Welcome to the website of Award-winning South African Journalist, Author & Activist
Zubeida jaffer
Latest Posts
A boy on a mat on the floor in Lagos
He grew up in one room. Not one room to himself — one room shared with nine brothers and sisters, in a polygamous family on Lagos Island, Nigeria. They slept on mats on the floor. His parents had nothing to spare. University tuition was an impossible dream. He was...
J M Coetzee praises NWASA as controversy over Jerusalem Festival exchange grows
Nobel laureate J M Coetzee backs NWASA amid growing controversy over Gaza, cultural boycotts and the Jerusalem Festival exchange.
The meaning of the Phala Phala Concourt Decision
By Judge John Murphy After the recent judgment of the Constitutional Court concerning the Phala-Phala matter there are once again calls in the media for President Ramaphosa to resign from office. I sense a confusion regarding the judgement and thought it may be...
South African writers back Coetzee’s Boycott of Jerusalem Writers Festival
By Zubeida Jaffer The National Writers’ Association of South Africa (NWASA) has expressed its full support for the South African Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee’s decision to decline participation in the 14th International Writers Festival in Jerusalem. NWASA’s...
South Africa and Namibia Lead Africa on 2026 Press Freedom Index
South Africa and Namibia lead Africa in the 2026 Press Freedom Index, both ranking above the United States. Their standing reflects strong legal protections and media independence, even as global press freedom reaches its lowest level in 25 years.
New Johannesburg Centre to bridge knowledge gap on Islam in Africa
By Zubeida Jaffer A new research institution, the Centre for Islamic Research - Africa (CIRA), launched recently in Johannesburg to deepen understanding of Islam across the continent among South Africa’s two million Muslims. In a preface to its inaugural booklet, CIRA...
