Polity Audio Articles

Ramaphosa calls for BRICS members to invest in productive capacity President Cyril Ramaphosa, during an address to the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue, held in India this week, called for the bloc to direct investment towards manufacturing and beneficiation, industrial technologies, energy systems, infrastructure and logistics. Africa must not only supply the minerals on which the next gene...

Nigeria suspends official visits to SA over xenophobic attacks The Nigerian National Assembly has officially suspended all official visits to South Africa and has initiated a complete boycott of South African-hosted or South African-organised legislative activities. This directive follows intensive consultations between the leadership of the country's Senate and the House of Representatives and is...

Parties lodge ethics complaint against Majodina over vulgar tirade against Kouga resident The EFF, DA and ActionSA have criticised Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina, following a highly contentious confrontation with a resident in the Eastern Cape. The incident, which has sparked widespread public outcry, has led to an official ethics complaint laid by the DA and ActionSA, and intensi...

South Africa urged to lock in reforms before Ramaphosa leaves South Africa must enshrine its reform process in law to guarantee the momentum gained under President Cyril Ramaphosa endures after he leaves office, said the head of a key business lobby group. "The reform project is the most important project that is happening in this country," Business Leadership South Africa Chief Executive Officer...

Six S Africans still missing after Nepal floods, DNA provided in search efforts Six South African nationals remain unaccounted for following devastating flash floods in Nepal, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) confirmed on Thursday. In response to a formal request from the Nepalese government, Dirco has partnered with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to exped...

South Africa's current account records Q2 deficit as Iran war drives up import costs South Africa recorded a current account deficit in the second quarter after a strong surplus in the first three months of this year, as the Iran war drove import costs sharply higher, central bank data showed on Thursday. The current account deficit was 2.6% of gross domestic product in the second quarter, compare...

Impeachment Committee halts evidence leader appointments, heads to court against EFF, ALPA The Section 89 Impeachment Committee announced on Wednesday that it will legally oppose court applications brought by the EFF and the African Legal Professional Association (ALPA). The legal battle followed the committee's controversial decision to rescind its initial recommendation to appoint advocate Thand...

EFF heads to court over Parly's 'irrational' reversal on removal of impeachment evidence leader The EFF has filed an urgent application at the Western Cape High Court, seeking to review and set aside Parliament's decision to rescind the appointment of Advocate Thandazani Madonsela as chief evidence leader of the Section 89 Impeachment Committee in the Phala Phala matter. The party contends that th...

South Africa's 3% inflation goal is robust, Central Bank study shows South Africa's 3% inflation target can withstand a range of economic shocks as expectations have become better anchored and more forward-looking, the central bank said in a new study. In the absence of major shocks, there's a 78% chance that inflation will remain between the central bank's 2% and 4% tolerance band, authors Theo J...

Govt launches massive crackdown on illegal immigration, hijacked buildings Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi has announced a sweeping, multidisciplinary national strategy to reclaim thousands of hijacked buildings across South Africa's major metropolitan areas and drastically tighten the country's immigration and border controls. Speaking on Tuesday, Kubayi reveal...

Manufacturing, mining weigh on second-quarter economic growth; GDP contracts by 0.2% q/q South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter for the second quarter, following growth of 0.4% in the first quarter of the year, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reports. The manufacturing industry contracted by 1.8%, contributing -0.2 of a percentage point, to the overall...

Mbalula extols ANC internal nominations process as party challenges IEC in court over 'administrative setback' The ANC has launched an urgent application in the Electoral Court following the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC's) rejection of the party's 181 candidate nominations across six municipalities. Announcing the legal challenge, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula emphasised that des...

Businesses not yet feeling the effect of reforms, as confidence drops – BLSA Businesses are unfortunately not yet feeling the impact of structural reforms on the ground, with felt progress important in the move toward a new operating environment in which electricity is priced through competitive markets and logistics services can be accessed through multiple operators, says business organisation B...

Court shuts down UDF's bid to get IEC to extend candidate nomination deadline The Electoral Court has handed down a decisive judgment dismissing an urgent application by the newly registered United Democratic Front (UDF), which sought permission to participate in the upcoming local government elections despite missing the critical candidate nomination deadline. The applicant, which was officially...

Ramaphosa says Madlanga commission must be free from interference, defends SAPS President Cyril Ramaphosa has asserted that the ongoing Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality and Political Interference within South Africa's Criminal Justice System must proceed thoroughly and entirely without interference. Writing in his weekly newsletter on Monday, the President addressed the "deeply dist...

Ramaphosa authorises SIU corruption probe into E Cape Public Works President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially authorised the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe allegations of corruption and maladministration at the Eastern Cape Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. By signing Proclamation 344 of 2026, the President has cleared the way for the Unit to investigate a series of highly se...

Hill-Lewis urges Ramaphosa to intervene in DBE textbook catalogue DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has issued an urgent appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa to step in following an unprecedented showdown within the Department of Basic Education (DBE). The dispute centres on a "green light" given by the department's director-general for a controversial new Foundation Phase textbook catalogue, completely...

Ramaphosa believes ANC candidate system glitches are 'containable' ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed confidence that the party's election candidate nomination registration issues will be resolved, describing the issue as "containable and manageable." Speaking during a campaign trail event in Ekurhuleni on Friday, Ramaphosa minimised the impact of what the party says are Independent Elect...

South Africa may face class action over Sharpeville massacre Survivors of one of the defining events of the anti-apartheid struggle, the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, and their dependents have applied for permission to institute a class action against South Africa's government over the failure to repeal a 65-year-old law that prevents them from seeking damages. An application, filed in the Gauteng Hi...

Nov polls 'critical turning point' to end corruption, service failures – Amnesty International Ahead of the upcoming local government elections scheduled for November 4, Amnesty International South Africa is calling on voters to cast their ballots with human rights and accountability at the forefront of their minds. With widespread public frustration over collapsing infrastructure and poor governa...

ANC reiterates 'system glitches' as it appeals to IEC to recognise election candidates The ANC has formally requested that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) recognise and process candidate details that the party says were successfully captured and stored on the system prior to last Friday's deadline, rather than the IEC treating the submissions as non-existent, owing to the party's belief...

RMB/BER Business Confidence Index stabilises after second-quarter setback The Business Confidence Index (BCI) published by financial services firm RMB and economic research organisation the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) edged down by one point to 38 in the third quarter, slightly down from the 39 recorded in the second quarter. The index indicates that this level of confidence implies that 62...

Dirco clears High Commissioner Sooklal of suspicion of facilitating Zuma-Gupta meetings The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) announced on Wednesday that its official mission to India did not facilitate any substantive engagement between former President Jacob Zuma and fugitive businessman Ajay Gupta during Zuma's recent private trip. Following the conclusion of interna...

IEC records 43% surge in candidates for Nov elections, despite thousands missing registration cutoff The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced a massive surge in political participation ahead of the upcoming local government elections in November, while clarifying that candidates who failed to finalise their applications are officially out of the running. Addressing the media in Cen...

MVC takes aim at 'incomplete' political donor records, 'toothless' funding framework The latest political funding disclosure has sparked intense debate over the true meaning of transparency in South Africa's politics, with civil society organisation My Vote Counts (MVC) warning that current laws are leaving voters in the dark about who controls the cash. Ahead of the upcoming local government elec...