The incoming Trump administration is likely to turn isolationist and dial down engagement with Africa, allowing the Chinese to fill the resulting vacuum. November has proved to be eventful. Apparently, South African President Jacob Zuma’s leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) is...
Elections, free, fair and not-so-fair, at a time of economic crisis mark a deepening of democracy in a continent where Big Men once ruled with impunity. Power abhors a vacuum. In many parts of Africa, independence from European imperial powers was just a ceremonial transfer of power to local...
Fair Observer's five best articles of January. Barely in a blink, January has sailed by and 2014 has got off to a cracker. Weather patterns are changing around the world. North America has been hit by a "polar vortex," causing temperatures to drop to -51°C. Australia is experiencing record...
How will Mugabe’s re-election impact relations with South Africa? By Michael Kahn Robert Gabriel Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), won a seventh term as leader of the government of Zimbabwe. In polls on July 31, ZANU-PF received around 61% of the...
Whether Zimbabwe's elections are free and fair matters little for the international community. Amid the hand wringing from the outside world over how free and fair Zimbabwe's elections will be, one uncomfortable question lingers. Does it really matter? Yes, 1 million dead voters...
South Africans ponder over what lies ahead in the post-Mandela years. By Jeffrey Herbst and Greg Mills Nelson Mandela’s leadership has been justly celebrated. He is rightly recognised as one of the great figures of our time. Many will also ask how South Africa will fare without Mandela...
