We are, as a nation, counting the days until the 2026 local elections in single digits. It has always promised to be a somewhat different election: the first under the national GNU with its own dynamics;1 the experiences of coalitions at local level with very varying outcomes; predictions of bigger parties showing reductions in popularity; […]
The Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) approach to major public infrastructure development emerged partly from the recognition that South Africa’s infrastructure system had become fragmented across departments, spheres of government and public entities. BP 660 – South Africa’s Strategic Integrated Projects- From Infrastructure Ambition to Development Impact by Kenny Pasensie
It would be something of an understatement to say that local government in South Africa is in a mess. As we approach the municipal elections on 4th November, the media is full of stories of service delivery failures, institutionalised corruption, political infighting, and mayors and councillors who spend more time jostling for position than actually […]
World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is celebrated on 10th October annually. It is a core component of World Mental Health Awareness Month, which is celebrated throughout October both locally and internationally. The World Federation on Mental Health (WFMH) has announced the 2026 theme as ‘Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change’. BP 658 – Mental […]
South Africa’s 2026 Local Government Elections (LGE), scheduled for 4th November, take place in a challenging municipal governance environment. Almost three decades after the adoption of the Constitution, local government still faces significant challenges, including declining municipal performance, weak financial management, deteriorating infrastructure, and growing public dissatisfaction with basic service delivery. BP 657 – The […]
Disability is an umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions, denoting the negative aspects of the interaction between an individual and the context in which they find themselves.1 The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) is a World Health Organization (WHO) framework which, rather than classifying people solely by their medical […]
The rise of the fast fashion industry in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has had enormous social, economic and environmental consequences. It is a huge industry built on over-production, overconsumption, and the excessive use of natural resources to the detriment of the environment; and it engages in exploitative labour practices in rampant pursuit […]
The 16th of June 2026 marked 50 years since the Soweto uprising, when thousands of school children took to the streets to protest the imposition of Afrikaans as a compulsory medium of instruction under the apartheid government’s system of Bantu Education, and were met with bullets. The deep-seated cause was the Bantu Education Act of […]
Gender Based Violence (GBV) has been declared a disaster and a pandemic which casts a long shadow of violence and suffering across our society intergenerationally. Gendered norms are not independent of the social, economic and cultural conditions in which they are shaped. Tandi Nzimande, the Chief Executive Officer at the GBVF Response Fund, emphasizes that […]
“Since 2008 – when 62 people, including 21 South Africans, 11 Mozambicans, 5 Zimbabweans and 3 Somalis, were killed – South Africa has been grappling with intermittent but widespread xenophobic harassment and violence against African and Asian foreign nationals living in the country, whether refugees, asylum seekers, or both documented and undocumented migrants”.1 BP 652 […]
