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Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla appeared in the Durban High Court on Thursday 14 August in connection with the unrest and public violence that occurred in July 2021, in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. (Photo supplied by the National Prosecuting Authority)

Duduzile Sambudla-Zuma to stand trial in November over July 2021 unrest

Jacob Zuma’s daughter has argued that the charges against her are motivated by the current regime ‘settling political scores’ with her father

Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), during the party’s manifesto launch in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Photo: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Give us land, we will vote for you, Phoenix residents tell Malema

The Economic Freedom Fighters leader criticised the NHI Act, arguing that the government was outsourcing its responsibility

Department of Finance

The journey to full-blown austerity is marked by changes to an economy presided over by a government adrift

Distress: A bridge (above) north of Durban was one of many destroyed by the 2022 floods.
Infrastructure to roads alone is estimated at R5.6-billion. (Marco Longari/AFP)

Government budgets for natural disasters

A report by treasury and the World Bank estimated the average funding gap for financing disaster response in South Africa at R2.3 billion

Tasneem Motara. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

Governance battles hit Gauteng’s economy

Hit by the pandemic, unrest and load-shedding, the province’s economy has suffered a chronic decline

The decision to form a unity government has been broadly welcomed by economists.

Income strain weighs on financial sector

As consumers and businesses reel from tough conditions, insurers have expressed uncertainty over whether there is room for growth

Nehawu members protest outside George Tabor Technical College in Soweto on 8 March 2023. (Fani Mahuntsi/ Gallo Images)

Little fires everywhere as SA comes to terms with economic decline

As the deteriorating economic conditions threaten to ignite another bout of social upheaval, we should consider our options for a co-ordinated blaze

Builder: President Cyril Ramaphosa at last year’s African Mining Indaba. He inherited a struggling economy afflicted by state capture and slow growth and began an investment drive. Photo: David Harrison

Ramaphosa’s economy remains a work in progress

The government has struggled to claw back business confidence after the state capture years.

Grievances: Service delivery protests in areas such as Khayelitsha have become ‘a firmly entrenched social phenomenon’, with at least 193 occuring in 2022. Photos: Jaco Marais & David Harrison

Data shows that service delivery protests will increase, intensify in 2023

Electricity was the biggest cause and driver of service delivery protests in 2022

The government will extend the social relief of distress grant until 2025. Photo: Pieter Bauermeister/AFP

A too-tight budget hurts more than just Eskom

With the economy in crisis, worsened by load-shedding, the fiscus must be more responsive

(Oupa Nkosi)

South Africa’s social fabric is at breaking point

Continuity and adaptability are critical for the achievement of an inclusive society, a report by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation finds

(Getty Images)

GDP contracts as SA’s sluggish economy embarks on a go-slow

Global dynamics and South Africa’s energy crisis will weigh on domestic growth for years to come. But green investment could, eventually, resuscitate the economy

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana.(Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Pressure builds as Enoch Godongwana forges on with fiscal consolidation

Enoch Godongwana is currently seized with preparations for the medium-term budget, which will give details on whether fiscal stability is still possible

(Mail & Guardian)

Politicians should fear more unrest

The July 2021 unrest was shocking and many have since warned that those tensions could be easily reignited

The province’s leaders are calling for mob rule and will try to convince their comrades at this weekend’s national policy conference to support their untenable position. (Rajesh Jantilal)

KwaZulu-Natal sets ANC on the path of self-destruction

The province’s leaders are calling for mob rule and will try to convince their comrades at this weekend’s national policy conference to support their untenable position

Deputy minister of human settlements David Mahlobo. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Mahlobo moots more security spending to stabilise state

The state’s capacity to counter threats, including those posed by immigration, must be strengthened, the former intelligence minister said at the ANC policy conference

People entering the abandoned Presidential Secretariat at Galle Face in Colombo, Sri Lanka on July 10, 2022.(Photo by M.A.Pushpa Kumara/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

‘Tunisia Days’ ahead as inflation exerts political pressure

With high prices continuing to bear down on consumers the world over, leaders who fail to bring inflation to heel could face a reckoning

Police minister Cele says security forces are on guard against persistent threats of violence

Few convictions despite thousands of arrests after July riots

Police minister Cele says security forces are on guard against persistent threats of violence

Former police minister Bheki Cele. (Paul Botes)

Teflon Cele has survived decades of tender allegations

The minister has endured through a leasing scandal and factional wars in the police because the president can’t jettison the KwaZulu-Natal support base that he commands

The 2021 July riots were the most widespread, coordinated, and visible instance of looting in South Africa.

Actions must be taken to stop a repeat of the July 2021 unrest

The underlying causes of the riots persist and all it will take is a spark that could lead to further looting and violence