A huge row has ensued in South Africa after the country’s public protector recommended that the constitutional mandate of the Reserve Bank be changed. Steven Friedman contends the saga has exposed an ugly side of the country’s democracy - the tendency to shut down debate. But Cathy Powell argues that the public protector’s job is to determine whether the Reserve Bank obeyed the relevant rules, not to write new ones.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that the speaker of parliament has the power to decide whether or not MPs should be allowed a secret ballot in an upcoming motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma. Marius Pieterse explains why secret ballots pose a danger to democracy.

For more than half a century the DRC has been ruled by money-hungry autocrats. The hope was that President Joseph Kabila would break with the tradition of tyranny. But that hasn’t happened. Reuben Loffman reviews the country’s leaders as the anniversary of its 58th year of independence approaches.

As part of our series on invasive species, Reuben P. Keller and Sabrina Kumschick set out what policies countries can put in place to keep out harmful alien species.