11th February 1972
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsIn this edition of the BBC’s programme “PM”, Pete Myers meets South African singer, songwriter and political activist …
10th November 1972
In 1971, Radio Nederland organised a short story competition for African writers under the age of 30. The first prize, a gold-plated model of a Dutch windmill and a trip to the Netherlands was won by …
5th February 1973
This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsBefore joining us at Radio Netherlands in 1976, Pete Myers hosted BBC programmes like “Late Night Extra” and “PM” …
13th October 1973
In this edition of the BBC’s programme “PM”, Pete Myers introduces us to a South African play that took the world by storm in the mid-1970’s. “Sizwe Bansi is dead” …
12th September 1978
Zambia, once known as Northern Rhodesia, was fused with Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953 and gained complete independence in 1964. The country’s first president, the father of …
14th May 1979
An interview with the producer of “Zulu Dawn”. This epic cinema production about the Battle of Isandlwana is about the defeat of British forces by an overwhelming force of 25 thousand …
18th July 1979
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneIn June 1979, South African Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Nadine Gordimer published “Burger’s Daughter”. The novel details a group …
28th January 1982
This programme is part of the series AfroscenePrince Nico Mbarga, born in Nigeria in 1950, was a highlife musician, renowned for his hit song “Sweet Mother”, which he recorded with his …
20th October 1982
In 1982, Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service produced a number of African short stories. Most of them have survived. A number of them were later (in 1985) also broadast in our regular …
17th January 1983
These two recordings contain fourteen short presentations compiled and presented by South African activist, poet and literary scholar Dr. Vernie February. Born in South Africa in 1938, February lived …
17th October 1984
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneThe weekly Afroscene programme frequently featured African music. The 1984-1985 season was no exception. Here’s a selection of some of the people …
21st October 1984
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneThese interviews with African writers, produced and presented by John Hammond (1933-2012) and Veronica Wilson, were first broadcast in …
29th March 1985
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneIn the early 1980’s, the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service commissioned a series of African radio plays. This one seems to be the only …
22nd October 1985
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneHighlights from the 1985 Afroscene season: John Hammond (1933-2012) lists all the (attempted) coups in the continent that year – November 1985 …
25th August 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThe programme is part of the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Series “We made a hoe and went along”, produced in 1986. The programme …
25th August 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongIn 1986, the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service production a 13-part series on the histories of Africa, entitled “We …
25th August 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongIn 1986, the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service produced a 13-part series on the history of Africa, entitled “We …
25th August 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongIn 1986, the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service produced a 13-part series on the hisotry of Africa, entitled “We …
20th October 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongIn the 17th century, the town of Djenné in Mali was a major trading centre in West Africa. Merchants came from far and wide to sell …
23rd October 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongIn 1986, the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service produced a 13-part series on the history of Africa, called “We made …
23rd October 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongIn 1986, Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service produced a 13-part series on the history of Africa, called “We made a …
23rd October 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThe programme is part of of the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service series “We made a hoe and went along”, …
23rd October 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThe programme is part of the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Series “We made a hoe and went along”, produced in …
26th October 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThe programme is part of the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Series “We made a hoe and went along”, produced in 1986. The programme …
27th October 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThe programme is part of the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Series “We made a hoe and went along”, produced in 1986. The African …
28th October 1986
This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThis is the final part of a 13-part series called “We Made a Hoe and Went Along” on the history of Africa. In this …
29th June 1988
In this unedited interview, Radio Netherlands’ science editor Anne Blair Gould spoke to Prince Bernhard (1911-2004) of the Netherlands about the World Wide Fund for Nature. The prince, who was …
4th April 1989
The Reverend Christian Frederick Beyers Naudé (1915-2004) was a South African theologian, born and raised in the Afrikaner Christian community. His father was a minister in the white Dutch reformed …
14th October 1989
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneVeronica Wilson’s studio guest is Del Richardson, lead singer and lead guitarist with Osibisa, the first African (pop) band that had a world-wide …
14th October 1989
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneVeronica Wilson speaks with couples, both African and Dutch, about the impact their choice of a partner has had on their relationship, their families, …
8th November 1990
A Good Life reporter Sylvia Smith visits the Western Sahara and refugee camps in neighbouring Algeria. Control over the Western Sahara, an expanse of desert half the size of France, has been at the …
20th September 1992
Shortly after Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, a long and bitter civil war broke out between the ruling FRELIMO government and the RENAMO rebels. Over one million people were …
5th November 1993
Veronica Wilson meets Eric Miyeni, a young (26) black South African standup comedian who was in Holland with his show “Twisted and Vile”. He uses comedy to tackle social issues such as …
25th April 1994
South African artists have been involved in a struggle for an integrated society. In this programme, produced by David Swatling, we found out how dance and theatre have been setting an example for a …
27th April 1994
