Pambazuka News 696: The quest for social justice in South Africa
Pambazuka News 696: The quest for social justice in South Africa
The article by Jon Rappoport (9/22/14), a U.S. journalist, takes aim at the wrong targets.
The Cuban Five are five Cuban men who were unjustly imprisoned in the United States after being arrested by the FBI on Sept. 12, 1998 and convicted in U.S. federal court in Miami in 2001, in a political prosecution by the U.S. government.
Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of UN Assistance Mission in Somalia has emerged as the ‘supreme ruler’ who remains above the provisional constitution. He acts in conformity with foreign rules and agenda outside the Somalia, rendering local participation in politics futile
The Transitional Justice Tafakari Forum
Date: 6-10th October 2014
Venue: Kampala
Theme: Towards a self sustaining Transitional Justice in Africa
Fahamu in its efforts to create spaces for dialogue and debate to amplify Africa-centred voices, perspectives and solutions has partnered with Refugee Law Project, a Uganda based organisation to organise a dialogical space for conversation and reflection on the complexities of the current transitional justice policies and processes in addressing the concerns of post-conflict societies in Africa.
The forum brings together representatives from the Civil Society, legal scholars/practitioners, researchers, anthropologists, economists, sociologists and activists working with communities that have been victims of collective violence from Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda.
The Tafakari Forum happening on the 6-7th October 2014, at At Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda followed by an Oral History Tour in Northern Uganda on the 8-9th, 2014.
It aims at realising the following:
• Advance on the ongoing critical analysis of Transitional Justice mechanisms in Africa to unearth their complexities, contestations and contradictions in promoting accountability for past atrocities, justice for victims of violence and reconciliation;
• Deriving of context-based action points in promoting self-sustaining Transitional Justice processes that are considerate of the African realities and contexts.
You can follow the conversations on Twitter #TransitionInAfrica and on live streaming at and engage in this crucial Pan Africa dialogue.
Thuli Ndlovu knew that she could be murdered. But she continued with her movement work regardless. The mother and militant of the shack dwellers movement was assassinated this week in an attack that left her teenage daughter with serious gunshot wounds. When will this brutality against the poor end in ‘free’ South Africa?
Murder as a tool for political containment is back in South Africa, as the country is gripped by a largely unacknowledged paroxysm of popular ferment. A new authoritarianism is in the making, organised in the name of tradition and patriotism, and mediated through a shift in power to the police, intelligence and traditional authority.
Biko’s Black Consciousness is now more relevant than ever in South Africa. The neo-liberal, white-supremacist order which prevails today not only keeps the Black masses oppressed but also defines the very questions which can be asked about this state of affairs. The elite ‘post-apartheid’ discourse excludes the important questions – like those of land dispossession, racial and class oppression and gender equality – from the agenda.
Ugandan troops are part of the African Union peacekeeping force that was recently accused of sexual violence against women in Somalia. The silence from the international community is shocking - but not surprising. One only needs to look at the activities of presidents Museveni and Kagame in DR Congo and inside their own countries to understand
Pictures of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson shaking hands with the bloody handed dictator of Rwanda, of Andy Young pontificating on stage in Atlanta, are the clearest signals yet that America's black political class are being welcomed to join in the profits made at the Africa end of global supply chains, the profits of 5 million dead in DR Congo.
Armed ANC members acting with police support now openly attack people struggling against corruption and for land in Cato Crest. They are even hiring assassins
Much more needs to be done to prevent the spread of the virus and to effectively treat the thousands who have already been infected. Support services will also be needed for the affected families where many children will be left as orphans.
Although the civil war in the Central African Republic now a religious character, it is not religious in origin. Decades of bad governance and political instability have accentuated sectarian sensibilities which revolve around distribution of dwindling resources in a zero-sum proposition.
Blake and this writer created the Black Music Association’s Toronto Chapter in 1984 to plug African-Canadian music makers into the international music market. It was a huge success.
