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/ 11 February 2005

Hardline Rice wows Europe

She was treated like a movie star wherever she went. Her face launched a thousand front pages. Europe’s leaders fell over themselves to welcome her. Her speech in Paris was the hottest ticket in town and her fleeting appearances in capital after capital merely enhanced the perception of glamour and power. In a few breathless days, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became the Bette Davis of diplomacy.

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/ 10 February 2005

Why poll got our X

Last week, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) took the toughest decision we’ve ever had to in our five-year history: the national council voted to lift the suspension on participating in elections and entered the race under protest. Making tough choices is part and parcel of politics, but it did not come without soul-searching, writes MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube.

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/ 10 February 2005

What will Mbeki say?

How to boost South Africa’s economic growth and reduce its unemployment rate are just two of the issues opposition parties are hoping to hear President Thabo Mbeki pronounce on in his State of the Nation address on Friday. They would also like clear plans for tackling the country’s Aids pandemic, eradicating poverty, improving social service delivery and dealing with Zimbabwe.

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/ 10 February 2005

Anti-corruption ANC won’t open its books

The African National Congress on Thursday stated the party’s unqualified opposition to corruption in all it forms, but refused to bow to pressure for public scrutiny of who its private funders are. The Institute for Democracy in South Africa is seeking to compel the ANC and other parties to open their books for public scrutiny.

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/ 10 February 2005

Swiss piss

As one of his works, and in protest against the government’s policy on Zimbabwe with its escalating human rights abuses, the artist urinates in public on a poster of President Thabo Mbeki. Mike van Graan comments.