One of the major challenges facing the new South African government is the issue of land reform. The apartheid regime confiscated vast tracts of land from the black majority as well as from coloureds …
3rd May 1994
How will South Africa’s arts community fare now that the country is about to get a black majority government? Uncertainty abounds because, as always, it will depend on how much money is …
12th October 1994
After the collapse of apartheid, people will have to come to terms with the new reality in South Africa. As it will be the young generation who will have to build a new society, Eric Beauchemin spoke …
12th October 1994
Deforestation and soil degradation in many of the areas were blak people were forced to live are only two of the problems created by apartheid. Another is toxic waste dumping. Eric Beauchemin …
8th November 1994
In 1994. the now world famous annual Poetry International festival in Rotterdam celebrated its 25th anniversary. One of our programmes marked the occasion by featuring several of the African …
16th November 1994
Hélène Michaud visits Uganda, more than 20 years after Idi Amin ordered 50,000 Asians to leave Uganda, accusing them of sabotaging the country’s economy. In 1992, President Yoweri Museveni …
9th February 1995
Ever since Burundi gained independence in 1962, politicians representing the nation’s two main ethnic groups – the Hutu and the Tutsi – have tried but failed to reach a lasting …
15th February 1995
In early 1995, the Dutch branch of Médecins sans Frontières or Doctors without Borders had just celebrated its tenth anniversary. It had projects in a wide variety of countries ranging from …
1st March 1995
Seven months after the 1994 genocide, most Rwandans were still struggling to come to terms with the slaughter of nearly a million of their compatriots. How does a society cope when it loses one in …
1st April 1995
A year after the start of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda’s children are still trying to put their lives back together. Hundreds of thousands were killed, lost their families or were separated from …
19th April 1995
Angola is one of the countries that has been most heavily affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance. In the 1990’s, the United Nations estimated that Angola had over 10 million landmines, …
12th October 1995
There are growing numbers of street children throughout Africa. They converge on the cities, hoping to make enough money to build a better life for themselves back in their village. However, few …
16th October 1995
Women Living Under Muslim Laws is an organisation or network set up in 1986 by Muslim feminists to take action against Islamic legislation which discriminates against women. Hélène Michaud talks to …
20th October 1995
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneIn this programme, John Hammond (1933-2012) looks at male circumcision in Africa, which sometimes goes horribly wrong. He interviews a Dutch doctor who …
20th October 1995
This programme is part of the series AfrosceneThis edition of the programme is dedicated entirely to female circumcision. There are interviews with several experts from Africa on this practice, why …
24th October 1995
Child prostitution in Africa is on the increase. Growing poverty, the HIV epidemic and civil strife are just some of the reasons leading more and more children and teenagers, both girls and boys, to …
31st October 1995
Drug addiction is a phenomenon normally associated with the developed world, in particular North America and Europe, and with the producing countries in Asia and South America. Now the drugs cartels …
8th November 1995
Hélène Michaud presents a special edition of A Good Life focusing on the AMREF Flying Doctors in Africa. One of the pioneers was a French woman, Dr. Anne Spoerry (1918-1999), who retired at 80. It …
13th November 1995
In the wake of the genocide in Rwanda in the spring of 1994, hundreds of thousands of people fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo or Zaire, as it was then known. Most of them wound up in refugee …
25th December 1995
When Kenyan filmmaker Anne Mungai was awarded a prize by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and asked to make another movie, she chose to make a film about street children. In the Kenyan …
2nd February 1996
France granted independence to most of its colonies in West and Central Africa in 1960, but French politicians believed it was essential for France to maintain close ties with these new nations to …
6th December 1996
In 1973, a Dutch priest began seeing more and more children on the streets of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Most of them were working as parking boys, and Father Arnold Grol wanted to help get them off …
1st June 1997
This edition of the programme features an interview by Jaldeep Katwala with Kenyan palaentologist Richard Leakey, son of the famous Louis and Mary Leakey, about his extraordinary life and family. …
8th August 1997
In 1993, Eritrea became Africa’s newest independent country, after a bitter war against Ethiopia in which over 100,000 people died. The hostilities lasted 30 years, longer than any other …
12th October 1997
The semi-nomadic Himba people, who live in a remote corner of Namibia, are one of the last traditional tribes of Africa. Their way of life nearly vanished towards the end of the last century, when …
23rd October 1997
Michele Ernsting visits Namibia, seven years after independence, which was preceded by decades of civil war. Sam Nujoma became the country’s first president. He poured money into education and …
14th November 1997
Jaldeep Katwala takes a very personal look at relations between Asians and Africans in Kenya. Jaldeep was born in western Kenya at a time when the country was still ruled by the British. For the …
18th January 1998
In many parts of Africa, the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS has become the main cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 45, in other words for those who are both sexually …
8th February 1998
It’s estimated that up to 15,000 children, mostly boys, actively took part in Liberia’s 7-year civil war. That’s about 15% of the total number of fighters. Children were amongst the most brutal …
8th April 1998
In 1989, civil war broke out in the West African nation of Liberia. During the seven-year battle for power, it’s estimated that over 150,000 people were killed, and one in two was forced to …
24th August 1998
Martha Hawley visits Cameroon, where music is an integral part of everyday life and reflects the diversity of the country. Traditionally, it was part of the search for solution to social problems. …
28th August 1998
For nearly five years, the Central African country of Burundi has been in the throws of a civil war. 200,000 people have been killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and half a million more …
19th October 1998
David Swatling presents a portrait of South African writer, performer and satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys, based on his four visits to the Netherlands: in 1988, 1991, 1994 and 1998. During each of these …
1st January 1999
