The much-anticipated ANC national conference takes place next week at Nasrec in Johannesburg. Apart from providing policy direction for the organisation, one of the key tasks of the conference will be to choose a new party leadership. But unfortunately for the party, none of its nominated leaders join the fray without the lingering stink of scandal and accusation. In today’s episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we look at key individuals who have been proposed by ANC branches for leaders...
Dec 08, 2022•33 min0
Pule Mabe joins Sunday Times Politics Weekly to reflect on his tenure as ANC spokesperson, speaks about contesting for a top 6 position, competition, dubious cadres and party electoral decline. Mabe is running for the position of treasurer-general alongside presidency special adviser Benjamin Chauke, who received 552 nominations, and recently resigned ANC Ekurhuleni councillor Mzwandile Masina, who received 348 nominations. Mabe was in second position with 428 nominations. Mabe says he is not mo...
Nov 30, 2022•38 min0
Public enterprises deputy minister Phumulo Masualle, chatting to Sunday Times Politics Weekly, says some candidates for the ANC top six don’t deserve support. He motivates why President Cyril Ramaphosa's time in office has expired and rallies behind former health minister Zweli Mkhize. Ramaphosa and Mkhize are the only candidates running for presidency next month when the party elects new leadership. Masualle has received most support for his bid to be the next ANC secretary-general from KwaZulu...
Nov 23, 2022•37 min0
ANC “top six” contender Mdumiseni Ntuli spoke to Sunday Times Politics Weekly. He assesses the governing party and speaks about “lies” he found himself embroiled in with former KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala, including plotting to have former president Jacob Zuma incarcerated. Ntuli is running for the secretary-general position. He is confident he will receive the support of most provinces at the December elective conference and is prepared to declare his financial statements. He says the ...
Nov 21, 2022•38 min0
Paul Mashatile hosted the Sunday Times Politics Weekly team at his home to chat, rolling up his sleeves to be “hands on deck” if elected ANC deputy president next month. He is ANC treasurer-general and speaks about his rise to the position. The governing party will elect its new leadership at its elective conference from December 16 to 20 and Mashatile has been nominated for deputy president, along with Ronald Lamola, Mmamoloko Kubayi, Senzo Mchunu, Phumulo Masualle and Oscar Mabuyane, among oth...
Nov 16, 2022•31 min0
ANC deputy secretary-general hopeful Nomvula Mokonyane opens up to Sunday Times Politics weekly about dirty politics, why she is contesting and corruption-accused Bosasa. She is hoping to win an ANC secretary-general position when the party holds its elective conference next month. The former environmental affairs minister hosts Kgothatso Madisa at her home and reflects on her relationship with late ANC acting secretary-general and anti-apartheid activist Jessie Yasmin Duarte. Mokonyane describe...
Nov 09, 2022•32 min0
ANC deputy president hopeful Ronald Lamola talks to Sunday Times Politics Weekly about his personal life and politics. In conversation with special edition host Kgothatso Madisa from his home, Lamola focuses on his life before politics and what he can offer should he pin down the position. The ruling party is expected to hold its national elective conference next month, at which its new top six leaders will be elected. Nominations close on Monday. The justice and correctional services minister s...
Nov 03, 2022•29 min0
Recent political events in coalition-run municipalities have cast doubt on the viability of such governments. A prime example is Johannesburg, whose mayor Mpho Phalatse and speaker Vasco da Gama were removed last month after no-confidence motions. Phalatse was ousted by an ANC-led coalition that included the EFF and Patriotic Alliance (PA). Sunday Times Politics Weekly hosts the mayor, who has since been reinstated and says she still believes in coalitions, but that the ANC bloc is focused on co...
Oct 27, 2022•29 min0
While many taxpayers struggle to make ends meet, ministers and their deputies — who earn a salary of between R2.5 and R2m a year — do not pay a cent for municipal services such as water and electricity at their official residences. City Press reported that the ministerial handbook has been amended to remove a cap on municipal utilities for ministers and deputy ministers. According to the previous handbook, the public works department was responsible for providing water and electricity, provided ...
Oct 21, 2022•33 min0
In this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we discuss what has been happening in Gauteng’s metros of Joburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, caught up by coalition government infighting. We also take a look at the latest in the ANC’s leadership race ahead of the parties national conference in December. Our host Mike Siluma is joined by Sunday Times Politics editor, Sibongakonke Shoba and Sunday Times Politics writer, Mawande AmaShabalala. The panel discusses how coalitions in the three metros ...
