WM Gumede

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MundoÁfrica

The massacre at Lonmin's Marikana mine, which saw 34 people die after the police shot striking miners, looks like becoming a tipping point for South Africa's governing African National Congress. It's hard to underestimate the impact that scenes once so associated with apartheid will have now they are replayed under a black, democratic government.

Marikana showed that a black life, 18 years after racism was supposed to have been banished, still often counts for very little, and that the inequality between the rich (mostly white) and the poor (mostly black) has remained unchanged – although a small black elite, from the ranks of senior ANC leaders, public servants and trade unions, has become fabulously rich.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaMundoAsia

Ashipment of weapons from China destined for Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe is an obvious cause for the west to denounce Beijing's involvement in Africa. But western business and political leaders have already been watching China's re-engagement with the continent with trepidation. China is setting up Confucius schools, laying out roads and railways, and stitching together deals to buy its commodities - oil, platinum, gold and minerals. Perhaps not since the first wave of independence during the late 1950s has there been such a buzz in Africa. And crisis meetings, conferences and summits are being hurriedly put together as the US, the EU and Japan scratch their collective heads over how to respond.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica

Jacob Zuma, the Teflon politician of South Africa, has performed one of the most stunning comebacks in the country's history. Despite having been sacked by Thabo Mbeki in 2005 for alleged corruption, remaining the target of an ongoing corruption investigation, and having faced accusations of rape, he yesterday swept to the leadership of the ruling African National Congress, defeating the incumbent, President Mbeki.Zuma's challenge is to keep the deeply divided ANC together, while delivering on his promises to a disparate and expectant support base. As if this were not enough, he will have to convince South Africa's anxious establishment - black and white - that his Lazarus-like rise does not herald the apocalypse.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica, , ,

Post-G8 report cards are for the most part judging that the emphasis in Germany last week was on climate change, with the fight against poverty in Africa and the developing world taking a back seat. In truth, however, the two are so closely intertwined that they cannot be considered separately. Just as skewed global trade and political systems stack the deck against developing countries struggling to escape the poverty trap, it also limits their scope for effective action on climate change.

Progressive efforts to tackle climate change in Africa and the developing world are almost invariably hamstrung by global political, trade and finance rules and realities.…  Seguir leyendo »