The Theewaterskloof Dam, a key source of water for Cape Town, South Africa, is completely dry in this April 16, 2017, photo. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

Cape Town wakes up to the reality of a permanent water shortage

by Anthony Egan, S.J. January 26, 2018

There have been warning signs for decades; now South Africa’s second-biggest city is racing to prevent a drought from throttling the economy and causing social unrest.

South African Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, laughs at President Jacob Zuma, right, at the start of the ruling African National Congress elective conference in Johannesburg on Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Did South Africa’s A.N.C. elect a reform leader?

by Anthony Egan, S.J. December 18, 2017

Although Mr. Ramaphosa is a relatively acceptable leader of the A.N.C. in the eyes of some opposition parties, his economic stance will put him in tension with the populist left Economic Freedom Fighters and many trade unions.

People celebrate Nov. 21 outside parliament after hearing that President Robert Mugabe resigned in Harare, Zimbabwe. All Zimbabweans should have a voice in the country's governance following Mugabe's 37-year presidency, and the new government should embrace diversity, Zimbabwe's bishops said. (CNS photo/Kim Ludbrook, EPA)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

New hope in Zimbabwe as Mugabe era ends

by Anthony Egan, S.J. December 11, 2017

The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference issued a statement urging calm, restraint and patience during what they called “most delicate times.”

Imtiaz Cajee, nephew of Ahmed Timol, poses with his book about the activist on Aug. 24 in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, South Africa. (AP Photo, File)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

New ruling on 1971 death of South African anti-apartheid activist may bring belated justice

by Anthony Egan, S.J. October 23, 2017

A judge has overturned a finding of suicide and ruled that Ahmed Timol was murdered by South Africa’s Security Police 45 years ago.

President Paul Kagame is sworn in for another term at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, on Aug.18. (AP Photo Eric Murinzi)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Making sense of the tension and contradictions in Kenya and Rwanda’s elections

by Anthony Egan, S.J. August 23, 2017

Two elections this month in eastern and central Africa—in Kenya and Rwanda—have brought out tensions and contradictions in the continent’s democratic process.

20170405T0941-8908-CNS-SOUTH-AFRICA-BISHOPS-CRISIS (2)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Secret parliamentary vote fails to unseat South Africa’s President

by Anthony Egan, S.J. August 11, 2017

The no-confidence vote was called by the opposition in Parliament in the wake of overwhelming evidence of the president’s corrupt dealings with the Gupta family.

The blood of a survivor of the Ebola virus is extracted as part of a study launched at Liberia's John F. Kennedy Hospital in Monrovia in June 2015. (CNS photo/Reuters)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Congo’s Ebola threat is pushing a vaccine through without full clinical trials

by Anthony Egan, S.J. June 2, 2017

Congo’s Ministry of Health has approved the use of an experimental anti-Ebola vaccine to combat the disease. This is a radical step, but one the World Health Organization approves.