Politics are in shambles across the world. Populism and political gambles are making headlines from London to Washington. Southern Africa is no exception.

Morocco’s Hirak protests are the latest bout in the tug-of-war between the Makhzen (Moroccan regime) and the victims of hogra. The late Mouhcine Fikri, the political prisoner Nasser Zefzafi, and Nawal Ben Aissa have emerged as the emblematic figures of this movement.

The need to restructure the Nigerian state has gained populist currency in the past few years. Especially, since the beginning of 2017,  it has become a consensus call coming from almost all the ethnical, political and geographical sections that make up the corporate Nigerian state.

Introduction

A recent trip to Cuba by this author inspired the following letter. It is directed to the Cuban people.

Mr. Rudolf Marquardt, a computer malware expert in Germany, travelled to Kenya for the first time in 2001 on the invitation of a Kenyan lady he met earlier that year in Germany.

On May 28, 1991, a rag tag rebel army of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) marched into Ethiopia’s capital. That day shall eternally live in infamy.

The TPLF is a terrorist organization listed in the Global Terrorism Database.

Both South Africa’s and Namibia’s governing parties are set to hold elective congresses before the end of this year. Those who win the leadership contests will each lead their respective parties into a general election in 2019 as their presidential candidate.

During the past year, political debate in South Africa has been dominated by the notion of state capture.

South Africa is at a crossroads, facing its biggest upheavals since independence in 1994. Globally, since the 2008 Great Recession there are growing explosive class and social conflicts due to the deepening crisis of capitalism.