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From Our Own Correspondent: South Africa’s suspicions

Magazines & Reviews

16/07/2022 GMT

South Africa’s suspicions

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, South Africa’s suspicions

Mass shootings have unnerved South Africans; tales from Uzbekistan, Japan and Algeria.

What's behind the recent mass shootings in South Africa? Plus: unrest in Uzbekistan’s Karakalpakstan region; Shinzo Abe and Japan's history; protecting Algeria from forest fires.

A recent spike in mass shootings has unnerved South Africans, as the attacks in Soweto and Pietermaritzburg didn’t seem straightforwardly criminal. Andrew Harding explains that with violence and xenophobia running high, while infrastructure languishes, many citizens feel increasingly nervous about their own safety – and wonder who the silent gunmen are working for.

Uzbekistan’s authorities cracked down hard when people in Karakalpakstan poured onto the streets to protest about moves to limit their region’s legal autonomy. There were violent clashes – leaving at least 18 people dead and hundreds wounded – as demonstrators fought security services. Since then, the state imposed a news blackout, arrested hundreds of suspected agitators, and brought in a night-time curfew. Joanna Lillis first visited the region 20 years ago and returned to report on what sparked the recent unrest. 

Since the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the tributes to his leadership and his character have poured in from all over the world. He won respect for his determination to 'stand up to China' – and his belief that Japan needed to stand up for itself more on the world stage. But as Rupert Wingfield-Hayes explains, Abe’s perspective on Japan’s past was a very particular one – and not all Japanese felt comfortable with his outspoken style or his view of their history.

And as the summer heat beats down on the Mediterranean, with record temperatures already recorded in some spots, and wildfires starting to break out, Amy Liptrot explores some ideas on how to protect Algeria’s countryside from more blazes this year. In August and September 2021, dozens of Algerians died in forest fires. So what can be done to protect the landscape and the people of the Tell Atlas mountains in future?

Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Polly Hope

(Image: Political activist Nhlanhla Lux Mohlauli speaking near the scene of a mass shooting in Soweto where 16 people were shot dead on 10 July 2022. Credit: Emmanuel Croset/AFP via Getty Images)

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