Namibia’s Minister of Safety and Security, Immanuel
Ngatjizeko, has recently condemned the ongoing illegal occupation of land in
the Tsumkwe West communal area. He said the recent behaviour of some citizens,
who have been occupying others’ grazing land illegally seizing the land in
Tsumkwe West unlawfully, are disrespecting the laws governing the country. The
illegal farmers in Tsumkwe West claim to have been forced to drive their
animals there because of the drought in their areas of origin which have been
identified as the Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Omusati, Kavango and Omaheke regions,
and partly the Otjozondjupa Region.
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Thursday, 11 July 2013
SADC looking for $64 Billion investment in infrastructure
Southern
Africa is seeking investment and finance for a $64 billion programme to improve
transport, energy and other infrastructure over the next five years. The plan
for 106 cross-border infrastructure projects covering the priority sectors of
energy, transport, tourism, water, information communication technology and
meteorology was presented to an Infrastructure Investment Conference hosted by
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the Mozambican capital
Maputo in late June. Projects cover the development of transboundary
infrastructure including alternative energy sources, information communication
technology and civil aviation, and are expected to be implemented by 2017.
The
transport sector had the largest number of projects showcased during the
one-day investment conference, with 40 projects for improvement of road,
railways, ports and border posts, valued at about US$16.3 billion, presented to
potential investors. Priority transport infrastructure projects include those
targeting the expansion, rehabilitation and modernisation of Durban and Walvis
Bay ports; new rail projects and rehabilitation of existing ones; new road
links connecting Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo and rehabilitation
of others around the region; and introduction of one-stop border posts at
Beitbridge between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Standoff between Mozambican govt and opposition party Renamo continues
The
Mozambican government on Monday announced that it has unilaterally signed the
minutes of the talks it has held with the country's largest opposition party,
Renamo. Speaking to journalists at the end of the tenth round of talks, the
head of the government delegation, Agriculture Minister Jose Pacheco, said that
Renamo had not signed the minutes - even on those points where consensus had
been reached.
Pacheco
stated that Renamo wants the two parties to produce a proposal for the revision
of the electoral legislation that would be rubber stamped by the country's
parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. However, the government refuses to
accept this position as it considers this to be unconstitutional and in
violation of the principle of separation of powers.
Illegal voter registration in Zim: offenders caught red handed
Four suspected
MDC-T activists yesterday appeared before a Mutare magistrate facing charges of
unlawfully conducting voter education without authority from the Zimbabwe
Election Commission.
The accused
were hauled before the town's magistrate, Noah Gwatidzo, for contravening an
act that criminalises conducting voter education without approval from the
commission. Prosecutor Sam Chabuka said that on 6 July at around 3pm, the
quartet conducted unauthorised voter education at Pick and Save Superette in
Mutare. They allegedly played voter education jingles through a public announcement
system they were using.
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
SPECIAL REPORT: A closer look at Mamphela Ramphele’s Agang – on the road to power?
Several readers have been asking me
about Mamphele Ramphela’s new political party Agang. So I thought I’d put
together a special report this week. Thanks for the support guys and gals.
Mamphela Ramphele’s entry into South
African politics after a long and distinguished career has certainly been a
source for headlines since her new political party’s inception. Prior to its
formation, many speculated that the Democratic Alliance leader, Helen Zille,
was prepared to step down from her role to back Ramphele as a leader of a new
party called the Democrats. Ramphele's new party is named Agang, after the Sesotho
phrase meaning “let us build”, and Ramphele asserted that it would be a
direct challenge to the current ruling African National Congress.
Agang started out with Ramphele and a
small team, including co-founder Moeletsi Mbeki; chief of staff Zohra Dawood;
policy director Mills Soko; spokesperson John Allen; and the party’s Canadian
chief of staff, Tim Knapp. A top banker and former BP and Chevron executive,
Nkosinathi Solomon, was recently appointed as Agang’s campaign director.
Research has also shown that some of these five (Tim Knapp, Moetletsi Mbeki,
Mills Soko and Mamphela Ramphele) are directors at a company that is considered
to be the legal entity behind Agang, a Johannesburg-registered company called
Great Potential for South Africa.
Now to the murky question of the
party’s political funding…
Despite Ramphele’s insistence to the
media that she has not requested international assistance, former DA leader and
ambassador to Argentina, Tony Leon, told City Press recently that he knew that
Ramphele had staged at least two recent meetings in the US to fund-raise for
the party. One of these meetings was most certainly at the residence of the
South African-born former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court, Margaret Marshall and her husband, a former New York Times journalist. Ramphele is said to have stated she was there to raise money for Agang and
that she will continue to request support from South Africans all over the
world so that they can be part of the building process.
My research has shown that various
American businessmen have made significant contributions to the party, most
notably the Hungarian-US billionaire George Soros. Soros has reportedly donated
several million US dollars
through his Open Society Foundation. Ramphele has close links to both Soros and
the Open Society Foundation, having co-founded its South African arm with him
in 1993 and she remains a director at the Open Society Foundation of South
Africa to this day. Soros has also been able to support in other ways, such as in secondment of employees from the Open Society to Agang.
Ramphele’s closeness to former World
Bank general counsel and senior vice president Roberto Dañino could also hint
at funding from abroad; Ramphele and Dañino met at their time together at the
World Bank and were also together at gold miner Gold Fields. They reportedly
remain in close contact and Dañino is known to stay at Ramphele’s Camps Bay
home when he visits Cape Town. Given Dañino’s business connections in the USA,
it seems that Soros is not Ramphele’s exclusive source of foreign funding…
It is also worth adding that Ramphele
is also a trustee at The Rockefeller Foundation. Did she go knocking at David’s
door too?
Original articles:
I welcome requests for other special
reports.
Zanu-PF reacts angrily to Obama’s Zimbabwe comments
Zimbabwe’s ruling party,
Zanu-PF, has lashed out at Barack Obama after the US president called for real
reforms in Zimbabwe ahead of the elections. Zanu-PF party loyalists have
accused the American leader of “meddling” in African affairs and “insulting”
Africans. Obama made the remarks while on a visit to South Africa last week,
which was part of his official tour of African nations. He reportedly told the
press that bad governance in Zimbabwe was responsible for the country’s
problems, including the poor the state of the economy.
The Herald, a Zimbabwean
newspaper considered to be the mouthpiece of Zanu-PF, criticised Obama for
“abusing his visit to South Africa to meddle in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs.”
Zanu-PF loyalists were quoted as saying that Zimbabwe is “governed by its laws
not the opinion of foreigners” and that the country “doesn’t want any
interference from foreigners.” Political analyst Clifford Mashiri said Obama’s
comments were welcome, and that Zanu-PF’s reaction was not surprising: “It is
expected that Zanu-PF would react in a nasty and hostile way. This is how they
always react when they are being told things they do not want to hear.”
Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201307012467.html
Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Mandela update: Still critical
Former South African President Nelson Mandela remains in a
critical condition in hospital, according to President Zuma. Mr Zuma was not
able to reveal any more medical details but did say that the doctors are doing
everything to make Mr Mandela more comfortable. “All of us in the country
should accept the fact that Madiba [Nelson Mandela’s clan name] is now old. As
he ages, his health will...trouble him and I think what we need to do as a
country is to pray for him,” Mr Zuma said on Monday. The 94-year-old statesman
is spending his 17th day in hospital with a recurring lung infection
and hopes of a recovery are ebbing.
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