The Weekend Conversation

Editor's note

Newly inaugurated World Health Organisation Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus has a lot on his plate. In Africa, there are several competing health priorities including high rates of HIV/Aids and Malaria. Four academics from the continent: Andrew Githeko, Bob Mash, Karen Daniels and Thumbi Mwangi, have some advice for Dr Tedros.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that industrialised countries should be more open to transferring weapons to African countries, as part of their development aid. David Shinn warns that this proposal needs to be approached with great caution.

Last weekend Senegal saw its worst ever sporting disaster when eight football fans were killed in a stampede following fighting between rival fans. But, Mark Hann writes, while their behaviour was unacceptable, the situation was compounded by a glaring lack of security.

Candice Bailey

Editor

Top Stories

New World Health Organisation Director-General De Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Reuters/Denis Balibouse

African academics set out what Dr Tedros needs in his toolbox to tackle health ills

Andrew Githeko, Kenya Medical Research Institute; Bob Mash, Stellenbosch University; Karen Daniels, South African Medical Research Council; Thumbi Mwangi, Washington State University

How will the World Health Organisation's Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus deal with the mounting challenges? Africa's academics have some tips.

There are 100 million uncontrolled small arms and light weapons in African crisis zones. Reuters/Goran Tomasevic

Merkel’s proposal to transfer weapons as aid needs to be approached with caution

David H. Shinn, George Washington University

African governments are open to military aid from the West. However, Germany’s recent remarks about the transfer of weapons to countries battling militants, needs to be approached with caution.


The Demba Diop stadium football crush: Is this Senegal’s Hillsborough? Mark Hann, University of Amsterdam As Senegal mourns the victims of the Demba Diop football stadium crush and searches for answers, it is to be hoped that lessons are learned, and consequences are swift.

Politics + Society

Money has little to do with why South Africa's military is failing to do its job

Abel Esterhuyse, Stellenbosch University

One of the problems bedevilling South Africa's army is being compelled to be everything to everybody. Its strategic direction is compromised by generals who pander to the whims of politicians.
Tragedy in the Nuba Mountains: hunger and starvation are constants

Samuel Totten, University of Arkansas

The world has turned its back on the Nuba people of Sudan. Despite the critical need for food, none of the organisations involved in helping people in dire need have attempted to deliver aid to them.
The best way South Africans can honour Mandela is by being active citizens

Chris Jones, Stellenbosch University

To honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela, South Africa could do with its citizens becoming more active in driving development - particularly efforts to tackle poverty an inequality.

Business + Economy
Should we be worried about Generation Z joining the workforce? Here's why not Linda Ronnie, University of Cape Town Managers have barely got to grips with the challenges posed by Millennials. What are they going to do with Generation Z?

Health + Medicine

South Africa has made giant strides in breastfeeding. But it's still taboo in public places

Chantell Witten, North-West University

South African health authorities educate the public about breastfeeding but without supportive legislation and strong communication, it will never be normalised.
A new vaccine is promising to advance the frontier of eliminating malaria

Simon Kariuki, Kenya Medical Research Institute

Stronger malaria prevention like a vaccine is urgently needed for effective response in endemic regions.

Environment + Energy

What Cape Town can learn from Windhoek on surviving droughts

Dian Spear, University of Cape Town

Windhoek can teach Cape Town on dealing with drought. Technology alone is not enough.
Why adopting biodegradable plastic bags in Kenya may not work

Leah Oyake-Ombis, University of Nairobi

High costs, poor performance, a lack of manufacturing capabilities and local perceptions prevent biodegradable bags from taking root in Kenya.

Arts + Culture
The war that provided the soundtrack for subversive Afrikaans rock Schalk van der Merwe, Stellenbosch University Rock music against military conscription during 1980s South Africa resonated with wider fault lines in Afrikaner society - this as the apartheid regime's grip on power started to slip.

Science + Technology

More than 252 million years ago, mammal ancestors became warm-blooded to survive mass extinction

Kevin Rey, University of the Witwatersrand

Climate was the main factor that triggered the evolution of warm-bloodedness in mammals and the subsequent mammalian evolutionary success.
Snakebites still exact a high toll in Africa. A shortage of antivenoms is to blame

Andreas Hougaard Laustsen, Technical University of Denmark; Lotte Høgberg, Copenhagen University Hospital

The best cure against a snakebite is to avoid being bitten at all. Here is what you need to know about snakebites, antivenom, and what you need to do if bitten.