South Africa
Rust Belt Politics
Once built on steel, cheap electricity and state planning, South Africa’s Vaal Triangle symbolized the country’s industrial ambition. Today, much of that industry is shrinking or closing, and communities are left struggling to survive.
‘South Africa First’ Hits the Streets
Xenophobia in South Africa has taken a new form, as vigilante groups set up checkpoints at clinics and schools, stopping people and demanding identification. Foreign nationals are often turned away or singled out, while the response from police and government is inconsistent.
Waiting for Justice in South Africa
South Africa has cultivated an aura of moral authority grounded in its peaceful transition from apartheid. But that image obscures a darker truth, for the state has systematically failed to pursue the justice that was promised in hundreds of cases of political murder and torture committed by the apartheid regime.
Who Counts as an Afrikaner?
The arrival of white South African families in the U.S. seeking asylum and alleging racial persecution sparked debate over their country’s postapartheid politics. Their story reveals the contradictions of an Afrikaner identity often associated with the international far right, but claimed by racially diverse South Africans.
Gen X Straddles the Past and Future in South Africa’s Land Debate
South Africans who came of age as apartheid was ending are caught in a land struggle that has deepened divisions in the country, reflecting the complexities of reconciliation and pushing some to take matters into their own hands.
The Worldview of the Afrikaner Diaspora Now Haunts the US
Donald Trump has taken an aggressive stance toward South Africa over its alleged oppression of its white Afrikaner minority, despite a lack of facts backing up his claims. The personnel guiding the new administration, including Elon Musk, may offer a hint at what is driving this new policy.
What a Beauty Pageant Reveals About Identity in Postapartheid South Africa
The young South African model Chidimma Adetshina was recently forced to quit the Miss South Africa pageant after facing xenophobic abuse for being born to a Nigerian father and Mozambican mother, in a case that has fired up debate over national identity.