Ramaphosa
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South Africa: A new dawn — or an impending storm By Terry Bell
Minimum wage legislation, introduced on January 1, was supposed to herald the first pale rays of a promised new dawn. This promise would be consolidated once the ANC again held the reins of national power with Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa in the top job. Continue reading
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Ronnie Kasrils on South African Election
The best aspect of South Africa’s sixth national election since democracy in 1994 was that it was extremely peaceful, virtually incident free, fair, and credible. The top marks go to the 16 million who cast their votes, many in difficult rural terrain and some in cold, rainy conditions. The downside was that this was the… Continue reading
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Cyril Ramaphosa relaunches neo-liberalism By Prof. Patrick Bond
Cyril Ramaphosa’s soft-coup firing of Jacob Zuma from the South African presidency on 14 February 2018, after nearly nine years in power and a bitter struggle to avoid resignation, has contradictory local and geopolitical implications. Amidst general applause at seeing Zuma’s rear end in the society, immediately concerns arise about the new president’s neo-liberal, pro-corporate… Continue reading
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Will New ANC President Ramaphosa Bring Real Change to South Africa?
Cyril Ramaphosa, who was recently elected to head South Africa’s ANC, is closely associated with major economic interests in South Africa, such as the Lonmin Mining Company, and is thus unlikely to bring about real change says Patrick Bond (inc. transcript) Continue reading
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South Africa’s ANC’s “Internal Presidential Elections”: Ramaphosa Rises as Lonmin Expires By Prof. Patrick Bond
On the one hand are powerful elements friendly to so-called “White Monopoly Capital,” and on the other are outgoing ANC president Jacob Zuma’s allies led by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, his ex-wife and former African Union chairperson. The latter faction includes corrupt state “tenderpreneur” syndicates, especially the notorious Gupta brothers, and is hence typically nicknamed “Zupta.” Continue reading
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Marikana Massacre Hangs Over South Africa's New Extremely Rich ANC Leader
After a tight race that exposed stark divisions within the party, the African National Congress elected Cyril Ramaphosa, an anti-apartheid crusader, business tycoon, and key suspect in the 2012 Marikana Massacre is positioned to be the country’s next president. But will he root out corruption, or is he part of the problem? (inc. transcript) Continue reading
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Popstars Politics in the New South Africa: A Conversation with Masello Motana By Zachary Rosen
Well, life would be much simpler for Masello if only she was content with collecting paychecks from beauty contracts and soap opera gigs. If only she pretended last year’s horrific massacre of mineworkers at the now infamous Marikana platinum mine in South Africa’s northwest never happened. If only she ignored the fact that businessman Cyril… Continue reading
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Video: South Africa and the Resource Curse
Patrick Bond: Mining interests are a powerful force shaping African politics (inc. transcript) Continue reading
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Video: Platinum Miners and Class Struggle in South Africa By Patrick Bond
Patrick Bond: Platinum miners strike inspires workers across South Africa; Billionaire mine owner becomes deputy head of ANC Continue reading
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Workers’ Rights in South Africa: Does the Ruling ANC Party Represent the People? By Eric Draitser
The ruling class in South Africa, though fronted by black faces, continues to work in the service of Western finance capital and the neoliberal agenda, lining their own pockets while the streets, mines, and slums ring with the cries of the workers and the poor demanding justice. Continue reading
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South Africa: Politics, profits and policing after the Marikana Massacre By Patrick Bond
Lover of fast cars, vintage wine, trout fishing and game farming and the second richest black businessperson in South Africa (global financial publication Forbes puts his wealth at $675 million or £416 million), Cyril Ramaphosa (left) celebrates his election as deputy president of the ANC with South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma. Ramaphosa demanded that police… Continue reading
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The commodification of crap and South Africa’s toilet apartheid By Patrick Bond
In central Durban, the mafia of the global water and sanitation sector – its corporate, NGO and state-bureaucratic elite – have gathered at the International Convention Centre, just a few blocks west of the Indian Ocean, into which far too much of our excrement already flows. They’re at the same scene of the crime as,… Continue reading
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Turmoil at South Africa’s Platinum Mines by Pratap Chatterjee
Clashes between South Africa’s powerful mining companies and the government are only part of the story. A battle to win membership between two rival unions – the older establishment affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the newer more radical Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) – is also reported to be a major… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 