Black Economic Empowerment in your dreams

I saw this ad on TV a few times during my recent trip down to South Africa. The commercial, for South African beer Hansa Pilsener, riffs on the South African government’s Black Economic Empowerment policy, which far from creating opportunities for small businesspeople, have increasingly resulted in a few rich, politically connected billionaires, white owned companies fronted by blacks or what locals refer to as “tenderpreneurs.”

Vuyo stands a better chance of getting a free beer.

Further Reading

Empire’s middlemen

From Portuguese Goa to colonial Kampala, Mahmood Mamdani’s latest book shows how India became an instrument of empire, and a scapegoat in its aftermath.

À qui s’adresse la CAN ?

Entre le coût du transport aérien, les régimes de visas, la culture télévisuelle et l’exclusion de classe, le problème de l’affluence à la CAN est structurel — et non le signe d’un manque de passion des supporters.

Lions in the rain

The 2025 AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco was a dramatic spectacle that tested the limits of the match and the crowd, until a defining moment held everything together.