Age of cruelty
The rise of darkness indeed splits the world … It divides us into those who believe in humanity and those who feel entitled to do whatever they want
Global North
The billionaire house of cards
The 99% are done waiting. Billionaire fortunes hit a record high and the G20’s effort on inequality has been deleted
B20: A catalyst for Africa’s luxury renaissance
The world is moving from borrowing African aesthetics to embracing African authority
Breaking with G20 custom, world leaders adopt declaration at start of annual summit
President Cyril Ramaphosa told delegates that all G20 members except the US had signed the declaration
G20: All eyes on Ramaphosa
The absence of US President Donald Trump, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin puts the spotlight squarely on President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africa
South Africa must use the G20 to reset its climate legacy
Advancing climate and sustainability action will require that all arms, spheres and levels of government lead an integrated and interdependent response to climate change
G20’s youth forum split over wording and accountability structure
For the first time in 14 years, the G20 youth engagement group (Y20) closed its summit last week without issuing a communiqué — the set of recommendations that usually feeds into a declaration by world leaders at their annual summit, this year being hosted in Johannesburg in November. In June, the Y20 submitted a communique […]
G20 youth confront challenges of multilateral cooperation, national sovereignty
The Y20 summit revealed disparities in youth-driven calls for climate justice, inclusive growth and sovereignty between the Global South and North
Reform legislation to boost the Pandemic Treaty
Business interests and intellectual property laws privilege the wealthy and leave the rest scrabbling for life-saving medicine
Johannesburg: A city laid bare in lines of poetry
Salimah Valiani’s beautiful, insightful anthology explores Johannesburg and its inhabitants
African philosophy: The inclusiveness and limitations of the continent’s political thought
African societies are organised around the requirements of duty, while Western societies are organised around individual rights
Localise global health to transform Africa’s healthcare systems
Locally-driven global health solutions work best and decisions need to be taken as close as possible to the people affected by the health problems
Heed the youth on climate change
To force a climate breakthrough, leaders must listen to and promote the stories of young people
Debunked: The cruel and racist logic of Omicron travel bans
Wealthy countries were quick to ban Southern African nations from entering their borders when the Omicron variant was identified, but did not do so to each other.
‘South Africa will decline finance deal on energy if terms are bad’
Cyril Ramaphosa says the terms of $8.5-million climate finance offered to South Africa by wealthy countries are not yet set in stone
Most climate science is written by white men
In deciding how the world responds to the climate crisis, policymakers rely on research that tends to be written predominantly by men in the Global North
The convenient myth of an Africa spared from Covid-19
There are few, if any, studies to support Pfizer chief executive’s assertion that the global south would be more vaccine-hesitant than the north
Journey through anxious Joburg
A new book has collected writing about the condition of living, yes, with a high crime rate, but also other, more pervasive existential urban stresses particular to the Global South
The foreign aid game is changing: these are the opportunities for Africa
A more explicit emphasis on the national interest may encourage donor countries to play ‘the long game’ in Africa
What is this place?: The visual simulacrum of South Africa in the Covid-19 lockdown
Why is the visual depiction of this country in centre-left international online news publications so unrecognisable?
Macroeconomic policy options beyond Covid-19 depression
Measures need to lay the foundations of a new economy and society post the pandemic
Eusebius McKaiser: Certain views about Covid-19’s global trajectory are anti-poor and anti-human
This is no time to snigger at the high rates of coronavirus in the Global North. We could be just as hard hit — and it is poor people who will suffer the most
A life spent rewriting Africa
Binyavanga Wainaina was an exceptional writer, activist and human being
