Illustrative image, from left: The IFP’s Velenkosini Hlabisa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Darren Stewart) | The DA’s John Steenhuisen. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla) | President Cyril Ramaphosa (Photo: Julia Evans) | The PA’s Gayton McKenzie. (Photo: Shelley Christians) | The Good party’s Patricia de Lille. (Photo: Gallo Images / ER Lombard) 
The Weekend Wrap
The GNU’s best and worst performers; and why biltong is more versatile than you think.
Cabinet clout – the GNU’s best and worst performers, one year in
As the Government of National Unity marks one year in power, Daily Maverick staffers give their take on who’s dithered and who’s delivered in Cabinet.
A live discussion
The Government of National Unity is one year old and reviews have been mixed. Join a group chat with our political journalists to get their inside take on the successes and failures of the GNU Cabinet.
Murdered Andre Naude’s own words — ‘I’ve got a gun on my waist and a bulletproof car’
Cape Town murder plot accused Andre Naude operated among several individuals who were suspected of crimes — and who went on to be assassinated. He previously claimed this arena was ‘not cowboys and crooks’, but his own murder now suggests otherwise.
By Caryn Dolley
National Dialogue — Promising concept or an illusion of progress for SA?
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Tuesday night of a National Convention to start a National Dialogue is clearly meant to get South Africans talking to each other about solving our problems. Be careful what you wish for.
By Stephen Grootes
The Weekend Wrap
The GNU’s best and worst performers; and why biltong is more versatile than you think.
Cabinet clout – the GNU’s best and worst performers, one year in
As the Government of National Unity marks one year in power, Daily Maverick staffers give their take on who’s dithered and who’s delivered in Cabinet.
By Daily Maverick
A live discussion
The Government of National Unity is one year old and reviews have been mixed. Join a group chat with our political journalists to get their inside take on the successes and failures of the GNU Cabinet.
Murdered Andre Naude’s own words — ‘I’ve got a gun on my waist and a bulletproof car’
Cape Town murder plot accused Andre Naude operated among several individuals who were suspected of crimes — and who went on to be assassinated. He previously claimed this arena was ‘not cowboys and crooks’, but his own murder now suggests otherwise.
By Caryn Dolley
National Dialogue — Promising concept or an illusion of progress for SA?
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Tuesday night of a National Convention to start a National Dialogue is clearly meant to get South Africans talking to each other about solving our problems. Be careful what you wish for.
By Stephen Grootes
Trump has manufactured a national crisis that could come to define his presidency
Protests in Los Angeles over ICE actions are the lead national news story. So far, there is no prospect that the crisis is at an end. Meanwhile, the Trump administration decided on a show of military strength — but has no plans for an endgame to the crisis.
By J Brooks Spector
Fact-Check – Do the World Bank and International Monetary Fund say BEE is holding SA back?
Recently, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in Parliament that the World Bank and the IMF had identified concentrated ownership of the economy, not BEE, as constraining South Africa’s economic growth. Was he right? Daily Maverick's Rebecca Davis fact-checks.
Gupta-era minister Lynne Brown returns to advise ANC — despite SA’s State Capture scars
Lynne Brown, the former Public Enterprises Minister deeply implicated in enabling Gupta-linked State Capture at Eskom, Transnet and Denel, is back in the ANC fold – this time helping strategise in the Western Cape. Her reappearance underscores the ANC’s blurred lines between renewal and regression, as no top State Capture figure has faced jail despite damning findings by the Zondo commission.
By Ferial Haffajee
From Gansbaai to Indonesia: The astonishing 38,000km+ voyage of a misidentified white shark
This shark tale almost sank through the mesh of history into the murky deep but through sheer happenstance it improbably surfaced from the depths and into the light of scientific discovery.
By Ed Stoddard
SA’s resilient dryland species – from tortoises to toktokkies
With its intricate, patterned shell, the near-threatened Karoo tent tortoise is a unique and hard-to-find resident of South Africa’s drylands. This is just one dryland species that conservation organisations, local communities and farmers are working to protect.
By Kristin Engel
Talent pool — water polo’s grassroots revival kicks off in Nelson Mandela Bay
Organisers hope the new tournament will become the SA20 of water polo as it seeks to rebuild the sport from the bottom up.
By Angela Daniels
Daily Mini Crossword Quickie
Coffee can interfere with your medication – here’s what you need to know
Caffeine can speed up digestion, block drug absorption and even raise your heart rate when mixed with certain medicines.
By Dipa Kamdar
How science and AI can help us build safer, fairer food systems
Science is evolving, and with it, new technologies offer a lifeline in tackling food safety. But it must leap off research papers and into the daily lives of farmers, vendors and consumers.
By Manana Dlangalala and Lise Korsten
Biltong is more versatile than we think
Beef or venison. Coriander seeds. Black pepper. Coarse salt. Vinegar. Ah, biltong: proof that the simple things in life are often the best.
By Tony Jackman
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