The Japan Times
@thejapantimes@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp last week

John Hume, the South African who bred the world’s biggest rhino herd, has been arrested on charges of smuggling millions of dollars worth of the endangered animals’ horns. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/08/20/wildlife/rhino-herd-horn-smuggling/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #environment #wildlife #rhinos #southafrica #endangered #animalwelfare #poaching
The Japan Times
@thejapantimes@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 weeks ago

A new bill in South Africa to legalize informal mining is seen as key to protecting and creating jobs as the nation moves away from planet-heating coal and toward renewables. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/08/19/markets/south-africa-miners-critical-minerals/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #markets #southafrica #mining #coal
Nonilex
@Nonilex@masto.ai replied  ·  activity timestamp last month

…The debate over whether the #war in #Gaza constitutes #genocide has also played out at the #ICJ, where #SouthAfrica has brought a genocide case against #Israel. The court has yet to rule on the matter.

…Genocide has a specific definition in #InternationalLaw: particular acts carried out with intent to destroy a group in whole or in part. The accusation hits a painful nerve for Israel, a state founded after #Nazi Germany’s attempt to exterminate European Jewry.

#law#HumanitarianLaw
The Japan Times
@thejapantimes@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp last month

In early July, the top official at the U.S. Embassy in South Africa asked Washington if nonwhites could apply for a refugee program geared toward white South Africans if they met other requirements. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/26/world/politics/us-nonwhites-trump-south-african-refugees/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #politics #southafrica #us #donaldtrump #discrimination #race #refugees #immigration
The Japan Times
@thejapantimes@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 months ago

For the second time this year, the world’s most powerful finance ministers gather in South Africa without the presence of the U.S. Treasury secretary. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/07/14/economy/g20-bessent-south-africa/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #economy #scottbessent #g20 #southafrica #us #donaldtrump #republicans #brics
Mal 🇿🇦🇮🇪🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
@malmorrow@mastodon.africa  ·  activity timestamp 4 months ago

In the 1980s I lived in #Malawi. These were the years of Hastings Banda, aka His Excellency, the Life President of Malawi, Ngwazi Dr H Kamuzu Banda.

My brother and I were expatriate teenagers. We were explicitly warned not to make comments about the regime, but it didn't take at all long for us to internalise that.

It was very clear that we were not materially repressed as Malawians were. The worst that would happen to us was deportation. But the strictures were easy to rationalise: don't get into trouble, because you don't want your Malawian friends to get into trouble by association. That was the real risk.

In my time in #SouthAfrica, as an adult, I have rarely needed to temper my voice out of concern for myself or others. That changed quite a bit when Ntando and I started a relationship. She is a #Zimbabwean with relatively fragile tenure in SA. Pissing off the wrong people would make her more vulnerable than either of us wants her to be.

And this is my point. For all that people bang on about freedom of speech being a right, it doesn't exist because of a guarantee in law. It exists only when anyone has the surrounding liberty. In our case, it comes down to whether what we say prejudices Ntando's residence.

You can see the operation of this in #America now. The #FirstAmendment means nothing to a university, an institution or individual when #Trump threatens defunding or deportation.

#FreedomOfSpeech is not only a fundamental right - it's a barometric right. You know society is fucked when people are unable to speak due to infringements of their other rights.