The countdown to the ANC's conference at Polokwane is well underway and it appears that the meeting will be the most momentous in South Africa since the CODESA meetings to negotiate the transition from Apartheid to democratic rule. The two key players in the political drama that is unfolding are Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki. […]
Two reviews recently appeared of Mark Gevisser's mammoth new biography, Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred. Both make clear that Gevisser has produced an essential book that not only provides the deepest understanding of its subject to date, but that also serves to place Mbeki in the context of the country's history and that history within […]
As COSATU and the SACP seem on the verge of seeing their plans achieve fruition through the rise to ANC party presidency of Jacob Zuma, which many are beginning to see as inevitable, it might be worth asking a few questions, as Muzibuko Jara does in the Mail & Guardian: This is an opportune time […]
Is the process for choosing the ANC leadership fatally flawed? There are those who believe that the nominating procedure needs to undergo a significant change, bringing the process closer to that in the United States. Malusi Gigaba, South Africa's Deputy Home Affairs Minister and a member of the NEC argues that such a change is unnecessary […]
It really does appear that Jacob Zuma not only leads the pack in the ANC succession battle, but he also appears to be consolidating his hold on what he clearly believes to be the pending nomination. Part of the perceived change in momentum is the result of the ANC Women's League's National Executive Committee to […]
Respected Africa expert Martin Meredith has been on quite a roll lately. His book The Fate of Africa: A History of 50 Years of Independence represents one of the most highly regarded and extensive treatments of the continent and its difficult recent past. He recently reissued his indictment of Robert Mugabe, Our Votes, Our Guns: Robert […]
The ANC has often faced accusations that it has meddled — or worse — in the country's media, particularly the state-owned but putatively independent South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). In turn the SABC has stood accused of acquiescing to the ANC, indeed of becoming a mouthpiece for the ruling party. Today's news that the SABC […]
I found the following chart (From the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project via Sunday's New York Times Magazine, and which accompanied this James Traub story) telling, though frankly I’m uncertain what it tells: The five countries with the most favorable views of American ideas about democracy are Subsaharan African nations. None of the countries with […]
It appears that Jacob Zuma now leads the race for the ANC leadership, the fruits of which almost assuredly will be the country's presidency after the country's 2009 elections. At least this is the scuttlebut from Western Cape ANC secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha (via the Cape Argus), the Mail & Guardian (via SAPA), and the BBC. […]
I’d like to apologize for the paucity of posting. The Foreign Policy Association has been upgrading its blog server and there have been some glitches, but it looks like we’re back up and running. Thanks for your patience. The Council on Foreign Relations has a feature on how some think South Africa is underachieving in […]
Does this news come as a shock to any observer of the situation in Zimbabwe?: Just four months before scheduled elections, and with a breakthrough in talks brokered by President Thabo Mbeki in sight, Zimbabweans are watching in dismay as the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) disintegrates and Zanu-PF tweaks electoral regulations in its […]
At the Mail & Guardian ANC stalwart Pallo Jordan has a discursive, somewhat diffuse cri de couer in which he honors the party's past, defends the party's history of honoring the collective, and gives respect to some of the party's lions, such as Oliver Tambo and Albert Luthuli. In this time of party division and […]
It's always proven remarkably easy for the West to make promises to Africa. It has been in the area of following through on those promises where the outside world has so often fallen short. Thabo Mbeki has identified the crises in Sudan as an area in which promises have been made, and at least to […]
A number of stories caught my attention this weekend. Here are a few of them, with brief commentary as appropriate: The Makana Football Association, which operated surreptitiously on Robben Island among the political prisoners has achieved recognition from FIFA, the sport's governing body. A feature film, More Than Just a Game, starring Tsotsi's Presley Chweneyagae, […]
Jacob Zuma twists in the wind, wondering whether the National Prosecuting Authority is going to reinstate corruption charges against him before the ANC's December conference. If the NPA does recharge the embattled but still tremendously popular (in some circles, at least) Zuma, it will almost assuredly scuttle any hopes that he would be able to […]