The Common Sense
23 April 2026
No. 23Subscribe

Good Morning

Below follows today’s briefing from The Common Sense.

Today's Briefing

Top 5 Stories

1

Editorials

Are Nefarious Foreign Intelligence Services Seeking to Collapse South Africa?

The arrest of Francois van der Merwe should not be treated as an isolated legal incident. It raises a broader and more serious question about the extent to which intelligence services may be involved in the fomenting of political extremism in South Africa and beyond.

Are Nefarious Foreign Intelligence Services Seeking to Collapse South Africa?
2

Editorials

Cigarettes – Torches of Liberty?

Viv Vermaak writes on the proposed new smoking law.

3

Politics

Violent Crime Did Not Fall After Apartheid. A War Ended. There Is a Difference

The decline in murder after 1994 was the result of the end of the ANC’s People’s War, not because the party improved policing.

4

Politics

Divorces Up, Marriages Down in Latest National Data

Data from Statistics South Africa highlight falling numbers of marriages and a rise in divorces.

5

Global

Mediators Press Iran and US to Return to Talks Amid Hormuz Standoff

Diplomatic push intensifies as mediators seek resolution, but internal divisions within Iran complicate progress toward negotiations.

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Podcast & Video of the Day

South African's Don't Care About Race

South African's Don't Care About Race

Hermann Pretorius breaks down the latest Institute of Race Relations poll, revealing South Africans'…

WE MAKE SOUTH AFRICA MAKE SENSE.

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