So-called ‘construction mafias’ have long held sway over South Africa’s construction industry, often demanding a cut of any development project. Tamsin Hunt looks at how these groups operate, and whether government efforts and other recourse are effective in combatting these groups.
Attacks on members of the LGBTQIA+ community in Serbia and South Africa in 2023, as well as increasing anti-homosexuality and transgender legislation internationally, have raised fears of an increased targeting of sexual minorities. Jervin Naidoo considers the impact of these incidents on travel security.
The escalating energy crisis in South Africa has far-reaching consequences beyond the lengthening daily power outages. Tamsin Hunt investigates how electricity shortages, coupled with tariff increases, will drive civil unrest risks over the coming year.
Saif Islam explores emerging kidnapping trends in South Africa, Lebanon, and the Philippines, and provides an outlook on how the threat is likely to manifest over the coming year.
Organised criminal groups have proven resilient to challenges affecting the global commercial environment since the Covid-19 pandemic and the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. Such groups have exploited evolving technologies and growing industries to tighten their grip over illicit and licit markets. Erin Drake explores these dynamics, and their potential…
The recent kidnappings of several businesspeople in South Africa’s major cities such as Cape Town, are indicative of a growing problem that is set to worsen in the near future, writes Saif Islam.
The long-delayed arms deal trial of former President Jacob Zuma is a symptom of factionalism and the history of impunity within the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Darren Davids writes that the successful prosecution of corrupt officials may not be enough to ease decades of simmering public frustrations.
With a resurgence of kidnapping in 2021 following a Covid-19-driven hiatus the previous year, Markus Korhonen looks at some of the emerging trends in kidnapping, and how those are likely to be sustained over the coming twelve months.
With the continued increase in global vaccination levels, travel bans are easing as countries restart their tourism sectors. Erin Drake writes that while travel dynamics may look a little different in 2022, the usual security threats remain.
Anti-vaccine protests have become a global phenomenon with varying driving factors ranging from low levels of trust in government to safety fears over the vaccines. Darren Davids writes that, governments and businesses will have to find creative solutions to get people to vaccinate given the cost and impact of renewed waves of infection.
The arrest of former president Jacob Zuma was the catalyst for South Africa’s recent riots, but poor socio-economic conditions, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, created opportune conditions for sustained protests and mass looting, writes Darren Davids. Businesses in South Africa will struggle to fully recoup their losses, dealing a further blow…
In some countries, the Covid-19 pandemic has allowed criminal groups to diversify and expand their operations. This could threaten foreign businesses and staff in affected countries in the coming year, writes Erin Drake.