The future is uncertain ... but there’s hope

In the M&G this week [View this email in your browser]( December 16, 2021 [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, It’s finally here! Although the future is uncertain ... there’s hope. Here are some of the stories in our bumper year-end edition. [Subscribe now]( 2021 Cabinet Report Cards After two plague years that wiped out any financial gains South Africa had made and a revealing commission into state capture, the government’s responses took centre stage. In many instances, these were uninspiring and, as is their wont, a letdown. We saw bloodshed; a jobs annihilation; a health and justice system crumbling. We saw it all with little accountability. This makes sense, because some ministers either didn’t bother speaking up about their performance or simply informed the public that they were answerable only to the one and only president. Check out how the ministers fared in the [M&G’s cabinet report cards for 2021](. SA got Zondo’s real gift before Xmas There will be no further delay. At the beginning of January, Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo will deliver the final report of the eponymous commission on state capture that made for three years of depressing but grimly satisfying documentary viewing, Emsie Ferreira reports. The security cluster thorn in ANC’s flesh Despite the shake-up in intelligence and defence, the sector is shaky and explosive conferences loom, Paddy Harper and Lizeka Tandwa write. There is little to indicate that the criminal justice sector has the capacity or will to deal with any flare-ups of violence sparked by South Africa’s socioeconomic conditions — or with targeted assassinations sparked by the tensions in the governing party during the elective meetings. ‘I think there’s a sense of everyone being exploited in some sense’ More and more South Africans are taking up the offer of the H-2A visa to work on farms in the US — but the system is open to abuse and manipulation. Last month, The New York Times carried a story about a lawsuit filed in the Mississippi federal court in September. Six African American seasonal farm workers allege that their workplace favoured white foreign workers over locals. They say they were asked to train the new arrivals, only to see them jump ahead on the payscale, earning $11.83 an hour compared with their $7.25 — all the while having to regularly suffer racial slurs by their employers, including the flippant use of the n-word. The foreign workers in question are South Africans. Army vets unpaid after July riots In the chaos of the violence in KwaZulu-Natal in July, thousands of Reserve Force soldiers responded to the call of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to report for duty. A number of sickly and elderly veterans and recruits seemingly also ended up among them, but now find themselves out in the cold, Erika Gibson reports. A holiday for the soul Today’s public holiday unofficially marks the start of South Africa’s festive season. It’s been a long, brutal year and we reckon it’s about time. A few months ago, a [visit to her childhood holiday spot of Chintsa in the Eastern Cape]( helped Theresa Mallinson to reconnect with her happy place. We wish the same for all our readers this December. That’s it for this week until next we meet — a week from now, on Friday. These are just some of the stories you can enjoy over the Christmas break. We will be back with more soon. Until next Friday, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2021 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change which mails you receive from Mail & Guardian? [Update your preferences]( to tell us what you do and don't want to receive, or [unsubscribe](. *If you are a paying subscriber, we recommend updating your preferences rather than unsubscribing, as you may miss important information relating to your subscription.