Editor's note

A giant of South African music has passed on. Joseph Shabalala founded the world famous group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, which sang isicathamiya, a traditional Zulu genre of South African a cappella. Led by Shabalala, the group achieved international renown, lifting Grammy awards and raising standing ovations at venues across the world. But, as Akhona Ndzuta writes, Shabalala was much more than an inspiring purveyor of traditional Zulu sounds. His songs were a balm to soothe a nation wounded by mining, migration and the brutality of apartheid. It’s with a heavy heart that South Africans have bid farewell to this songwriter of the people.

Charl Blignaut

Arts, Culture and Society Editor

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Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Of strong winds, heavy hearts and Joseph Shabalala telling the South African story

Akhona Ndzuta, University of Fort Hare

The passing of music giant Joseph Shabalala rests heavy on South African hearts - he told the story of black migrants within the apartheid system in a way no-one else did - and achieved global fame.

Why FIFA’s reform proposals could damage African football

Chuka Onwumechili, Howard University

FIFA’s six-month receivership in Africa has left a mark on African football.

Nigeria’s tradition of matching outfits at events has a downside

Oludayo Tade, University of Ibadan

As the Nigerian tradition of dressing in matching outfits for special events continues to grow in popularity, it brings with it a threat of social exclusion.

Radio in Ghana: from mouthpiece of coup plotters to giving voice to the people

Jacob Nyarko, University of Cape Coast

The most popular broadcast medium in Ghana has gone through a politically fuelled evolution that has strengthened it.

South Africa has a rich bag of big, small and eclectic community radio stations

Franz Krüger, University of the Witwatersrand

Most of the community radio stations operate on a survivalist level, and should be seen as struggling small, medium and micro enterprises.

What we learned from dinosaur teeth in North Africa

Femke Holwerda, Utrecht University

Teeth can reveal a lot about diversity when they are reasonably well-preserved.

New discovery: Madagascar’s bizarre aye-aye has six fingers on each hand

Adam Hartstone‐Rose, North Carolina State University

Previously undocumented, this tiny extra digit – called a "pseudothumb" – is a structure on each wrist made of bone and cartilage.

Kenyan fossil shows chameleons may have ‘rafted’ from mainland Africa to Madagascar

Andrej Čerňanský, Comenius University, Bratislava

This fossil find provides strong evidence of an African origin for some Malagasy chameleon lineages.

Pasha 53: Why we listened to tiny frogs

Ozayr Patel, The Conversation

Acoustic monitoring is ideal for tracking the abundance of a species over time, because it has minimal impact on the species being monitored.

 
 
 
 

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