James Carvelle, Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign strategist, coined a phrase that remains pertinent the world over, especially in South Africa, when he said “the economy, stupid”. As we now paraphrase Carvelle’s phrase, “it is [indeed] the economy, stupid”. In the case of South Africa, I insist that it is both the economy, and more fundamentally,…
In a compelling poem by the great African intellectual giant Amílcar Cabral, a powerful ‘story’ of Return is told. A relatively young Cabral, in his 20s, published a timeless poem that remains relevant – though written in 1949 – even today. It is worth presenting a couple of verses from it: Old Mama, come and…
At the occasion of the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony of 1960 at Oslo University in Norway, in his acceptance speech, Chief Albert Luthuli highlighted a fundamental challenge that still confronts Africa that “our continent has been carved up by the great powers. Alien governments have been forced upon the African people by military conquest…
Many African scholars and politicians have repeatedly made the point that Africa remains behind other regions or continents as a result of the historical injustices it endured for centuries. Disturbingly, though, the injustices have taken a different form over the years, particularly by the so-called developed world. This is not to say that part of…
Africa is, arguably, still the richest continent but her people are the poorest in the world — the world remains a mess! But there are some encouraging signs: Africa appears to be well-poised to lead the world into a better future. This view is supported by others. Michael Pilkington, for instance, believes that 2011 will…
Now that the Fifa 2010 football extravaganza is over and the strike is on hold, it might be opportune to reflect on how far we have, as South Africans, actioned the reconciliation project. The World Cup gave a picture of a nation in unison. Was that a façade? do we still see different races, with…
Nuruddin Farah, one of the extraordinary novelists of our times, succinctly captured — in his novel entitled Secrets — the beginnings of Somalia’s civil war. Kalaman, the protagonist, relates what he was going through as the tragedy unfolded: “I sat in the car. I was a storm-beaten, lonely man. I was sad. I was mournful….
In what is recorded as his last speech, the extraordinary Anton Muziwakhe Lembede told the gathering, at Leake Hall in Soweto, June 1947, that “the history of mankind is the history of the liberation of the mankind”. Fast-forward to 1961, Frantz Fanon forcefully argued that “what matters today is the need for redistribution of wealth”….
The previous decade was rough, at many levels. This new decade, the 2010s, brings some hope. However, the risks remain on the upside — politically, globally, personally and so on. The 1990s were said to be a lost decade — Adam Roberts thinks the 2010s might be “decadent”. The Americans are suggesting that this decade…
The “condition” of women and girl children remains repulsive. This is an indictment to humanity as a whole, given that the overall human condition itself is precarious. In her incomparable novel, Changes, Ama Ata Aidoo brilliantly captures the critical challenges confronting females in particular — the conversations of the two main characters, Esi and Opokuya,…
