
Proxies and plunder: The ongoing crisis in the DRC
Child labour at a gold mine in South Kivu, DRC Congo. The battle for the Eastern DRC is intrinsically linked to the West’s unquenchable yearning for the region’s vast resources, says the writer. Picture: AFP By Kim Heller THE thirst of the West for the mineral wealth of Africa has

Trump’s Re-Election: A New Era of Re-Awakening for Africa?
Members of the African Union (AU) Executive Council at its 45th Ordinary Session meeting held on July 18-19, 2024 in Accra, Ghana. The time is now for Africa to awaken from its slumber and for the leadership to rise to the occasion and harness African energies to promote genuine governance

SONA 2025: Bickering GNU Must Step Up With Decisive Leadership
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa at the playing of the national anthem before delivering his Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) for the Seventh Administration on July 18, 2024. The upcoming SONA presents a critical opportunity for President Ramaphosa to outline a comprehensive strategy that responds decisively to the core challenges afflicting the

Navigating Diplomatic, Military Tightrope Key To DRC’s Peace, Stability Roadmap
SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa (left), President of Zimbabwe and SADC Chairperson Emmerson Mnangagwa and SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) extraordinary summit in Harare on January 31, 2025. The resolution of the crisis in the DRC will require a delicate balance of military

Discontent over Expropriation Act ‘a self-created mini-crisis’
President Cyril Ramaphosa with the Government of National Unity leaders at a dinner hosted by the President in Cape Town on September 11, 2024. If the GNU delivers what the ANC has failed to deliver, this will serve as proof that Africans cannot govern well unless they are subjected to

Decoding The DRC Crisis: The M23 Rebellion And Its Historical Roots
A MEMBER of the M23 armed group greets a civilian on a street in Goma on January 29, 2025. President Tshisekedi’s position that he would never talk to the M23 is no longer sustainable considering the balance of forces on the battlefield. Without the M23 at the negotiation table, the

Africa’s Future In Peril: The Plight of Children in Conflict Zones
Sudanese women and children fleeing the al-Jazira state stand next to their belongings near the eastern city of Gedaref on November 2, 2024. For the Children of Africa, languishing in a seemingly endless loop of war, violence and displacement, the bliss and beauty of childhood has been lost, says the

SADC’s Regional Logistics Depot: A Vital Initiative for Crisis Response in Southern Africa
A member of the M23 armed group walk alongside residents through a street of the Keshero neighborhood in Goma, on January 27, 2025. Since their deployment, several peacekeepers from SAMIDRC have been killed or injured by hostile armed groups in the unstable eastern DRC. These casualties have been linked partially to SAMIDRC’s insufficient logistics

SADC’s ‘Old Boys Club’ An Impediment To Democracy, Peace and Stability.
The 44th Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government was held in Harare, Zimbabwe on August 17, 2024 where Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed its leadership. Claims abound that the SADC is simply an old boys’ club where solidarity and propping each other’s regimes trump holding each other

What Trump’s second term means for South Africa and global politics
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai delivers her closing remarks at the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum at the Nasrec Expo Centre on November 4, 2023. South Africa and Africa, as with his first term, will not be in Donald Trump’s purview because Trump has one agenda only: to

ANC ‘Navel-Gazing’ Amid Rampant Poverty, Inequality, Unemployment
THE ANC’s top seven leadership elected at the party’s 55th elective conference held at the Nasrec Conference Centre, Johannesburg in December 2022. Nothing justifies the ANC leaders’ navel-gazing amid a social, political and economic crisis in the country, says the writer. Picture: Independent Archives Dr. Trevor Ngwane WAS it asking

Mine Owners Culpability In Illegal Mining Needs More Interrogation
President of the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) Mametlwe Sebei (centre)) leads community members and workers in a protest during the rescue operation to retrieve illegal miners from an abandoned gold mine in Stilfontein on January 14, 2025. Mine owners extract various minerals from underground and leave

Proxies and plunder: The ongoing crisis in the DRC
Child labour at a gold mine in South Kivu, DRC Congo. The battle for the Eastern DRC is intrinsically linked to the West’s unquenchable yearning

Trump’s Re-Election: A New Era of Re-Awakening for Africa?
Members of the African Union (AU) Executive Council at its 45th Ordinary Session meeting held on July 18-19, 2024 in Accra, Ghana. The time is

SONA 2025: Bickering GNU Must Step Up With Decisive Leadership
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa at the playing of the national anthem before delivering his Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) for the Seventh Administration on July 18,

Navigating Diplomatic, Military Tightrope Key To DRC’s Peace, Stability Roadmap
SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa (left), President of Zimbabwe and SADC Chairperson Emmerson Mnangagwa and SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi at the Southern African Development

Discontent over Expropriation Act ‘a self-created mini-crisis’
President Cyril Ramaphosa with the Government of National Unity leaders at a dinner hosted by the President in Cape Town on September 11, 2024. If

Decoding The DRC Crisis: The M23 Rebellion And Its Historical Roots
A MEMBER of the M23 armed group greets a civilian on a street in Goma on January 29, 2025. President Tshisekedi’s position that he would

Africa’s Future In Peril: The Plight of Children in Conflict Zones
Sudanese women and children fleeing the al-Jazira state stand next to their belongings near the eastern city of Gedaref on November 2, 2024. For the

SADC’s Regional Logistics Depot: A Vital Initiative for Crisis Response in Southern Africa
A member of the M23 armed group walk alongside residents through a street of the Keshero neighborhood in Goma, on January 27, 2025. Since their

SADC’s ‘Old Boys Club’ An Impediment To Democracy, Peace and Stability.
The 44th Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government was held in Harare, Zimbabwe on August 17, 2024 where Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa

What Trump’s second term means for South Africa and global politics
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai delivers her closing remarks at the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum at the Nasrec Expo Centre on November