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/ 24 January 2009
The Constitution will be ”fearlessly defended” and the rule of law upheld by a Cope government, said the party’s election manifesto.
Some of South Africa’s leading scientists, science fundis and environmental experts are working on solutions to arrest global warming and help alleviate its effects. Electrical engineer Professor Pragasen Pillay is one of them. He specialises in using science and technology to reduce household waste and is adamant that environmental charity begins at home.
It’s been a little more than a year since Stellenbosch University’s postgraduate programme in renewable and sustainable energy studies opened its doors and welcomed its first students. In the department of electrical and electronic engineering, novel electrical machines are studied to be used in wind and hydro-energy applications.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, not exactly a country synonymous with state-of-the-art scientific facilities, is about to get a new multimillion-rand laboratory, which, when completed, will be the envy of the mining world. When completed at the end of this year, the facility will have the capacity to produce 100 000 tonnes annually of copper cathode and 12 000 tonnes annually of cobalt cathode.
Zimbabwe’s ruling party edged ahead of the main opposition on Tuesday with over half of parliamentary election results released as concerns grew that President Robert Mugabe was trying to rig the vote. Riot police in armoured carriers patrolled two of Harare’s opposition strongholds overnight and residents were told to stay off the normally bustling streets.
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/ 18 February 2008
Presidential candidate Simba Makoni used the word “renewal” a total of 13 times during an exclusive interview with the Mail & Guardian, saying Zimbabwe needed fresh leadership to “heal the wounds” of 28 years of President Robert Mugabe’s rule. Makoni, who declared his candidacy recently, predicts a landslide win against Mugabe.
Zimbabwe has been placed last for the second year running in a league table ranking 178 countries by how happy and long-lived their citizens are. But South Africa is not far ahead, at 156th. The European Happy Planet Index used carbon efficiency, life satisfaction and life expectancy to rate the countries.
While the developed world has not yet lived up to its commitment to give 1% of its GDP to the developing South, aid flows have increased since 2000, when the pledge was renewed at the <i>United Nations Millennium Summit. A Southern Africa Trust policy brief, Aid Effectiveness: Trends and Impacts of Shifting Financial Flows to Civil Society Organisations in Southern Africa</i>.
Even amid Zimbabwe’s increasing instability, life in suburban Harare has remained more or less predictable. Which is why Sunday morning shoppers at a suburban shopping mall, popular with young professionals and the well-heeled, stood stunned as they watched the store manager of a branch of one of the country’s largest retail chains being dragged out of his store by the back of his collar.
Zimbabwe’s opposition leaders returned to their supporters eager to report some progress after their first direct talks with the ruling Zanu-PF recently, but found fresh evidence of widespread concern that infighting in the ruling party poses a threat to dialogue. The first round of formal talks has been overshadowed by the story of how four travel agents planned a military coup to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.