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State capture represents a particularly pernicious form of corruption, wherein private actors exert undue influence over public policy and state mechanisms to serve their own interests, thereby severely undermining democratic governance. (Delwyn Verasamy, M&G)

The perpetual nature of capture in South Africa

South Africa is not experiencing an episodic crisis, one that can be resolved through commissions and reports

The increase in, for example, white and yellow maize, us now at 7.75 million tonnes and 6.91 million tonnes, 16% higher than the 2023-24 season.

A thriving agricultural sector requires stability in Southern Africa

The unrest in Mozambique plus restrictions on trade need to be resolved for South Africa and other countries in the region to boost agricultural production

Rooikat vehicles formed part of the army’s response to the July 2021 riots. Photo: Rajesh Jantilal/ AFP/Getty

CORRECTED: KZN business leaders need ‘hope’ to grow economy

Toyota vice president Nigel Ward says the province has developed resilience in the face of disease, civil unrest and floods

In preparation for the possible dip of the ANC majority in next year’s national elections, the official opposition Democratic Alliance is looking at co-opting the international community to ensure a peaceful state transition. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

DA is preparing for unrest should ANC lose power in 2024

Official opposition says it should lead the process to develop a declaration for a peaceful transition and approach the international community for oversight

Survival: Jabulani Mall in Soweto was hit hard by the unrest. (James Puttick)

Hawkers struggle after Soweto mall looted, vandalised

Informal traders selling their wares outside Jabulani Mall are worried about further unrest as unemployment and the rising cost of living fuel public anger

Not briefed: Police Minister Bheki Cele (left) and police commissioner Khehla Sitole’s testimony at hearings into the July riots suggest monumental crime intelligence failures. (Jaco Marais/ Netwerk24/Gallo Images)

The security cluster remains the thorn in the ANC’s side

Despite a shake-up in defence and intelligence, the security cluster remains shaky ahead of potentially explosive elective conferences

Reeling: Volunteers and workers clean up the looted Bara Mall in Soweto. The destruction and theft in the country is a more than R50-million blow to the already struggling economy.  (Lucas Sola/AFP)

South Africa’s growing social unrest proving as big a threat to growth

Third quarter GDP numbers have interrupted a four quarter economic growth streak because of the July unrest.

Week of hell: Armed residents gathered around fires at a ‘road block’ they’d set up in Phoenix on 15 July. Guillem Sartorio/AFP/ Getty Images

Phoenix hearings lay bare tensions between Black and Indian residents

Indian residents deny ‘massacre’ label; black survivors claim violence and orchestration

Reality: A police official arrests a woman after the
Lotsoho Mall in Katlehong,
southeast of Johannesburg,
was looted and vandalised. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)

Sasria to get R3.9bn from Treasury to cover July unrest insurance claims

Claims totalling more than R5.8-billion had already been paid out to businesses

Target: Looters and arsonists attacked Mobeni during the unrest. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)

Encoding and decoding social unrest: A semiotic analysis of the ‘Zuma protests’

Labelling the protestors as looters denies the political consciousness of those living in precarity, it unconscionably encodes a criminal stereotype over the poor and erases any…

Growth was supported by increases in eight of 10 key industries, with major contributions coming from mining, manufacturing, trade and agriculture, while declines were reported in the transport and construction sectors.
(David Harrison)

July manufacturing output hit by Covid-19 third wave and unrest

In mid-July, supply chains and industrial output were disrupted when parts of the country were rocked by looting, triggered by protests against Zuma’s incarceration

Mboneni Tabane was arrested on 18 July and charged with incitement to commit public violence. His first court appearance was on 20 July, according to the National Prosecuting Authority’s Twitter page.

ANC: Accused insurrection instigator is innocent and will not be removed from election list

The ANC in Johannesburg says charges against a ward councillor accused of instigating last month’s looting and violence are trumped up

Suspended ANC secretary general Ace Magashule.

Magashule’s trial set for October

Court hears that the case against the accused in Free State asbestos case, including Magashule, relies on inadmissible Zondo commission testimony

Speak up: Former Defence and Military Veterans Minister; Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula during a media briefing. (Photo by Gallo Images / Beeld / Theana Breugem)

Top six chooses Mapisa-Nqakula as preferred parliamentary speaker candidate

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, previously the defence minister, replaces Thandi Modise, who was deployed as the minister of defence in last week’s cabinet reshuffle.

The expansion of social grants has been one of the most significant redistributive measures in democratic South Africa. Grants now support millions of children, older persons, and people with disabilities.
 (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

How to apply for the Covid-19 R350 grant

Asylum seekers with valid permits and caregivers will now also be allowed to apply for the reinstituted social relief of distress grant

A member of SAPS shoots rubber bullets to disperse a crowd looting outside a warehouse storing alcohol in Durban on July 16, 2021, after protestors clashed with police following a week of unrest in South Africa.   (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)

Visible and invisible violence in present day South Africa

The relations of social domination are reproduced in our habitual ways of talking

Hundreds of people queue to enter a supermarket stoking a fear of food and fuel shortages in Durban on July 14, 2021 as several shops, businesses and infrastructure are damaged in the city, following five nights of continued violence and looting sparked by the jailing of ex-president Jacob Zuma. – So far, 72 people have died and more than 1,200 people  arrested, since former president Jacob Zuma began a 15-month jail term for contempt, sparking protests that swiftly turned violent.
The violence, targeting malls and other economic hotspots has seen shops and infrastructure destroyed. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)

KwaZulu-Natal gets back to work as fears of second shutdown fail to materialise

Taxi boss Mandla Gcaba went on radio at the weekend to deny his taxis would be used to shuttle protesters to support his cousin, Jacob Zuma

Rooikat vehicles formed part of the army’s response to the July 2021 riots. Photo: Rajesh Jantilal/ AFP/Getty

Security cluster disagrees over describing recent unrest as an ‘insurrection’

State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo and Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula are two leaders who disagreed with the ‘insurrection’ label, sources say

A member of SAPS shoots rubber bullets to disperse a crowd looting outside a warehouse storing alcohol in Durban on July 16, 2021, after protestors clashed with police following a week of unrest in South Africa.   (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)

We are angry. We are anxious.We are traumatised.

We fought for freedom, for autonomy. Now we are traumatised. Our country has allowed its majority to live in conditions that the rich would not accept for their dogs

The continued unrest which has gripped parts of South Africa since the weekend has left 72 people dead while more 1 200 have been arrested.(Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Arrests, deaths double as isolated looting and vandalism spread beyond Gauteng and KZN

Natjoints reports 1 234 arrests, including two police reservists and N Cape and Mpumalanga offenders