Engineering News | Martin Zhuwakinyu

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Martin Zhuwakinyu

Martin Zhuwakinyu is Senior Deputy Editor for Engineering News and Mining Weekly. Dr Zhuwakinyu holds a PhD in communication (media studies) from the University of South Africa.

Beyond liberation movements

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 15th November 2024 When the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was founded in 1980, it was a coalition of postcolonial States bound by the noble dream of economic cooperation. By 1994, the bloc had expanded to include Namibia and South Africa and shed the second C in its acronym to reflect... →

The other Somali republic

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 8th November 2024 Mention of Somalis – as in Somali nationals – conjures up images of the unstable Horn of Africa nation that has known little peace since the flight into exile in Nigeria of erstwhile President Mohamed Siad Barre in January 1991 in the midst of a civil war. But, by referring to Somalis, one could... →

Egypt’s triumph over malaria

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 1st November 2024 Imagine this: every single day, the world loses the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of passengers to malaria – a staggering 1 600 lives snuffed out by a relentless disease. That’s 600 000 lives each year, a tragedy of colossal proportions. But last month was a time to rejoice – Egypt was declared... →

Africa’s aid famine

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 25th October 2024 Africa has long been the belle of the ball when it comes to overseas development assistance. But now, as donor countries turn inward thanks to economic hiccups from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war, the flow of aid to the continent has dwindled to a trickle, a development some have... →

Fading voices on sanctions?

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 18th October 2024 This year’s iteration of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has come and gone. What stood out was the noticeable absence of the familiar spiel from African leaders railing about how the “economic sanctions” imposed by the evil West on Zimbabwe are hurting the people of that country and impacting on... →

Africaʼs media blind spot

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 11th October 2024 As I noted last week, it’s been about nine months since Ethiopia became the first country to ban the importation of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, decisively shifting gears towards a low-carbon future. Yet, for many South Africans – and, I suspect, for much of the continent – this monumental shift... →

Ethiopia’s electric leap

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 4th October 2024 Ethiopia is not just a historical footnote as one of only three African countries to have dodged colonisation – alongside Sierra Leone and Liberia, which were established to resettle black loyalists who had fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War and freed American slaves... →

Jackpot or jinx?

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 27th September 2024 The race for Africa’s critical minerals has sparked a mixed reaction. On one hand, there is excitement that these minerals – key to the transition to a low-carbon future – could herald a new age of prosperity for the countries that hold them. On the other, there is a nagging worry that this... →

Corruption’s exodus effect

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 20th September 2024 It’s often said corruption is a cancer that ravages society, an insidious affliction that’s nearly impossible to eradicate once it takes hold. What’s less frequently discussed, however, is how this malignancy also serves as a powerful push factor driving Africa’s young talent abroad and... →

Billionaire reshuffle

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 13th September 2024 The latest shake-up of the world’s billionaire hierarchy has seen Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote relinquish his crown as Africa’s richest person, after a 13-year reign. But while Nigeria loses out, South Africa gains, with Johann Rupert – whose empire includes investment holding company... →

Mouthfuls of trouble

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 6th September 2024 History is replete with government officials who put their foot in their mouth, often with dire consequences for their countries. A striking recent example involves Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yosov, who revealed in a public broadcast on July 29 that Ukraine had provided... →

Informal sector a jobs lifeline?

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 30th August 2024 Statistics South Africa released its Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the three months ending in June earlier this month – and the results are decidedly bleak. While employment figures managed a modest bump of 66 000 to 25-million, the number of jobless South Africans nudged up by 158 000 to a... →

Shared costs, big gains

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 23rd August 2024 Ivorian President Alassane Outtarra took some hits last week as I criticised Zimbabwe’s decision to splash $200-million on luxury villas and other infrastructure ahead of the Southern African Development Community summit on August 17, which it hosted at the new, Chinese-funded Parliament building... →

Bling over basics

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 16th August 2024 Imagine a country rolling out the red carpet for foreign guests while its citizens grapple with severe food shortages. In Zimbabwe, this contradiction is illustrated by the decision to spend $200-million on lavish villas with high-end amenities for delegates attending the Southern African... →

Olympic oops in Paris

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 9th August 2024 As the 2024 Summer Olympics spin towards their grand finale on August 11, Paris is set to be remembered for more than just record-breaking performances and emerging stars. Besides the dazzling athletic feats and extravagant celebrations, it is the perfectly French chaos and charmingly... →

African ratings quest

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 2nd August 2024 The call for ‘African solutions for Africa’s problems’ resonates strongly in discussions about our continent. Cunning autocrats have also invoked it, wielding it as a shield to deflect international scrutiny. A notable example is the late Robert Mugabe, who barred Western observers from... →

South Africa’s crime epidemic

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 26th July 2024 In South Africa’s cities, caution is the currency, and being labelled ‘among the unsafest in the world’ isn’t just a statistic – it’s a stark reality. This sentiment is underscored by Numbeo’s Midyear 2024 Crime Index by City, which crowns Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, as the world’s... →

UK-Rwanda refugee plan sinks

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 19th July 2024 Rishi Sunak’s tenure as UK Prime Minister has clocked out, following his Conservative Party’s electoral drubbing earlier this month. Also consigned to the dustbin of history is his government’s plan to deport thousands of asylum seekers who braved the English Channel to land on British shores all... →

