Pan-Africanism was Peter Abrahams’ Country
Peter Abrahams lived pan-Africanism (in South Africa, Britain and Jamaica) and remained brave enough to challenge those within it.
South Africa
Crime in South Africa
Two books tell complex and illuminating stories of how crime and corruption play out at the street level in the country's cities.
“I will become a straight girl”
Almost four out of five men in South Africa surveyed had raped their first victim before the age of twenty.
The grapes of wrath
“For me personally, it seems as if modern day slavery is practiced on many farms, and
Inheritances of our fathers
History reminds us that the past is not something that can or should be left behind. Rather, we are morally obliged to keep reflecting on them.
Memory of the Present
Dominant culture in South Africa benignly recall slavery as part of a vaguely picturesque past that left us with beautiful colonial houses, award-winning wines and tourism.
Shutdown — on the death of compromise in South Africa
We are in a new phase, one that is characterised by a rejection of compromise as a tactic for managing democratic intercourse.
Transnational eugenics
Few works sufficiently recognize the truly transnational character of the eugenics movement, and how colonial Africa served as the launching pad for it.
Policing black women’s hair
The policing of black hair often begins at a very young age, in the most subtle and intimate spaces, long before you get to school.
The turn to book burning in South Africa
A political culture, often facilitated by social media, has emerged that many people experience as authoritarian and bullying.
Beyond the usual South African reporting on “Africa”
Journalism on and about the continent tends to veer between the extremes of neglect or stereotype on the one end, and touristic exoticism on the other.
Story of a South African Farm School
The Elsenburg Agricultural College lies 50 km east of Cape Town, tucked among the quiet valleys
The Edge of Wrong
The Edge of Wrong Music Festival in Cape Town adds value, especially in places where radio airtime has until very recently been monopolized by the American pop genre.
The Uber driver and Muhammad Ali
When your Uber driver has never heard of Muhammad Ali you realize you're not his friend and you and he occupy different worlds.
In Africa, there should be djembe drums
For the last three months, we have been working on the sound design of my first
Suburban Bliss
Is the new benchmark in South African cinema “Happiness Is A Four Letter Word"?
What is happening at the Durban International Film Festival?
As with our last movie night post, we need to start with the bad news. 1.
Julius Malema’s Tailored Revolution
The color red, berets, and plain workers’ clothing have all become potent aesthetic symbols for South Africa's EFF.
Postapartheid South Africa’s negative moment
The political theorist Achille Mbembe, from the University of the Witswatersrand in Johannesburg, describes South Africa
Shadow and Axed
The latest installment of our film news series, #MovieNight.