The Mail & Guardian shares some of the best photos of 2011.
Calm before the storm: A hawker sells cigarettes and charges phones in Kinshasa a few days before the Democratic Republic of Congo elections. (Paul Botes, M&G)
A man wades in debris-filled water after a fire razed 500 houses in Malabon city, north of Manila, in April. (Erik de Castro, Reuters)
Shack shine: The sun peeps through clouds over Enkanini, Khayelitsha, in Cape Town. (David Harrison, M&G)
Eye on the prize: Anton Goncharov of Ukraine competing at the Fina World Championships in Shanghai in July. (Issei Kato, Reuters)
An ultra-orthodox Jewish boy runs next to bonfires during Lag Ba’Omer celebrations to commemorate the end of a plague said to have decimated Jews in Roman times in Bnei Brak, Israel. (Ariel Schalit, AP)
In step: Ukhahlamba Zulu Dance group during a rehearsal at Alexandra’s Madala Hostel in Johannesburg. (Oupa Nkosi, M&G)
Waiting to vote: Residents of the Ramaphosaville informal settlement on Johannesburg’s East Rand queue to make their mark during the municipal elections in May. (Lisa Skinner, M&G)
Deportation deadline: Zimbabweans without documents waiting for permits outside the home affairs office in Pretoria ahead of the July 31 deadline. (Madelene Cronjé, M&G)
Lightning over the Puyehue volcano, south of Santiago, Chile. (Francisco Negroni, AP)
Crowd control: Some 14345 participants attempt to set a new Guinness World Record as they gather bathe in a hot spring in China’s Chongqing municipality. (AFP)
Car trouble: Submerged vehicles at the Honda factory in Thailand’s Ayutthaya province after the floods in November. (Damir Sagolj, Reuters)
Disaster zone: The Japanese city of Rikuzentakata after it was hit by the devastating tsunami triggered by an earthquake in March. (Nicolas Asfour, AFP)
Rebel with a cause: A Libyan fighter involved in a shootout with forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi. (Esam Al-Fetori, Reuters)
Ceremony: A plane flies through the ‘Tribute in Lights’ in New York on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. (Eric Thayer, Reuters)