An Insider’s Account of South African History

October 7, 2008

A Life in Transition (September 30, 2008)

Alex Boraine’s A Life in Transition is an insider’s account of important institutions and events in South African history: the halls of parliament in the 1970s and 1980s, the controversial conference with the ANC in Dakar in 1987, and the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the mid-1990s.

Boraine gives insights into people he met along the way, including Harry Oppenheimer, Steve Biko, Van Zyl Slabbert, Thabo Mbeki, and Desmond Tutu. He also takes us beyond South Africa to some of the world’s most turbulent trouble spots, from Serbia to Sierra Leone, Liberia to Sri Lanka.

Boraine joined the Open Society Foundations for a recent talk. Listen below.

Vaccine Justice

The Quest to Boost Africa’s Fight Against COVID-19

A scientist wearing protective gear in a lab

While Africa consumes 25 percent of the world’s vaccines, only one percent of vaccines are manufactured there. The mRNA vaccine manufacturing hub in South Africa is working to change that.

October 12, 2022 | Erin Greenberg & Kiti Kajana Phillips

Sex Work Is Work

The Multiplying Threats Facing Sex Workers Today

Still image from "The Costs of Criminalizing Sex Work" of a woman putting on make up

The COVID-19 virus has disproportionately harmed millions of sex workers, who are grappling with economic catastrophe, a global pandemic, and government policies that make an already dire situation even worse.

September 1, 2020 | Stacey-Leigh Manuel

Voices

Lessons from 25 Years of Open Society in South Africa—and Dreams for the Next 25 Years

For more than a quarter of a century, the Open Society Foundations have been dedicated to South Africa, proudly supporting its nascent democracy and civil society movements.

November 29, 2018 | Alexander Soros

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