Sunday Times Politics Weekly TimesLIVE Podcasts

One of the big election stories has been the Jacob Zuma factor and his uMkhonto weSizwe Party.
According to polls and by-election results, the party has outshone parties such as the EFF and the IFP.
In this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly we explain and hopefully demystify the Zuma/MKP phenomenon in our politics, and how it might impact our body politic after May 29.
Our guests this time are Sanusha Naidu, senior research associate with the Institute for Global Dialogue, and Susan Booysen, visiting Wits professor.
We hear on the podcast that Zuma feels wronged by corruption allegations against him and is out for revenge against his successor President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Booysen tells us the MKP is a revenge party that will wreak havoc on the ANC, and it could damage it much more than it has so far. Booysen explains which parties the MKP is taking votes from, and if polls and by-elections are good predictors of the May 29 election results.
Naidu says Zuma’s purpose is about vindicating himself because he did not finish his second term. On the party’s court battles with the IEC, Naidu says, “I get the sense we’ll have to deal with security now more than ever before in this election”.
There are a lot more interesting perspectives from our panellists who are hosted by Sunday Times deputy editor Mike Siluma. Listen and share your views.

Mike Siluma sits down with Election expert Ebrahim Fakir to discuss the upcoming South African elections and what you need to know from how they work, to how they are calculated and what you need to do!

Veteran trade union leader Zwelinzima Vavi has had his setbacks, but the “tragic mistake” he is still kicking himself for was to support Jacob Zuma in becoming president of the ANC and the republic.
The only mistake, and the biggest mistake, is that I was convinced by some members of both Cosatu and the SACP that the then deputy president of the ANC, Jacob Zuma, was going to be good for the agenda of the working class and therefore we must rally workers behind him.”

In this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, politics reporter Sisanda Mbolekwa is joined by Saftu general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi to unpack a variety of issues, including the state of trade unions in the country, his views on South Africa’s political landscape, the upcoming general elections and what it will take to fix some of the biggest crises facing the country.

South Africa’s position in the Israel-Hamas war has further strained relations between Pretoria and the Israeli government, culminating this week in the withdrawal of our country’s diplomats from Israel.
In this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly we explore the issues at the heart of the disagreement between the countries, and why South Africa is supporting the cause of the Palestinians.
Our guests are Garth le Pere, visiting professor at the University of Pretoria, and Dr Lubna Nadvi, who teaches politics at UKZN.
The two kick us off by explaining the historical relationship between the ANC (by extension the current government) and Palestinians and the history of the war.
Nadvi, analysing the significance of the recalling our diplomats from Israel, argues the decision was inevitable and says the real test will be when South Africa shuts the Israeli embassy.
The war has displaced more than 2-million people in Gaza and the deaths of nearly 11,000 Palestinians. 
Nadvi’s teaching areas include international relations, Middle Eastern politics and peace studies while Le Pere is an executive director at the Institute for Global Dialogue. His areas of interest include international relations, South African foreign policy and the politics of the Middle East.
Producer: Bulelani Nonyukela.

This week police arrested Dudu Myeni, the former chairperson of SAA and an associate of ex-president Jacob Zuma on fraud and corruption charges – charges arising from benefits she allegedly received from Bosasa, the defunct company implicated in state capture.
In this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly, we look at the state’s underwhelming track record in bringing to book individuals accused of complicity in state capture during the Jacob Zuma presidency.
Chief justice Raymond Zondo, who chaired the inquiry, made 205 recommendations on criminal investigations and possible prosecution of people and companies compromised in state capture.
Our guests this time are Thanduxolo Jika (Sunday Times investigations journalist) and political analyst Asanda Ngoasheng and the debate is stimulating.
Producer: Bulelani Nonyukela.

This week on Sunday Times Politics Weekly we delve into the controversial legacy of IFP founder and prime minister to the Zulu nation Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died at the weekend at the age of 95. 

Buthelezi's legacy has been the centre of debate in recent days after his passing, with some labelling him a “warmonger”, a catalyst for violence and a prop or ally of the apartheid government.

On the other hand, his defenders have labelled him an iconic political figure and a struggle icon. The EFF's Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, speaking during a memorial service held in Buthelezi’s honour in Ulundi on Wednesday, said he was “a man of peace”.

Our host, deputy editor of the Sunday Times Mike Siluma, is joined by Dr Bongani Ngqulunga, academic, author and director of the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Johannesburg, and academic researcher and violence monitor Mary de Haas. 

They assess the complexities of Buthelezi's story, his role in the violent past of South Africa, the fairness of this depiction and the impact this played on his political mileage. They also unpack his relationship with the apartheid government, and between the IFP with ANC then and going forward. 

Sunday Times Politics Weekly is a TimesLIVE production.