THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

May

2024

Observations by Thabo Mbeki to mark the 30th Anniversary of South Africa’s Democracy

THIS year I celebrate 68 years of membership of the ANC, having joined the ANC Youth League as a 13½-year-old in 1956. You can therefore imagine what a difference it would make to me and others of my generation if the South Africa of today looked like the South Africa for which many sacrificed in many ways, including by losing their lives. The ANC held a victory party at the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg as soon as the results of our very first democratic elections of 1994 were announced. I happened to serve as the Master of Ceremonies that joyful…

Apr

2024

By RICHARD CALLAND

South Africa’s constitution was set up as the bedrock of its democracy: it’s been challenged over last 30 years, but has held firm

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THERE was a moment during the state capture years of South African president Jacob Zuma’s term in office (2009 to 2018) when the veil finally slipped. There had been quiet rumblings against the country’s constitution for many years. But now a senior figure in the ruling African National Congress – its chief whip in the National Assembly, Mathole Motshekga – gave public expression to the notion that when judges overturned decisions of the government they were undermining democracy by thwarting the will of the majority. As I watched a 2014 parliamentary ad hoc committee debate the Public Protector’s report on…

Apr

2024

By STEVEN FRIEDMAN

Why it’s wrong to blame South Africa’s woes on Mandela’s compromises

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IF he were alive today, Nelson Mandela would probably be puzzled to find that it has become popular among South Africans frustrated with the pace of change to join former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe in casting him as a villain. The charge against Mandela, who became South Africa’s first democratically elected President on 10 May 1994, is that he let white South Africa off the hook by bargaining a deal which left the racial minority in charge of the economy and society. His reconciliation policy, it is claimed, made whites feel good but did little for blacks. How justified is…

Apr

2024

By NANCY J. JACOBS

South Africa’s first election was saved by a Kenyan: the fascinating story of Washington Okumu, the accidental mediator

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

WHAT'S sometimes forgotten about the 26-29 April 1994 vote that installed the African National Congress (ANC) government in South Africa is that, until the last minute, it looked like violence would consume the voting process. An 11th-hour agreement on 19 April brought the Zulu-majority Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) into the contest. Inkatha had been boycotting the process and challenging the ANC in violent street protests. The peaceful election brought enormous relief to the country and the world. A Kenyan, Washington Okumu, alternately described as a professor or a diplomat, was credited with the negotiation. But few observers knew who he…

Apr

2024

By OMAR SHAHABUDIN MCDOOM

Rwanda’s post-genocide model prioritises security over freedom and equality – a risk to future stability

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RWANDA, a small and landlocked central African country, has made remarkable socio-economic progress since the 1994 genocide in which an estimated 500,000 people died. But the country, as well as the rest of the world, remains divided over the achievements made and the direction taken over the past 30 years. Supporters of Rwanda’s trajectory believe in the aspiration of its president, Paul Kagame, for the country to become Africa’s Singapore. Critics, in contrast, see disturbing characteristics it has in common with North Korea. This stark divergence of views also besets the scholarly community. Some experts acclaim Rwanda as a developmental…

Apr

2024

By DUANE JETHRO

History for sale: what does South Africa’s struggle heritage mean after 30 years of democracy?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ONE of my favourite statues is the one of Nelson Mandela at the Sandton City shopping centre in Johannesburg. Larger than life, its oversized bronze shoes shimmer in the evening light, polished by the hands of many passersby who crowd around to take pictures with it. At the entrance of a square in the mall, it’s a jovial image of the former South African president in a lively jive: a decidedly odd juxtaposition of a liberation fighter at a site of luxury retail. One message it seems to convey is the celebration of the commercial riches brought about by post-apartheid…

Apr

2024

By HELGA DICKOW

Chad’s election outcome already seems set: 4 things Mahamat Déby has done to stay in power

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

PRIME Minister Succès Masra, meanwhile, led a large convoy of cars and motorbikes through the city and was accompanied by a crowd of mainly young followers. Déby and Masra, both in their early 40s, were cheered by their respective crowds. The election will take place on 6 May 2024 and end a three-year transition period led by Mahamat Déby after the sudden death of his father, Idriss Déby Itno, in April 2021. I am a researcher on democratisation in sub-Saharan Africa, especially Chad. I have been closely following Chadian politics, including the transition phase, for many years. I would argue…

Apr

2024

By ABBEY MAKOE

The US “stands all alone” on Palestine

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN strict geopolitics terms, this week will be marked by Washington’s expected – yet still a pill too hard to swallow – vetoing of a successful endorsement of the Palestinian statehood by the vast majority of the members of the UN Security Council (UNSC). It was the cruellest blow that caused men and women who seek justice and equality before international law to shed tears of sorrow. Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, could not hold back the tears as he responded to the US’s unkindest cut. “The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our…

Apr

2024

By GEMMA WARE

South Africans tasted the fruits of freedom and then corruption snatched them away – podcast

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FIVE years after his momentous election as South African president, Nelson Mandela stepped down after one term in office in 1999. Thabo Mbeki, his deputy, took over the mantle of the post-apartheid transition. Mbeki would lead the country for the next nine years, a period of relatively high economic growth which enabled South Africans to begin to taste the fruits of freedom. To mark 30 years since South Africa’s post-apartheid transition began, The Conversation Weekly podcast is running a special three-part podcast series, What happened to Nelson Mandela’s South Africa? In this second episode of the series, we talk to…

Apr

2024

By NICODEMUS MINDE

Tanzanians go to the polls in 2025: President Samia has changed the landscape, but Magufuli’s legacy persists

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IT'S been three years since the death of Tanzania’s president John Magufuli and the rise to power of the current president Samia Suluhu Hassan. Magufuli was Tanzania’s fifth president. He came to power in 2015 and was re-elected in 2020 in a poll that was marred by controversy. Magufuli brought lasting changes to Tanzania’s political landscape during his six-year tenure. His approach sparked differing opinions, both within the country and on the international stage. Inside the country, he was loved and loathed almost in equal measure. To his detractors, his administration was marked by a decline in political and civic…