Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Nigel Branken

Creator

Nigel Branken

Chris Hani and the unfinished meaning of freedom.

Freedom Day was not completed in 1994. It was made possible

On 27 April we should remember not only the dancing, but the funerals, the compromises and the unfinished work of liberation

Affirmation: Solidarity with Cuba, marking 65 years since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion by the imperialist US regime, which sought to destroy the Cuban Revolution. Photo: SACP

We stand with Cuba, our friend

The protests rejected this. They insisted that what we are seeing is the expansion of a single logic: imperial in character, colonial in structure, even when it speaks the…

Roedean  school

“Apolitical” Is Not Neutral: An Open Letter to Roedean School

I am writing this letter because what has unsettled me most about the recent controversy involving Roedean School cancelling a fixture with King David School, Linksfield has…

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney praised the strengths of the middle powers in his special address at Davos 2026. (World Economic Forum / Ciaran McCrickard)

Who gets protected, who gets ignored, Mr Carney?

In a world where political leaders often rely on euphemism and denial, it was striking to hear a Canadian prime minister acknowledge, plainly, that the so-called “rules-based…

Ugandan refugees Jackson Ssebuliba and Winston Mukulu with social worker Nigel Branken inside the Pretoria Refugee Reception Office, where many are turned away despite legal protections. Photo: Supplied

Who really benefits when the state refuses to provide documents?

The beneficiaries are corrupt government officials, politicians and officials who create patronage jobs in policing, business exploiting cheap labour and criminal groups such as…

Xenophobia is fear and anger weaponised against the vulnerable – and it’s deadly. File photo

Evil doesn’t wait for language: We must name xenophobia for what it is

But there is hope. Poor South Africans, the very people Operation Dudula claims to represent, are standing against this form of hatred and extreme violence