Britain’s acquiescence in the face of Afrikaner intransigence set the precedent for the progressive disenfranchisement of nonwhite South Africans and laid down the foundation for apartheid.
Nelson Mandela laughs with journalists and performers ahead of the second 46664 concert in the Western Cape in 2005.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
When celebrating Nelson Mandela Day, it would benefit South Africans to reflect on what the statesman’s legacy means for the nation and how they are living up to his dreams for the country.
Former South African presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki at Mbeki’s inauguration in 1999.
Reuters
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.
Former members of the ANC’s armed wing perform the toyi-toyi dance in support of then ailing former President Nelson Mandela.
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
Armed struggle played a subsidiary role in the ANC’s fight against apartheid in South Africa. The tactics that were most decisive in securing freedom were those that didn’t involve organised violence.
It is exactly forty years since the Soweto uprising in June 1976 where the South African police met the students with brutal force. How much has changed in terms of policing?
Deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, left, and.
chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at a special session to mark Moseneke’s retirement.
GCIS
The retirement of Dikgang Moseneke, one of South Africa’s eminent judges and the Constitutional Court’s deputy chief justice, is a moment to reflect on the court’s place in society and his legacy.
South Africa’s Constitutional Court embodies values of justice and transformation. How can law schools do the same?
GCIS/Flickr
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?
Supporters of South Africa’s ruling ANC cheer at a rally to launch the party’s 2016 local government elections manifesto in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Poor attendance at the launch of the ANC’s local elections manifesto shows the party no longer holds much weight with the electorate in the key Nelson Mandela Bay, which it has dominated since 1994.
Even if you’ve never read or seen any of Shakespeare’s works, his influence has touched your life.
Photo credits, clockwise from top: Kevin Lamarque, public domain, public domain, public domain, public domain, Mike Tsikas, 20th Century Fox, Mike Hutchings
In the almost 400 years since Shakespeare’s death, his words have been enlisted by an extraordinary range of historical figures. Even the Nazis tried to claim him as a ‘Germanic’ writer.
Sathima Bea Benjamin was seldom recognised during her lifetime as a performer.
Ian Bruce Huntley
Robin Kelley, University of California, Los Angeles
It took ages for one of African jazz’s hidden masterpieces to be reissued. Still today, four decades later, 1976’s ‘African Songbird’ tells volumes about the politics of the time.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace. Mugabe has been in power since 1980.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
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.
If South Africans are to make the radical changes they must to become truly great, the new generation will have to find a way of understanding the country’s past in its profound complexity.
Environmental activists demand a fair climate change deal outside the United Nations Climate Change conference in South Africa recently.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
The 2016 State of the Nation Address provides President Zuma with the ideal opportunity to be statesman-like. That would require bold action of his part, something that he is unlikely to do.
The annual ‘Living Landscapes’ procession is aimed at raising awareness of the Cedarberg’s KhoiSan cultural heritage.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Human population groups worldwide are highly homogeneous genetically. They are in fact 99.5% similar and their anatomical features vary in an uncorrelated fashion over the landscape.
Nelson Mandela with his predecessor FW de Klerk. Tough questions are being raised about the compromises Mandela made for South Africa’s transition to democracy.
Reuters/Peter Andrews
South Africa’s transition into democracy involved compromises that left white privilege intact and black poverty undiminished. Here are a dozen of Mandela’s economic deals that need to be undone.
Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). He has openly questioned Nelson Mandela’s economic policy legacy.
Reuters/Skyler Reid
South African opposition politician Julius Malema has blamed economic policies put in place during Nelson Mandela’s era for the country’s high levels of inequality. He may have a point.
President Jacob Zuma took over as leader of the ANC with a promise to reconnect the party with the people. His legacy suggests otherwise.
Reuters/Sumaya Hisham
Judged by general citizen sentiment expressed at the grassroots, Jacob Zuma has failed to bring the ANC closer to the people. Research shows substantial alienation between the ANC and communities.
South African rugby coach Heyneke Meyer sings the national anthem at the World Cup.
Reuters / Eddie Keogh
South Africa’s rugby administrators are facing increased criticism for their failure to shed its white image. The tone of the debate is different this time, amid growing protests against inequality.
Former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. Both men had clear ideas about South Africa’s foreign policy.
Reuters
Over the past two decades, it has not been easy for any country – let alone a newly freed one, like post-apartheid South Africa – to understand the rapidly changing world.
Professor of Public Theology in the Department of Beliefs and Practices, Faculty of Theology, at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Free University of Amsterdam), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam