“Affirmative action won’t be around for much longer, ” said one of our professors twenty years ago, advising against writing a dissertation on this topic. The United States Supreme Court’s Schuette decision…
Oscar Pistorius has finally been sentenced, to what his judge described as “a sentence that is fair and just, both to society and to the accused”. For the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp, he was sentenced…
Guns were part of Pistorius’ life at home and in public.
EPA/Phill Magakoe/Pool
South African paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found not guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The presiding judge, Thokozile Masipa, found him guilty, though, of culpable…
Oscar Pistorius has been cleared of premeditated murder charges, but found guilty of culpable homicide – a crime for which he could face a possible 15 years behind bars. He has also been found guilty of…
Oscar Pistorius arrives at court.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
After six months of courtroom drama relayed around the world, Judge Thokozile Masipa has reached her verdict on Oscar Pistorius: not guilty of the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, but guilty of her “culpable…
Bank downgrades have sparked anger in South Africa.
Nic Bothma/EPA
It’s an unnerving time for Africa’s banking industry. On August 19, the ratings agency Moody’s announced it had downgraded by a notch the risk rating of South Africa’s four biggest banks – FirstRand, Standard…
Glasgow’s Mandela friendship is only part of Scotland’s apartheid story.
Chris Bacon
At different times ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, various politicians called for politics to be kept out of the event. This didn’t prevent the organisers paying tribute to Glasgow’s part in the…
Nadine Gordimer died at her home, aged 90 on July 14 2014.
EPA/Alejandro Ernesto
The passing of Nadine Gordimer is a tremendous loss, both to South Africa and to the literary world. For me, and others who knew her, it will also be an enormous personal loss. Born in November 1923, Nadine…
The Castelao stadium in Fortaleza was the first of Brazil’s World Cup stadiums to receive green certification.
Pedroichimaru/Wikimedia Commons
This year’s World Cup was supposed to be the “greenest ever”, with FIFA taking measures to account for the event’s greenhouse gas emissions, including an estimated 2.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide…
It has been an interesting month for leaders across Africa. Goodluck Jonathan finally declared a “total war” against Boko Haram despite not having the means to wage one, and after a puzzlingly sluggish…
Inequality is limiting South Africa’s economic progress in more ways than we think. For most of the past 20 years, it was simply assumed that economic growth on its own would reduce inequality. This is…
The recent open letter of concern penned by nearly 100 academics from around the world about the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s international education rankings is more than just…
Pistorius trial has kept violence against women on the frontpage.
Kim Ludbrook/EPA
Who is responsible for violence towards women? This question runs like a thread through some of the public discourses swirling around the trial of athlete Oscar Pistorius. In some ways he represents an…
Jacob Zuma’s ANC won the 2014 South African election with 62% of the vote, 3% down from 2009. Its nearest rival, the Democratic Alliance, won 22%, 6% up. And the newcomers, Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom…
On the surface, 2014 appears to represent “business as usual” for the landscape of South Africa’s electoral politics. The African National Congress (ANC) has secured a fifth straight victory in the latest…
Where is education going for South Africa’s ‘Born Frees’?
teachandlearn
Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa 20 years ago, pass rates in the country’s end-of-school exam – commonly known as the matric – have been steadily on the rise, despite indications that the schooling…
Widespread protests about poor service delivery have rocked South Africa.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
After two decades of democracy, economic inequality in South Africa remains very high. Survey comparability issues make analysing trends tricky, but it is clear that overall income inequality has not fallen…
The Pistorius trial has drawn attention to attitudes to women in South Africa.
Gianluigi Guercia/Pool/EPA
As South Africa, in election week, watches the trial of Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, my perception is that our society is experiencing an overall paroxysm of social…
The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius is changing South Africa’s media ecology. It is the country’s first criminal trial to be covered fully on social media and live television, and both journalists and…
Murder trial: Oscar Pistorius after giving evidence last week.
EPA/Stringer
The week has not begun well for Oscar Pistorius. Under relentless cross-examination from prosecutor Gerrie Nel, the Paralympian athlete, standing trial for shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp…
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand