The week ahead in SA politics — let them eat yachts, release of matric results and ANC's disbanding dance

All eyes on Siviwe Gwarube

South Africa’s youngest minister, Basic Education’s Siviwe Gwarube, has a big week. She will unveil the matric results on 14 January, setting the stage for a week in which we focus the national eye on the state of education. The DA is no longer in the critic’s seat but in the accountability seat as part of the Government of National Unity (GNU). 

Minister of Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)

The month’s political focus is on Gwarube who must also issue the norms and standards to regulate the implementation of the Basic Education Laws Act (Bela), the legislation being politicised by the right wing who fear it will affect the language freedoms of Model C (the most well-resourced) schools.

Mozambique: A swearing-in and a swearing-at

On Wednesday, 15 January, Daniel Chapo will be sworn in as Mozambique’s president after a contested October 2024 election. Since then, protests have been held in the capital, Maputo, and in other provinces, causing mayhem at the Lebombo border with South Africa, which closed several times. Podemos party candidate Valeñcio Mondlane jetted into the capital last week and protests turned bloody. The Southern African Development Community’s response has been anaemic, as Victoria O’Regan reported.

The ANC’s Disbanding Dance

Will the ANC disband its Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal structures? The National Executive Committee meets again this week to decide whether to disband those structures after the party lost the 2024 election, mainly in these two provinces where government services hit the wall. We don’t think it will happen.

A Starlink deal – watching Solly Malatsi on equity equivalents

Elon Musk’s satellite company Starlink (which offers high-speed internet) is in talks with the government to bring an investment here, as Bloomberg reported. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi is considering structuring equity equivalents (trades for BEE shares for multinationals hesitant to give up equity) to secure the investment.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WruCCHyegXE&t=3s

Let them eat yachts

The Sunday Times reported that ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula borrowed a billionaire’s yacht (eschewing the public ferry) to travel to Robben Island as part of the weeklong shindig by the party in Cape Town. It sailed hard in the face of the ANC’s projection of itself as a pro-poor party coming to rescue a poorly treated poor black community in one of the country’s wealthiest and swankiest cities. Expect fallout and lots of chatter.

ArcelorMittal deal to save jobs?

At the end of last week, the Industrial Development Corporation said it would enter talks with ArcelorMittal shareholders to save 3,500 jobs at risk if it shutters its Newcastle and Vanderbijlpark factories.  

Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau also woke up after the company’s new year release, which caused a shock to the economy and country that can’t take another mass manufacturing job loss. Ray Mahlaka reported that Tau didn’t pitch for an emergency meeting last year and that the government’s response to the initial announcement had been dilatory. DM