THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Apr

26

2023

South Africa votes in 2024: could a coalition between major parties ANC and EFF run the country?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa’s 2024 national and provincial elections are regarded as a realistic opportunity for coalition governments to be formed in some provinces and also at the national level. This would mark a dramatic change from the current situation in which coalition governments have only been formed at local level. Author DIRK KOTZE, Professor in Political Science, University of South Africa Electoral trends since 2016 underscore these expectations. The ANC lost its majorities in metropolitan councils in Gauteng and Nelson Mandela Bay. Its majorities in the national and provincial legislatures also declined. But support for opposition parties did not escalate at…

Apr

25

2023

By MOSIBUDI MANGENA

South African citizens must stand up

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ONE must join those who marvel at the intelligence and foxiness of one Thabo Bester who, with just a primary school education, has managed to have the whole country wrapped around his little finger. You have to wonder where he would have been if he used his considerable skills in a positive way. While some of his crimes are brutal and fatal, others, such as the businesses he ran from prison, including addressing conferences from “America” when he was in fact in a prison cell in Mangaung, are the very embodiment of sophistication and finesse. He even had very important…

Apr

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Beware of the second wave of the invasion of Africa

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

DR MATHEWS PHOSA IT is a privilege to be back in Maputo, a city which I regard as my second home. During the struggle for liberation, I spent many happy months here-amongst others as a lecturer, teaching students the creative language of Afrikaans. I am told it was put to good use in the cross-border interaction with South Africa on both an official and unofficial level. Both South Africa and Mozambique come from a scarred history of colonialization. Mozambique from the Portuguese and South Africa mostly from the British, but also from the Dutch and others. I mention this because…

Apr

20

2023

By The African Mirror

Europe outsourcing asylum to African countries is a terrible idea – there are alternatives

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FOR 40 years, western governments have entertained ideas of outsourcing asylum processing and refugee hosting to the global south. It is not a new idea. And neither are the controversies that have accompanied it. Denmark and the UK have been in the news over this issue recently. In January 2023, however, after fierce domestic criticism, the new Danish government announced it had paused its negotiations with Rwanda to bilaterally “transfer” all asylum seekers out of Denmark. Instead, it suggested building an EU alliance to do the same. This step appeared at odds with the criticism of the Danish plans from…

Apr

19

2023

By ALEX DE WAAL

Sudan conflict: Hemedti – the warlord who built a paramilitary force more powerful than the state

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

DOZENS have been killed in armed clashes in the Sudanese capital Khartoum following months of tension between the military and the powerful paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Behind the tensions is a disagreement over the integration of the paramilitary group into the armed forces – a key condition of a transition agreement that’s never been signed but has been adhered to by both sides since 2021. General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, better known as Hemedti, is the leader of the RSF. He is a key mover in the fast-escalating civil war, as he has been in other key moments in…

Apr

18

2023

By The African Mirror

East Africa’s peace mission in the DRC: why it’s in Burundi’s interest to help

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BURUNDI was the first country to offer troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2022 as part of East Africa’s peace drive after a wave of attacks from the rebel group known as Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23). Burundi shares a 243km border with the DRC. Most of it runs through the Rusizi/Ruzizi River to the north and Lake Tanganyika to the south. It has been described as one of the most porous borders in Africa’s Great Lakes region. This makes it particularly vulnerable to the spillover effects of conflict from one country into the other. Burundi currently…

Apr

15

2023

By The African Mirror

Henry Kissinger at 100: history will judge the former US secretary of state’s southern African interventions to be a failure

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

HENRY Kissinger, who sexed up the art of diplomacy in the eight years between 1969 and 1977, will turn 100 in May this year. Given his age and his long influence on global affairs, several “anticipatory obituaries” have been written. Some laud Kissinger’s role in the shaping of East-West relations while he was in office as US Secretary of State. And many in their commentary on the decades beyond continue to call him a “statesman”. Author PETER VALE, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship and Visiting Professor of International Relations, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil, University…

Apr

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Mass protests in Kenya have a long and rich history – but have been hijacked by the elites

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

KENYAN opposition leader Raila Odinga and his coalition party, Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya, recently called for mass protests across the country. Odinga and his team have questioned the legitimacy of President William Ruto’s win in the country’s August 2022 election, and taken issue with the rising cost of living. The Conversation Africa’s Kagure Gacheche spoke with Westen K Shilaho, a senior researcher on African politics, who explores the evolution of political protests in Kenya. Author WESTEN K SHILAHO, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for PanAfrican Thought and Conversation (IPATC), University of Johannesburg What does the law say about political protest? The…

Apr

04

2023

By The African Mirror

Rwanda: Paul Rusesabagina’s release and apology – a master stroke by Kagame

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RWANDA’S ministry of justice recently announced the pardon and release of Paul Rusesabagina from jail. Rusesabagina was involved in events portrayed in the 2004 Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda. In September 2021, Rusesabagina was sentenced to 25 years in jail over his ties to groups opposed to Rwandan president Paul Kagame. His release followed intense diplomatic talks between Washington and Kigali and was negotiated by Qatar. Author JONATHAN BELOFF, Postdoctoral Research Associate, King's College London While Rusesabagina’s release may be celebrated by his supporters in the west, it’s a bit more complicated within and for Rwanda. His pardon needs to be…

Apr

03

2023

By DOROTHY MABELEBELE

‘Big Brother SA, Africa needs you’

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

“WATER, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” This line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” comes to mind in this human rights month. A tidal wave of speeches about civil liberties and democracy were being made but they slip inexorably backwards and provided no succour to ordinary Africans. The sorry state of human rights in Africa was captured in a seminar held in Johannesburg recently. It was preceded by an address on the issue by South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa at a Human Rights Day event, a U.S. State Department report citing human rights…