September 04, 2022
South Africa: Devastating Hospital Fire Was an Act of Arson - Police Forensic Report
The fire led to the closure of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital for many months and caused huge disruption to the provision of healthcare services in Gauteng.… Read more »
September 01, 2022
South Africa: Tavern Victims' Parents Told Children 'Crushed and Suffocated', Denied Access to Post-Mortem Results
Offering excuses ranging from 'I don't know' to suggesting that parents should apply for post-mortem results through the Promotion of Access to Information Act, to invoking… Read more »
South Africa: Activists Celebrate Big Win for Wild Coast Against Mantashe and Shell
The Makhanda High Court has set aside a decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to grant an exploration right to Shell to conduct seismic surveys off the Wild… Read more »
August 30, 2022
South Africa: Ramaphosa Delays Answering Forex Farm Theft Questions in Unfinished Parliamentary Session
Having said he was ready to account -- just not quite yet in Parliament -- for the Phala Phala farm forex theft, President Cyril Ramaphosa thought he was done. However, the… Read more »
August 25, 2022
Nigeria: Nigeria's Debt Crisis Negatively Impacting Counterinsurgency Efforts Against Boko Haram
The revenue crunch will make it difficult to counter the surge in violence from extremist groups. Read more »
August 24, 2022
South Africa: Civil Society Shows Its Support for Trade Unions' Cost of Living Protests
Activists say their support for the shutdown is understandable as many of the demands being put forward by the unions relate to fundamental human rights in the Constitution's Bill… Read more »
South Africa: Jobs, Crime and Cost of Food, Transport and Electricity Top Marchers' Litany of Woe
National shutdown activities on Wednesday saw about 300 workers affiliated with the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) march through Cape Town, calling for a… Read more »
South Africa: Country Largely Ignores Calls for Mass Stayaway - But Concerns 'Fair and Factual', Admits Govt
Calls by South Africa's two largest trade union federations for workers to shut down the economy on Wednesday seemed to go largely unheeded. Marches in major cities to protest… Read more »
August 23, 2022
Southern Africa: Frantic Scramble As Deadline Looms for 178,000 Zimbabwean Exemption Permit Holders
Fewer than 4% (6,000 out of 178,000) of Zimbabwean Exemption Permit holders have made representations to the Department of Home Affairs to say why their documents should not be… Read more »
Angola: MPLA Set for Victory in Close Poll That Many Believe Will Not Be Free and Fair
On the eve of Angola's election, analysts say that if the vote were free and fair, the ruling MPLA would almost certainly lose to the combined opposition -- but that's not going to… Read more »
Ethiopia: With All Eyes On Ukraine, Where Is the World and Africa On the Tigray Tragedy?
Why is the world turning its eyes from the plight of Africans, including the merciless killings in Tigray? One would have expected the African Union and other regional bodies to do… Read more »
South Africa: National Stayaway Has Very Little Going for It
A funny thing about oxymorons is that the word 'oxymoron' is itself an oxymoron. It is derived from the Greek words 'oxys', which means sharp, and 'moronos', which means dull.… Read more »
August 22, 2022
Southern Africa: Bushiri Extradition Witnesses May Give Evidence in South Africa, Malawian Court Rules
It would be 'inconvenient, taxing, very costly, unreasonable or inexpedient' to require witnesses in the case against 'Prophet' Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary to travel to… Read more »
South Africa: What Is National Trade Union Shutdown All About?
Trade union federations Cosatu and Saftu have called on all non-essential workers to strike for the day on Wednesday, 24 August. Protest action is planned for most of the… Read more »
September 06, 2021
South Africa: Mistrust and Fear Are the Major Drivers of Covid Vaccine Hesitancy, Says Market Research Firm
With one in three people indicating that they are unwilling to get vaccinated against Covid-19, it has emerged that mistrust in government and a fear of side effects are among the… Read more »
June 25, 2019
South Africa: Obscure Company Targets Coal Mining Project On Kruger Park Doorstep
A little-known company called Manzolwandle Investments wants to start coal mining operations on the doorstep of the Kruger Park's southern border, near Komatipoort. It has already… Read more »
February 06, 2019
Morocco: Morocco - Marching to a Different Beat
Casablanca is just a four-hour flight from Lagos. But it's a world away. Read more »
May 03, 2018
South Africa: Celebrating the Life of Ballet Star Johaar Mosaval At 90
Johaar Mosaval was the first black South African to become a senior principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, the highest rank in the profession at one of the world's most prestigious… Read more »
January 22, 2016
Congo-Kinshasa: The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the Ghosts of History and the Policing of Remembrance
January 17 marked the 55th anniversary of the US- and Belgian-orchestrated assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected prime minister of the Democratic… Read more »
May 21, 2014
South Africa: Gone but Not Forgotten - a Love Letter to Brenda
Brenda Fassie still has us in her thrall but we will never know her. Ten years after her untimely death in 2004, the Queen of African Pop, widely considered the most controversial… Read more »
August 15, 2012
Africa: Standing By to Standby - the African Peacekeeping Force With More Problems Than Solutions
The African Standby Force is a beautiful concept. The crack troops were meant to be the silver bullet for Africa's security problems, a rapid-response team able to get in and stop… Read more »