Local Government Elections 2016: SA’s big issue poll

By Ranjeni Munusamy

The date of South Africa’s fifth municipal elections is unlikely to be announced for at least another month with another round of registrations scheduled to take place on 9 and 10 April. Once the elections are proclaimed, the voters’ roll will be closed. There will be many ...

Infographic: SA's voting landscape

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) briefed the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on Tuesday, 16 February 2016 on their state of readiness for the 2016 Municipal Elections. Although the exact date of the 2016 Municipal Elections will only be known when the election is officially proclaimed by the Minister of ...

Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI): Re-imagining local government

What are the major challenges facing municipalities today?

pari

In South Africa today multiple contradictions (economic, social and political) are increasingly playing themselves out at the local government level.

What are the implications for municipalities and how are they responding to these challenges?

Ahead of the upcoming local government elections, the ...

Desperate and divided: South Africa has had enough

By Lizette Lancaster

Increasingly, South Africans from all walks of life are mobilising for change. Many resort to public protest in the hope of galvanising government to improve its performance and do something about unacceptable levels of unemployment and poverty. Last year saw widespread community-level protests, along with large-scale student ...

Parliament in 2016: what to expect

From the local government elections to political battles, 2016 promises to be another turbulent year in Parliament. Also high on the agenda are contentious legislation, domestic challenges, the state of the economy and public accountability. We preview some of the main issues that will dominate the headlines in 2016.

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Review of Parliament 2015

The 2015 parliamentary year will be remembered as one of the most dramatic and eventful. The legislature had a bumper year of court battles, internal squabbles, brinkmanship, attempts to impeach the President, riot police batting with protesters and MPs and strike action. Despite all the sideshows and distractions, Parliament still ...

OPINION: In the interests of full disclosure

By Judith February.

It feels a little like the pot calling the kettle black.

This past week the African National Congress (ANC) was very eager to point out that certain Democratic Alliance (DA) MPs, including leader Mmusi Maimane, had failed to fully declare their interests in Parliament’s register of financial ...

The Week Ahead: Question sessions, higher education & legislation

It's a big week in the NA chamber with MPs scheduled to sit for long hours to consider several bills and assorted committee reports.

The major plenary highlights will be the question sessions involving the Ministers in the Social Services Cluster and the Deputy President on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. ...

The Week Ahead: Parliament's fourth term kicks off

Parliament resumes this week after a two-week constituency period. The fourth term will run for seven weeks and the programme is packed with activities. Some of the highlights include committee, oversight and legislative work; oral questions to the executive and a review of the national budget.

Later this month, the ...

Op-Ed: Activism is alive and well and living in SA

By Julian Brown

We do not have a crisis of activism or political commitment in South Africa. Instead, we have a vibrant, challenging, and contentious political sphere defined by grassroots activism.

If we’re to believe recent reports in the Daily Maverick, South Africa’s activists are in trouble: Zwelinzimi Vavi believes ...