The call to prayer should welcome all Muslims, including gay Muslims, according to an openly gay imam in Cape Town. To many, the values of Islam and the rights of the LGBTQI community are incompatible, but Muhsin Hendricks has created a safe space for prayer, reflection and embracing all gender identities.
The evidence is shocking: human experiments, plots of mass murder using poisoned beer and anthrax, assassinations attempts through poisoned clothes, tampered tools and exploding letters.
South Africa’s prosecutors have dropped fraud charges against finance minister Pravin Gordhan just two days before he was set to appear in court in what would have been another move in a political game that has wreaked havoc on South Africa’s currency.
It was June 2015, and South Africans were caught up in an international drama involving a mad dash to find Omar al-Bashir. Dozens of leaders had gathered in Johannesburg for an African Union summit, but it was the presence of the Sudanese leader—in defiance of an international warrant for his arrest—that stole the show. The summit’s discussions on gender equality were overshadowed by the question: Would South Africa, a self-styled beacon of human rights on the African continent, hand over a man facing charges of genocide against his own people to the International Criminal Court?
Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos will have to explain to his country’s Supreme Court why he hired his daughter, who also happens to be Africa’s richest woman, to head up the state oil company. Dos Santos has to respond within a week, according to Angolan media.
A documentary about South African wines is leaving a sour taste in Denmark. Supermarkets there are removing the country’s wines from shelves following airing of the film, “Bitter Grapes—Slavery in the Vineyards,” on national television.
South Africa’s economy is struggling. The country barely escaped junk status when the major ratings firms assessed South Africa earlier this year. But asked by opposition lawmakers about how he would handle a credit downgrade, president Jacob Zuma was unfazed, and suggested that perhaps it’s time to assess the assessors instead.
South Africa is leaving the International Criminal Court, sparking speculation that other African nations could follow suit and quit the court. Justice Minister Michael Masutha confirmed the decision in a televised press briefing Oct. 21. The decision was taken by South Africa’s executive and will be finalized in a year, he said. Just last week, Burundi decided to withdraw from the ICC.
We should all be grateful that two of the happiest people in the world found each other and formed a beautiful friendship. The Dalai Lama and retired South African archbishop and freedom fighter Desmond Tutu have written a book together to share some of that joy. The Book of Joy outlines eight pillars of joy, according to principles of the mind and heart.
South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma was 21 years old when he was convicted for trying to overthrow the apartheid government and sentenced to prison 1963. Today, he leads a cabinet that includes ministers who began their political careers as youth activists. The country’s youth activism began as early as the 1930s, and continues today, albeit under a different political climate.
President Peter Mutharika returned to Malawi on Sunday Oct. 16, just as he’d promised. Mutharika left to attend the United Nations General Assembly mid-September and just didn’t come back. His cagey communications team would not divulge the leader’s itinerary, sparking rumors that he’d died, and the hilarious hashtag #BringBackMutharika.
In Angola, the peddler women known as zungueira are a feature in every city, carrying a large plastic bowl of goods on their heads, often with a baby strapped to their backs, trying to survive the country’s difficult economy. And now there is a video game that draws on their reality.
Thuli Madonsela’s last day in office as public protector is a testament to the kind of employee she has been, even when her high performance and work ethic have threatened the very man who hired her—South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma.
Dunkin’ Donuts brought its sprinkled donuts, drizzled danishes, and syrupy iced coffees—along with some of America’s poor dietary choices—to South Africa this week. Ironically, its grand opening coincided with national nutrition week, one of the health department’s efforts to get South Africans to eat healthier.
For weeks, learning has given way to mayhem on South Africa’s university campuses. Clashes between students protesting for free education and police have become increasingly intense, marked in recent days by arrests, destruction of property, and the discovery of undetonated petrol bombs on university grounds.
Gender inequality starts young: household-chores young.
Worried Malawians are trying to find their leader. President Peter Mutharika left Malawi on Sept. 15 to attend the United Nations General Assembly and has not been seen since. The meeting in New York City ended on Sept. 26, but Mutharika hasn’t returned home. Malawians took to social media to locate their president, using the humorous hashtag #BringBackMutharika.
South Africa’s currency is once again sinking after Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was served with a summons Oct. 11 over fraud charges and ordered to appear in a Pretoria court Nov. 2.
South Africa’s university campuses are in chaos as the Fees Must Fall movement for free education gathers momentum.
Botswana celebrates 50 years as an independent nation today. There are formal ceremonies and bashes planned throughout the coming weekend. British author Alexander McCall Smith penned a special short story of his beloved series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, which is set in Botswana, in honor of the occasion.
Africa’s largest mobile provider is facing allegations that it has illegally moved $14 billion out of Nigeria. According to reports by Bloomberg and Nigerian newspaper Premium Times, lawmakers in Nigeria’s senate have accused MTN of moving money out of Nigeria since 2006 to avoid paying tax.
Even at 80, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela captures South Africa and the world’s imagination. Unlike the partners of other liberation struggle icons, Madikizela-Mandela has refused to live a quiet life in a free South Africa, courting controversy and making great personal sacrifices throughout her career as a political activist.
The drug used to treat hepatitis B costs more than 10 times as much in South Africa as it does in India.
What would African design look like if it were allowed to enter the 21st century without the touch of colonialism? That’s the question driving South African designer Laduma Ngxokolo’s vision. A designer inspired by his Xhosa culture, Ngxokolo has created a toolkit for the traditional practice of circumcision, combining custom with modern medicine to preserve culture, while making it safer.
