Helen Zille’s shock resignation as leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA) has triggered intense speculation as to who will replace her. Given the party’s federal congress is less than a month away, palace intrigue dominates all discussion. However, most suggest that Mmusi Maimane, the party’s parliamentary leader, is the hot favourite to win. Zille’s […]
DA
Posted inNews/Politics
Dinner with the president
I had dinner with the president last night. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t alone with him. There were about 350 other people eager to hear him speak and who had paid for the privilege, and I was one of those lucky enough to meet him and shake his hand. When I say “president” I […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Fighting patriarchy, one dress at a time
Last week, the latest incidence of parliamentary sexism occurred in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature. Reports noted that the DA’s deputy provincial leader, Jane Moloisi-Sithole, was called out by an ANC MP for allegedly dressing like a prostitute. The DA walked out when its leader, Anthony Benadie, was ordered from the Chamber by the Speaker who […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Sona: Did you hear Zuma chuckle?
By Michelle October Last night, did anybody else hear that laugh? It was a long, satisfied, deep-throated chuckle. Just moments before, half of the parliamentarians elected to govern the country alongside Jacob Zuma and his party had rose up against him, in a last resounding, powerless attempt to make him see reason. The renegades in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Order, order: A parliamentary mess
The events that occurred in Parliament last week have generated a significant amount of debate in South Africa. And for good reason. Police entered the Chamber in 1966 when an apartheid-era prime minister, Hendrik Verwoerd, was assassinated on the floor of the House by a messenger in the Old Assembly. No one died last week. […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Protecting Zuma by force: A dishonourable Parliament
Last night ANC MPs showed South Africa how far they were willing to go when others attempted to hold them to account. In the hours of bedlam, heckling, and howling[1] the ANC managed to push South Africa’s democracy to the brink. The ANC not only voted to protect President Jacob Zuma, who according the Public […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Frolicking failed the Mbete no-confidence motion
The motion of no confidence against National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete has come and gone, and the ANC predictably used its majority to protect their party chairperson, just as Mbete is accused of using her office to protect Luthuli House and shield its Number One in the National Assembly. While the democratic will of the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC flat-footed by EFF: The enemy within
The ANC’s response to political newcomers, the EFF, bears an eerie resemblance to the DA’s response to Gareth van Onselen. What this shows is that, irrespective of affiliation, parties have a limited ability to deal with, and respond to, political criticism. This is especially the case when the criticism comes from “one of their own”. […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
What Lindiwe Mazibuko means to me…
By Lindelwe Dube While there might be some merit in the speculation over Lindiwe Mazibuko’s reasons for departing, it’s important the impact she’s had on young, black women is not lost in the noise. Politics is often thought of as a business for old men. Her entry into and triumph in a male-dominated environment, which […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mazibuko: W(h)ither the truth?
What is the “truth” regarding Lindiwe Mazibuko’s resignation as parliamentary leader? Last week I wrote a short opinion piece on the Sunday Times’ bombshell revelation “Shock as Mazibuko quits DA”, critiquing the paper for its misleading headline, articulating my splenetic disrelish of this new episode of “South African-politics-as-Days-of-Our-Lives”, and praising Mazibuko for her courageous decision […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cinderella and the ugly sisters take it public
The South African electorate had its Cinderella moment at the May 7 Ball – briefly courted and feted. Now it’s back to the domestic drudgery of the other 364 days of the year – abused and ignored until the local elections role around in two years’ time. Unfortunately, unlike as in the fairy tale, there […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA owes Mazibuko a thank you
The Sunday Times carried the headline “Shock as Mazibuko quits DA”. The print version of the paper carried the sub-heading “Move kept under wraps and party leader Zille told only later yesterday”. Beyond this the front page of the paper conveyed precious little information — half of the expanse of the page being taken up […]