The th!nc Foundation

When two former ANCYL presidents, with a combined experience of over 60 person-years as national leaders, call for the NEC, of which they are members, to resign, it is a seismic event. This signifies a monumental shift within the NEC, which we might see the full extent of at the mooted December 2025 National General Council of the ANC. These eruptions open the muted leadership debate within the ANC, raising questions about the calibre, breed, or character of individuals needed to ensure the organisation’s survival in the current times.  The new era, a post-Ramaphosa reality, will undoubtedly be shaped by increased multipartyism and a more diffuse state executive authority. Voters’ power will determine who is suitable to lead South Africa. The reputations of leaders or individuals within political parties will be weaponised to move voters away from established political brands. This necessitates a fresh leadership approach, one that is responsive to the changing political landscape....

 Dr FM Lucky Mathebula (Prof)* Humanity has constantly been interrupted by its advances to upend the status quo established as the basis of coexistence with the self and the natural environment. The need to overcome time and distance is central to humanity's pursuit of betterment. Speed to arrive, contact, complete, and produce has been responsible for most industrial revolutions. Twinning has been the urge to do at the least possible time without compromising the quality of the outcome. Necessity grew commensurate with the time it took to address it. The essence of being human is understood through time and experience.  With its precision in determining human endeavour's outputs, the advent of the digital revolution has unleashed a cognitive revolution, fast outpacing humans' capability to cope, notwithstanding its being a creature of human competence. As the convergence of disciplines and constellation of technologies come together as intelligence beyond organic human c...

When we completed our Secondary Teachers Diploma, together with two cohorts that followed us, at the Transvaal College of Education, and we later realised many other colleges, in 1986, we vowed to become force multipliers of the liberation struggle through the power of the chalk and chalkboard.   We left the college with a battle song ‘sesi bona nge sigci somoya, sesi bona nga madol’nkomo, Siyaya siyaya’. We left the college with a battle song' sesi bona nge sigci somoya, sesi bona nga madol'nkomo, Siyaya siyaya'. This song, a call to war with anyone, system, or force that sought to stop us from becoming a critical exponent and multiplier to the struggle for liberation, was a powerful symbol of our commitment. We understood the influence we were going to have on society. I was fortunate to find a teaching post in Mamelodi. Mamelodi was the bedrock of the ANC underground. At one point, it had a significantly larger number of MK operatives than several other townships. Sa...

The world will be focused on the Club World Cup, where 32 of the best teams will compete in 63 matches to produce a globally watched ranking and a champion. The 32 teams will represent the National Premier leagues of the countries they hail from. Aside from the talents that will be on display for the world's viewers, the clubs will arguably serve as indicators of the standard of living in the participating countries, particularly in sports administration and management.  The Club World Cup also indicates the number of countries represented by the participating players, even if their countries do not have teams in the tournament. This generates a ranking system based on the number of players. In this ranking, the world's top soccer-playing countries are determined based on their performance in the Champions League tournaments and other relevant criteria. In this matrix, South Africa ranks in position 11 with a total of 31 of its players participating.  While the concentration...

This was published in the Sunday Times of 10 May 2025 The world is undergoing a process of creating a convergence of private sector efficiency, public sector leadership legitimacy, political, and democratic criteria in how societies, countries, and, more acutely, governments are led. This has been an ongoing experiment for several years, and an emerging consensus is that the context of political leadership is inextricably linked with the dimension of interests as the currency of politics underlying all societies. The entry of billionaires into the political leadership arena, where competition standards extend beyond the traditional 'it's about the people' criterion, is a new phenomenon that countries with a significant inequality gap, such as South Africa, must reconcile. Leaders have transformed into brands. As branded figures, whether icons, legends, philanthropists, or others, their character ultimately reveals itself during their time in office, influencing the return o...

This was published in TimesLive 07 May 2025 The prize of politics, including liberation politics, is state power through government. Post-liberation Africa has been unable to integrate liberation objectives with state power. Fortunately for South Africa, the political settlement was anchored on the liberation promise being part of the new democratic and constitutional order. Equally pressuring the context was the pursuit of freedom by those who opposed equality, non-racialism, democracy, social justice, economic justice, and human rights.  Aside from the promises of liberation, the fundamental currency of anti-apartheid and anti-colonial politics, the interests of power brokers emerged as the new central currency of politics. In politics, accumulating social and political capital is essential, as transactional business or commercial capital relies on stability. As the significance and attractiveness of political and social capital become confined to the columns and rows of the gene...