The problem with the Hollywood Mandelas
Hollywood films about Nelson Mandela separates him from the movement that produced him. The fact is, movements made Mandelas, not the other way around.
Search Result(s) for: “apartheid”
Cape Town’s make-believe politics
Cape Town remains one of the most racially and economically segregated cities in South Africa, and there aren’t many signs of things getting better.
Caught offside
Some African football fans have been hate-watching Bafana Bafana at the World Cup because of South Africa’s anti-migrant politics. The team’s apolitical stance has left them without a defense.
Not in My Name
What's it like seeing your work on display, only to realize it's been taken over and remade by someone else to give a totally different meaning.
The Music of Alex van Heerden
Van Heerden was a fixture in Cape Town's jazz and alternative music scenes. His music is now available for purchase online.
The virtual reality of Walter Sisulu
While Sisulu's political career is less celebrated than Nelson Mandela, it was as remarkable.
The party question
Marcel Paret’s book, "Fragmented Militancy: Precarious Resistance in South Africa after Racial Inclusion," tries to make sense of politics in South African urban informal settlements.
The gossip bros
The age of the podcasters as thought leaders — think #PodcastandChill and The Hustlers Corner — is upon us.
Understanding South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel
South Africa is asking the International Court of Justice to declare that in its war against Gaza, Israel has breached its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
The dangers of white totalitarianism
Why is the US ultra-right turning to Rhodesia as their model for a white supremacist state?
Amazon in Cape Town’s murky waters
The predatory tech giant is at the center of a heritage site land grab, pitting indigenous and environmental activists against city authorities.
Decolonizing the South African climate movement
In South Africa, white climate groups are detached from broader struggles for economic justice and equality.
Nelson Mandela and the revolutionaries
The ANC and Nelson Mandela’s turn to violent anticolonial struggle in the early 1960s, is the subject of a new book by historian of South Africa, Paul Landau.
Mining, murder, and the machinery of exploitation
The massacre of artisanal miners in Stilfontein exposes the South African state’s violent allegiance to corporate interests and a long legacy of extraction and dispossession.
Underground politics under Senghor
In the 1970s, young left-wing activists fought clandestinely for Senegal’s democratization under Senghor’s brutal regime.
South Africa’s crisis of representation
South Africa has had formal democracy for 30 years, but more of its citizens are tuned out of the democratic process.
Why Thabo Bester’s grift worked
South African con-artists Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana are not good people. They’re also an outcome of a system that predisposes individuals to avarice, selfishness and deceit.
The media of the useable past
Revisiting the papers of left, anti-colonial revolt from the continent can remind us of messy, rich alternatives.
Will the populist wave crash over South Africa?
With the globe-spanning rise of right-wing populism, there may be good reason to fear for South Africa’s fledgling democracy.