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Who were the first Africans to compete at the Olympic Games? The answer is a complex and awful story about two marathon runners from South Africa who were part of a delegation to attend the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair, which was staged in tandem with the Olympics. Reminiscent of human zoos, the fair held athletic days for “savages”. South Africans Jan Mashiani and Len Tau competed at the fair and then went on to enter the Olympic marathon, where officials were unable to pronounce their names. Sports historian Francois Cleophas recounts this dastardly tale.
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces was created in 2013 by dictator Omar al-Bashir. A decade later, the paramilitary force is at the centre of a war that has caused widespread violence and a humanitarian crisis. The force used military, economic and political strategies to secure state power. Federico Manfredi Firmian outlines the group’s rise, which is illustrative of what can go wrong when armed groups infiltrate state institutions.
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Francois Cleophas, Stellenbosch University
Jan Mashiani and Len Tau apparently found themselves in the US in 1904 as part of a world’s fair displaying ‘savages’.
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Federico Manfredi Firmian, Sciences Po
Armed groups looking to infiltrate the state to influence policy first pursue their objectives without openly antagonising the government.
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Vinothan Naidoo, University of Cape Town
South Africans would have wanted to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa spell out how the unity government will address poverty and unemployment.
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Temilade Sesan, University of Ibadan
The opportunities presented by mini grids come with challenges of balancing market efficiency and equity of access.
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Imraan Valodia, University of the Witwatersrand
South Africa needs a game-changer that is going to shift the economy onto a more employment-intensive growth path.
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From our international editions
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Ziyad Al-Aly, Washington University in St. Louis
A new study finds the risks of developing long COVID declined over the first two years of the pandemic. But unvaccinated adults were more than twice as likely to get long COVID compared with those who were vaccinated.
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Lauren Ball, The University of Queensland; Emily Burch, Southern Cross University
Drinking diet soft drinks occasionally is unlikely to harm your health. Frequent or excessive intake, however, may increase health risks in the longer term.
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Jake Phillips, Sheffield Hallam University
Properly resourced probation services, drug and alcohol treatment and helping people build their social networks can all play a role.
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Michelle Rawlins, University of Sheffield
The way media reports on domestic abuse must be more sensitive.
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