Mpumalanga ANC chairperson Mandla Ndlovu has been elected premier, marking a new era for the province after the 2024 general elections. He replaces embattled former Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, who was forced to relinquish the top job after ANC top brass confirmed Ndlovu’s candidacy in a statement released on Thursday, June 13. The Mpumalanga Legislature elected Ndlovu at its first sitting on Friday.  His election came hours after it emerged that the ANC and the Democratic Alliance had agreed to…

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has denied the widely publicized allegations of personally benefiting from military tenders during her time as South Africa’s Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. According to the Sunday Times on Sunday, a whistleblower identified Mapisa-Nqakula as one of the beneficiaries in an affidavit to the Independent Directorate of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). It added that businesswoman Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu had decided to testify against South Africa’s legislative branch leader, who served as…

It’s official! South African voters will be heading to the much-anticipated 2024 polls on May 29, which will be a Wednesday. President Cyril Ramaphosa officially set the date for the country’s upcoming general elections on Tuesday night, February 20, 2024, marking a crucial moment in South Africa’s democratic journey. The announcement follows mounting pressure from opposition parties and citizens alike, eager to exercise their right to vote. This year’s elections coincide with the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s liberation from…

The Jacob G Zuma Foundation has characterised former President Jacob Zuma’s recent release on remission as a strategic instrument to bolster President Cyril Ramaphosa’a’s chances of securing reelection in the upcoming year. Zuma was one of the first 32 individuals released from prison through the presidential special remission on Friday, as part of a nationwide initiative to alleviate overcrowding in correctional facilities. Over 1 500 of the 9 488 non-violent offenders granted remission were released into community correction this past…

The release of former President Jacob Zuma from prison, as part of a nationwide remission of non-violent offenders to ease the overcrowding of correctional facilities across the country, has been met with mixed reactions. While the Democratic Alliance (DA) has labelled President Cyril Ramaphosa a “spineless” leader who moved towards a political solution to save Zuma from another stay in prison, former Public Protector Professor Thuli Madonsela has given thumbs up to the executive decision. “I support the remission of…

John Steenhuisen, the DA Leader, was three months old when the apartheid police massacred Hector Pieterson and other youths on June 16, 1976. His fellow DA leader, Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille, was 25 and working as a journalist at the Rand Daily Mail. Their fellow traveller Kallie Kriel, the Afriforum CEO and face of white Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa, was six years and three months old.  The trio are the faces of white South Africans who accuse EFF…

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is taking on review Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka’s Phala Phala report, which it labelled a “white-wash” and “pro-Ramaphosa public relations exercise” aimed at securing the public protector’s job.  Accusing Gcaleka of muddying the waters and misinterpreting relevant laws in her final report, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the acting public protector sought to project Ramaphosa as an “innocent bystander” who knew nothing by the inner workings of his administration and the presidential protection unit (PPU).…