SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

Mar

18

2025

Middle Eastern monarchies in Sudan’s war: what’s driving their interests

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE civil war in Sudan that began in April 2023 involves several external actors. The conflict pits the Sudanese Armed Forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in a quest for political and economic power. The situation has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Various foreign states have picked a side to support. They include Chad, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In particular, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are providing financial and military support to the warring parties, although they have denied it. Political scientist Federico Donelli, who has studied…

Mar

14

2025

By GIULIO LUCARINI

Ancient DNA reveals Maghreb communities preserved their culture and genes, even in a time of human migration

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Neolithic period began in southwest Asia around 12,000 years ago. It marked a major shift in human history as societies transitioned from hunting and gathering to farming. This sparked migrations across Europe and dramatically reshaped the continent’s gene pool. For a long time, North Africa was seen as a passive participant in this transformation. The dominant narrative suggested that farming economies never fully took root there. Some studies proposed that North African communities actively resisted agriculture, except perhaps in the Nile Delta and the western Maghreb (modern-day Morocco). They continued to rely on land snails, wild plants, and hunting…

Mar

11

2025

By The African Mirror

Moving graves and people for coal mines: the devastating costs of mining in South Africa

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ABOUT 80% of South Africa’s electricity still comes from burning coal. The country’s 108 coal mines have resulted in many communities being forced off their land from the 1970s to date. They have not only lost their homes and land but have suffered the trauma of their ancestral graves being exhumed and relocated. This is the subject of No Last Place to Rest: Coal Mining and Dispossession in South Africa by coal mining researcher Dineo Skosana. We spoke to her about her new book. How has coal mining dispossessed South African communities? Coal mining affects communities in the Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal…

Mar

09

2025

By DANNY BRADLOW

The G20: how it works, why it matters and what would be lost if it failed

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa took over the presidency of the G20 at the end of 2024. Since then the world has become a more complex, unpredictable and dangerous place. The most powerful state in the world, the US, seems intent on undermining the existing order that it created and on demonstrating its power over weaker nations. Other influential countries are turning inward. These developments raise concerns about how well mechanisms for global cooperation, such as the G20, can continue to operate, particularly those that work on the basis of consensual decision-making. Danny Bradlow sets out how the G20 works, and what’s at…

Mar

08

2025

By SINAZO NTSONGE

South Africa’s ‘working for water’ programme is meant to lead to skills and jobs: why it’s failing

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme is part of its social safety net. It complements the country’s social grants system, which has over 28 million recipients. The public works programme helps fill a gap for people who fall outside the grant system, especially those who need work experience and skills training if they’re to get a job. These include unemployed young people, women and people with disabilities. One of the programmes under its umbrella is the Working for Water programme, which was launched in 1995. It was intended to control invasive alien plants so as to conserve water resources and…

Mar

06

2025

By BRENDON J. CANNON

Maps showing China’s growing influence in Africa distort reality – but some risks are real

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

GLOBAL power dynamics in Africa are shifting, with China eclipsing the influence of the US and France. China has become Africa’s single largest trading partner. In response, media and policymakers in traditionally dominant states are increasingly using maps drenched in red or stamped with Chinese flags to depict Beijing’s expanding footprint. One map reproduced by a US congressional committee, for instance, showed Beijing’s influence and reach across the continent in red stripes. But these visuals oversimplify a complex reality. This is an issue I explored in a new study. For over a decade, I have researched the interactions of sub-Saharan…

Mar

05

2025

By TINA LÜDECKE and DOMINIC STRATFORD

When did our ancestors start to eat meat regularly? Fossilised teeth get us closer to the answer

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

FOR decades, scientists have been learning more about the diets of early hominins, particularly their reliance on plants. Yet we still don’t know when these ancestors of humans started eating meat. This is a frustrating gap in our understanding of human evolution. We think regular meat consumption was one of the main drivers of brain growth and evolution in hominins because animal products are calorie-dense and easier to digest than unprocessed plant foods. They also contain all the essential amino acids and are rich in biologically important nutrients, minerals and vitamins. What we do know is that by the time…

Mar

04

2025

By JULIAN MAY and THOKOZANI SIMELANE

South Africa’s malnutrition crisis: why a cheaper basket of healthy food is the answer

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE death in early February of a 9-year-old South African boy, Alti Willard, who drank poison while scavenging for food in rubbish bins with his father, is a tragic reflection of the persistent food insecurity crisis in the country. A child dying while trying to avert starvation is hard to comprehend, given the country’s economic and natural resources. South Africa has the capability to feed the entire nation. But it is grappling with a triple burden of malnutrition, comprising undernutrition and hunger, micronutrient deficiencies, and unhealthy diets. According to the most recent Food and Nutrition Security Survey, conducted by the…

Mar

01

2025

By SANDRA SWART

Baboons and human fear: a deep history behind the cruel attacks in South Africa

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ENCOUNTERS between baboons and people are common in parts of South Africa. WhatsApp groups often share stories of baboons raiding a kitchen and stealing all the food. And stories appear in the media about the torture and killing of baboons. Recently the hashtag #JusticeForRaygun has been widely shared on social media. A young male baboon named Raygun was being tracked as he made his way through a suburb of Pretoria to the wilds. When he stopped at a school in a small town, a group of teenagers hunted him down, attacked him and burned him to death. Some children had…

Feb

28

2025

By STEPHEN DEVEREUX; BUSISO MOYO and MARK HEYWOOD

15 million South Africans don’t get enough to eat every day: 4 solutions

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AT least 15 million South Africans suffer from food insecurity. That means they don’t have enough nutritious food to live healthy lives. This is due to a combination of factors, including unemployment, poverty, inequality and food system failures. More than 1,000 children die from malnutrition each year. This compares unfavourably with 350 child deaths from malnutrition in Brazil, which has more than three times South Africa’s population, and 269 child deaths in Colombia, which has about the same per capita income as South Africa. A robust indicator of chronic hunger is child stunting. Stunting in South Africa has flatlined at…