Real tragedy in Zambia as evidenced by the suicide of a student who was denied a bursary to attend the University of Zambia. More than 4000 students out of 6000 were denied bursaries at UNZA this starting academic year. However, for some of us from poor families, education is the only pathway to a different future. During my time at UNZA everybody got a bursary. Of course those were different times. Fewer students. Plenty of money in government coffers etc. There was also a government policy to fund education. I also put it as a proposition that there was less corruption. There was the Leadership Code. It wasn't a solution to all ills but it was something. Youth and Sports Minister Hon. Kambwili now says it is the job of parents to pay for their children's education. How can poor parents and peasants afford university education? Where are our priorities if they do not include the future welfare of our children? I am very distressed by this death.
Thuli Ndlovu had been threatened for being in the forefront of fighting for the rights of shack dwellers and leading spirited opposition to a controversial housing project. Now her blood has been spilled by a gunman.
Leaders of the shack dwellers movement in South Africa live with intimidation and death threats. Ndabo Mzimela is one of them. The movement has been accused of being funded by foreign agencies to cause riots, destabilize the country and undermine the ANC. But the members refuse to give up agitation for land, housing and a dignified life
Pambazuka News 695: Misdiagnosis: Ebola, food myths and militants
Pambazuka News 695: Misdiagnosis: Ebola, food myths and militants
Civil society organizations ought to expand their scope of work to serve as watchdogs and partners in/for action in advocating for more pro-rights and pro-social justice foreign policies. They should monitor policies and actions, provide knowledge and technical support, and challenge policies and behaviors that are undemocratic or that violate human dignity, at home or abroad.
General elections will be held in Mozambique on 15 October. Incumbent president Armando Guebuza is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. RENAMO is key player in these polls and the politics of Mozambique generally, although its nfluence has waned in recent years and its real agenda remains confusing
The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014 report depicts a one-sided picture of a malnourished ‘developing’ world, leaving out gross nutritional problems and hunger in ‘developed’ countries. Worse, this report advocates neo-liberal solutions that serve the interests of agri-business rather than critical small-holder farmers.
For most of us today, our lives are bound by the laws of the state, or internationally-enforced laws that define terms of trade, sovereign independence, and political involvement.
The unjust neo-liberal law would have given exclusivity on patented seeds to a handful of transnational companies. But Mayans resisted it relentlessly. The success of these protests is an inspiring example of what the people can achieve for themselves when they rise up to confront power in defence of their own interests.
The new policy ignores serious systemic challenges within Malawi’s education system. It discourages the use of local languages in favour of English, a fact that has important cultural ramifications. In sum, the policy makers have misdiagnosed the problem and prescribed the wrong medicine
What an astonishing show of colonial arrogance! There are certainly many people around the pan-African world who have been similarly mistreated.
Seventeen new targets have been agreed upon as the post-2015 development goals, including migraation. Engagement by the emerging powers on the issue of migration could yield positive results.
Zambia suffers from a bloated government. A streamlined government structure will cut wastage and is likely to yield huge savings from salaries, special allowances, and utility allowances. That money is needed for development
The alleged sexual assault on the Kenyan poet has sparked a hot discussion in the country social media and literary circles. The accused, a journalist and writer, denies the claim.
Comrade Kimani remained steadfast in his commitment to the liberation of Kenya ever since he joined the reform movement in the early 1990s. Though uncelebrated nationally, the social justice movement in Kenya is the poorer with his untimely death.
BDS South Africa mourns the passing of Palestinian solidarity and student activist, Comrade Yusuf Talia. We also celebrate Cde. Talia’s inspiring life!
NGOs give the impression that they are filling the vacuum created by a retreating state. And they are, but their real contribution is that they defuse political anger and dole out as aid or benevolence what people ought to have by right. They alter the public psyche.
