Immigration officials have refused to divulge how and when the 62 alleged mercenaries being held in a Zimbabwe prison will return to South Africa. ”They told us we can take our bus and basically f-off,” the group’s lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, said from Harare on Friday. The men are now being labelled a ”high security risk”.
How liberated is the 21st century woman as the abundance of freedom has left her more exhausted now with unlimited responsibilities asks MaQueen Motuba.
<i>Stitched-up</i>
by <b>Stephanie Vermeulen</b>
(Jacana)
The court case against vitamin entrepreneur Matthias Rath is a distraction from the real work of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), its national chairperson Zackie Achmat, said on Friday. Earlier, Rath’s lawyer argued Rath should have a chance to reply to ”vilifying statements” Achmat and the TAC made against him in their papers.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress on Friday called on South Africans to support the people of Haiti in campaigning for the return of stability, the rule of law and democracy to the Caribbean state. It has also called for the charging or release of a former Haitian prime minister from prison.
Rape, kidnapping and attacks on civilians increased last month in Sudan’s Darfur region despite a growing effort to end the bloodshed, a senior United Nations official said on Thursday. Hedi Annabi, the deputy head of UN peacekeeping operations, underlined the importance of the African Union’s plans to beef up its troop numbers in Darfur.
The African Union announced on Friday the deployment of an initial force of 1 700 troops to Somalia to aid the return of the country’s government-in-exile. The AU’s Peace and Security Council endorsed the move on Thursday following a decision by the Council of Ministers of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.
President Robert Mugabe has appointed Didymus Mutasa, the head of the country’s secret police, to oversee Zimbabwe’s controversial land-redistribution programme, the government said on Friday. The land-redistribution programme has been dogged by allegations of favouritism and corruption.
The Australian foreign ministry apologised on Thursday for a travel advisory that warned that Australia’s western city of Perth is dangerous at this time of year. Travel-advice subscribers received an overnight advisory reading: "This is a message to let you know that Perth is dangerous at this time of year."
Goats, camels and village farmyards might not seem like traditional wedding presents, but all this could change under a novel gift-giving plan unveiled on Thursday by the British charity Oxfam. Couples getting married can ask guests for a charitable donation to be made to communities in 70 countries.
Angry residents of a town in Kyrgyzstan pulled down a monument to the obscure father-in-law of the country’s ousted president and replaced it with a collection of empty bottles in sardonic tribute to his reputed affinity for the odd tipple, an official said on Thursday.