Top 5 News Stories of 2015

In what can only be described as a runaway train of a news year, we saw students coming together, society paying attention to Parliament again, the DA electing their first black leader, our economy taking several knocks and, let's not forget, the Al Bashir controversy.

#FeesMustFall 

What started as a small protest at Wits in October, ended up as a nationwide protest against the unaffordable fees students are expected to pay in order to receive an education. A successor to the #RhodesMustFall campaign, students from all races and political affiliations took to campuses and streets across the country in a peaceful yet forceful show of unity, not seen since 1976. In the end - and some two weeks later - the students won a major victory with a promise from President Jacob Zuma that there will be a 0% increase in student fees next year. The movement changed the perception that the country's young people are uninterested observers, showing them to be a massive force for social change. Not even isolated incidents of violence at the Union Buildings could undo the good work by so many of our young people fighting for a more just life in one of the most unequal societies in the world. Who could ever forget the protest in Parliament on the day Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene delivered his mini-budget? It will certainly be etched in the minds of our political leaders for a long time to come. 

#Parliament

The 2015 political year started on an inauspicious note with the EFF disrupting President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation address in the National Assembly in February. The Fighters were ejected after demanding to know when President Zuma will "pay back the money" spent on non-security upgrades to his Nkandla home, as ordered by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela. Chaotic scenes were beamed across the world from a rainy Cape Town, and Parliament has rarely been out of the news since. The EFF used every opportunity this year to test the presiding officers and ANC leaders, turning channel 408 into must-watch television. Whether it has made the legislature more effective is up for debate, but what it has done is move the National Assembly back to the middle of our political lives. That is the reason why aggrieved parties, such as the #FeesMustFall students, march on Parliament these days. The level of debate might be embarrassing at times, but at least the MP's have stopped dozing off. 

#MmusiMaimane 

The honest truth is Mmusi Maimane was always a shoo-in to be elected as leader of the DA, from the moment Helen Zille announced she would be stepping down as leader of the Official Opposition. The DA might have most of the "white vote", but in order to secure meaningful progress over the next few elections they need the black electorate to back them in ever-increasing numbers. Maimane is seen as the man who will be able to lead to party to the Promised Land, the man who will convince the disillusioned black middle-class to turn their backs on their liberators. The DA electing their first black leader was a seismic moment in South African politics, but doubts remain over his ability to release the DA from their white liberal past and into a future where they are trusted to effect social transformation and improve the lives of the poor. 

#FinanceMinister 

When the economy has been in a bad mood for the whole of 2015, the last thing a country needs is a shock firing of a Finance Minister. President Jacob Zuma surprised the country, and international markets, by getting rid of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and replace him with ANC backbencher David van Rooyen. In the absence of any formal reasons given for Nene's sacking, speculation centred around his refusal to give SAA chairperson and friend of the President Dudu Myeni what she wanted, and the lack of progress on the nuclear deal. But the fallout was so severe, and the rand's slide so steep, that Zuma was forced to backtrack four days later and re-appoint Pravin Gordhan in the portfolio. But the damage was already done. The was the last thing the barely-growing economy needed. The economic hits kept on coming in 2015. Unemployment remained stubbornly high and the year also saw two rate hikes. Adding to this, government is spending more money than it is making and paying hundreds of millions in servicing its debt. The consensus seems to be that the current administration does not have the capability to lift the country out of the economic malaise. But you also have to wonder whether the DA or EFF have magic formula to get us moving in the right direction?

#AlBashir

In scenes reminiscent of the Hollywood hit "Argo" Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir left the country on a plane, while the High Court was busy hearing arguments over why he hasn't been arrested yet. Government claimed that al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, had diplomatic immunity thanks to the AU summit he was attending. Civil society felt South Africa, as a signatory to the Rome Statute, had an obligation to arrest al-Bashir. But at the heart of the matter was the relationship between government and the judiciary. The simple fact is government ignored a court order to arrest the Sudanese leader and allowed him to slip out through the back door while pretending look the other way. When government starts ignoring court orders you can bet your bottom dollar a country will soon after start slipping down a steep slope of bad governance and "failed stateness". The merits of the ICC and its unfair proclivity for arresting African leaders is a debate we must have. But surely we can have the debate while at the same time respecting court orders?