Rachel Savage

@rachelmsavage

Southern Africa Correspondent at The Guardian. Brit abroad.

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Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· 25d

Good morning to Spain, Lamine Yamal and his brother Keyne

Spain's Lamine Yamal wearing sunglasses sits next to his three year old brother Keyne, who is crouched with one arm around the world cup trophy and another holding the match ball wrapped in part of the goal netting

Lamine Yamal's brother Keyne walks ahead of his brother on the pitch, wearing a too-big cap and his brother's number 19 shirt.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Jul 6

My parents met this Alexandra Eala-supporting queen in the queue for Centre Court this morning (after they'd camped out since 6am yesterday to get Wimbledon tickets). As my sister correctly predicted, the cameras love her custom hat 🇵🇭🎾

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Jun 25

Another classic in the genre of African government comms

Nick Mangwana, the permanent secretary in Zimbabwe’s information ministry, said: “To characterise this legitimate legislative exercise as a ‘coup’ is not only factually incorrect but deeply disrespectful to the sovereign parliamentary processes of the Republic of Zimbabwe.”

He said: “The primary objective is to enhance political stability and ensure policy continuity … We are not removing presidential term limits, we are simply adjusting the electoral cycle to reduce the frequency of highly contested, polarising elections.”

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Jun 17

Today's Wordiply 😅

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Jun 16

After the Soweto Uprising began, Oupa Moloto tried to escape to Eswatini. He was caught and spent more than three years in solitary confinement. 50 years later he still suffers PTSD. “It’s not just a chapter in the history books,” his daughter Mpho said. “It’s still a living, a breathing reality.”

Oupa Moloto, one of the students who protested on 16 June 1976 against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools, pictures with his daughter Mpho at the June 16 Memorial Acre in Soweto.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Jun 16

Apartheid police opened fire on the peacefully protesting children. Among the first to die were 15-year-old Hastings Ndlovu and 12-year-old Hector Pieterson. This photo by journalist Sam Nzima of Mbuyisa Makhubo carrying Hector's lifeless, bloodied body became the day’s defining image.

Mbuyisa Makhubo carries the lifeless body of 12-year-old Hector Pieterson, an expression of grief and terror on his face. There is blood around Pieterson's mouth and he is wearing his school uniform. Pieterson's sister Antoinette runs beside them in the Soweto street, left hand splayed, face twisted in anguish. She is also wearing her school uniform. Pieterson was shot by apartheid police on June 16 1976, during a peaceful protest by black students against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Jun 15

Abdullah Ibrahim has died at the age of 91. A giant of South African jazz. Swedish journalist Erik Esbjörnsson interviewed and photographed him at his last concert at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in March, wrote this beautiful tribute to him. www.instagram.com/p/DZnYyI5DQ-...

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Jun 15

Watching the full spectrum of human emotion at the Comrades finish line was indescribably moving. A real faith in humanity moment.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Jun 12

I got to spend a couple of hours this morning with six cheetahs - two mums and their four children. Apparently it's quite common for male cheetahs to form "coalitions", but rare for females to do so. Mind-blowing.

One cheetah standing and four lying down, partially in the shade of a thorn tree. You can just see a sixth cheetah in the back of the photo.

A cheetah standing up with its claws on a thorn tree. Three cheetahs lying down and one standing are in the background, partly on the shade of the tree

A cheetah stands next to a small pond, with a tall fever tree in the background.

A cheetah stands on a fallen tree, while two others sit next to the fallen tree. A tall fever tree is in the background.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· May 13

Maria McCloy was unique, truly one of one. She was Joburg and she was culture. DJ, fashion designer, PR. She was always inviting me to events (which I didn't go to enough of). I wouldn't have known anywhere near as much about the arts in South Africa without her. RIP Maria, you are missed

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· May 12

LinkedIn has truly reached its zenith. www.linkedin.com/posts/bgolds...

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· May 12

This stunned me. A vehicle carrying South Africa's minister of health allegedly ran over a woman and her baby, which was strapped to her back. Her other child survived. They were trying to cross the road to get to her husband, who also died, allegedly run over by an off-duty police officer.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· May 11

Some climbers are on their way to a 12-pack back... 😅 This is GOAT Czech climber Adam Ondra www.adamondra.com/hardest-rout...

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· May 6

Saw these smol black and light brown birds in Gaborone. Couldn't ID them online. Sent a description and this terrible photo to BirdLife Botswana and got a response back in under 10 minutes. It's a Village Indigo Bird.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· May 4

Continuing my quest to find good Chinese food in every major African city I visit, with Eastern Crescent Chinese Restaurant in Gaborone. The fish fragrant aubergine was sweet and vinegary - no Sichuan pepper kick to be found. The cold garlic noodles were excellent👌🏻 maps.app.goo.gl/78VV48bPs2cG...

