Unravelling the complexities of human trafficking
A simplistic and erroneous view of the trade in humans can endanger the lives and livelihoods of the very people whom laws are supposed to protect. Who are the victims really?
School closures pose a big threat to learning gains
The pandemic meant children spent little time in the classroom in 2020, threatening proper development of numeracy and reading skills crucial to the foundation phase of a learner’s development.
The Mandela House museum mess
Nelson Mandela’s former home on Vilakazi Street is in liquidation, drawing harsh criticism from Soweto Tourism and the sidelined trustees of the original Soweto Heritage Trust.
Recordable and portable: the cassette tape miracle
By providing a platform to loop, record and disseminate new music easily and cheaply, the cassette tape, whose inventor died this year, changed the world for musicians and listeners alike.
Cartoon | A whiff of offside
In this week’s cartoon, Europe’s richest football clubs pursue an odious dream founded on pure greed.
Editor's Pick
‘I’ve not been to a football stadium since’
A sibling of one of the 43 Ellis Park disaster victims shares the pain of losing his brother, watching his children grow up without him and why the PSL should have done more for families.
A promising move against impunity
It may have taken 34 years, but the decision to bring the murderers of Thomas Sankara to book is an important warning to assassins and their backers.
Answer the siren call and make the elites fear it
This first in a two-part series tells the story of how Narayan Gaikwad, a crusader for social justice in rural parts of India, became a leading activist for the rights of farm workers.
Uber drivers are workers, not contractors
In the second of this three-part series on workers in the e-hailing industry, a British Supreme Court ruling could be ‘highly persuasive’ in South African Uber drivers’ class action against the tech giant.
Egudwini residents live in water limbo
Water is a scarce and often unaffordable commodity for rural communities on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. They feel deeply neglected by uncaring councillors who never respond to their pleas.
Long Read | Decolonising care and its ethics
Accompaniment entails medical professionals living alongside marginalised people and their everyday struggles, suspending self-righteousness in favour of a community-led approach to healthcare.
Podcasts
S4 Episode 13: Rugby and race | Polish football racism
SA Rugby’s head explains the controversial way the Springboks will approach Black Lives Matter during the British & Irish Lions’ tour. Also, we explore the movement against racism in Poland’s football.
Mixtape 40: I fought the law
All rise in court for part two of Charles Leonard’s selection of songs about crime, crooks, theft and pilferage.
S4 Episode 12: Vaccines and variants | Kalk Bay
South African scientists have played a crucial role in global Covid-19 research. We go behind the scenes with one of them. Also, residents of Cape Town’s historic Kalk Bay feel the creep of gentrification.
News
The politics and promise of a pandemic treaty
Covid-19 has shown just how ill-prepared the world was to fight pandemics as a unified unit. A proposed pandemic treaty, whose intentions some experts question, aims to change that.
New mine owners trample on Namibian workers’ rights
A state-owned enterprise from China bought a huge stake in the Rössing Uranium Mine and immediately began downgrading working conditions before dismissing union leaders.
Italy’s regularisation laws a nightmare for migrants
In a regularisation drive fraught with irregularities, migrants who work in Italy face an uncertain future as they struggle in applying for special permits that are arbitrarily issued.
Farm worker faces eviction despite residency rights
Buyiswa Dayi lives on the Eastern Cape citrus farm where she was born, but now faces eviction by her employers despite seeming to have legal security of tenure.
Red Ants cause havoc and heartbreak in Joburg suburb
Despite the government moratorium on evictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, local authorities continue to drive people from their homes, often helped by private companies.
South Africa’s mental health facilities are ailing
The Human Rights Commission has found a lack of staff, beds and clean, secure facilities plague institutions across the country, leaving patients unable to access the help they need.
Killing in the name of blasphemy
Pakistan’s harsh laws against religious profanity are being abused to settle personal and political scores, leading to an alarming rise in convictions and even murder.
A luta continua: students fight financial exclusion
A combination of the effects of the pandemic, irregular expenditure and budget cuts mean prospective students are being stopped from registering for the 2021 academic year.
Why the gig economy must be regulated
In the first of this three-part series on workers in the e-hailing industry, we look at the exploitation Uber Eats food couriers in South Africa face, without their basic labour rights.
Features
‘There’s something that has gone completely wrong’
In this final of a two-part series on Narayan Gaikwad, the social justice activist tells of life under Covid, the recent farmers’ protests and what it takes to be a revolutionary.
eSwatini Parliament starts to push back
Even as eSwatini’s Parliament shows some life, with lively debates that have led to the withdrawal of some of the regime’s bills, it remains an undemocratic institution under the king’s absolute control.
