Overview: March 23rd till 29th, 2019
No lights, no internet, no power – ‘load shedding’ has again become a familiar part of the daily lives of South Africans. And the world is fighting plastic pollution: while the European Union decided to ban single-use plastic this week, Zambia has just implemented a ban on plastic carrier bags. We also talk about the massacre in Mali and the closing of the Rwanda-Uganda border in this week’s “Top of the Blogs”.
South Africa’s electricity blackouts have become worryingly normal
These days it does not take much to bring joy to the people in South Africa. A flicker of a lightbulb or the recurring buzzing of the fridge easily becomes the cause for celebration when the power turns back on after load shedding. The national power supplier Eskom has been scheduling the blackouts, affecting different areas at different times.
A bloody scandal in Mali
More than 150 people from two small villages, Ogossagou and Welingara, in central Mali were attacked at home, murdered and their villages were burned. Mali might be in a worse state now than it was just before the jihadists took over two-thirds of the country seven years ago, says the author.
How The Gambia is going about its search for truth and reconciliation
“Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together,” said the Gambia’s president Adama Barrow when he was elected in 2016. One of his first promises was to establish a truth commission to chronicle past atrocities. He considered this a necessary first step towards national reconciliation and peace-building. The commission began sitting on 7 January, 2019.
The Rwanda-Uganda border is closed - Lads have to postpone their search for brides
A village in Rwanda and a village in Uganda who are only separated by a few meters have grown into one community over the years. The Wednesday and Saturday market became a major activity in the lives of the people on both sides of the border and were known as a hunting ground for lads to find a potential marriage partner. But now with their presidents fighting like an old married couple, the two communities have been separated.
Zambia implements ban on plastic carrier bags
Several multi-national chain stores have started implementing the government’s ban on the sale and distribution of plastic carrier bags to customers in Zambia. Several shops across the nation are now providing alternative plastics for their customers.