Donald Trump calls the white Boer minority in South Africa “disadvantaged” and offers them asylum in the U.S. But they want no part of it, as quickly becomes clear on a visit to Orania, the most controversial white settlement in the country.
Author: Christian Putsch
Freelance Correspondent, South Africa. Reporter for German newspapers Die Welt / Welt am Sonntag / Berliner Morgenpost, covering politics and economics. Multimedia publication on the Ebola crisis: "Heroes of Monrovia". and on the crisis in the Central African Republic: "The dangerous home". Preparing trips to Angola, Nigeria and Somalia.
The war in Sudan has displaced some 10 million people, and 2 million have moved to the already fragile neighboring countries. Yet, as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East dominate global politics, there are huge gaps in the provision of international aid to these refugees. Rarely has a disaster of this magnitude received so little attention from the international community.
No other African country was dominated by men to the same extent as Somalia. Yet women have been fighting against male control: whether in parliament, where there is now a quota for female representatives, in journalism or in beauty contests. But they are coming up against dangerous opposition.
Harmless insects are named after nasty dictators, which doesn’t seem to bother zoologists. Botanists, on the other hand, want to banish the offensive word “caffra” from the realm of flora. There is an understandable reason why South Africa has managed to do so, writes correspondent Christian Putsch.
Struggling to find drivers in Germany, the Cologne-based trucking company Emons is now successfully recruiting apprentices in the crisis-hit central African countries of Congo and Burkina Faso. While recruiting skilled workers abroad is a slow process, it is always better than unregulated migration.
For centuries, European colonial powers and Arab traders kidnapped millions of Africans as slaves. Local tribes in Benin and other West African countries often helped and became rich themselves. Now the descendants of the slave traders are coming to terms with this troubling history.
After 30 years in power, South Africa’s leading party ANC has to form a coalition. This is a first for both the party and the country. A partnership with the white-dominated Democratic Alliance is likely to upset the base of both parties. But if they care about the future of South Africa, they have to take this risk.
A failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo saw the unusual involvement and arrest of U.S. fighters, but it is part of a growing anti-Western sentiment throughout the continent.
Abductions are one of the main sources of income for terrorists in Africa. Recently a South African paramedic was freed in Mali after being held for more than six years. His release is down to one man who worked tirelessly to secure his freedom.
A video is fueling speculation about Ukrainian military activities in Africa that appears to show the capture of Wagner mercenaries in Sudan. Kyiv is cooperating with the army in the African nation in the fight against the RSF militia supported by Wagner — in a sort of proxy war far from home.
Following South Africa’s genocide allegations against Israel, Netanyahu’s government now has to defend itself at the International Court of Justice. But the lawsuit does not come as a surprise. For decades, there have been tensions between Israel and South Africa, where there is great sympathy for the Palestinian cause going back to the times of apartheid.
Since the West has largely abandoned the fight against terror in the region, Russia’s hour seems to have come. Until now, the transit country for migration has wavered as to whether it should break with the EU and turn to Moscow. A new deal is now sending a clear signal.
As the West hoards vaccines, less than 10% of Africans are vaccinated. But now, the continent’s first vaccine factory has opened in South Africa. And behind it is Patrick Soon-Shionga pharmaceutical billionaire with a mission to change the African continent.