From the Archive | Open veins of Latin America
Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano argues that sugar plantations have destroyed the northeast of Brazil by draining off natural resources, enriching a few and bringing hunger to most.
A just society will be first prize for S’bu Zikode
Keeping his scout’s promise is how the leader of Abahlali baseMjondolo views his work as a land rights champion and defender of the oppressed, for which he has been recognised.
Worshipping the beautiful game
Eduardo Galeano, who died on this day in 2015, was not only a critic of Latin American colonialism. He was also in love with football – and though he couldn’t play it, he wrote beautifully about it.
Culture
Book Review | Cuddling men and tailoring scissors
Nigerian author TJ Benson centres the experiences of African millennials in the ‘bizarre paradise’ of his deeply subversive and playful novel, The Madhouse.
Book Review | Remnants of Miriam Tlali
A new book excerpting the varied writings of the author sheds light on her writing, becoming part of an ongoing and necessary critical reappraisal of her literary legacy.
Shaking the table: Artists sit in protest
Nearing two months, the sit-in at the National Arts Council’s headquarters shows little signs of abating as the arts department scrambles for the money to honour contracts.
African futurism through Sahel Sounds
Through DIY technology and a futuristic use of cellphones that is particular to Africa, the Sahel Sounds label has released roughly 60 albums in the past 10 years.
Album Review | Bheki Mseleku’s ‘Beyond the Stars’
Tapestry Works’ debut album is a previously unreleased 2003 solo London session from the late pianist. A discovery rather than a reissue, it is a major contribution to the jazz archive.
Long Read | The anti-apartheid posters of Medu
The names of those who created the posters have only recently been revealed, such was the power of the threat their collective artwork held for the apartheid authorities.
Bringing home the message of art as labour
The closure of the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town has left many despondent, but some argue that alongside the other Covid-19 shocks, it will force artists to see themselves for what they are.
Sport
Nigeria’s Super Falcons: playing and begging
The Super Falcons are the undisputed queens of African football, winning 11 of the 13 women’s continental championships ever played. But they still have to beg the Nigerian federation for pay and respect.
Dumisani Chauke, netball coach supreme
The Spar Proteas assistant coach talks about her career, the house she has bought to accommodate her netball players, and the racial imbalance in the national team and how it can be fixed.
The green jacket is Enos Mafokate’s just reward
The legendary equestrian pioneer had to endure much racism in his heyday during the height of apartheid, and the abuse didn’t end with the arrival of democracy.
A tough decision for Palestinian football
The national team find themselves at a crossroad: Should they be a competitive football side or a political tool to highlight Palestinian suffering? Doing both is impossible under the status quo.
How women’s sport can recover from Covid-19 blow
Just as South African women’s sports teams made significant advances, especially in football and cricket, Covid-19 hit, derailing further growth. But there are lessons in the disturbance.
Can Beitar Jerusalem overcome its bigotry?
Known as the most racist football club, the Israeli side has never signed an Arab player and Muslims who joined the team faced chilling prejudice. But an Arab billionaire says he can change all that.
Bavuma’s burden and the dearth of Black batsmen
Temba Bavuma’s uncle, who watched the Proteas captain develop into the successful cricketer that he is, explains what makes him a good leader and what is going wrong in nurturing Black talent.
Political forces obstructing Zanzibar’s CAF dreams
The islanders are said to be the victims of powerful forces in Africa’s football governing body serving their own political interests. The same case can be made for the exclusion of Western Sahara.
Nkosinathi Sibisi’s Netherlands awakening
The Golden Arrows defender, just like the club, is having a remarkable season, winning over fans beyond Durban. He credits a trip to the founders of Total Football for his outlook in football.
Editorial and Analysis
Twin evils: DA prejudice and suburban power
The Democratic Alliance’s constant stream of racism suggests it doesn’t know it is prejudiced. Instead, it imagines – along with people in the suburbs – that white rules are ‘normal’.
Data is not a luxury but a necessity
South African network providers MTN and Vodacom have been exploiting their customers for decades, from high SMS prices to exorbitant data costs. They need far more than just a slap on the wrist.
Frelimo gambled everything on gas – and lost
Mozambique’s ruling party thought gas would secure a wealthy future, but that dream faded and finally was shattered by attacks that sent energy giant Total packing.