MIL Africa Engine

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Carsten Schradin, Director of Research, Université de Strasbourg; University of the Witwatersrand

About 200 million years ago, furry little egg-laying creatures evolved the ability to feed their offspring with a secretion from some special glands: milk. Their evolutionary journey continued and by about 160 million years ago, the first mammals with a real placenta had come into being. Instead of laying eggs, they gave birth to live young that had been connected via a placenta directly to their mother during pregnancy, allowing the exchange of oxygen, nutrients and waste products.

These early mammals looked like shrews do today. They were small and had a long body, eyes typical for nocturnal mammals and little spiky teeth for eating insects. But they were not shrews. They were the ancestors of all the placental mammals that exist now, including shrews, bats, elephants and humans.

While we know quite a lot about what our ancestors looked like and what they ate, so far we didn’t know anything about their social behaviour. Because behaviours don’t fossilise.

Scientists used to think that the first placentals behaved like shrews because they looked like shrews. And as the common belief was that all shrews are solitary, scientists thought the first placental ancestors were too.

Now we know that both assumptions were wrong.

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For 10 years I led a group of volunteers, master’s students, PhD students and researchers who conducted a literature survey to better understand the social organisation of wild living mammals – in other words, whether they live as solitary individuals, in pairs or in groups. Together we reviewed more than 15,000 scientific publications.

Using this data for modern mammal species and statistical methods to analyse evolutionary relationships, we could estimate how the first placentals had lived.

Our findings transform the understanding of how our own ancestors lived in the age of the dinosaurs. Rather than being exclusively solitary, they regularly formed stable female-male pairs. Our results also show that early mammals were not locked into one single social system. Like many modern mammals, they showed variation in social organisation.

These findings challenge the traditional image of early mammals as strictly solitary animals, with social behaviour evolving much later. We suggest that the roots of mammalian sociality – and with this some aspects of our own social behaviour – reach much deeper into evolutionary history than previously thought.

Pair-living is common in extant mammals

We first studied the shrews and their relatives, and found our first surprise: while around 400 species had been classified as solitary living, only 16 had actually been studied. And most of them at least sometimes lived in groups, 38% in pairs.

If shrews are not solitary but often social, then maybe the early, shrew-like looking ancestors were also more social than we’d believed. No study had tested what the social organisation of early mammals had been. We were able to do this using statistical advances of comparative studies and our new high-quality database.

Our dataset includes data for 806 of the 5,740 extant mammal species, 80 of which are marsupials and 726 placental mammals. Nearly a quarter (24%) are solitary-living, 17% pair-living and more than half (59%) are group-living.

To estimate the social organisation of the ancestor, the evolutionary history of mammals has to be taken into account. Using a statistical model, we were able to do this, by controlling for the fact that some species are closely related to each other.

We found that variation in social organisation within species was common for both extant marsupials and placentals. Their ancestors showed flexibility too. They were not all living solitary lives. Some of them lived in pairs. For placentals, where we had the most data, we found that about one-quarter of the population was pair-living.

In other words: the first placentals, and as such our ancestors living 160 million years ago, sometimes lived in pairs.

Several other studies have shown that the ancestors of major groups of placental mammals living approximately 70 million years ago were predominantly pair-living. That was the case for elephant shrews, even-toed ungulates and primates. This means that from 160 million years ago to 70 million years ago, pair-living transformed from an alternative possibility to the most common form of social organisation in several lines of placentals.

Then about 66 million years ago, the dinosaur era came to an abrupt end. The Earth was struck by an asteroid, and dinosaurs (excepting birds) and most other large animals became extinct. Only small animals survived, including the small mammals which became the ancestors of all today’s mammals.

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These mammals found themselves in an environment without large predators. This allowed them to become bigger and bigger over the millions of years that followed. And they became more social. Pair-living ancestors gave rise to group-living mammals. The main benefit was protection against predators.

Today most mammals are group-living. They are the only vertebrate taxa where group-living is common.

What’s still missing

Our findings are important because for decades researchers have tried to explain the evolution of pair-living in mammals. But our research shows that this was the wrong question: the hallmark of mammalian social evolution is group-living, while pair-living is an ancient mammalian trait.

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Thus, what we need to ask is how mammals became so tolerant and amicable, that several females and several males could live together.

– Early mammals weren’t all loners, as scientists thought – some already lived in pairs alongside the dinosaurs
– https://theconversation.com/early-mammals-werent-all-loners-as-scientists-thought-some-already-lived-in-pairs-alongside-the-dinosaurs-290381

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Moha Ennaji, Professor, Université Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah

The movement of tens of thousands people into Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on the north African coast, in July 2026 has highlighted faultlines in the politics of migration between Europe and Morocco.

More than 70,000 people entered Ceuta over a 48-hour period. The extraordinary surge followed the spread of misleading claims on social media that people who reached Ceuta by sea could not be returned to Morocco. An estimated 57 people died. Most drowned while trying to swim around the border breakwater.

