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Articles on African politics

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Demand for housing in South Africa continues to outstrip supply despite the government having made more than three million houses to poor households. Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

Waiting for the state: politics of public housing in South Africa

The dismally slow provision of housing in South Africa is such that more than 2.2 million households live in 2700 informal settlements. Waiting is the norm and can take years, even decades.
Seabelo Senatla of South Africa scores a try against New Zealand during the gold medal match of the Rugby Sevens at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Reuters/Russell Cheyne

What South Africa will be sacrificing by hosting the Commonwealth Games

By investing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, South Africa sacrifices investment in pressing societal needs. Instead, the country should be mobilised around the national goal of fixing schooling.
Leaders at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2013. Malta will host the next one in November 2015. Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Why the Commonwealth endures despite being written off by the left and the right

The Commonwealth is politically fraught, with widely divergent members. But, instead of unravelling as some critics wish, it has instead inspired copycats and appears set to grow and endure.
Black students at University of Stellenbosch protest against the institutions’s language policy they say discriminates against them by favouring Afrikaans. Times Media/Adrian de Kock

Why Biko’s Black Consciousness philosophy resonates with youth today

Black youth are grappling with the question of the meaning of freedom in post-apartheid South Africa. They seek an antidote to their reality wherein blackness continues to be mocked and marginalised.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir signs a peace agreement in the capital Juba, on August 26, 2015. Reuters/Jok Solomun

Why South Sudanese adversaries signed a peace deal that they do not want

The Sudanese government and its armed opposition are both unhappy with the ceasefire they signed. Senior military officers have also publicly voiced their disapproval of the induced deal.
For black women demands for equal dignity and fairness do not necessarily entail a desire to do away with male leadership in the home, community and country. EPA/Jim Hollander

Why black women in South Africa don’t fully embrace the feminist discourse

National Women’s Day in South Africa marks the historic protest in 1956 of women against apartheid policies. But, six decades on, black women have yet to fully embrace feminism as a discourse.
Voters line up in Nigeria’s recent election. It was deemed free, fair and relatively peaceful. EPA

Pockets of progress in Africa’s election landscape

Compared to other parts of the world, Africa is not a high-flyer in the area of election management. This can be attributed to the scourge of violence, fraud, corruption and intimidation.
The Union Buildings in Pretoria, home to South Africa’s government. Public confidence in civil servants has been severely eroded. Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

South Africa needs a professional civil service

Political factors have played a disproportionate role in decisions on the promotion, transfer and performance assessments of government officials.

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