This is the cover of The Continent. Above that, in a thin strip, it says “African Journalism | 18 April 2026 | Issue 235”. Beneath the title is the headline: “South Africa’s populist pretender”. The central image is a caricature of a Gayton Mackenzie with exaggerated features. He has a very wide grin showing large, uneven teeth, a rounded face, and heavy lines around his eyes and cheeks. His expression is confident but slightly mocking. His hair is bright blond, styled in a sweeping, combed-over shape that resembles Donald Trump's signature hairstyle. He is wearing a dark blue suit jacket, a white shirt, and a bright red tie. On his jacket are several round badges. One is yellow with the letters “PA”. Another shows the South African flag. A third has a blue Star of David on a white background. Another badge reads “I ♥ Orban”. The illustration is by Gado.

All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 235 of The Continent

In South African politics, Gayton McKenzie is a larger-than-life character who leans into his criminal past and blends populism, and a striking disregard for the rule of law. Remind you of someone?

bit.ly/235_TC

171 murders... and counting.

theintercept.com/2026/04/14/t...

Nervous Conditions, set book for first year English at university

Exclusive: The Ethiopian army base covertly supporting Sudan’s RSF Satellite imagery collected since December reveals a base at Asosa, connected to UAE supply lines, facilitating the Rapid Support Forces

My latest for Middle East Eye: satellite imagery analysis reveals that an Ethiopian army base in western Ethiopia is being used as a weapons & logistics hub by Sudan's UAE backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to launch cross border attacks on Sudanese army positions from Ethiopia.

what they did yesterday afternoon

by Warsan Shire

they set my aunts house on fire
i cried the way women on tv do
folding at the middle
like a five pound note.
i called the boy who used to love me
tried to ‘okay’ my voice
i said hello
he said warsan, what’s wrong, what’s happened?

(1/3)

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I've written an article in this week's @thecontinent.org about mining giant Anglo American leaving Southern Africa, and what they are leaving behind.

Free to read and subscribe:

www.thecontinent.org/_files/ugd/2...

Weekend reading.

Cover page of Issue 234 of The Continent, featuring a person walking on a beach. Behind the person is a sea, and then an angry sky full of dark clouds. The headline is: 'Holding space for eco-anxiety'.

All Protocol Observed | Welcome to Issue 234 of The Continent

This week, a change of pace. Come walking with us through the stark magnificence of Mauritania’s Banc d’Arguin national park.

Download your copy here: www.thecontinent.org/_files/ugd/2...

'The Continent' 233, 21 mars 2026:
-Témoins: Africains forcés, tués dans l'armée russe.
-Bateaux de pêche ou drones navals: houthis et Chine, précurseurs pour Ormuz?
-Photos: le sloughi, chien de chasse en Algérie.
-Cinéma: 'Dreamers' de Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor.
-Photo: Aïd el-Fitr à Goma.
#Afrique

On top of the misadventure of that trusting Batswana chef in Russia - with a surprising end, another article in The Continent tells the sad fate of Gambians there.

Friends don't let friends sign for a fantastic work opportunity with a free air ticket to Russia !

Advert for The Continent newspaper, depicting two astronauts on a bench. One is reading a phone, the other is reading a newspaper. The tagline reads: 'We live in the same world. Let's read from the same page.'

Reading is resistance. Subscribe (for free) to Africa's most widely-read newspaper: www.thecontinent.org/subscribe

The front cover of Issue 233 of The Continent newspaper. The illustration shows a chef from Botswana desperately escaping from a remote Russian military base. The headline reads, 'The chef who escaped Putin's war'.

All Protocol Observed | Welcome to Issue 233 of The Continent

This week, we meet an aspiring chef from Botswana. He was promised a job in a Russian hotel - only to end up in a remote military training camp, with dozens more Africans.

Download your copy here: www.thecontinent.org/_files/ugd/2...

I'm feeling distinctly bereft of protective powers right now

What does it say about us that we consume information most exclusively on five-inch screens

Good to see @thecontinent.org going in-depth on this

U.a. mit dieser Geschichte:

"Massive media deal gives mogul the megaphone in East Africa. Newspapers of record in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have been bought by a tycoon tied to Tanzania’s ruling party."

Holla.

'The Continent' 232, 14 mars 2026:
-Prix du pétrole: taxis bajaj en Somalie.
-Le mépris de la CAF contre les joueuses de football.
-Milliardaire et médias en Afr. de l'Est.
-Nouvelles tensions au Tigré, crainte des habitants et des déplacés.
-La santé des Afr: cobayes de l'IA ? 1/2
#Afrique

Advert for The Continent newspaper, depicting two astronauts on a bench. One is reading The Continent on their phone, the other is reading a newspaper. The tagline says: "We live in the same world, let's read from the same page."

Get Africa's most widely read newspaper delivered directly to your device, for free, every week.

Reading is resistance. Subscribe here: www.thecontinent.org/subscribe

Front cover of Issue 232 of The Continent newspaper, with the headline 'Tigray on the edge'. The image shows a burning truck on a highway in Tigray, Ethiopia.

All Protocol Observed | Welcome to Issue 232 of The Continent

This week, we visit Ethiopia’s Tigray region – fearing the next war, while still reeling from the last.

Download your copy here: www.thecontinent.org/_files/ugd/2...

Yes please. In particular would love to know what Abiy is thinking right now.

subscribe to @thecontinent.org for African perspectives and news

This issue contains a chilling account of the latest disaster at Rubaya Mine in DRC:

Ombeni*, a survivor of previous Rubaya landslides, said the site had become a burial ground. “Some bosses don’t want the victims to be pulled out of the rubble for fear of having to pay for their funerals”

Front cover of The Continent newspaper Issue 231, showing a man harvesting rainwater on an island. In the background, on the water, is a private yacht. And in the skies is an American bomber. The headline reads: "Unlikely allies move to sink Mauritius' Chagos deal'.

All Protocol Observed | Welcome to Issue 231 of The Continent

Amid a geopolitical storm, four Chagos Islanders have returned to the archipelago - with a little help, and a private yacht, from a Reform UK mega-donor.

Download your copy here.
www.thecontinent.org/_files/ugd/2...

Another glorious @thecontinent.org issue this week, with an epic feature about the latest Chagos Islands plot twist !

So far the only industry that has truly been revolutionised by AI is warfare and look how that's turning out.

www.codastory.com/armed-confli...

This is one of those stories you commission expecting it to go one way, and then it comes in and it has gone an entirely different, far more right-wing way.

@abeba.bsky.social Hi Dr Birhane, please could you follow back - we'd like to request an interview

Chad has closed its border with Sudan amid repeated incursions by the RSF, which Déby has been accused of backing - claims he denies. For this week's @thecontinent.org, I highlight what this means for his legitimacy, the cohesion of the military and political elite and the humanitarian catastrophe.