Johannesburg has suffered a sharp drop in its reputation as a top financial centre, falling from position 69 to 83 in the Global Financial Centres index.

Some 121 cities are ranked according to surveys of 147 factors provided by third parties, including the World Bank, OECD, and the United Nations. The factors include the state of the local business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial sector development and reputation.

South Africa's standing as a reputable financial hub has taken a big knock after it was greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body that sets global standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The watchdog's decision signals to global banks, financial institutions and investors that the country is not fully compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing standards.

The move puts South Africa in the company of countries such as Syria, Haiti, Yemen and Mozambique.

The JSE has also suffered an exodus of key listings, including Mediclinic, PSG and Distell. In 2021 alone, it lost 25 listings. This week, major gold producer AngloGold Ashanti moved its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange.

According to the Global Financial Centres index, Cape Town's standing dropped from 73 to 91.

Casablanca (ranked 54th) continues to be the leading African centre, according to the index and Mauritius (68), Kigali (81), and Nairobi (90) all gained 10 or more places in the rankings.

New York remained the world's top financial centre since it dethroned London five years ago. London is second, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong. Washington DC and Geneva replaced Seoul and Boston in the top 10 rankings.

The index is compiled every six months by London-based think tank Z/Yen and the China Development Institute.

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says complaints by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and AfriForum on renaming William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive were driven by a desire to exclude black history and protect the history of Afrikaans minorities.

Ntshavheni, at a post-Cabinet meeting briefing on Thursday, defended the City of Johannesburg's decision to spend R250 000 to rename William Nicol Drive.

The decision received mixed reactions, with the DA questioning the project's cost, while AfriForum criticised the decision.

Ntshavheni described the backlash from the DA and AfriForum as attempts to protect the history of minorities at the expense of black people.

She said the government was one of a few in the world that did not dismantle apartheid symbols because of their historical significance.

The minister added if the government did not work on documenting the historical contribution of black people, then an uprising was likely.

"South Africa belongs to all who live in black and white and all who live in it.

"The DA and AfriForum want to continue the exclusion of African history and black history in this country to protect the history of Afrikaans minorities that had a negative impact on blacks, and it does not contribute to nation building.

"We do not want to experience an uprising of people who feel excluded in the country they belong in, more so if they are in the majority because we continue to protect the history of the minority.

"It is only in this country where, after apartheid, we have maintained Voortrekker memorials.

"We have maintained symbols of apartheid oppressors because we said we cannot erase history."

So, the renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive is in line with building a united South Africa and also acknowledging that past that was oppressive and those who fought for the freedom of the majority of South Africans," she added.

She also gave a rundown on Cabinet decisions taken at a meeting this week.

Cabinet has made the following referrals: The SABC Bill will be submitted to Parliament, which, if passed, will see the repealing of the Broadcasting Act, and make changes to the SABC's funding model and the TV licencing system.

The draft Water Services Amendment and National Water Amendment Bill will be published for public comment.

Cabinet has also made the following non-executive appointments to the board of the Development Bank of Southern Africa:

Bongani Nqwabana (re-appointment)

Petrus Matji (re-appointment)

Pinkie Nqeto (re-appointment)

Jonathan Muthige

Chantal Naidoo

Disebo Moephuli

Barry Hore

Joel Netshitenzhe

Professor Edgar Pieterse

Zodwa Mbele

President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid homage to anti-struggle veteran Aziz Pahad, remembering him as a "consummate diplomat" and global freedom fighter.

Pahad died on Wednesday night at the age of 82.

In a statement, the president extended his condolences to the Pahad family.

He said Pahad's death followed that of his brother, former Minister in the Presidency, Essop Pahad, in July.

"Aziz Pahad worked for our freedom during his decades in exile in the United Kingdom, Angola and Zambia - a period during which he played a diversity of roles, including as a member of the ANC's Revolutionary Council and the Political Military Committee and being part of the ANC negotiating team that secretly met representatives of the apartheid regime and also with leading members of the Afrikaner community," Ramaphosa said.

