Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
drew forrestlatest news & developments
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa arrives at  the African National Congress party manifesto launch in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Photo: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Vote 2024 | The ANC campaign trail

We delve into the ANC’s campaign trail as we approach the 2024 elections, marking a critical juncture 30 years into South Africa’s democracy. We uncover the enduring patterns and…

People take part in a Trans freedom march for victims of transphobic hatred , on November 20, 2021 in Rome, Italy. Transgender Day of Remembrance (Tdor) is the global day of remembrance for victims of hate and violence against transgender people.  (Photo by Simona Granati – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Fighting for inclusion can never be fascism, Drew Forrest!

The M&G has a responsibility to deplatform dehumanising views, to advocate for free speech but not allow hate speech

Young People take part in a Trans freedom march for victims of transphobic hatred with a banner saying Trans lives matter, on November 20, 2021 in Rome, Italy. Transgender Day of Remembrance (Tdor) is the global day of remembrance for victims of hate and violence against transgender people.  (Photo by Simona Granati – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

South Africa is home to a culture of transphobia

Two M&G articles defending trans-exclusionary views draw on the insidious anti-trans rhetoric flourishing in the UK, but ignore our country’s constitutional protections

Judge Willie Seriti.

Arms deal gets a coat of whitewash

Few foresaw just how comprehensively the Seriti commission’s report bleaches out the slightest taint of government wrongdoing, writes Drew Forrest.

Civil society movements survive. One is the Amadiba Crisis Committee, which has for years led a community-driven campaign against titanium mining in the Xolobeni area of the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape. Photo: File

Stop the titanium death dunes

Only one sure way to restore peace and security to Xolobeni: the government must set its face against mining – and soon.

Tokyo Sexwale.

Editorial: Fifa must say no to cagey Tokyo

Sexwale’s opaque and controversial business dealings, particularly on our continent, raise obvious questions about whether he has the right profile.

Angry: Forensic accountant Anton Kriel uncovered the suspicious cash flows. Photo: Oupa Nkosi

Housing scandal arrest ‘imminent’

The contractor at the centre of R60m fraud claims has been suspended from his plum government job

The spy cables reveal little about the President. There are justified fears that they will be used to drive through the “secrecy” Bill.

Editorial comment: Who, really, is security serving?

The spy cables reveal little about the President. There are justified fears that they will be used to drive through the "secrecy" Bill.

Community klaar with Finnish mine

Community klaar with Finnish mine

A major source of income and jobs is on hold while the company tries to find a solution.

President Jacob Zuma.

You don’t have to be ?’clever’ to see through Zuma

Leaders should not expose themselves to the slightest perception of a conflict between their private interests and public responsibilities.

The saint versus the humanist

The saint versus the humanist

There are striking parallels between Gandhi and Madiba, but at heart they were very different men.

How many times can Independent news boss Iqbal Surve call “bullshit” on the M&G? Find out in this interview where he says we are CIA-funded.

Survé will need to grow thicker skin

As the state’s direct, extensive interest in private media grows, so too must scrutiny of its influence, writes Drew Forrest.

Allan Donald at the 1999 World Cup

Proteas World Cup woes: It’s not choking, it’s panic

Panic is a plausible way of understanding what went wrong in England in 1999 when SA had perhaps its best side and most realistic chance of winning.

Stephan Whitehead.

Neil Aggett’s tormentor does work for state

The apartheid policeman who was instrumental in unionist Neil Aggett’s suicide has rebranded himself as a business counterintelligence consultant.

Digging in: The founding ­members of the vegetable garden ­co-operative in Crown Mines in 1978 were

Hurtful memories

This account of an activist’s life is an honest attempt at revealing the man and not the political martyr.

Peter Hain chronicles his journey from apartheid activist to insider in Tony Blair’s government.

The outsider who got in

Peter Hain chronicles his journey from apartheid activist to insider in Tony Blair’s government.

Procol Harum’s Whiter Shade of Pale.

A darker shade of rock

We all know Procol Harum’s enigmatic "A Whiter Shade of Pale". But does anyone else in South Africa cherish their other material, asks Drew Forrest.

Fragments of Dylan

A compendium of reviews by an American music journalist doesn’t provide a comprehensive portrait.

Escaping to Everest to fight a different kind of war

Escaping to Everest to fight a different kind of war

A new book suggests climbers were trying to transcend were five years of trench warfare that shattered the Edwardian idyll.

Batting for the empire

Batting for the empire

An exhaustive book provides the political, social and sporting backdrop to the 1912 triangular Test tournament between England, Australia and SA.