South Africa

"Black on black racism at the height of stupidity"

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:31:00 +0200

An anti-xenophobia protest in Johannesburg yesterday. Photo: Christo Doherty.

Forty-two people have been killed since the outbreak of violent clashes between native South Africans and Zimbabwean refugees in Johannesburg.

The violence began at the beginning of last week when mobs of South African youths started attacking foreign migrants, many of whom are Zimbabweans who have fled their country because of a brutal crackdown following elections at the end of March. The aggression towards the refugees is thought to be a reaction to rising food prices and high unemployment rates among the poor working classes, who blame Zimbabweans for taking their jobs. Since the beginning of the chaos, 42 people have been killed, 400 arrested and 16,000 displaced. Yesterday, President Thabo Mbeki called on troops to halt the attacks.

Like the good old apartheid times

Julien — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:21:59 +0100

Forced to eat meat mixed with garlic and urine, cleaners at a South African university are going through their "initiation" process. Participating in beer-downing competitions, races and mock rugby games, if the black workers are sufficiently entertaining, they go away at the end of the day with a bottle of whisky.

This is what happened at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein in central South Africa last September, when five elderly black cleaners were filmed completing the humiliating tasks. On Tuesday (26. Feb) the video of the events surfaced on the internet, causing outrage across the country. Now, the four victimisers are facing criminal charges, and mass protests are taking the country by storm.

A blogger thrown backstage of the ANC

Julien — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:01:59 +0100

Our observer Ndumiso Ngcobo was the only blogger who was able to attend the ANC (Africa National Congress) congress which ends on Friday. He sees the election of Jacob Zuma, who succeeds Thabo Mbeki as the party leader. Ndumiso Ngcobo follows the week's events and offers a fresh look at the ANC with a humorous parody.