In the five months since the Southern African Development Community (SADC) asked President Thabo Mbeki to mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis, Robert Mugabe has pushed through legislation entrenching his rule, widened rifts with his opponents and made policy decisions that have deepened his country’s economic crisis.
More than 520 000 people need urgent food aid in Mozambique while 600 000 face famine between now and April next year, its disaster management agency said on Thursday. The government, in conjunction with its international partners, is currently studying the possibility of finding a national solution before making an appeal for assistance.
Every August we are expected to be hyperalert to a range of activities occurring under the banner of Women’s Month. It is one of the benefits of democracy that we no longer have to celebrate freedom-struggle anniversaries under the hostile gaze of police and soldiers. Now we commemorate them with the state’s sanction and budget, as we should in a country where we elect representatives to government.
The South African Cabinet has rejected as ”baseless” suggestions the state is waging a witch-hunt against former members of the apartheid-era regime. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko on Wednesday said a Cabinet meeting had noted the process by the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute members of the apartheid government.
Torture is common in Egyptian police stations and prisons and three victims have died so far this year, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights said on Wednesday. A report released by the organisation documented hundreds of cases of torture and ill treatment by the authorities from 1993 to July 2007 through eyewitness accounts, complaints from family members and police records.
An indaba to discuss inflation and lack of transparency in the private healthcare industry will be convened next month, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Wednesday. The planned indaba will come after the Department of Health held a meeting with about 50 private healthcare industry stakeholders in Pretoria on Wednesday.
South Africa would not set up camps to deal with Zimbabwean refugees crossing the border into the country, the South African Cabinet decided on Wednesday. Speaking at a press conference following the Cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said South Africa’s hopes rested on the mediation of President Thabo Mbeki.
The South African Cabinet on Wednesday approved the settlement reached with the Richtersveld community on their land claim against Alexkor and the state for land situated in Alexander Bay. The Deed of Settlement, which concludes a protracted court case in which billions of rands were claimed from the state, was signed in April, said government spokesperson Themba Maseko.
An Iranian minister said he believed the United States had dropped the idea of attacking Iran but wanted to topple its leadership through what he called a ”soft revolution”. Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, a cleric, said Iran’s enemies had waged ”psychological warfare” to prepare for military action against the Islamic Republic.
The South African Cabinet has effectively vetoed the Soweto monorail project announced by the Gauteng government in May this year. There were major shortcomings in the process leading to the announcement of the project, government spokesperson Themba Maseko told journalists in Pretoria and Cape Town on Wednesday.