Opinion

By Fumene George Tsibani: Figure 1: The Hierarchy of the Royal House of Nkosiyamntu. (Source: Tsibani 2020, Chapter 6) PURPOSE This paper examines the continuum of Royal Monarchy resistance of AmaXhosa Omthonyama by linking two acts of remembrance: the launch of the Imbumba yamaNyama Congress in Ngqeberha on 10 May 1891 by Dr Mpilo Walter Benson Rubusana kaCirha, and the inauguration of President Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela on 10 May 1994. It interrogates how colonial and apartheid administrations distorted pre-colonial genealogies and governance hierarchies, thereby fracturing the constitutional order of the Royal House of King Nkosiyamntu. Grounded in Marxist-Leninist concepts of alienation, ideological superstructure, and colonialism ...

By Phindile Ntliziywana: South Africa’s land and property landscape is a battleground where history, race, and economic disparity collide in a volatile mix. The legacy of apartheid’s land dispossession still lingers, but today, new dynamics threaten to rewrite the property map – dynamics that some argue favour certain groups over others, fuelling tensions and deepening divides. Historical dispossession and the new Land Grabs For centuries, white South Africans – privileged and often protected by the state – ruthlessly accumulated land, locking out black South Africans from owning the very soil that was their ancestral homeland. Post-apartheid land reforms seek to rectify this, but the process remains fraught with controversy, often accused o...

By Sello Hatang: Mercy is a spiritual gift, a higher calling that asks more of us than justice ever will. Justice keeps score. Mercy, let's go. Justice measures what is owed. Mercy considers what is needed. And in a world that often feels transactional, mercy restores something deeply human in us. A few months ago, I bumped someone’s car. It was the kind of moment that normally spirals, with raised voices, demands, the exchange of details, and the quiet tension that lingers long after. But this time, none of that happened. No shouting. No drama. No attempt to hold me hostage to the moment. The owner simply let it go. A quiet, dignified release. I drove away feeling something I could not quite name at first. It was not relief alone. It was something deeper. ...