THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Apr

29

2023

Ruth Weiss, journalist who fought apartheid, finally honoured in South Africa

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

A prophet has no honour in their homeland, goes the biblical adage. But of the many places that journalist, author and activist Ruth Weiss has lived – Germany (where she was born), South Africa, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Britain, Zambia and Denmark – which is her home? On 28 April, South Africa’s president will bestow an Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo on Weiss “for her contribution to the liberation struggle” and shining “the light on injustices in South Africa”. Author MELANIE BOEHI, Chercheuse postdoctorale, Université de Lausanne, Section d'histoire, University of the Witwatersrand This award – a national…

Apr

28

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africans are fed up with their prospects, and their democracy, according to latest social attitudes survey

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE mood among South Africans has soured. The latest findings from the representative survey that’s done every year by the country’s Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) show some disturbing new trends. The most marked are: a decline in levels of life satisfaction as a whole a downturn in people’s views about what lies ahead in their lives a growing sense of despondency, and a declining satisfaction with democracy. Authors JOLEEN STEYN KOTZE, Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State BENJAMIN ROBERTS,…

Apr

27

2023

By The African Mirror

Omar al-Bashir brutalised Sudan – how his 30-year legacy is playing out today

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SINCE independence in 1956 the Sudanese have lived through 35 coups, attempted coups and coup plots – more than any other African country. When the 2019 uprising against long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir created a military-civilian transitional government, the Sudanese hoped that their country would transition to democratic rule. But their hopes were dashed in October 2021 when Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a coup against his civilian counterparts in the transitional government. Author WILLOW BERRIDGE, Lecturer in History, Newcastle University In the latest round of conflict that began on 15 April 2023, civil war looms as the security actors who benefited…

Apr

26

2023

By The African Mirror

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…