VIEWPOINT- South African Farmers: Pioneers of Global Excellence in Agriculture
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In the sun-baked fields of the Western Cape and the vast plains of the Free State, South Africa's farmers are quietly rewriting the story of modern agriculture—one harvest at a time.
WEEKEND-VIEWPOINT- Eskom -.Transnet appears to be making significant progress
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Since June 2024, the survival of South Africa’s national government coalition has hinged on whether voters perceive tangible improvements in their lives, and recent evidence suggests progress in several key areas, often driven by the ANC abandoning long-held ideological positions. Load shedding has vanished, Eskom has introduced a coherent plan to manage load reduction, and Transnet is markedly improving rail services for mining, with Kumba Iron Ore reporting a 7% sales increase on October 29, 2025, due to better rail performance. Transport Minister Barbara Creecy is inviting private sector involvement in railways, including rapid inter-city links, while Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela has launched a process to recognise private universities able to award full degrees, easing pressure on public institutions.
Gauteng’s driving licence centres have transformed from nightmares to highly rated services, the South African Revenue Service collected more tax than expected in the first half of the fiscal year, and the police and National Prosecuting Authority are showing signs of reform, with figures like Ace Magashule facing charges and dangerous criminals jailed.Yet for millions, especially the poor, these gains feel distant: no load shedding means little when electricity is unaffordable, and improved mining rail transport does not help those who left school early. Still, the structural reforms in electricity and transport should eventually spur investment and growth, though companies currently appear to be hoarding capital rather than expanding.Crucially, the ANC is now implementing changes it once fiercely resisted. It has opened electricity generation and sales to the private sector, invited private rail partnerships, and enabled private universities—shifts led by ANC and even SACP ministers like Creecy and Manamela.
Eleven years ago, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi opposed private medical training to prevent only the rich becoming doctors; today, ideology has yielded to necessity. Having failed through state-centric policies and cadre deployment, the ANC faces voter pressure and coalition realities that leave no alternative but pragmatic reform and greater private involvement.This ideological flexibility may foster better policy, enhance democratic accountability, and ease long-term coalition cooperation, as the ANC proves it must deliver real improvements to survive electorally.
The GNU’s survival now rests on perception, not promises—and for once, the ANC is delivering results by dismantling its own sacred cows. Ending load shedding, fixing rail for miners, opening universities to private degrees, and turning licence centres from hell to 4.5-star service are tangible wins that even the most cynical voter can feel. When Kumba Iron Ore logs a 7% sales jump because trains actually move, that’s not spin; that’s steel on tracks.But let’s not pop champagne in Sandton while Soweto still counts coins for electricity. The poor see no load shedding yet pay more per unit than ever. A faster coal train doesn’t buy bread for a 14-year-old dropout.
These reforms are real, but they’re elite-adjacent—they fix systems for those already in the game, not the millions locked out.The real story is the ANC eating its ideology alive. The same party that once screamed “privatisation is betrayal” now begs the private sector to run rails, generate power, and teach doctors. Blade Nzimande must be choking on his red beret watching SACP comrade Manamela green-light private universities. Aaron Motsoaledi, who blocked private medical schools to “stop rich kids becoming doctors,” now presides over a health system begging private hospitals to train more medics—because state failure left no choice.This isn’t conversion; it’s survival. The ANC finally grasped that voters don’t eat manifestos. Coalition politics stripped away the luxury of dogma. When your majority is gone, results trump rhetoric.The danger? Reform theatre.
If private rail slots go to connected tenders, if private universities become diploma mills for the rich, if tax windfalls fund cadres not classrooms—the GNU dies not from opposition, but from betraying its own pragmatism.The opportunity? A competitive democracy where parties govern by delivery, not ideology. Where the ANC must out-perform the DA, not out-slogan it. Where “mixed economy” stops being code for state capture and becomes actual partnership.Verdict:
The GNU is passing the delivery test—barely, and only in pockets. But the ANC’s ideological U-turn is the silent earthquake. If it holds, South Africa might just stumble into a future where policy serves people, not party ghosts.
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South Africa has just handed in its homework to the United Nations — and it’s a R3.7-trillion to-do list.
VIEWPOINT-South Africa’s Water Control Measures: A Threat to Food Security?
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South Africa, one of the world’s driest nations, faces a looming challenge as the government considers stricter water usage controls, which could jeopardize food security.
WEEKEND-VIEWPOINT- The 5th Junior Agri Writers Awards Celebrates Young Voices in Agriculture
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The Junior Agricultural Writers awards in South Africa marked a significant milestone with the 5th Junior Agri Writers Awards, held at Hollard’s prestigious head office in Parktown, Johannesburg.
VIEWPOINT-Global ENSO Forecasts for South Africa's 2025/2026 Summer Season
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Global climate models, including those from the US Climate Prediction Center (CPC/NCEP/NWS) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), confirm the development of La Niña conditions in September 2025, with a high probability (around 70-71%) of persistence through the first half of South Africa's summer (October 2025–February 2026).
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