Dear Reader,
The ceasefire in South Sudan remains fragile with multiple reports that fighting is continuing in certain areas. Most recently, rebel forces loyal to former Vice-President Riek Machar claimed that government troops under President Salva Kiir had recaptured the town of Leer in Unity State and was receiving help from the Ugandan army and former members of the Congolese rebels M23. A second round of peace talks are due to start on 7 February where it will be essential that leaders commit to justice and to holding those responsible for the violence accountable. Impunity in the past arguably contributed to the current situation and South Sudan now has the opportunity to turn a new page in its history.
The proposed merger between South Africa's main opposition party and Mamphela Ramphele has fallen through just days after it was announced. Ramphele - a former anti-apartheid activist, medical doctor, businesswoman and academic - had been set to stand as the Democratic Alliance's (DA) presidential candidate in the upcoming April elections, but reneged on the deal. This fiasco is the latest in a series of political missteps by Ramphele since she entered politics last year; even if the merger had gone through, it would have done little to change South Africa's political landscape.
This week, Think Africa Press has been taking a look at narratives about Africa in two fun, but very different, ways. Firstly, Martha Tveit examined how Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina chose to come out, arguing that his choice of a six-part video, filmed and edited by him and his own crew, helped create a space for African discourse led by Africans. Secondly, William Clarke poked fun at the simplistic tropes often used by the international media when talking about Africa by taking them and instead using them to talk about the UK.
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North: Review - Soutak, Aziza Brahim
West: Nurses not Curses: Witchcraft Beliefs and Mental Health in Sierra Leone
Central: Rebels Flee CAR Capital
East: Justice Cannot Wait in South Sudan
South: South Africa: Will the ANC Lose Any Sleep over Ramphele's Merger with the DA?
Below are a few highlights from the past week:
Blowing Smoke in Africa: Big Tobacco and Child Smokers
West Africa's Barbershop 'Pride'
Falling Leaves: Kenya's Farmers Falter as Tea Prices Drop
If the UK were an African Country: Was Great Britain a Mistake?
Binyavanga Wainaina Didn't Just Come Out. He Came Out In Style
All the best,
The Team at Think Africa Press
Editor-in-Chief
James Schneider is the Editor-in-Chief of Think Africa Press. He read Theology at the University of Oxford and has a particular interest in the study of political economy, patterns of investment, and perspectives from the Global South. He is also a frequent commentator on African affairs for Monocle24 radio. Email: editor@thinkafricapress.com. Follow him on twitter @schneiderhome.