This programme is part of the series Stories of Our CenturyIn 1999, Radio Netherlands marked the end of the millennium with a series of 12 programmes telling the story of the 20th century through …
19th February 1999
In Arusha, Tanzania, a low-profile tribunal is working on the aftermath of a terrible war. Yet the Rwanda tribunal has been criticised for inefficiency and lack of facilities. The few dozen …
2nd July 1999
It’s estimated that there are at least 30,000 children living on the streets of Ghana. Eric Beauchemin has visited the country several times. Most recently he spent four months with a …
16th July 1999
Liesbeth de Bakker investigates the possible impact of the unraveling of the exact composition of our DNA. Can we really weed out bad genes, and do we really want to? Are human beings really defined …
9th September 1999
This award-winning programme focuses on a secret operation involving the Netherlands Anti-Apartheid Movement, the AABN, during Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment and the apartheid years in South …
30th November 1999
In 1999, UNAIDS released a report on the socio-economic impact of the epidemic in Africa. The report confirms what researchers had suspected for several years: AIDS is exacerbating poverty and …
30th November 1999
In Zimbabwe at the end of the 20th century, it was estimated that nearly one in five children had lost a parent to AIDS. Often it was just a question of time before the other parent died. Some …
1st December 1999
In 1999, Zimbabwe continued to be one of the countries that was seeing the worst of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Hundreds of thousands of children had lost their parents to the pandemic, and more and more …
12th January 2000
The 1990’s in Sierra Leone, West Africa. A civil war raged there for nearly the entire decade. It has been described as one of the most brutal wars in modern times. Rape was an integral part of …
25th January 2000
A year ago this month, rebels launched an offensive on the capital of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The invasion went largely unreported, though the human rights abuses that occurred there have been …
16th February 2000
It’s estimated that over 5000 children fought in Sierra Leone’s civil war, but the figure could be as high as 10,000. One rebel group admitted in late 1999 that 30% of its combatants were …
8th March 2000
The war that raged in the West African nation of Sierra Leone for nearly a decade knew no bounds. Speak to any Sierra Leonean and you’ll hear stories of unimaginable pain and horror. As Médecins sans …
19th April 2000
Eric Beauchemin has covered the aftermath of numerous wars. Throughout the 1990’s, he kept being drawn to places where the world saw the worst in man come to the surface – places like the …
17th May 2000
Guinea has opened its doors to hundreds of thousands of refugees, despite its extreme poverty. In the spring of the year 2000, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urged the world to …
1st June 2000
In this short interview recorded in Nairobi, Kenya, Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands talks about his involvement as a pilot with AMREF, the African Medical and Research Foundation. He flew …
21st June 2000
Since Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain in 1980, the authorities have repeatedly committed massive human rights violations against their own people. The government has never acknowledged its role …
4th July 2000
Dr. Alan Whiteside teaches at the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa and has been studying the socio-economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for the past decade. This coming Sunday, the …
7th July 2000
Time has brought about enormous change in relations between the Netherlands and South Africa: from the days when Dutch settlers founded Cape Town and formed the Boer community to the days of …
11th July 2000
The 13th International AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, focused attention on southern Africa, a region reeling from the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. No country in the region has been …
7th August 2000
Since 1993, Burundi has been in the throes of a civil war between the Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority. In 2000, Burundi’s military leader incorporated members of the opposition Hutu …
23rd October 2000
In this two-part special, Hélène Michaud visits Dutch doctors Hugo and Liesje Tempelman, who set up a desperately needed medical centre in a township in South Africa in 1994. Their Ndlovu Medical …
29th November 2000
Every week in Zimbabwe, 2500 people die of AIDS. Zimbabwe’s HIV rates are similar to those in the rest of southern Africa. The pandemic is changing the face of Zimbabwean society and the way people …
5th May 2001
Peter van Walsum (1934-2019) is a distinguished Dutch diplomat who retired in early 2001 after a career that lasted over 35 years. His last posting was at the United Nations in New York. During those …
5th May 2001
In 1999 and 2000, Peter van Walsum (1934-2019) served as the Dutch ambassador to the United Nations, at a time when the Netherlands had a seat on the Security Council. Much of the interview focuses …
8th July 2001
This programme is an updated version of the Slavery Special, broadcast on the December 24, 2000, when the location and the design of the National Slavery Monument had not yet been decided. The …
12th July 2001
Radio journalist Eric Beauchemin started making documentaries for the Dutch international service about 10 years ago, when he covered the growing numbers of Africans crossing the Straits of Gibraltar …
13th October 2001
This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview for the programme “Talking it Over”, Chris Chambers talks to Filip Reyntjens, Belgian African expert on …
27th November 2001
Eric Beauchemin visits Nigeria and discovers how serous and how under-reported the HIV/AIDS epidemic is and how the virus is being spread. Producer: Eric Beauchemin Broadcast: November 27, 2001…
4th December 2001
13 million children in Africa have lost their mother or father or both parents to AIDS. In South Africa alone, 5 million people are infected with the HIV virus. KwaZulu Natal is the province with the …
5th December 2001
For nearly three decades, Nigeria was ruled by a succession of military dictators. Thousands of Nigerians were the victims of massive human rights violations, including summary executions, …
12th December 2001
Over a decade after it began, the conflict between the Anglo-Dutch oil multinational, Shell, and one of Nigeria’s smaller ethnic groups – the Ogoni people – has lost little of its intensity. It’s one …
11th January 2002
In Nigeria, homosexuality not only is a taboo, it is illegal. In the north of the country, the maximum punishment is death by stoning. In southern Nigeria, people convicted of same-sex sexual …
3rd February 2002
With President Mbeki publicly rejecting the idea that AIDS is caused by a virus, treating people with HIV/AIDS has become even more difficult. Eric Beauchemin talks to members of the Treatment …
6th March 2002