Oct 13, 2022•40 min0
Mpho Makwana, the new chair of Eskom, has backed incumbent CEO Andre de Ruyter and set his sights on bringing down the price of electricity by reducing the cost of coal supplied to its plants while also improving the quality of the fuel it receives. In an interview with Business Times this week, Makwana spoke about the link between Eskom’s climate commitments and the cost of coal supplied to the company. The vast majority of Eskom’s power-generating plants are fired by coal — most of them have o...
Oct 08, 2022•33 min0
Today on the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we give you a sneak-peak into our discussion with veteran business leader Mpho Makwana, who is Eskom’s new chairperson. Makwana gives us insight into his perspectives on Eskom and the seemingly insurmountable energy crisis the country faces. Having worked at the utility before, Makwana says he is lucky to benefit from institutional knowledge and hopes to restore the utility to it's - once award winning - "legacy". Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz compan...
Oct 06, 2022•7 min0
In this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we discuss the politics which has historically shaped, and which continues to shape SA's energy crisis. Our host, Mike Siluma is joined by Prof Mark Swilling chair of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and professor at Stellenbosch University and Prof Mazwe Majola, CEO of the Worldwide Institute of Leadership. The panel discusses the factors that have caused Eskom to become the monumental failure it is, while comparing its past performanc...
Sep 29, 2022•30 min0
By all indications, the ANC’s leadership succession race well underway. This week on the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we assess the likely effectiveness of the party’s new campaign rules, which, on the surface, seek to improve the quality of its leadership. We will also look at the leadership candidates that have emerged so far, and what these rules mean for their various campaigns. Are the new rules truly transformative and are they enough to claw back the ANC's reputation ahead of its Decembe...
Sep 22, 2022•36 min0
He left office more than four years ago but former president Jacob Zuma has remained a feature in SA's political and public life. This week the Pietermaritzburg high court gave VBS Mutual Bank permission to seize Zuma’s assets to repay a loan of nearly R7m relating to the refurbishment of his Nkandla homestead.This follows his pending corruption trial and a separate court case on whether he should return to prison after being controversially released on parole by former prisons boss and supporte...
Sep 01, 2022•30 min0
Last week one of the more influential countries in East Africa, Kenya went to the polls to choose a new president. And, not for the first time, the outcome sparked controversy as current vice-president William Ruto narrowly defeated long-time campaigner Raila Odinga. Odinga, who lost the August 9 presidential elections by a tiny margin, rejected the outcome of the vote and vowed to take constitutional steps to challenge it. Odinga, 77, who was making his fifth run at the presidency and secured 4...
Aug 18, 2022•30 min0
In March this year President Cyril Ramaphosa legally recognised Prince Misuzulu ka Zwelithini as the king-elect of the Zulu people, following the death last year of long-reigning King Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu. But subsequent events around the Zulu royal household suggest that the president’s decision does not enjoy universal support. The Zulu royal household this week condemned an alleged planned entering of the cattle kraal (ukungena esibayeni) ceremony by Prince Simakade Zulu kaZwelith...
Aug 12, 2022•34 min0
This week on Sunday Times Politics Weekly we look at the strained relationship between SA and its neighbours due to an influx of foreigners accused of crime. Recent cases include the gang rape of eight women in Krugersdorp, which has been blamed on illegal foreign miners, and Eswatini spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo's comment that “South Africa is infested with a cancer of criminality from head to toe”. Clayson Monyela, deputy director-general for public diplomacy, said Nxumalo had insulted South ...
Aug 05, 2022•24 min0
Today on the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we look at one of most important events on this year’s political calendar – the ANC’s policy conference, which is in preparation for the organisation’s national conference in December. Hypothetically, if the proposals of the policy conference are adopted in December, they should feed into government policy and impact directly your life and mine. The question is whether the ANC is attuned to the problems faced by the country – or whether its leaders are ...
Jul 28, 2022•34 min0
This weekend, the ANC in KwaZulu Natal holds its provincial conference, as part of the build up to the all-important ANC national Conference in December, which will, among other things choose a new leader for the organisation – and by extension, the new leader of the country. On the Politics Weekly this time we look at the significance of the conference, and also at the key players and factions squaring up. We consider important questions such as what kind of support is president Cyril Ramaphosa...
