EDITORS CHOICE - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

Sudan Armed Forces are on a path to self-destruction – risking state collapse

IT is now 10 months since the outbreak of civil war in Sudan in April 2023, pitting the Sudan Armed Forces against the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group. The war, which erupted after relations between the two wings of Sudan’s security apparatus broke down, rapidly spread beyond the capital, Khartoum. HARRY VERHOEVEN, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University More recently, the Sudan Armed Forces have suffered numerous setbacks at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces. For months, army units have struggled to break their grip on much of the capital. The…

Feb

2024

By TINASHE MUSHAYANYAMA, ADRINO MAZENDA, MARGARET CHITIGA-MABUGU and MARY MANGAI

South Africa is failing people who aren’t poor, but aren’t middle class either

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, EDITORS CHOICE

MANY South African households are trapped. They are neither poor nor middle class. As a demographic, they hover above the indigence threshold financially. But they are not yet securely in the middle class. This aspirant middle class – individuals whose income is above the indigent thresholds but too low to afford the middle-class lifestyle – is growing in metropolitan areas globally. This class is financially vulnerable, with a higher risk of falling back into poverty compared to the established middle class. We set out to understand the challenges faced by this aspirant middle class in South Africa and the key…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

What is genocide? Six Western countries want a broader application of the law – experts unpack why it matters

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

IN November 2023, six Western states filed a joint application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arguing for an ample and expansive understanding of genocide. This intervention, as it is legally termed, was made by Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in relation to the genocide case The Gambia filed against Myanmar in 2019. The still on-going case revolves around the violent expulsion of Rohingya people from Myanmar into Bangladesh. Kerstin Bree Carlson, Associate Professor International Law, Roskilde University Line Engbo Gissel, Associate Professor, Global Political Sociology, Roskilde University Our research focus is on international law…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa has made its genocide case against Israel in court. Here’s what both sides said and what happens next

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

FOLLOWING the October 7 attack by Hamas, Israeli forces have carried out sustained attacks on the Palestinian-controlled territory, dividing the international community. Last week, the South African government presented a case to the International Court of Justice. They argued the Israeli government’s attack on Gaza, and especially the actions of its forces within Gaza since early October, could amount to genocide. PAUL TAUCHER, Lecturer in History, Murdoch University DEAN ASZKIELOWICZ, Senior Lecturer in History and Politics, Murdoch University Few cases that have gone before the court are as explosive and potentially significant as this one. Here’s how the hearings unfolded…

Jan

2024

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

South Africa transitions from apartheid victim to global advocate in Israel case

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

SOUTH Africa's unprecedented move to sue Israel for genocide at the ICJ, inspired by its own history of resistance to apartheid, is reinforcing Africa's heft in the increasingly combustible global geopolitical scene. The ICJ in The Hague will hear arguments from South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. The case, which has drawn support from several states, as well as human rights groups, is seen as a historic challenge to Israel's military actions and policies in the occupied territories. South Africa, which suffered under the brutal system of apartheid for decades, claims to have a…

Jan

2024

By ABBEY MAKOE

The Herero people are scarred by the pain of Germany’s old “genocide”

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

ON January 12, 1904, the Herero people of Namibia revolted against the long-standing German colonial rule in search of their freedom. They had reached a point of saturation with the brutality of Germany’s occupation of their territory in what was then known as South West Africa. Armed to the teeth after secretly mobilising weapons to eject the unwelcome European imperialists, they encircled the German troops in what seemed like a final face-to-face with destiny.South West Africa had been under Germany’s colonial rule from 1884 until 1919, a total of 35 agonising years of living under the strict control of a…

Jan

2024

By ABBEY MAKOE

China’s diplomacy seeks to “make the world a better place for all” – President Xi

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

CHINA has exercised a steadfast determination in its foreign policy stance, insisting on emphasis on multilateralism and shared prosperity throughout the international community. The rapid geopolitical rise of China’s global stature under President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party has been accompanied by massive economic growth that has catapulted China into the world’s second-largest economy after only the US. Geopolitical economists believe that China, as the world’s fastest developing economy over the past decade, stands in good stead to overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy. This is good news for the entire global south in particular. China’s…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Peter Magubane: courageous photographer who chronicled South Africa’s struggle for freedom

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

PETER Sexford Magubane, a courageous South African photographer whose images testify to both the iniquity of apartheid and the determination and devotion of those who brought about its demise, passed away at 91 years of age in early January 2024. KYLIE THOMAS, Senior Researcher and Senior Lecturer (Radical Humanities Laboratory, University College Cork), NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies Magubane leaves behind a vast archive of extraordinary images, many of which continue to be the signature images of some of the worst atrocities committed by the apartheid regime. The photographer suffered great losses during apartheid. In 1969 Magubane…

Jan

2024

By MATHATHA TSEDU

Peter Magubane was a freedom fighter, full stop!

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

BRA Peter Magubane is gone. And with that passing, a chapter of revolutionary media players who were guerrillas with cameras, notebooks and pens is steadily fading. A few remain, though, such as Joe Thloloe, Thami Mazwai, Maud Motanyane, Pearl Luthuli, Ike Segola, Bokwe Mafuna and a few others. Bra Peter, as I called him, was a true revolutionary who fought for freedom. Put differently, Bra Peter was a freedom fighter. He was NOT an anti-apartheid activist. To describe him as such, as many media outlets have been doing, is insulting and cheapens both his commitment and contribution to the struggle…

Dec

2023

By ABBEY MAKOE

Special farewell to the great Mbongeni Ngema

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

A great man is no more. He left us when we least expected. It's been quite difficult to come to terms with the news of the passing of Mbongeni Ngema. He was my brother's keeper. We were brothers-in-arms. Twenty-four hours after Ngema lost his precious life in a head-on collision returning from delivering a eulogy at the funeral of his longtime manager, Mom Sheila Paris, in Lusikisiki in SA's Eastern Cape province, the terrible news is beginning to sink in painfully. Munt'omnyama, as Ngema and I were fond of calling each other along with a few members of his inner…