Much like Al Qaeda, the Islamic State (ISIS) is made-in-the-USA, an instrument of terror designed to divide and conquer the oil-rich Middle East and to counter Iran’s growing influence in the region.
Obama’s Law is a forthcoming, feature-length documentary that travels between the Congo and America to reveal the danger of the single African story – the African victim in need of a white saviour - that continues to be sold in the West. Ben Radley for Pambazuka News caught up with the film’s director, Seth Chase, to find out more.
Ghana seems to have crossed the threshold of moral decency on a dangerous slope towards self-destruction and moral turpitude. It is now a dog-eat-dog society where those in power have abandoned the citizens to the wolves of private aggrandisement. Does the president see this?
President Obama has responded to the Ebola crisis in Africa by sending 3,000 military personnel to the affected region. The real beneficiary of this militarised messianism is, in fact, the military-industrial complex back in the US
Whereas America has sent soldiers to fight Ebola, Cuba has pledged medical personnel. This gesture of revolutionary foreign policy provides an example of how underdeveloped states which have a legacy of slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism, can transform through a process of class struggle and self-reliance.
What is your body? What is it to you, to others and to the whole world? Who makes decisions about your body and why? Here’s one woman’s deep thoughts on these fundamental questions
Civil society organisations and movements are concerned that a resolution passed year to ensure safeguarding of farmers’ rights is being subverted in favour of a discussion on innovation and plant genetic resources
The image of the heroic doctor is actually promoted as a diversion, a cover story, a false trail, a way to conceal the true causes of illness—and a way to refrain from eradicating these true causes
The New Alliance sidelines the diverse and sustainable food systems of small-scale farmers which offer the real potential for food security and nutrition in Africa. Instead, it promotes environmentally damaging approaches to agriculture that entrench corporate power.
Legislative elections due to take place in Haiti in October are triggering a new chilling wave of repression aimed at President Aristide and his supporters.
ISIS beheadings have provoked instinctive revulsion, justly so. Too bad the same reaction doesn’t follow America’s equally barbaric continuation of the death penalty, a habit other civilized nations have abandoned.
Controlling seed means controlling food production. Africans must choose how they farm. They must not become perpetually indebted to a predatory, profit-driven agricultural-industrial complex.
Facing the most serious civilizational threat ever, what is the South African government doing? The new Infrastructure Development Act pushed into law by Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel will fast-track carbon-intensive mega-projects on behalf of mainly foreign corporate beneficiaries.
It is not the religion of Islam that leads Muslims to commit heinous acts. It is simply the anger, hate and rage over not being able to do anything to stop Europeans or the West from oppressing people who profess the same religion.
Thomas Deve died on September 7, 2014. He was a visionary, Pan-Africanist and thinker in human rights and arts circles. Here is to him at a commemoration held in Nairobi.
Pambazuka News 699: Celebrating Ali Mazrui, 1933-2014
Pambazuka News 699: Celebrating Ali Mazrui, 1933-2014
Pambazuka News invites articles on the question of Transitional Justice in Africa to help readers make sense of the debate in order to effectively play their roles as citizens of Africa.
Pambazuka News 694: Confronting occupiers, polluters and vampires
Pambazuka News 694: Confronting occupiers, polluters and vampires
South Africa urgently requires practical agrarian reform policies that transfer land to black farmers who can use it productively to sustain their livelihoods and to supply markets.
President Uhuru Kenyatta recently caused a national stir by appearing in public donning military uniform, something not done by any of his three predecessors. This comes at a time when there is evidence of growing militarization of the state in Kenya.
The whole Zambian legal system needs to be revamped. Still deeply rooted in its colonial origins, the system has stifled creativity and stunted the possible independent growth of the country’s legal institutions, law making, judicial decisions and legal scholarship.
