SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

Nov

23

2023

Ghana: Akosombo Dam disaster reveals a history of negligence that continues to this day

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

RECENT heavy downpours in the Lower Volta area of Ghana led to the worst flooding in the region’s history. The flooding was caused by a spillage (a deliberate release of water) from the Akosombo Dam, the country’s biggest hydroelectric dam. Over 26,000 people were displaced. No deaths have been officially announced. The last recorded spillage was in 2010. STEPHAN MIESCHER, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara The Volta River Authority, the state agency that manages the Akosombo Dam, opened the floodgates to release pressure on the dam after unusually high rainfall. By September, Volta Lake, the vast, 400km-long…

Nov

22

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s police are losing the war on crime – here’s how they need to rethink their approach

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa’s crime statistics for the third quarter of 2023 show that people continue to face a serious problem of violent crime, especially murder and attempted murder. The country’s per capita murder rate for 2022/23 was the highest in 20 years at 45 per 100,000 (a 50% increase compared to 2012/13). GUY LAMB, Criminologist / Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch University In response to this crisis, the South African Police Service has reconfigured its policing strategies and plans. Yet, these approaches offer very little innovation. They mostly reaffirm the way the police have typically pursued policing for the past three decades –…

Nov

21

2023

By BRIAN GANSON, ANNE SPENCER JAMISON and WITOLD JERZY HENISZ

Projects funded by the World Bank Group’s private sector arm fuel violent conflict – it’s time to reform the system

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

TO what extent does private investment help developing countries to reduce conflict and violence and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals? This is a hotly debated issue. Most international institutions such as the World Bank Group take the stance that the problem is not enough private investment. So they mobilise public resources to subsidise and protect private sector actors with the goal of greatly increasing foreign direct investment. Meanwhile, community, labour and human rights advocates – particularly in fragile and conflict-affected countries – tend instead to see the dominant patterns of foreign direct investment as part of a continuing history…

Nov

09

2023

By The African Mirror

World Bank suspension of Uganda funds over anti-homosexuality law: what this says about the struggle over funds and sovereignty

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, EDITORS CHOICE

THE World Bank issued a statement on 8 August 2023, announcing that it had effectively suspended all new public financing to Uganda over concerns with the country’s anti-homosexuality law, which “fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group’s values”. According to Human Rights Watch, the anti-homosexuality act violates multiple fundamental rights guaranteed under Uganda’s constitution and a number of international human rights agreements which the government of Uganda has signed. The act was first proposed in March 2023, and adopted by the Ugandan parliament in early May. JON HARALD SANDE LIE, Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs The World Bank, and…

Oct

31

2023

By The African Mirror

Agoa trade deal talks: South Africa will need to carefully manage relations with the US and China

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa must tread carefully in its economic relationships to avoid being caught in the escalating tension between East and West, and more specifically China and the US. The country’s hosting, and the outcome, of the 2023 Agoa Summit should strengthen its role in diplomatic relations and contribute towards safeguarding the country’s economic interests. ARNO J. VAN NIEKERK, Senior lecturer in Economics, University of the Free State From 2-4 November 2023, the US and 35 sub-Saharan African countries will meet in Johannesburg for the 20th Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (Agoa Forum). It entails strengthening trade and investment ties…

Oct

28

2023

By The African Mirror

The thorny issue of ‘race’ in South African politics: why it endures almost 30 years after apartheid ended

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

“RACE” continues to have much political salience in South Africa, a country where, in the past, perceived differences of skin colour were used to construct a hierarchy of “races”, with whites at the top, to justify their political economic domination. The move to constitutional democracy in 1994 committed the country to non-racialism. However, almost three decades after the end of apartheid, politicians of different stripes continue to use “race” as a wedge issue to mobilise support. ROGER SOUTHALL, Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand The question is why. Two answers stand out. The first is that racial oppression has…

Oct

20

2023

By The African Mirror

Bird flu in South Africa: expert explains what’s behind the chicken crisis and what must be done about it

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AN outbreak of avian flu – a highly contagious viral infection that affects wild birds as well as poultry – has hit poultry farms in South Africa. Two different strains are causing outbreaks in the country – A(H5N1) and influenza A(H7N6). A specialist in poultry health, Shahn Bisschop, answers some questions put to him by The Conversation Africa. SHAHN BISSCHOP, Senior lecturer, specialist poultry veterinarian, University of Pretoria What strain has broken out in South Africa? The outbreak caused by a highly pathogenic (HPAI) strain of H7N6 avian influenza is causing the most concern at present. The strain was first…

Oct

07

2023

By Prof Robert Bragg

South Africa’s poultry sector in crisis

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE poultry sector in South Africa is currently undergoing serious challenges. The ongoing load shedding and power disruptions have put tremendous pressure and additional costs on the industry, which makes producing poultry products extremely expensive. One company (Astral Foods) has spent an additional R919 million as a result of load shedding alone. This has obviously had a significant impact on the profitability and sustainability of the company. Now to make matters worse – the local poultry industry has been hit with a major avian influenza epidemic. Avian Influenza (AI) is a viral disease of birds, including poultry. The term “AI”…

Oct

03

2023

By The African Mirror

Trade unions and the new economy: 3 African case studies show how workers are recasting their power in the digital age

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

FROM US car factories to public sector workers in Nigeria and South Africa, strikes by trade unions continue unabated among the established sectors of the working class. In Detroit in the US, workers are resisting contract employment. In Nigeria, they are angry over the rising cost of living and in South Africa, municipal workers are striking for better wages. EDWARD WEBSTER, Distinguished Reserach Professor, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to build sustainable worker organisations as companies employ more people on a casual basis in the digital age. Work has become more…

Sep

30

2023

By The African Mirror

Charms and rituals are used by criminals in Nigeria – should police deploy spiritual security too?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

CRIME is among the major challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation. The pervasiveness of crime has repeatedly called into question the effectiveness and efficiency of the Nigeria Police Force. This is despite their exclusive reliance on modern policing strategies and techniques. USMAN A. OJEDOKUN, Sociologist/Criminologist, University of Ibadan Traditionally, crime-related matters have been handled through what’s known as “spiritual security”. This is a knowledge system that involves the use of amulets, charms, rituals and talismans for protection, power and clairvoyance. As sociologists specialising in criminology, we were interested in what the Nigerian police personnel had to say about these mechanisms…