He added, "It was fitting that, in acknowledgment of his vast experience in international mobilisation against the apartheid regime, Aziz Pahad was appointed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the dawn of our democracy and our reintegration into the global community.

"Aziz Pahad was a consummate diplomat, not only in the service of our country but in support of causes for freedom and justice elsewhere in the world, notably advocating the plight of the Palestinian people."

Pahad was the deputy head of the ANC's Department of International Affairs in 1991.

He was a member of the National Peace Executive Committee in 1991 and 1992, served as a member of the Transitional Executive Council's subcommittee on foreign affairs in 1994, and the ANC's national executive committee between 1985 and 2007.

Between 1994 and 2008, he served as an MP and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

He occupied these positions after returning from exile in 1990.

After the Rivonia Trial in 1964, Pahad left South Africa for the United Kingdom.

He lived between London, Angola and Zambia while maintaining strong ties with the ANC as an anti-apartheid activist.

He established an anti-apartheid movement in Europe in 1966.

He was a member of the ruling party's Revolutionary Council and Political Military Committee and a member of the ANC's team that negotiated with the apartheid government after the ANC was unbanned.

ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said Pahad would be remembered as a patriot, freedom fighter, and servant of the people throughout his life.

"He was a dedicated member of the ANC, a brilliant diplomat, and a strategist who served as a member of Parliament and Deputy Minister for International Relations from 1994 to 2008," she said.

The Economic Freedom Fighters also sent condolences to the Pahad family.

"Aziz Pahad was a freedom fighter and played a key role in the liberation struggle against the apartheid regime," the party posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).

The SA Communist Party described Pahad as an invaluable player in galvanising the international anti-apartheid movement while based in the United Kingdom since 1964.

"Following the Rivonia Trial and having been banished and exiled by the apartheid regime. In exile, he worked tirelessly to build the African National Congress, later served on the SACP Central Committee and as the party's head for international affairs. He also served on the revolutionary council and political military committee," the SACP said in a statement.

Pahad is survived by his wife, Angina, a brother, children, his granddaughter, and extended family members.

South Africa is ranked seventh out of 193 countries on a scale that measures criminality, according to new data on organised crime.

The second edition of the Organised Crime Index, produced by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC), says that South Africa climbed 12 spots up the criminality index, from 19th in 2021 with a criminality score of 6.63 to seventh place in 2023 with a score of 7.18.

The index gives a criminality score on a scale of one to 10, where one indicates levels of crime and 10 indicates high levels of crime.

It includes data from 2022 on levels of criminality and resilience against organised crime in all 193 UN member states, and shows how organised crime and resilience have changed in the past two years.

According to the index, South Africa grapples with various forms of human trafficking, including sex trafficking, child labour, domestic servitude, organ smuggling, child brides and labour exploitation.

The country also struggles with "a significant issue of arms trafficking", with millions of illegal firearms in circulation, many of which originate from domestic sources such as firearms stolen from licenced civilian owners and those "lost" by or stolen from government departments, the report said.

Mark Shaw, director of the GI-TOC said: "Countries around the globe have been forced to reckon with a new reality; a reality where organised crime has shown no sign of slowing down. Instead, criminal groups have quickly adapted and seized fresh opportunities."

In addition, South Africa is part of a growing drug trade.

The report found that the country is "one of the largest heroin consumer markets on the continent" and has become "a key player in the global cocaine trade".

"Most of the cocaine comes in shipping containers from Brazil and then transits through South Africa to other destinations," the report said.

South Africa is ranked third-highest for overall criminality on the continent, after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, 7.35) and Nigeria (7.28), while Africa as a whole has a criminality score of 5.25.

While the continent saw the smallest continental increase in criminal market pervasiveness between 2020 and 2022, it still saw growth in 10 criminal markets.

Globally, the index suggests that the number of people living in countries with high levels of organised crime increased in the past two years.

Today, no less than 83% of the global population lives in countries with high levels of criminality - up from 79% in 2020.

This year, Myanmar recorded the highest criminality score (8.15), followed by Colombia (7.75), Mexico (7.57), Paraguay (7.52), the DRC, Nigeria, South Africa, Iraq (7.13), Afghanistan (7.10) and Lebanon (7.10).