In Africa, some 2 million women have VVF or vesico vaginal fistula, a condition caused by prolonged labour. According to Dr. Kees Waaldijk, a Dutch doctor who works in northern Nigeria, “these women …
12th March 2002
Eric Beauchemin meets Kathy Barrera whose organisation, the Mothers’ Welfare Group, has been working for the past 13 years in a poor, remote village near the central Nigerian city of Kaduna. …
26th April 2002
One of the most lasting legacies of war in many countries are landmines. Somewhere between 60 and 100 million mines have been planted in over 70 countries. They kill or maim 3 people per hour or more …
21st May 2002
Following the re-election of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in March 2003, violence continued unabated. Victims could not submit complaints because the rule of law had collapsed. Throughout …
2nd June 2002
Gnawa is a term used to describe both a North African type of music (originating in West Africa centuries before) as well as the people belonging to a Muslim religious brotherhood. Daniel Frankl …
3rd July 2002
“Hopefully now with the return to peace, Angolans will be able to go back home, rebuild their lives and restore their dignity”, says Tony Hodges, one of the world’s leading experts on the southern …
26th July 2002
In his book “Two Thousand Seasons”, African writer Ayi Kwei Armah says that it will take two thousand seasons to work through what slavery has done to mankind – “a thousand seasons …
9th August 2002
In 1988, a civil war broke out in Somalia in the Horn of Africa. Nearly a million people had to flee the fighting. Some settled in other African countries, but many went to the United States or …
21st August 2002
The president of Nigeria once described Lagos as an urban jungle. Others call it hell on earth. 13 million people live in Nigeria’s commercial capital. In the 1970’s, there were barely a …
4th December 2002
This programme is part of the series Rivers of the WorldRivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving …
22nd January 2003
In 2003, the African nation of Angola was emerging from a quarter of a century of civil war and massive human rights abuses. 1½ million people were killed during the fighting, and one in three had to …
9th February 2003
Roger Lucey was a white South African growing up in apartheid South Africa. He loved music and he loved his country. Paul Erasmus was a white South African growing up in apartheid South Africa. He …
28th February 2003
Angola’s capital, Luanda, was the first city founded by the Europeans on the west coast of Africa. The Portuguese colonisers initially settled on an island off the coast of Luanda in 1575. A …
26th March 2003
In Angola, more than one generation of children has known nothing more than war all their lives. This is a nation where people in their 30s can get furious at you for asking about their dreams as …
30th April 2003
The struggle to free the airwaves from state control was part of the larger anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. In Cape Town, Bush Radio was at the forefront, training broadcasters and …
7th July 2003
Over 100,000 children were separated from their families during Angola’s long civil war. Tens of thousands of adults have also lost contact with their loved ones. The cease-fire agreed in April 2002 …
10th July 2003
One of the most brutal episodes in Angola’s long civil war began in early 1993. Rebels belonging to UNITA (the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) besieged and then occupied several …
4th August 2003
HIV/AIDS remains the number one killer in all countries of southern Africa. The one exception is Angola. Paradoxically, a quarter of a century of war largely protected Angolans from the growing …
28th August 2003
Zimbabwe’s extreme economic decline after 2000 eroded the ability of artists to create and of the public to experience art. Dr. Yvonne Vera (1964-2005) was a novelist and for six years, she was …
31st August 2003
Despite the gradual disintegration of Angolan society, neither the Angolan authorities nor the UNITA rebels seem prepared yet to embrace peace and national reconciliation. Many Angolans and Western …
3rd September 2003
Producer: Eric Beauchemin Original broadcast: September 3, 2003 In 2000, the Zimbabwean government created the National Youth Service, allegedly to provide skills and teach patriotism to the southern …
13th September 2003
At the turn of the century, the ongoing political crisis in Zimbabwe was having increasingly disastrous consequences for the country’s 11 million people. The collapse of Zimbabwe was also being …
23rd September 2003
In Zimbabwe at the turn of the century, Christian leaders were coming under increasing pressure because of their criticism of President Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian rule. The Church was one of …
29th September 2003
The deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe occasionally draws headlines elsewhere, and the news is never good. The economic situation has gone into steep decline, in part due to the expensive costs of …
1st October 2003
Zimbabwe’s economy used to be one of the most vibrant in Africa. But by 2003, the country’s economy had collapsed. It’s estimated that up to a fourth of Zimbabwe’s 11 million people …
14th November 2003
This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. Jan van Maanen has lived and worked in Guinea …
16th November 2003
Emma McCune (1964-1993) was a young British national who went to Sudan as an international aid worker. She met and married the southern Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar. She was expecting her first …
11th January 2004
Homosexuality is illegal under Victorian-era legislation still in force in Uganda and many other Anglophone countries in Africa. The laws reflect a deep aversion among many Africans to homosexuality. …
23rd January 2004
Bev Ditsie was 17 when she first met Simon Nkoli, founder of South Africa’s first gay and lesbian organization: GLOW. Simon became her mentor, her role model and, most of all, her friend. Together, …
7th April 2004
In 2004, children in northern Uganda were living in fear. A rebel movement called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) had abducted over 20,000 children since it began fighting the Ugandan government 17 …
21st April 2004
In northern Uganda in 2004, war had been raging for nearly two decades, and it was showing no signs of abating. People had grown tired of the government’s pledges that it would end the rebellion by …
26th April 2004
In the rainforests of central Africa, the Baka pygmies have one of the oldest and most sensitive musical cultures on Earth. They sing to draw animals prior to a hunt, to wake the forest spirits to …
26th May 2004
When the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the early 1980’s, one of the hardest hit countries was Uganda. By the early 1990’s, over 18% of the population was infected with HIV, and in some …
9th June 2004
Since the end of apartheid a decade ago, growing numbers of refugees from across Africa have been heading to the continent’s richest and most industrialised country. No one knows how many African …
15th November 2004
