SA at a turning point: what does 2026 hold for a nation fraught with division?

LACK OF POLITICAL WILL

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AS WE WELCOME the new year, South Africa finds itself at a crossroads yet again.

More than 30 years after the first democratic elections, racial divisions continue to hamper our efforts to build our beloved country together.

What does 2026 have in store for South Africa?

This year promises to be busy as South Africans prepare to vote in local government elections (LGE).

South Africans also expect the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, together with Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating the rot in the criminal justice system, to release their findings.

Unlike the previous commissions, South Africans expect those fingered at the Madlanga Commission to face the music expeditiously.

In international relations, South Africa and the US continue to exchange jabs, leaving South Africans uncertain about what to expect in 2026.

Just this past weekend, the US attacked Venezuela and took its president, Nicolas Maduro Moros, into custody.

As expected, the South African government has condemned the attack on Venezuela and called on the United Nations (UN) to intervene.

There is a nagging mutual hostility between South Africa and the US that needs to be addressed. The question that the ANC-led South African government needs to address is whether it is in the country’s interest to maintain unfriendly relations with the US, one of its major trading partners.

Earlier last year, our country was left shocked when the Trump administration declared Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa’s ambassador to the US, persona non grata. In another escalation of tensions, the Trump administration snubbed the G20 summit in Johannesburg last month.

This was a clear signal that the Trump administration does not view South Africa in a positive light.

This raises the question: why does the ANC leadership continue to conflate its interests with those of the country?