This Is Politics SA Podcast

With local government elections less than 50 days away, the political temperature is rising. Phumi Mashigo sits down with Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya to unpack the ANC’s candidate-list chaos, the DA’s missed opportunities, MK’s rise in KwaZulu-Natal and whether the EFF has lost its political edge. Plus: Ramaphosa’s leadership in Africa, Trump and the US midterms, Europe’s shift to the right...

The ANC is facing one of its biggest political tests yet and the cracks are becoming impossible to ignore. In this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the growing battle between the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP), as the two historic Alliance partners prepare to compete against each other in the upcoming local government elections. Why is the AN...

South Africa’s parallel state is back in the spotlight. Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack explosive revelations around spy technology, organised crime and the Madlanga Commission, and ask how deeply criminal networks have penetrated the country’s security institutions. They also examine the growing list of DA scandals, the party’s claims of clean government, and whether its credibility is...

South Africa's unemployment crisis has reached another devastating milestone — 33.6%, with millions of South Africans out of work and youth unemployment climbing to 47.5%. On this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya ask the uncomfortable question: why is South Africa failing to create jobs? Is the problem economic policy? Slow growth? Red tape? The ANC's ideological bag...

The Madlanga Commission has exposed troubling questions about South Africa's anti-corruption institutions and the people entrusted to protect them. In this episode, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the dramatic testimony of Andrea Johnson, once celebrated as one of South Africa's most respected prosecutors and head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC). What does her...

This week on This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack one of the biggest political stories of the year as IPID head Andrea Johnson resigns following explosive testimony before the Madlanga Commission. What does her departure mean for the fight against corruption? Is South Africa finally confronting the networks that have infiltrated law enforcement, or is this just another chapt...

South Africa's political crisis continues to deepen. In this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the biggest stories shaping the country this week. They discuss: • Cyril Ramaphosa's court battle over the Phala Phala impeachment process • Why the Madlanga Commission has captured South Africa's attention • Julius Malema's repeated mention during testimony • Politic...

Has the war between the United States, Israel and Iran really ended — or is this merely the beginning of a new chapter in Middle Eastern instability? Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack Donald Trump's latest Iran deal, ask whether Tehran emerged stronger than expected, and examine what the agreement means for Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu and the wider region. They also turn their attention to...

s South Africa races toward the controversial June 30 deadline set by anti-illegal immigration groups, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the rising tensions around migration, border control, government inaction, and the growing threat of vigilantism. Did President Cyril Ramaphosa's long-awaited address to the nation provide leadership, or merely repeat familiar promises? Why has public tru...

South Africa is in a period of profound political, social and economic uncertainty. Rising unemployment, growing anti-immigration sentiment, crumbling municipalities and an increasingly fragmented political landscape have left many citizens questioning the country's direction. In this episode of *This Is Politics South Africa*, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya step back from the daily headlines...

outh Africa’s political landscape is shifting fast. As anti-illegal immigration groups ramp up pressure ahead of their June 30 deadline, questions around leadership, governance and collapsing municipalities are becoming impossible to ignore. In this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack: • Operation Dudula and rising anti-immigration tensions • Why the ANC is strug...

A prosecutor vanishes. A magistrate throws out the case. One of the most feared men in Mpumalanga walks free. This week on This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the extraordinary courtroom drama involving Joe Ferrari Sibanyoni, the missing prosecutor, and the growing questions around South Africa’s justice system. Was this incompetence? Institutional collapse? Or something ev...

The Constitutional Court has thrown the Phalaphala matter back into Parliament and suddenly Cyril Ramaphosa’s biggest political scandal is alive again. In this explosive episode of This Is Politics SA, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack what the judgment really means, why the ANC is rallying around Ramaphosa, and whether South Africa’s political elite are protecting the President because th...

Why are South Africans angry at immigrants and are they blaming the wrong people? In this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya ask a controversial question: what was Cyril Ramaphosa doing visiting Emmerson Mnangagwa privately at a time when Zimbabwe’s political crisis continues to drive migration into South Africa? As anti-immigrant sentiment rises ahead of the November...

In this episode of This Is Politics South Africa, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya examine the growing fracture between the ANC and the South African Communist Party, placing it in historical context and questioning whether the split has real political consequences. The discussion also turns to corruption within the police, and what it reveals about the state of governance and accountability in...

In this episode of This Is Politics South Africa, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the explosive sentencing of Julius Malema, who has been handed a five-year prison term for unlawful possession of a firearm. The discussion traces his political rise from the Congress of South African Students to leading the Economic Freedom Fighters, exploring the long-standing perception of impunity that...

Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the growing crisis at the heart of South Africa’s criminal justice system. From explosive allegations of political interference in policing to the stark contrast between the Madalanga Commission and Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee, this episode asks a critical question: are we still in control — or is the system slipping away? As evidence of deep-rooted corr...

South Africa has had its Budget Speech and State of the Nation Address. Now the real question is: what kind of world are we governing in? Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the widening war involving Israel, Iran and the United States and what the open embrace of assassinations, regime change and brute force means for international law. Is the rules-based global order collapsing? If the bul...

South Africa’s water crisis is no longer just about leaking pipes — it has become a story about governance, accountability and power. In this episode, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the collapse of water infrastructure in Johannesburg and beyond, revisit the failed “war on leaks” interventions, and examine President Ramaphosa’s growing list of task teams. They explore why Johannesburg c...

South Africa is facing a moment of reckoning. President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation Address — but will deploying the army solve crime? Or is the real crisis inside the police service itself? Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack: The deployment of the SANDF into gang-ridden communities Corruption within SAPS The collapse of water infrastructure in Johannesburg and Soshangu...

South Africa heads into the State of the Nation Address at a precarious moment. In this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack what SONA is meant to represent —and why it often falls short. From economic drift, water crises and youth unemployment to the tensions inside the GNU and the Democratic Alliance’s internal rupture, this is a sober, unsparing look at where t...

South Africa has no shortage of commissions, reports, or shocking revelations — but accountability remains elusive. In this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the explosive interim findings of the Madlanga Commission, the unresolved truths behind the July 2021 unrest, and the disturbing evidence of police leaders protecting organised crime. They debate President...

In this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya unpack the looming question of whether billionaire Patrice Motsepe could actually step into the ANC presidency, and what that would mean for the future of the party and the country. They argue that South Africa’s political culture still treats ambition like a dirty secret, and discuss how the ANC is struggling to find a leader...

In this episode of This Is Politics South Africa, we unpack the shocking naval drill off the coast of Simon’s Town and the deeper crisis it reveals in South Africa’s political system. We discuss how the military reportedly ignored President Cyril Ramaphosa’s direct instruction to exclude Iran, raising serious constitutional questions about civilian control over the defense force. We explore the im...

2026 has begun with a bang — and not the good kind. In this episode of This Is Politics, Justice Malala and Mondli Makhanya interrogate the dramatic seizure of Venezuela’s president and what it reveals about a rapidly changing global order. Is this law enforcement, abduction, or something far more dangerous? And what happens when the world’s most powerful country decides that rules no longer apply...