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Mail & Guardian
a day ago
- General
- Mail & Guardian
The Launch of ‘The Diplomat'
The team: The M&G's Luke Feltham, Wendy Mosetlhi, Hoosain Karjieker and Marion Smith flank the ambassador of Azerbaijan Dr Huseyn Rahmili (centre). The launch of The Diplomat, which took place on 16 May at the University of Pretoria's Javett Art Centre, was attended by the ambassadors and embassy staff of more than 45 embassies. Hoosain Karjieker, chief executive of the Mail & Guardian, opened the event by reaffirming the publication's values. 'For nearly four decades, the Mail & Guardian has maintained an unwavering commitment to investigative journalism, thoughtful analysis and coverage that matters,' he said. The keynote address was delivered by the mayor of the City of Tshwane, Nasiphi Moya, who welcomed the diplomatic community and acknowledged their contribution to international relations. 'The City of Tshwane values the presence of these diverse diplomatic missions. The role played by embassies in building relations between countries does not go unnoticed,' she said. Editor-in-chief of the M&G Luke Feltham explained the vision behind the platform. 'This is an attempt to be part of the solution instead of the noise. By working with you — diplomats — by opening our pages and our platform, we want to bring those dinner-table conversations to a wider audience. We want this to be a space for honest, nuanced and respectful dialogue.' The goal of The Diplomat is to spotlight projects and initiatives that reshape public perception and highlight the work of embassies in South Africa. In his closing remarks, M&G chairperson Roger Latchman reminded guests of the broader responsibility that media and diplomacy share. 'We must resist sensationalism, restore public confidence and recommit ourselves to accuracy, fairness, and informed discourse.' Other guest speakers included Elelwani Pandelani, the head of Nedbank diplomatic and non-resident banking, who spoke about the importance of building strong, lasting relationships beyond financial transactions. Keynote speaker: Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya. Laurie James, a forensic profiler at Cybareti, addressed the rapidly evolving cyber landscape, noting that no corner of the world is untouched by digital threats. Karjieker noted that The Diplomat aligns with the core mission of diplomatic work and thanked Wendy Mosetlhi and Marion Smith for bringing the event to life. 'Their efforts and insight have been instrumental in shaping this initiative,' he said. Smith, who leads The Diplomat section and brings years of experience in diplomatic engagement, spoke about her motivation for taking on this work. 'I have a love for learning and diplomacy. I'd like to use some of my global experience and expertise to contribute meaningfully in this space,' she said. 'I also look forward to using The Diplomat to raise awareness of the importance of identifying and countering disinformation.' Smith said a diplomat's first responsibility is to understand, then to share that understanding — 'and that's what The Diplomat aims to do'. View: The ambassadors and other staff of 45 embassies attend the launch of The Diplomat. Lebanon Golf Championship Expressing gratitude: Ambassador Kabalan Frangieh of Lebanon The Fifth Annual South African Lebanese Golf Championship, hosted by the Embassy of Lebanon, took place on Sunday, 25 May 2025, at the Wanderers Golf Club in Johannesburg. The tournament welcomed a distinguished group of participants, including the ambassadors of Austria and India, the chargé d'affaires of Thailand, the military attaché of Argentina, and the representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. Professional South African Lebanese golfer Lora Assad competed, alongside members of the Cedars and Phoenicians golf clubs. Ambassador Kabalan Frangieh of Lebanon expressed his gratitude to all participants. As his tour of duty in South Africa comes to an end, he spoke of his hope that this annual event remains a fixture on the embassy's calendar. Tournament Results A Division winner: Damon Zoghby – 2025 Champion B Division winner: Vincent Shahim C Division winner: Terence Joseph Best guest: Lora Assad – with an outstanding 67 shots. Yemen marks 35th National Day anniversary in South Africa On 22 May, the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen marked the 35th anniversary of Yemen's National Day — commemorating the unification of the country's northern and southern regions. To honour the occasion, the embassy, its staff and the broader Yemeni community in South Africa extended congratulations to His Excellency President Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, chairperson of the Presidential Leadership Council, its members, the Yemeni people and the country's armed forces. A small gathering was held at the ambassador's residence in Pretoria, where members of the local Yemeni community and students studying in South Africa came together. The event reflected on the significance of the unification and Yemen's continued path toward peace and stability. The embassy reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Yemeni citizens in South Africa and strengthening ties between the two nations. Celebration: The Yemeni community in South Africa came together to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Yemen's National Day.
