Stellenbosch University’s intractable racism problem
The University of Stellenbosch in South Africa treats racism as an issue that must be soft-soaped to avoid alienating white people.
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Back from Safari
If you hadn't noticed, we were on our annual break from just before Christmas 2021 until now. We are back, including with some inspiration.
Davido’s jacket
Davido’s appearance at 'Amapiano’s biggest concert' turned a night of celebration into a study in Afrophobia, fandom, and the fragile borders of South African cultural nationalism.
When solidarity becomes spectacle
Francesca Albanese’s visit to South Africa exposed a truth we prefer not to face: that our moral witness has hardened into ritual. We watch, we clap, we call it solidarity.
Beyond independence
The post-colonial settlement has left Africa vulnerable to conflict, external pressure, and intellectual dependency. What comes next?
Corruption is a class project
Different factions of South Africa's ruling elite are implicated in looting and profiting from the state. South Africans should take an attitude of a plague on both their houses.
More commerce than chaos
In Johannesburg’s Jeppe precinct, what looks like disorder is in fact a dense, transnational system of trade, labor, and survival at the heart of the global economy.
What is it about the Kenyan postcolonial state?
The lesson from political economist Rok Ajulu’s academic work and activism: it’s not enough to change the “tenants,” but fight to change both the “state” and all of its houses.
An annual awakening
In the 1980s, the South African arts collective Vakalisa Art Associates reclaimed time as a tool of social control through their subversive calendars.
How we tell stories about cities
We must not forget the everyday lived realities and struggles in vanished neighborhoods.
A sojourn in Sharjah
Reflections on the 16th edition of the Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual March meeting.
Reading List: Barbara Boswell
While editing a collection of the writings of South African feminist Lauretta Ngcobo, Barbara Boswell found inspiration in texts that reflected Ngcobo’s sense that writing is an exercise of freedom.
Who decides what is African?
The photographer Zanele Muholi equally mourns and celebrates South African queer lives.
A power crisis
Andre De Ruyter, the former CEO of Eskom, has presented himself as a simple hero trying to save South Africa’s struggling power utility against corrupt forces. But this racially charged narrative is ultimately self-serving.
Denouncing the reader
Zoë Wicomb thinks she knows why black South African readers appreciate Damon Galgut’s Booker Prize-winning novel 'The Promise' (2021) whilst many white readers were turned off by it.
A tale of two reviews
In the 1960s, two African nationalist magazines shared a name — but declassified files reveal that they were on opposite sides of a literary Cold War.
The historical archive of HIV
Kayo Chingonyi's latest poetry collection is a powerful meditation on the cycle of infection, death, and mourning wrought by HIV.
Chasing shadows
A docuseries about the Springbok rugby team invites us to examine the enduring legacy of Rainbowism in South Africa.
Gaza and my political conscience
American universities are trying to silence anyone who speaks up against Israel’s occupation and bombardment of Gaza.
Solidarity means more than words
Although the South African government is one of the most vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause, its actions tell a different story.