Remembering Father Albert Nolan, a best-selling theologian who explored the humanity of Christ

by Anthony Egan, S.J. October 18, 2022

Father Nolan sought during his tenure to help white Catholic students find a way of working with their Black colleagues for the common goal of ending apartheid.

Dispatches, Politics & Society

A South African Jesuit remembers Archbishop Desmond Tutu

by Anthony Egan, S.J. December 27, 2021

The South African human rights campaigner and Anglican clergyman was known throughout the world for his human rights accomplishments. But above all, he was a committed priest and person of deep prayer.

Children wait in line for food at a school near Cape Town, South Africa, May 4, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. (CNS photo/Mike Hutchings, Reuters)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Discontent—and hunger—in South Africa grows under pandemic lockdown

by Anthony Egan, S.J. May 14, 2020

A senior opposition leader said that the lockdown—aimed not to prevent the spread of Covid-19 but to give the health services a window to prepare for it—was now doing more harm than good.

South African National Defense Forces patrol the Sjwetla informal settlement after pushing back residents into their homes on the outskirts of the Alexandra township in Johannesburg, on April 20. The residents were protesting the lack of food. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Hunger begins to replace Covid-19 as existential fear in South Africa

by Anthony Egan, S.J. April 28, 2020

The national coronavirus lockdown has translated into a sharp increase in levels of poverty and malnutrition in South Africa. Because of that emerging suffering, some are already beginning to wonder if the nationwide restrictions are doing more harm than good.

Residents stand on a balcony as a South African National Defence Forces vehicle patrol the street, in Johannesburg on April 7. South Africa and more than half of Africa's 54 countries have imposed lockdowns, curfews, travel bans or other restrictions to try to contain the spread of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

A coronavirus lockdown lands hard on South Africa

by Anthony Egan, S.J. April 8, 2020

The national measures being taken against the spread of the coronavirus in South Africa are unprecedented and are considered among the strictest in the world.

Dispatches, Politics & Society

What’s behind the shifts in South Africa’s latest election?

by Anthony Egan, S.J. May 20, 2019

Though the ruling African National Congress party (ANC) has won the South African elections, it has done so with a dwindling support of the popular vote.

A mother and child join a housing and land protest in Johannesburg in May 2017. (CNS photo/Kim Ludbrook, EPA)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

South Africa is seeing a spike in protests. Will the government finally address economic inequality?

by Anthony Egan, S.J. October 29, 2018

While a new black middle class has emerged, while the politically connected got rich, some even becoming billionaires, the vast majority of South Africans remain poor.