This was the theme of a Roundtable Discussion we held last week together with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, one of our partner organisations in South Africa. Our speakers on the panel were Panyaza Lesufi, the popular MEC (Minister) for Education in Gauteng, Trudi Makhaya, renowned Economist and Business Day Analyst and Dr. Jakkie Cilliers, Head of the African Futures and Innovation Project at the Institute for Security Studies.

South Africa has a new President - former Anti-Apartheid activist, trade union leader, chief negotiator during the transition to democracy in the early 1990s, successful businessman and new ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in last Thursday after Jacob Zuma had resigned reluctantly and under pressure the previous night. A day later, President Cyril Ramaphosa gave his first State of the Nation Address in Parliament in Cape Town - a speech that was widely praised and celebrated by citizens, and followed by standing ovations even from the opposition party MPs.

The spokespersons on development policy from different parties in the Bavarian parliament and representatives from the State Chancellery Bavaria visited our new office in Cape Town this week.

From the 12th to the 14th of February, we participated in the National Workshop of the Mandela Initiative in Cape Town which involved government, academia and civil society.

The African National Congress (ANC) narrowly avoided a damaging split at the recently concluded 54th national conference. South Africa is, however, firmly in a “muddling along” scenario. The result of the elections for the 86 elected members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) led by newly elected ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa reflects an organization that went into the conference sharply divided and it will take time for these divisions to subside.