The new forms of protest in Zimbabwe raise the possibility that the country’s long-simmering crisis may have reached boiling point. The time could indeed be ripe for a unique form of politics.
Hawkers sell goods on the streets of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Imports of bottled water from South Africa have been banned.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
The control of imported goods is a quick fix that doesn’t resolve fundamental economic problems. It must be accompanied by a policy focus on macroeconomic issues, labour and agriculture.
Protesters are standing up against the police’s road blocks in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
The protest by Zimbabweans against police road blocks and banned imports highlights a new political economy that is rising on the back of informalisation of the economy.
Riot police detain residents of Epworth suburb after a protest by taxi drivers turned violent in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
Zimbabwe has experienced another wave of discontent, manifesting in protests by its citizenry. This may well herald a change in the idea of citizenship in the country.
Former South African presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki at Mbeki’s inauguration in 1999.
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Former South African President Thabo Mbeki remains a puzzle to many of his compatriots. A new book, ‘The Thabo Mbeki I know’, will help to understand him better.
Going nowhere: Robert and Grace Mugabe.
EPA/Aaron Ufumeli
There’s more to fermented foods than a good meal. Scientists are learning just how such foods encourage the growth of probiotics and how this keeps people healthy.
Africa will feel the loss of the EU’s influence in its relationship with Britain.
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For law faculties, the transformative vision embodied in South Africa’s constitution provides a potent driver for change. So what does a transformed law faculty look like?
A refugee illegally crosses the border from Zimbabwe into South Africa.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Zimbabwean migrants’ journey to South Africa is fraught with danger. But the emptiness of life in their country makes it imperative to risk life and limb to seek a better life across the river.
A woman cheers during Freedom Day celebrations in South Africa.
Reuters/Mujahid Safodien
South Africa’s transition to democracy was based on the values of inclusive politics, reconciliation, human rights and constitutionalism. Twenty-two years on, how has the country fared?
Crowds cheer as Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe arrives to address the country’s Independence Day celebrations in Harare.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
Namibia’s new elite has used “affirmative action” for self-enrichment, while the majority of the population remains excluded from its the wealth. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s socio-economic woes continue.
Joice Mujuru, leader of the new opposition Zimbabwe People First party.
EPA/Aaron Ufumeli
It is normal for resistance movements to adopt rough survival strategies and techniques while fighting an oppressive regime. Unfortunately that culture takes root and is permanently nurtured.
Zimbabwe needs more responsible diamond mining companies, not fly-by-night operators.
Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Zimbabwe has said it will take over all diamond mining operations in the country. But what is needed to maximise revenues isn’t state ownership, but improvements in existing regulatory practices.
Vasectomies allow fathers to have a more active role in family planning.
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Chimaraoke Izugbara, African Population and Health Research Center and Michael Mutua, African Population and Health Research Center
Vasectomies could be an effective male birth control method in Africa but the procedure is misunderstood and therefore poorly used.
Cattle drink water from an almost dry dam in South Africa. The drought in the region is one of a number of troubling issues that remain largely hidden from public sight.
Reuters/Rogan Ward
One of the many intriguing ideas of the Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, was this: the limits of my language means the limits of my world. Does this explain the failure to see the gathering gloom…
Selina, right, and her friend Mwanaidi play together in a Tanzanian classroom. Children with albinism are very vulnerable to attack, mutilation and murder.
EPA/Johan Baevman
Children living with albinism are very vulnerable to attack, kidnapping, mutilation and murder. In Tanzania, fear is keeping many children away from school and costing them an education.
South Africa is taking a tough stance against the practice of abducting and forcing young girls into marriage that’s still rife in some parts of the country.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
The reasons for the phenomenon of child marriage are complex and include the fact that in customary law, marriageable age was never reckoned as an actual number but depended on puberty.
A child collects clean water in Delmas, east of Johannesburg, an area vulnerable to outbreaks of the deadly typhoid virus.
Reuters/Mujahid Safodien