Multinational Wal-Mart is trying to acquire South African retailer Massmart. Khadija Sharife explains why the deal would be bad for the country and bad for workers.

South Africa continues to be the most unequal social formation in the world. Sehlare Makgetlaneng reviews proposals by the African National Congress Youth League to radically overhaul the economic structure of the country.

While the burning of shops in Zanzibar is being interpreted as a criminal and political act, ‘nobody has asked where the root of the problem may lie in the economic and social sphere,’ says Abdul Sheriff.

Tunisia lifted an overnight curfew in the capital on Wednesday (18 May) saying security had improved since authorities arrested 1,400 people linked to the latest anti-government protests. Protesters at recent demonstrations in Tunis have said they fear democratic change is not coming quickly enough and many complain about unfair working conditions in a country where unemployment runs at around 14 per cent.

With South Africa's municipal elections taking place this week, the Mandela Park Backyarders hosted an 'Anti-Vote Election Summit' on 14 May.

I am revolution, I am change.
Effortlessly, I spring out as a tree,
fruit representing the degree of the greatness within me.

I am revolution, consistent in the movement,
so history will change itself fluently.
A speech can transform a country, and a deed
can change the heart of a man, just like a seed of greatness will blossom even though there is famine in the land. Time waits for no one but it waited for me.
I am revolution.

E.S.Newmann

Luiza Bairros

Marílio Wane

The Draft Decree is an essential step in preparation of the Tunisian elections for the Constituent Assembly, set for 24 July 2011, which will in turn be responsible for drafting the new Constitution. ARTICLE 19’s analysis of the Draft Decree calls for an improved framework that would fully incorporate relevant international standards on freedom of expression.

There was a slight increase in the number of women running for elections in this year’s local government elections. More than 19,700 women stood as candidates, compared to 15,718 in the 2006 local elections. This means that 37 per cent of the candidates were women, a two per cent increase from 2006. Women remained the majority on the Independent Electoral Committee voters' roll, which has more than 24.5 million South Africans registered.

Deadly election-related and communal violence in northern Nigeria following the April 2011 presidential voting left more than 800 people dead, Human Rights Watch said 16 May. The victims were killed in three days of rioting in 12 northern states. Nigeria's state and federal authorities should promptly investigate and prosecute those who orchestrated and carried out these crimes and address the root causes of recurring inter-communal violence.

The wife of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was being held on corruption charges, has been released on bail after handing over assets. Suzanne Mubarak turned over a villa in a Cairo suburb and $3m (£1.9m) held in bank accounts in Egypt, officials said.

The central African Republic of Gabon has been facing a latent political and social crisis since 26 January. André Mba Obame, president of the now banned opposition party ‘National Union', took his oath as the country's president, claiming that he had won the June 2009 election which was officially won by Ali Bongo, son of the former president Omar Bongo. The crisis has since deepened, with protests from students and recently oil workers, despite the exit of Mba Obame from the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) building where he had sought refuge for a month.

The so-called 'cabriolet' became a powerful symbol of failed service delivery ahead of local government elections last week. 'There is nothing more powerful than the image of a woman sitting on a toilet without an enclosure,' said Judith February, head of the political information and monitoring service at the Idasa democracy institute. 'Those are very powerful images and they show the lack of compassion there is when politicians are simply not listening to people. It’s a graphic description of local government failure.'

Elections for the presidency of the Seychelles will be held from 19 -21 May 2011. A Commonwealth Expert Team has been sent to observe the poll. The opposition leader, Wavel Ramkalawan, told Think Africa Press that the Seychellois people are 'ready for democracy' – a strange phrase to use in a country that has officially been a multi-party democracy since 1993. The current government has been in power since a military coup in the mid-70s overthrew then president, Sir James Mancham.

Tired of the picturesque island's debilitating political crisis, Malagasy youth are reading the riot act to their politicians and have asked them to put their act together. But with limited access to the corridors of power, Madagascar's young population have so far been reduced to airing their grievances at public forums. 'The young have been pushed to take part in many political battles. But once the backed people seized power, they always failed to solve our problems,' said Mr Désiré Ranaivoson, the head of the National Platform of the Young (PNJ) and one of Madagascar's interim president's right-hand men.

The Arusha-based United Nation's court for Rwanda handed a 30-year prison sentence Tuesday (17 May) to former army chief Augustin Bizimungu for his role in the country's 1994 genocide. The court also convicted Augustin Ndindiliyimana, the former head of the paramilitary police, of genocide crimes but ordered his release as he had already spent 11 years behind bars since his arrest. Two other senior generals were each sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Uganda's main opposition leader, who has been leading anti-government protests for more than a month, is under effective house arrest after police surrounded his home on Monday, his party said. Kizza Besigye has been the face of 'walk to work' protests that urge people to leave their cars at home on Monday and Thursday to highlight soaring fuel and food prices. The protests in the east African country have been crushed by police.

Political parties have ratcheted up the rhetoric ahead of the local government elections on Wednesday. Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille told a crowd in Lebogang, Mpumalanga, that they could choose five more years of poor service delivery and toyi-toying, or they could choose five years of steadily increasing access to housing and basic services by choosing the DA. ANC Youth League president Julius Malema was on the warpath taking swipes at Zille and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) president Mangosuthu Buthelezi. He referred to Zille as the 'madam' who 'moves around doing a monkey dance looking for votes'.

Up to five people were killed when Ugandan police clashed with opposition supporters who attacked cars carrying African leaders at the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni. A government spokesman confirmed at least one death in the capital, Kampala, on Thursday. But local independent TV station WBS reported that five had died when police opened fire on opposition supporters who threw stones at the cars. At the same time as the inauguration, a crowd of thousands supporting Besigye had gathered in the capital to welcome him back to Uganda from Kenya.

The Executive Council of the African Union (AU), at its Eighteenth Ordinary Session in January 2011, adopted a decision on organic farming. In particular, the decision requests the AU Commission and its New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) to initiate and provide guidance for an AU-led coalition of international partners on the establishment of an African organic farming platform based on available best practices; and to provide guidance in support of the development of sustainable organic farming systems and improve seed quality.