Few countries in the world have endured what South Africans have endured over a long period of time, lasting several decades, and culminating last night in the ultimate test of our very young and hard fought for democracy. Ultimately, the litany of allegations implicating former President Jacob Zuma in wrongdoing, ventilated by a long list of witnesses who’ve appeared at the State Capture Commission, cannot go unanswered.

GOOD notes the decision by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to postpone the Voter Registration Weekend from 17 & 18 July 2021 to 31 July and 01 August 2021. GOOD cautiously welcomes this decision by the nation’s electoral authority provided that this postponement of the Voter Registration does not result in the delay of the 27 October 2021 election date. GOOD Secretary-General, Brett Herron, communicated as much in this afternoon’s meeting of the IEC National Party Liaison Committee.

The FW De Klerk Foundation's statement this week that the NPA stopped prosecuting apartheid-era crimes due to "an informal agreement between the ANC leadership and former operatives of the pre-1994 government" confirms one of South Africa's most disgraceful secrets.

After more than 2 years of sewage discharges in to Cape Town’s Milnerton lagoon, sewage discharges are now being introduced to the RAMSAR wetlands of the False Bay Nature Reserve. This pollution is illegal in terms of national legislation and a contravention of the international RAMSAR wetland agreements. It is also not good for the communities and ecosystems receiving it. GOOD’s National Policy Officer, environmental expert Mark Rountree, has appealed to the National Ministers of Water and Sanitation, Minister Sisulu, and of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs, Minister Creecy, to ask that their departments act to protect the wetlands and watercourses in Cape Town.

The City of Cape Town has reneged on its agreement to collect portable toilets from KTC and Nyanga leaving residents to live with the consequences for the past eight days. In 2013, portaloos – or portapotties, as some residents call them – were introduced as an interim measure to provide services to residents living without sewerage infrastructure. There was significant resistance to this form of sanitation service that led to the infamous pooh-throwing protests at prominent places like the Cape Town International Airport and Western Cape Provincial Parliament.

If ever there was a time for South Africans to act with common purpose it is surely now, as the fast-moving third wave of the Covid pandemic re-tightens its grip around our economy and collective throat. Politicians are not exempt from adhering to lockdown regulations designed to slow the pandemic’s spread, no matter how desperate their situations.

Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor must tighten the screws on unstable Eswatini by summoning its ambassador and using South Africa’s regional muscle to demand the kingdom’s security forces adhere to universal principles of human rights. As next-door-neighbours in a global village of nations, South Africa and Eswatini have a mutually dependant relationship in which the welfare of one directly impacts the welfare of the other.

For a second time in any as many days the Constitutional Court upheld the supremacy of the rule of law. The majority decision upheld the principle that the Public Protector’s adjudication powers are derived from the constitution, and other legislation, and that the office of the Public Protector cannot exceed these powers or her mandate.

GOOD Party Secretary-General Brett Herron has laid a criminal complaint against Mayor of Cape Town Dan Plato. The complaint, filed at Cape Town Police Station, follows the City hosting a series of at least 24 gatherings on Tuesday evening – less than 48 hours after President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation to announce a total prohibition of gatherings due to the resurgent Covid pandemic.

The further downgrade of the City of Tshwane by rating agency Moody’s to four notches below investment grade, the second downgrade in three months, is a bugle call for urgent and drastic intervention. If the DA-led city administration is left to mismanage the city until after local government elections in October – or later, depending on Covid and the IEC - there will be virtually nothing left for a newly elected administration to re-build on.