Mail & Guardian
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Mail & Guardian
Review: Land Rover Defender PHEV
Since the relaunch of the Land Rover Defender in 2019, the vehicle has become a favourite due to its good looks, its luxury showing and, most importantly, its off-road capabilities. In 2021, the local market was introduced to an electrified Defender, offering South Africans a new option in the line-up. The Mail & Guardian spent a week in the Defender 110 PHEV, a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) that has the engine working together with a 19.2 kilowatt-hour battery that gives up to 50km of range. That is not a lot compared with vehicles like the BMW X5 xDrive50e M Sport which offers up to 110km of range. However, the hybrid drivetrain that powers the Defender is meant to assist what is normally a fuel guzzler in an urban setting. The charging time is fast — if you are using a direct-current charger, which takes the battery from 0 to 80% in 30 minutes. You also have the option of driving in three modes: a hybrid mode which combines the engine and battery; a full EV mode that only uses the battery and a save mode which uses petrol and charges the battery while you are driving. But here's the thing. While not having a great range on the battery, the Defender maintains its off-road prowess in EV mode. It can perform off-roading duties in low range while being a pure EV and that is simply astonishing. On the road, it is a beast. Boasting 297kW of power and 640Nm of torque, the drive is effortless. Don't get me wrong, you can feel that you are sitting in a 3.2 tonne car, and that is exactly what it's supposed to feel like, but the power at your disposal is incredible, especially because the vehicle is aided by the electric motor providing near-instant torque delivery. The vehicle is also extremely high and the driver and passengers sit in an elevated position, making road imperfections a breeze. It was so satisfying to know that I was in a vehicle that could give Hilux bakkie owners a taste of their own medicine, and move them out of the right lane, just as they do to us when we drive our tiny vehicles. On the inside, you are treated to luxury while the vehicle still manages to maintain that rugged feeling. It has spacious leather seats, a fighter-jet like centre console, a rugged but polished dashboard and, one thing I appreciate about Land Rover, insanely neat and tidy door panels that always fit the theme of the vehicle. For example, in the Range Rover, you have a very classic, classy, door panel. In the Range Rover Sport, the door panel design edges more towards sleek and sporty and, in the Defender, it brings tightly fitted screws, to give that rugged feel, while retaining the leather and keeping it luxurious. The interior also sports a large infotainment screen that contains all your driving information. The centre storage unit can be used as a fridge that can store up to four 500ml bottles for your long days of off-roading. All in all, I don't think there is any vehicle out there that can do what the Defender does in terms of offering ultimate off-roading capabilities and ultimate luxury. The fact that it is now available in a PHEV variant just takes it to a new level. However, to get into a Defender 110 PHEV, you have to pay the price. While most of us picture ourselves in this vehicle only in our wildest dreams, the highest earners can enjoy this model from R2 261 200. Luckily for the rest of us, there are many copycats out there who aim to give us the same experience at a more affordable price. But nothing does it quite like a Defender.
Mail & Guardian
15-05-2025
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Johannesburg will expropriate property, but ‘not just for the fun of it'
Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero at the official handover of the Southern Farms Housing Project. (X) Johannesburg mayor The move, Morero said in an interview with the Mail & Guardian , is aimed at accelerating the delivery of long-promised Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) homes to residents who have been on the government housing waiting list since 1996 and 1997. 'We are facing a backlog of around 300,000 people who are waiting for homes,' he said. 'We need to find innovative and efficient ways to address this urgent need for affordable housing for qualifying citizens.' The Expropriation Act, signed into law last year, allows the minister of public works to seize private property for public purposes or in the public interest, with compensation provided at a 'fair and equitable' rate, rather than the market value. In exceptional cases, land can be expropriated without compensation. Morero said the city would ensure that abandoned hijacked buildings 'will be used for the public good'. He said the hijacked buildings in the city centre belonged to people who were either overseas or deceased and some belonged to the government. Morero said just under 50 hijacked buildings belonged to the government while more than 400 belong to private owners. 'Just under 100, we can't find the owners, they have abandoned the buildings. [On] those we will do sale of execution and possible expropriation. Sometimes we find that the owner has died and their children are not interested; these are the buildings that go through our sales and execution queue. 'We have buildings in the city that owe us over R15 million. The owners are overseas and they have abandoned them; they don't care. You would know that some of the people who owned some of the properties in the inner city are from England, Germany and we also found a few from Australia. 'In this situation, we do the process of sale and execution, where we go to court and say how much the owner owes us and then the court would grant that we can take the building and sell it to recover our money.' He said some local owners had decided to stop paying rates and taxes on hijacked buildings. In such instances, the owners write to the city to seek assistance to remove the occupants. In the past, the city had not done this, said Morero. 'These owners are now coming back because of this initiative we are doing in the city. They will come and say 'we want to work with the city and we have the money to renovate'. Their only demand is that we remove the people so that they can restore the building. 