On a wall outside a crumbling school in rural Gokwe, central Zimbabwe, a battle is being fought. A youth is pasting a Morgan Tsvangirai poster over graffiti, written in bright orange paint, proclaiming: "Good morning Makoni." A few years ago, this would have been a job done under cover of darkness, and hurriedly.
Dumiso Dabengwa, the senior Zanu-PF member who has rebelled against President Robert Mugabe to back Simba Makoni, says the ruling party needs reform to save Zimbabwe from ”falling into the wrong hands”. ”This is a rescue operation,” Dabengwa said after appearing with Makoni in public for the first time.
The contest for the presidency in Zimbabwe has begun, with candidates preparing manifestos and travelling the length and breadth of the country to drum up support. The Mail & Guardian looks at the tactics, insults, prospects and problems of the three contenders in Zimbabwe.
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/ 25 February 2008
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) is reviewing alternative energy sources to keep the city’s traffic lights operating and intersections flowing during blackouts. The use of solar-powered lights and lights running on ordinary UPS batteries are being considered. Johannesburg already has 15 intersections that use battery power on a pilot basis, while one site uses solar power.
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/ 25 February 2008
Sudan’s Abyei region is a possible trouble spot from which conflict could resume, three years after a comprehensive agreement was signed to end civil war between the north and south, the United Nations special envoy to Sudan has warned. The oil-rich region, which lies between north and south Sudan, has experienced an administrative and political vacuum after disagreements over its status.
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/ 22 February 2008
Johannesburg police are still looking for the perpetrators of a violent sexual assault on a woman inside a Johannesburg taxi rank last weekend. Nwabisa Ngcukana (25) was stripped naked, had alcohol poured on her head and was sexually assaulted at the Noord Street taxi rank — apparently because she was wearing a miniskirt.
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/ 21 February 2008
The dance piece <i>Back</i> is a showcase of timid, introspective motions and brazenly aggressive ones by performers Dada Masilo and Lulu Mlangeni.
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/ 21 February 2008
All three main candidates in Zimbab-we’s presidential race launch their campaigns this Saturday, taking the race into top gear. But the excitement in the campaign contrasts sharply with the massive administrative chaos that is dogging preparations for the elections.
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/ 20 February 2008
Solar-powered billboards in Jo’burg and Cape Town have brought heat and electricity to two townships and helped to shine the spotlight on some of the issues facing the communities in which they are located. A year after it was constructed the first solar-powered billboard in South Africa has brought a primary school in Alexandra, Johannesburg, out of obscurity and into the global limelight.
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/ 20 February 2008
Hazardous chemicals are detrimental to the environment. In China last week sulphuric acid leaked into the water supply from a chemical factory, poisoning at least 26 villagers, illustrating just how dangerous chemicals can be. China has a bad track record. It has some of the most chemically polluted cities in the world, following decades of massive industrial and economic growth.