South Africans fought for freedom, but won democracy
The famed South African musician Hugh Masekela has a history of speaking his mind on postapartheid politics.
Politics
Who will get rich
The fantasy that local people - small businesspeople, informal traders, especially black people - will make money or get jobs during the 2010 World Cup.
All black people look the same
A TV news anchor confuses Jesse Jackson with Al Sharpton. Then blames the teleprompter. This is journalism.
No good African leaders
Mo Ibrahim can't find a suitable candidate for the good governance award he hands out to the best former African leader once a year.
Botswana Blues
Botswana's been governed by the same party since independence in 1966. There's no crisis of democracy in Botswana.
The most important African country to the U.S.
What came across as recognition of Africa Is a Country from a US State Department official, was more a case of speaking too fast.
Too many films about the 2010 World Cup
Here's some things I did not have the time to blog about properly or link to this past week. It's Weekend Special.
Not all US media are willful idiots
This is another Weekend Special post: compiling news and links we didn't have time to focus on in the last week.
You Never Walk Alone
It's no accident that so many South Africans watch and support English Premier League football teams.
John Malkovich’s South African accent
So as usual, a bunch of links—new as well as ones—that have piled up in my bookmarks folder. It's Weekend Special.
Jesse Jackson’s Africa policy
Surely Jesse Jackson did some basic research on Laurent Gbagbo's rightwing identity politics before accepting an invitation from his supporters?
Two Men, Two Countries
Who are the real victims of crime and violence in South Africa?
It has come to this
The victim politics peddled on blogs by a section of expatriate white South Africans--often with positive results for them.
Joe Slovo is still one of my heroes
Joe Slovo was a key leader of the armed and exiled resistance against Apartheid and one of the most visible white face of that movement.
The most powerful woman in Africa?
Business magazine, Forbes, made a list of "The 100 Most Official Women": The top African on the list is the United Nations' top human rights official, Navi Pillay, from South Africa.
Shocker: Jacob Zuma is not a Communist
Anyone could have told mainstream Western media that Jacob Zuma would follow conventional rightwing economic policies. Why are they acting surprised?
Apartheid South Africa and Apartheid Israel
Apartheid South Africa and Israel had a close relationship from the inception of the latter. Postapartheid, there are attempts to reverse that.