Mail & Guardian2 d ago

ANC may need a blue lifeline in Joburg

Despite the ANC in Johannesburg saying that it would prefer not to work with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in a coalition in the city, the party might be forced to form a coalition with the blue party, as the numbers on the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) results board indicate that the DA is likely to win the city. The ANC leadership appears to be amenable to working with the DA in Johannesburg, but the region wants to work with parties it considers like-minded. O…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Editorial: Why you needed to vote

On the eve of the 4 November local government elections and throughout election day, thousands of Gauteng residents were dealt a familiar blow: they had no water, no electricity, or neither. This glaring failure on the most critical day for local politicians is the ultimate proof that our political class simply does not care. If political parties and public officials cannot manage to keep the lights on and the taps running when they are actively begging for your vote, how ca…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Mahershala Ali wrestles with faith and violence

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother begins with a hadith. A man asks Prophet Muhammad who deserves the best of him. “Your mother,” the Prophet replies. Who next? “Your mother.” And after that? “Your mother.” Only when the man asks a fourth time does the Prophet say, “Your father.” Writer-director Bassam Tariq takes his title from that exchange, and it is the key to everything that follows. That matters because the marketing points somewhere else. The trailers sell a hitman t…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Sophiatown’s patience is wearing thin

The rubbish bins were overflowing, the streets needed attention and the walls of one elderly resident’s home bore the scars of attempted break-ins. Looking at the state of her neighbourhood, the 72-year-old Sophiatown resident wondered aloud who would finally put things right. Then she glanced up at an election poster of Helen Zille. “I know that Gogo can help us,” she said of Zille, the Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg. A long-time DA supporter, she…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

‘They have forgotten us’

We used to feel their presence long before the voting station went up. They have forgotten us. The ANC has forgotten us.” For Zodwa Ngubo, a resident of Endulwini section in Tembisa, the changing face of election campaigns tells a story of its own. There was a time when the presence of the African National Congress (ANC) in the community was unmistakable. Residents knew when elections were approaching. The party was visible, its representatives were familiar faces, and there…

SABC News2 d ago

IEC reports incident of interference during vote counting in Douglas

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

4 Bedroom House for Sale in Portlands

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

3 Bedroom Townhouse to Rent in Musgrave

SABC News2 d ago

MKP raises concern over slow release of preliminary KZN results

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Mono T brings ‘Bashanyana’ back to the dance floor

It is 2010 and most parents are unaware that their children are taking extra lunch boxes and walking from Kempton Park to Tembisa just so they can save enough money to buy black suede Carvela 5-Step, 1212 Metal Moccasin or the 920 Penny Moc in December. Every month, there would be a meeting at the park to discuss how much the loudest taxi would cost, as well as how much money would be needed for a bucket of KFC to sustain the trip to Fountains Valley in Pretoria, where the b…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Dreamscapes of memory and self-discovery

In recent years South African and France-based choreographer Vincent Mantsoe’s work has been concerned with reclaiming and capturing his dance as a practice. With a legacy of choreographic mastery that spans three decades, this seems a natural progression to leave a mark and for his technique to be studied. The 2023 dance piece Zo!, for example, revisits and recaptures the movement repertoire of his early works Hanano Blessing of the Earth (the 1995 Afro-Asian piece performe…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Beyond the X lies a constitutional promise

There is a stillness that falls over a polling station just before the doors open on election day. In community halls, school classrooms, church fellowships and tents pitched against the dust of a rural road, South Africans arrive with IDs in hand and queue, sometimes for hours, to make a mark on a ballot. That mark is small. Its significance is immense. It is the oldest and most dignified gesture in a constitutional democracy; the deliberate transfer of power from the gover…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Nelson Mandela’s challenge to a world divided by conflict

This November marks the 10th anniversary of the 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement, which our government reached with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the most powerful guerrilla in the Western Hemisphere. It was a defining moment for our nation, demonstrating what diplomacy and dialogue can achieve, even in times of conflict and uncertainty.

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Sharing power is easy; governing is hard

Coalition governments face a test beyond surviving votes of no confidence. How parties exercise shared power will determine whether divided electoral mandates produce administrations that function through collaboration, political blame shifting or opportunities for capture of state institutions. The 2026 Indlulamithi Barometer places 72% of national indicators in Hadeda Home, characterised by quarrelsome coalitions, weak governance and stagnation; 20% in Vulture Culture, whe…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

Two nations, one enduring lesson in freedom

The 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight of 1956 provided an opportunity to honour those who sacrificed their lives for democracy while reflecting on the enduring historical ties and growing partnership between Hungary and South Africa. The Chargé d’Affaires of Hungary, Dóra Kövendi, hosted a commemorative reception at Pretoria Country Club, bringing together members of the diplomatic corps, government representatives and distinguished guests to mar…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

The dangerous price of silence

This year may well be remembered as one of the most polarised periods in recent history. Political divisions are deepening, while anti-immigrant sentiment continues to intensify. Geopolitical conflicts are fracturing international relations and the rising cost of living is testing the resilience of communities across the world, driving millions into the streets in protest, sometimes with violent consequences. From France to Ukraine and from Soweto to Durban, scenes of unrest…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

The vote was never the whole of freedom

The ballot boxes have closed, the votes have been counted and the political contest concluded. The immediate focus will be on political negotiations as parties seek to carve out coalition and power-sharing arrangements. Yet, as South Africa enters the next five-year local government term following its sixth democratic local government elections, democracy’s most important work is only beginning. As many analysts and ordinary citizens reflect on the November 4 local governmen…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

A moment in history

Yesterday my eight year old granddaughter stepped up to a ballot box and voted for the very first time. The room looked like any other voting station. The voting station scene reminded me of the voting station in Hilbrow where I was the presiding officer in 1994. My granddaughter Melo and her colleagues waited patiently in the long queue, not quite as snaky as our 27 April 1994 queues when we as adult Africans voted for the first time in this country. Melo’s face seemed a mi…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

The culture of mediocrity ends

Even the top performing municipalities in South Africa are not consistent in spending money that is already physically given to them for capital projects. Poor performance by municipalities belies the fact that for more than 150 years project management and engineering have been core skills in RSA with world class universities focusing on those disciplines including UCT, US, UWC, CPUT, WITS, UP, UKZN, UJ and many more. No single municipality in South Africa has consistently…

Mail & Guardian2 d ago

The ballot box is only the beginning

Electoral integrity is key to South Africa’s future and a credible vote could help restore its international reputation. As South Africans headed to the polls on Wednesday, 4 November, the country faces a democratic test that extends far beyond municipal boundaries. The local government elections will determine who manages municipalities responsible for water, electricity, sanitation, housing and other essential services. But the vote also offers an opportunity to demonstrat…