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· May 3

Watching Botswana win the men's 4X400m relay at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, with world champion Collen Kebinatshipi on the anchor leg, was quite something. Scuse my shouting, I may have got swept up in the home crowd moment 🇧🇼

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· May 3

Was watching the climbing world cup (sorry, world series) and the broadcast switched to a Japanese rugby match with Faf de Klerk warming up 😂 apparently there was a "signal" issue

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 30

I don't want to know, but I also want to know.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 27

This has made me reminisce about my own experience of the Kano Durbar, for Eid al Adha in 2017. The richness, colour and intensity of it cannot be overstated. I feel so lucky to have attended one.

Two riders in turbans and robes sit on horses at the Kano Durbar for Eid al Adha in 2017

A rider in a richly coloured turban and robes sits on his equally richly dressed horse at the Kano Durbar for Eid al Adha in 2017

The Emir of Kano Muhammed Sanusi rides through his palace courtyard on a horse, accompanied by his retinue and sheltered by a ceremonial umbrella, on the morning of the Eid al Adha Kano Durbar in 2017.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

A judicial inquiry is now investigating whether political interference stopped the prosecution of apartheid killers. A third Cradock Four inquest is underway. Forty years later, maybe the families will finally get a form of justice. Read more in my story: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a... /End

Fort Calata (second from right) and Matthew Goniwe (right) pictured with two friends.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

Why were the killers of the Cradock Four never prosecuted? The families believe that senior ANC officials, including Thabo Mbeki & Jacob Zuma, struck a deal with the apartheid generals so that neither side were prosecuted for crimes they committed during apartheid and the struggle against it. /9

The archbishop Desmond Tutu hands over the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria on 31 March 2003. Photograph: Juda Ngwenya/Reuters

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

Then, in February 1998 at the TRC, the three white policemen admitted to killing the Cradock Four, in a bid to evade prosecution. Three other officers admitted to ordering or planning the murders. All six were denied amnesty by the TRC. They were never prosecuted. All of them are now dead. /8

A screenshot of Sakkie Van Zyl, one of the white security police officers who killed the Cradock Four, testifying about the killings at the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

Nomonde Calata had previously stopped herself from crying about the killing of her husband Fort. "[I thought] the enemy will laugh at me when they see my sadness," she said. "So when I went to the TRC, I just couldn't hold the cry in me and the pain."

Nomonde Calata (right) stands outside Gqeberha High Court with her son Lukhanyo Calata.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

On 16 April 1996, Nomonde Calata testified at the TRC about losing her husband Fort. She broke down. This footage, from the SABC's weekly TRC Special Report, is a hard watch. The full segment is on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy1u...

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

Then, after apartheid ended, came the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. It began 30 years ago, on 15 April 1996. It was meant to reveal the truth about violence by the apartheid state and the groups fighting it. It also granted or denied amnesty to perpetrators who confessed. /5

The opening session of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on 15 April 1996, in East London, now called KuGompo City. Photograph: Philip Littleton/AFP/Getty Images

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

Inquest No. 1, in 1987, found the Cradock Four were killed by "unknown persons". Inquest No. 2, in 1993, said they had been killed by members of the security forces, but didn't name names. /4

The coffins of Sparrow Mkonto and Matthew Goniwe are carried at their funeral. A priest and a man in fatigues and a beret have their right fists raised. A sign says Mkonto died aged 29, but that is incorrect. He was born 24/12/1951 and was 33 when he died.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto, Matthew Goniwe & Sicelo Mhlauli became known as the Cradock Four, their murders a symbol of the cruel, callous violence of apartheid. Forty years later, their families are still fighting for justice & answers about who ordered the murders. Why? /3

Clockwise from top left: Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto, Matthew Goniwe and Sicelo Mhlauli. Composite photo courtesy of their families.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 17

About an hour into their journey, they were pulled over by three white security policemen. Mkonto was shot. The other three were hit over the head from behind. Their bodies were stabbed several times and the corpses were set alight. When Mhlauli’s body was found, one of his hands was missing. /2

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 15

The leader of conservative Afrikaner group AfriForum is not happy with Roelf Meyer's appointment as South Africa's ambassador to the US. Meyer was (and this indicates perhaps still is) considered by some Afrikaners to have betrayed his own people during and after negotiations to end apartheid.

Rachel Savage@rachelmsavage· Apr 12

Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat in Hungary's elections and Péter Magyar's Tisza party could get a 2/3 majority