The th!nc Foundation

Dear Friends Let us explore a profound biblical truth drawn from the life of David—a shepherd, warrior, worshipper, and king chosen by God. His story teaches us not only about courage but also about covenant, divine preparation, and the instruments God places in our hands for victory. David’s Covenant Identity David’s confidence was never rooted in his physical ability alone. He understood that he belonged to the covenant God established with Abraham. This covenant relationship distinguished him from Goliath, whom he boldly called an “uncircumcised Philistine.” In doing so, David reframed the challenge of Goliath not as a giant against a boy, but as representing a godless nation against a covenant child of God. He saw in Goliath the lion he killed, the bear he killed, and the treacherous terrains he had to walk through looking after his dad's flock. Like a good shepherd, he knew that between him and any devourer of his Father's flock is the power and covenant of his Fathe...

Published in the Sunday Times 08 March 2026 South Africa’s political landscape has long been shaped by the African National Congress (ANC), a movement whose identity is deeply woven into the democratic project born in 1994. Today, however, the ANC faces a pivotal moment. Its authority, once anchored in collective discipline and ideological clarity, is increasingly undermined by the rise of personal ambition over organisational purpose. The internal contestation ahead of the 2027 elective conference is not merely a political event; it is a national moment of reckoning. The shift from movement-centred leadership to personality-driven politics is no longer subtle. It has fractured the party’s internal coherence and crowded out the values that once distinguished the ANC as a moral force. Factional interests now overshadow ideological debates, and transactional politics has taken root where principled engagement once stood. The result is a party whose internal battles reverberate outward, a...

When the evidence leader and the commissioners at the Madlanga Commission were delayering Sergeant Nkosi's evidence, it became clear that the depth or state of capture was vast. In the late Minister Gordhan's parlance, the Nkosi testimony highlights critical insights into systemic corruption, making it highly relevant for policymakers and legal professionals concerned with governance.  It has been both a rumour and an "open secret" that "the industry" was in charge of several state organs and, by extension, procurement decisions. These rumours had pathways that passed through several figures but converged on some of the individuals mentioned by Sergeant Nkosi. The network included runners whose reach extended to persons of significant influence across political parties and within party factions.  The name of 'Mswazi' was legendary in crime circles. His influence extended beyond the underworld, impacting political power and economic control. Recognisi...

These were the loudest words said to one of South Africa's billionaires, Patrice Motsepe, at the African National Congress's National General Council in Birchwood. Patrice Motsepe was 'recognisably standing' in the 'front row' as the ANC's Secretary General, Fikile Mbalula, was also 'standing' and courting the 'attention' of delegates, some of whom were in an 'attentive interactive conversation' with Mr Motsepe. Behind a 'standing' Mbalula were Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Treasurer Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, and Deputy SG Nomvula Mokonyane, none of whom were 'standing' but seated on the podium reserved for the top seven officials of the ANC.  When the SG 'asked' a 'standing' Patrice Motsepe to 'sit down', meaning he 'should not be standing', the literal 'instruction' carried more profound implications than the physical implications of the statement on the conference floor. The frami...

It’s not the reality of Cde Squire's passing that makes us feel this way. It is the lens we are going to use to get to grips with life without him that we should contend with. A literally larger-than-life individual who had one of the most stable and rarest internal loci of control has left us. The thief that death is has struck again.  Reading the notice with his picture on it made me feel like I could ask him, "O ya kae grootman, re sa go nyaka hierso." In that moment, I also heard him say, "My Bla, mfanakithi, comrade lucky, ere ko khutsa, mmele ga o sa kgona." The dialogue with him without him, and the solace of the private conversations we had, made me agree with his unfair expectation for me to say, vaya ncah my grootman.    The news of his passing brought to bear the truism that death shows us what is buried in us, the living. In his absence, his life will be known by those who never had the privilege of simply hearing him say 'heita bla' as...

It is increasingly becoming difficult to believe that the 1994-1996 democratic breakthrough and political settlement ushered in a post-race constitutional order as a vector of social and economic justice. What it has instead ushered in is the ability of racist individuals, institutions, and community enclaves to weaponise the very Constitution to make racism, through several of its adjuncts, a right for those who want it.  While institutional racism, represented by the apartheid ideology, amongst others, suffered moral liquidation and was declared a crime against humanity, and sharing global abhorrence with genocide and xenophobia, its templates, scaffoldings, and psychosocial programming persist in differently packaged forms. This raises questions about how these remnants continue to influence society today, which is crucial for understanding the depth of systemic racism.   The historical and structural roots of racial inequality still run deep, although less visib...