The 10 most-read articles of 2020

1. The Covid-19 pandemic presented many challenges. Decision-makers had to try and find a balance between limiting the spread of the virus and limiting the damage to the economy.

2. Many of the government’s restrictions were necessary to curb the spread of the virus. Others were controversial, so much so that some ended up before the courts.

3. The controversial decision and policies could often be traced back to a certain minister. Health matters aside, 2020 was a difficult year for some cabinet members.

4. Despite repeatedly asking for “his day in court”, former president Jacob Zuma continued his efforts to stop his corruption trial.

5. Meanwhile, prosecutors made a new discovery about the payments between Schabir Shaik and Zuma, which may suggest it is not entirely in the former president’s interest to continue trying to postpone his trial.

6. The EFF also seems to be at odds with the legal system. With some of its senior members possibly finding themselves in a similar position to SA’s former president, Karyn Maughan wrote that the party may have “embarked on a deliberate campaign of discrediting the courts”.

7. Apart from a recession and a pandemic, corruption was again a common theme in newspaper headlines in 2020. Gareth van Onselen’s analysis of the ANC’s secretary-general suggests the governing party might not be up to the task to effectively combat this scourge.

8. The inquiry into allegations of state capture was not only revealing as to the looting that has been taking place in SA, but also made for good television for those stuck at home. This was especially the case with former SAA chair Dudu Myeni’s testimony.

9. Some might think that 2020 was difficult mostly because of the pandemic and the lockdown and economic turmoil that followed. This article is a reminder of the dark days in the second week of the year.

10. If your time spent at home included some trading or investments, the finance minister warned in September that online forex trading is illegal.