Governance

In late June 2013, Exxaro, one of South Africa’s largest coal-mining companies with assets of R41.6-billion, commenced opencast mining at Weltevreden pan close to Delmas, in the mineral-rich province of Mpumalanga.

Or rather, re-commenced.

About 115 kilometers South-East of Witbank lies the sleepy town of Carolina. The villagers of Ebuhleni, just outside the town (previously known as MaFour), are farm workers. They have always been.

Mandela was part of a large number of African militants (some of whom preceded him), who in face of the inhumane and unjust reality of apartheid, decided to take the bull by the horns and unleashed a long struggle.

A petrified world watched as Thamsanqa Jantjie jabbed incoherent fists in the air by way of signing to deaf viewers during the Nelson Mandela Memorial.

As soon as the leader of the Sudan People's Revolutionary Army, (SPLA) John Garang, was killed on 30 July 2005, in a mysterious helicopter crash, while he was returning to his base in Juba, from a trip to Uganda, I smelt a rat.

In every society there are political struggles. However, when there are large reserves of petroleum and other resources these political struggles take on added dimensions and become regionalised and internationalised.

Thirty-three years after his violent and uninvestigated removal from this planet and from the company of his family, friends, students and compatriots, his comrades and the world community that embraced him, Walter Rodney continues to make history.

The most heartwarming initiative that happened in Mogadishu in 2013 was the start of an inspirational reconstruction momentum thanks to the city’s energetic and ambitious mayor Mohamud Ahmed Nur Tarsan.

When the demise of Nelson Mandela was proclaimed to the nation by South African president Jacob Zuma, the streets were hushed and in restaurants, bars and nightclubs, there was pin drop silence as people listened in utter despondency.

As the fighting continues in full swing in South Sudan, there is a growing amount of commentary that has been made and more is still in the making about the genesis of the problems and how best they can be resolved.