Ceuta is on the African continent and borders Morocco. It has a population of about 83,600 people, 40% of whom are of Moroccan origin. The city’s reception facilities were already overwhelmed as around 1,500 people had arrived the previous week. Facilities for unaccompanied minors were operating at 2,400% of their capacity.

I am a researcher on north African migration issues, and in my view, the Ceuta situation is about more than migration. It reflects the complicated political relationship between Spain, Morocco and the European Union, and deep structural inequalities.

Understanding the unfolding crisis requires looking at both the international and domestic dimensions.

International attention needs to be paid to Europe’s outsourcing of border controls, and to the geopolitical relationship between Spain and Morocco. Domestically, the crisis raises questions about illegal migration, pressure on public services, and the political and media narratives surrounding migration.

The international dimension

Migration has become a source of political leverage. American political scientist Kelly M. Greenhill calls this coercive engineered migration: the deliberate use – or threat of using – migration flows to pressure other states into making concessions.

In Ceuta, this dynamic is part of a broader pattern.

In May 2021, for instance, more than 5,000 people entered Ceuta after Morocco eased border controls. This followed a diplomatic crisis triggered by Spain’s decision to allow Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, to receive medical treatment in the country. The Polisario Front seeks independence for the Sahara, a territory claimed and recovered by Morocco since 1975.

Morocco considered Spain’s decision to receive Ghali as support for its political adversary. Relations between the two countries deteriorated sharply. Morocco subsequently relaxed controls on its border with Ceuta, which allowed thousands of people to cross into the Spanish enclave. Spain accused Morocco of using migration to pile on political pressure.

Morocco’s leverage in this situation has been amplified by Europe’s outsourcing of migration control. Rather than managing migration only at its own borders, the European Union has increasingly relied on countries like Morocco to prevent people from reaching Europe in the first place.

Further, some politicians have framed the 2026 Ceuta arrivals as an “invasion” or a threat to national security. This has contributed to the process of “securitisation”, an approach that tends to prioritise state security over the safety and rights of migrants themselves.

The European Parliament has condemned the use of migration as a tool of political gains.

The outsourcing of migration control has made Morocco an essential partner for the European Union. But it has also made the union increasingly dependent on Morocco to prevent migrants from reaching European territory.

In 2023, the European Commission allocated 152 million euros to strengthen Morocco’s border management. By transferring part of its responsibilities, Europe has given Morocco real leverage over migration cooperation.

This dependence creates a dilemma for the European Union. Morocco’s importance in curbing migration can make it harder for European governments to challenge the country over other matters in the future.

The domestic dimension

A Spanish court ruling may have played a role in the July 2026 crossings. The supreme court ruled out the use of the exceptional “rejection at the border” procedure for people intercepted at sea trying to enter Ceuta and Melilla by swimming.

The court found that this procedure applies to people crossing physical border barriers, such as the fences surrounding the enclaves, rather than those intercepted while swimming.

This decision was misinterpreted by many in Morocco. Its simplified interpretation may have encouraged crossings by creating the impression that those arriving by swimming would not be sent back. According to the Spanish prime minister, smuggling networks exploited this court ruling.

Large-scale border crossings can also change the way migration is discussed. One study into the 2021 Ceuta crisis found a hardening of political rhetoric and a growing normalisation of racist language. Further, the far-right Spanish party Vox devoted more than 70% of its social media posts to Ceuta and migration.

The current crisis has revived similar rhetoric. Far-right politicians have used words like “invasion” and “men of fighting age”, contributing to portraying migrants as a collective threat to Spanish citizens. The media are not necessarily the source of this rhetoric. But they can help normalise it. This can happen when they repeat alarmist narratives without sufficient context or perspective.

Human rights as limit and response

In a crisis of Ceuta’s nature, human rights are not an obstacle to border management. They set the legal and ethical limits. Finding more than 50 bodies in the waters off Ceuta shows the human cost of turning a border into a zone of extreme danger.

Spain has a duty to protect human lives and ensure effective rescue operations. It also must assess each case individually, with particular attention to minors, asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking.

The primary victims remain the migrants themselves. Political parties may exploit them for electoral gain. Public narratives may reduce them to an anonymous threat.

While states squabble over influence and responsibilities, migrants face inadequate protection, arbitrary pushbacks and dehumanisation in public debate.

The response should not pit the rights of Ceuta’s residents against those of the people arriving there. It should protect both groups, while giving particular attention to the most vulnerable. They should not pay the price for political strategies over which they have no control.

– Europe relies on Morocco to keep migrants out – Ceuta shows the political cost
– https://theconversation.com/europe-relies-on-morocco-to-keep-migrants-out-ceuta-shows-the-political-cost-290780

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Amy Sarah Padayachee, Lecturer, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Questions about the integrity of educator appointments remain unresolved in South Africa ten years after a ministerial task team investigated the alleged sale of teaching posts.

The inquiry exposed vulnerabilities in a system intended to ensure that appointments are fair, equitable and transparent. A decade later, how well does South Africa’s system protect teacher appointments and promotions from improper influence? The question remains relevant because allegations of post-selling, nepotism (giving jobs to friends and family members) and unfair promotion processes continue to be investigated and reported.

