Kwangu Liwewe

2 weeks ago | newlinesmag.com | Kwangu Liwewe

Debates over land, language and race expose deep fractures in identity in contemporary South AfricaThey arrived in the early afternoon at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on May 12 — 49 white South Africans, mostly families. Some pushed strollers, while others dragged suitcases. A few toddlers clung to their toys as their parents waved the American flag. They had come to seek refuge in the United States. On paper, they were fleeing racial discrimination.

2 months ago | newlinesmag.com | Kwangu Liwewe

On June 12, 1993, millions of Nigerians stood in long lines under the burning sun, believing they were witnessing history in the making. For the first time, an election free of military interference had seemingly taken place. Hope was in the air, in what was regarded as one of Nigeria’s fiercest and fairest elections. Then, without warning, it was taken away.

Mar 5, 2025 | newlinesmag.com | Kwangu Liwewe

Franelyn Rossouw was 21 when she moved onto the Goedgedacht farm outside Delmas, in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, where she would spend the next three decades of her life. A white South African, she married her childhood sweetheart, Francois Hoffman, and together they built a life raising four children, tending the land and dreaming of the future. But one day, their future shattered.

Jan 30, 2025 | newlinesmag.com | Kwangu Liwewe

It started with a dance in 2023. A gentle sway, her arms moving like waves and her feet moving to the rhythm of the Amapiano beat as she poured water down her back. “Make me sweat, make me hotter, make me lose my breath, make me water.”It was the moment Tyla, a 21-year-old South African artist, transformed from a rising musician into a global artist, capturing hearts on TikTok with her mesmerizing moves and breathtaking voice.

Aug 27, 2024 | newlinesmag.com | Kwangu Liwewe

The controversy over one departed entrant’s national background fed on the country’s history of xenophobia and racial hierarchy “You are not one of us. Go back to Nigeria, the land of scammers.” These words recently echoed across social media in South Africa, targeting 23-year-old Chidimma Adetshina, one of the contestants in the 2024 Miss South Africa competition.