Imagine an African landscape nearly half the size of the Netherlands, antelopes and zebra grazing a huge, flat wetland full of storks, cranes and wading birds. This is the Kafue Flats of Zambia …
18th November 2004
In Africa, 7 million people have AIDS, the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. 11 million more Africans have the HIV virus which causes the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 65% of the …
7th May 2006
The island of Madagascar is a treasure trove of unique animals and plants. Researchers are still discovering new species of all kinds. But even as they are found, many are increasingly doomed to …
13th June 2006
In less than half a century, the discovery of diamonds has transformed Botswana from one of the poorest countries in the world into a prosperous nation. But not everyone is benefiting from diamond …
13th December 2006
Zimbabwe used to be the breadbasket of southern Africa. Today it cannot feed itself. It has the world’s highest inflation rate: it is over 1000%, according to the Zimbabwean government. …
31st January 2007
In May 2005, the Zimbabwean government launched Operation Murambatsvina. The authorities translated this as “Operation Clean-up” or “Operation Restore Order”, but the more literal translation is …
11th February 1972This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsIn this edition of the BBC’s programme “PM”, Pete Myers meets South African singer, songwriter and political activist …
10th November 1972In 1971, Radio Nederland organised a short story competition for African writers under the age of 30. The first prize, a gold-plated model of a Dutch windmill and a trip to the Netherlands was won by …
5th February 1973This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsBefore joining us at Radio Netherlands in 1976, Pete Myers hosted BBC programmes like “Late Night Extra” and “PM” …
13th October 1973In this edition of the BBC’s programme “PM”, Pete Myers introduces us to a South African play that took the world by storm in the mid-1970’s. “Sizwe Bansi is dead” …
12th September 1978Zambia, once known as Northern Rhodesia, was fused with Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953 and gained complete independence in 1964. The country’s first president, the father of …
14th May 1979An interview with the producer of “Zulu Dawn”. This epic cinema production about the Battle of Isandlwana is about the defeat of British forces by an overwhelming force of 25 thousand …
18th July 1979This programme is part of the series AfrosceneIn June 1979, South African Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Nadine Gordimer published “Burger’s Daughter”. The novel details a group …
28th January 1982This programme is part of the series AfroscenePrince Nico Mbarga, born in Nigeria in 1950, was a highlife musician, renowned for his hit song “Sweet Mother”, which he recorded with his …
20th October 1982In 1982, Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service produced a number of African short stories. Most of them have survived. A number of them were later (in 1985) also broadast in our regular …
17th January 1983These two recordings contain fourteen short presentations compiled and presented by South African activist, poet and literary scholar Dr. Vernie February. Born in South Africa in 1938, February lived …
17th October 1984This programme is part of the series AfrosceneThe weekly Afroscene programme frequently featured African music. The 1984-1985 season was no exception. Here’s a selection of some of the people …
21st October 1984This programme is part of the series AfrosceneThese interviews with African writers, produced and presented by John Hammond (1933-2012) and Veronica Wilson, were first broadcast in …
29th March 1985This programme is part of the series AfrosceneIn the early 1980’s, the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Service commissioned a series of African radio plays. This one seems to be the only …
22nd October 1985This programme is part of the series AfrosceneHighlights from the 1985 Afroscene season: John Hammond (1933-2012) lists all the (attempted) coups in the continent that year – November 1985 …
25th August 1986This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThe programme is part of the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Series “We made a hoe and went along”, produced in 1986. The programme …
20th October 1986This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongIn the 17th century, the town of Djenné in Mali was a major trading centre in West Africa. Merchants came from far and wide to sell …
27th October 1986This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThe programme is part of the Radio Netherlands’ Transcription Series “We made a hoe and went along”, produced in 1986. The African …
28th October 1986This programme is part of the series We made a hoe and went alongThis is the final part of a 13-part series called “We Made a Hoe and Went Along” on the history of Africa. In this …
29th June 1988In this unedited interview, Radio Netherlands’ science editor Anne Blair Gould spoke to Prince Bernhard (1911-2004) of the Netherlands about the World Wide Fund for Nature. The prince, who was …
4th April 1989The Reverend Christian Frederick Beyers Naudé (1915-2004) was a South African theologian, born and raised in the Afrikaner Christian community. His father was a minister in the white Dutch reformed …
14th October 1989This programme is part of the series AfrosceneVeronica Wilson’s studio guest is Del Richardson, lead singer and lead guitarist with Osibisa, the first African (pop) band that had a world-wide …
14th October 1989This programme is part of the series AfrosceneVeronica Wilson speaks with couples, both African and Dutch, about the impact their choice of a partner has had on their relationship, their families, …
8th November 1990A Good Life reporter Sylvia Smith visits the Western Sahara and refugee camps in neighbouring Algeria. Control over the Western Sahara, an expanse of desert half the size of France, has been at the …
20th September 1992Shortly after Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, a long and bitter civil war broke out between the ruling FRELIMO government and the RENAMO rebels. Over one million people were …
5th November 1993Veronica Wilson meets Eric Miyeni, a young (26) black South African standup comedian who was in Holland with his show “Twisted and Vile”. He uses comedy to tackle social issues such as …
25th April 1994South African artists have been involved in a struggle for an integrated society. In this programme, produced by David Swatling, we found out how dance and theatre have been setting an example for a …
27th April 1994One of the major challenges facing the new South African government is the issue of land reform. The apartheid regime confiscated vast tracts of land from the black majority as well as from coloureds …
3rd May 1994How will South Africa’s arts community fare now that the country is about to get a black majority government? Uncertainty abounds because, as always, it will depend on how much money is …
