After a 32-29 victory over the All Blacks the Springboks stand supreme as 2009 Tri-Nations champions. (Photo by Gallo Images) Today’s victory marked the first time since 1949 that the Boks had beaten the mighty All Blacks three times in a season. Between decisively winning the Tri-Nations, the premier non-World Cup international competition and their victory over the […]
Stories worth reading as you head into the weekend: Is there instability among the destabilizers? It appears so in the southern Somalian port city of Kismayo where there are serious divisions between armed Islamist factions. From South Africa: “This week, a South African call-center business, frustrated by persistently slow Internet speeds, decided to use a […]
Today’s links-heavy quick hits from across Africa: The United Nations Development Policy and Analysis Division’s World Economic and Social Survey (WESS) has devoted its entire 2009 edition to the issue of climate change. IRIN has a nice summary. Treveor Manuel, South Africa’s former Finance Minister, who now carries the cryptic title of “Minister to the […]
Well, so much for all of that palaver about the 2009 Springboks being the best team in South Africa’s storied rugby history. The Springboks are certainly the best team in the world, but the desultory performance this past weekend that led to a thrashing at the hands of the Australians has given the All Blacks […]
This weekend what is being described as a “top-level delegation” from the European Union will be visiting Zimbabwe. After their visit the group will determine their future course of action with regard to providing economic aid and other support for the state and its coalition government. My plea to these visitors: Do not let the […]
Puns are the lowest form of humor. Which explains why you and I cannot get enough of them. England’s 5-1 thrashing of Croatia yesterday propelled them to the World Cup in South Africa. This caused the zany editors at The Guardian’s daily tea time email The Fiver to go on a rampage of South Africa-related […]
A number of stories piling up in the tabs on my Mac: United States envoy Scott Gratius is in Sudan to try to hold together the fragile peace that runs the risk of shattering in the country’s South. He will also visit Darfur. But unless he has a mandate to coerce, flatter, cajole, or otherwise […]
The unlit but smoldering poweder keg in South Africa is the poor. The end of the Apartheid years represented a nearly incomprehensible transition in South African history and was surely one of the high points in the often grim history of the 20th century. But while the African National Congress has done much for many, […]
At least in part at the behest of Zimbabwean Prime Minister (and longtime antagonist of President Robert Mugabe) Morgan Tsvangirai, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met today to discuss encouraging the Western powers to end sanctions against Zim. Already the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provided Zimbabwe a $510-million loan, its first loan to the […]
Not only are things in Africa not as bad as many think, but it runs the possibility of becoming the world’s breadbasket. [Hat Tip for both.]
In the latest New Republic historian Christine Stansell has a lengthy essay using Rwanda to draw some conclusions on post-conflict envronments. The article is fine. But if you’ll forgive a little territorialism, what in the hell is Christine Stansell doing writing on Africa in such a prominent forum? Stansell is a fine historian of American […]
Here is a deluge of tidbits to catapult you into your weekend. If you are reading this from the United States, have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Eat a hot dog and drink beer while wallowing in college football and baseball pennant races. (If you are in South Africa, have some boerewors, keep the beer, […]
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