From The Desk of the President

South Africa’s former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, provoked a political storm recently when she suggested that public servants implicated in grand corruption should be given the chance to apply for amnesty.

People often depend on companionship and support from others to cope with the stresses of daily life. Social networks and support are linked to better mental and physical wellbeing. These networks are particularly important in adolescence – the period between childhood and adulthood. This is when peers become a more important part of life and […]

Since the year 2000, South Africa has made big strides in lowering levels of both child and adult hunger, as well as improving food security for many poor families. Research has shown that these improvements were largely driven by the expansion of the child support grant.

Two days after Nigeria celebrated its sixtieth year of independence, a video of a young man brazenly killed by a member of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad or SARS caught the attention of netizens. The Twitter user who posted the viral video claimed the man’s body had been left at the side of the road and his Lexus stolen. It sparked a wave of protests across most of Nigeria’s urban metropolises.

Most of South Africa’s seasonal rainfall occurs during the warmer summer months, from October to March. As a result, October is an important period for farmers to begin planning when to sow crops (such as maize, wheat and sunflowers) for the growing season.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on South Africans to unite in their fight against crime. In his weekly letter to the nation, the President says citizens should not be blinded by their own prejudices to the suffering and pain of others.

South Africa’s response to the novel coronavirus outbreak was swift and assertive. The country quickly instituted testing, tracing, and quarantining those affected with COVID-19. But the financial and social effects of quarantine hit people, who were already struggling, especially hard.

“Post-truth” culture is exemplified by the constant negation of fact-finding, expertise and research. Within such a culture, speakers, whether they occupy positions of power or are commenting anonymously on social media, become increasingly comfortable with claiming that reality is whatever they say it is. This, without any need to offer evidence which can be evaluated against objective criteria through reasoned argument.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has this week done what a credible, multi-lateral body ought to do, which is to be seen to be fair and even-handed when dealing with all its Member States regardless of their political stature or economic standing.

The coronavirus pandemic has killed over a million people globally and disrupted healthcare and political systems, economies, social bonds and religious practices.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says it is important to release state land in order to transform the agricultural landscape and grow a new generation of farmers.

The land issue in South Africa has not grown less important despite the seeming lack of focus on it at the moment. It cannot be overlooked that land and property rights are key issues to South Africa, the economy and the betterment of the country.

Research by various studies from the World Economic Forum, Statistics SA shows that there exists intersectionality on poverty, unemployment and the livelihoods of women and children, who on the main bear the brunt of an unequal and poor growing of economy.

Jonah Gbemre often has no electricity, but he says his home is permanently lit at night by the flames of waste gas being “flared” near his home town in Nigeria’s Delta State.

The 2019 Year of Return, when Ghana welcomed Africans in the diaspora to participate in events associated with the country’s rich cultural heritage, was an opportunity to learn more about what tourists want. One million foreign visitors entered the country to mark 400 years of the first enslaved Africans arriving in the United States

Early unintended pregnancy can have negative consequences for adolescent girls and young women. Not only may their health be at risk; so may their education, economic mobility and productivity.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has been a turbulent ride! This year has presented unprecedented disruptions in different fields of life. The flows of commotion have barely left any part of the globe unscathed. Yet in all the gloom, a lot of reassuring changes have manifested.

Extreme weather events have been topical in the southern African region and beyond in the past decade or so. Prior to tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth, no major extreme weather event had attracted such international media attention as the Cape Town drought popularly dubbed Day Zero did. Day Zero was the day the taps of Cape Town were anticipated to run dry.

On the 24th of September this year, South Africa will pause and celebrate national Heritage Day. As part of the new approach for the national days program of government, the focus hasn’t only been on the main celebration itself but rather on the entire month, with a plethora of activations to celebrate our diverse heritage since the launch by Minister Nathi Mthethwa earlier this month.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga has questioned the procedure that the African National Congress delegation had followed to access an South African National Defence Force plane to Zimbabwe earlier this month.

Political analyst Xolani Dube has warned that removing Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku from the African National Congress (ANC) Provincial Executive Committee would weaken Premier David Makhura politically.

African scholars and policymakers face a tough challenge in analysing how the US presidential election on 3 November might affect Africa-US relations.

Advocate George Bizos, who has died at the age of 92, stands in the pantheon of South African human rights lawyers and anti-apartheid activists.

Free and fair elections face a new kind of threat. In addition to scheming leaders and compromised electoral commissions, there is now the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Political analyst Lubna Nadvi says the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has lost an opportunity to gain voters ahead of next year's municipal elections.

A few weeks ago, news headlines in South Africa bandied about images of one Bulelani Qholani who was forcefully removed from his shack as part of the City of Cape Town’s plan to evict residents who allegedly occupied land illegally.

To turnaround inefficiencies in programmes that aim to address learner pregnancy, coordination and collaboration comprising national, provincial and local government actors alongside youth community leaders, activists, and agencies such as the CGE is needed. But before this, certain immediate actions need government attention.

BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa recently signed a ground-breaking memorandum of understanding (MoU) on sport to foster their much-needed cooperation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says 3 key bills aimed at dealing with the country's problem of gender-based violence are before parliament. Ramaphosa writes this in his weekly letter to the nation on Monday.

By the first week of August 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic had caused about 654,000 deaths worldwide. In Nigeria, as of July 28, there were 38,945 confirmed cases recorded with 813 deaths.