12th October 1994After the collapse of apartheid, people will have to come to terms with the new reality in South Africa. As it will be the young generation who will have to build a new society, Eric Beauchemin spoke …
12th October 1994Deforestation and soil degradation in many of the areas were blak people were forced to live are only two of the problems created by apartheid. Another is toxic waste dumping. Eric Beauchemin …
16th November 1994Hélène Michaud visits Uganda, more than 20 years after Idi Amin ordered 50,000 Asians to leave Uganda, accusing them of sabotaging the country’s economy. In 1992, President Yoweri Museveni …
9th February 1995Ever since Burundi gained independence in 1962, politicians representing the nation’s two main ethnic groups – the Hutu and the Tutsi – have tried but failed to reach a lasting …
15th February 1995In early 1995, the Dutch branch of Médecins sans Frontières or Doctors without Borders had just celebrated its tenth anniversary. It had projects in a wide variety of countries ranging from …
1st March 1995Seven months after the 1994 genocide, most Rwandans were still struggling to come to terms with the slaughter of nearly a million of their compatriots. How does a society cope when it loses one in …
1st April 1995A year after the start of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda’s children are still trying to put their lives back together. Hundreds of thousands were killed, lost their families or were separated from …
19th April 1995Angola is one of the countries that has been most heavily affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance. In the 1990’s, the United Nations estimated that Angola had over 10 million landmines, …
12th October 1995There are growing numbers of street children throughout Africa. They converge on the cities, hoping to make enough money to build a better life for themselves back in their village. However, few …
16th October 1995Women Living Under Muslim Laws is an organisation or network set up in 1986 by Muslim feminists to take action against Islamic legislation which discriminates against women. Hélène Michaud talks to …
20th October 1995This programme is part of the series AfrosceneIn this programme, John Hammond (1933-2012) looks at male circumcision in Africa, which sometimes goes horribly wrong. He interviews a Dutch doctor who …
20th October 1995This programme is part of the series AfrosceneThis edition of the programme is dedicated entirely to female circumcision. There are interviews with several experts from Africa on this practice, why …
24th October 1995Child prostitution in Africa is on the increase. Growing poverty, the HIV epidemic and civil strife are just some of the reasons leading more and more children and teenagers, both girls and boys, to …
31st October 1995Drug addiction is a phenomenon normally associated with the developed world, in particular North America and Europe, and with the producing countries in Asia and South America. Now the drugs cartels …
8th November 1995Hélène Michaud presents a special edition of A Good Life focusing on the AMREF Flying Doctors in Africa. One of the pioneers was a French woman, Dr. Anne Spoerry (1918-1999), who retired at 80. It …
13th November 1995In the wake of the genocide in Rwanda in the spring of 1994, hundreds of thousands of people fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo or Zaire, as it was then known. Most of them wound up in refugee …
25th December 1995When Kenyan filmmaker Anne Mungai was awarded a prize by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and asked to make another movie, she chose to make a film about street children. In the Kenyan …
2nd February 1996France granted independence to most of its colonies in West and Central Africa in 1960, but French politicians believed it was essential for France to maintain close ties with these new nations to …
6th December 1996In 1973, a Dutch priest began seeing more and more children on the streets of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Most of them were working as parking boys, and Father Arnold Grol wanted to help get them off …
1st June 1997This edition of the programme features an interview by Jaldeep Katwala with Kenyan palaentologist Richard Leakey, son of the famous Louis and Mary Leakey, about his extraordinary life and family. …
8th August 1997In 1993, Eritrea became Africa’s newest independent country, after a bitter war against Ethiopia in which over 100,000 people died. The hostilities lasted 30 years, longer than any other …
12th October 1997The semi-nomadic Himba people, who live in a remote corner of Namibia, are one of the last traditional tribes of Africa. Their way of life nearly vanished towards the end of the last century, when …
23rd October 1997Michele Ernsting visits Namibia, seven years after independence, which was preceded by decades of civil war. Sam Nujoma became the country’s first president. He poured money into education and …
14th November 1997Jaldeep Katwala takes a very personal look at relations between Asians and Africans in Kenya. Jaldeep was born in western Kenya at a time when the country was still ruled by the British. For the …
18th January 1998In many parts of Africa, the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS has become the main cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 45, in other words for those who are both sexually …
8th February 1998It’s estimated that up to 15,000 children, mostly boys, actively took part in Liberia’s 7-year civil war. That’s about 15% of the total number of fighters. Children were amongst the most brutal …
8th April 1998In 1989, civil war broke out in the West African nation of Liberia. During the seven-year battle for power, it’s estimated that over 150,000 people were killed, and one in two was forced to …
24th August 1998Martha Hawley visits Cameroon, where music is an integral part of everyday life and reflects the diversity of the country. Traditionally, it was part of the search for solution to social problems. …
28th August 1998For nearly five years, the Central African country of Burundi has been in the throws of a civil war. 200,000 people have been killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and half a million more …
19th October 1998David Swatling presents a portrait of South African writer, performer and satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys, based on his four visits to the Netherlands: in 1988, 1991, 1994 and 1998. During each of these …
1st January 1999This programme is part of the series Stories of Our CenturyIn 1999, Radio Netherlands marked the end of the millennium with a series of 12 programmes telling the story of the 20th century through …
2nd July 1999It’s estimated that there are at least 30,000 children living on the streets of Ghana. Eric Beauchemin has visited the country several times. Most recently he spent four months with a …
16th July 1999Liesbeth de Bakker investigates the possible impact of the unraveling of the exact composition of our DNA. Can we really weed out bad genes, and do we really want to? Are human beings really defined …
