The ANC is starting to fragment on the back of the governing party’s inability to reduce poverty, deliver jobs and effective public services. The party will continue to fragment as it remains divided and is unlikely to secure a two-thirds majority of votes as it has done in the past

Assessing the extent to which South Africa’s role within BRICS is an opportunity for it to defend its economic interests and that of other African countries will be a tightrope for the country as BRIC manufactures hurt SA’s domestic sectors

In order to prevent the BRICS from ending up as a talking shop they will have to work hard at forestalling the potential for them to become fierce competitors.

Whether Cyril Ramaphosa, the new ANC deputy president, can make any difference in the troubled ANC government will depend heavily on how much power, support and freedom President Jacob Zuma, gives him.

Zuma has skillfully used Zulu or African ‘traditions’ to cover-up poor personal choices, indiscretions and wrong behavior, and portrayed those who oppose such poor behavior of being opposed to African ‘traditions’ or ‘culture,’ argues William Gumede.

Democratic participation by the rank and file of the ANC in the December national leadership conference is a charade. A genuinely open system in which members are able to choose quality candidates must be introduced.

Most well-intentioned corruption busting remedies in Africa fail because the root causes of corruption on the continent are often poorly understood.

href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Africa_municipalities_by_l…">cc Wikimedia[/url">A solidarity for the vulnerable that cuts across the ethnic, regional and political divide is the final counter-balance against tribalism in South Africa.

Much of the infighting in South Africa’s ANC, which is paralysing both government and the party, is the result of outdated codes, traditions and rituals governing the elections of leaders of the party, especially that of the president, writes William Gumede.

Africa’s attempt to create a continent-wide free trade area may end in failure like so many other previous regional developmental schemes, unless leaders do things differently, writes William Gumede.

Political unity across much of African has proven to be a question of ‘glorified clubs of leadership chums’ protecting one another through regional institutions, writes William Gumede. With the rise of new emerging powers in the world, Africa needs a new ‘revamped’ African Union involving member countries who meet appropriate standards around democracy and economic governance, Gumede argues.

Many an African dictator is trembling in his boots following popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. But are the elements in place for rebellion to spread farther south, asks William Gumede.

To be really effective, South Africa’s new National Planning Commission must operate like the command centre of a country in war, meticulously planning, not against invaders, but the transformation of the economy, sector by sector, as if the country’s existence depended on it – which it does, writes William Gumede.

‘Band-aid solutions to South Africa’s deep-seated racial problems are simply foolish’, writes William Gumede, and ‘it is naive to think that given the more than 300 years of colonialism and apartheid, racist attitudes will magically evaporate in under two decades. Until we acknowledge that racism is deeply embedded in South African society, instead of living in denial, pretending racial incidents are "isolated" events, solutions will only paper over the cracks and reconciliation across racial divides will remain elusive.’

Building an inclusive South African-ness rests on recognising diversity as part of a broader commitment to a collective identity, argues William Gumede. Debates around 'African-ness' are misguided, Gumede maintains, and the country's true identity should be built on equality, the distribution of opportunities and an inclusive approach to nation-building.

Jacob Zuma may have been the only candidate who could unseat Thabo Mbeki from the leadership of the ANC, writes William Gumede, but the inherent danger in electing someone with such 'a colourful private life' to lead the party and the country is that is that ‘sooner or later, the excesses of his private life will so dominate public life’ that they paralyse the government itself.

A new ‘bling’ culture, pervasive among South Africa’s ruling political, business and public administration elite, which sees lavish lifestyles as the standard for achievement, is encouraging people to use shortcuts to get rich quickly rather than working or studying hard, writes William Gumede.

From whichever angle you look at, it is simply wrong for a governing political party to own shares in a commercial company, let alone when such a company bids for government tenders, writes William Gumede.

The lack of honesty in South Africa’s political, economic and social debates is now becoming so severe it is undermining effective delivery of public services, the country’s economic prosperity and the consolidation of the democracy itself, says William Gumede.

‘If we want to turn around black education in South Africa, we must start by changing prevailing anti-learning attitudes’, argues William Gumede. ‘Anti-learning attitudes’, says Gumede, are compounded by a ‘lack of political will from leaders to do something beyond mouthing off rhetoric, wrong official priorities and absentee black parents’.