South African students resume their fight – and face repression
The last few months have seen protests erupt in universities across South Africa. Ashley Fataar, from the South African organisation Keep Left, reports. In September students at universities across South Africa began demonstrating for the complete removal of university fees for poor students. The protests erupted when the minister responsible for higher education announced that […]
A return to the madness – Zimbabwe’s reawakening
Leo Zeilig, author of a recent book on Franz Fanon, reports on how a national shutdown is threatening Zimbabwe’s Mugabe regime and explains the origins of the current struggle. Last week a national shutdown or ‘stay away’ in Zimbabwe paralysed the country. For the first time in years the country’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, and the […]
Revisiting Frantz Fanon: memories and moments of a militant philosopher
A new book by Leo Zeilig focuses on one of Africa and the modern era’s most celebrated revolutionaries, whose views remain influential long after his death. Many people spoke well that day. Delegates had come from across the African continent to independent Ghana for the All-African Peoples’ Conference in 1958. Most spoke of the continuing […]
The First Three Days? The 2016 Nigeria General Strike
A comrade in Nigeria reports: The ninth general strike in Nigeria since 1999 has just been ‘suspended’ by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) after four days. The strike was against the most recent rise in the price of petrol by almost 70% announced by the government. However, this was only the straw that broke the […]
New radical website launched – Review of African Political Economy
A new website Review of African Political Economy has been launched and is a great resource for socialists says Leo Zeilig.
Frantz Fanon: The Militant Philosopher of Third World Liberation
Leo Zeilig‘s biography of Frantz Fanon, The Militant Philosopher of Third World Liberation, is out on 5 November. Here are a few teasers from the book with introductions by the author. In 1953 Fanon moved to Algeria to work in the small town of Blida, about 50 miles from the capital Algiers. He applied for a […]
South African students win on fees: an “extraordinary moment”, but the movement may go still further
After widespread student protests against rises in tuition fees, South African president Jacob Zuma announced on Friday afternoon that the government is backing down – there will be no rise in fees next year. Voices are now being raised to continue the movement, with demands for free education – free both financially and in terms of ideas. […]
South Africa: an “amazing country-wide revolt” is fighting student fee increases
Not enough has changed since the end of apartheid, say South African students, as fee increases threaten to stop many black students from going to university. Protests continue across South African universities against plans to raise tuition fees by up to 11 percent. The protests began last week in Johannesburg, and have spread around the country. […]
Miners Shot Down – remembering the Marikana Massacre
Miners Shot Down, an award-winning documentary, brilliantly reveals how government, police and big business work hand-in-glove to suppress class struggle, writes Colin Revolting.
Burkina Faso: African workers fighting neoliberalism
Drew Povey, a British socialist working in sub-Saharan Africa, currently in Nigeria, looks at the background to the recent ousting of Burkina Faso’s dictator Blaise Compaoré. This article was originally published on Pambazuka News. In the early 1980s, President Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso was a beacon of hope against the increased inequality and […]
Ebola: protests, profits and the role of Big Pharma
Sophie Williams writes on the politics behind a deadly virus that has infected thousands. Sophie is a medical student and health activist based in London The outbreak The current outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has infected and killed more people since its start in December than any previous outbreak. There have been more […]
Estonians sent to shoot Africans for French business
Estonian troops in Afghanistan. Picture via balticreports.com The nets of empire are catching more and more countries. Estonia and the Central African Republic are a case in point. William Cleary reports. Western powers are invading more and more places, and more and more Western countries are joining the invasions. The Central African Republic and Estonia […]
Patrice Lumumba’s legacy
Last Friday marked the 53rd anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba. Miriyam Aouragh looks at his legacy and western complicity in his murder. In Une Saison au Congo (A Season in the Congo) from 1966, Aimé Césaire tells an unapologetic story about brutal colonial exploitation and the subsequent transformation of the Belgian Congo into […]