The data was kindly provided by Krige Siebrits, co-author of an article on the history of income tax and customs in South Africa in @jsas-journal.bsky.social:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Graph showing mining tax revenues in South Africa from 1913 to 1959. The graph has two lines showing mining tax as a percentage of overall revenues and mining tax in absolutely terms. Both increase sharply in the early 1930s and the mining tax in absolute terms increases again in the early 1950s.
Mining taxes in South Africa as a % of overall revenue and in absolute terms.
Two things stand out: a massive increase in the 1930s as the gold industry boomed, and a big increase after 1948 as the apartheid government sought new revenues to pay for harsher racial segregation.
Chris Hani, chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe (also known as MK), walks among the MK troops at a rally marking the 30th anniversary of the group's formation, Langa Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa, December 16, 1991.
📢 New Article!
What happens when liberation movements fight in someone else’s war?
@justinpearce.bsky.social examines MK’s time in Angola, showing how tensions with FAPLA & competing political visions shaped their alliance and contributed to the 1983–84 mutiny.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The cover of JEAS 20(1)
The table of contents of issue 20(1) of JEAS. Contents can also be found at the link
The first issue of JEAS volume 20 is now online!
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjea20/2...
New article connects Angolan & South African Cold War historiographies, examining the incompatible views of malcontent MPLA & ANC troops who fought on the same side during ANC exile in Angola, particularly on the question of whether UNITA were compatriots or foes.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Succinct early history of gold in Southern Africa and the role of long-distance connections in this article.
The decision by the Fatimid rulers of Egypt to make gold currency their standard measure of value in 969 caused huge demand for gold in southeast Africa:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
📢 New Book Review
What does mining waste reveal about the limits of the state?
Gabrielle Hecht’s “Residual Governance” examines how apartheid-era extraction continues to shape environmental injustice & why redress remains so difficult.
Read Leah Burch’s review:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
📢 New Book Review
Why does mob justice persist in post-apartheid South Africa?
Karl Kemp’s “Why We Kill” argues that vigilantism reflects not only state failure, but deeper social frustrations, wounded pride, & demands for justice.
Read Vartavarian’s review:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Awards nominations are open for African Politics! Please share widely!
@jsteend.bsky.social @stephaniewanga.bsky.social @evlieb.bsky.social @africasacountry.bsky.social @jsas-journal.bsky.social @chinemeluokafor.bsky.social @thelauram16.bsky.social @woldense.bsky.social
📢 New Book Review
How can we understand a city through its “skin”?
António Tomás's "In the Skin of the City" traces Luanda’s transformation from colonial segregation (musseque/asfalto) to postcolonial fragmentation & expansion.
Read Gilson Lázaro’s review:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
A farm worker sits on a water tank in a town in KwaZulu-Natal
📢 New Article!
Why are the violent deaths of farmworkers so often overlooked?
weNkosi & Rafaely analyse media reporting on killings of farmworkers in South Africa, revealing how these deaths are depoliticised and framed as accidental or disciplinary.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The Water Emergency in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa: A Climate Change or Governance Crisis?
Umejesi & Cheteni analyse whether the city’s water crisis stems primarily from climate pressures or governance failure.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The Language Question in Disaster Prevention and Preparedness: The Case of Multilingual Mozambique
Sarita Monjane Henriksen investigates how language shapes disaster preparedness and communication in multilingual contexts.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The People and Climate Change: How Experts and Communities Disagree on Climate Change Impact in South Africa and Botswana
Jörn Ahrens examines tensions between expert assessments and community understandings of climate change impacts.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The Role of Transdisciplinary Formats in the Awareness Creation of (Social) Climate Change Impacts: A Namibian Perspective
Lüttich & Riedel explore how transdisciplinary approaches can help raise awareness of the social dimensions of climate change in Namibia.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Adaptation Options for Climate Change in Botswana: An Overview
Gabriel Faimau & Lebogang Basimane examine possible pathways for climate adaptation in Botswana, highlighting policy challenges and opportunities for responding to environmental change.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🧵 This Part-Special Issue explores how climate change is experienced socially across Southern Africa, from governance and disaster communication to local knowledge and community responses.
A quick look at the articles in the collection ⬇️
Kilombero Wetland, Tanzania
📢 New Article!
How do bureaucrats shape relations between people, animals, & the environment?
Mburu examines how officials manage multispecies conflicts in Tanzania’s Kilombero wetland and how local communities are often marginalised in conservation governance.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
📢 New Issue!
JSAS Issue 51.4 is now out.
The issue features a Part Special Issue on The Social Impact of Climate Change in Southern Africa, alongside articles on apartheid-era fuel policy and conservation politics in Tanzania.
Read the introduction:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Drought conditions in Namibia exacerbated by climate change
📢 New Article!
In Namibia, only 45% of adults report having heard of climate change.
Lüttich & Riedel explore how transdisciplinary approaches can raise awareness of social climate impacts and foster meaningful adaptation & action.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
A child salvaging through the refuse in Botswana
📢 New Article!
Do rural and poorer communities lack climate change awareness?
Drawing on fieldwork in South Africa and Botswana, Ahrens challenges this assumption, showing that communities often display nuanced and thoughtful understandings of climate impacts.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The African Heads of States and Governments pose during African Union (AU) Summit for the agreement to establish the African Continental Free Trade Area in Kigali, Rwanda, on March 21, 2018.
📢 New Article!
How did South Africa shift from customs duties to income & consumption taxes?
Freytag & Siebrits examine two revenue transitions, post 1910 & in the 1990s, showing how tax structures evolved & how trade liberalisation reshaped government revenue.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The Kromme Dam in the Eastern Cape on March 07, 2017 in Kareedouw, South Africa
📢 New Article!
Is the water emergency in Nelson Mandela Bay a climate crisis or a governance failure?
Umejesi and Cheteni examine competing explanations behind “day zero” fears and what’s really driving the region’s water insecurity.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Francois Pienaar and Nelson Mandela after South Africa won the 1995 Rugby World Cup
📢 New Article!
How has the history of South African sport been written, and by whom?
This article by Colin Bundy traces three phases in the historiography, showing how politics shaped the field and how scholars have worked to reclaim the history of black sport.
Mababe village in northern Botswana, Southern Africa, June 2024.
📢 New Article!
How can Botswana strengthen climate adaptation amid drought, erratic rainfall, and rising temperatures? Faimau and Basimane explore national frameworks, media, and Indigenous & Traditional Knowledge in building climate resilience.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
West Street, Durban, mid-1970s
📢📢 New article! How did academics in Durban help shape anti-apartheid knowledge production? Robert Morrell explores the emergence of Agenda and Transformation, linking the 1973 Durban moment to research-driven activism and intellectual decolonisation.
ishortn.ink/Agenda
Enjoying @jimmy-pieterse.bsky.social’s article on campus radio in South Africa
New article by @jimmy-pieterse.bsky.social.
Radio Tuks Logo
📢 New article! Campus radio in Pretoria emerged under apartheid-era restrictions, with the SABC dominating broadcasting. Tracing Radio Tuks from the late 1970s to democracy, this article reveals how UP students contested media power in a changing SA.
ishortn.ink/campus-radio
Destruction in Mozambique following Cyclone Idai
📢 New article! How can sociolinguistics strengthen disaster resilience? Sarita Monjane Henriksen's article on Mozambique argues that leveraging national languages in early-warning systems is critical for effective risk communication in multilingual contexts. ishortn.ink/article