'The last category is the ones which are owned by the government, provincial government and the city. We have been getting court orders so we can remove the people who have hijacked the building. We already have 12 court orders and we are still looking for more, then we will proceed removing those people.' Morero dismissed concerns about the controversial nature of expropriation, emphasising that the process was in line with the Constitution's provisions for public good. 'With the Expropriation Act, which is not controversial, it's the right thing to do. We all appreciate and acknowledge that indigenous people of this country, the land was taken away from them, so there's nothing controversial, it is a redress of what has happened in the past,' he said. 'You do not just expropriate for the fun of expropriating. 'We expropriate because we now need to build a library there, we want to build a school or we want to build a clinic and we want to take this building, which has become a nuisance for society, and turn it around into housing opportunities or student accommodation. That is for the public good, and there's nothing wrong with it.' Morero said that where the city needed to expropriate, it would do so without hesitation. In 2018, while mayor of Johannesburg, Speaking to M&G on Tuesday, Mashaba — who now leads ActionSA — said there was no political will in the city to deal with the issue of hijacked buildings. He said when he left the city, 154 buildings to the value of R32 billion were already awarded to the private sector. By now, those buildings should have been revamped, he said. The Johannesburg Property Company should have continued with the programme of taking over hijacked buildings. 'For us as South Africans to allow them to start all over again, something that was already passed by council to be given to the private sector, that was R32 billion worth of investment,' Masahaba said. 'I had already identified over 600 properties and committed to release a minimum of 100 a year. You can imagine that we would be very far with the redevelopment of that city [if this had happened]. Unfortunately there's no political will whatsoever and the current leadership is not about public service, it's about something else.' Referring to an example of how the city was already expropriating abandoned buildings, Morero said it had started in Lilian Ngoyi Street (previously called Bree Street). In July 2023, after an explosion caused by methane gas, During a media briefing a day after the explosion, the city in a briefing had estimated that the repairs would cost R178 million, however reports have been that the city will be spending R200 million on the project. Following delays to the repairs of the street, the city after a mutual separation agreement and settlement with the first contractor hired another contractor who is expected to complete phase one of the project by August 2025. Morero said there has been no real escalation of costs to the project as a result of the change of the contractor, saying these would be minimal, and would only be able to be quantified as the project comes to a finish. 'Im not sure if we settled at seven or eight million of the work that was outstanding, they were claiming about 19 million.' He said there were 'about three or four buildings in Lilian Ngoyi which have been hijacked'. These were also being 'taken back' by the city, he said. 'By the time we finish, even the hijacked buildings would have been changed, somebody now owns them, they have been run properly with residents inside.' During his State of the City address, the mayor spoke about how the city should act rapidly in addressing housing issues in Gauteng. On Friday, Morero unveiled the Southern Farms project, a mixed development that would unlock 43,000 housing units. 'I also announced the State of the City address … an 83,000 mixed housing opportunities development. I'm quite excited about it, it has never been done in South Africa on that magnitude and we will be doing it. These are part of the thing we say we will make happen,' he said.
Mail & Guardian
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Lesufi signals exit from politics, rules out ANC top seven bid ahead of 2027 conference
Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng premier and co-convenor of the ANC in the province. Photo: X The premier and provincial co-convenor said the party would resurrect itself in Gauteng because there was no better alternative This content is restricted to subscribers only . Join the M&G Community Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently. Subscription enables: - M&G community membership - independent journalism - access to all premium articles & features - a digital version of the weekly newspaper - invites to subscriber-only events - the opportunity to test new online features first Already a subscriber?
Mail & Guardian
08-05-2025
- General
- Mail & Guardian
Celebrating South Africa's female guardians
This special edition of the Mail & Guardian, in partnership with Nedbank, is dedicated to the women whose daily efforts sustain families, strengthen communities and support the economy: female guardians. This Mother's Day, we turn our attention to the important, often unseen work of caregiving and its critical place in personal and public life. Female caregivers — mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters and others — form the foundation of support systems that allow households to function and society to progress. This work may not always come with a salary or title, but its value is immeasurable. These female guardians make a significant contribution to the economy. This week, we are shining a light on the multiple roles that they play: not only as nurturers but as key economic influencers. Many South African women run households while running businesses, holding jobs and side hustles, or supporting others in their professional pursuits. Whether in the home or in the workforce, their contributions are essential. We share stories that span generations and cultures, illustrating how caregiving is a shared experience shaped by love, necessity and strength. This issue is more than a celebration. It's a recognition of worth. To every woman who gives her time, energy and love in service of South Africans and the South African economy, we see you. Happy Mother's Day.
