Vol 63 No 13 | SOUTH AFRICA The man behind the sofa story 20th June 2022 Former securocrat Arthur Fraser, who revealed the 2020 burglary at the President's farm, may have ulterior motives Once a key associate of President Jacob Zuma in the state security and intelligence apparatus, Arthur Fraser has leapt onto the front pages with his claims about the...
Vol 63 No 13 | SOUTH AFRICA 'Farmgate' rocks Ramaphosa 20th June 2022 The 'cash-in-the-couch' scandal has damaged the President. It is being exploited to the full by his enemies, but it doesn't look enough to unseat him On a wintry day on 13 June in Johannesburg Carl Niehaus, the chief spokesperson of the African National Congress's so-called Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction, led a delegation...
Vol 63 No 13 | SOUTH AFRICA KwaZulu-Natal braces for a showdown 23rd June 2022 Next month the ruling ANC will elect a new leadership in the province pitting President Ramaphosa's supporters against those of his predecessor Once the powerhouse of the African National Congress (ANC) under former President Jacob Zuma, his home province of KwaZulu-Natal has become a seething hotbed of economic sabotage, political...
Vol 63 No 13 | SOUTH AFRICARUSSIA How manganese pipeline helps the ANC 23rd June 2022 The ruling party's ambivalence on Ukraine reflects its parlous finances as well as its internal feuding and ideological posturing A transparency law on political party funding has embarrassed the ruling African National Congress by revealing its links to Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch under global sanctions. This...
DISPATCHES Vol 63 No 13 | SOUTH AFRICA Dire warnings on energy crunch raise questions on green investment 14th June 2022 Energy experts forecast that power cuts could get '10 times worse' by 2026 unless government shows political will to back renewables The latest wave of power cuts – or 'load-shedding' as the government prefers to call them – could be a foretaste of a wider electricity crisis over the... READ FOR FREE
Vol 63 No 12 | SOUTH AFRICA Net closes around the Guptas 9th June 2022 The symbols of the corruption of Jacob Zuma's regime, two of the Gupta brothers face extradition to South Africa Authorities in the United Arab Emirates and South Africa have been negotiating the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta since their arrest on 6 June by Dubai police...
Vol 63 No 12 | SOUTH AFRICA Zuma's securocrats rattle Ramaphosa 9th June 2022 A wounded Ramaphosa is consolidating support for a second five-year term but prospects are bleak for the ANC winning outright victory in 2024 Arthur Fraser, the former head of the country's State Security Agency, has called for a criminal investigation against Cyril Ramaphosa, which will badly damage the ruling African National...
Vol 63 No 12 | SOUTH AFRICARUSSIA Moscow's missing tankers 9th June 2022 As Russia seeks to evade western sanctions on oil and gas exports, mystery surrounds the fate of two super-tankers loaded with 4.2 million barrels of Russian crude oil...
Vol 63 No 11 | SOUTH AFRICARUSSIA Diplomacy on ice 26th May 2022 Pretoria’s position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is complicating its economic and political relations The international argument over how to respond Moscow's invasion of Ukraine played out, with some diplomatic grace, when Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria...
DISPATCHES Vol 63 No 11 | SOUTH AFRICA Oppositionists demand action on Zondo and edge towards coalition 24th May 2022 Talks in parliament will boost inter-party cooperation as leaders mull an electoral pact Talk of a national coalition government in South Africa after the 2024 elections – some say even before – is gathering steam with a meeting on tactics in... READ FOR FREE