In December 2022 the ruling ANC in South Africa holds its five yearly national conference where president Cyril Ramaphosa is seeking re-election as leader of the party, which puts him in position to contest nationwide elections in 2024. But South Africa is currently in the midst of a severe economic meltdown, with mass unemployment and crippling power cuts and a political culture which many are warning could bring the state to the point of collapse. Zeinab Badawi speaks to South African justice minister Ronald Lamola, seen as one of the rising starts of the ANC’s younger generation. How does he account for the government’s failure to address the myriad challenges it faces? Show less