Best of Voices: ANC won't cling to power, hidden reasons for Esidimeni tragedy, Land needed for township businesses

William Gumede: Why the ANC won't be able to stay in power by unconstitutional means

Very few African liberation movements – especially those who had armed wings during the struggle for liberation – which went on to come to power and dominated the newly liberated country’s army, have peacefully given up power in elections they subsequently lost.

The ANC may have no choice.

Read why.

Mpumelelo Mkhabela: The reasons for the Life Esidimeni tragedy hidden in Moseneke's report

The Life Esidimeni arbitration hearings left Justice Dikgang Moseneke wondering: what were the real reasons behind the decision to move the 144 mental health care patients? He concluded that they were concealed.

The real reasons are hidden in the unexplored explanation contained in Health Ombud Professor Malegapuru Makgoba's observations. On page 25 of his report, Moseneke cites the observations. Makgoba reported that Manamela and the provincial health department promised to "empower" NGOs and people who could convert their homes in order to accommodate patients.

Read here why this could explain moving the patients.

Hunger for urban land and township development central to expropriation debate

Though much attention is still focused on the merits and demerits of land expropriation without compensation, including whether a constitutional amendment of section 25 of the Constitution is strictly necessary, very little attention has been focused on the question of urban land hunger – for housing, public service provision, recreation, culture and most importantly, the stimulation of the township as a site for economic development.  

In the townships, several homeowners operate home-based enterprises on their already limited residential spaces. This has a negative effect on the current land usage patterns in the township. 

Read why giving them more land will solve this problem.

George Claassen: Fake news and the natural selection of ignorance

A decade after the multiple award-winning British journalist Nick Davies warned that the mass media are acting more like a global village idiot, highly ignorant and easily taken for a ride, fake news has become a common phenomenon. In Flat Earth News, Davies analysed the dangers threatening the vital role the media generally fulfil in democracies.

The public editor of News24, George Claassen, revisits Davies’s book and asks, have we learnt any lessons in the pursuit to report news accurately and credibly? 

Read more.