9th September 1999This award-winning programme focuses on a secret operation involving the Netherlands Anti-Apartheid Movement, the AABN, during Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment and the apartheid years in South …
30th November 1999In 1999, UNAIDS released a report on the socio-economic impact of the epidemic in Africa. The report confirms what researchers had suspected for several years: AIDS is exacerbating poverty and …
30th November 1999In Zimbabwe at the end of the 20th century, it was estimated that nearly one in five children had lost a parent to AIDS. Often it was just a question of time before the other parent died. Some …
1st December 1999In 1999, Zimbabwe continued to be one of the countries that was seeing the worst of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Hundreds of thousands of children had lost their parents to the pandemic, and more and more …
12th January 2000The 1990’s in Sierra Leone, West Africa. A civil war raged there for nearly the entire decade. It has been described as one of the most brutal wars in modern times. Rape was an integral part of …
25th January 2000A year ago this month, rebels launched an offensive on the capital of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The invasion went largely unreported, though the human rights abuses that occurred there have been …
16th February 2000It’s estimated that over 5000 children fought in Sierra Leone’s civil war, but the figure could be as high as 10,000. One rebel group admitted in late 1999 that 30% of its combatants were …
8th March 2000The war that raged in the West African nation of Sierra Leone for nearly a decade knew no bounds. Speak to any Sierra Leonean and you’ll hear stories of unimaginable pain and horror. As Médecins sans …
19th April 2000Eric Beauchemin has covered the aftermath of numerous wars. Throughout the 1990’s, he kept being drawn to places where the world saw the worst in man come to the surface – places like the …
17th May 2000Guinea has opened its doors to hundreds of thousands of refugees, despite its extreme poverty. In the spring of the year 2000, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees urged the world to …
1st June 2000In this short interview recorded in Nairobi, Kenya, Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands talks about his involvement as a pilot with AMREF, the African Medical and Research Foundation. He flew …
21st June 2000Since Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain in 1980, the authorities have repeatedly committed massive human rights violations against their own people. The government has never acknowledged its role …
4th July 2000Dr. Alan Whiteside teaches at the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa and has been studying the socio-economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for the past decade. This coming Sunday, the …
7th July 2000Time has brought about enormous change in relations between the Netherlands and South Africa: from the days when Dutch settlers founded Cape Town and formed the Boer community to the days of …
11th July 2000The 13th International AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa, focused attention on southern Africa, a region reeling from the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. No country in the region has been …
7th August 2000Since 1993, Burundi has been in the throes of a civil war between the Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority. In 2000, Burundi’s military leader incorporated members of the opposition Hutu …
23rd October 2000In this two-part special, Hélène Michaud visits Dutch doctors Hugo and Liesje Tempelman, who set up a desperately needed medical centre in a township in South Africa in 1994. Their Ndlovu Medical …
29th November 2000Every week in Zimbabwe, 2500 people die of AIDS. Zimbabwe’s HIV rates are similar to those in the rest of southern Africa. The pandemic is changing the face of Zimbabwean society and the way people …
5th May 2001Peter van Walsum (1934-2019) is a distinguished Dutch diplomat who retired in early 2001 after a career that lasted over 35 years. His last posting was at the United Nations in New York. During those …
5th May 2001In 1999 and 2000, Peter van Walsum (1934-2019) served as the Dutch ambassador to the United Nations, at a time when the Netherlands had a seat on the Security Council. Much of the interview focuses …
8th July 2001This programme is an updated version of the Slavery Special, broadcast on the December 24, 2000, when the location and the design of the National Slavery Monument had not yet been decided. The …
12th July 2001Radio journalist Eric Beauchemin started making documentaries for the Dutch international service about 10 years ago, when he covered the growing numbers of Africans crossing the Straits of Gibraltar …
13th October 2001This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsIn this unedited interview for the programme “Talking it Over”, Chris Chambers talks to Filip Reyntjens, Belgian African expert on …
27th November 2001Eric Beauchemin visits Nigeria and discovers how serous and how under-reported the HIV/AIDS epidemic is and how the virus is being spread. Producer: Eric Beauchemin Broadcast: November 27, 2001…
5th December 2001For nearly three decades, Nigeria was ruled by a succession of military dictators. Thousands of Nigerians were the victims of massive human rights violations, including summary executions, …
12th December 2001Over a decade after it began, the conflict between the Anglo-Dutch oil multinational, Shell, and one of Nigeria’s smaller ethnic groups – the Ogoni people – has lost little of its intensity. It’s one …
11th January 2002In Nigeria, homosexuality not only is a taboo, it is illegal. In the north of the country, the maximum punishment is death by stoning. In southern Nigeria, people convicted of same-sex sexual …
3rd February 2002With President Mbeki publicly rejecting the idea that AIDS is caused by a virus, treating people with HIV/AIDS has become even more difficult. Eric Beauchemin talks to members of the Treatment …
6th March 2002In Africa, some 2 million women have VVF or vesico vaginal fistula, a condition caused by prolonged labour. According to Dr. Kees Waaldijk, a Dutch doctor who works in northern Nigeria, “these women …
12th March 2002Eric Beauchemin meets Kathy Barrera whose organisation, the Mothers’ Welfare Group, has been working for the past 13 years in a poor, remote village near the central Nigerian city of Kaduna. …
26th April 2002One of the most lasting legacies of war in many countries are landmines. Somewhere between 60 and 100 million mines have been planted in over 70 countries. They kill or maim 3 people per hour or more …
21st May 2002Following the re-election of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in March 2003, violence continued unabated. Victims could not submit complaints because the rule of law had collapsed. Throughout …
2nd June 2002Gnawa is a term used to describe both a North African type of music (originating in West Africa centuries before) as well as the people belonging to a Muslim religious brotherhood. Daniel Frankl …
