LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Jan

07

2025

Mozambique’s long struggle to build a nation – four novels that tell the story

LITERATURE

MOZAMBIQUE’S long history of nation-building is still unfinished. The country is still pursuing a cohesive national identity, stable institutions, and economic foundations that would unify diverse groups. This is crucial to foster harmony and political stability. Nation-building in Mozambique dates back to the last decades of Portuguese colonial rule, in the 1960s. At this time, it was mainly driven by resistance movements and anti-colonial struggles. As nationalist groups emerged, they aimed to unify diverse ethnic groups and overthrow colonial powers. A sense of shared identity was fostered through the fight for independence. But after independence in 1975, new challenges to…

Dec

30

2024

By SINENHLANHLA MEMELA

South Africa’s modern rondavels: family homes may be changing, but traditions remain

LIFESTYLE

THE Mbhashe area of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province is a landscape of hills, fields and river valleys leading to the Indian Ocean. All along the ridges are the homesteads of the Xhosa people who have lived here since before colonial times. In years gone by, all these homes would have been round buildings (“rondavels”) plastered with mud and thatched with local grasses. Today, many are built with bricks and cement and roofed with zinc. Some houses are rectangular, with decorative pillars, verandas and flat roofs. South Africa’s history of labour migration saw generations of people forced to leave these…

Dec

27

2024

By ROWLAND CHUKWUEMEKA AMAEFULA

Nigerian TikTok star Charity Ekezie uses hilarious skits to dispel ignorance about Africa

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

YOUNG African voices are gaining popularity on social media the world over, using these platforms for comedy and political debate – and often for political debate that’s also funny. One of the new generation of TikTok celebrities in Africa is Charity Ekezie, a Nigerian humourist and journalist. She’s gained 3.3 million followers on TikTok (and 570,000 on Instagram). Her skits poke fun at the world’s perceptions of the continent as backward and barbaric. Rowland Chukwuemeka Amaefula is a theatre and performance scholar who has analysed Ekezie’s TikToks, her sarcastic brand of humour and how she uses social media as a…

Dec

10

2024

By GWEN ANSELL

Rashid Vally: South African visionary whose indie record labels shaped the jazz scene

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SOME record labels create huge market and financial clout. Some stay much smaller, but punch way above their weight in terms of their impact on the spirit of a country’s music. For South Africa, one such label is As-Shams/The Sun, whose founder, Rashid Vally, passed away on 7 December aged 85. In the era of intensely repressive white minority rule, Vally became the first South African of colour to establish his own independent record label. His releases gave a platform to musically experimental and often politically outspoken artists, including pianist Abdullah Ibrahim. Their work implicitly and explicitly challenged the regime’s…

Dec

22

2024

By GIBSON NCUBE; BIBI BURGER, CARL DEATH; DEIRDRE C. BYRNE; NEDINE MOONSAMY and PETER J. MAURITS

6 best African sci-fi and fantasy books to read this holiday

LITERATURE

SCIENCE fiction, fantasy, horror and other forms of speculative fiction are breathing new life into African writing. International awards, TV deals, new publishing imprints, a growing fanbase and academic studies are adding to the interest. So what are the best sci-fi and fantasy novels, short stories and anthologies to add to your wishlist? We asked six scholars who specialise in African sci-fi and fantasy to pick. Avenues by Train by Farai Mudzingwa Gibson Ncube Reading Zimbabwean writer Farai Mudzingwa’s Avenues by Train (2023), one cannot help but think of those moments when we find ourselves suspended between stations, neither here…

Dec

07

2024

By THEMBELA VOKWANA

The empire sings back: the deep history behind South African soprano Pretty Yende’s triumph

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AMONG the global music stars invited to perform at the grand reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris is Pretty Yende. The South African soprano was also one of the invited artists at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III. Like the Notre Dame reopening, coronations are not events that take place often. What makes the moment special is not just singing for a new king or restored landmark, but the rareness of the occasion. Thanks to these events, millions of global television viewers experience Yende’s soaring high notes, stage presence, musicality and star quality for the first time.…

Jan

10

2025

By MPHO RANTAO

A special treat: Kaytranada in South Africa on Timeless Tour

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

FRESH off a warm reception in Cape Town, Haitian DJ Kaytranada will continue his Timeless tour at the second leg of the US-based Milk and Cookies Festival, at Huddle Park, in Johannesburg on January 11. The Grammy award winning producer returned to the southernmost tip in Africa as a headliner for the debut of the Milk & Cookies Festival, a new festival from the city of Atlanta, United States. The festival has a two-leg run in South Africa, which started in Cape Town on January 6, and will conclude in a sold-out show in Johannesburg, whereafter Kaytranada heads to Australia…

Nov

29

2024

By ROGER SOUTHALL

Jan Smuts was a white supremacist. Nelson Mandela a black liberation hero. New book explores what they have in common

LITERATURE

JAN Christiaan Smuts (1870-1950) and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013) belonged to and were shaped by two different epochs in South Africa, yet left an indelible mark on its history. Sociologist Roger Southall has brought them together, so to speak, in a book, Smuts & Mandela, The Men Who Made South Africa. Among the many parallels he draws between the two men – one a racist white supremacist and the other a non-racialist and African nationalist – is that they were both nation-builders. Smuts made the state which Mandela fought to transform. We asked the author to explain. What do you…

Nov

27

2024

By KARA BLACKMORE

Dakar Biennale: Senegal’s big art show shines a light on a bruised planet

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ONE of Africa’s most important art shows, the 15th Biennale of Contemporary African Art in Dakar – also known as Dak'Art – is currently on in Senegal. A biennale is a major international exhibition held every two years. The theme for 2024 is The Wake – L’Éveil and this year there’s a strong focus on trauma, people and the planet. Kara Blackmore is an anthropologist and curator who specialises in community-driven exhibition-making. She’s also an associate curator – one of the team of women who are responsible for artist selection and exhibition making – at this year’s biennale. She told…

Nov

21

2024

By SIFISO NDLOVU

Esther Mahlangu: how the famous South African artist keeps her Ndebele culture alive

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ESTHER Mahlangu’s retrospective of her world-famous art was first shown in Cape Town and has now opened in Johannesburg. The 89-year-old South African visual artist is best known for her colourful large-scale murals in the traditional patterns and colours of the Ndebele people of South Africa – once famously displayed on a BMW as part of a global advertising campaign. But how is she regarded by her people and what does her work represent? We asked Sifiso Ndlovu, an expert in the art and identity of the Ndebele people, to tell us more. Who is Esther Mahlangu? Esther Nostokana Mahlangu…