“Mandela was not the only head of state taken in by Koagne. Le king kept snapshots of himself with many a man of power, among them Mobutu Sese Seko and Denis Sassou Nguesso […] He took Mobutu for 15 million dollars. Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso lost 40 million to him. Sassou, Etienne Eyadéma of Togo, several high officials of Gabon, Tanzania and Kenya, a member of the Spanish government and an ex-operative of the Israeli Mossad were bamboozled as well.” – Dominique Malaquais (Blood Money: A Douala Chronicle).
Bantu Serenade by Ntone Edjabe (featuring Nah-ee-lah) (read excerpt)
Santu Mofokeng: Trajectory of a street photographer (part1) (read excerpt)
Binyavanga Wainaina: Hell In Bed With Mrs Peprah (read excerpt)
Dominique Malaquais: Lindela (the winnie suite) (read excerpt)
Boubacar Boris Diop: Myriem (read excerpt)
Cover:
Neo Muyanga
Cityscapes 8: Urban-South-Asia (Africa Centre for Cities, June 2017)
This issue, edited by Tau Tavengwa and Arpita Das, focuses on cities in South Asia, not as a generic category but rather as a symbolic and political constellation loaded with complex histories and contemporary dynamics.
The selected stories illuminate a diverse region gripped by political and cultural upheavals, and bounded by stereotypes. South Asia is experiencing enormous shifts, particularly as its inhabitants become overridingly urban. The region exhibits a complexity that no single story can or should seek to capture. It is in the juxtaposition of this issue’s content that the full nature of relationships and life within and between the various cities profiled emerges.
