Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a former anti-apartheid activist, member of uMkhonto we Sizwe, and president of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2007 to 2017.
Nkosinathi Phiwayinkosi Thamsanqa Nhleko is a South African politician and former trade unionist from KwaZulu-Natal. He was the Minister of Police and Minister of Public Works in the second cabinet of President Jacob Zuma. After he was sacked from the cabinet in 2018, he served as a backbencher in the National Assembly until the 2019 general election.
News24 is an English-language South African news website created in October 1998 by the multinational media company, Naspers. Its team of approximately 100 journalists, led by editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson, are based in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Gqeberha. Its brands include Fin24, Sport24, Channel24, Health24, Arts24, Parent24, Wheels24, W24, Ride24 and Business Insider SA. News24 is owned by Media24, a South African media company, with interests in digital media and services, newspapers, magazines, e-commerce, book publishing, print and distribution. In August 2021, News24 launched a digital subscription service that offers premium investigative journalism, opinion, analysis and more to paying subscribers at R75 per month. It reached 100,000 subscribers in February 2024, becoming the largest subscription-led news website in Africa.
Daily Maverick is a South African online news publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. It claims to have a readership of approximately 10 million readers per month. It was founded in 2009 by Branislav Brkic, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of the publication, and Styli Charalambous, its Chief Executive Officer.
The National Key Points Act, 1980 is an act of the Parliament of South Africa that provides for the declaration and protection of sites of national strategic importance against sabotage, as determined by the Minister of Police since 2004 and the Minister of Defence before that. The act was designed during apartheid to secretly arrange protection primarily for privately owned strategic sites. It enables the government to compel private owners, as well as state-owned corporations, to safeguard such sites owned by them at their own cost. The act, still in force and unamended since apartheid, came under the spotlight after President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead was declared a National Key Point in 2010 amid controversy over public expenditure on upgrades to the property. As of 2013, the act is officially under review.
Ferial Haffajee is a South African journalist and newspaper editor. Haffajee was editor of City Press newspaper from July 2009 until July 2016 and was previously the editor of the Mail & Guardian newspaper.
Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize is a South African medical doctor and politician who served as the Minister of Health from May 2019 until his resignation on 5 August 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2018 to 2019. Before that, he was the fifth Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 2009 to 2013.
South Africa has been dubbed "the protest capital of the world", with one of the highest rates of public protests in the world.
Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela is a South African advocate and professor of law, holding a chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University since January 2018. She served as the Public Protector of South Africa from 19 October 2009 to 14 October 2016. In 1996, she helped draft the final constitution of South Africa promulgated by then-President Nelson Mandela.
Thembelani Waltermade "Thulas" Nxesi is a South African politician and former trade unionist who has been the Minister of Employment and Labour since May 2019. A representative of the African National Congress (ANC), he has been a member of cabinet since October 2011 and the Deputy National Chairperson of the South African Communist Party (SACP) since July 2012.
The private residence of former South African President Jacob Zuma is situated about 24 km (15 mi) south of the rural town of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal and is commonly referred to as the Nkandla homestead. During Zuma's presidency, the homestead was the subject of a major public controversy, sometimes referred to as Nkandlagate, concerning what were ostensibly security upgrades to Zuma's compound, at a cost of over R246 million. The use of public funds to make these improvements received significant media coverage and political opposition.
Azwihangwisi Faith Muthambi is a South African politician who was the Minister of Public Service and Administration and Minister of Communications under President Jacob Zuma. She represented the African National Congress in the National Assembly from May 2009 to November 2022, and she has been a member of the party's National Executive Committee since December 2017.
The Minister of Public Service and Administration is a minister in the Cabinet of South Africa. The ministry provides political leadership to the national Department of Public Service and Administration. As of March 2023, the minister is Noxolo Kiviet.
The Gupta family is a wealthy and influential business family from India, with close ties to former South African President Jacob Zuma and his administration. The family's most notable members are the brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family's business empire in South Africa spanned a variety of industries, including mining, media, and technology. The family name has become synonymous with corruption in South Africa as well as undue influence, and state capture. They have been sanctioned by multiple countries for their activities, with investigations ongoing in both South Africa and the United States. Many prominent South Africans and politicians have been linked to the family's alleged corrupt activities, including members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. The Gupta family has since fled South Africa and has been spotted in Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Vanuatu.
Jacob Zuma's tenure as South Africa's fourth post-apartheid president began on 9 May 2009 and ended on 14 February 2018. He held office under a mandate from the parliamentary caucus of the African National Congress (ANC), which had governed South Africa since 1994 and which won comfortable majorities in the 2009 and 2014 national elections. His presidency was beset by controversy, and he faced, and defeated, an impeachment attempt and a record eight motions of no confidence in the South African Parliament, four of which went to a vote. His party asked him to resign in February 2018, ahead of the constitutional end of his second term.
Verashni Pillay is a South African journalist and editor. She was the editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post South Africa and the Mail & Guardian. She was head of digital at South African radio station, POWER 98.7 and currently runs her own company, explain.co.za.
Hendrietta Ipeleng Bogopane-Zulu is a South African politician and activist who is currently serving as Deputy Minister of Social Development since 26 May 2014. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2019.
John Harold Jeffery has been the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development in South Africa since 2013. He was appointed by President Jacob Zuma in a cabinet reshuffle on 9 July 2013, and has remained in the post throughout the tenure of current President Cyril Ramaphosa.
AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism is an investigative journalism organisation focusing primarily on exposing political corruption in South Africa and neighbouring countries. They say that their name means “dung beetles” in isiZulu, one of the indigenous languages of South Africa. They claim they are “digging dung, fertilising democracy.”
Jeremy John Gauntlett SC KC is a British–South African lawyer who practises public and commercial law. He entered legal practice as an advocate in Cape Town in 1976 and was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales in 1994. In addition to his chambers in Cape Town and Johannesburg, he is a tenant at Brick Court Chambers in London.
South Africa