Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
sanlatest news & developments

San people still ‘invisible, voiceless in their homeland’

The indigenous people in Botswana want recognition and be allowed to be self-reliant to restore their dignity

On the right page: Children’s book author and executive director of Nal’ibali, Lorato Trok. Photo: Supplied

Lorato Trok: Writing our languages back into the story

Author speaks of her dedication to keeping indigenous languages alive through children’s books and her hopes for the growth of South African languages

River Club.

River Club property developers continue construction despite interim interdict

Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust maintains recommencement of construction not in contravention of the law

Nama queen: When the Covid pandemic started Dina Christiaans used her car as a recording studio when she translated the news into Nama. (Image: David Harrison/M&G)

Meet the queen working to keep South Africa’s Nama language alive

Even in hardship Nama blooms.

Fight over controversial redevelopment of River Club heads to court

The R4.6-billion project, set to house Amazon’s new African headquarters, is on ‘sacred floodplain’, say applicants

O, Canada! Art bears witness to ‘dark secrets’ of colonised places

An installation and a documentary about the notorious residential school system amplify calls to define such deaths worldwide as genocide

Natural gifts: Buchu or Agathosma
betulina has been popular in
teas and perfumes internationally
ever since it was introduced to Cape settlers. (Photo by David Cheskin – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)

Study on rats finds buchu can help with obesity, diabetes and other ailments

Stellenbosch researcher believes clinical trials on humans will show promising results

Because Katrina Esau is one of very few remaining speakers of the N|uu language, she decided to publish a children’s story in her mother tongue, saying it was a ‘matter of the heart’ for her. Photo: James Oatway/Gallo Images/Sunday Times

N|uu book waters the seed of the decolonisation project

Katrina Esau’s The Ostrich and the Tortoise aims to preserve N|uu for its next generation of speakers

Stop oil and gas drilling in Namibia’s Kavango Basin immediately — Anglican Church

Thirty-four bishops and three archbishops decry exploratory drilling as a ‘sin’ against the Earth

‘It was with much shock and absolute disbelief when one day back in 2000 while driving in Johannesburg, I heard Jonas Gwangwa using a SiNdebele phrase on his album A Temporary Inconvenience (Epic/Sony Records 2000).’

How Jonas Gwangwa used his music to preserve his mother tongue

Music giant Dr Jonas Gwangwa, who passed away on 23 January, used his influence to promote the language of his people MaNdebele ase Nyakatho, writes Lucas Ledwaba

River Club.

River Club redevelopment is a triumph for the future of First Nations’ heritage

Right of reply to How to whitewash colonial pain and trauma, published in the Mail & Guardian 24 September

South Africa’s land reform journey is still shaped by the legacies of colonial conquest and apartheid.
(Madelene Cronjé)

How to whitewash colonial pain and trauma

Approval of the River Club development in Cape Town is reminiscent of those bulldozing spatial planners of apartheid

Dav Andrew is a Cape Town-based illustrator and designer known for his Afrofuturist drawings. He was inspired to draw Ouma Griet Seekoei after her death in May, noting that she was “a language activist, fighting for government to recognize her endangered language and help it survive”

Saving southern Africa’s oldest languages

The decline of N|uu dates all the way back to 1652, when the first Europeans arrived by ship at the Cape of Good Hope.

Inside Koaxa Shelter there are at least 16 animal species that have been painted, including lion, hyena and locusts.

Unearthing the neglected role of hunter-gatherers in social transformation

Studies continue to reveal a far more complex history than that recorded by colonial settlers, missionaries and travellers