June 05
South Africa: South African Voters Shifted Support in 2024 but That's Nothing New
To the casual observer, the outcome of South Africa's 2024 national and provincial elections, which herald a new era of national coalition governance, may appear to represent new… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Election Results Present 3 Options for Govt
South Africans do not have a deep culture of coalitions. There have been a few coalitions at provincial and municipal levels but most of these were quite unstable. Read more »
June 04
South Africa: Why Musicians Die in Poverty - South African Study Reveals Battle to Make Ends Meet
Benefits and appeals were recently launched to support the medical costs of veteran South African guitarist Madala Kunene. It's not the first time such initiatives have been… Read more »
June 03
South Africa: New Drakensberg Nature Reserve Will Protect Ancient Rock Art, Wildlife, Livelihoods, Grasslands and Water
South Africa's Drakensberg mountains have a new 6,500 hectare nature reserve. The new Northern Drakensberg Nature Reserve is working with communities and will preserve ancient rock… Read more »
South Africa: Coalition Govt Won't Fix Past Failures
To help save the planet, governments across the globe are choosing to adopt sustainable policies and encourage (or coerce) the private sector to do likewise. Given the climate… Read more »
June 01
South Africa: Uncertain Times for South Africa's Foreign Policy As Country Heads for Coalition Government
After South Africa's 29 May election, the African National Congress has lost the electoral majority it held for 30 years, but remains the party with the highest number of seats in… Read more »
May 31
South Africa: Race Still Divides South Africa - Study Shows Little Transformation in New Suburbs in Country's Economic Hub
As South Africa reflects on 30 years of democracy, it's important to ask whether its cities have changed for the better when it comes to racial mixing. Read more »
South Africa: ANC Set to Lose Majority for First Time Since Mandela - the Era of Government By a Single Party Is At an End
South Africa's election on May 29 was an endurance test for the public. Queues snaked around polling stations, with voters standing in line for up to six or seven hours. Some only… Read more »
May 30
South Africa: 'Cape of Storms' - Climate Researchers Explain Cape Town's Recent Extreme Weather
A severe storm hit South Africa's Western Cape province between 6 and 9 April 2024, with extreme winds gusting at up to 135km/h. The storm left a trail of destruction across Cape… Read more »
May 29
Africa: Power Cuts Have Hit South Africa's Labour Market Hard - the Biggest Toll Has Been On Jobs - New Research
Access to electricity - measured by the share of individuals who use electricity as their main energy source - has significantly improved in lower-income countries in recent… Read more »
May 28
South Africa: TikTok Activism - How Queer Zimbabweans Use Social Media to Show Love and Fight Hate
In Zimbabwe, there is a long held public view that queerness is "unAfrican" and imported to Africa from the west. Even though numerous studies have proven this not to be true,… Read more »
May 27
South Africa: South Africans Go to the Polls to Choose a New Government - What's Different This Time
South Africa's seventh general election since democracy in 1994, set for 29 May 2024, takes place under circumstances different from any other election in the history of the… Read more »
South Africa: Mayibuye! the 100-Year-Old Slogan That's Stirred Up Divisions in South Africa's Elections
Political parties the world over use slogans, icons, colours, names and flags to establish their political and historical credentials. What happens when two political parties lay… Read more »
May 23
South Africa: Calls for Divestment From Apartheid South Africa Gave Today's Pro-Palestinian Student Activists a Blueprint to Follow
In recent weeks, college campuses across the U.S. have been roiled by pro-Palestinian protests, with the police called in to arrest demonstrators and students threatened with… Read more »
May 27
South Africa: Hate Speech and Disinformation in South Africa's Elections - Big Tech Make It Tough to Monitor Social Media
There's a growing global movement to ensure that researchers can get access to the huge quantity of data assembled and exploited by digital operators. Read more »
May 24
South Africa: What Is a Secular State? How South Africa Has Tried to Separate Religion and Politics
The shifting relationship between state and religion has historically been a contested space, and the focus of much scholarship. It is important for observers to understand this… Read more »
May 26
South Africa: Clothed Pig Carcasses Are Revealing the Secrets of Mummification - South African Study Provides Insights for Forensic Scientists
It was the kind of task any competent seamstress has completed hundreds of times before: altering denim jeans and jerseys. But there was something different about this piece of… Read more »
May 23
South Africa: Why the Upcoming South African Election Is a Massive Milestone for the Ruling ANC
South African's governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), is in trouble. After 30 years in charge, it is scrambling for support ahead of the upcoming national… Read more »
May 24
South Africa: Eugen Sandow Was the Posterboy of Physical Culture - His 1904 Visit to South Africa Reinforced Racist Ideas
Eugen Sandow was an internationally famous strongman. The German-born British showman (1867-1925) toured the world challenging other strongmen and staging displays of strength. He… Read more »
May 23
South Africa: Gold Mine Pollution Is Poisoning Soweto's Water and Soil - Study
For 140 years, gold mines in Johannesburg, South Africa have been leaking wastewater contaminated with heavy metals. The acid mine drainage from Johannesburg's estimated 278… Read more »
May 21
South Africa: Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students Need More Support From Their Universities - South Africa Study
Adjusting to university life tends to be tough no matter who you are. But what happens when deafness makes the usual demands even more difficult? Deaf students or those who are… Read more »
South Africa: Drained but Proud - How It Felt to Organise South Africa's First Democratic Election in Just 4 Months
South Africa's historic 27 April 1994 national election marked the end of more than three centuries of colonial and apartheid rule. Read more »
May 20
South Africa: Small Businesses Can Help South Africa Fight Unemployment If They Get Proper Support - Study
South Africa has an alarming unemployment rate of approximately 32.1%. Solutions have been elusive. The unemployment rate has been consistently high for decades. Read more »
May 18
South Africa: South African Communities Vs Shell - High Court Victories Show That Cultural Beliefs and Practices Count in Climate Cases
When the Shell petroleum company announced in 2021 that it wanted to explore for fossil fuels off South Africa's pristine Wild Coast, Indigenous communities in the area immediately… Read more »
May 15
South Africa: Leopard DNA Study in South Africa Traces Ancestry to Ice Age - and Will Guide Conservation
An ice age almost one million years ago led to a meeting between leopards from central and southern Africa that were searching for grassland. New research into the leopards'… Read more »