It is likely the ANC has not had a more complex president than Jacob Gedleyihlikisa Zuma (65) or posited in a single individual all things that the party is to its constituency. Abroad he is a diplomat whose initiatives saw Burundi achieve peace, while at home he leads songs calling for his machine gun.

With inflation reported at close to 15 000%, a quarter of the population in need of food aid and a currency so worthless even the government charges for services in foreign currency, no sitting leader should win an election. Unless, of course, he is Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. Hard as it may be for many of his critics to figure out, especially those outside Zimbabwe, Mugabe has an open road to a sixth successive term as leader.

South Africa’s health system is hurtling from crisis to crisis. The country has a minister of health who deftly sidesteps accusations of incompetence, flatly denies drinking at hospitals and fires her competent deputy, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge. But the problems are not just concentrated at the top. They are more basic and affect the lives of children.

Angola has begun registering voters for the long-awaited elections, which are set to take place before the end of 2007. These are the country’s first elections since a peace process culminated in elections in 1992. The country’s main armed opposition movement subsequently rejected their outcome, plunging the country into another 10 years of war.

Lesotho’s rocky earth this week coughed up a generous present for the country’s 40th independence celebrations: a 603 carat white diamond. The stone, which was found at the Letseng Diamond Mine, is the 15th largest ever found and has been named the Lesotho Promise.

The press ombudsman has thrown out Aids denialist Anthony Brink’s complaint against the Mail & Guardian alleging that the newspaper had implied he was mentally ill. Brink is the policy adviser at the Dr Rath Foundation and a former member of President Thabo Mbeki’s advisory panel on HIV/Aids.

Sixty members of the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) arrested on election day in Thembelihle informal settlement near Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, were granted R300 bail in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. They spent the previous night in the holding cells. They were charged with contravening electoral laws.