The African Union decided this week to send a high-level delegation to assess the political situation in Zimbabwe following allegations of violence and intimidation resulting from the long-delayed electoral results. The move came as the situation in Zimbabwe was discussed during a United Nations Security Council meeting.
For a massive ship that carries tons of ammunition and has its own cranes on board, the controversial Chinese ship carrying arms for Zimbabwe is about as easy to pin down as a cockroach in a dark, damp cellar. The An Yue Jiang is carrying three million rounds of ammunition for AK-47s, 1Â 500 rocket-propelled grenades and several thousand mortar rounds.
Civil society organisations from across the continent are flexing their muscles to draw the attention of the world to Zimbabwe this Africa Day. Organisations from countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya and Senegal are planning marches and public speeches in the run-up to May 25 to keep the political crisis in Zimbabwe in the public mind.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has warned Zimbabwe that it will accept no more excuses from the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) if it fails to release the results of the Zimbabwean presidential elections by Saturday.
People say you can’t eat freedom. This is true. When you are ”free” but have nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep and no clothes to wear, freedom means very little.
But does having food, a home and clothes, make you truly free?
The African National Congress working committee this week approved the election of the top five leaders of the youth league after a bruising electoral battle at the youth conference in Bloemfontein. This is what newly elected president Julius Malema shared in a recent interview.
The South African president is ‘so deeply involved he thinks things are going right’, says Botswana Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani, who has taken the unusual step of criticising President Thabo Mbeki over his dogged insistence that there is no electoral crisis in Zimbabwe.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma is polishing his tarnished image in preparation for his role as future president of South Africa — while President Thabo Mbeki’s government is doing its utmost to thwart him. Zuma has adopted a far more visible domestic profile for key policy issues such as crime, Zimbabwe and education.
The most important job of the Southern African Development Community summit scheduled for Lusaka, Zambia, this weekend, would be to push the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to release the country’s election results, a senior South African official has told the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>.
President Thabo Mbeki’s policy of ”quiet diplomacy” on Zimbabwe has been rejected by his own party. The split between the Union Buildings and Luthuli House on the issue became apparent this week when Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai chose to meet Jacob Zuma and Gwede Mantashe in Johannesburg.