SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

Feb

07

2025

Violent crime in South Africa happens mostly in a few hotspots: police resources should focus there – criminologist

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

CRIME researchers use murder (or homicide) rate per 100,000 as a crude measure of the general level of violent interpersonal crime globally. According to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime, South Africa’s murder rate of 45 per 100,000 (2023/24) is the second highest for countries that publish crime data. The South African Police Service crime data shows that levels of attempted murder, armed robbery and robberies at homes have soared over the past 10 years. Other categories of violent crime, such as assault and sexual violence, also remain high. High crime rates have had considerable negative effects on…

Feb

06

2025

By MAMOKETE MODIBA and SAMIKSHA SINGH

South Africa’s food poisoning crisis: the government’s response isn’t dealing with the real issues

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE South African government declared a national disaster towards the end of 2024 in response to an outbreak of food-borne illnesses. The outbreak had led to the tragic deaths of over 20 children and hospitalisation of hundreds. Investigations by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases attributed the outbreak to hazardous pesticides such as Terbufos and Aldicarb. The pesticides, used in agriculture, have infiltrated the informal market as unregulated “street pesticides” for rat control, resulting in food contamination. In response, the government announced several measures. One was that all food handling outlets, including informal retailers known as spaza shops, had to…

Feb

05

2025

By The African Mirror

Activists are warning of a return to the Jim Crow era in America. But who or what was Jim Crow?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SINCE becoming president, Donald Trump has issued a record number of executive orders. Several aim to dismantle federally funded initiatives based on the idea that “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) are goals worth achieving. In response, many commentators have warned Trump may be dragging the United States back to the dark days of the “pre-civil rights” Jim Crow era. But who or what was Jim Crow? The term Jim Crow refers to the long period in US history when black Americans could not exercise the same rights of citizenship as white Americans. “Jim Crow” segregation began when slavery ended in…

Feb

04

2025

By JABULANI SHABA and SANDRA SWART

Rituals, rites and rumours: how women claim power in Zimbabwe’s informal gold mines

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

IN Zimbabwe they say, Hanzi bhande rinonzvenga vakadzi vakapinda mumigoghi (The gold belt will disappear if women go into the underground mine). Many men on artisanal or small-scale gold mining sites are uncomfortable working with women in their syndicates because of this commonly held cultural belief, that women “pollute” the sacredness of the mining space. Yet women remain a lively, if sidelined, community in the country’s growing mining sector. By 2000 there were more than 500,000 people working in artisanal and small-scale mining in Zimbabwe. By 2018 it was estimated that number could be up to 1.5 million. But this…

Jan

31

2025

By AWINO OKECH

Femicide in Kenya: William Ruto has set up a task force – feminist scholar explains its flaws

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

GENDER-BASED violence is a major challenge in Kenya, which has recorded a significant rise in deaths of women and girls in recent years. In January 2024, a coalition of organisations across the East African nation organised multi-city public marches to call for government action against these deaths. A year later, President William Ruto established a 42-member task force to address gender-based violence. What is its potential to lead to real change for women and girls? Feminist and security studies professor Awino Okech explores the issue. What do you make of the Kenyan government’s response to gender-based violence? Language matters, in…

Jan

30

2025

By CAROLINE FOWLER

Rereading Rembrandt: how the slave trade helped establish the golden age of Dutch painting

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, EDITORS CHOICE

THE so-called golden age of Dutch painting in the 1600s coincided with an economic boom that had a lot to do with the transatlantic slave trade. But how did the slave trade shape the art market in the Netherlands? And how is it reflected in the paintings of the time? This is the subject of a new book called Slavery and the Invention of Dutch Art by art historian Caroline Fowler. We asked about her study. What was Dutch art about before slavery and what was the golden age? The earliest paintings that would be called Dutch were predominantly religious.…

Jan

28

2025

By THIERRY VIRCOULON

What France loses by closing its military bases in Africa

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SENEGALESE president Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced on 31 December 2024 that all foreign military bases in his country would close by 2025. On the same day, the Ivorian president said France would hand over control of the Abidjan military base to his country’s army. These announcements followed the planned withdrawal of French forces from Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Researcher Thierry Vircoulon discusses the potential implications of these decisions for France. What advantages could France lose by withdrawing its troops from African countries? France’s military presence in French-speaking Africa has evolved in strategic importance over the past 65 years.…

Jan

25

2025

By RACHEL WYNBERG

Industrial scale farming is flawed: what ecologically-friendly farming practices could look like in Africa

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AFRICAN Perspectives on Agroecology is a new book with 33 contributions from academics, non-governmental organisations, farmer organisations and policymakers. It is free to download, and reviewers have described it as a “must-read for all who care about the future of Africa and its people”. The book outlines how agroecology, which brings ecological principles into farming practices and food systems, can solve food shortages and environmental damage caused by mass, commercial farming. We asked the book’s editor and the South African Research Chair on Environmental and Social Dimensions of the Bio-economy, Rachel Wynberg, to set out why this book is so…

Jan

24

2025

By ROSALIND C. MORRIS

Informal mining in South Africa is here to stay. Police brutality won’t end it – here’s what will

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

IN mid-January 2025 over 1,000 hunger-weakened miners exited two abandoned mine shafts in Stilfontein, near Johannesburg in South Africa. They had been starved out by the police in Operation Vala Umgodi — meaning “plug the hole” – which had cut off food and water in an effort to “smoke out” a shadow workforce. An estimated 6,100 closed mines are distributed across the country. Although closed, they are not sealed. Residual gold remains in these ruins and is extracted by miners who come from across the region. They are mainly unlicensed or undocumented migrants and work in groups that range from…

Jan

23

2025

By THEMBEKILE OLIVIA MAYAYISE

Using your own laptop or phone for work? Why it’s a security hazard for businesses

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

NEXT time you’re working in a coffee shop or similar public space, take a moment to look around at your “co-workers” for the day, busy, like you are, with laptops, cellphones and tablets. How many of those devices belong to the organisations that employ them? Or are they – and you – using personal devices to conduct company business? Many businesses are embracing the convenience of a practice known as “bring your own device”. This allows employees to use their personal or privately owned devices such as smartphones, laptops, USB drives, and even personal cloud storage, for work purposes. A…