A few documentaries have caught my eye. A couple I have seen, one I just received a copy of, and a couple I am looking forward to seeing as soon as possible: SnagFilms has “Raindrops Over Rwanda” streaming for free, and if enough people watch it they will donate $50,000 to the Kigali Memorial Centre in […]
The Mail & Guardian has a comprehensive online guide to this year’s labour strikes. It is a great one-stop-shopping site to get up to speed on events that have shaken South African society and politics.
Are you reading the African Arguments network of blogs? You should be. African Arguments is a project of the Royal African Society in London, and the “intention of the site is to provide a forum for the serious analysis and discussion of contemporary African affairs with an emphasis on political life, and its impact on […]
Cyril Ramaphosa is the potential game changer in South African politics. The master negotiator for the ANC during the CODESA process that ultimately led to 1994’s elections and the end of apartheid chose the path of business rather than politics after the mid-1990s. Yet there have long been whispers, hints, and yearnings for Ramaphosa to […]
At The New York Times Magazine, Nate Silver decided to try to apply his analytical chops to the question of “where to get the world’s best service.” He basically links standard tipping rates with survey responses about the customer service people received in 24 countries. The takeaway: All of this brings us to the Tipping […]
A joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that the Ethiopian government is using billions of dollars of development aid as a tool for political oppression. Posing as tourists the team of journalists travelled to the southern region of Ethiopia.There they found villages where whole communities are […]
In Somalia famine spreads and its death toll rises. It is increasingly clear that while the famine’s proximate cause may be drought, in reality like so many famines this one is predominantly a political creation that emanates from al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated organization that is actively preventing food aid and other materiel to reach […]
The African National Congress (ANC) and the ANC Youth League have clashed over the issue of, of all things, politics in Botswana. Basically, the Youth League has called for political change in Botswana, supporting the the Botswana National Front, (BNF) which the Youth League calls its “ally,” instead of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). […]
Lots of stories have been cavorting around my head, with commentary as I see fit: The disaster in the Horn of Africa represents what the Mail & Guardian calls “a crisis in slow motion.” The perfect storm of famine and the political chaos in Somalia has led to a humanitarian nightmare. The west (ie the […]
The Gautrain now has round-trip between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The Joburg to OR Tambo half of the Gautrain route was completed in time for last year’s World Cup and today patrons stepped on board for the full trip between Gauteng’s two vital cities. The key, as I see it, is that the Gautrain really is […]
Ouch. It’s hard to imagine South Africa’s rugby salons making any sort of major structural changes so close to a World Cup, but if I were Peter de Villiers (someone I have long defended against his many detractors) I might be keeping my resume up to date.
So, that on-again, off-again South African Olympic bid? It looks like it might be on again.
I have so many Africa-related stories in tabs on my laptop that my whole system is slowing down. You know what that means: Here are a bunch of stories that have caught my eye, with commentary, much drawn from my recent trip to South Africa, as apt. This is the South Africa edition (a more […]
In April of this year, Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika delivered his state of the nation address, entitled “A Promise Delivered.” From what is currently happening in the country (which some observers liken to the ongoing uprising in the Arab world), nothing even remotely resembles the fulfillment of this speech. As far as I can […]
Tonight PBS’ acclaimed “Point of View” documentary series is showing Mugabe and the White African. Here is a description: “Mugabe and the White African, much of which was filmed clandestinely, tells an alarming story from one of the world’s most troubled nations. In Zimbabwe, de facto dictator Robert Mugabe has unleashed a “land reform” program […]