ALEX VAN DEN HEEVER. Politicians have attempted to… Read more »

South Africa: Party Funding Act in Possible Face-Off With Access to Information Legislation

As the battle about the future form of party political funding heats up, the parliamentary portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development has tabled amendments to… Read more »

South Africa: SA Needs a Functioning Parliamentary Budget Office - Now's the Time to Fix It

South Africa's Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is in complete disarray according to SEÁN MFUNDZA MULLER who once worked there. In the 10 years since it was established by… Read more »

South Africa: SA's New Presidential Advisory Unit. Will It Improve Policy?

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is establishing a unit in the presidency which he hopes will improve policy development and coordination. This is an important initiative… Read more »

South Africa: Community Land Rights Have to Co-Exist With Mineral Rights

The troublesome contest between surface versus mineral rights lies at the very heart of the complex issues raised in the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources' report on the… Read more »

South Africa: Minister Told to Put Community Rights Above Demands of Mining Companies

The communities of Matzikama municipality in the northernmost reaches of South Africa's west coast held a verbal sparring match with Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe last week over… Read more »

South Africa: Parliament Must Develop "Holistic" Approach to Economics

South Africa lacks a nationally coherent national economic policy because from the starting point, at parliament, legislators work in silos and fail to talk to each other. This was… Read more »

South Africa: Briefs That Show It All - President Risks Cramp in His Writing Hand

Our president has been hard at work at parliament from long before its official opening, speedily assenting to as many Bills as he can before the fifth democratic parliament closes… Read more »