exiled - The African Mirror

Jul

2023

South Africa’s once exiled anti-apartheid veteran Essop Pahad dies at 84

ESSOP Pahad, a veteran of South Africa's struggle against white minority rule who spent decades in exile abroad, died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 84 after battling cancer, his family said. Pahad was among many activists forced to leave the country by the apartheid regime. Authorities arrested him for organising an illegal strike in 1962 and he was officially banned from South Africa for five years in 1964. He became the minister in the presidency under Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as the country's second post-apartheid leader following the 1994 African National Congress (ANC) election victory…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Regina Twala was a towering intellectual and activist in Eswatini – but she was erased from history

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BORN in South Africa and exiled to neighbouring Eswatini, Regina Twala was one of southern Africa’s most important intellectuals: a pioneering writer, academic, political activist and feminist. Why, then, has she been all but forgotten? That’s the question a new book sets out to answer. In the process Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala restores Twala to her rightful place in history. We spoke with the book’s author, historian Joel Cabrita. Author JOEL CABRITA, Associate Professor of History, Director of the Center for African Studies, Stanford University Who is Regina Twala and why is she important? Regina Gelana…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Gbagbo back home after decade of exile

NEWS

ANGE ABOA and LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY IVORY Coast's former president Laurent Gbagbo, ousted during a civil war in 2011 and acquitted of war crimes in The Hague, is back home from a decade in exile as thousands took to the streets to welcome him. A small number of loyalists allowed into the airport in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan cheered and screamed as the commercial flight from Brussels landed. Gbagbo, wearing a blue shirt and white face mask, got into a black SUV for the ride to his party's headquarters. Along the route, overjoyed supporters cheered and ran alongside his convoy…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Forced into exile once more

NEWS

ON January 13, Paul woke up to the sound of gunfire as rebels reached Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). He knew it would not be long before they got to his neighbourhood. "It was happening again," said Paul, 28, who realized he would be forced to flee CAR for the second time. Paul has now joined thousands of other refugees in Zongo, a town across the river from Bangui in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Insecurity and violence erupted in CAR after last December's presidential and parliamentary elections, forcing close to 250,000 people to flee.…