THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Aug

04

2025

Liberation Icon Molefe Pheto – The Bull from Moruleng – Dies at 90

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa has lost one of its most formidable voices of resistance with the death of Molefe "Bra Phin" Pheto at his Magaliesburg farm on Sunday. The 90-year-old poet, playwright, musician, and political activist died just two weeks after being honoured by the Azanian People's Organisation with the Steve Biko Award for his revolutionary contributions to the liberation struggle. Pheto's death marks the end of an extraordinary life that embodied the very essence of Black Consciousness - a movement he helped shape from the streets of Soweto to the stages of London's exile community. A Voice Forged in Fire Born…

Aug

05

2025

By MATHATHA TSEDU

Heil Benjamin Netanyahu – The Führer of Jerusalem!

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

US President Donald Trump is spending all his free time these days praying for a Nobel Peace Prize. After the dramatic live on prime TV handing over of proof of nomination by Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump is waiting for a call from Stockholm. It may, or may not, come. If it does, it would be to reward him for supporting the decimation of Palestinians by Netanyahu, using American weapons, intel and lobbying support to block UN-sanctioned penalties. It will be to reward him for targeting South Africa, for example, for taking the Jewish state to the International Court…

Aug

02

2025

By MICHAEL E ODIJIE

The African activists who challenged colonial-era slavery in Lagos and the Gold Coast

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

WHEN historians and the public think about the end of domestic slavery in West Africa, they often imagine colonial governors issuing decrees and missionaries working to end local traffic in enslaved people. Two of my recent publications tell another part of the story. I am a historian of West Africa, and over the past five years, I have been researching anti-slavery ideas and networks in the region as part of a wider research project. My research reveals that colonial administrations continued to allow domestic slavery in practice and that African activists fought this. In one study, I focused on Francis…

Aug

01

2025

By VEDA VAIDYANATHAN

Modi’s visit to Ghana signals India’s broader Africa strategy. A researcher explains

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

GHANA has historically been an anchor of Indian enterprise and diplomacy on the African continent. New Delhi and Accra formalised ties in 1957. At the time, their partnership was grounded in shared anti-colonial ideals and a common vision for post-independence development. India offered counsel on building Ghana’s institutions, including its external intelligence agency. Meanwhile, Indian teachers, technicians, and traders regularly travelled to the West African country in search of opportunity. The July 2025 visit of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, to Ghana – the first by an Indian leader in over three decades – came at a critical moment…

Jul

29

2025

By JUAN LUCAS RESTREPO

Why Indigenous Peoples must be at the center of food systems’ transformation

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AS the world gathers in Addis Ababa for the second stock take of the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS+4), the urgency of transforming food systems into more resilient, sustainable and inclusive ones has never been more pressing. While driving this transformation requires many hands, one of the most vital and long-undervalued belongs to Indigenous Peoples. Far from being static, their food systems have continually adapted to changing climates, environments, and social conditions, offering valuable lessons to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. For millennia, Indigenous Peoples have cultivated diverse, adaptive, and evolving…

Jul

26

2025

By KHALID SIDDIG

Sudan’s war is an economic disaster: here’s how bad it could get

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SINCE April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a devastating war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. What began as a struggle for power has turned into a national catastrophe. More than 14 million people have been displaced. Health and education systems have collapsed, and food insecurity threatens over half the population of about 50 million. The war has disrupted key sectors, triggering severe economic contractions, and worsening poverty and unemployment levels. Sudan’s finance minister reported in November 2023 that the war had resulted in economic losses exceeding US$26 billion – or more than half the…

Jul

25

2025

By EVELYN NAMAKULA MAYANJA

Congo and critical minerals: What are the costs of America’s peace?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN March 2025, President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) offered the country’s critical mineral reserves to the United States and Europe in exchange for security and stability. At the time, the March 23 (M23) militia insurgency was unleashing violence: killing civilians, committing sexual violence, displacing communities and looting mineral resources. Since 1996, eastern Congo has been engulfed in wars and armed conflicts driven by regional powers and more than 120 armed groups. The U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Rwanda and the DRC raises critical questions: Is this a genuine path to sustainable peace, or a continuation of…

Jul

23

2025

By IVOR CHIPKIN

South Africa’s police serve the ANC insiders, not the people: here’s how it happened

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AFTER South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, there was significant optimism about police reform in the country. Impressive steps were taken to bring the South African Police Service under civilian control and to create a service responsive to calls for assistance from the public. During the apartheid period, South Africa’s police worked to preserve the political order and pursue political opponents. It did not focus on dealing with crime. This is why the achievements of the 1990s are so important. For the first time, black South Africans could call upon officers to respond to personal emergencies. This period also…

Jul

22

2025

By MOSEBUDI MANGENA

How cultural arts advanced Black contemporary consciousness in the fight against settler-colonialism in South Africa

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN one of her offerings, the irrepressible Brenda Fassie says something to the effect that “umtu soze umconfirme”. Indeed, but that does not apply to Ntate Pheto. He is a consummate patriot who gave his all to the liberation of this country for all his life. Ever reliable and committed. His love for his country and its people is unconditional. Askies Brenda, we can confirm Ntate Molefe Pheto as our icon. Colonialism, whether in its classical form or of the settler variety, is like a python that always seeks to squeeze life out of its victims and swallow them whole.…

Jul

19

2025

By JONNY STEINBERG

Nelson Mandela was a hard man who played a hard game. What if he was in Ramaphosa’s shoes?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN 2023, South African author Jonny Steinberg published a book on former South African president Nelson Mandela and his tumultuous marriage to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. To mark the 107th anniversary of Mandela’s birth, Steinberg wrote the following as an introduction to our newsletter of 18 July 2025. As Nelson Mandela’s birthday approaches, I find that without any conscious bidding, my mind has embarked on a thought experiment: If Mandela were in Cyril Ramaphosa’s shoes now, if he were president of South Africa facing a truly shocking crisis in the criminal justice system, what would he do? It’s a silly experiment, I…