Story of a South African Farm School
Events at South Africa's oldest agricultural college become an object lesson in how mastery over language upholds mastery over land.
Search Result(s) for: “apartheid”
The battles over land in Namibia
The land issue is the most divisive issue that Namibia has experienced since independence.
Does it matter where an African film ends and begins
The eleventh edition of African films we'd like to get on people's radars. We can't guarantee that these films will be available everywhere.
World Cup Diary 2010: The noisiest World Cup ever
I am in South Africa for two weeks to go to a few matches and soak up the atmosphere of the 2010 World Cup. I'll try to keep a diary.
The house of exile
Edward Said once said of the usefulness of exile for intellectual work: it involves adopting “a spirit of opposition, rather than accommodation.” James Baldwin and Sisonke Msimang took it to heart.
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.
White settler states and secret police forces
How whites in South Africa, Rhodesia, Angola, and Mozambique acted in unison to thwart independence.
Born free?
South Africa, thirty-years after 1994.
What is to be done?
The German government will have to make a substantial move towards accommodating the demands of the Namibian people.
Sidney Poitier and Capitalist Decolonization
Poitier is a pioneer in Hollywood (the first black male actor to win an Oscar), but, like in most of his US acting roles, he also played it safe in African roles he took on.
Rugby and rainbows
Reflecting on white joy, black celebration, and the meaning of the Springbok win at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
People are the state
What would happen if people could transform state policy based on the principle of social justice? The AIDS struggle in South Africa has some lessons.
The post-1994 power brokers and black liberation
Where does this leave the majority of largely poor, black and unskilled people affected by the competing interests of powerful groups?
Searching for Redemption
In "Searching for Sugar Man," Rodriguez the man feels more like an awkward prop in a story of white redemption rather than the star of his own movie.
Rhodes Must Fall from Zimbabwe
Protests are important because they raise awareness. Awareness leads to dialogue. And dialogue may lead to lasting solutions.
The struggle for moral authority in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's regime does not to surrender to anyone its guardianship of the post-independence narrative, symbols and authority.
The Black Man with the Bible in his Hand
An encounter on a Cape Town bus forces the writer to think about religion, especially Christianity, and queerness.
To revolutionize a culture
The writer on Frank’s Archive, based on her father's records, that explores the different functions of books, power and knowledge.
Why South Africa needs Democratic Socialism
South African politics urgently needs an injection of electoral energy from the left, that speaks in a language that resonates with voters, rejects chauvinism and embraces democracy.
The media’s culture of confirmation bias
When it comes to South Africa, US media publishes articles that may have been written already before an event even happened.