THE GOVERNANCE REPORT
The information displayed is sourced and available to use for free from our African Digital Databank
The Wicked Conversation
Meaningful consultation with communities: what does it mean?
The recent High Court case that interdicted Shell’s seismic blasting campaign off South Africa’s Wild Coast demonstrates how indigenous communities are using the courts to protect their constitutional and customary rights. Representatives of various indigenous fishing...
Expert analysis
South Africa foreign policy: Ambiguous or misunderstood?
Misalignment in South Africa’s foreign policy strategy has been the subject of much recent scrutiny and criticism. Could the issues involved be due to ambiguities in South African foreign policies or are they due to misunderstanding? This article focuses specifically...
Nuclear power lite: Energy solution for South Africa
For more than a decade, poor energy reliability in South Africa has had a crippling effect on the country’s economic development. According to a report by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa experienced 859 hours of rolling...
Can Africa join the digital data revolution?
Governments cannot plan for what they do not know. Or to put it another way, accurate, accessible and intelligible data is critical to inclusive development and governance in Africa. Reliable data is of particular relevance as the continent grapples with policymaking...
Why the Public Protector is being impeached, slowly and controversially
The South African Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, is doing an impressive job at protecting – her seat, that is, not the constitutional democracy. An impeachment enquiry is underway to establish whether there are grounds for her removal from office....
Going hungry or going green? A critical look at the ‘Green Revolution’ project in Africa
Since the development of “miracle wheat” in 1954 by Norman Borlaug, the way in which international organisations support and invest in agriculture has changed dramatically. The narrative goes that Africa “missed out” on the first Green Revolution, thus explaining its...
Select a country you’d like to explore
Video
Healthcare
Election tracker
Elections 2021: How does your municipality rank?
Monday is voting day in South Africa's local government elections. If you're still thinking about where to place your X, take a moment to better inform yourself about your municipality with GGA's Governance Performance Index (GPI), which measures how well, or poorly,...
SA municipal elections – Unpacking the coalition puzzle
As the 1 November 2021 date for the local government elections (LGE) draws closer, calls for coalition politics are gaining momentum. Political analyst William Gumede predicted before the 2019 general election, “It could be the last time the governing ANC wins an...
Navigating uncharted waters: the road to Local Government Elections
Following the impasse and uncertainty over the constitutionality of moving local government elections to 2022, and the consequent Constitutional Court decision, South Africa will hold Local Government Elections (LGE’s) on 1 November 2021. The country is grappling with...
South African local government elections 2021 timeline
Zambia’s new day – the hard work begins
To paraphrase OR Tambo’s seminal speech in 1977: Zambians, you might think it is very difficult to wage an election struggle. Wait until you are in power. At that stage you will realise that it is actually more difficult to keep the power than to wage an election war....
Zambia election day 2021: Summary
While we wait for the official results to be verified and released, the following will provide a summary of events that took place on election day in Zambia. Introduction For the 2021 Zambian elections, there were over 7 million registered voters. The day passed...
Podcasts
ESG is good for everyone, including the extractive industries
Why is good Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) in fragile...
PODCAST: Africa’s divided response to the war in Ukraine
Ukraine: Africa's divided response We look at Africa's perceived lack of...
PODCAST: West Africa Coups
West Africa Coups In recent years, West Africa has seen a spate of coups and...
News feed
Building from the ground up: on interventions needed following the KZN floods
The consequences of South Africa’s crumbling infrastructure have been palpably witnessed in the devastation caused by the floods in KwaZulu-Natal. Furthermore, in an implicit recognition that corruption and financial mismanagement have become synonymous with...
Mswati’s hand seen in Eswatini’s removal from SADC agenda
As the Southern African Development Community mission in Mozambique nears the end of its term, South Africa, as chair of SADC, called for a summit to be held on 4 and 5 April. Initially, Eswatini was included but its subsequent removal raises questions. King Mswati...
Mitigating Covid-19 during elections in SADC countries
The Covid-19 pandemic has become part of our reality since 2020. Several elections are planned for the SADC region in 2022. With a surge in cases and emerging variants, it is imperative to ensure that elections do not become Covid-19 spreaders. For these Covid-19...
Botswana’s backsliding: A story of governance demise
Trust is difficult to build and easy to destroy. The same is true of democracy and good governance. Botswana has, relatively speaking, been a shining light of democracy on the continent. Until now, that is. Its recent democratic backsliding appears to have gone...
