Eparkeni

With the ANC suffering their worst election ‘wipeout’ of the post-democratic age, the upset has been writ large on the faces and posture of cadres who were closely eyeing the numbers on the screens at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC) in Midrand, Johannesburg. From the time the initial figures began filtering through, it wasn’t … LGE2026: An era of coalitions Read More »

A farmer in a thrift shop checkered shirt and kortbroek is standing at a cant at a petrol pump next to an overall-clad shopfloor worker. Says one: ‘Malema is the best.’ ‘Ag,’ scoffs the other, ‘that guy comes into power and this [pointing at the R36/litre fuel indicator] will be R100 by Christmas.’ ‘Nee, no, … A-changing times in a Karoo town Read More »

Sunday. With the LGEs barely a fortnight away, the voices one was expecting to hear the loudest on the penultimate weekend before V-Day are astoundingly quiet. Or they are out there defending a crass utterance. Or self cannabilising in the wretched power plays of factionalism and internal party squabbles. The once upon a time electioneering … LGE 2026; A campaign this for old men Read More »

City of Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille is winding down what will surely go down as a surpringly and impressively innovative campaign. On the best of days, Zille is the ruthless politician; prone to lunging for the jugular on debates and quick to put journalists who ask tough questions in their place. She is vicious, … The Gogo, the Gusheshe and the quest for Jozi Read More »

The one thing the world can agree on is that there’s an arm-long list of people that US President Donald Trump doesn’t like. What one couldn’t quite put a finger on was exactly which culprit had him pulling at his orange mope the most. The list was an erratic flux between Putin, Maduro, Greenland, Iran, … War and sanctions as Pillay wins peace prize Read More »

Barely a month until the local government election and the July Constitutional Court ruling has suddenly been resurrected and thrown a spanner in the works. The #Abahambe lot, specifically Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has come out guns blazing, glibly uttering a slip-up that has seen Black Twitter intent on mopping the floor with her. In the face … Violence erupts just weeks to LGE 2026 Read More »