The notion of South African exceptionalism runs deep. Many people in the country believe that in some cases they are superior to the rest of the continent.
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Articles on Nelson Mandela
Displaying 161 - 180 of 221 articles
Generational rebellion is an enduring feature of all societies. Indeed, it is the dynamic through which societies renew themselves and move forward.
Amed Kathrada’s legacy can be used as an example for a good life. South Africans will miss his unwavering courage to speak out on matters of national interest.
South African struggle stalwart Ahmed Kathrada believed in non-racialism to his core, even as others around him began to argue for an Africanist approach.
For Western Cape Premier Helen Zille to invite black South Africans, in a casual manner, to differentiate the legacies of colonialism is asking a lot.
South Africa’s Constitutional Court has repeatedly stepped in to protect vulnerable people and to perform what former deputy chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke calls its “transformative role”.
South African rugby superstar Joost van der Westhuizen, who has died aged 45, transcended not only the game of rugby but also life itself.
South Africa’s decision to leave the ICC suggests that its foreign policy is caught in a dilemma between lofty ideas, an unsettled identity crisis, and shifting priorities in a complex world.
In a gloomy year filled, a number of artists with an Afrofuturist perspective gave hope with inspired works of art.
The making of South Africa’s Constitution took six long years. Now, 20 years later, the process of drawing up this revered document is being tainted with myth making.
South Africa has made remarkable progress in redressing its historically and mainly race based deprivations but a lot still needs to be done.
Spending time in prison for one’s political beliefs can be incredibly challenging. Those convictions can help you to survive those times.
South African universities are aflame as student protests for free education turn violent. But, would a non-violent approach, as preached by Martin Luther King, be more effective in their cause?
Once again South Africa is facing the challenge of a compromised relationship between the state and the church. Is Nelson Mandela inadvertently responsible?
The foundation founded by Nelson Mandela in 1999 has done a major revision - it has written off most of his reign as comprising “grand symbolic gestures”.
Student activists are losing faith in the legacies of anti-apartheid heroes like Nelson Mandela. Perhaps all South Africans should do the same. It may just be what the country needs for its future.
While Nelson Mandela’s cabinet made allies out of erstwhile adversaries, Jacob Zuma’s cabinet is making enemies out of former allies.
The main criticism leveled at the body that oversees the work of South Africa’s elite police unit, the Hawks, is that it lacks the power to initiate investigations, making it ineffective.
The ghost of ‘Khwezi’ – the woman who accused Jacob Zuma of rape in 2006 – continues to haunt him, just as the spectre of rape continues to haunt South Africa.
The opposition Democratic Alliance is hopeful that the African National Congress will fail to win a majority in three metros. This will open the door for it to rule in coalition with smaller parties.
Top contributors
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Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
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Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of Technology
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Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria
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Emeritus Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape Town
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Lecturer, Culture and Media department, Birkbeck, University of London
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Professor of Urban Governance, University of the Witwatersrand
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Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria., University of Pretoria
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Senior Lecturer in History, University of Dundee
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Emeritus Professor, University of South Africa and Visiting professor and strategic advisor in Faculty of Humanities., University of Johannesburg
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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
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Distinguished Reserach Professor, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor and Head of Department of Political and Conflict Studies, Nelson Mandela University
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Research fellow, University of the Free State
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Research Fellow New South Institute, Emeritus Professor at The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town
