They have fought over Zimbabwe’s best farms, and now senior figures in Zanu-PF are limbering up for a new battle — this time over an array of foreign assets that will be put up for sale with the enactment of a controversial new empowerment law. Zimbabwe’s Empowerment Minister, Paul Mangwana, has tabled the proposed legislation before Parliament and expects to push it through within the next two weeks.
Bernard Nzimbi, head of the Anglican Church in Kenya, entrenched his anti-gay position by consecrating Anglican clerics Bill Atwood and Bill Murdoch as bishops last Thursday in Kenya. Atwood and Murdoch, from the United States, oppose gay unions, which have been authorised by certain Anglican dioceses in North America.
The stage is set for South Africa’s biggest demonstration of political thuggery and the voters are hamstrung, watching from the sidelines as public representatives denigrate their wishes made through the ballot. For the next 15 days, bent politicians will be prostituting themselves to the highest bidder and there is nothing the disapproving voter can do.
The village of Korosigna in northern Central African Republic is barely recognisable to those who once lived there. Every house is either demolished, abandoned or burned to the ground. Weeds and bushes have taken hold. Many homes are barely visible as the forest has moved in and engulfed the ruins.
A new economic scourge is stalking markets internationally. It has helped force up interest rates in South Africa already and is likely to bring more rate increases. The scourge is runÂaway mealie prices. Store-bought mealie-meal in metropolitan areas is up 22% since last year, according to the National Agriculture Marketing Council.
The Johannesburg High Court has ordered the Sunday Times to return Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records and copies thereof to the Cape Town Medi-Clinic. However, Judge Mahomed Jaj-bhay ruled on Thursday that personal notes of Sunday Times journalists are not affected by his order and the newspaper can continue to comment on the matter.
”From the outset the UDM opposed the concept in a proportional representation electoral system because there are no wards that public representatives could return to and face by-elections to consult the voters about their proposed defection,” says UDM leader Bantu Holomisa about the partye’s opposition to floor crossing.
The growing unhappiness about the ”buy South Africa campaign”, run by Proudly South Africa (PSA), has led to the formation of a new initiative, South Africa First (SA First). Although the PSA, supported by labour and organised black business groups, believes the SA First initiative will cause confusion in the market, the government has thrown its weight behind the project
As the bell summons delegates to the Polokwane rendezvous, is the ANC inspiring confidence as a leader capable of taking the country into a new age? This question assumes currency not only because we are dealing with South Africa’s strongest political party. Supporter, critic and opponent alike concur that, historically, by ably advancing the synthesis of a common humanity, the ANC has been the glue that has held this country together.
Massive flooding in south-eastern Sudan could lead to the outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera, health authorities are warning. Sudan has been experiencing some of the worst floods in its history, with 3,5-million people affected and at risk of disease, the UN says. In Saraf Saeed three of the village’s five natural wells have been contaminated by flood waters in recent weeks.