The astonishing rebellion which Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, launched against the Russian government and then suddenly aborted on Saturday, has considerably weakened Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power. It may well have weakened Prigozhin also.
As we get into the full swing of 2021, one of the pertinent calendar events for the year is the upcoming local government elections. These are of particular interest to me, and I believe many South Africans, in light of the year we have just had.
It is at a local government level that the impact of political decisions, or indecisions, are directly felt by citizens. It is at this level that the effectiveness of various policies – the efficacy of governance frameworks and implementation of plans (or lack thereof) – are effectively monitored and assessed, and if 2020 was anything to go by, there is a significant amount of work to be done at local government level.