On October 15, the UN occupation force in Haiti will be up for renewal by the Security Council. Urgent and swift efforts are now needed to demand an immediate withdrawal of the decade-old army of occupation that has turned Haiti into a UN colony
Entitlement, fledgling institutions and a lack of accountability have yielded rampant corruption in the world’s youngest country, South Sudan
Oxfam, Fahamu and the State of the Union Coalition (SOTU) have pleasure in inviting you to a breakfast celebrating the of the forst country report under the project analysing the implementation in Kenya of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.
Please save the date in your diary. Further information will follow shortly. Please contact Moreen Majiwa: e-mail: [email][email protected] tel: 0700932170 with any queries in the meantime.
WHEN
30 September 2014
WHERE
Villa Rosa Kempinski, Chiromo Rd. Nairobi, Kenya
TIME
8.00AM -11.30AM
Nigerian security forces have killed as many people as the militant group Boko Haram in the ongoing war against terror. What must be appreciated is that Boko Haram is a symptom of serious economic and social problems and an indication of the level of despair that many poor people feel. Military force alone will not quash the insurgency
Scramble for fighter jets, panic among law enforcement agencies and the rush to introduce new legislation have been the order of the day for Western authorities in reaction to militant Islam since September 11, 2001. But these strategies are counter-productive as they are not based on a keen understanding of the spreading radicalism in the Muslim world
A vote for Scottish independence will be a vote against the inequality and all that the British state represents. However, independence, in reality, will bring little change for the poor and working class.
Ghana's failed economic trajectory of market liberalisation has trapped the country in a cycle of export dependency based on primary commodities while destroying the domestic industry. A crash in living standards fuelled by high inflation has hit the poorest hardest. Now a new spirit of activism has emerged as a result of this crisis
The group says Zionism is never equivalent to anti-Semitism. They also take issue with the distorted and dishonest representation of the Palestinian solidarity movement as a movement invested in the ‘destruction of Jews’.
The journalist and human rights activist suffers from constant migraines and severe back pain as a result of a beating to his head, back and legs. Despite this, he has been denied medical access. His lawyer's letters to the prison administration to take Hassan Ishaq's medical condition seriously and grant him access to medical care have been ignored
The serious allegations of tax fraud made against the publisher of a Zambian newspaper implicate a number of top ranking government officials and institutions, starting with President Michael Sata. These too should be held to account if there is full commitment to fighting corruption in Zambia
Kenya's top singers no longer attract the crowds they once did in central Europe, where in the first place, the population is scant and spread out, forcing event organisers to think twice before inviting any.
Some 2.9 people are threatened with starvation, but this alarming situation has not received any significant attention. Global focus is on the US-led war against al Shabaab militants and the quiet oil exploration by Western firms
Swaziland’s Suppression of Terrorism Act is a “flawed” and “inherently repressive” piece of legislation, according to Amnesty International. Mlungisi Makhanya, who has been charged under the act for wearing a t-shirt, is challenging it in court.
The 8th Pan African Congress will be held at the Accra International Conference Centre. Its main objective is to galvanise Pan African efforts towards Africa’s renewal including its total socio-cultural and politico-economic independence, self-reliance and liberation
It is unacceptable for national leaders to resort to populist manoeuvres, even taking advantage of the suffering of poor citizens, to gain political capital. Tokenism replaces comprehensive policy responses to critical national challenges
Universities in South Africa and the rest of the continent have tended to either remain aloof from society or follow government prescriptions dociley. Neither of these positions allows for these institutions to contribute to the democratic formation and critical capacity of the societies in which they exist. Universities need to assume a position of ‘embedded autonomy’ while enacting, within their own structures, the democratic values and practices which they teach
With its wealth of natural resources, Madagascar has the potential for healthy economic growth, yet remains mostly poor. The government must stop elites from fighting over national profits in a way that keeps plunging the country into turmoil and recession
As world leaders gather at the UN next week, the window to halt runaway climate change is closing fast this decade, with world-wide emissions cuts of 50 percent needed by 2020, and 90 percent by 2050. Not much can be expected to come out of the UN talk-shop. Emerging powers, on the other hand, are not pursuing any new strategies either
The American claim to ‘world leadership’ is based exclusively on failed-state empire building. US intervention fragments the conquered state, decimates its professionals, thus providing an entry for the most retrograde ethno-religious, regional, tribal and clan leaders to engage in intra-ethnic, sectarian wars against each other - in other words chaos.
