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Audience rapport: Bongi Mvuyana at the launch of her second album Power in Johannesburg a few weeks ago.
BONGI MVUYANA

Bongi Mvuyana: Album a powerful soundtrack to listeners’ lives

Her new album Power is a decade-long journey blending African influences and fearless vocal artistry

  • Lesego Chepape
5 min read
Bright future: Wind energy projects in Mpumalanga have the advantage of using existing infrastructure from coal plants. Photo: GKR Falcon / Flickr
POWERTRACKER

Mpumalanga is going with the wind

Wind farms are picking up speed in the province at the heart of South Africa’s energy transition

  • Thabo Molelekwa
7 min read
Lessons have been learned, the minister told a debate on the just energy transition. (Ozayr Patel/M&G)
COAL

Tour of Komati power station reveals dilemmas

Achieving a just transition needs years of planning – without it, people will suffer

  • Ozayr Patel
7 min read
File photo by Waldo Swiegers/Getty Images.
CARLOS ZACARIAS

Eskom rejects Mozambique’s power offer

High tariffs have turned the power utility away This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get Your Free Account The Mail & Guardian is committed to…

  • Mandisa Makgakga
1 min read
A permanent stay?: The Karmol LNGT Powership Asia floating storage and regasification unit, operated by Karpowership, docked at Cape Town on 19 April 2022. Karpowership says it can be operational within 90 days – but wants a 20-year contract. Photo: Dwayne Senior/Getty Images
DIESEL

Will Karpowership get the nod – and do we want that?

The Turkish-based gas-to-power firm thinks it is ready to swoop in and save the day by quickly providing more energy to South Africa

  • Ozayr Patel
5 min read
In the space of a year, three notable strikes have affected the interests of the South African public
APARTHEID

Why are South African leaders corrupt?

Our leaders do not use the power they have for the greater good – understanding why graft has become the norm is the first step to finding genuine solutions

  • Karabo Mokgonyana
6 min read
Eskom’s financial situation renders it unable to service utilities from its own revenue. Over R200 billion of the utility’s debt has been considered distressed debt — which must be paid back with urgency — by Eskom chief financial officer Calib Cassim.
ANC

Is Nersa really to blame for Eskom’s mess?

Political parties and NGOs will be taking Nersa and Eskom to court for granting the utility an 18.65% tariff hike

  • Mandisa Makgakga
5 min read
Minister Barbara Creecy’s department presents roadmap on how to achieve 23 green targets set by the global ‘Paris Agreement for nature’ framework. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
BARBARA CREECY

Coal in SA’s energy mix until 2040s, Creecy tells mining indaba

Coal still dominates the domestic energy mix, providing 81.4% of the total system load, according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

  • Anathi Madubela
4 min read
Schoolchildren pass an abandoned mine pit on the outskirts of Wesselton, Ermelo’s satellite township. Photo: James Puttick / New Frame
COAL

Coal-mining communities left in the dust for a greener future

People at the front line of South Africa’s energy transition are in the dark about how it will unfold, and whether it will sustain them

  • Thabo Molelekwa
14 min read
Nuclear scientists claim to have made a major breakthrough in fusion research.
CLEAN ENERGY

Nuclear energy fusion “breakthrough” – How excited should we get?

Is nuclear fusion just a dream or is it achievable?

  • David Walwyn
4 min read
Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy. (Photo by Ruvan Boshoff/Sunday Times/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
BARBARA CREECY

Creecy shoots down Karpowership appeal but extends a lifeline to the project

The Karpowership proposal lacked proper environmental assessments, according to the minister, with noise impacts specifically noted

  • Mandisa Makgakga
5 min read
There are growing calls for regulation of the cryptocurrency market
ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN

Government-controlled cryptocurrencies could lead to a dystopian future

A government could program its cryptocurrency with whatever features it deems necessary. It would allow states to control what money should be spent on, where it could be spent,…

  • Werner van Wyk
6 min read
The World Bank has said that it’s in South Afica’s best interest to move from coal to renewables. (Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
ATTACQ

An Eskom-free future is on the cards

Corporates are already wheeling electricity and planning alternative power plants, and many households are using a mixture of energy sources

  • Tunicia Phillips
  • Anathi Madubela
8 min read
Locked in a suitcase: Chester Missing makes shocking allegations of maltreatment against Conrad Koch and wonders when his looters are coming to liberate him. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ACCOUNTABILITY
Video

Cabinet Report Cards: Chester Missing roasts your ministers

C is not for corruption. Chester Missing and the Mail & Guardian roast the cabinet ministers who are simply not performing

  • Staff Reporter
1 min read
(John McCann/M&G)
ACE MAGASHULE

Masses lulled by South Africa’s wealthy and powerful

The people need to remove their blinkers and reclaim their minds to achieve a better future

  • Andile Zulu
8 min read
Undeterred: Whistleblower Thabiso Zulu sleeps in different locations every night to evade assassination. (Rogan Ward)
ACTIVISM

Story of a whistleblower: ‘Baba, do you think you are about to die?

Whistleblower Thabiso Zulu can’t explain his situation to his son, but continues to expose wrongdoing and show solidarity with others

  • John G Clarke
13 min read
Reliable power is essential for economic growth in key sectors such as manufacturing, where growth is vital for absorbing labour and addressing high unemployment levels. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images)
COMMODITY SUPER CYCLE

Reshuffling the deck chairs at Eskom won’t solve load-shedding

Eskom has had 11 chief executives and countless board changes in 10 years, and its condition remains just as critical. Will another reshuffle make a difference?

  • Ron Derby
5 min read
Iconic: Sola Sobowale returns as crime boss Eniola Salam
AFRICA

Review: Nigeria’s ‘King of Boys’ was a smash hit. Does the sequel do it justice?

Kemi Adetiba’s Netflix miniseries is certainly stylish — but it’s missing the panache of the original

  • Wilfred Okiche
3 min read
Trigger: Donald Trump led the racists and misogynists out of the closet. The killing of George Floyd by a police officer was the flick of the switch that awakened the American white middle class to the extremism enabled by the president. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
BLACK LIVES MATTER

Disease and disorder in the Covid-19 crisis

What do Covid-19, the killing of George Floyd and the toppling of statues express about the human condition at this time of disease-anxiety and global economic recession?

  • Robert Balfour
5 min read