As the US and its allies began air strikes on Iraq early on Thursday morning, there was widespread reaction from all quarters of the country, with many South Africans condemning the war, urging SA to stay neutral, and to focus on providing humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq.
With unemployment figures at 4,7-million, the country finally appears to be heading for radical reforms. What has led to the alteration of course that is apparently imminent is not a change of mind, but a change of circumstances.
The excavation of graves in Spain has reawakened hatred dating back more than 65 years. During and after the 1936 to 1939 civil war, tens of thousands of people were taken by rightwing gangs for night-time ”strolls”, or paseos, that ended with a bullet in the back of the head.
People of mixed race are often perceived as dispossessed, disadvantaged, sell-outs, suspended in a cultural no man’s land. Being mixed race means that the validity of your blackness — and your subsequent right to classify yourself as black — is questionable.
In times of strife, it is good to know who your friends are. So, in the absence of support from traditional allies such as France and Germany, it will come as welcome news to American and British troops in the Gulf that 30 countries responded positively to a phone call from Washington, seeking their support against Iraq.
As chair of the African Union, South Africa is carrying the chips for other countries in the Iraq debate. The heads of state at the implementation committee meeting of Nepad asked President Thabo Mbeki in Abuja to formulate the African line on Iraq.
Beneath the yellow sky of a gathering dust storm, Iraqis hunkered down for a long and unpredictable siege, gripped by only one certainty: come what may, they will not set foot in the city’s bomb shelters. They see them as death traps.
The African Union (AU) is being urged to begin new mediation efforts in Zimbabwe as power-brokers in the ruling Zanu-PF party reportedly resume plans to ease out President Robert Mugabe.
Australia, the team that simply isn’t worth betting against, duly claimed their place in the 2003 World Cup final with a 48-run victory over Sri Lanka at St George’s Park on Tuesday.
The sacking of Waqar Younis as Pakistan captain once again reiterated the belief that the World Cup is a graveyard for the leaders of the game.