Illustrative image / sources, from left: A police convoy. (Photo: Gallo Images / Foto24 / Theana Breugem) | DA Federal leader and SA Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen. (Photo: Gallo Images / Fani Mahuntsi) | DA member and Communications Minister Solly Malatsi. (Photo: Gallo Images / Misha Jordaan) | Freedom Front Plus leader and Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach) | Al Jama-ah leader and Deputy Social Development Minister Ganief Hendricks. (Photo: Gallo Images / Papi Morake) | IFP leader and Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Lee Warren) | Patriotic Alliance leader and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu) | DA member and Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George. (Photo: Gallo Images / Luba Lesolle) 
The Weekend Wrap
Government realities hit the GNU Cabinet ministers. Trump's Maga base shows cracks. And South Africa's clivias are being targeted.
Coalition ministers poised to butt heads with the tough realities of governance
The recent claims by Action SA that DA leader John Steenhuisen is using blue-light vehicles as a Cabinet minister may be a reminder of some of the pitfalls that lie ahead for some of the parties who are new to government.
By Stephen Grootes
Growing tensions between Trump’s Maga base and Silicon Valley elites suggest a rocky ride ahead
As the Trump administration begins to take shape before it comes into office in just a few days, even before it takes over, the chasms between different clans of supporters are becoming public and acrimonious.
By J Brooks Spector
The fall of Syria’s Assad regime is bad news for Libya
For Russia, as for Iran, last month’s fall of the 54-year-old Assad dynasty in Syria was a major geo-strategic setback. Russia’s plans to establish a military hub in Libya could now worsen that country’s protracted conflict.
By Peter Fabricius
The fall of Syria’s Assad regime is bad news for Libya
For Russia, as for Iran, last month’s fall of the 54-year-old Assad dynasty in Syria was a major geo-strategic setback. Russia’s plans to establish a military hub in Libya could now worsen that country’s protracted conflict.
By Peter Fabricius
There are 56 good reasons South Africa needs the Bela Bill
The debate around the Bela Bill has long focused only on two clauses – admission and language. In reality, the other clauses of the new Bill are equally important.
By Michael le Cordeur
Blood minerals – is Rwanda the rotten core in your Apple device?
‘Blood minerals’ and Rwanda’s sinister regime have again been thrown into sharp relief by criminal complaints filed last month in France and Belgium against Apple by the DRC — which is also a gangster state.
By Ed Stoddard
From dead galaxies to mysterious red dots, here’s what the James Webb telescope has found in just three years
The James Webb Space Telescope has celebrated three years from its launch. Its discoveries have already changed our understanding of the early universe.
By Themiya Nanayakkara, Ivo Labbe and Karl Glazebrook
From dead galaxies to mysterious red dots, here’s what the James Webb telescope has found in just three years
The James Webb Space Telescope has celebrated three years from its launch. Its discoveries have already changed our understanding of the early universe.
By Themiya Nanayakkara, Ivo Labbe and Karl Glazebrook
The A to Z of thrifty food shopping
Want to eat cheaply? Start with the bargain bins.
By Tony Jackman
Covid-19 and beyond: What South Africans need to know about respiratory illnesses today
If you’ve been hit with a respiratory tract infection this festive season, it’s more likely to be Covid-19 than the flu. Experts and officials say there’s no cause for alarm.
By Tamsin Metelerkamp
Daily Mini Crossword Quickie
SA surfing champ Roxy Davis is using surf therapy to create great waves of change
The entrepreneur is harnessing her passion for the ocean to help children with disabilities. The pioneering research on a tailored programme that Davis initiated in Cape Town has been revealing, particularly in a country with large health inequalities and amid barriers to access.
By Janet Heard
SA surfing champ Roxy Davis is using surf therapy to create great waves of change
The entrepreneur is harnessing her passion for the ocean to help children with disabilities. The pioneering research on a tailored programme that Davis initiated in Cape Town has been revealing, particularly in a country with large health inequalities and amid barriers to access.
By Janet Heard
SA surfing champ Roxy Davis is using surf therapy to create great waves of change
The entrepreneur is harnessing her passion for the ocean to help children with disabilities. The pioneering research on a tailored programme that Davis initiated in Cape Town has been revealing, particularly in a country with large health inequalities and amid barriers to access.
By Janet Heard
Rare clivias targeted in southern Africa’s evolving illegal plant trade
The unprecedented onslaught against South African succulents now includes beautiful and rare clivias, which are being illegally harvested to extinction to supply markets abroad.
By Carina Bruwer
Subscribe to First Thing to receive the Weekend Wrap in your inbox every Sunday morning.
If you value the work our journalists do and want to support Daily Maverick, consider becoming a Maverick Insider.