Landmark court ruling will have huge implications for new fossil fuel projects in UK: A recent court case concluded that developers should not have been granted planning permission to extract fossil fuels from the Surrey Hills. Ali Kiresci/Shutterstock The UK Supreme Court recently ruled that Surrey County Council acted unlawfully in granting planning permission to …
Why the upcoming South African election is a massive milestone for the ruling ANC: South African’s governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), is in trouble. After 30 years in charge, it is scrambling for support ahead of the upcoming national elections. The ANC has run the country since the end of apartheid in 1994, …
Why a US state court ruling on the rights of children before birth is unjust: In 2020, in a medical facility in one of the southern states of the US, a patient wandered into an unsecured nursery for extremely premature children. Unfortunately, the patient managed to accidentally disconnect multiple babies from their life support. Worried …
South African marriage ruling is a win for divorcees and surviving spouses: it guides the sharing of their assets: South Africa’s Constitutional Court has fundamentally changed the country’s marriage law, making it fairer to people who are married “out of community of property” when their marriages end. In these marriages, the estates of spouses are …
Mexican court ruling upholding women’s right to abortion shows global trend better than US Roe v Wade decision: It may surprise you to learn that, over the past 30 years, no fewer than 60 countries have liberalised their abortion laws while only four have rolled back abortion rights. The United States is, of course, one …
Zimbabwe elections 2023: a textbook case of how the ruling party has clung to power for 43 years: Opposition supporters calling for free and fair elections outside the offices of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in Harare in 2018. Jeksai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images. Few were surprised as, near midnight on 26 August, the Zimbabwe Electoral …
South Africa’s ruling party is performing dismally, but a flawed opposition keeps it in power: The African National Congress has lost electoral support but remains dominant. Phill Magakoe / AFP via Getty Images. As power cuts continue, the economy falters, unemployment rises and the currency tumbles, South Africa’s political commentators tend to agree that support …
Namibia and South Africa’s ruling parties share a heroic history – but their 2024 electoral prospects look weak: Presidents Hage Geingob, left, and Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings in Tshwane. GCIS Namibian president Hage Geingob used his recent state visit to South Africa to also address a meeting of the national executive committee of …
Queerphobia in Kenya: a supreme court ruling on gay rights triggers a new wave of anger against the LGBTIQ+ community: A demonstrator during Queer Republic protests in Nairobi, Kenya. John Ochieng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The Kenyan supreme court recently struck down a government decision to ban the registration of an LGBTIQ+ community rights organisation, …
Zimbabwe’s ruling party vilifies the opposition as American puppets. But the party itself had strong ties to the US: Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa addressing a rally in Bulawayo recently. Zinyange Auntony/AFP via Getty Images The Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), which has governed Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, is well known for denouncing the …
God and politics in South Africa: the ruling ANC’s winning strategy: Pastors pray for former South African president and ANC leader Jacob Zuma. Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images Religion shapes some of the most controversial decisions that governments need to make: access to abortion, same-sex marriage, the death penalty and the legal status of sex …
South Africa’s ruling party has favoured loyalty over competence – now cadre deployment has come back to bite it: Supra Mahumapelo, former premier of North West Province, former president Jacob Zuma and current president Cyril Ramaphosa at an ANC celebration in 2016. Thulani Mbele/Sowetan/Gallo Images/Getty Images Cadre deployment is one of the best-known policies of …
Pregnant students in Tanzania may stay in school according to a new ruling by African child rights experts: Gettyimages The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of Children recently made what experts call a landmark ruling. The committee is a regional quasi-judicial organ of the African Union. Its task is to monitor …
Corruption in South Africa: new book sets out how ruling ANC lost the battle: ANC supporters show support for corruption accused and suspended party secretary general Ace Magashule outside court in Bleomfontein. EFE-EPA/Conrad Bornman One of the greatest benefits of South Africa’s democracy is freedom of speech and publication. Mpumelelo Mkhabela’s book, The Enemy Within, …
Official Angolan result gives ruling MPLA wafer thin win. On the streets the outcome isn’t believed: Adalberto Costa Junior, leader of Angola’s opposition party, The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) arrives to cast his vote. Photo by John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images Angola’s elections were, for the first time, a tight …
Angola’s 2022 election: an unfair contest the ruling MPLA is sure to win: Protests demanding better living in Angola have become common since 2011. This one was in November 2020. EFE-EPA/Luso Angolans go to the polls on 24 August to vote in parliamentary elections. The leader of the party with the most seats in parliament …
Angola’s ruling party faces united opposition in upcoming poll. But it’s pushing back: President João Lourenço is campaigning for a second term. Gilson Lázaro The election of Angolan President João Lourenço in 2017 raised hopes of a shift from the authoritarian and corrupt era of his predecessor. This was thanks to the new, more open …
Former South African president predicts the end of the ruling party: history is on his side: The African National Congress is steadily losing dominance. EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook Former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe, one of the saner voices in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), has recently given voice to heresy. He has said that the …