Democratic Alliance (DA) Shadow Minister of Social Development Bridget Masango told Polity on Wednesday that the buck stops with Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu following a recent delay in South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant payments, which saw scores of beneficiaries unable to access their money, owing to a so-called system glitch at Postbank.

According to Masango, some recipients have still not been paid and she said this was a violation of human rights.

She claimed that recent research showed that, on average, each older person who received a grant of R2 080 was looking after about four people in their respective families.

In an exclusive interview with Polity, Masango said that, "as members of Parliament we are holding the executive to account and in this case that would be Minister Zulu. She cannot shift the blame to anyone else because the beneficiaries applied to the Department of Social Development through Sassa. The blame stays with the Minister because she is the one with whom the buck stops and that is why we say the shifting of the blame is disingenuous at worst."

The DA lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) following the payment delay and an initial assessment is expected soon.

Masango said the DA had approached the SAHRC not because this wasn't the first Sassa grant delay, but because it was the worst.

She pointed out that system glitches were apparent since the Post Office handed over the duty of payments to Postbank.

On the issue of Postbank's board being fired and the company being put under administration, Masango strongly believes that the investigation by the SAHRC should determine the truth.

According to reports, the board of directors shared a letter of resignation, but the government said that they were fired.

When discussing the DA's social development policy, Masango said that the party believed that grants were not a permanent solution for some categories of the South African population.

The party believes that for older persons and disabled South Africans grants must be a given.

"We believe that for an economically active population grants must be a stop-gap measure while the economy of the country is made to improve so that people can get jobs. We are very mindful of many young people and others between the ages of 19 to 59 who are recipients of the Social Relief of Distress Grant - we are saying that the grant should be increased because what can anyone do with a grant of R350? That grant is a stop-gap measure while the government creates an environment for businesses to thrive and for people to be able to create jobs with small and medium-sized businesses, so that people can get out of grants and go to work so that their dignity can be restored [and they can then] look after their families. The situation that we have now is a crisis situation. It is not the situation we should be hoping to continue," stated Masango.

Shooting down the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) so-called "End cadre deployment bill", the African National Congress (ANC) argued the bill was "undesirable" because the executive has similar legislation in the works.

However, this is not entirely the case: A bill currently before Parliament does not contain the measure in the DA's bill that would have isolated the Public Service Commission from political interference, albeit that it does have provisions to "ensure that there is a clear delineation between the political and administrative roles".

Last Tuesday, the National Assembly voted on the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration's report on the Public Administration Laws General Amendment Bill (PALGAB), a private member's bill introduced by DA MP Leon Schreiber in 2021, which he held up as the "cure for cadre deployment".

Only the ANC and Pan African Congress's sole MP voted against the PALGAB.

The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public and Administration, ANC MP Teliswa Mgweba, said in the debate preceding the vote: "Honourable members, all legislative and policy reforms in the public service are consistent with and complement the Public Administration Laws General Amendment Bill.

"Based on the existing legislative amendments in the public service, the committee resolved to recommend to this august House that the Public Administration Laws General Amendment Bill is undesirable as it complements the existing bills drafted by the Department of Public Service and Administration."

However, the Public Service Amendment Bill, introduced by the executive, does not contain the provisions that Schreiber proposed to curb cadre deployment.

A key element of the PALGAB is prohibiting employees of the Public Service Commission (PSC) from having any political office.

In the PALGAB, "regional office" is defined as follows: "[a] the position of chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary, deputy secretary or treasurer of the party organisation nationally or in any province, region or other area in which the party operates; [b] any position in the party or organisation equivalent to a position referred to in paragraph [a], irrespective of the title designated to the position; or [c] any position of authority in that party, organisation or structure".

The bill states an employee of the PSC "may not hold political office in a political party or political organisation, whether in a permanent, temporary or acting capacity".

The now scuppered bill would have required the PSC to give directions to every sector, administration and institution in the public service for every decision related to recruitment, transfers or promotions to be in line with the Constitution.

