Since some black South Africans decided in May to attack black African immigrants living among them, killing 65 of them in Johannesburg and elsewhere, several commentators have rationalised, in fact found excuses for that shameful behaviour, among them poverty, unemployment, lack of housing, bad government, lack of economic opportunities, etc. If other Africans had used the same rationalisations or excuses to hunt down the millions of black South Africans who came to live among them all over the continent during the bad days of apartheid, where would South Africa be today? Last year, we reported the sad story of 470 Somalis killed in South Africa since 1997 (see NA, May 2007). The authorities did nothing then. This month, we are again devoting our three-part Cover Story to the disgraceful xenophobia that has gone on unchecked in South Africa for more than a decade targeted at black African immigrants. We hope the authorities will act now. This lead piece is by Pusch Commey writing from Johannesburg. More...

Six months after the events which greeted President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election victory, a deepening disagreement on the issue of amnesty for suspects of the post-election violence is stalling the progress of Kenya’s road to peace. From Nairobi Daniel Ooko analyses the current political glitches. More...

President Musa Yar’Adua has replaced the controversial chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, with a female former police officer. What does this portend for the crusade against corruption? Does it mean a dumbing down or a search for new ways of fighting corruption? Lindsay Barrett went to find out in Abuja. More...