My research focuses on education policy, school governance, management, leadership and teacher education. In a 2025 study, my colleagues and I examined what regulates and influences educator appointments and promotions in South African public schools.

We found that South Africa has clear rules for educator appointments. However, informal influence, uneven governance capacity and blurred stakeholder roles can affect what happens in practice. In particular, we found that educators felt it wasn’t clear that appointment processes were followed properly.

These insights matter because who becomes a teacher, head of department, deputy principal or principal is not simply an internal school staffing matter. These decisions shape school leadership, teaching and learning, staff morale and communities’ confidence in public education.

For parents, educators and school communities, the concern is whether people are appointed to responsible positions because they are suited to the role, or because of connections or influence.

A problem identified a decade ago

In 2016, the ministerial task team chaired by Professor John Volmink investigated allegations of irregularities in the appointment of educators. The report identified:

• undue influence by union members and other actors over governing bodies and selection processes

• cadre deployment (placing organisationally or politically aligned people in positions)

• weak departmental oversight, particularly at provincial, district and circuit levels

• limited capacity among school governing bodies (the statutory bodies responsible for governing public schools, with parents forming the majority of voting members).

The task team recommended stronger departmental oversight, more professional selection of senior staff, clearer limits on union observer roles and measures to end cadre deployment.

Concerns have continued to surface across provinces. In April 2026, the Education Labour Relations Council set aside a Western Cape principal’s appointment after finding unfairness in the promotion process. The same month, the Free State provincial Department of Education launched an investigation into allegations of nepotism at a special needs school. And in July 2026, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education ordered an independent investigation into fresh allegations concerning the sale of employment posts.

Educator appointments follow a defined legal process. Under the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998, school governing bodies recommend candidates to the provincial head of department, who makes the final appointment. The Personnel Administrative Measures set out the shortlisting and interview procedures. Union representatives participate as observers rather than decision-makers.

Perceptions of teacher hiring practices

The mixed-methods study combined surveys and interviews in public schools across KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Western Cape. It drew on participants from 20 schools in each province. They included educators, heads of department, deputy principals, principals and teacher union representatives.

The study found a gap between the formal rules governing appointments and how these processes were experienced in practice. Participants described how informal influence, uneven power and governance weaknesses could shape appointment and promotion decisions. They described situations in which personal relationships, organisational affiliations and unequal power between stakeholders affected processes.

We heard comments such as:

The appointment of educators to promotional posts is unfair, as it often depends on bribery rather than on educators’ competency.

Less than a third (29.4%) of survey respondents agreed that appointments strictly followed national policy and legislation. More than half (53%) felt school governing bodies did not ensure fair and transparent processes, while 49% rated union influence as moderate or high. Nearly three-quarters (72.5%) agreed that political or personal affiliations influenced appointments.

Another comment was:

Schools face pressure from departmental officials and teacher unions. Divisions in school governing bodies also impact fairness and transparency.

One view was:

The governing body has too much power. If you pay them, then they are willing to appoint you.

Together, the findings show that educators felt appointment processes were unfair, unclear and inconsistent.

Unfair appointments had an effect on morale, as seen in this comment:

This breaks good, dedicated, sincere workers.

The findings do not suggest that every appointment process was compromised or that these practices occurred uniformly across South African schools. They did, however, show that many of the issues that were identified a decade ago are still there.

Teacher unions and school governing bodies do have legitimate roles in democratic school governance. Governing bodies represent school communities. Teacher unions protect educators’ interests and observe appointment processes. The problem is not democratic participation itself. But when informal influence overrides formal roles and procedures, it weakens the integrity of appointments. It affects the quality of leadership, teaching and public trust in South African education.

Capacity and role clarity matter

School governing body members make consequential appointment decisions. But their knowledge of recruitment procedures, employment law and policy varies. They therefore need practical preparation in shortlisting, interviewing, managing conflicts of interest and recognising improper interference.

Role boundaries must also be clear: unions have an observer function and principals provide professional expertise. Neither should exert influence beyond those roles.

Merit-based appointments require particular nuance in South Africa because the education system continues to carry the legacy of apartheid-era racial exclusion and inequality. Suitability for a post must therefore be considered alongside constitutional commitments to ability, fairness, redress and broad representation, and legislative commitments to employment equity.

Transformation and the appointment of competent, appropriately qualified people should not be treated as competing goals. A credible process should achieve both.

What needs to change

The study concludes that South Africa does not need another layer of appointment policy. It needs:

• practical capacity-building for school governing bodies

• transparent scoring and record-keeping

• management of conflicts of interest

• stronger provincial oversight

• consequences where procedures are deliberately manipulated.

No individual’s or organisation’s informal influence should be more powerful than the rules intended to protect merit, fairness and public trust.

– Are South African teaching posts up for sale? School staff say an old problem hasn’t gone away
– https://theconversation.com/are-south-african-teaching-posts-up-for-sale-school-staff-say-an-old-problem-hasnt-gone-away-290372