It must be based on ability, demonstrated by proficiency, including training or other qualification, and skill that is required for the relevant area.

It must also be based on objectivity and fairness, so that any recruitment, transfer or promotion is done on merit alone, does not favour or prejudice any person because that person supports, or does not support, a particular political party or cause.

The directions must "ensure that employment and personnel management practices are based on objectivity and fairness, including a prohibition on any recruitment, transfer, promotion or dismissal being effected based on, in part or in whole, a particular person's support of, or opposition to, a particular political party or cause".

Furthermore, anyone not compliant with these directives would be "guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months or to both a fine and such imprisonment".

Neither the Public Service Amendment Bill, nor the Public Administration Management Amendment Bill, has any such provisions.

The Public Service Amendment Bill does, however, have some provisions dealing with cadre deployment.

The bill has a clause that would "prohibit a head of department and an employee directly report...

The true confessions of an unrehabilitated terrorist. Anecdotes and Antidotes by Stephen Johannes Marais

The genre of prison literature is now rather crowded with several books, having appeared since the 1960s. Most of these have been written by men. Exiled academic Elaine Unterhalter, once wrote of these forming part of the literature of "heroic masculinity".

It applies to a broader body of literature referring to men going off on a "journey", which is dangerous, leaving their lovers or wives behind, who have meals and other resources ready for their return.

The heroic masculine project tends to relate what the men do in an impersonal, repressed way. They tend not to express the fears or anguish, they may have experienced.

Heroic masculinity tends to replicate the public/private dichotomy, with women at home to care for the house and children and the "real work" is done by men. Likewise, involvement in the Struggle is seen as "work" and although feminism came to have a number of significant female and male standard bearers (like Chris Hani)- the Struggle nevertheless tended to designate the places of men and women in a patriarchal manner.

In this respect, Stephen Marais' book is very different and very self-reflective. It is very much about South Africa, the Struggle and the experience of political commitment. But it is also very much about Stephen and different phases of his life. Anyone who reads the book will find not just questions arising from the struggle but a whole range of other issues that may touch on their own lives. This is done with searing honesty as he examines his life choices and the costs that ensue.

The book is wide ranging in the areas that were formative in Stephen's life. He has lots of anecdotes that are funny, and others that are part of the harsh upbringing of many young boys in South Africa, white and black, with sadistic teachers and other experiences that are brought to the surface. In raising these, Stephen gives a voice to others who have not admitted to or unable to express the harm done to them as children.

The book is funny, as when he reminisces about his Ouma who when he tells her that Verwoerd had been killed, she just says "Verwoerd en sy apartheid is 'n klomp kak". When he asks why his grandfather is always reading his bible, Ouma says he's "cramming for his finals".

In the course of his wanderings prior to joining MK, he evades the army, and lives in villages in Lesotho and the former Transkei. His life there is no different from that of the ordinary village people and tries to learn whatever the language that may be spoken in these areas. One quality that shines through his various visits to villages is his humility.

In some ways, Stephen is very eccentric. I've also written prison memoirs but did not write or have the capacity to write about some things that Stephen has covered, as with his conversations with birds who call him a hypocrite and other phrases that he has to look up in his dictionary. That is not a criticism so much as us inhabiting different "head spaces". Our preoccupations converge but also diverge radically. (When I made this point at a book launch, one former prisoner, Maurice Smithers "exposed" me as also having had a bird in prison and "talking" to it).

One of the features of the book that may be unique is that it derives from a series of exchanges between himself and his Facebook friends, who urged him to make what he was writing in postings into a book. Many of these exchanges are in the book with Stephen relating one or other stories from his life or expressing his view on a topic and that resonates with his Facebook friends and evokes a debate.

Many of us would not have the patience to engage with so many people, but he does do so respectfully. Stephen has an endless capacity to engage with a variety of people. He takes them seriously. They take what he says seriously. And in some ways, these exchanges may have contributed to the well-being of these people....

uMngeni Mayor Chris Pappas has been announced as the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) Premier candidate in KwaZulu-Natal for the 2024 national elections.

This announcement was made on Monday by DA leader John Steenhuisen at the Durban City Hall.

