- Pritzker Fellows
- Current Fellows
- Crystal Orderson
Crystal Orderson
Journalist from South Africa
Winter 2024 Visiting
Pritzker Fellow
Seminar Series: “The View From Africa: A South Africa Reporter Brings Her 30-Year Perspective on the Continent”
Crystal Orderson is an acclaimed South African journalist who has spent the past two decades reporting socio-economic issues in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, and, most recently, the most significant national election since the fall of apartheid 30 years ago. She was the first West Africa bureau chief for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC News, based in Senegal and has managed myriad different newsrooms in the country. Currently reporting for several local and international media outlets, including ARD Germany, Al Jazeera, BBC Radio, and LBC Radio in London, Crystal is also a regular analyst on local media on African politics and has also been involved with several non-governmental organizations, such as the Bulungula Incubator Project, the Cape Town University of Technology and Project Ignite, a school project working with disadvantaged schools in her home city of Cape Town.
Seminars
“The View From Africa: A South Africa Reporter Brings Her 30-Year Perspective on the Continent”
Crystal Orderson is an acclaimed South African journalist who has spent the past two decades reporting socio-economic issues in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, and, most recently, the most significant national election since the fall of apartheid 30 years ago. Enjoy this rare opportunity to hear an international perspective on the vibrant and dynamic political, economic and cultural contours of Africa, with a special emphasis on her home country and its amazing journey on the world stage.
I grew up under apartheid, voted for the first time in 1994 and grew up to cover the Nelson Mandela presidency, the enactment of the same-sex marriage legislation and the state capture years of the Jacob Zuma presidency as a young journalist. I am now critically reflecting on post-apartheid South Africa, both in terms of its progress and challenges in the journey towards equality and democracy and the lessons it offers the world. Just 30 years ago, our nation was an international pariah and object of a massive international disinvestment boycott movement; today, that experience informs its foreign policy doctrine, which has played a critical role in the war in Gaza and ongoing conflicts in Africa, like Sudan. Beyond politics, there has been a notable rise in awareness of South African popular culture, especially Amapiano, the music from the townships that has taken the world by storm.
The crippling debt in key African economies like Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia has harmed development and threatened national sovereignty by opening the door to foreign influence. The dire impact of the debt crisis on Africa's development is likely to impact socio-economic progress and could breed revolt in countries where governments are unable to deliver on health and education and other services - and has forced them to rely on multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank and China. Recently, military juntas in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, in response to sanctions that were issued because of their recent military coups. The issue of censorship and closure of media houses across the continent and the arrests of journalists remain a big concern and have impacted access to critical information. With mounting debt and a bulging youth population hungry for access to information and jobs, what is the short-term economic and political future for the continent?