A racist video has once again sparked backlash in South Africa. The controversy reflects the growing power of South Africa’s social-media users to push back against prejudiced views—both by calling for punishment against individuals, and by pushing international brands to react quickly or face the consequences.
Bobi Wine has always been able to pull a big crowd, but this week his popularity with his fans has led to clashes with police.
A meet-and-greet with illustrator Nicholle Kobi is titled A Parisian Instant, yet at home the French illustrator is overlooked. This, even as her work spreads from Instagram to communities of black women around the world, this week in Johannesburg.
Bobi Wine is learning that shifting from performing protest songs to protesting from the benches of Uganda’s parliament will require a different kind of resilience.
Mozambique is the latest African state to put a high price tag on the right to report the news. Later this month, a new set of laws are expected to go into effect that will create exorbitant fees for both news outlets and individual reporters.
In May 1956, jazz great Louis Armstrong was at the center of a dance party that would become one of the greatest crossover moments across the Atlantic Ocean.
Jack Ma regrets that it took him this long to visit Africa, but he’s making up for it by supporting young African entrepreneurs.
So small is the fraternity of black academics in South Africa, that the death of one of its brightest made national news. That it was by suicide, forced a national reckoning. Bongani Mayosi’s success, and sudden death, forced South Africans to examine how alienating the country’s campuses still are for people of color, and the mental health burden of being the only black person at the table.
This week, Zimbabweans voted in an election deemed historic because for the first time since independence in 1980, Robert Mugabe would not be on the ballot. It was meant to be a watershed moment for the country, and yet this election showed in so many ways how little has changed in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader says the country’s election was rigged—and he has the evidence to prove it.
Ruling party candidate and incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa has won Zimbabwe’s presidential election, the country’s electoral commission announced in the early hours, local time, of Aug. 3.
Harare, Zimbabwe
Even without Robert Mugabe, the ruling party in Zimbabwe has held on to victory in a historic election.
Johannesburg
Just like Instagrammers today challenge the stereotypes of Africa in the digital era, the black and white film photography of Mama Casset used the tools of the colonial era to challenge the narrative of a wild Africa. His subjects pout and pose in gestures that challenge the images of Africans created by white photographers at the time (and frankly, some today).
As consumers become more conscious about the origins of the products they own, artisanal mining has become increasingly more visible. It’s been a particular focus of the tech industry, in which the speed and convenience valued in the latest gadget seem at odds with a centuries-old mining technique. Yet, for thousands of people, this life in the mud and dust remains one of the few ways to take advantage of a country’s mineral resources.
For months, the chief executive of South Africa’s biggest TV company, MultiChoice, has suspected Netflix was messing with him and the rest of the DStv parent company. Calvo Mawela was clearly spooked, yet it seemed laughable that relative newcomer, Netflix South Africa was going after DStv in particular, until it actually turned DStv’s corporate paranoia into a joke.
MTN became Africa’s largest telco by entering markets that had been overlooked. Now, weary after losses and scandals, MTN is reconsidering is apparently reconsidering its presence in West Africa.
This 21st century marketplace is bustling with prints, dresses, sandals and even furniture, all with a unique take on contemporary style. It’s a marketplace not unlike any found in almost any major African city, except that it’s accessible to the whole word, 24/7 and shoppers only need their thumbs to navigate it.
Johannesburg
In the era of president Donald Trump, Africa has slid far off the White House’s agenda, so former president Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya and South Africa this week has been met with a great sense of nostalgia.
At what was perhaps his most important post-White House address yet, former president Barack Obama went off script at the annual Nelson Mandela lecture in Johannesburg on July 17 to deliver clear shots at the current administration.
Johannesburg
For the first time in 97 years, a South African has made it to the Wimbledon final.
