South Africa

Why Jacob Zuma’s visit to see Nelson Mandela backfired so badly

May 1, 2013 12:05 pm by Andrew England

The “exclusive” footage by SABC, South Africa’s state broadcaster, was rich in content as the country’s top leaders chuckled to the background of clicking and flashing cameras.

There was President Jacob Zuma, his shirt undone at the neck, looking relaxed and carefree. His deputy in the ruling African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, appeared equally jovial and casual.

But there was one major problem – the centrepiece of the clip, Nelson Mandela, looked anything but happy. Rather, the revered former liberation leader and South Africa’s first black president stared vacantly into the distance, frail and apparently unaware of the commotion around him.

The result was the unseemly spectacle of a bunch of politicians parading themselves around an old man lauded as a national treasure, causing a storm of outrage to erupt on social media.


Mandela survived 27 years in prison only to become a prisoner of the ANC marketing machine.
April 30, 2013 12:06 pm via TweetCaster for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@Trevornoah
Trevor Noah



What the #ANC did, smiling&posing with an evidently ill #Mandela is sick. That is not how we want to remember him. They had no right!
April 30, 2013 7:49 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite
@amandathandile
Mfengu Queen

In response to the backlash, the ANC felt the need to explain itself in a statement the following day. Read more

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in South Africa |

Esther Bintliff Five thought-provoking reads on Margaret Thatcher

April 9, 2013 3:13 pm by Esther Bintliff

Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

1) ECONOMICS The FT’s chief economics commentator, Martin Wolf, evaluates the impact of Baroness Thatcher on Britain’s economic performance both during her time in power and afterwards.

“For the UK, the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s did mark the first sustained period since the 19th century when GDP per head rose more than in the other large European economies. Unfortunately, the post-crisis economic malaise, the high inequality, the persistent regional imbalances and the over-reliance on an unstable financial sector mar this success.”

2) SOCIETY Hugo Young was a political columnist for the Guardian from 1984 until 2003, and wrote a biography of Margaret Thatcher, One of Us. Two weeks before he died, in 2003, he wrote this piece about Thatcher and her legacy. The Guardian published it on Monday. Young praises Thatcher’s self-confidence, and how little she cared if people liked her – a quality he notes is markedly lacking in today’s politicians. But he worries about the change in British social attitudes that she fostered: Read more

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Britain |

FT podcast: World Weekly with Gideon Rachman

March 28, 2013 2:39 am by Financial Times

What next for the Brics?

The Brics started life as a marketing gimmick dreamt up by Goldman Sachs to promote emerging markets, but the notion has taken on a life of its own and this group of nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are now a formal organisation who have just met for their fifth summit. In this week’s podcast, Gideon Rachman is joined by Stefan Wagstyl, editor of beyondbrics, and Andrew England, South Africa correspondent, reporting from Durban, where the group has agreed to set up a Brics-led development bank. But do the Brics matter, what unites and divides these nations, and are we likely to still be discussing this group in ten years’ time? Read more

Tags: , ,
Posted in China, India, Russia |

Smart Reads January 28, 2013

January 28, 2013 1:01 pm by Amie Tsang

 Read more

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Smart Reads |

Why the Mo Ibrahim Foundation didn’t award a prize

October 17, 2012 4:40 pm by William Wallis
Mo Ibrahim at a 2011 press conference to announce the winner of that year's "Mo Ibrahim Prize" (Ben Stanstall/AFP/Getty Images)

Mo Ibrahim at a 2011 press conference to announce the winner of that year's prize (Ben Stanstall/AFP/Getty Images)

There has been something of a hullabaloo each time the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has failed to find a worthy laureate for its $5m annual prize for excellence in African leadership.

One year it even prompted speculation that the Sudanese-born philanthropist and pioneer of African telecoms had run out of money. He had not. Rather, the criteria for the award had to be stiff if it was to have any credibility on a continent with a long history of tyranny and mismanagement. The intent was not just to encourage personal integrity and conformity to democratic principles among African heads of state but to reward transformational leadership. So, it should be no surprise that there have been some fallow years like this one.

Moreover, when it comes to leadership there is a global deficit. If a similar prize had been on offer in Europe in the same period, it would been a struggle to find an irreproachable candidate. In three out of the six years since the Mo Ibrahim prize was launched there have been winners. For the most part, African leaders are more accountable now than they were. In some cases they have been instrumental in turning their countries around. Read more

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Africa |

Smart Reads October 17, 2012

October 17, 2012 3:19 pm by Amie Tsang

 Read more

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Smart Reads |

Smart Reads October 11, 2012

October 11, 2012 1:54 pm by Amie Tsang

Here are the stories that were stoking our fire this morning:  Read more

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Smart Reads |

In the Picture: The deaths at Marikana

September 5, 2012 4:58 pm by Financial Times

Police surround fallen miners near the Marikana platinum mine on August 16 (AFP/GettyImages)

by Ruona Agbroko

Mining has always been a dangerous business. But the tragedy that unfolded last month in Marikana, South Africa, threw a new and harsh light on the lives of those who spend their days toiling in the dark. On August 16, 34 workers were killed and 78 were wounded when police opened fire during clashes over pay at a platinum mine in Marikana, South Africa. The violence evoked painful memories of state brutality during the apartheid era, and prompted a debate around how much progress the country has made in tackling inequality. As South Africa produces about 80 per cent of the world’s platinum supply, the unrest continues to spook global commodities markets, pushing up platinum prices and dragging gold futures up too. Three weeks after the killings, crisis resolution talks have restarted, but will they succeed? And what will be the long term legacy of Marikana? Read more

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in In The Picture, South Africa |