The politics of circumcision in South Africa
The deafening silence of political, traditional and cultural leaders, who have in the past positioned themselves as the guardians of African culture, on the…
William Gumede
Supporting Civil Society key to future
Many local civil society organisations are in deep crisis, with many unable to raise funds, others struggling to adjust to a rapidly changing society and…
Electoral system alienates voters
South Africa’s electoral system urgently needs to be changed to make elected representatives more accountable and responsive and to give voters more power to…
Vital to invest in people
Unless the development of human capital as widely as possible is at the centre of all South Africa’s development strategies, efforts to raise economic…
Too much power in one person’s hands
Questions are being increasingly asked about whether there are any aspects of South Africa’s model constitution, adopted in 1996, that ought to be amended to…
South Africa must confront the roots of its xenophobic violence
The wave of deadly xenophobic attacks against foreigners of African descent that has shamed South Africa, and the astonishingly tardy response by the government,…
OSISA State of the Nation Presentation: Tipping point- when citizens lose all faith in the system
On 20 February 2015 Democracy Works’ William Gumede presented his analysis of the State of the Nation for a mixed audience of academics, professionals…
CPLO roundtable: what has the NDP accomplished so far?
On the 23rd of September 2014 the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office hosted a Round Table discussion on the National Development Plan. The speakers were…
Policy Brief 2: Africa Democracy Trends 2014
Can we see improvement of democracy building in Africa? The question is often asked whether, broadly, we can start to see an overall positive…
Churches ruthlessly exploit insecurities
Failures by mainstream churches to find answers to the causes of African angst have pushed people into the hands of avaricious charismatic churches. Charismatic…