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...
ZAM editor Bart Luirink wonders why his former comrades in the Anti Apartheid Movement are investigated by the South African police. On Saturday (26 February, 2016), Dutch TV broadcast a remake of a 2010 documentary on the Dutch involvement in the release of Nelson Mandela. The film portrayed Dutch Anti Apartheid Movement chair Conny Braam and her contribution to Operation Vula. This underground ANC operation was aimed primarily at smuggling exiled leaders of the movement into the country. Because...
ZAM editor Bart Luirink wonders why his former comrades in the Anti Apartheid Movement are investigated by the South African police. On Saturday (26...
"Honestly, couldn’t we have done this on Skype?” inquires one of the team members after our first meeting. Comparing notes has been a cautious and not very exciting exercise at first. We only know other team members from social media and are still getting to know one another in real life. Seated around a large table on the hotel terrace in a warm, windless Accra, Fidelis Mac-Leva talks about himself and his job as an investigative journalist for the Nigerian Daily Trust . His newspaper is known for...
"Honestly, couldn’t we have done this on Skype?” inquires one of the team members after our first meeting. Comparing notes has been a cautious and not...
Based on the average track record of FIFA presidents so far, Tokyo Sexwale seems the perfect candidate. He is charming, charismatic, great at meetings and has extensive experience in deal-making –even if his plans, like the million houses he promised to build for the poor in South Africa, don’t always actually materialise. But one thing is sure –and this alone would make him a great fit with many other FIFA dignitaries-: whatever he undertakes generally results in fabulous wealth for himself....
Based on the average track record of FIFA presidents so far, Tokyo Sexwale seems the perfect candidate. He is charming, charismatic, great at meetings...
Ten days of student protests have won a victory. It was like a comatose giant briefly awakening from his slumber. Filling South African TV screens (for he spoke only on camera, having refused to go out to face ‘violent’ students protesting at his government buildings), South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma slowly spoke the words ‘0 % university fee increase’. The rest of what he said lasted only a few minutes, during which he stayed fully motion- and expressionless. There was no explanation, no...
Ten days of student protests have won a victory. It was like a comatose giant briefly awakening from his slumber. Filling South African TV screens (for...
In December 2013, three months before Ebola entered Sierra Leone, I was spending Christmas and the New Year there with my aging mum, siblings, and extended family. Sometimes I sat alone at the Family Kingdom Hotel, in the west end of Freetown, facing the busy street and Lumley Beach, observing the movement of people, cars and goods. It was precisely eleven years ago that the civil war had ended. The country was gradually staggering to his feet. We were still very far from achieving a...
In December 2013, three months before Ebola entered Sierra Leone, I was spending Christmas and the New Year there with my aging mum, siblings, and...
At the occasion of Rwanda Day in the Netherlands on 3 October supporters of that country’s President Paul Kagame targeted known opposition-friendly journalist Anneke Verbraeken and snatched the phone she used to take photographs of a pro-Kagame demonstration outside the Amsterdam venue. “It’s not so much the phone itself, it’s the fact that it contains many contacts of mine in Rwanda,” says Verbraeken. “It is very worrying that these are now in the hands of the regime.” Other journalists, among...
At the occasion of Rwanda Day in the Netherlands on 3 October supporters of that country’s President Paul Kagame targeted known opposition-friendly...
