Scroll down for Dutch version 'Dear Sylvana' | Members of the ZAM Team take part in a campaign to support of Sylvana Simons who is targeted by racist and sexist hate speech and threats. Dear Sylvana, You are the target of a hideous racist and sexist hate speech. Almost daily new insults are directed at your person. A 'joke' in a talkshow, a photoshopped KKK lynching on Facebook, a cowardish carnival song. It's difficult to maintain that these are statements by confused loners. We call upon everyone...
Scroll down for Dutch version 'Dear Sylvana' | Members of the ZAM Team take part in a campaign to support of Sylvana Simons who is targeted by racist and...
On Wednesday 2 November TV cameras will cover the streets of Pretoria’s inner city as protestors of many colours and backgrounds will march against the reign of President Jacob Zuma. The hashtag #stopthelooting is uniting even the radical Economic Freedom Front of Julius Malema, whose supporters hail mainly from impoverished black areas, and the still mainly white Democratic Alliance. This is a marked difference from earlier anti-Zuma marches, which were largely white middle-class based. Though...
On Wednesday 2 November TV cameras will cover the streets of Pretoria’s inner city as protestors of many colours and backgrounds will march against the...
Activists climb the Kilimanjaro. The ‘Africa Rising’ slogan, which depicts the continent as one whole happy black-and-gold glob uplifting itself from misery, is old, discredited and serves dictatorial and corrupt African regimes more than anyone else. It is, –according to the latest economic research- also untrue. Africa as a whole is not getting richer , even if some corrupt elites are. Like everywhere else, the gap between rich and poor is widening. Enter “Africans rising.” Africans. Rising . Now...
Activists climb the Kilimanjaro. The ‘Africa Rising’ slogan, which depicts the continent as one whole happy black-and-gold glob uplifting itself from...
The ZAM Team mourns the passing of Fezeka Kuzwayo. She had the courage to fight the powerful. In a poem, published by ZAM in 2009, Fezeka recalled the horror she experienced one night in the house of the man who became president of South Africa. Khwezi, as Fezeka was also known left us last Saturday. We will remember her. I am Khanga I wrap myself around the curvaceous bodies of women all over Africa I am the perfect nightdress on those hot African nights The ideal attire for household chores I...
The ZAM Team mourns the passing of Fezeka Kuzwayo. She had the courage to fight the powerful. In a poem, published by ZAM in 2009, Fezeka recalled the...
Two of our best editors in Uganda recently quit journalism for government jobs. They have been criticised for this. But I understand them. See, I never studied journalism. My jam was human resource management, so don’t be surprised if you see me swap media for HR someday. But I was drawn to print journalism by my passion for the written word and for using it to disseminate information to the public. However, after 12 years of putting myself in the firing line to break some big stories, and being...
Two of our best editors in Uganda recently quit journalism for government jobs. They have been criticised for this. But I understand them. See, I never...
Deputy president of the Banadir Journalists Union in Somalia and ZAM correspondent, Muno Gedi, tried to attend the historical peace summit in her country. But there were roadblocks and she was left sitting next to the radio with her hopes, fears and dreams. There is change in the air. Mogadishu is quiet when I wake up on this Tuesday, without any noise or traffic in the streets. Today there will be no bomb attacks. Police are everywhere. Hotels and institutions are barricaded, on every corner there...
Deputy president of the Banadir Journalists Union in Somalia and ZAM correspondent, Muno Gedi, tried to attend the historical peace summit in her...
Girls abducted. Girls married off before they turn 15. Women denied equality before the law. Why do so many African societies move like a car on two left-side wheels? Are children as capable of thought and insight as adults? How do they react to stereotypes about age, race, ethnicity, culture, religion or gender? At what age do children form opinions, or start to remember things? Too often, adults assume that childhood is some sort of mental, auditory or visual impediment: when really, they are...
Girls abducted. Girls married off before they turn 15. Women denied equality before the law. Why do so many African societies move like a car on two...
Revolution at a girls' school 6 September 2016 | Damn, I am missing out on the revolution. Where were all these teenage girls with their fists in the air, shouting and singing, when my daughters schooled at Pretoria High School for Girls (PHSG)? Even last year, all I ever saw on the school grounds were polite and quiet pupils in their green dresses and blue blazers who, as soon as you passed them, would chime "Good Morning Ma’am!" Right little ladies they were, black, coloured, Indian and white....
Revolution at a girls' school 6 September 2016 | Damn, I am missing out on the revolution. Where were all these teenage girls with their fists in the...
In January 1961, Dutch broadcaster AVRO transmitted the first interview with Nelson Mandela in a documentary on 'Boers and Bantus'. It's less than a minute but a most telling interview. Mandela states: "From the very beginning, the African National Congress set itself the task of fighting against white supremacy. We have always regarded it as wrong for one racial group to dominate another racial group.” It is assumed that the interview was held five years earlier during a break at the 1956 Treason...
In January 1961, Dutch broadcaster AVRO transmitted the first interview with Nelson Mandela in a documentary on 'Boers and Bantus'. It's less than a...
An apartheid assassin and many former secret service agents conspired against law enforcement in South Africa together with ‘big tobacco.’ Scrutiny of the hundreds of secret agent files, payment sheets and activity reports leaked from within ‘big tobacco’ in South Africa last week, reveals that the tobacco companies who corrupted South African law enforcement counted many former apartheid secret service operatives in their ranks, including notorious ‘superspy’ and killer Craig Williamson. Searching...
An apartheid assassin and many former secret service agents conspired against law enforcement in South Africa together with ‘big tobacco.’ Scrutiny of...
