Look, it’s been a tough few years in Mzansi. But every now and then, South Africa pulls off a plot twist so wholesome, you can almost hear Trevor Noah narrating it.
Here are five victories that made us collectively say: “Maybe this country can work.”
🔹1. Tyla’s global domination
Mzansi’s amapiano queen, Tyla, cemented her status as the South African export of the year. Last month, she was nominated for a Grammy for Best African Music Performance for her infectious single PUSH2START. In September, the same song won her the Best Afrobeats award at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. Earlier in March, she scooped the Impact Award at the Billboard Women in Music Awards and in June dazzled as host of the Kids’ Choice Awards. Crowned Glamour’s Global Woman of the Year in October, Tyla’s wins capped off a year that firmly stamped her as a cultural force.
🔹2. Oscars shine
In September, Imran Hamdulay’s The Heart Is a Muscle became the official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 98th Oscars. This debut feature tackles masculinity, transgenerational trauma, and healing in the poverty-stricken Cape Flats of Cape Town. Adding to the Oscar fever, The Last Ranger, a harrowing 28-minute isiXhosa short on rhino poaching in the Eastern Cape, secured a nomination for Best Live Action Short Film at the 97th Oscars back in January.
🔹3. A successful G20
Against all expectations, the G20 Summit in Johannesburg was a diplomatic and logistical win. Multilateral vows were renewed despite a US no-show under Trump. The event elevated SA’s global profile, meaning visibility that promises long-term economic ripples.
Read more about South Africa’s G20 successes here.
🔹4. The financial Ws
As we told you, SA’s financial health has quietly been getting better. We were removed from the FATF grey list after fully implementing all 22 action-plan items to combat money laundering and terror financing. Our credit ratings were upgraded to just below investment grade. And public debt peaked and began stabilising at 77.9% of GDP in the 2025/26 fiscal year, finally halting the relentless climb that started after the 2008 global financial crisis. Plus, there was Eskom’s dramatic turnaround.
🔹5. Accountability
South Africans love saying commissions are useless “talk shops”. But justice takes time, and the many testimonies at the Zondo State Capture Inquiry, which wrapped in 2022, have led to court action, like the NPA charging ex-minister Malusi Gigaba last month over R54 billion in Transnet graft, forcing his ANC step-aside. Now the Madlanga Commission is showing teeth, unpacking allegations of a criminal syndicate’s infiltration into the SAPS and beyond.
Mzansi has a long way to go, but 2025 has offered something rare: receipts.
