It takes a team to raise an athlete
Race, class and the story of struggle and sacrifice in the making of South Africa’s next generation of track and field athletes.
Search Result(s) for: “apartheid”
The golden light of Pops Mohamed
From Actonville to global stages, Pops Mohamed blended tradition, futurism, and faith — leaving behind a musical archive as luminous as the spirit he carried.
The repression of Palestine solidarity in Kenya
Kenya is one of Israel’s closest allies in Africa. But the Ruto-led government isn’t alone in silencing pro-Palestinian speech.
Reading List: Faraaz Mahomed
How do the struggles of one generation echo, decades later, in another’s?
The heart of the South African film industry
A debut feature set on the Cape Flats turns a familiar crime premise into a quiet study of fatherhood, masculinity, and survival. But its limited reach reveals the deeper problems facing South African film.
Not exactly at arm’s length
Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.
Drip is temporary
The apparel brand Drip was meant to prove that South Africa’s townships could inspire global style. Instead, it revealed how easily black success stories are consumed and undone by the contradictions of neoliberal aspiration.
Making space for the ordinary
MADEYOULOOK’s 'Dinokana' debuted at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Now back home, Molemo Moiloa and Nare Mokgotho reflect on sound, place, and why their work is always meant for South African audiences first.
Celebrating from a divided country
Bafana Bafana’s World Cup exploits has South Africans chanting “No DNA, just RSA!” But against a rising tide of xenophobia, what South Africa are we actually rooting for?
The globalization of African football
Can a continent dominate global football while losing control of its own game?
Rise of the reactionaries
AfriForum is no longer on the political fringe in South Africa, rather it's key in perpetuating increasingly mainstream, right-wing populism.
Reading List: Hugo ka Canham
On the publication of his book on black life on the margins, the South African author reflects on work that expand the meaning of being black on the world.
Where laws and guns cannot reach
South African poet Don Mattera, who died in July, was the real deal — preferring to throw his lot in with the ignored and the undervalued. Unsurprisingly, his monumental life and work is undervalued too.
The new antisemitism?
Stripped of its veneer of nuance, Noah Feldman’s essay in 'Time' is another attempt to silence opponents of the Israeli state by smearing them as anti-Jewish racists.
We need to talk about wage theft
South African companies can afford to pay their workers a living wage — if not for their commitment to profit shifting, as the case of Lonmin and Marikana showed.
The strange non-death of Bantustans
That South African political parties across the spectrum were quick to venerate the politician and Zulu prince Mangosutho Buthelezi, who died last week, demonstrates that the country is still attached to Bantustan ideology.
One of the last remaining pieces of history
Against Mahikeng’s failure to honor and preserve his legacy, a new Setswana biography examines Plaatje’s years in this South African town, once a regional capital.
What to do about the South African economy?
Some progressive economists argue that a bigger budget deficit is the solution to the country’s socio-economic woes. But it isn’t that straightforward.
On safari
For the 10th anniversary of the Marikana massacre, we are planning a public event on August 20th to reflect on its legacies.
Pretty girl from Soweto
In South Africa, a popular beauty contest is revealing the specter of ultranationalism and anti-blackness.