Creator
Shirley de Villiers is a senior writer and editor at the Financial Mail Group. Apart from a sojourn in academia, she’s worked in the media for well over a decade, including for print and digital titles such as ThisDay, Destiny, FM Campus and the Financial Mail, where she was formerly a deputy editor. Most recently, she was on the staff of digital start-up Currency.
As the ANC's support crumbles in Johannesburg, the city faces a complex coalition future.
Giulietta Talevi and Shirley de Villiers discuss the myriad possibilities in this crucial race.
Joburg’s decline under Dada Morero makes his return to the ANC mayoral candidate shortlist hard to justify
The biggest victim of South Africa’s law-enforcement turf war may be the public’s faith in the rule of law
John Steenhuisen’s likely cabinet demotion reflects FMD frustrations, staffing blunders and strained ties with organised agriculture
The metro has finally released its annual financial statements for 2024/25. They’re no pretty picture
Dada Morero’s state of the city address was a cherry-picked fantasy of half-truths, in light of Joburg’s broken financial realities
The Constitutional Court ruling on Phala Phala leaves Ramaphosa on the ropes. Lawfare might be his first option
After Enoch Godongwana’s eviscerating letter to Joburg, the majority party in the metro has vanishingly few places to turn
Why let a crumbling city riven by mismanagement stand in the way of a good lecture? Just ask Joburg mayor Dada Morero
The power utility has been ordered to release its coal and diesel contracts. It will shed welcome light on an institution long plagued by corruption
As Donald Trump starts a war on ‘a feeling’, the world is looking increasingly unstable. Luckily South Africa is a safe haven. Or is it?
Hint: it will require more diplomatic hard work and a shift in allegiances away from the Brics towards the G20 bloc
The DA leader has announced he won’t be standing for re-election come April. Former party CEO Jonathan Moakes on what this means
Prosecutions boss Shamila Batohi leaves office this week – the first head of the NPA to serve a full term. But did she deliver the goods?
The party’s annual statement is a laundry list of tasks for the year – and looks little different from last year
Local government elections, a DA electoral conference, the all-important annual budget and global headwinds. Here’s your political year ahead
MK apparently promised jobs. Instead, recruits got war
The City of Joburg’s billing crisis is alive and well. But a recent helpathon shows that it can be fixed when officials try
The R900,000 fuel bill and how blue light brigades cost South Africa tax payers big money, while SAPS run off tiny resources