Economics was originally called political economy, concerned with scarce resources and how to ensure general welfare for everyone given that fact. But US President Nixon and UK Prime Minister Thatcher are responsible for launching the Age of Economist as God
Pambazuka News 693: Africa rising? Fiction vs reality
Pambazuka News 693: Africa rising? Fiction vs reality
Over the decades, the Nigerian authorities have shown themselves to be unwilling to protect the lives and property of the people. The current crisis of the Islamist group Boko Haram fits in this pattern. No words should be spared to question the government and to demand action
Globalization cannot help develop Africa, as peddlers of the ‘Africa rising’ myth claim. In reality, globalization is yet another form of colonization - not by nations but by multinationals with the active support and encouragement of their governments. Happily, there are alternative paths to Africa’s true development
Some experts think that the ongoing crisis between Russia and the West could stimulate Russia's leadership to look for new markets. But it is not clear if Africa could be their choice. In addition, Russia has few manufactured goods that could successfully compete with Western-made products.
Che Guevara might well have had Qunta in mind when he declared that: “I don’t care if I fall, as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting”.
The new scholarly book discusses three key developments in human rights law that could unlock the blockages currently encountered in attempts to seek adequate redress for corruption: limitations on the concept of state sovereignty, expanded notions of standing of complainants, and rejection of strict rules of causation which dominate national criminal legal systems
Commemorations of the centenary of the start of World War I deny Africa’s role in that history. What was the point of Africa's involvement in that war and at what cost to families and communities? European powers stand guilty of using Africans to fight their own wars
Nat Nakasa – one of South Africa’s most promising writers – died in New York in 1965. His remains were returned to South Africa on 19 August for reburial on 13 September 2014 near his childhood home in Chesterville, a township outside Durban.
Responses to and consequences of the current Ebola outbreak in parts of West and Central Africa have revealed the inequalities between healthcare systems in Africa and those in the western world. Awareness of these fault lines should increase the push toward universal healthcare for African citizens
It is clear that official African solidarity ends at the doorstep of self-interest. The paranoid policies of countries that have imposed travel bans to the countries hit by the Ebola crisis will, in fact, end up hurting everyone, like a vicious cycle.
Should those who took Ghana to the IMF in 1983 be allowed near economic decision-making in Ghana today? The country that until recently was touted as an example of ‘Africa rising’ is now in dire straits
The death of arts critic, journalist and Pan Africanist Thomas Deve has robbed Zimbabwe of a man of many talents.
The African Centre for Migration & Society, at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, invites applications for an interdisciplinary Master of Arts in Migration & Displacement at the continent’s leading academic institution on migration.
Based in the School of Social Sciences, the African Centre for Migration & Society) is an interdisciplinary, internationally engaged and Africa-based centre that shapes global discourse on human mobility and social transformation. Our MA in Migration & Displacement encompasses public health, political science, sociology, urban planning, development studies and other disciplines. ACMS enrols a maximum of 20 students each year and limited tuition scholarships are granted.
Please visit to APPLY ONLINE
For more information: [email][email protected] or visit
Formulating a correct national solution to social problems with deep economic and political roots -- such as the Ferguson case which exploded as race riots -- requires correctly identifying the germ of the problem and expressing it in the mainstream with correct ideas that are guided by the principle of creating a good and just society. That is the hallmark of good leadership.
