Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon

Creator

Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon

Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand and a research associate of the Migration and Health Project Southern Africa.

A South African Police Service (SAPS) officer holds his weapon as suspects lie on the floor after they were found being in possession of alcohol, that goes against the rules of the national lockdown, in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, on March 27, 2020. – South Africa came under a nationwide lockdown on March 27, 2020, joining other African countries imposing strict curfews and shutdowns in an attempt to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus across the continent. (Photo by Luca Sola / AFP)

Johannesburg cannot police its future

South Africa’s biggest city is ground zero for debates about the long-term effectiveness and constitutionality of militarised urban policing and how we imagine the post-Covid city

Demonstrators attend a protest against Brazil’s then president Dilma Rousseff in Sao Paulo on March 13 2016.

SA could learn from Brazil when it comes to protests

The fall from World Cup fever to presidential skulduggery has been swift in both countries.

Paulo Whitaker, Reuters

​SA could learn from Brazil when it comes to presidents

The fall from World Cup fever to presidential skulduggery has been swift in both countries.

Jo’burg hills are alive with visions

While the job of spirit medium is hardly new, it has been given currency by the survival difficulties encountered by the city’s migrant population.

Litfest 2013: Migration is a tale that knows no bounds

Behind an apparently amorphous multitude are distinct ­individuals, each with a particular mission.

Streets ahead: Johannes Paul Raether and Stan Wannett took their art to the streets of Jo’burg as part of the Spines performance festival.

Moving art makes city’s spine tingle

An innovative festival takes audiences through Jo’burg and brings fairy-tale fantasies to life.

Balancing act: People will be able to live

Not everyone sees the light

The recent launch of expansion plans for the Maboneng precinct raises the question: Just who will be left out of the inner-city plan?

Santu Mofokeng’s images are a perfect complement to the narrative in Violence in a Time of Liberation.

A history of violence and elusive hope

An analysis of a deadly mine conflict in 1994 offers clues to the origins of the Marikana tragedy.

Evicted Somali traders cry foul

Evicted Somali traders cry foul

Foreigners in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, allege that the local council is working hand in glove with local business people to shut down their shops.

Fragments of unity on Africa Day

Fragments of unity on Africa Day

"Afrique, Afrique, Afrique!" cried Tumi Molekane of Tumi and the Volume, ending an electric hip-hop set at the Africa Day celebrations in Newtown.

Foreign traders are fair game

Foreign traders are fair game

The Freedom Park housing settlement on the outskirts of Eldorado Park has become the centre of xenophobic mobilisation in Gauteng.

Minister of music mixing the sounds of the south

Minister of music mixing the sounds of the south

Gilberto Gil, one of Brazil’s best-known musicians, landed on South African tarmac last week.

Humanitarian crisis close to home

Migrants face a multitude of health issues in Jozi inner city.

A landscape of leftovers

A landscape of leftovers

Like weeds growing through cracks, Jo Ractliffe’s photos draw attention to Angolan war history

Swimming on the Square

After dusk on Saturday February 21, the FNB Dance Umbrella opens with Screen Factor 8. Directed and choreographed by Sue Pam-Grant, produced by Blue Moon and featuring the Moving…

Sabbagha’s new piece strong but repetitive

With a six-person cast, <i>There’s No Room in This Bed</i> managed to squeeze in examinations of the power dynamics of personal relationships, but at times the piece battles to…

Love in the time of cattle

<i>Nguni: A Love Story</i> explores some of the tensions between the rights of women and some aspects of Zulu tradition in today’s climate. Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon reviews.

Arts festival kicks off in celebratory mood

"Arts festivals are about discovery, about exploration … I want everyone here to have fun," said Pallo Jordan at the opening of the National Arts Festival. "Let us have a good…

Post-festival blues

As the National Arts Festival drew the curtains for 2004, Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon reflects on the cast of characters that filled the theatres and auditoriums, as well as the…

Strong idea, laboured dynamics

Sophocles’s classic is rearticulated in a context of terrorism, Aids and globalisation in Antigone. John Kani stars. Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon reviews.