Zim teachers end strike after steep pay hike

Thousands of teachers in Zimbabwe's state schools have ended a three-week strike after being awarded a 754% salary increase by the government, their union said on Friday. "We urge teachers to return to work," said Raymond Majongwe, secretary general of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe.

M&G Media publisher denies bankrolling Mugabe rival

State media in Zimbabwe on Friday accused prominent South Africa-based Mail & Guardian publisher Trevor Ncube of donating R300 000 to President Robert Mugabe's rival Simba Makoni two weeks ahead of scheduled parliamentary polls.

EU, UN urged to respond to Zim crackdown

Zimbabwe's crackdown on political dissent may need to be discussed by the United Nations Security Council, a prominent Southern African human rights activist declared this week. Opponents of President Robert Mugabe have reported large-scale harassment and intimidation in the tense period leading to elections due later this month.

Mugabe awards big pay-hike to civil servants

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has awarded large pay hikes to civil servants, including teachers, ahead of March 29 polls, local news reports said on Wednesday. Addressing a rally on Tuesday at a school in Inyathi, in the country's Matabeleland North province, Mugabe said he had signed the new salary schedule earlier in the week.

Shackled Simon Mann names names

Wearing handcuffs and leg-irons in an African prison, the former SAS soldier who tried to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea in a coup d'état on Tuesday claimed the main instigator of the plot was the London-based Lebanese millionaire Ely Calil.

Rural votes 'favoured in Zim election'

Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission has put too few polling stations in the cities, where the opposition has strongest support, an independent election monitoring group said on Tuesday. The group said Harare had 379 polling stations for about 760 000 registered voters -- or 22 seconds for each vote if there was maximum turnout.

Zim: Business equity law 'no reason to panic'

Zimbabwe's government on Tuesday sought to allay fears over a new equity law to give locals a controlling share in business ownership, saying it would not lead to expropriation of foreign-owned firms. "This is not going to be expropriation," Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Paul Mangwana told a news conference.

Warning sounded over Zim equity law

A new equity law passed by President Robert Mugabe to ensure the population gets a majority stake in public-owned firms will plunge Zimbabwe into deeper economic woes, analysts predicted on Monday. "It will entail the destruction of the economy," Harare-based economist Godfrey Kanyenze said.

Zim slams election smear campaign

A "virulent and vicious" smear campaign is being waged against Zimbabwe over the list of observers invited to witness the country's elections on March 29, the country's ambassador to South Africa, Simon Moyo, said on Monday. The campaign is being driven by the West and certain sections of the South African media, he said in a statement.

Leon: Minister must explain Zim threat to SA firms

Tony Leon, the former leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), is writing to the chair of the foreign affairs portfolio committee in Parliament, asking him to summon Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to explain what the government is doing to protect South Africa businesses from being nationalised by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

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