Sport is a useful prism through which to explore aspects of national identity. This is particularly so with football, given its popularity and global reach. International teams are often portrayed as the embodiment of the nation for the duration of …
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The devastating effects of South Africa’s draconian lockdown are playing out in front of our eyes. Implemented on 27 March 2020, the lockdown has piled on the misery for an economy that was already taking its last breaths. The myriad …
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He was Africa’s archetypal icon of post-colonial totalitarianism. Charismatic. Educated. Feared. Endowed with racist tribal arrogance. Unforgiving. 37 years of iron-fisted rule, Mugabe plundered all known indices of democratic decency. He ruthlessly suppressed opposition – incarcerating its leaders, mass-murdering their …
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Fela Kuti remains Nigeria’s most famous musician. He pioneered Afrobeat – a genre blending jazz, funk, psychedelic rock, traditional West African chant and rhythms – into conscious music in the 60s and 70s. Fela’s music continues to live today across …
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Is the lockdown lawful? This increasingly important question, in both South Africa and abroad, can be addressed by the work of Lord Bingham who was Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Shortly before his death, realising the phrase Rule …
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Powerless in the face of, desertification, sporadic jihadist violence, decrepit state infrastructure, high rates of infant and maternal mortality, perennial farmer-herder conflicts, sluggish economies with little job-creating opportunities, unsustainable demographic growth, and general erosion of the democracy. Weak post-independent institutions …
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As member states of the World Health Organization prepare to gather in Geneva on May 18th for the World Health Assembly, a global coalition of 31 think tanks calls on governments to commit to open trade, collaboration, and innovation in …
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Business for SA (B4SA) has called for South Africa to proceed quickly to lockdown level 2, lest deeper, and longer-lasting harm be caused to an already crippled economy. According to Hilary Joffe, the group indicated that, “if level 4 continued …
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In late March, most African states copied the approach taken by many countries worldwide and implemented a mass lockdown that saw schools close, curfews put in place, and people largely confined to their homes. While this approach makes sense and …
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House arrest is a recognized form of punishment for a convicted criminal. The punishment can, however, only legitimately be imposed upon an individual who has had the benefit of a fair trial. What then of the house arrest to which …
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