From ‘Dear John’ to unity

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 12th July 2024 After the dear John letter that never was, five Democratic Alliance (DA) members have taken up their positions in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet alongside their counterparts from the African National Congress (ANC) and several of the nine other political parties constituting the new... →

Dissecting elephant voices

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 5th July 2024 Elephants possess a diverse communication repertoire, encompassing everything from resonant trumpeting and deep, reverberating rumbles to menacing growls, soothing purrs and plaintive squeals. During your last visit to the Kruger National Park, did you ever wonder whether each of these might be... →

Fragile unity test

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 28th June 2024 We ought to give the African National Congress (ANC) props. Thanks to its political sleight of hand, the party is poised to continue its dominance of South African politics for the next five years, despite losing its Parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994 in last month’s elections.... →

Politics of vengeance

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 21st June 2024 African politics has always been a big theatre where a recurring spectacle, one that never fails to captivate and intrigue, is the age-old saga of former Presidents clashing with their successors. Mzansi, too, has had its share of this drama, especially since the forced resignation of former... →

A misunderstood prophecy

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 14th June 2024 The year was 2008, in the month of September. Back then, a seer from the rugged hills of Nkandla in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal prophesied that the political party he led, the African National Congress (ANC), would govern South Africa until the Second Coming – yes, that end-of-days... →

Steadfast hold on power

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 7th June 2024 In the intricate tango of politics and military might, one undeniable reality emerges: once soldiers seize State control, they seldom relinquish it willingly. Ibrahim Traore, the 36-year-old strongman who shot his way to power in Burkina Faso in September 2022, is the latest testament to this... →

Stevie finds rhythm in Ghana

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 31st May 2024 I’m not a great music fan, but I would not be completely honest if I did not own up to my partiality towards Stevie Wonder, the US-born virtuoso of soul who has created music that has reverberated throughout the world, despite being visually impaired since infancy. It’s not only in the music... →

Myth of arbitrary boundaries

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 24th May 2024 Conventional wisdom has it that the political map of Africa as we know it today was solely determined at the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885 by European actors who knew little about conditions on the ground, with the process involving no African input. For the uninitiated, the Berlin Conference... →

The great business retreat

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 17th May 2024 The announcement last week by oil giant Shell that it is to divest from downstream operations in South Africa seems to have been a godsend to the political opposition, which did not waste time in attributing the decision to failure by the governing African National Congress (ANC) to foster a... →

Slipping influence

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 10th May 2024 Africa may be the world’s poorest continent – hosting 33 of the 46 economies designated by the United Nations (UN) as the least developed – but it remains the target of courtship by the major powers. The bad news for Americans is that the Chinese and the Russians are doing a much better job of... →

A titbit about Tanzania

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 3rd May 2024 That the way many of Africa’s countries turned out had less to do with fate than the meddling of external players, especially during the Cold War years, has been well documented by many a scholar. But the “real story” behind the amalgamation of what was then Tanganyika and the island nation of... →

What the voters want

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 26th April 2024 As election day draws ever closer, political parties are pulling out all the stops in their quest to win the hearts and minds of South African voters. All manner of promises are being made – from a nigh-immediate end to loadshedding to the creation of millions of jobs in no time, free education... →

Rwanda’s rebirth

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 19th April 2024 The 100-day period from April 7 to July 15, 1994, will forever be etched on the memory of Rwandans and indeed the rest of humanity. That’s when armed militia from the majority Hutu ethnic group went on a rampage, killing an estimated one-million of their compatriots – mostly Tutsis. The backstory... →

Spiral of silence around GBV

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 12th April 2024 →

President by default

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 5th April 2024 It was a birthday present Bassirou Diomaye Faye would not have dreamed of – being announced the President-elect of Senegal on March 25, the day he turned 44, and only weeks after his release from prison, where he was serving time for contempt of court and defaming magistrates. His release was... →

Fake but believed

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 29th March 2024 It’s surprising how easily news consumers fall for disinformation, or fake news, as it is now widely known since Donald Trump popularised the phrase during the US Presidency campaign in 2016. I say popularised because the phrase is as old as the hills, having been coined in the 1890s. But Trump’s... →

South Africa’s brain regain

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 22nd March 2024 East or west, home’s best. Many South Africans who have emigrated to foreign climes in the past two decades to escape the ills besetting this country can vouch for that. Some are coming back. And the returnees represent more than just a trickle, according to recent data from credible sources.... →

Fare thee well, Prez Mwinyi

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 15th March 2024 Our neck of the woods, the Southern African Development Community region, last month lost two high-profile personalities, a sitting head of State and a Presidential has-been. While the former, Namibian President Hage Geingob, had significant name recognition in this country, many would battle to... →

Beasts of burden under siege

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 8th March 2024 Rhino and elephant poaching afflicts many African countries that are home to these endangered species, and the main driver behind this scourge is seemingly insatiable demand by the Chinese and other Asians for the tusks and other body parts of these giant mammals. Now the humble donkey, a... →

Flying Presidents

By: Martin Zhuwakinyu 1st March 2024 What’s the common denominator between Kenyan President William Ruto and his Nigerian opposite number, Bola Tinubu? They both have a remarkable penchant for air travel. This has incurred the ire of detractors in their respective countries, and it’s difficult to dismiss the criticism, considering... →

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