In one of the world’s poorest countries, scarred by centuries of autocratic rule, few would expect a free election, still less a change of government. But although the first results have not yet been declared, Ethiopia’s opposition parties are claiming a surprise victory in what observers say is the fairest poll the country has ever seen.
One of Robert Mugabe’s fiercest critics, the Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, has accused Zimbabwe’s opposition of failing to give the strong leadership needed to overthrow the president’s regime. He avoided naming the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but the target of his criticism was clear.
Zimbabwe’s former finance minister Chris Kuruneri, facing charges of funnelling funds abroad to buy a mansion in South Africa, has been convicted of breaching citizenship laws by holding dual nationality. Twenty witnesses, including 11 South Africans and Zimbabwe’s central bank governor are still to testify against Kuruneri.
As everybody is cashing on the Madiba name Mike van Graan figured he could also do the same.
The misery at the Walt Disney Company for the past two decades has much to do with its egomaniacal CEO, Michael Eisner, who is the star of <i>DisneyWar</i>, writes Jay Parini.
Moving from the raunchy acid-face love of Boo! to the quietly considered despair of Ingrid Jonker’s poetry is quite a leap for Chris Chameleon, writes Nadine Botha.
The <i>Star Wars</i> series is now complete but where does that leave us, asks Shaun de Waal.
<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b><i> Born into Struggle</i> shows the repercussions of resistance to apartheid on one struggle family, writes Shaun de Waal.
‘I t was with a sense of grey despair that I read of a young father in England, being forbidden, by some politically constipated magistrate, either to live in his home or to see his son for six months. Daddy had — in my opinion, quite rightly — given his son a smart couple of smacks on his backside when the boy tried walking in front of a moving car.
Four senior staffers have resigned from the South African NGO Coalition (Sangoco) this month, as the funding crisis at Southern Africa’s biggest non-profit umbrella body deepens. Head office operations manager Mabalane Mfundisi and research manager Fayrana Shabodien threw in the towel at the weekend, amid reports that Sangoco has battled to pay staff salaries for the second month running.