3rd July 2002“Hopefully now with the return to peace, Angolans will be able to go back home, rebuild their lives and restore their dignity”, says Tony Hodges, one of the world’s leading experts on the southern …
26th July 2002In his book “Two Thousand Seasons”, African writer Ayi Kwei Armah says that it will take two thousand seasons to work through what slavery has done to mankind – “a thousand seasons …
9th August 2002In 1988, a civil war broke out in Somalia in the Horn of Africa. Nearly a million people had to flee the fighting. Some settled in other African countries, but many went to the United States or …
21st August 2002The president of Nigeria once described Lagos as an urban jungle. Others call it hell on earth. 13 million people live in Nigeria’s commercial capital. In the 1970’s, there were barely a …
4th December 2002This programme is part of the series Rivers of the WorldRivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving …
22nd January 2003In 2003, the African nation of Angola was emerging from a quarter of a century of civil war and massive human rights abuses. 1½ million people were killed during the fighting, and one in three had to …
9th February 2003Roger Lucey was a white South African growing up in apartheid South Africa. He loved music and he loved his country. Paul Erasmus was a white South African growing up in apartheid South Africa. He …
28th February 2003Angola’s capital, Luanda, was the first city founded by the Europeans on the west coast of Africa. The Portuguese colonisers initially settled on an island off the coast of Luanda in 1575. A …
26th March 2003In Angola, more than one generation of children has known nothing more than war all their lives. This is a nation where people in their 30s can get furious at you for asking about their dreams as …
30th April 2003The struggle to free the airwaves from state control was part of the larger anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. In Cape Town, Bush Radio was at the forefront, training broadcasters and …
7th July 2003Over 100,000 children were separated from their families during Angola’s long civil war. Tens of thousands of adults have also lost contact with their loved ones. The cease-fire agreed in April 2002 …
10th July 2003One of the most brutal episodes in Angola’s long civil war began in early 1993. Rebels belonging to UNITA (the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) besieged and then occupied several …
4th August 2003HIV/AIDS remains the number one killer in all countries of southern Africa. The one exception is Angola. Paradoxically, a quarter of a century of war largely protected Angolans from the growing …
28th August 2003Zimbabwe’s extreme economic decline after 2000 eroded the ability of artists to create and of the public to experience art. Dr. Yvonne Vera (1964-2005) was a novelist and for six years, she was …
31st August 2003Despite the gradual disintegration of Angolan society, neither the Angolan authorities nor the UNITA rebels seem prepared yet to embrace peace and national reconciliation. Many Angolans and Western …
3rd September 2003Producer: Eric Beauchemin Original broadcast: September 3, 2003 In 2000, the Zimbabwean government created the National Youth Service, allegedly to provide skills and teach patriotism to the southern …
13th September 2003At the turn of the century, the ongoing political crisis in Zimbabwe was having increasingly disastrous consequences for the country’s 11 million people. The collapse of Zimbabwe was also being …
23rd September 2003In Zimbabwe at the turn of the century, Christian leaders were coming under increasing pressure because of their criticism of President Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian rule. The Church was one of …
29th September 2003The deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe occasionally draws headlines elsewhere, and the news is never good. The economic situation has gone into steep decline, in part due to the expensive costs of …
1st October 2003Zimbabwe’s economy used to be one of the most vibrant in Africa. But by 2003, the country’s economy had collapsed. It’s estimated that up to a fourth of Zimbabwe’s 11 million people …
14th November 2003This programme is part of the series Under Foreign Skies“Under Foreign Skies” is a series of portraits of Dutch people abroad doing remarkable things. Jan van Maanen has lived and worked in Guinea …
16th November 2003Emma McCune (1964-1993) was a young British national who went to Sudan as an international aid worker. She met and married the southern Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar. She was expecting her first …
11th January 2004Homosexuality is illegal under Victorian-era legislation still in force in Uganda and many other Anglophone countries in Africa. The laws reflect a deep aversion among many Africans to homosexuality. …
23rd January 2004Bev Ditsie was 17 when she first met Simon Nkoli, founder of South Africa’s first gay and lesbian organization: GLOW. Simon became her mentor, her role model and, most of all, her friend. Together, …
7th April 2004In 2004, children in northern Uganda were living in fear. A rebel movement called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) had abducted over 20,000 children since it began fighting the Ugandan government 17 …
21st April 2004In northern Uganda in 2004, war had been raging for nearly two decades, and it was showing no signs of abating. People had grown tired of the government’s pledges that it would end the rebellion by …
26th April 2004In the rainforests of central Africa, the Baka pygmies have one of the oldest and most sensitive musical cultures on Earth. They sing to draw animals prior to a hunt, to wake the forest spirits to …
26th May 2004When the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the early 1980’s, one of the hardest hit countries was Uganda. By the early 1990’s, over 18% of the population was infected with HIV, and in some …
9th June 2004Since the end of apartheid a decade ago, growing numbers of refugees from across Africa have been heading to the continent’s richest and most industrialised country. No one knows how many African …
18th November 2004In Africa, 7 million people have AIDS, the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. 11 million more Africans have the HIV virus which causes the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 65% of the …
7th May 2006The island of Madagascar is a treasure trove of unique animals and plants. Researchers are still discovering new species of all kinds. But even as they are found, many are increasingly doomed to …
13th June 2006In less than half a century, the discovery of diamonds has transformed Botswana from one of the poorest countries in the world into a prosperous nation. But not everyone is benefiting from diamond …
13th December 2006Zimbabwe used to be the breadbasket of southern Africa. Today it cannot feed itself. It has the world’s highest inflation rate: it is over 1000%, according to the Zimbabwean government. …
31st January 2007In May 2005, the Zimbabwean government launched Operation Murambatsvina. The authorities translated this as “Operation Clean-up” or “Operation Restore Order”, but the more literal translation is …