[Opinion] Response to Gulf crisis puts South Africans at risk
Country’s tolerance for uncertainty in citizen protection abroad is dangerously undefined
[Letter] Public sector growth masks private firms’ struggles
Youth unemployment is staggeringly high at 68.3%
[Letter] SA’s reliance on external tailwinds is risky
There is a danger that politicians will leave growth barriers unaddressed
[Opinion] US political risk for South Africa persists despite Congress gridlock
US extraterritorial reach is emerging as a major political risk for South Africa in 2026 and beyond, with potential to influence government policy and commercial operations through sanctions, trade restrictions or bilateral reviews. South African stakeholders should remain vigilant.
[Opinion] Silencing the Guns? SA’s leadership amid persistent fire
While the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly met in Addis Ababa on 14-15 February 2026 under the banner of “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063,” President Cyril Ramaphosa faced a bitter irony at home amid Johannesburg’s acute water shortages, and days earlier in his State of the Nation Address, the announcement that the South African National Defence Force would deploy alongside police against gang violence and illegal mining in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
[Letter] Agoa uncertainty harms wine sector
America’s imposition of tariffs on wine exports highlights the mounting pressure facing the industry (“US tariffs squeeze South African wine exports as costs surge”, February 17). More importantly, it raises the broader issue of the absence of a durable trade framework between South Africa and the US.
[News] Can SA take advantage of shifting global tides?
The latest World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, produced a stark, necessary contrast between two emerging philosophies of foreign policy and of geoeconomic strategy.
[Letter] Higher duties on imports won’t fix auto industry
Protection may save jobs short-term but ignores deeper cost and competitiveness problems