insight

THE government of Lesotho has committed millions of maloti in flights and hotel accommodation to support the candidacy of Joshua Phoho Setipa for the position of Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. That investment has raised serious questions among Basotho. Why would the government invest so much to secure the employment of one individual when there are …

It’s not often that I have the opportunity to report a feel-good story from Cameroon, a story that lifts the heart and allows hope for the future of one of Africa’s most troubled countries. This story has to do with the courage of young poets who are contesting the dictatorship of Paul Biya.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been looking at recent and forthcoming elections in the UK, France, South Africa and the United States. I want now to place all of that in perspective by quoting a newly published mini-pamphlet being distributed in churches in the UK and titled The Cross that Counts. Its authors are …

Over the last few weeks I have discussed recent elections in the UK, South Africa and France, and this week I turn to the upcoming Presidential election in the United States, which will take place on November 5th. Events have been moving at a pace I can hardly keep up with, culminating in the decision …

Last week I started to discuss the wave of elections that have been taking place or that are imminent, mostly in the global north (or as it used to be called, less precisely, the west). These are elections in which right-wing parties have been vocal, in two cases at least threatening to take power: parties …

Members of the gangs of the men in blankets often flaunt and brag on Facebook and TikTok about the large sums of money that they earn through illegal mining in South Africa. The money is often displayed in bundles of tens or even hundreds of thousands of new R200 and R100 notes.

A change of plan in a time of change. This week I intended to write about the great South African poet Antjie Krog. But, with the approval of my long-suffering editor, I’m going to discuss instead recent and forthcoming elections in the UK, South Africa, France and the United States.

We have, thus far, explored different reasons for writing; such as writing to persuade, to inform, to register a complaint, and to narrate a story. But writing could achieve so much more. Today we focus on activist writing; writing dedicated to achieving a specific cause or to the attainment of a certain goal and realisation …

Last week I left off at the point where I was still in secondary school and decided I didn’t enjoy acting but wanted to be a theatre producer. I then produced several short plays, which went down well. At school one of the masters was trained to give career advice. I remember one of my …

Last week I embarked on a multi-part essay titled “Treading the Boards”, an insider’s perspective on making theatre. This week I’m interrupting the flow of that piece, because there is recent political news I urgently wished to share with my readers. The headline quoted as the title of this piece beggars belief, but it seems …