The Wicked Conversation

South Africa’s worsening water security crisis
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the United Nations General Assembly on 19 September. He rightly said that many developing nations are unlikely to meet sustainable development goals. To address development challenges, he said, we “require targeted investment,...
Expert analysis

Thinking leftfield to solve democracy dissatisfaction
Youth unemployment is a significant global concern. It is especially concerning across African economies, given relatively high fertility rates and declining employment prospects. According to the United Nations, Africa will be home to four billion people by 2100. The...

The 2022 Census report exposes SA’s development problems
The 2022 Census report paints a gloomy picture of the development of post-apartheid South Africa. This is notwithstanding the undercount of the current latest Census report; 30% of homes and 31% of individuals were not part of the overall data sample. This suggests...

De Beers Botswana needs robust joint venture partnerships to sustain its future
By Michael Oabona Kgengwenyane A review of the paper by Sheila Khama titled “Joint Venture Agreement - Inside the companies that operationalise agreements between Botswana and De Beers - Outlived their value or future Icons?”. Sheila’s paper comes at the right time on...

How will South Africans vote in 2024?
The 2024 national and provincial South African elections will likely prove the most important elections since the seminal 1994 elections. The country faces mounting socio-economic challenges including high unemployment, an energy crisis, water scarcity, high crime...

Why data matters for governance
Data is becoming increasingly central to our daily lives, influencing both personal choices and broader societal decisions. From a governance perspective, improved access to and understanding of data can pave the way for evidence-based policymaking. While Africa does...
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COP26: What should be at the top of Africa’s agenda?
In November, the United Kingdom will host the 26th annual United Nations (UN) global climate summit – called COP – or “Conference of the Parties” in Glasgow. COP26 (delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic) has a unique urgency and could prove to be one of the most important conferences of our time. Most experts agree that the…
The Africa Governance Papers
Podcasts

GGA’s Pranish Desai appears on The Citizen’s podcast
On 15 February 2023, GGA’s Pranish Desai appeared on the podcast The Citizen’s...

GGA’s Pranish Desai on coalition issues in municipal councils
On 14 February 2023, GGA's Pranish Desai spoke to SAfm's Songezo Mabece about...

GGA’s Pranish Desai on corruption in local government
On 12 January 2023, GGA's Pranish Desai spoke to Radio 702's Thabo...
News feed

Energy poverty and its implications for load-shedding in South Africa
December 2023 will mark 16 years since loadshedding became prominent in 2007. What was initially conceived as a temporary measure has become a persistent feature in South Africa – a feature that continues to worsen. One of the biggest consequences of load-shedding is...

South Africa’s worsening water security crisis
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the United Nations General Assembly on 19 September. He rightly said that many developing nations are unlikely to meet sustainable development goals. To address development challenges, he said, we “require targeted investment,...

Reconciling interests and values in an era of great power competition
The world is entering a new era of great power competition. Renewed, and emerging rivalries between major countries including China, India, Russia and the United States will define how the world navigates some of the great challenges of this century: conflict,...

Zimbabwe – an urgent call to restore justice and confidence
Post 23 August – Zimbabwe needs to do more to restore trust and confidence With the inauguration, cabinet announcement and swearing-in of new Ministers well out of the way, on 18 September, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa left for the 78th session of the...
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