Newsletter

There has been an increase in the amount of news being sourced from digital platforms such as the internet and social media in Africa. According to the latest analysis from Afrobarometer, Conroy-Krutz and Kone (2022) found Afrobarometer data indeed highlight these digital divides. The privileged still get more from these platforms than the underrepresented. However, there is an increase underrepresented groups enjoying more access to digital media.

Throughout apartheid and into democracy, violence has been a prevalent feature of community life and contributed toward high levels of psychological distress and aggression. Not only overt and physical violence, this, also, includes structural and institutional violence, in the form of forced dislocation, lack of opportunities, and inhibitions to upward mobility for persons of colour.

This year’s Anti-Racism week comes at a pivotal moment for South Africa and the world. As global and local current events have shown, there is an urgent need to radically disrupt and dismantle racial injustice, anti-blackness, afrophobia and the various global power structures that entrench violence and inequity.

The end of February 2022 marked a major turning point in international relations after Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine. Many see this as a flagrant violation of the international norms and standards that have developed over the past decades, including notions of sovereignty, international law, individual human rights and freedoms and democracy. At the same time the invasion has also been hailed as an opportunity for a restructuring of the global system.

Now that the votes have been tallied, it is clear that South Africa’s local government elections have produced a distinct voting anomaly: less than a third of adults participated in the vote. Instead of focusing on which party governs in particular areas, the low levels of voter registration and turnout suggest that there is a more fundamental question to ask after these elections: How representative is our democracy? The core principle of democracy – translated literally as ‘people power’ – relies on public participation. South Africans understand the importance of majority rule better than most. So how did an election occur with only a minority being represented?

In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, the youth are disproportionately affected by the conflict waged by the insurgent group, Ahlu-Sunna Wa-Jama’a (ASWJ). Factors such as unemployment, disruptions to education and an economy that offers little in terms of job prospects make the youth particularly at risk of being recruited by extremists. Limited channels for engagement with the government and the absence of formalised structures for youth also mean that they continue to be seen as “part of the problem” rather than the positive force that they can be, driving innovation and change, and acting as peacebuilders within their communities.

Over the last six years, IJR has been leading a research project aimed at narrowing the gap between mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and peacebuilding (PB). This project is based on the premise that war, violent conflict, and its legacies weaken the social fabric that governs relationships and the capacity for recovery.

The ARP and GJR teams were in the small Western Cape town of Calitzdorp from the 25 October 2021 to the 3 November 2021, where workshops and discussions were conducted with long-standing IJR ambassadors and community members around the themes of gender justice and reconciliation, as well as anti-racism. As an organization formed in the wake of a democratic South Africa, the projects are underpinned by the tenets of transitional justice and building fair, democratic, and inclusive societies.

The main goal of Afrobarometer is to give the public a voice in policymaking by providing high-quality public opinion data to policymakers and policy advocates on democracy, governance, and the economy. During my training and fieldwork observation trips in eSwatini, Mozambique, South Africa, and Namibia in 2021, the importance of this work was thrust into the limelight for me once again. I’d like to offer a few reflections from the field as 2021 draws to a close.

Recent protests in various communities across South Africa have once again given prominence to the country’s housing crisis. More than 25 years since the dawn of democracy, South Africa continues to be plagued by a desperate housing shortage.