Editor's note

Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF emerged victorious in the first elections to be held without Robert Mugabe since independence in 1980. After days of increasing tension, as well as violence that led to six people being killed, President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner against the main opposition, MDC-Alliance candidate Nelson Chamisa. Cheryl Hendricks explains why the country desperately needed a credible election while David Moore laments what he calls a false new dawn for Zimbabwe.

The endangered species list provides up-to-date information to guide critical conservation action. Ian Colquhoun loks at how the list is compiled, and his role as part of a research group in Madagascar that’s involved in compiling data on lemurs.

The annual “Earth Overshoot Day” - the day on which the natural resources the planet can regenerate within one year are exhausted – was marked this week, the earliest it’s ever happened in a calendar year. Food systems are among the factors putting pressure on ecosystems and freshwater stocks. Elwyn Grainger-Jones discusses how science is providing solutions.

Thabo Leshilo

Politics + Society Editor

Top stories

A false new dawn for Zimbabwe: what I got right, and wrong, about the mood

David B. Moore, University of Johannesburg

Zanu-PF's more than two-thirds majority win in the parliament poll gives it the power to change the constitution if it wishes.

Zimbabwe’s historic elections: a case of leopards not changing their spots

Cheryl Hendricks, Human Sciences Research Council

If the MDC-Alliance claims Zanu-PF and Zimbabwe's electoral commission rigged the elections, the onus is on them to prove it.

The endangered species list: counting lemurs in Madagascar

Ian Colquhoun, Western University

The endangered species list is over 90 000 and includes Madagascar's lemurs.

How changing the world’s food systems can help to protect the planet

Elwyn Grainger-Jones, CGIAR System Organization

Food systems must be transformed to produce more nutritious food with a lower environmental footprint.

Politics + Society

How peace journalism can help the media cover elections in Africa

Ylva Rodny-Gumede, University of Johannesburg

In Africa, biased media coverage is one of the reasons voters have little faith in credible elections.

Ethiopians want love and forgiveness. But they want justice too

Mohammed Girma, University of Pretoria

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed needs to strike a balance between forgiveness and justice.

A tug of war in Togo over term limits and the distribution of power

Anja Osei, University of Konstanz

Togo illustrates the difficulty of moving away from personalised politics.

The free movement of people is an AU ambition: what’s standing in its way

Alan Hirsch, University of Cape Town

The free movement of people between African countries could facilitate economic development.

Business + Economy

What’s driving persistent poverty in rural Kenya

Timothy Njagi Njeru, Egerton University

Statistics suggest that the fight against poverty is far from being won in Kenya.

The BRICS summit: important small steps, but little to show on big issues

Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria

The 10th BRICS Summit delivered a mixed bag when judged on what it said on key issues, like global governance and trade.

Health + Medicine

Explainer: how competitive is South Africa’s private health care sector

Sharon Fonn, University of the Witwatersrand

A market inquiry has looked into private health care costs in South Africa.

Bongani Mayosi: South Africa’s giant of cardiology and a powerful mentor

Tolullah Oni, University of Cambridge

South African Professor Bongani Mayosi was a great mentor to many. Losing him to mental illness is a reminder that we are all human.

Arts + Culture

How resistance led to London’s Selous Street becoming Mandela Street

Tal Zalmanovich, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

From the early 1980s, local governments in the UK began renaming streets, housing estates and community centres after Mandela as an act of protest.

Somali songs reveal why musical crate digging is a form of cultural archaeology

Michael Shakib Bhatch, University of the Western Cape

A crate digger essentially builds a personal library of sonic texts that often can't be found on the internet or in official archives.

Science + Technology

Global South scholars are missing from European and US journals. What can be done about it

Peace A. Medie, University of Ghana; Alice J. Kang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The exclusion of scholars based in the global South undermines their work.

Oil discoveries in Turkana six years ago haven’t delivered benefits for women

Kennedy Mkutu, United States International University

Turkana women weren't properly represented in decisions made between the oil company and community.

Environment + Energy

Education