Absurd territorial claim

A rather curious motion has been introduced in Lesotho’s Parliament. It seeks to reclaim all of South Africa’s Free State province, as well as parts of Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape... 

SADC’s bounded awarenesss

That Zimbabwe is one of the problem children of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is not in doubt. It’s also beyond question that, despite this dubious honour, leaders of the bloc’s... 

Yolisa Tshabalala

This week we feature Yolisa Tshabalala, co-founder and director of Imizizi, a provider of transformative people management, advisory and consulting services – from hire to retire 

It’s okay to want to lead

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA's) federal congress, held last week, included a two-way leadership contest that pitted the incumbent, John Steenhuisen, against former Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse and... 

Better English, better GDP?

Conventional wisdom has it that our kids attaining a high degree of proficiency in the so-called STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics is an absolute must if this... 

Kennedy Chinganya

This week we profile Kennedy Chinganya, MD of telecommunications company Altron Nexus  

Madame Prez-in-Waiting

Namibia is something of a rarity in Southern Africa. I mean ‘southern’ as defined in the dictionary, not as the word is understood by the fellows at SADC House, in Gaborone, Botswana, to whom... 

Chris Norton

This week we profile Chris Norton, the Johannesburg-based regional director for Africa at Veeam Software, a global leader in backup, recovery and data management solutions  

Mampara Number 2

Tunisia, a small North African nation, has had a lot of bad press of late. This comes on the back of a campaign against immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, with reports rife of random identity... 

Logan Naicker

This week we profile Logan Naicker, CEO of Alstom Ubunye is involved in the manufacturing, servicing and maintenance of rail products and components for the local and export markets 

Aged face of governance

At the time of writing, Bola Tinibu had just been named Nigeria’s President-Elect, after the wizened former governor of Lagos, Africa’s largest city, had shrugged off challenges from contenders who... 

Carlo Bolzonello

This week we profile Carlo Bolzonello, country leader of Trellix South Africa, a cybersecurity solutions provider 

Beware of political scammers

A disclaimer first: this piece is not exactly original, as it draws heavily from a recent Twitter thread by Zakes Mda, the acclaimed South African novelist, poet and playwright who currently lives... 

Pule Mothibe

This week we profile Pule Mothibe, incoming CEO of Entsika Consulting, which provides services ranging from business consulting and advisory to internal audit, engineering and construction, power,... 

Emigration silver lining

Alan Knott-Craig Jnr, the namesake son of the former boss of telecoms giant Vodacom, wrote in his 2008 book that emigration will never beat living and working in one’s own country. As an... 

Anabel Vieira

This week we profile Anabel Vieira, FD of Octodec Investments, a JSE-listed real estate investment trust with a diversified portfolio of 250 residential, retail, office, industrial and specialised... 

Forced return to the office

Loadshedding has become a new normal in South Africa, with the intensity having worsened in the past two years, and word is that we should brace ourselves for this scourge for at least the next 18... 

Corruption-accused contenders

Apologies in advance: for the umpteenth time, I cite Kenyan public intellectual, anticorruption crusader and pan-Africanist PLO Lumumba’s take on Africans’ attitude to corrupt politicians, which,... 

Nomfundiso Matjila

This week we profile Nomfundiso Matjila, acting GM of Integrity NDT Projects, a nondestructive testing company that specialises in various types of conventional and advanced nondestructive methods 

African governance flatlining

Sudanese philanthropist Mo Ibrahim is someone all of us should be proud of; among other things, he uses part of his vast wealth, made from investments in telecommunications, to incentivise African... 

Un-Presidential spats

What is it with African Presidents? All too frequently, incumbents and their predecessors tend to squabble – to put it mildly – over all manner of issues. South Africa is no exception, with the... 

Humanitarian crisis hot spots

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has grabbed headlines internationally since it started in February last year because of its global ripple effects – shocks to supply chains, energy markets and... 

Sereme Maphaka

This week we profile Sereme Maphaka, CEO of Methano Group, an engineering, procurement, construction and management company that is active in the mining, water, renewable energy, and industry sectors 

Under-the-radar scourge

It’s logical to assume that Africa is the go-to continent if one wants to breathe clean air most of the time, given its small contribution of just 4% to global greenhouse-gas emissions. But... 

Takura Malaba

This week we profile Takura Malaba, South Africa country manager Bolt, an Estonian e-hailing services company with operations in over 45 countries 

African glaciers’ twilight years

Africa continues to bear the brunt of climate change, despite being responsible for a measly 4% of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Now we are told its remaining glaciers on three mountain... 

Italian PM’s little lie

Italy, where a rightwing leader assumed the reins in October, and France have been locked in a war of words over Europe-bound Africans crossing the Mediterranean. The neighbours’ relations soured... 

Thando Makhoba

This week we profile Thando Makhoba, MD of Multotec Rubber, a mill-lining and rubber-wear products original-equipment manufacturer 

Kagame’s silver lining

I’m not a great fan of Rwandan President Paul Kagame. The fellow is not big on genuine democracy and doesn’t brook any serious political opposition, with some of those perceived to be a threat to... 

Ruto, perish multi-term idea!

Is Kenya’s new President, William Ruto, intent on governing for longer than the permissible two five-year terms? While his party moved swiftly to distance itself from a public announcement by one... 

Brad Rogers

This week we profile Brad Rogers, CEO and MD of Jupiter Mines, a 49.9% investor in the Tshipi Borwa manganese mine, in South Africa 

The scourge of Twitter bots

So, the new Twitter lord, South African-born US tycoon Elon Musk is to introduce an $8-a-month charge for its Blue service, where a blue check mark next to the username on the social media platform... 

Our quiet-quitting leaders

Quiet quitting refers to the practice whereby employees strictly stick to what is in their job description and, once they are away from the office, leave work behind them and focus exclusively on... 

SA’s exceptionalism myth

With the great Nelson Mandela at its helm back in 1994, South Africa appeared to be on a trajectory different to the trajectories of other countries on the continent, many of which had seen the... 

Martin Masitise

This week we profile Martin Masitise, founder and CEO of Mohlalefi Engineering, a manufacturer of mining roof support products 

African English

I previously wrote about how our versions of the English language have found their way into mainstream English – ‘our’ being the possessive pronoun for the sons and daughters of the African soil.... 

Amazing functional stupidity

Functional stupidity, a phenomenon that is often encountered in workplaces, refers to a situation where smart people refrain from speaking up when they are convinced that tweaking the way their... 

The sanctions mirage

I’m aware that our political overlords in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, as is the case with their counterparts elsewhere, have at their disposal experts providing advice... 

A mampara who backed off

It may be old hat now, but it bears mentioning in this column that Michael O’Leary, the mampara who runs Ryanair, finally regained his marbles and has been experiencing a prolonged period of... 

Britain’s final rout?

As news of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II’s passing broke on the evening of September 8, Twitter (and presumably other social media platforms as well) went into overdrive, with many of those who...