South Africa has clearly defined mandates for the police, military and intelligence services.
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The security services that watch over South Africans today are a far cry from the instruments of minority rule of the apartheid era. They are subject to the constitution and the rule of law.
Nelson Mandela takes the oath as South Africa’s president in Pretoria on 10 May 1994.
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A lot of good has happened since apartheid ended in 1994. Sadly, 30 years on, the country is in a political and economic crisis. Many are questioning the choices of the past three decades.
South African troops patrol in Mozambique as part of the SADC intervention force.
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The SADC mission shows how difficult it is to run a large-scale military intervention, especially if the host government is not taking full ownership and supporting the operation.
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South Africa is among a few countries that completely prohibit the involvement of citizens in foreign armed conflict.
A man casts his vote during South Africa’s 2019 national election.
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The Independent Electoral Commission cannot afford to put a foot wrong in the country’s most important election since democracy in 1994, on 29 May.
Kenyan police arrest journalists protesting against a controversial media bill in December 2008.
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Important factors, such as conflict, are central to understanding a country’s degree of press freedom, development and democratisation.
Protesters barricade a street in reaction to postponement of the presidential election in Dakar, Senegal on 9 February.
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Attempts to postpone Senegal’s election indefinitely reflect deeper governance problems within Macky Sall’s administration, and the shortcomings of his chosen heir, Amadou Ba.
Senegalese police rank among the worst for brutality against protesters.
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Negative perceptions of police professionalism and corruption go hand in hand with low public trust in the police, poor marks on government performance, and citizens’ sense of insecurity.
Prof Eddie Webster.
University of the Witwatersrand
Eddie Webster inspired generations of scholars with his vision and practice of critically engaged scholarship, in South Africa and worldwide.
African leaders meeting at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on 18 February 2024.
Michele Spatari / AFP via Getty Images.
African leaders have a worrying track record of prioritising narrow domestic gains over transferring supranational, binding powers to the AU.
The Nairobi skyline.
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The winds passing over Kenya flow in waves and periodically bring hot weather, the kind that has prevailed recently across east Africa.
People carry some of their belongings as they flee clashes between M23 rebels and government forces near Sake on 7 February 2024.
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Regional countries are embroiled in a geopolitical struggle over influence and survival.
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A new study reveals that from 2050, Africa will suffer from food and water scarcity, and a massive loss of jobs in agriculture, unless climate change mitigation measures are put in place now.
Somali soldiers at a military training given by the Turkish Armed Forces in Mogadishu.
Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The persistence of the Al-Shabaab terror group has convinced Turkey it needs to provide more active military support in Somalia.
People wade over a road destroyed by flood in Tana River County, Kenya after a heavy rainfall.
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In African coastal communities, traditional knowledge helps residents to anticipate and prepare for potential flooding events.
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Africa needs to advocate more aggressively for its own interests when it comes to negotiating debt terms.
A protester holds a placard reading ‘down with Ecowas’ during a rally in Bamako on 1 February 2024.
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Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have much to lose if they cannot migrate to and from neighbouring countries in Ecowas.
South Sudan delegates sign a peace deal to end civil war in 2018.
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A major hurdle in South Sudan is the presence of detractors who could undermine the successful implementation of peace agreements.
People attend a demonstration to bring awareness to the mass ethnic cleansing of Amharas in Oromia region of Ethiopia in June 2022.
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The peace agreement was short-lived largely due to the absence of open and genuine commitments by both sides.
Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visits a marine base in Port Sudan on 28 August 2023.
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Sudan Armed Forces have made a series of military and political blunders that could hasten the collapse of the state.