NPR News -Africa

June 1, 20248:30 AM ET
African National Congress (ANC) polling agents set up a tent decorated with party paraphernalia outside a polling station in Umlazi on May 29, during South Africa’s general election.

Zinyange Auntony/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption

toggle caption

Zinyange Auntony/AFP via Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has lost its outright majority for the first time in a devastating blow for the party once led by Nelson Mandela. The ANC has dominated South African politics since winning in the first post-apartheid elections 30 years ago.
The ANC was braced for a disappointing outcome, predicted by polls before Wednesday’s elections, but the final results are even more sobering. It won 40 percent of the vote, falling from 57% in 2019.
Tessa Dooms, a director at Rivonia Circle, a think tank in South Africa, said it was a historic result that diminished the ANC’s three decades hold on power. “The electio..

May 29, 20245:25 PM ET

The party of Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress, faces its greatest electoral test yet at the polls. NPR reports from one of the biggest battlegrounds in the province of KwaZulu Natal.

May 29, 20243:43 AM ET

South Africans are going to the polls, and the big question is whether the ruling African National Congress will finally lose its absolute majority in parliament after 30 years in power.

May 28, 20244:50 PM ET

The issue migration has played a major part in the South African elections and anti-immigration rhetoric and xenophobia have been central to many political parties campaigns.

May 28, 20242:23 PM ET
Girls at a primary school in Sheno, Ethiopia. In partnership with UNICEF, the Sheno Primary School developed a program to educate both girls and boys about menstruation — and provide sanitary pads. A new UNICEF report says that only 39% of the world’s schools offer such instruction.

Zacharias Abubeker/AFP via Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Zacharias Abubeker/AFP via Getty Images

“I wasn’t shy from the first time,” says Genet Birhanu of her job as a menstrual educator in Ethiopia.
“I understand menstruation cycle is an old taboo,” she says, but “I’m not afraid” to talk about it.
And she was fearlessly teaching the topic to both girls and boys, starting with fourth graders.
Only 39% of schools around the world offer this kind of education on menstruation, according to a UNICEF report released on May 28 – designated as “World Menstrual Hygiene Day” by the United Nations.

What it takes to be ..

May 28, 20245:00 AM ET
Enlarge this imageThe popularity of basketball in Rwanda can be seen on courts around the country.

Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR

hide caption

toggle caption

Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR

The popularity of basketball in Rwanda can be seen on courts around the country.

Jacques Nkinzingabo for NPR

KIGALI, Rwanda — Dozens of young players sprawl out across a pair of colorful basketball courts at Club Rafiki, a youth center in Kigali, Rwanda. Parents and supporters watch from rows of bleachers.
Coaches work with players of varying ages, boys and girls. From the littlest children come shrieks of joy. From older players, focused stares, determination, precise shots at the basket.
Bizimana Bassam, one of the coaches, says that players show up as early as 7 a.m. on weekends, and that during school vacations, Club Rafiki can host as many as 500 young players.
Bassam played basketball as a child, but began coaching as an adult. He says a lot has changed sin..

May 27, 20246:00 PM ET

NPR’s Throughline hosts Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei speak with Tshepo Moloi and Richard Stengel about Mandela’s early involvement with the African National Congress.

May 27, 20245:06 AM ET

If you really want to know what’s going on in South Africa ahead of the election there, get in a minibus taxi, the main mode of transport in the country.

May 26, 20248:08 AM ET

Will South Africa’s African National Congress party, Africa’s oldest liberation movement, finally lose it’s absolute majority in the up and coming election?

May 25, 20245:59 PM ET

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, face their first major electoral challenge in the election next week, and the prospect of dipping below 50% of the vote for the first time in their 30 years in power. NPR’s Africa correspondent reports from their final rally in Soweto, Johannesburg.