A senior United Nations official said on Wednesday that it is far too premature to talk about a UN plan that would involve the departure of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Meanwhile, South African President Thabo Mbeki has expressed backing for a planned visit to Zimbabwe by UN chief Kofi Annan.
Africans see one-man rule as the greatest threat to democracy on the continent, an Afrobarometer survey released on Wednesday has shown. In the past eight years, there have been four controversial attempts to amend Constitutions in favour of incumbent elected presidents, in Namibia, Zambia, Malawi and Nigeria.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the West’s growing confrontation with Iran, and efforts to divest North Korea of its nuclear weapons are all approaching crucial turning points that could combine to create a perfect storm of simultaneous international crises, independent defence experts said on Wednesday.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has condemned as ”heavy-handed” the arrest of a South African photographer for the second time by Namibian police on Wednesday. John Liebenberg was arrested on Wednesday while he and other photographers were trying to take pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
The South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) on Wednesday expressed concern at plans by the union representing security guards to spread their strike to other sectors of the economy. Sacob is particularly concerned about the ability of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) leadership to control its members.
The revelation that National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi appears to have been drawn into the orbit of the late Brett Kebble is deeply disturbing. Selebi’s relationship with Kebble’s security lieutenants — direct in the one case, indirect in the other — throws up critical questions.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has emerged as the new hope to resolve the hitherto intractable Zimbabwean political and economic impasse. After numerous failed diplomatic attempts to have Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe vacate his seat, Annan is expected to bring a political deal to Harare later this year.
It was a dark and stormy night in the Visdorp when the devil appeared to Joseph. ”Do you know who I am?” he asked. ”Gimme a hint,” said Joseph. The devil twirled his moustache and cried: ”I am the dark lord!” ”Just as I thought,” said Joseph. ”The bladdy CEO of Eskom.”
Experts call it the ”oil curse”. In Africa’s oil-exporting countries, only a tiny fraction of revenues is used to fight poverty, and in many cases black gold has actually become a hurdle to development. Oil in Africa — from the Gulf of Guinea to north-western Sudan — lies at the heart of questions of good governance and development.
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