It is impossible to fight capitalist exploitation, police violence, the oppression of women, white supremacy, homophobia and other forms of dehumanization outside of collective action and organised structures - organisations and movements. We must organise – not just mobilise
The ‘Africa rising’ narrative is now widespread. But what actually is happening on the ground? A tiny group of less than 4 percent hogs a large chunk of the income and wealth in the continent’s changing tide of capitalist progress. A transnational capitalist elite is the primary beneficiary of this economic growth
Africa’s mega-dams have not delivered the rapid development the World Bank and other foreign sponsors promised. Their benefits are concentrated on extractive industries and the urban middle class, leaving out the majority rural poor. Alternative solutions that do not sacrifice one group of people for the benefit of another are available
The Ethiopian prime minister’s recent outburst against Eritrea appears to be an attempt to turn the spotlight away from his own government’s crises as it continues to face rising popular discontent against its various policies, crackdowns and interference in socio-religious affairs
Imperialism and Islamic fundamentalism are locked in combat. Imperialist powers are the source of the problem. Islamism would not have the power it now enjoys in the world without the imperialist system. Both must be opposed
One of the saddest things about the Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa is the infection and death of medical personnel courageously responding to this horrific public health emergency. In Nigeria, two women medical professionals died in this way. They should always be remembered and celebrated
Pambazuka News 692: Imperialist plots, resistance and Ebola politics
Pambazuka News 692: Imperialist plots, resistance and Ebola politics
Tanzania under its pan-Africanist president Julius Nyerere staunchly supported the struggle of the Palestinian people against the US-backed brutal occupation by the Jewish state of Israel, thereby providing a shining example of an African nation’s commitment to emancipation of all oppressed peoples
Burundi and Rwanda have close historical ties, including a history of political violence. This author analyses the violent interactions between the two countries with reference to pan-ethnic 'imagined communities' and memories of violence as catalysts
The 2014 US-Africa Summit was a significant event but left many issues crucial to the advancement of Africans untouched. Key among those unmentioned matters was the importance of continental-diasporan collaboration
Many observers have been quick to argue that the recent US-Africa summit was meant to deepen America’s involvement in Africa at a time when China is fast expanding its presence on the continent. That may well be so, but it is also not unlikely that the US could work with China and other nations for mutual exploitation of Africa
On the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of the passing away of Neville Alexander on 27 August 2012, it is proper to deliberate on the political strategy of nation building as this was the leitmotif of the ideological interests of that socialist activist.
Western re-colonisation of Africa is decidedly underway: that was the point of the US-Africa Leaders Summit. The American pledges for new investment in Africa pale into insignificance compared with the wealth the US loots from Africa and the accompanying destabilization through increased military intervention.
Palestinian resistance to Israel’s decades-long programme of ethnic cleansing, siege, apartheid, occupation and land theft has proved that the very worst of humanity, embodied in the cowardly and murderous violence visited on women and children by the Israeli army Defense, sits in contrast to the very best of it - with the heroism and courage of this Palestinian resistance
Africa is at the centre of seismic global processes that will certainly alter the current US-dominated world order. And America is in a panic.
Chinese officials work hand in glove with Africa’s dictators during the day and dine and wine with them at night. American officials criticize African dictators during the day and dine and wine with them at night. So, how does Africa ensure its interests are served?
These anniversaries are important reminders of the work that was done by many great men and women to realize African liberation and to build pan-Africanism. The dream of a fully unified Africa remains a challenge to the present generation
In its deeply rooted racist institutional culture, the World Bank pays African American, African and Caribbean staff significantly less than their equally qualified Caucasian colleagues. This is a well-known problem, but the bank’s President Kim has failed to address it
The current Ebola crisis reinforces the prevailing narrative that black Africans living in Western countries are the diseased ‘other’ who pose a threat to the health of whites
The current crisis could well get out of hand as predicted. The problem is more than just a failure of the healthcare system. Utter negligence and poor management of public institutions, largely due to rampant corruption and bad governance, is the real issue that has come to the surface