South Africa needs a strong opposition
ANC supporters, so used to being up against the apartheid state, find worrying about a counterweight to the ANC absurd.

The future shape of South African politics
Hermann Giliomee and Charles Simkins discuss the tension that exists between dominant-party rule and democracy.

More power for the ANC alliance will not help create employment
The overwhelming issue facing the electorate is unemployment.

Interview: Mohlolo Kgopane, general secretary of the Malamulela Movement for the Unemployed.
"The unemployed have been increasingly marginalised in society. We have embarked on a campaign to mobilise them."

African renaissance depends on rule of law and human rights
Mbeki should condemn Mugabe's attack on the free press, denounce the use of torture and call for respect for the rule of law.

How many people will be able to vote?
The prospects of a smoothly-run election will not be good if large numbers of potential voters find that they are excluded.

We cannot afford another five years like the last
Editorial.

Count us out
The number of potential voters has been revised to make registration figures look better.

Reject the "Zimbabwe option"
Government attacks on the Democratic Party have become intemperate and aggressive.

Deadly force
Safety and security minister Steve Tshwete promises a merciless approach to criminals, but how far should the police be allowed to go in the war on crime?

Can the ANC win the Western Cape?
The ANC is desperate to take over the province from what it dubs the “racist” coalition, but will it succeed?

How to use that huge majority
Many voters would like to see all parties and races participate in government and welcome the success of the opposition.

Goodbye, Mugabe
The victory for the No vote in Zimbabwe's constitutional referendum has stunned the ruling party and thrown it into chaos.

Black economic empowerment
Black business won't prosper in the modern economy until it can draw on a wide pool of well-trained skilled professionals.

Party rivals fight for their lives
Zanu-PF is riven with dissent and blames the outside world for its troubles. Andrew Meldrum and RW Johnson report.

Interview: Dr William Malegapuru Makgoba
The President of the Medical Research Council talks to Simon Dagut.

The strange unpopularity of affirmative action
RW Johnson analyses the latest survey data on employment equity.

Mission impossible
South Africa has misdiagnosed the reason for Zimbabwe's plight and its rescue is bound to fail, says Iden Wetherell.

A campus farce
The University of the North: a campus farce, now in its fifth hilarious year.

South Africa's reality gap
A serious reality gap seems to exist between the government and many of the problems it has to face.