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Great gift: Africa, a continent of contradiction, where conflict and innovation, fragility and possibility, poverty
and resilience live side by side.

Africa has a gift the world still needs

The demographic case is equally striking. More than 60% of Africans are under 25. By 2050, one in three people aged 15 to 24 anywhere on Earth will be African. A continent this…

Africa does not lack ideals; it has proclaimed them often and well. What it now requires is discipline, execution and political courage on a continental scale. The most fitting tribute to the founders will not be remembrance. It will be readiness.

Africa must rise, for good

Our simple argument is that the Second Scramble for Africa shouldn’t happen on our watch when we have so much at our disposal to avert this age-old plunder. It is a shameful…

South Africa cannot afford frivolous debates that treat borders as provisional or sovereignty as negotiable.

South Africa’s dangerous drift away from sovereignty and nationhood

Transnational commitments are celebrated, while attachment to the nation‑state is treated with suspicion

Brics and the wider multipolar shift have opened a new political field in world affairs. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert / PR

Brics, the GNU and the erasure of African consciousness

The judiciary and legal academy entrenched the same exclusion. They protected the existing order through property law, constitutional abstraction and procedural sanctity. They…

Qasem Soleimani received the Zolfaghar Order from Ali Khamenei, the 87-year-old Supreme Leader who was assassinated in the US and Israeli strikes against Iran. Photo: khamenei.ir

US/Israel war against International Law

The assassination of Khamenei was another blatant violation of international law. It was also part of a broader strategy to eliminate moderate leaders, whose absence is then used…

Canada’s PM Mark Carney. (World Economic Forum)

From the US-led rules-based order to multipolar international law

Recently, Canada’s PM Mark Carney declared the end of the rules-based order. It was an outstanding speech. Yet, US unilateralism first soared in the 1980s. The rest of the West…

Graphic: John McCann/M&G

UPDATED – US Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs, offering hope to countries such as South Africa

The Trump administration slapped South Africa with a 30% import tariff, effective last August

Public dissent: Minnesota protesters demanding accountability and questioning the scale and conduct of
federal immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. Photo: Mohamad Safa/X

Very bad things happening in the US

The emphasis on might and control risks further weakening America’s position as a dependable global partner in diplomatic settings

First couple: Maduro faces a narco-terrorism conspiracy charge. He and his wife were both charged with cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses. Photo: Screen grab WRAL

The Caracas Rupture bleeds world order

This is not diplomacy; it is an eviction notice served by Delta Force

The G20 leaders summit was held in South Africa last week. (GCIS)

Of flags, flowers, fashion and flashlights

Johannesburg not only hosted a successful G20 Leaders’ Summit, the first to take place on African soil, but also delivered an impressive and memorable global event.

Legal township establishment processes exist to ensure that urban development is safe, serviced and sustainable.

Behind Kleinfontein and other illegally established residential areas

Kleinfontein is just one of about 17 other illegally established housing developments in Tshwane

US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety.

Controversial US Ambassador Reuben Brigety resigns ahead of Trump’s assumption of power

Reuben Brigety’s resignation comes amid uncertainty over trade relations under the incoming US administration

China, US set to hold fresh talks on trade disputes

China has raised ‘serious concerns’ over Washington’s trade curbs on Chinese businesses

Minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. (Jairus Mmutle/GCIS)

South Africa considers taking action against Polish embassy

Minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni suggested the government could demarche the Polish ambassador for diplomatic offence

President Cyril Ramaphosa.  File photo by Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

UPDATE: Poland prevents Ukrainian bound South African delegation from disembarking for hours

South African journalists and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s security were stuck in Poland despite the president having earlier met Poland’s leader

Julian Assange is our Antigone. He is awaiting extradition to the US for spying for the people, making public a small part of the obscene dark side of US policy (Reuters/Henry Nicholls)

Right-wing leaders in US and Russia openly embrace criminality

Julian Assange is our Antigone. He is awaiting extradition to the US for spying for the people, making public a small part of the obscene dark side of US policy

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrive for the Peace, Security, and Governance Forum. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

US warns African leaders of Russia, China ‘destabilisation’

The Biden administration woos the continent’s leaders at summit but believes it is futile to try to turn the tide on China’s massive infrastructure spending

Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of telecommunications networking equipment and number-two smartphone manufacturer. (Getty Images)

Huawei denies US allegations of technology theft

Washington fears that Huawei will provide Beijing with a way to spy on communications from the countries that use its products and services

One route to de-escalation could be direct talks between the US and Iran, either on a bilateral basis or as part of multilateral discussions. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

US-Iran tensions: No route for de-escalation in sight

Trump stepped back from launching US airstrikes inside Iran, but the conflict is unabated and there appears to be no way out of confrontation for now

US President Donald Trump (left) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to “resume and push forward productive dialogues for making a new breakthrough in the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Nuclear stalemate one year after Trump-Kim summit — analysts

In Singapore, Kim signed a vaguely-worded deal on denuclearisation, touted by Trump as a historic breakthrough