Key points drawn from coverage. Tap a point to see the original sentence.
March 2026
The Namibian
Thabo Mbekiwas removed bythe ANC in 2008
Source
“Lekota, nicknamed 'Terror' due to his prowess on the football field, left the ANC in 2008 shortly after former South African president Thabo Mbeki was removed by the party.”
Then President Thabo Mbekicitedthe scam in his 2006 State of the Nation Address
Source
“Back in 2006, after all, the scam was cited in then President Thabo Mbeki's State of the Nation Address — the scandal, it was declared, proved that the "willing buyer, willing seller" principle of land reform was flawed.”
Former president Thabo Mbekimost loudly proposedthe National Dialogue
Source
“President Cyril Ramaphosa is the person who formally decided to hold the dialogue, and former president Thabo Mbeki was the person who most loudly proposed it.”
Former President Thabo Mbekiwarnedthat without capable leadership, the National Dialogue risked being meaningless
Source
“As South Africa prepares for the National Dialogue, with an estimated price tag of R700-million, former President Thabo Mbeki warned that without capable leadership, the process risked being meaningless.”
Thabo Mbekidefended Nujoma's attack on Tony Blair asnot intended to offend or embarrass
Source
“Commenting on 2002 Nujoma's attack on former British prime minister Tony Blair, Mbeki defended Nujoma, saying the outburst was never intended to offend or embarrass Blair.”
South Africa's Constitutional Court has ruled that the National Assembly's December 2022 vote declining to refer an independent panel's report on President Cyril Ramaphosa to an impeachment committee was unconstitutional and invalid, and has now referred the report directly to the impeachment committee. An analyst says the ANC's use of majoritarian tactics to shield Ramaphosa has left the party in crisis ahead of 2026 local elections.
South Africa's Constitutional Court has ruled that the National Assembly's December 2022 vote declining to refer an independent panel's report on President Cyril Ramaphosa to an impeachment committee was unconstitutional and invalid, and has now referred the report directly to the impeachment committee. An analyst says the ANC's use of majoritarian tactics to shield Ramaphosa has left the party in crisis ahead of 2026 local elections.
An opinion piece argues that Swapo, like other former liberation movements in government, has failed to deliver on promises and uses patriotic narratives of its struggle history to justify remaining in state control, drawing parallels to critiques of post-colonial African governments by Frantz Fanon and Angolan author Pepetela.
The Namibian's analysis of Mosiuoa Lekota, who died on Wednesday, argues that his role in forming the Congress of the People in 2008 was equally vital to his anti-apartheid activism. By breaking the ANC's political dominance, Cope's 1.3 million votes prevented Zuma's government from securing a two-thirds majority, shifted South African politics from racial to policy-based competition, and inspired the formation of other parties including the EFF and ActionSA, fundamentally changing the country's democratic trajectory.
Mosiuoa Lekota, a prominent anti-apartheid campaigner who served as South Africa's defence minister and ANC chairperson before founding the rival Congress of the People party, has died after a period of illness. He was imprisoned on Robben Island during apartheid and broke from the ANC in 2008 over corruption concerns.