For at least the time being the tensions within the ANC’s tripartite alliance over the establishment of the National Planning Commission (NPC) appear to have been assuaged. ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe assures us that all is well, and to prove it he had beside him at his announcement two nodding figureheads, one each from […]
It seems that South African mercenaries have been involved in the training of Guinea’s junta, at the head of which is Moussa Dadis Camara, who took power after a coup in December and which was responsible for the deaths of more than 150 anti-Camara protesters last month. Images of Executive Outcomes and others among Apartheid […]
By most accounts Jacob Zuma is quite popular and is doing a good job — a much better job, it must be admitted, than many of his detractors expected when he took office back in May. But the biggest issue surrounding Zuma — let’s call it his tendency toward putting himself into situations where malfeasance […]
Here are stories that should keep you busy as you head into a November weekend. If you are reading this from the US, Europe or elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, winter is fast approaching. If you are reading from Africa or the southern hemisphere, winter seems like a distant concept. Either way, enjoy. Commentary as […]
In a wide-ranging series of lectures Open Society Institute chairman and founder George Soros has been trying to place the global financial crisis in some larger context. In one recent speech he said: And China needs to become a more open society in order to be acceptable to the rest of the world. The rest […]
The Editors of The New Republic have weighed in on US envoy to the Sudan, Scott Gration. Their verdict: “Scott Gration is an embarrassment.” Ouch.
Political instability tends to emanate outward. In Guinea, for example, clearly the country’s political crisis begins in Conakry with a tale of political power struggles and infighting that soon turned toward violence and ultimately massacres. But radiating from those high-level clashes are consequences that batter an already suffering populace. The political strife augments and exacerbates […]
When Jacob Zuma first rose to the South African presidency many feared that among the changes he would implement would be to reduce the role of Trevor Manuel. Instead Manuel, long considered among the very best, most effective South African politicians, seems to have had his role augmented. Finance Minister from 1996 to Zuma’s ascension […]
The envelope, please . . . And the winner for African President of the Year goes to . . . Jacob Zuma. And you know what? He probably deserves it. Zuma has defied expectations from left and right, seems to be steering South Africa through a (yes, left-of) middle way, and has seemingly overcome his […]
I’m not beyond a little hagiography, especially when it comes to Nelson Mandela. The New York Times recently published a nice profile of Madiba, “Mandela Endures as South Africa’s Ideal.” There are worse questions one can ask, especially for those figures in public life, than “What would Madiba do?”
The Zimbabwean unity government talks have shown virtually no movement in months. The parties barely speak to one another, with the beleaguered opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) briefly staging a walk-out from talks before returning last week and thus, in the words of some, stepping “back from the brink.” The situation is the source […]
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has committed his country to a massive expansion of aid across the African continent. The infusion of $10 billion in loans and other sources of support doubles the current amount of Chinese aid to Africa, an amount that already had many fearing that China was engaged in a new scramble […]
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