As South Africa hosts the G20 Leaders’ Summit this weekend, business leader and G20 Sherpa Prof Bonang Mohale says the world’s focus should extend far beyond the drama surrounding US President Donald Trump’s expected absence. Mohale, who served as South Africa’s G20 negotiator (“Sherpa”), argues that the summit represents a pivotal opportunity for South Africa to reassert itself economically and diplomatically. Mohale says Trump’s hostility towards South Africa must be understood within a bigger global context, rather than as a personal or bilateral dispute. “Trump 1.0 demonstrated beyond any shadow of doubt that the president of the United States is against anything that is woke, progressive. He’s a racist, he’s against women, against Muslims, against people who prefer the same gender,” Mohale said. “If the facts don’t favour him, he manufactures his own. He’s a bully. He believes in the currency of tariffs: ‘I get my way or else’.”

Afrika Mayibuye Movement leader Floyd Shivambu sits down with Sunday Times deputy editor Mike Siluma to reflect on his political journey from the ANCYL to the EFF, why he broke with Julius Malema, and the fallout from his stint in the MK Party. He responds to lingering questions about the VBS scandal, his meeting with Bushiri, and his expulsion from MK, while unpacking what “total freedom and emancipation” means under Mayibuye.

ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane sits down with Mike Siluma to discuss how the Catholic Church shaped her political awakening, why she believes the DA is destabilising the GNU and why Jacob Zuma’s breakaway to form MK was “an act of betrayal.” She also opens up about her personal journey and whether she’s ready to run for ANC president.

The launch of the national dialogue has reignited debate about whether the process can genuinely help fix the country’s problems or it is just another stage to advance elite interests.Political analyst and Public Affairs Research Institute executive director Dr Sithembile Mbete says dialogue has been a recurring theme in South Africa’s democratic journey.“It comes from this idea that we are so fractured as a nation across political, racial and class lines and that we somehow need to talk to each other to find a solution,” she explains.She likens the initiative to “post-conflict negotiations” but warns that dialogue without a clear end goal risks becoming hollow. “We should always ask: what is the outcome supposed to be?”Arena Holdings editor-at-large S’thembiso Msomi agrees, saying South Africans have long felt that “what we have is not enough”.“Clearly there’s general unhappiness about where South Africa is going,” he says. Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

Long standing NEC member Dr Malusi Gigaga has hit out at the party arguing that it is yet to start fulfilling its ambition to renew itself

Correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald wants inmates to grow food, make clothing, bake bread and work in factories to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of rand and promote rehabilitation. “All [prison] uniforms are produced by inmates. All the furniture in my offices — Cape Town and Pretoria — has been manufactured by inmates, so it's much cheaper,” Groenewald said. Though the furniture predates his appointment in 2024, Groenewald believes it reflects the sort of cost-cutting, skills-development approach he wants to entrench and expand throughout the prisons system. Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

Soon-to-be acting police minister Firoz Cachalia has questioned KwaZulu-Natal police chief Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s decision to bypass reporting lines, but says rules can sometimes be an obstacle.  In an exclusive Sunday Times Politics Weekly podcast interview, Cachalia said he was “surprised and shocked” by Mkhwanazi’s bombshell remarks, which implicated police minister Senzo Mchunu and deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya — both of whom have now been placed on leave. Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

Protesting in South Africa comes at a price, sometimes a deadly one. From Sharpeville to today’s crackdowns, the state’s response to dissent has often been force, not dialogue. As the country marks Human Rights Day, the question remains: Why does standing up for basic rights still come with heavy consequences? In this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we unpack with experts issues behind police brutality and state repression. Their insights paint a troubling picture of a system where law enforcement is often used to silence dissent rather than protect citizens. Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

The Sunday Times’ Lizeka Tandwa spoke to Gauteng PTT coordinator Hope Papo about how they intend to turn around the party’s fortunes.  Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

ANC heavyweight Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has expressed her disapproval of the government of national unity (GNU), saying that if it had been up to her, the ANC would not have formed a government with the DA.

ormer president Jacob Zuma has laid out details of an audacious plan to “take back my ANC', by uniting “black” parties under his MK party banner and recapturing the leadership of the party, which he said had “deviated from our ancestors”. He spoke to Sunday Times politics editor Sibongakonke Shoba about various topics, including the formation of the MK Party and his decision not to relinquish his ANC membership.

