By Gillian Schutte AbstractThe 2025 Judicial Conduct Tribunal concerning allegations of sexual harassment against Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge has inaugurated a shift in South African jurisprudence. This essay offers a…
Reclaiming the United Nations from Western Decline.
By Gillian Schutte In 2025, on the eve of the United Nations’ 80th anniversary, a growing chorus of Western voices is declaring the organisation obsolete. The critique, echoed uncritically in South African…
The Politics of Performance: How an Unholy Alliance Is Failing Pietermaritzburg’s Development
By: Juanita Chitepo Tourism has come to be a word that carries the weight of South Africa’s dreams and desires for economic growth. It is the go-to saviour concept for job creation,…
Ramaphosa’s Meeting with Trump: A Humiliation in the Shadow of White Capital
By Sipho Singiswa: President Cyril Ramaphosa met with Donald Trump yesterday in what, on the surface, may have appeared to be a standard diplomatic encounter. But for those observing from a Black…
The Liberal Echo Chamber That Erases Black Radicalism – & The Black Middle Class That Loves Them
By Sipho Singiswa As a student leader in the 1976 uprisings in Gugulethu we were trained to recognise the war behind the war. We were taught to ask who speaks, from where,…
Africa Together or Africa For Sale? Julius Malema and the Crisis of Revolutionary Integrity
FILE PICTURE: Ivor Ichikowitz, executive chairman of Paramount Group, extolls the virtues of the Maverick, a police armoured personnel carrier, at the opening of the Africa Aerospace and Defence air show at…
From Russia with Resonance: Igor Butman Quartet’s Triumph at CTIJF 2025
By Gillian Schutte Among the many great performances at the 2025 Cape Town International Jazz Festival, the Igor Butman Quartet carved out a space entirely their own — a realm defined by…
Remembering Sicelo Mhlauli of the Craddock Four Through the Memory of his Widow, Nombuyiselo Mhlauli.
By Staffwriter Sicelo Mhlauli—later remembered as one of the Cradock Four alongside Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto and Fort Calata—was born on 25 May 1949 in Cradock, Eastern Cape, the third of five…
Genocide Has No Soundtrack: Disruption, Resistance, and the Struggle Against Normalisation in South Africa
By: Nigel Branken What kind of protest is needed in a time of genocide? We are living in a moment of not only horrific violence, but also deep ideological struggle. The genocide…
When the Students Taught Us: #FeesMustFall, radical pedagogy, and the sacred responsibility of remembering.
By Nigel Branken I hadn’t expected to be that emotional. I was sitting at my daughter’s graduation, surrounded by proud families, and hearing parents cheer for their children was deeply overwhelming. The…