Hey, this is Sham Jaff, your very own news curator. Each week, I highlight some of the biggest stories from regions and countries that are historically underreported in "Western media". My goal is to burst our Western-centric bubbles, and expand the view we hold of the world. Questions, comments, concerns? You can reach me anytime by replying to this mail. And if this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up at whathappenedlastweek.com.
Issue #395 is talking about unsafe housing in Johannesburg (South Africa's richest city) and Nicaragua's long-time president, who's just banned hundreds of NGOs because... well, why not? Plus (for VIP Members of this newsletter): Some brave news from women in Afghanistan, babies suing South Korea over the country's climate goals, 100,000 mpox vaccines, something called "Africapitalism", a short film about Amazigh and Moroccan surfers, and a very feisty lion in Tanzania. And so much more! Sign up here to become a VIP member. You support 100% self-funded independent journalism with your subscription. You have no idea how much this means to me.
Btw, how do you like whlw so far? Has it helped you in any way? Just reply to this email. I'm so curious.
Good reading, and catch you in your inbox next week!
Sham
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🔍 Estimated reading time: 10 min 🔍
You have access to all of my sources by clicking on what's underlined.
Big shout-out to Wikimedia Commons for the helpful maps.
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Unsafe housing for poor people is still a huge topic in South Africa's largest and richest city
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What happened
Last year, on August 31, 2023, a fire broke out in a building in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa. 76 people, including 12 children, died, hundreds became homeless.
Why this matters:
Johannesburg has a big problem with unsafe housing, and fires like this have become too common in the city’s busy downtown. With about 6.3 million people living there, Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and a major financial hub. It’s home to some of the country’s richest people, but also many who live in very dangerous conditions.
Tell me more
In downtown Johannesburg, hundreds of buildings have been “hijacked.” This means they’ve been illegally taken over by people, who then rent them out to those in need of a place to live. These buildings are often old, neglected, and in bad shape, with poor fire safety. The “hijackers” act like landlords but don’t care for the properties or the people living there. Many of the residents are migrants who came to Johannesburg looking for a better life, only to find themselves in these unsafe homes.
Who's responsible for the fire?
The investigation is still ongoing, but here’s what we know: a report found that the building had 200 shacks made from very flammable materials. A 32-year-old man confessed to starting the fire, but later took back his statement. There are also questions about whether a local official helped the hijackers set up these dangerous shacks. The City of Johannesburg has been blamed for neglecting this building and many others like it. According to a local group, the city hasn’t done its job to provide safe housing. "The city has failed to fulfil its constitutional obligation to provide decent housing," said Siyabonga Mahlangu, a representative for the Inner City Federation (ICF), an advocacy group fighting evictions in Johannesburg.
How are the survivors now?
A year later, many survivors are still struggling. Some are living on the streets, under bridges, or in other abandoned buildings (because they were undocumented foreign nationals and feared making themselves known to authorities because they could get arrested). Others have been moved to a city-organized shelter in what used to be a sports stadium, but the conditions there are not much better. Around 500 people live there in tents and makeshift homes, feeling forgotten and hopeless. The shelter also still houses other survivors from other fires, like the one in 2017 in Cape York, and people the city evicted from a derelict building called Fattis Mansions. It was originally supposed to be an only-for-a-while arrangement. However, here too, the city has failed, according to Edward Molopi, a senior advocate at legal rights group the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), which assists people facing eviction. "According to law, if eviction is going to end up in homelessness, the city is supposed to provide alternative accommodation," he told Al Jazeera, referencing an older ruling by the Constitutional Court. Although the local authority arranged the temporary site, it "has failed to maintain and upkeep the premises," he said. The city says it’s “reviewing the situation,” but for now, the survivors are still waiting for real help.
Details: For example, crime at the shelter is a huge topic. Unemployed young men drinking and playing loud music during the day while children play nearby, sometimes in areas littered with dangerous trash like used needles. One mother even told Al Jazeera she needs new shoes for her three-year-old to protect him from the hazards on the ground.
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Nicaragua just banned 1,669 NGOs, including the Red Cross and Save The Children
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What happened
On August 19, it became public that Nicaragua's government had banned 1,500 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Reuters reports. The government also took away the assets of these mostly religious groups.
Why this matters:
For the past six years, many civil society groups in Nicaragua have been struggling because the country’s president sees them as enemies. In total, over 5,000 civil society groups, private universities, and media outlets have been shut down by the authorities. Nicaragua is home to around 7 million people, and this crackdown affects many of them.
Tell me more
Some of the groups that have been shut down include big names like the Nicaraguan Red Cross, Save the Children Canada, and several Catholic charities. The government didn’t stop there; it also targeted rotary clubs, chess clubs, sports associations, and groups representing small business owners, farmers, and pensioners. Even Catholic radio stations and universities were closed. The official reason? The Interior Ministry claimed these groups hadn’t provided required financial information, including details about their donations. On top of that, the government recently made a new rule that forces NGOs to work only in “partnership alliances” with state entities. Last year, more than 300 politicians, journalists, intellectuals, and activists were kicked out of the country, accused of treason.
How did it come to this?
Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s current president, has been in power for a very long time. He first made headlines in the late 1970s as a leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), which overthrew the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship in 1979. Ortega was president in the 1980s, lost power in 1990, but came back in 2007. Since his return, he has tightened his grip on the country, and many people now describe him as an authoritarian. Over the past decade, Ortega has been accused of silencing free speech, jailing his opponents, and manipulating elections to keep himself in power. These actions have sparked large protests, but his government has responded with violence, leading to hundreds of deaths. As a result, Nicaragua is now isolated on the world stage, facing U.S. and European Union sanctions, and many Nicaraguans have fled to nearby countries like Costa Rica.
What about the "international community"?
They’ve been speaking out strongly. Last month, United Nations experts condemned the “systematic and widespread abuses of international human rights law” in Nicaragua. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also issued a statement, urging the Nicaraguan government to stop the repression of rights, including religious persecution, arbitrary detentions, and the poor conditions in which prisoners are kept.
Dig deeper: Press freedom is almost non-existent in Nicaragua. There’s very little independent journalism left. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently highlighted the case of Fabiola Tercero Castro, a well-known journalist and feminist, who has been missing since police raided her home on July 12. Castro had been a strong voice for women’s rights through her work with various media outlets, including the digital magazine Galeria News.
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Hey, I'm Sham, the person behind this newsletter. Since 2014, I email a bunch of strangers once a week, curating news headlines from Asia, Africa and the Americas. I work under the assumption that, here in the West (I live in Berlin, Germany), we don't read or know much about the global majority, aka the rest of the world.
My goal is to help you burst your Western-centric bubble.
If you want to know more about me, visit my website or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.
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