THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Feb

16

2021

What African countries can expect from Biden: and what they should ask for

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

PRESIDENT Joe Biden delivered his first public statement on US foreign policy last week. Africa was not mentioned. Does this suggest the continent will be absent from the new administration’s considerations? JOHN J STREMLAU, Honorary Professor of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand I think not. Firstly, the day after his speech, the new president addressed the 34th Summit of the African Union (AU), which was meeting virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He reiterated his commitments to active diplomacy and multilateralism in concert with the AU. All US efforts would be consistent with America’s core democratic values, which are…

Jul

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia’s Islamist ‘chameleon’ contests what he calls a coup

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ANGUS McDOWALL and TAREK AMARA TUNISIA’S Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi has quickly emerged as the main opponent of President Kais Saied's efforts to reshape the country's politics, branding his dismissal of the government as a coup. On Monday morning, hours after Saied -- a political independent -- shut down parliament and deployed soldiers around it Ghannouchi waited outside, demanding to be let in. "I am 80 years old and throughout my life I have fought against volatility," he said. Ghannouchi, head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party which has played a role in successive coalitions, has come to personify Tunisian…

Jul

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Violence in South Africa: an uprising of elites, not of the people

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FROM time to time, South Africa is rudely reminded that its past continues to make its present and future difficult. It does not always recognise this reality when it sees it. STEVEN FRIEDMAN, Professor of Political Studies, University of Johannesburg The latest – and most shocking – reminder is the violence which followed the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma. The mayhem devastated KwaZulu-Natal, the home of Zuma and his faction of the governing African National Congress (ANC), and damaged Gauteng, the economic heartland which also houses hostels in which working migrants from KwaZulu-Natal live. The violence was seen as…

Jul

24

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s style of democracy has recently shown cracks. Here’s how to fix it

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE sight of soldiers in Ghana’s parliament on January 7, 2021 was a first for the country. What brought the institution to this point – now the subject of an inquiry – was a scuffle between parliamentarians from the governing party and the opposition, over the election of a Speaker and two deputies. In the end, an opposition candidate was – for the first time – elected as Speaker. KADERI NOAGAH BUKARI, Research Fellow, Department of Peace Studies, University of Cape Coast I have studied several conflict and resolution situations in Ghana. And in my view, what happened in parliament…

Jul

22

2021

By The African Mirror

The spirit, life and art of Tsepo Tshola, pastor of South African pop

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

I grieve to start this way. No sooner had I struggled to find some means to say my goodbyes to Mabi Thobejane and Steve Kekana, than South African music lost singer and composer Tsepo Tshola. DAVID COPLAN, Professor Emeritus, Social Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand These three masters of the nation’s musical soul were famous, but not celebrities. Because they never acted like that. Complex personalities and talents, they all possessed that son-of-the-soil joviality that made them ever accessible and “simple” in the reverent way South Africans use that adjective. I remember, in 1978, during one of my many research…

Jul

21

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Our tolerance of illegality, lawlessness and glamourisation of the crooked has come back to bite us’

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MOSIBUDI MANGENA WHILE those of us who are in the Defend our Democracy Campaign are firm on the primacy of the Constitution and the importance of all of us being equal before the law, it is becoming clearer that the undermining of these principles has been allowed to go on for too long without challenge. Our tolerance of illegality, lawlessness and glamourisation of the crooked over many years has come back to bite us. For many years, people in the taxi industry have been doing all sorts of illegal things, from small things, such as traffic infringements right up to…

Feb

22

2021

By The African Mirror

Claims against judiciary, without evidence, are disturbing

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA YESTERDAY, as Commander-In-Chief of our country’s armed forces, I officiated at the annual celebration of Armed Forces Day in the Castle in Cape Town. This important event is held each year on the anniversary of the sinking of the SS Mendi in 1917, in which more than 600 black South African soldiers and 30 crew lost their lives. On Armed Forces Day, we remember the men and women who have lost their lives in the service of our nation. We are also reminded on this day of the responsibility that the defence force has to protect our democracy.…

Jul

20

2021

By The African Mirror

How Frelimo betrayed Samora Machel’s dream of a free Mozambique

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FORTY-SIX years ago, Samora Machel, the leader of Mozambique’s liberation movement and the country’s first president, stood before a euphoric crowd at Machava Stadium and declared the complete and total independence of Mozambique. He inspired the people of Mozambique to imagine and build a new nation in which development, social justice, and solidarity with – and care for – the oppressed took centre stage. DAVID MATSINHE, Losophone Research Specialist/Adjunct Professor in African Studies, Carleton University Four decades later, Machel’s declarations ring hollow. His words and the new dawn they heralded have since disintegrated. I’m a Mozambican political sociologist. I have…

Jul

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Farewell to our mayor, chairperson, soldier, and commander who died in the call of duty

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

DAVID MAKHURA WE bid a reluctant and sad farewell to our mayor and comrade, Geoffrey Moloantoa Makhubo. We are grief-stricken and shaken to the core by the untimely passing of our mayor and our comrade. Our grief and tears must not be mistaken for fear of death or fear of the enemy. One thing common between revolutionaries and people of faith is that we are taught not to fear death. What we fear most is to live a petty life with no purpose, without impact and without a bigger cause that seeks to empower and liberate others. The question is…

Feb

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Violence is endemic in eastern Congo: what drives it

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ON February 23, the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Luca Attanasio, his bodyguard Vittorio Iacovacci and their driver Mustapha Milambo were killed in eastern Congo. They were part of a convoy that travelled from the World Food Programme’s compound in Goma, eastern Congo. PEER SCHOUTEN, Postdoctoral fellow, Danish Institute for International Studies The convoy took a road that forms the eastern border of the Virunga Park – a national park famous for its wild mountain gorillas. The cars were stopped at gunpoint at a place called 3 Antennas near Kibumba, and Milambo was shot; the other…