Jul 21, 2022•29 min0
As the nation mourns the deaths of 21 people in three separate shooting incidents at various taverns at the weekend, the silence around gun control in SA's political arena is coming to the fore. A report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime released late last year, found that SA has an estimated 2.35-million illegal firearms in circulation. Most of these weapons become instruments of violent crime and come directly from state departments and domestic homes. Host Mike Si...
Jul 14, 2022•40 min0
With the work of the State Capture Commission finally concluded, this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly is set aside for a one-on-one with the catalyst for the commission, former public protector who recommended the establishment of a commission into state capture Professor Thuli Madonsela. Madonsela opens up to our host, Mike Siluma, about the importance of whistle-blowers in protecting the integrity of our democracy, why she feels amnesty should be given to certain enablers of state ...
Jul 07, 2022•26 min0
In today’s instalment of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we look at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s predicament, in the wake of the scandal over a burglary on his Phala Phala farm two years ago. The scandal was set off by the laying of charges including bribery, kidnapping and money laundering, among others. The controversy which has been dubbed 'Farmgate', 'Mattressgate' or even 'Dollargate', now threatens to topple the ANC. In this episode we consider the likelihood of President Ramaphosa's poli...
Jun 23, 2022•28 min0
This week the country was abuzz with the news that the villains of the state capture story in SA, the Gupta brothers, had been arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), pending extradition to SA. In this weeks episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we ask how soon they might be brought back to SA – and whether the country is ripe to be captured again by other nefarious interests? Our host Mike Siluma is joined by Sunday Times investigative reporter Thanduxolo Jika, political analyst and ...
Jun 09, 2022•34 min0
This week the former head of the State Security Agency Arthur Fraser dropped what looked like a political bombshell – laying criminal charges against President Cyril Ramaphosa. According to a statement released by Fraser, he has pressed criminal charges against President Ramaphosa which include defeating the ends of justice, torture, kidnapping and bribery. However, the presidency quickly rebutted these claims saying that while a robbery did take place at his farm in Limpopo on or around Februar...
Jun 02, 2022•26 min0
Embattled former health minister Zweli Mkhize used his son’s wedding, over the weekend, as a mini rally to launch his bid to unseat President Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC’s national conference in December this year. A group of Zulu regiments, along with controversial former Ukhozi FM presenter Ngizwe Mchunu, took turns to endorse his campaign at his homestead in Willowfontein, Pietermaritzburg. This week on the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we look at the question of ethnicity or tribalism in SA p...
May 26, 2022•33 min0
Despite the end of apartheid 28 years ago, racial incidents continue to be reported in SA's schools with increased regularity, according to South African Human Rights Commission's (SAHRC) Commissioner Andre Gaum. In this episode of the Politics Weekly, we ask what sustains racism in our society, and how we can fight it more effectively. Joining our host, Mike Siluma, to frame this discussion are Gaum, social commentator and author of Run Racist Run, Eusebius McKaiser and lecturer of Public Polic...
May 19, 2022•38 min0
Last week the Commission into State Capture, led by chief justice Raymond Zondo delivered its fourth report into state capture. So, in this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly we reflect on the outcomes of the commission’s work, and whether SA is a better place after its revelations. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
May 06, 2022•26 min0
Racial politics and the rise of ethnic pride, are on the agenda for the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, this week. Recently, a new organisation, purportedly standing for the rights of coloured people, or the 'brown people', as it put it, was announced. It was met with skepticism from many quarters. We looks at the question of group identity, specifically so-called coloured identity, as part of our national conversation. Joining our host, Mike Siluma, are journalist, academic and author of “Too Whi...
Apr 14, 2022•28 min0
President Cyril Ramaphosa has campaigned on a policy of clean governance, but when it comes to cleaning up the ANC he seems to be all bark and no bite. This week on the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, our panel looks at the question of ethics in political and other leadership in society. Why? Because, as you may know, the ANC in Mpumalanga has elected someone who is facing charges of murder — treasurer Mandla Msibi — flying in the face of Ramaphosa’s campaign to clean up the party’s tarnished imag...
Apr 08, 2022•27 min0
