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 sa...
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 Fano...
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 20...
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 critic...
The world we live in remains a disturbingly dangerous and very fragile place, largely because of our own making. Amin Maalouf opens his provocative book, In the Name of Identity, with an analogy that may be worth reproducing for this polemic. Maalouf...
There are many things that Africans do which give Africa and Africans a bad name or rather there are things that folks with black skin do which tarnish the image of those with black skin. However, as one of the greatest pan-Africanists ever alive -- ...
A world-renowned scholar of public policy, Yehezkel Dror, recently reemphasised the point that policy and politics "closely interact, often overlap, and in part cannot be separated even analytically". This seemingly obvious point, with far-reaching i...
One of the most powerful texts ever written, The Communist Manifesto, opens with a very instructive statement: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles". This statement still holds and will probably hold for ano...
In a timeless collection of African short stories, folk tales and poetry, edited by Barbara Nolen, the poem titled The Moon succinctly captures what this polemic is about. Let me reproduce the said poem:
"The moon lights the earth
It lights the e...
Noam Chomsky, an eminent scholar and activist, in his celebrated Profit over People reflects that: "The first great experiment was a bad idea for the subjects, but not for the designers and local elites associated with them. This pattern continues un...
Dr Vusi Gumede has post-graduate qualifications in economics and public policy, among others. He worked for the South African government for about 10 years, as an advisor, economist, policy analyst, etc. Prior to that, he was in the academic/research environment. He has remained in the academic/research environment, including having been a visiting scholar/fellow for various universities abroad and other international/overseas institutions, lecturing at the Graduate School of Public and Development Management at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, publishing in international and South African journals, contributing chapters in books, authoring working papers and policy briefs, and so on. Dr Gumede serves in a number of governance and advisory structures, including as a Trustee for the Southern Africa Trust. He consults for numerous institutions, including some South African government agencies/departments and the United Nations Development Programme.
Dr Vusi Gumede is presently an Associate Professor in Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.
