Kagiso Mnisi, Author at This is Africa

Against the ropes – the other Mandela

Kagiso Mnisi — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 10:23:10 +0000

Our collective imagination around Nelson Mandela can do with more interrogation, says Kagiso Mnisi.

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The man in the mirror – Thabo Mbeki’s legacy

Kagiso Mnisi — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 07:52:09 +0000

Thabo Mbeki is no hero. Neither is he the worst leader to emerge from the ranks of the African National Congress. A son of the liberation movement to a fault; an idealist who is romantic about Africa, and a vessel of complexity – now, that he is. As Mbeki celebrates his birthday, we reflect on his leadership. Will he cringe as he recalls some of his missteps or remain grandiose about his unfinished African Renaissance chapter?

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The (un)ambiguity of the image – the story of 16 June

Kagiso Mnisi — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 09:35:45 +0000

The image that classically characterises 16 June 1976 is that of a tearful Mbuyisa Makhubo carrying a slain 12-year-old Hector Pieterson, flanked by a hysterical Antoinette Sithole, Hector’s sister, taken by Sam Nzama is a marker of history. Nzama's image is unambiguous and intact. The role of the visual image has ceased to be iconographic. In these hyper-visual times, digital technology has lent greater complexity to our relationship with images writes Kagiso Mnisi.

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The Rise of Indie Curators

Kagiso Mnisi — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 04:51:48 +0000

The social media space has become a wonderful domain for independent content curators, Kagiso Mnisi writes, some of whom are celebrated for their ability to engage authentically with members of their generation.

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Language in our African Future(s)

Kagiso Mnisi — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 05:00:00 +0000

How language relates to time is a philosophical humdinger. In his remarkable essay, ‘Midnight,’ South African novelist Imraan Coovadia writes that ‘science has yet to create a satisfactory description of time, an account of why it exists and how it progresses…the physical time of the cosmos, expressed in the changes of subatomic particles and forces and billion sun galaxies, differs from historical time, with its emphasis on economic and cultural processes, and also from the psychological time of human beings.’

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