ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula suggested on Thursday that there was a sinister motive behind the formation of the MK Party.

The ANC tied itself in knots defending Zuma’s destructive bad behaviour in the past. Acting against him now would require it to own up to its sins.

Dissatisfied ANC voters were much more likely to switch their votes if they held positive views of an opposition party. However, the problem for the opposition is that few people held these views.

How Swapo and the ANC respond to any further decline in electoral support will define the future of democracy in both countries.

A threshold has been crossed, with a pessimistic outlook becoming more dominant than an optimistic one.

Mashatile could be the new broom that sweeps clean. Ramaphosa’s apparent confidence in him suggests that he has some latitude to do so.

Perhaps the combination of religious rhetoric and secular laws is a winning electoral strategy.

The veteran liberation struggle activist brings gravitas to every position he occupies.

The veteran liberation struggle activist brings gravitas to every position he occupies.

Mzala’s distinctive intellectual contribution combined a sophisticated grasp of revolutionary theory with the reality of ethnic nationalism.

The country’s long-dominant party has been losing support in elections.

The impeachment process could derail Ramaphosa’s political career and seriously hurt the governing ANC’s electoral prospects in 2024.

The decision is likely to be relied on by courts to order the Department of Correctional Services to grant offenders parole.

The new process of impeachment requires an objective test to be met.

Stable coalitions will depend on strong democratic values being embedded among political elites.

In South Africa coalitions are weaponised as extensions of elections.

Referenda may well have a place in the country’s democracy, but if the form of an electoral system can be referred to a referendum, why not capital punishment, abortion or LGBT rights?

The ANC has been using multiple tactics to fend off the looming calamity of not having Ramaphosa as its president, and that of the country, in the clear absence of a credible candidate to replace him.

Lesotho has done a good job of curbing the powers of its monarch and making its electoral system inclusive.

Any ruling party in South Africa has found it hard to maintain internal coherence and unity over an extended time span amid wide national diversity.

South Africans are increasingly dissatisfied with democracy because of its failure to address inequality.