Former Botswana leader Ian Khama has called on the country’s new president, Duma Boko, to launch an investigation into the ousted Mokgweetsi Masisi’s use of government finances during his period in power. Khama says he feels responsible for the 'dictatorship' that ensued after Masisi took power. The former president was in conversation with Sunday Times politics reporter, Kgothatso Madisa.

Prof Susan Booysen says the government of national unity (GNU) is a coalition with the DA but the ANC invited other parties to avoid political trouble. The Wits emeritus professor and independent research consultant explored the survival prospects of the GNU and the changed terrain in which all political parties are having to find their way. She joined Sunday Times deputy editor Mike Siluma on the Sunday Times Politics Weekly podcast. Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela believes white racists should be helped to heal so they don’t wound others. She joined Sunday Times deputy editor Mike Siluma in conversation after she set the cat among the pigeons with a post on her X account suggesting race supremacists need to be helped to heal from their post-transformation trauma. Madonsela said supremacists need to accept they are not superior to others. “It's not always just about race though, it's [also] about gender. Anybody who was raised in that just because they look a particular way they deserve more than others in a society based on human rights, social justice and acceptance of equality of all human beings, to them it feels like a loss of a right as opposed to loss of an unmerited privilege.” White people should not teach black people to deal with their trauma as they would make wrong assumptions. “White people should help other white people to understand that the ‘loss’ is not really a loss as such but changed expectations.” The topic harms white and black people, said Madonsela. “For everyone’s sake, in the same way that when it comes to gender we say we need to do ‘man work’, we have to do white work and white people have to do white work." Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

Just a week after President Cyril Ramaphosa reassured the country he intended to serve a full term in office, ANC Limpopo provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe has come out in support of his continued presidency.

The ANC Youth League secretary-general has warned South Africa is on the brink of a revolution that will see young people rise up against white South Africans if the economy continues to be in the red.Mntuwoxolo Ngudle spoke to TimesLIVE Premium on the state of the economy, accusing the private sector of “treason” for failing to transform the economy.

At the age of just 32 and with a possibly illustrious political career ahead of him, acting ANC national spokesperson Zuko Godlimpi admits that the prospect of inheriting a dying party keeps him up at night.  Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

A few months ago Eskom was the black sheep of public opinion, but last month we reported that the utility recorded its highest energy generation levels in six years. It’s not out of the woods yet — chairperson Mteto Nyati says they will execute remaining aspects of Eskom’s recovery plan. Nyati shares the formula they used to rescue Eskom from the brink of collapse. Two years ago the president roped him in to help save the power utility. Nyati speaks about the plans they implemented to get to where there is no load-shedding for at least 160 consecutive days, the longest period in a while. He, however, is reluctant to say load-shedding has ended. Load-shedding reached its peak in 2022 and last year to beginning of this year. The utility regularly receives financial bailouts from government. Nyati says that will soon end because Eskom will stand on its own feet. “We are saving from last year. Already in this financial year which start[ed] on 1st of April we have saved R10bn on last year.” He talks to our digital politics editor, Lizeka Tandwa, in this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly about the criticality of the leadership change in the company, which included appointing Dan Marokane as CEO and the importance of the executives’ relationship with him. Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi outlines promising economic plans that will “break the backbone of unemployment” like expanding the Gautrain for residents and plans the government of provincial unity has to make Gauteng a world-class province. Lesufi warns that the ANC is a “sinking ship” and speaks on the government of national unity.  He exclusively speaks to Sunday Times political journalist Kgothatso Madisa a day after he delivered his state of the province address. Lesufi says “we can’t have everyone coming here [Gauteng]”. Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has launched a disciplinary process against three senior party leaders implicated in the Zondo state capture report: Malusi Gigaba, David Mahlobo and Cedric Frolick. Produced by: Bulelani Nonyukela.