The time has come for South Africa and the world to accept an uncomfortable truth: Donald Trump, despite his stature and influence, behaves less like a statesman and more like a child trapped in a grown man’s body.
His conduct, rhetoric, and disregard for democratic norms render him fundamentally unfit to lead any nation, least of all a global superpower.
It is profoundly troubling that some world leaders still clamour for meetings with Trump, as though proximity to his power validates their own. This sycophantic behaviour does not merely diminish their credibility, it places them on an equal footing with a man whose values are inconsistent with the principles of justice, diplomacy, and human dignity.
They forget one important fact, Trump is a convicted rapist, grossly dishonest businessman and good friend of Jeffrey Epstein, and yet they beg to meet with this evil man.
The upcoming G20 Summit, to be hosted on South African soil, presents an opportunity to re-centre global leadership around reason, compassion, and moral responsibility. The greatest gift to the G20 nations may well be a summit devoid of Trump’s presence.
His habitual deflections and inflammatory remarks undermine the seriousness of this platform, where leaders gather to deliberate on issues of critical consequence to billions across the globe.
We cannot allow his presence to overshadow or derail urgent global discussions, including the ongoing humanitarian crisis and alleged genocide being committed against the Palestinian people — an atrocity Trump has vocally supported. The world’s focus must remain on human rights, peace, and accountability, not on the whims of one man.
Though we may be forced to tolerate Trump’s presence on the global stage for the next 40 months, we are under no obligation to indulge his bullying, immaturity, or the contempt for the office he currently occupies. President Cyril Ramaphosa must recognise that Trump holds no genuine respect for him or for any black South Africans. It is imperative that our president place the dignity and interests of the Republic above any personal diplomatic or business overtures. South Africa, and the G20, deserve better. The world deserves better.
— Rozario Brown, Moille Point, Cape Town
Israel shows restraint in Gaza
Mike Siluma is convinced that by backing down to Western pressure, South Africa risks becoming a US colony, and that we should maintain the moral high ground.
But South Africa’s government does not have the moral high ground in our egregious attacks on Israel. Israel is not committing a genocide or an unjust war. The Jewish state was brutally invaded on October 7 2023, where almost 1,200 Israelis were killed, most of whom were civilians. A further 251 people were taken as hostages. Mass sexual violence and torture was meted out on innocent people in the largest single act of violence against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Israel had a right and moral imperative to push into Gaza, to save its hostages, and to eliminate any further threat to its people.
Pundits hold Israel to a hypocritically high standard. This while the Israel Defense Forces has undertaken an unprecedentedly restrained approach to urban warfare. Humanitarian corridors have been maintained to evacuate civilians. Civilians are warned ahead of time before attacks. And Israel itself has provided countless tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Gazan people.
No other country has ever been expected to go through the same effort to protect the people of a foreign nation that invaded them.
Continued misinformation and hypocritically unrealistic standards on Israel do not serve the truth and do not make South Africa look virtuous. It only exposes our government’s malice and ignorance.
— Nicholas Woode-Smith, Cape Town
Polishing coffins
The Sunday Times rightly notes the partial restoration of Pepfar funding (July 24 2025 “Small win for activists, but SA’s HIV projects won’t get reopened”), but we must confront the lethal math: $400m cannot undo the evisceration of South Africa’s HIV/TB response. As a nation with the world’s largest HIV-positive population (7.8-million), South Africa relies on Pepfar for 80% of its antiretroviral drugs. The maintained $400m is a fraction of the $4bn slashed from global health programmes. According to South African Medical Research Council forecasts the cuts lead to:
- Closure of 380+ clinics in Gauteng and KZN alone;
- 2,500+ weekly preventable deaths by 2025;
- TB resurgence in mining communities with 60%+ infection rates.
This is not a victory but a triage. The US political gambit sacrificing African lives must be named lethal complacency, and our government’s silence is complicity. Until both nations treat this as the death sentence it is, then these partial restorations are merely polishing coffins.
— Jessica Gbedemah, Decode communications
Stupid moves
It is mind boggling to me that “smart cities” is the new buzzword. Government is struggling to provide basic services to communities: towns and cities are falling apart and the idea is that we can replace them with smart cities. Poor/damaged infrastructure, unemployment , massive housing shortages, water problems, pot-holed roads and poor public safety all need to be addressed before we can think about vanity projects like smart cities.
Can government get back to basics and fix the broken towns and cities they created by their corruption and careless attitude before the bourgeois smart cities become a reality?
— SP Jemaine, Rose Acre
It’s the judges that give bail
I agree with Barney Mthombothi that our legal system has dealt too leniently with those charged with serious offences when it comes to granting bail. The situation seems to have worsened in recent times. This is often reflected in legitimate public protests.
The Law Reform Commission, I understand, is looking into the issue of bail and hopefully, it will soon come up with measures to strengthen the system.
But, ultimately, the success of the bail laws depends upon a judiciary that is alert to the legitimate fears of the society in which we live.
— Siraj Desai, email
Nomcebo’s voice, but KG’s song
By all means, give Nomcebo Zikode her flowers. Her voice is golden. Her melody is haunting. Her delivery is divine. But let us never get it twisted: Jerusalema belongs to Master KG. Because before there was a vocal, there was a vision. Before the world danced, someone had to build the rhythm that moved it. And that someone — quietly, without flash — was Master KG.
It is true that Zikode sang the acclaimed song Jerasalema. But it is not her song — it’s Master KG’s. We all know that Master KG cannot sing or dance effectively. He builds the atmosphere, melodies, and beats that make the songs addictive — then brings in singers to complete the product.
Master KG understands what moves people deep in the bone, across languages, continents, and creeds. Nomcebo hears her voice in Jerusalema and says: “I carried that song.”
That’s a partial truth. Everyone knows that Nomcebo sings in Jerasalema as a featured guest, not owner. The owner is Master KG.
There are two things Nomcebo seems to be missing; one, without Master KG, that song would still be sitting in studio dust. Two, with another singer, the song still would’ve gone global — because the magic was already in the beat.
— Chris Kanyane, Pretoria
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