HEADLINES - The African Mirror

May

21

2025

A Beacon of Hope: My day at the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

I never expected to be moved to tears by a foundation visit, but that's exactly what happened when I stepped through the doors of the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation (KMF) in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa. The moment I arrived, I witnessed something extraordinary: young faces from Forte Secondary School in Soweto and Westbury Secondary School lighting up with possibility as they experienced technologies many had never seen before. Gugu Motlanthe, the foundation's Executive Trustee and wife of former President Kgalema Motlanthe, greeted me warmly. "What drives us," she told me, her eyes reflecting both determination and compassion, "is bridging the educational…

May

19

2025

By OLUWASEYI OMOWUNMI POPOGBE

Lagos slum evictions don’t work: 6 ways city planners can actually help the poor

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MILLIONS of people in Lagos live in slums. Slums typically have poor housing infrastructure and sanitation, and limited access to education, health facilities and clean drinking water. These challenges make the people who live in slums vulnerable to health crises, high illiteracy rates and poor standards of living. A central element of the city authorities’ efforts to address the issue has been to evict people. Over the past decade, more than 50,000 people have been evicted from their homes in Lagos slums. As a development economist who has carried out studies on urban poverty in Lagos State and the social…

May

17

2025

By LAURA BERLINGOZZI and MARTA CAVALLARO

Can dialogue with jihadist groups bring peace to the Sahel?

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Laura Berlingozzi and Marta Cavallaro INTERNATIONAL diplomacy seems increasingly unable to stem the tide of regional crises. As violence escalates globally, stretching across continents, a sobering truth is emerging: Neither the rhetoric of victory at all costs nor the resort to military solutions alone is paving sustainable roads toward peace. Armed conflicts continue to fuel cycles of radicalisation and extremism, destabilising the international security landscape. From one crisis zone to another, brute force – sometimes clad in high-tech arrogance – has consistently failed to contain the spread of violence. The Sahel,…

May

14

2025

By JOVIAL RANTAO

America’s dangerous game: How diplomatic falsehoods undermine South African sovereignty

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN the arena of international relations, truth is often the first casualty. The United States' recent policy of granting refugee status to Afrikaner families based on dubious claims of "persecution" represents not merely a diplomatic misstep but a dangerous continuation of a troubling pattern - one where falsehoods serve as pretext for undermining the sovereignty of nations that dare chart an independent course. This is not South Africa's first encounter with American diplomatic deception. In 2023, South Africa was forced to formally demarche the US Ambassador after he made explosive and entirely false claims that a South African vessel had…

May

09

2025

By NDEY TAPHA SOSSEH

“On World Press Freedom Day, we stand with the journalists of Burkina Faso”

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AS repression deepens under military rule, Burkinabè journalists continue to resist with courage and conviction—sustaining a legacy of freedom shaped by pioneers and institutions like FILEP and the Norbert Zongo Press Centre. Today, as the world pauses to mark World Press Freedom Day, we must turn our eyes—and our conscience—toward a region where the pen is under siege, where truth is a dangerous profession, and where the voices that inform, question, and defend democracy are being silenced. We refer to Burkina Faso, a country caught in the crosshairs of insecurity, political transition, and mounting repression of its independent press. Over…

May

08

2025

By CHRISTOPHE PREMAT

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe: the philosopher who reshaped how the world thinks about Africa

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

CONGOLESE thinker, philosopher and linguist Valentin-Yves Mudimbe died on 21 April 2025 at the age of 83. He was in the US, where he had lived for many years. A towering figure in African critical thought, Mudimbe’s work – translated and studied worldwide – has profoundly shaped postcolonial studies. He leaves a groundbreaking intellectual legacy on the colonisation of knowledge and the condition of Africans. At a time when debates on decolonising knowledge are gaining ground, Mudimbe’s passing invites us to revisit the work of a thinker who, since the 1980s, paved the way for a radical critique of imposed…

May

07

2025

By AZWIHANGWISI JUDITH MPHIDI

City police in South Africa’s capital have a bad image – how to fix it

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

CORRUPTION in South Africa’s public institutions has been a pressing issue for the past two decades. From national government offices to local municipalities, stories of officials enriching themselves at the expense of the public have become all too familiar. The Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department – responsible for traffic policing, crime prevention, and bylaw enforcement in South Africa’s capital city – has not escaped this crisis. With over four million residents spread across 6,298 square kilometres, Tshwane plays a vital role in the country’s political and economic landscape. Yet its municipal police department, one of the largest in South Africa, with…

May

05

2025

By CLARENCE KWINANA

A tribute to Tex Rantao: Healer, warrior, and unsung hero of the liberation struggle

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN the tapestry of South Africa's liberation story, some threads shine with quiet brilliance—their strength felt but seldom celebrated in grand narratives. Such was the thread of Comrade Tax "Tex" Rantao, a man whose gentle smile masked the steel of his resolve and whose healing hands were as vital to the struggle as any weapon. When the brutal machinery of apartheid forced many of South Africa's bravest sons and daughters into exile, the Rantao family made the painful choice that thousands would make—to leave behind the land they loved to fight for its liberation from afar. For young Tex, this…

Mar

22

2025

By THABO MBEKI

Farewell to a man of integrity.

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ON 14 March 2025, many of us gathered at one of the Johannesburg cemeteries to bury a South African whom many speakers hailed as a person of integrity, who dedicated his life to the betterment of his fellow human beings. This was the businessman, Khomotso Jacob Bobby Makwetla, who, among other engagements, was a distinguished member of the well-known National African Federated Chamber of Commerce, NAFCOC. The homily at the funeral service preceding the burial was delivered by a patriot and liberation fighter, now Rev Molefe Tsele, who based himself on two verses in Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy. These…

Mar

21

2025

By DR THEOGENE RUDASINGWA

General Kagame’s last gamble: War, deception, and the unravelling of a regime in freefall

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

GENERAL Kagame, the Rwandan autocrat who has ruled with an iron fist for nearly three decades, is once again banking on war, deception, and sheer ruthlessness to prolong his grip on power. Faced with mounting international isolation, economic pressure, and an unravelling facade of legitimacy, he has abandoned any pretence of diplomacy, withdrawing from the much-hyped peace talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a last-ditch effort to consolidate military control over eastern Congo. This move is not an aberration but a pattern—one that has defined Kagame’s reign from the days of the Arusha Peace Talks in the…