A giant data leak from within the South African tobacco industry presents evidence of large-scale infiltration by the tobacco mafia of the South African police, justice and secret services. The documents, leaked last week by whistle blowers from within the private ‘big tobacco’ -paid research agency Forensic Security Services (FSS) and tweeted from @EspionageSA , show in detail how scores of state officials (171 in total) were paid to sabotage competitors in the tobacco sector. They did this inter...
A giant data leak from within the South African tobacco industry presents evidence of large-scale infiltration by the tobacco mafia of the South African...
What does the death of Mandela means to youngsters under the age of 26? I was curious to find out what youngsters think about Nelson Mandela, and decided to ask 12 youngsters on the streets of Amsterdam to give me 2 words that come to mind when they think about him. All of them kindly accepted to play the game. Some of them told me that 2 words were not even enough to describe this man. It was inspiring to see how his memory and deeds still has impact among a younger generation Here is the result...
What does the death of Mandela means to youngsters under the age of 26? I was curious to find out what youngsters think about Nelson Mandela, and decided...
The USA's mistake was 'not to plan for the day after' When President Barack Obama leaves office, he will be remembered as one of the most successful presidents in America’s history. Among his achievements would be leading the country to bounce back from one of the worst financial crisis, healthcare reform through the Affordable Care Act and promoting major liberal policies like gay rights. In the international scene, he’s ensured an overdue rapprochement with Cuba and joined the rest of the...
The USA's mistake was 'not to plan for the day after' When President Barack Obama leaves office, he will be remembered as one of the most successful...
As military jets fly over Kampala, an eerie silence reigns in the Ugandan capital. Social protests have been banned by a court order, media are blocked from reporting on even the smallest eruption of activism and people suspected of being involved in such activism are being arrested. The country is preparing to swear in President Yoweri Museveni for the fifth time. Having been in power for the past thirty years, the name of Museveni’s ruling party NRM, -National Resistance Movement-, hardly applies...
As military jets fly over Kampala, an eerie silence reigns in the Ugandan capital. Social protests have been banned by a court order, media are blocked...
As ZAM was preparing the publication of its new investigation into ruby plunder and abuse of local citizens in northern Mozambique, the tragic news of yet another organized crime-inspired murder in that country reached us. The victim of ‘unknown gunmen,’ this time, was prosecutor Marcelino Vilanculos, who was shot in the head through his car window as he arrived at his home in Matola shortly after 7 PM on 11 April. Vilanculos was in charge of the prosecution of a criminal network that had achieved...
As ZAM was preparing the publication of its new investigation into ruby plunder and abuse of local citizens in northern Mozambique, the tragic news of...
The revelations in the Panama Papers –offshore account details held by the global rich and powerful, unearthed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) last week- have caused turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo because of their mention of President Joseph Kabila’s twin sister, Jaynet. All of a sudden, the rumours around Jaynet’s business deals and suspicions that she was the channel through which the wealthy family is moving Congo’s money out of the country,...
The revelations in the Panama Papers –offshore account details held by the global rich and powerful, unearthed by the International Consortium of...
Mistrust of 'white capital' feeds the South African president's racial populism “It’s a single minded onslaught,” says my friend Jakes with emphasis. “The whites in Cape Town. The Afrikaans millionaires. The (mainly white opposition party) DA. The media –they’re also still mostly white, you know that. And who do they want to replace Zuma with? Cyril Ramaphosa, the co-opted black mining tycoon. The killer of Marikana (1).” Jakes knows he’ll be called a conspiracy theorist. “But regime change has...
Mistrust of 'white capital' feeds the South African president's racial populism “It’s a single minded onslaught,” says my friend Jakes with emphasis....
A worldwide investigative journalism project uncovers offshore wealth tucked away by world leaders, including African presidents and their relatives. A massive leak from a Panama-based law firm has exposed the private wealth of many world leaders across the globe. An investigation into the leaked papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) shows that law firm Mossack Fonseca assisted the likes of former Nigerian governor James Ibori, current head of the Nigerian...
A worldwide investigative journalism project uncovers offshore wealth tucked away by world leaders, including African presidents and their relatives. A...
The Nelson Mandela', Oliver & Adelaide Tambo' and Ahmed Kathrada Foundation call on the ANC to correct itself. The Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation jointly write to you at a difficult time in the history of the African National Congress and our country, South Africa. The ANC has been through challenging times before, but with the resourceful and courageous leadership the organisation has been blessed with in its long history, it...
The Nelson Mandela', Oliver & Adelaide Tambo' and Ahmed Kathrada Foundation call on the ANC to correct itself. The Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation,...
My old ANC-buddies and I still fondly remember those days at Bra Boet’s bottlestore in Khayelitsha, when we used to sit there on the stoep pretending to be drunks –granted, we also did drink, just a little-, whilst plotting to collect some guns and grenades from Botswana to fight the Boers with. The contact has watered down over the past twenty-five years or so. But I took a plane just to hear, directly, from comrades what the witblits is going on there? Some nouveau-riche family from India called...
My old ANC-buddies and I still fondly remember those days at Bra Boet’s bottlestore in Khayelitsha, when we used to sit there on the stoep pretending to...
Former members of the leadership of the Anti Apartheid Movement Netherlands (AABN) have spoken out in solidarity with 'many South Africans who raise their voice against state capture and the defilement of shared ideals'. In an Open Letter to the ANC they express their 'grave concern' about recent investigation by the South African police. The Letter reads as follows: We, former members of the Anti Apartheid Movement Netherlands (AABN), express our grave concern about recent police and other...
Former members of the leadership of the Anti Apartheid Movement Netherlands (AABN) have spoken out in solidarity with 'many South Africans who raise...
