William Gumede

William Gumede is a South African journalist, and gave TNI's Bhasker Vashee Memorial Lecture in 2007.

Recent content by William Gumede

African political unity must be more selective: A blueprint for change (22 Sep 2011)

There cannot be any clearer illustration of the impotence of Africa’s continental and regional institutions to find local solutions to the continent’s problems, than their numbing inaction in the face of the wave of popular rebellions against dictators in North Africa sweeping across the continent.

South of the Sahara dictators tremble (31 Mar 2011)

The possible domino-effect of the Arab Spring makes African dictators tremble in their boots. What are the parallels and what are the differences? Will an African Spring take place and how will it look?

He was given the same brutal treatment as his victims (23 Sep 2008)

In the end President Thabo Mbeki's demise was as cold, calculated and brutal as his own reputation was for dispensing of his political enemies.

Although Mr Mbeki performed woefully on a range of policies, from failing to deal effectively with crime, HIV/Aids, poverty and unemployment, to refusing to provide income support to the poorest families while running budget surpluses, this was not what finally brought him down.

Nor was it his ideological differences with the disparate coalition of political enemies rallied around his rival, the ANC president Jacob Zuma: Mbeki's centrist economic

Why Zuma is the wrong candidate (23 Sep 2008)

It may seem inevitable, but making Jacob Zuma president would compound the ANC's problems – and South Africa's

Although South Africa's high court today ruled the fraud and corruption charges against Jacob Zuma, leader of the country's ruling African National Congress, were invalid because prosecutors had failed to follow proper procedure, the country and the ANC will be better off if Zuma lets go of his all-consuming obsession to become the country's next president.

Silent African leaders are accomplices in these crimes (2 Jun 2008)

Although it is too late for those who have already lost their lives, regional African leaders must now surely step in to prevent even more people being openly maimed, forced out of their homes, and starved by Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party as part of the scorched earth policy to win the dubious upcoming presidential election by crooked means.

Although the opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai has been robbed of a clear victory in the first round of the presidential poll, and unfairly forced into a run-off vote, regional African leaders, the West and the United Nations should en

Deadly mix in African elites (31 Mar 2008)

Unless African ruling elites overcome their obsession that regular elections where the winner takes all is the main measure of democracy, the orgy of violence such as that over disputed elections in Kenya will be repeated elsewhere on the continent.

Western donors, with their requirements that elections are enough to warrant aid, have helped along this limited view of democracy. Zimbabwe is staging its long-awaited presidential election this weekend, with Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF so blatantly rigging the elections that the outcome risks similar violence.

Right to be suspicious (12 Jun 2007)