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Insurgency: People living in Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique sought refuge in the Metuge camp for internally displaced people. Photo: Unicef

Child abductions in Mozambique on the rise

Despite the existence of international agreements, the use of children in war has become commonplace in several African conflicts

President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Washington DC this week on a mission few would envy: to rescue a bilateral relationship that has descended into open hostility.
 Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Ramaphosa in Washington: Charm offensive or collision course?

Ideological clashes between Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump – not just tariffs or refugees – may prove the biggest threat to restoring tattered trade relations and diplomatic trust

World view: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) stands with Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank (left), on a balcony of the town hall before a session of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference on 7 October in Hamburg, Germany. Photo: Marcus Brandt/Getty Images

Hard truths in Hamburg hit home

Among the truths is that most of the 17 sustainable development goals adopted by UN member states are doomed to fail

Supporters of South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), sing and dance at the launch of the party’s canvassing drive in Crossroads, Cape Town, 08 February 2004, a day after the DA launched its election campaign vowing to prevent a ‘one party state’ ruled by the African National Congress (ANC) by creating a ‘real multi-party democracy’. South African president Thabo Mbeki is due to announce the date of the 2004 general elections in parliament 09 February.  AFP PHOTO/ANNA ZIEMINSKI

From the 2004 M&G election archives

Twenty years ago, our analyst wrote that the ANC had not erred catastrophically enough in government to give the opposition a foot in the door

In KwaZulu-Natal, the votes of next week’s by-election will be a test of whether the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party is able to consolidate — at local government level — the electoral gains made on 29 May, when it took 45% of the vote in the province. (Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Zuma candidacy case hints at electoral court weaknesses

The treasury has not allocated additional resources to the court to deal with the likely increase in workload relating to the 2024 election

Working together, governments, the private sector and regional bodies can solve the infrastructure problems hobbing the growth of the mining sector in Africa. Photo by Emmanuel Croset/AFP

30 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY: SA’s economy neither Gear nor there

Amid directionless policy after 30 years of democracy, the country’s prospects continue to be driven by the whims of miners and their financiers

‘Spare no one’: Israel has declared a war of attrition, of annihilation, in Gaza, and its leaders have invoked not only the Book of Samuel but also the Crusades. Civilians, even children, are killed in the war that includes starvation as a weapon. Photo: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images

God edition: Where is God in the Gaza war?

The Israeli invasion is also a battle between religion and law with no certain outcome

The national carrier SAA emerged from three years under business rescue in April last year, thanks to a R10.4 billion bailout. However, it is still grappling with the effects of a turbulent history marked by financial distress, operational problems and allegations of mismanagement. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

‘Team privatisation’ continues to score despite SAA own-goal

Despite what some say about the Takatso deal’s collapse, the private sector has made strong inroads at public enterprises

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. (Waldo Swiegers/Getty Images)

Can SAA soar without its wingman?

The government’s effort to nail down a strategic equity partner with fat pockets hasn’t worked out. But if the national carrier cleans up its financial act, it could still be in with a chance

A man lights a candle at a makeshift memorial for Wagner private mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in central Moscow on October 1, 2023, to mark 40 days since his death as per Orthodox tradition. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)

What Wagner Group’s new branding means for Russia’s operations in Africa

The choice of name could be an attempt to add a layer of obfuscation to cover what has been in plain sight for a long time. That Russian mercenaries in Africa serve one master – the Kremlin

More than 70% of adults surveyed in 25 countries perceive the spread of online misinformation, the global economy and terrorism as major threats in 2025, a new report from the Pew Research Centre shows.

Tech is already being used to manipulate us

From Egypt to South Africa, fake accounts, bots and generative AI are manipulating African politics. And 2024 is a record year for elections

Migrants of various nationalities are rescued by the Spanish NGO Open Arms in international waters on September 30, 2023. The migrants are from Syria, Bangladesh, Sudan, Eritrea, Palestine, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Egypt, Chat, Senegal and Mali. (Photo by Jose Colon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Europe brewed its so-called ‘migrant crisis’

Decades before today’s migrants boarded small boats to Europe to ‘take their jobs’, European fishing ships were trawling West African waters, taking food and jobs from the locals. And they still are

In his 2025 State of the Nation address the president promised improved healthcare access and infrastructure. (Photo by Guillem Sartorio/Getty Images)

Healthcare in South Africa after 30 years of democracy: The good, the bad and the ugly

It is an unfortunate reality that the healthcare system is still failing the majority of South Africans

A South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldier gestures during operation “Shanela” in the Soul City informal settlement near Kagiso on December 14, 2024. Security forces raided an informal settlement west of Johannesburg arresting scores of people in a crackdown on illegal mining. (Photo by WIKUS DE WET/AFP via Getty Images)

How the SANDF has declined over 30 years

The hollowing out of the armed forces was laid bare in 2023, when it was disclosed that 85% of the air force’s aircraft fleet was out of action

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters headquarters on January 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Economy braces for Trump 2.0

The American presidential hopeful’s world policies make him a bull in a china shop

Senzo Meyiwa and Kelly Khumalo were lovers when he was shot.
 (Photo by Gallo Images / Daily Sun / Lucky Morajane)

The NPA’s Kelly Khumalo problem

According to a legal expert, the singer should have been charged alongside the five accused

Students wave a Somali flag during a demonstration in support of Somalia’s government following the port deal signed between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland at Eng Yariisow Stadium in Mogadishu on January 3, 2024.  (Photo by ABDISHUKRI HAYBE/AFP via Getty Images)

Abiy’s port in a storm

Landlocked Ethiopia wants a port, any port. Somaliland has a coastline and wants someone to recognise the self-governing territory as a fully-fledged country. So a deal was made that could redraw the map. But everyone else objects

Vector illustration

Combating deliberately wrong information that intends to mislead and misinform in an election year is a civil duty

Combating deliberately wrong information that intends to mislead and misinformation in election year is a civil duty

Judges take their seats prior to the hearing of Israel’s defense at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against South Africa’s genocide case in Gaza against Israel on January 12, 2024, in the Hague, Netherlands. On day one of the trial, South Africa presented hard evidence in the case it filed on Dec. 29, accusing Israel of genocide and violations of the UN Genocide Convention with its actions in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)

ICJ genocide case provides important lessons in both law and journalism

It also provides opportunities to learn and to advance the profession

Supporters during the ANC KZN Palestinian Solidarity March on October 26, 2023 in Durban, South Africa. The group is standing in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance against Israeli and over the war in the Gaza Strip. South Africa has taken a resolute step forward to give leadership to the Global South and progressive forces in the West by opening a case of genocide against Tel Aviv at the International Court of Justice. (Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

South Africa gives leadership on the international stage

The state is standing up on principle knowing full well that there will be intense international and domestic pressure to fall into line