Photo : Reuters
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : Reuters
IN BRIEF
Ayan Datta
South Africa: ANC’s electoral dilemma
On 3 June, BBC’s opinion discussed the African National Congress (ANC) was in a critical dilemma. The ANC won only 40 per cent of the vote. It needs to find a coalition partner to secure a parliamentary majority. The partner has to support the ANC’s choice of President. Its first option for a coalition partner is the Democratic Alliance (DA). However, the public perceives the DA as pro-White and pro-apartheid. The DA opposes the ANC’s welfare state policies and “black empowerment” efforts. For the ANC, these policies are non-negotiable. The ANC’s second option is to ally with Jacob Zuma’s MK party. However, there is personal animosity between Zuma and the ANC’s leader Cyril Ramaphosa. The Economic Freedom Party (EFF) can be a third option for ANC. However, the EFF considers the seizure and redistribution of white-owned land without compensation as its “cardinal principle.” The ANC opposes this policy. (“South Africa elections: ANC's dilemma over coalition government,” BBC, 3 June 2024)
Nigeria: Worker unions organise national grid shutdown
On 3 June, the BBC reported that Nigerians were left without electricity after labour union members shut down the national grid. The shutdown was part of a general strike against the rising cost of living in the country. The unions were demanding an increase in the minimum wage. Nigeria’s economy has been suffering from high inflation. Workers’ wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of commodities including rice. However, the government says wage increases would harm the economy and increase unemployment because businesses would be forced to close. This is the fourth strike since President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023. (“NLC strike update in Nigeria: National grid shut down,” BBC, 3 June 2024)
Africa: Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) publishes report on most neglected displacement crises, nine out of ten in Africa
On 3 June, Al Jazeera quoted a report published by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on the world’s most neglected displacement crises. Burkina Faso topped the list for the second time. It was followed by Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, Niger, Honduras, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan. Secretary-General of the NRC, Jan England, stated: “The utter neglect of displaced people has become the new normal.” He added: “The local political and military elites disregard the suffering they cause, and the world is neither shocked nor compelled to act.” In Burkina Faso, violence between armed groups left hundreds of thousands displaced last year. In Cameroon, 1.1 million people were internally displaced because the Francophone government suppressed Anglophone protests. In the DRC, internal armed violence led to 6.9 million displaced people. In Mali, more than 340,000 people were displaced because of conflict between the state’s military and non-state armed groups. In Niger, the number was above 335,000. In Honduras, 250,000 were displaced. In South Sudan, civil war and conflict in Sudan led to around 4 million internally displaced people. In the CAR, 25 per cent of the population was internally displaced. In Chad, 200,000 people were internally displaced. Sudan saw the world’s internal displacement crisis, with eight million people displaced. (“The world’s neglecting vulnerable displaced people. Here’s where it’s worst,” Al Jazeera, 3 June 2024)
Kenya: Seven new bodies exhumed from forest
On 4 June, seven new bodies were recovered in Kenya’s Shakahola forest. A total of 436 bodies have been exhumed from the mass gravesite so far. Pastor Paul Mackenzie is the suspected murderer. He is alleged to have encouraged his followers to starve themselves to death so that they would meet Jesus. The case brought state attention to Kenya’s unregulated Churches and cults. (“Kenya: exhumations continue in Shakahola forest,” Africanews, 4 June 2024)