Azad Essa 27 posts 0 comments

Last weekend’s City Press exposé of what are clearly extra-judicial executions at Marikana was simply horrifying. According to the testimony of one Constable Itumeleng Ntsileng, an officer with the police special task force present…

Halimatou Souare smiles as we enter her modest home in the southern Senegalese city of Zingonchor. Known as "a pioneer for peace" in the restive region of Casamance, wrecked by years of conflict, the 68-year-old settles on a brown…

As far as trolls go, Arthur Lenk, Israel’s representative to Pretoria, was astutely ambassadorial. Mention Israel on Twitter and Ambassador would pop around to “celebrate” or “correct” the perception. He was a one-man PR stunt.…

A library went up in flames, and it’s all some of us can think about. For those who attended UKZN, like myself, it's personal. These are our libraries. It’s where we learned to read and write in the language of privilege, to argue and…

I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like it. The little girl - now known to all as Zulaikha Patel - standing in front of a row of three white males, refusing to back down, calling on them to follow through with their threats…

When Caster Semenya won the 800m heat at Olympic final in Rio on Sunday, the entire nation was sleeping. Well, most of us, at least. Some, of course, had set their clocks for 1:30am to catch a glimpse of Caster’s tryst with history and…

Democracy is not meant to be a VIP event. One human. One vote. But some politicians woke up this morning thinking their vote was more special than others. Here is how some of our good politicians cast their ballot. Some walked, others…

AZAD ESSA feels the role of religion in our politics must be interrogated. When Pastor Andre Olivier said that white people hadn't taken anything from black people during apartheid, he disrespected his congregation, but he also…

It's as if they thought we wouldn't find out. While the world has been going to shit of late, with bombings here (Istanbul, Saudi Arabia), shootings there (Iraq), hacking and broken hearts a little further on there (Bangladesh), the South…

Hindsight offers cowards the chance to celebrate history, writes AZAD ESSA.  Today, we celebrate the zest of the youth of 1976 as though they were celebrated then at every turn; as if their impatience was met with universal aplomb. We…

MS Dhoni taps a tame James Faulkner full toss to the wide long-on boundary and India record a famous victory. At the non-striker's end, Virat Kohli removes his helmet and drops to his knees in a spectacular sequence. It's Easter Sunday…

It's f***** malicious to publish criticism of BDS-SA. Also, we must have a vendetta against Muhammad Desai - but likely not. If you're confused, so were we. But that sums up the thread of responses we received when we asked BDS-SA to…

It is young people, in India, as in South Africa, who may be our last hope. As the fervour of revolt spreads, it is as if history has begun to take shape. And those who decry the apathy of youth should take note. In the ongoing collusion of…

According to AZAD ESSA, the EFF leader’s theatrics cannot disguise a losing struggle. On Tuesday, Julius Malema, in his response to #SONA2016, began his rebuttal with an apology to Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki for making Jacob Zuma…

UN peacekeepers are notorious for sexually assaulting the vulnerable people they are meant to protect. But why isn’t the world raising a bigger stink about it, asks executive editor Azad Essa. I In a flash, innocence is lost,…

Within hours of Penny Sparrow posting a racist diatribe on Facebook bemoaning the dirty escapades of black people on a Durban beach, she has unwittingly inherited the mantle of public enemy No. 1, until now held by one Jacob GedleyihlekisaÂ…

Stephen Grootes assures us in today’s edition of The Daily Maverick that he is indeed proud to be South African, and we have the Springboks to thank for that. But it's not that easy if you're not white. AZAD ESSA tells us why. In…

American writer and academic Haroon Moghul thinks boycott, divestment and sanctions won't help Palestine because Palestinians don't have a Mandela-figure to negotiate with Israel. But Daily Vox executive editor AZAD ESSA says this emphasis…

Since March 2015, around 4,000 people have been killed in Yemen after a Saudi-led alliance began airstrikes on the country. Humanitarians describe the events as a catastrophe, as the invasion plunges the country further into disaster. Yemen…

The bloodshed in Yemen has been continuing for over a year now. With thousands dead and cities razed, the situation has been described as a humanitarian catastrophe. The conflict has received scant media attention. But the Daily Vox’s…