The Weekend View

With just two days left, all eyes are on South Africa, as the country hosts the 15th Summit of BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China, from 22-24 August 2023. The Summit's theme is "BRICS & AFRICA; Partnerships for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development, and inclusive multilateralism." The summit's agenda is also expected to cover trade and investment facilitation, sustainable development, innovation, and global governance reform. Another key point in this 15th BRICS summit will be a discussion of the BRICS's much debated proposition of a new, gold-backed currency and BRICS expansion. To get a deeper understanding of BRICS, how it works and why the Summit matters we spoke to Gustavo de Carvalho, Senior Researcher on Russia-Africa ties at the African Governance and Diplomacy Programme at SAIIA and Dr Emmanuel Matambo, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg.

In an attempt to oust the African National Congress in the 2024 elections, - seven parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Freedom Front Plus have signed a pre-elections agreement to work together should the ANC fail to reach a 50+1 majority at the general polls next year. Following a two-day meeting, earlier this week the charter announced a new name and a set of priorities and principles for power sharing. A number of parties turned down the offer to be part of these deliberations that took place in Kempton Park this past week one of those being the African Christian Democratic Party, we spoke to the ACDP Deputy President, Wayne Thring on their views on this new coalition.

A group calling themselves the Professionals League under the African National Congress says it is time to start having a different conversation about the socio-economic challenges facing SA. 
They are calling for what they have termed a CODESA-style convention which they say must look at land issues, white privilege among others to address South Africa's poverty issues. We spoke to the Secretary General of the Professionals League Thulani Ngubane on some of these issues. 

The latest crime statistics released yesterday reveal that while the overall murder rate has gone down, more women and children have been killed over the last quarter than over the same period last year. The newest figures from SAPS tabled in Parliament show that gender-based violence is still prevalent throughout the country despite a decline in rape and sexual assault. The statistics show murder cases went up by 4.7%. This means 40 more women were murdered, up from 855 from the previous year. Attempted murders also saw a significant increase, with 238 more cases registered, a 20.2% increase, assault GBH cases also had 9.7% increase. 293 children were also murdered, up by 20.6% from 243 previous year.  We spoke to Advocate Brenda Madumise-Pajibo, Director of Wise4Afrika - a feminist advocacy group, on what these numbers mean for the fight against GBV. 

With just 4 days to go before Zimbabwe's crucial national elections, questions are being raised whether the electoral process will be transparent and officials accountable. On Thursday the country's authorities deported four regional democracy activists on arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and barred journalists from several international media houses covering the poll. Earlier This week a High Court appeal by the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change - CCC - to access the updated voters' roll was ruled as not urgent. Democracy activists say this is contrary to the law and are raising fears that the reason behind keeping the voters' roll a secret could be linked to attempts at rigging the polls. While Nelson Chamisa's CCC is determined to dislodge Zanu PF from power, incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa, on his part, is confident of a resounding victory. To look further into Zimbabwe's electoral process, we spoke to Dr Tinashe Sithole, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg's Department of Politics and International Relations.

Military chiefs from West Africa's main regional bloc - ECOWAS - have agreed an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible direct armed intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail. This is the conclusion of the two-day military meeting which ended in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, yesterday. No specific date has been given for the intervention and a diplomatic solution has not been excluded as ECOWAS is expected to send another political team to Niger today. Military officers removed Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum three weeks ago and have defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and other groups to reinstate him. For more on these developments we spoke to Advocate Sipho Mantula, from the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs.

Various political parties have taken an exception to the release of former president, Jacob Zuma on remission. This comes after, President Cyril Ramaphosa approved the release of about 9 488 inmates as part of the remission programme. However, many feel that this was a ploy to release Zuma from prison- after he handed himself over to finish his 15 months sentence for contempt. In a statement, released on Friday the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development says the release of prisoners was due to overcrowding as some of the Correctional Services facilities. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Advocate Malose Monene from the Limpopo Society of Advocate and Professor of Political Science & International Relations, Bheki Mgomezulu

Solly Msimanga yesterday retained his position as the Democratic Alliance's provincial leader in Gauteng, with Fred Nel winning the race of chairperson of the party. The provincial elections were held in  Boksburg on Gauteng's East Rand. Around one-thousand delegates cast their ballots in the two-horse race where Msimanga was challenged by Khuma Ramulifho. Bongiwe Zwane spoke to Democratic Alliance's provincial leader in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga

The Springboks will depart for Europe this afternoon (Saturday) for two warm-up matches, and the defence of their Rugby World Cup title in France. They are eager to become the first team to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for a fourth time. Our reporter, Liezl Olivier, spoke to former Springbok and now Cheetahs stalwart, Ruan Pienaar, about rugby's biggest showpiece, and South Africa's chances at the event.

The Human Sciences Research Council alongside the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation hosted a panel discussion on Zimbabwean ahead of the August 23 elections. The panel of experts looked at the pre-election environment in that country which has been characterised by violence. And they also looked at the prospects of free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe. Sebenzile Nkambule spoke to Everisto Benyera, an Associate Professor of African Politics at the University of South Africa...