Posts Tagged African politics
Remember Ruth First: journalist, academic and political activist assassinated by the apartheid state
Posted by Zackie Achmat in South African politics on 17/08/2010
Ruth First came into my consciousness as an an activist scholar and Marxist in 1977. She had collaborated with Govan Mbeki, Oginga Odinga (Kenyan freedom fighter – later banned) and Ronald Segal. She was assassinated by the apartheid state by the spy and murderer Craig Williamson on 17 August 1982 by a letter-bomb. First was [...]
Basil Davidson: A Giant of African Historiography Dies
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Africa, Politics, Economics and History on 11/07/2010
Stop press! No Pasaran! Viva Espana! Viva Catalunya — Spain wins Soccer World Cup! Basil Davidson a great historian of Africa has died. Reading Davidson’s work three decades ago was the equivalent of discovering a new continent of knowledge. Generations of activists who grew up fighting for freedom under apartheid developed an understanding of our [...]
SA homophobia at UN body & Role in detention Zimbabwean researcher
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Africa, Politics, Economics and History, crime and safety on 28/06/2010
Homophobia must be condemned wherever it occurs and it cannot be divorced from broader struggles for democracy. Two posts are carried below. Both involve South African public representatives doing international work relating to human rights. The first is a response by a range of organisations to the homophobia by Jerry Matjila South Africa’s representative to [...]
Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga Pardoned by President Bingu Wa Mutharika
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Uncategorized on 29/05/2010
The pardoning of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga by President Bingu Wa Mutharika must be welcomed. First, it is important to assure their personal safety. The South African embassy in Malawi must help them find safe accommodation until they decide whether they wish to seek asylum in South Africa or another country. They also need [...]
Matuba Mahlatjie: President Zuma’s Malawi statement a veiled insult to the Constitution
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Uncategorized on 29/05/2010
We have all (I believe correctly welcomed) President Jacob Zuma’s statement on Malawi. Matuba Mahlatjie raises a series of important questions that should temper our approach even as we believe that the criticism of another SADC member is important. For instance, the President did not say anything about offering people on our Continent asylum who [...]
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