"Pappas is a dynamic young leader who walks the walk and has made the uMngeni municipality a shining beacon on the hill while the rest of KZN lies in ruin," he said.

Steenhuisen lamented the state of the province under the leadership of the African National Congress, blaming misery, hunger, maladministration and poverty on the ruling party.

The DA contends that change within KwaZulu-Natal and throughout the country is only possible if all South Africans register to vote.

"It is time for citizens to take the power into their own hands and vote on election day for change and for hope and for the only party that can kick out the ANC and keep the EFF out," said Steenhuisen.

A visit to Washington by a high-profile delegation of ministers, business leaders and unionists lowered tensions around the renewal of South Africa's preferential trade deal with the US, Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel has said.

Patel was briefing Parliament on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The panel, which included Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, visited the US Capitol in July to meet with lawmakers amid fears South Africa could lose access to AGOA in 2024.

The trade deal allows 25% of South African exports to enter the US tariff-free, including around $1.5-billion (R28-billion) in vehicle exports.

In June, a group of US legislators wrote to the White House questioning whether it was appropriate for South Africa to host this year's AGOA forum as it was "in danger of losing AGOA benefits".

The lawmakers said that while South Africa claimed to be neutral in the war in Ukraine, the country had held joint naval exercises with Russia, possibly covertly supplied arms to Russia on the Lady R, and was planning to host Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Brics summit.

Getting better

Since the letter was written, the relationship between South Africa and the US appears to have improved.

Putin, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, did not attend this year's Brics summit in Sandton.

And the US has already confirmed that South African will host the AGOA summit as planned in Johannesburg in early November.

Patel described the US visit in July as a success. American lawmakers recognised the importance of President Cyril Ramaphosa setting up a panel to probe whether weapons were loaded onto the Russian warship Lady R in December, he said.

"It was also deeply appreciated that, in a country like SA the rule of law is important and that the president took the effort to set up a panel with a very respected retired judge," he said.

"That was recognised as a way in which a democracy deals with issues that have come up."

Earlier this month Ramaphosa said the Lady R panel found no evidence that arms were loaded onto the ship to be transported to Russia. Ramaphosa announced the findings of the probe about seven weeks after Patel and colleagues met with US lawmakers.

The South African delegation also explained the "complexities that SA needs to navigate and a better understanding of our non-aligned status," said Patel.

The minister said he was pleased to see that there was a bipartisan push in South Africa across political parties, unions and the private sector to retain South Africa's eligibility in AGO and have the trade deal extended in 2025 when it expires.

"In matters of international economic diplomacy, we close ranks, we stand together as South Africans," he said.

The AGOA Forum will take place between 2 and 4 November at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg.

The renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive has been lauded by the African National Congress (ANC) as a powerful symbol of South Africa's heritage and history.

The City of Johannesburg, on Tuesday, unveiled the name change, the same day as what would have been stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's eighty-seventh birthday.

The ANC has stressed the importance of acknowledging the significant contributions made by this towering anti-Apartheid activist and leader towards the struggle for democracy in South Africa.

"The ANC's position to rename key streets and buildings in South Africa to honour icons who played pivotal roles in shaping the country's history reflects a broader effort to unite society behind tried and tested icons who tirelessly contributed to the nation's struggle for freedom and democracy. By renaming streets and buildings after these icons, the ANC aims to ensure that their legacies are preserved and that future generations are reminded of the sacrifices and achievements of those who fought against Apartheid and other injustices," said ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri.

The party commended Madikizela-Mandela's "determination and commitment" in the fight for equality and prosperity amidst persecution, imprisonment and hardship. The ANC said Madikizela-Mandela's life and legacy continue to inspire many as a symbol of resistance and resilience.

"The preservation of our history serves as a powerful symbol of South Africa's commitment to acknowledging its oppressive history and valuing the diverse voices and leaders that shaped it. It also reinforces the idea that the past should not be forgotten, but rather be integrated into the nation's identity as a source of inspiration and a reminder of the importance of justice, equality, unity and social cohesion," Bhengu-Motsiri said.