Nativism and narrow nationalism in South African politics
The question of who belongs in South Africa, stains any project that aims to build a more equal and inclusive society.
South Africa
The Coloured Gangster
In Cape Town, gangs have come to dominate social and economic life for the city’s mostly coloured working class.
The Erasure of Dulcie September
South African activist Dulcie September would have turned 84 today had she not been assassinated in March 1988. The podcast series They Killed Dulcie revisits the murder and her legacy.
Cake politics
The Rugby Championship, the World Cup, and Springbok politics in South Africa.
Fathers of the nation
Some of the mythologies about Nelson Mandela don't line up with actual histories.
The manifestation of climate injustice
Following the new UN report on climate change and agricultural land use, David S. Williams highlights the effects climate changes will have on communities in informal urban areas.
Can a hamburger free a people?
Duane Jethro goes to South African fast food chain, Chicken Licken, to eat a Big John Burger, and finds out the postcolonial feelings it inspires.
Black authors, maids and madams
How black South African authors have written about domestic workers. There's a rich archive there.
Like family
An excerpt from a new book published by Wits University Press that explores how domestic workers are depicted in South African historiography and literature.
Decolonizing Africa’s past
On national anniversaries and democratic survival.
Pirates and Chiefs
Why do football matches between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates matter more than any other sporting event in South Africa. Even more than when the rugby Springboks play.
Poverty, inequality and virtuousness in South Africa
The inadequacy of charity in tackling the legacies of apartheid and colonialism.
Apartheid, anthropology and Johnny Clegg
All that French marketing schtick aside about "the white Zulu," Johnny Clegg was a real one.
Durban gets a new literary festival
What happens when ike's, a legendary bookstore in Durban, South Africa, creates a literary festival? For one, synergy.
How not to change a curriculum
One of South Africa's leading universities, UCT, released a curriculum change framework post-#RhodeMustFall. This is a critique by two alum.
Demystifying the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Technological change is not simply a neutral and inevitable process—it is shaped and driven by existing social relations.
The twin legacies of Ray and Dora Philips
A long awaited recognition comes for the two American founders of social work in South Africa.
Democracy and the left in post-apartheid South Africa
A veteran African National Congress stalwart and member of parliament speaks to Africa Is a Country about the party, South Africa's Parliament and the dearth of left politics in South Africa.
Climate, conflict and capitalism fuel xenophobia
We need to understand how climate change impacts the current and future flow of refugees and displaced persons, and ask why the protection needs of climate refugees are not being met.
The falsification of history
The charge that Mohandas Gandhi was a racist is doing the rounds again. His stay in colonial South Africa fuels those claims.