ANC wins SA elections

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has won the 2014 general elections, thus securing President Jacob Zuma's second term in office, the country's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) officially announced on Saturday.

The ANC received 249 seats in the National Assembly dropping 15 seats compared to the 2009 elections while the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA) received 89 seats, and newcomers the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) received 25, the third highest number, IEC chairwoman Pansy Tlakula announced at the release of the final election results in Pretoria.

Among over 25 million registered voters, 73.43 percent voters turned out in 22,263 polling stations on Wednesday to elect the new National Assembly and provincial legislatures.The 73.43 percent voter turnout during the general elections showed that democracy was thriving, Tlakula said.

"Today we celebrate two decades of democracy and conclude the fifth democratic national and provincial elections, we can confirm to the world democracy is well and thriving in this land," she said.

The ANC has won a fifth consecutive success with a 62.16 percent share of the votes, down from the 65.9 it got in the 2009 elections. The leading opposition party DA won 22.22 percent up from 16.66 percent in 2009, achieving its best ever result comparing with previous elections, and the newly-formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) won more than 1 million votes as 6. 35 percent.

The SA National Assembly consists of 400 members elected by proportional representation with a closed list approach. Two hundred members were elected from national party lists; the other 200 were elected from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces.

The President of South Africa will be chosen by the National Assembly after the election. The premiers of each province will be chosen by the winning majority in each provincial legislature. The 2014 general elections are the first since the death in December of Nelson Mandela, and also the fifth election since the end of the apartheid era in 1994.

Original article: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2014-05/11/c_126484916.htm

Zim journalists behind Baba Jukwa exposed

The two journalists behind the Facebook page, Baba Jukwa, admitted to lying to their followers in addition to extorting an undisclosed amount of money to fund their project, a sensational cache of emails hacked from their Gmail account, babajukwa2013@gmail.com, revealed over the weekend.

The two, Mkhululi Chimoio and Mxolisi Ncube, work for the shadowy, Zimbabwean newspaper, published by Wilf Mbanga in Britain before being shuttled for sale in Zimbabwe. The expose has come as an anti-climax to many who had been taken in by the Facebook character because of the complete contradiction between what he claimed to be, a senior Zanu-PF Politburo member, and what the pair are in real life, two struggling journalists who had no qualms conning their employer and unsuspecting followers of an indeterminate amount of money.

The two, last year, claimed that President Mugabe and Zanu-PF had put up a US$300 000 bounty on their heads but in an e-mail dated July 6, 2013 addressed to one Commander Milan, they owned up to lying about the alleged bounty. "Did you see people say they can catch me with $300 000," Baba Jukwa wrote, "kikikiki I made that one up to cause chaos. Now everyone thinks they are really after me but they can't stop this freedom train commander. I got the money, thanks (sic) god for your support. Let me know if you need any resources from my end because we are in this together to the last day."

The sensational claims were picked up by some sections of the Zimbabwean and international media, among them CNN, BBC, ABC and the Daily Telegraph, who claimed Baba Jukwa had so unsettled Zanu-PF that a bounty had been put on his head. Chimoio and Ncube also promoted the bounty line in their articles in The Zimbabwean where they claimed Zanu-PF had launched an operation code-named "Clean House" which they said was aimed at them along with CNN's Robin Curnow, the BBC's Andrew Harding and one Thuso Khumalo of Studio 7.

They also launched an appeal for funds through PayPal, an online payment platform, from their followers that they claimed would go towards funding a sustained media campaign against Zanu-PF. They reassured their followers that the donations would remain a secret since the PayPal account they were using had been "opened and secured in Switzerland".

Though it is not clear how much Chimoio and Ncube made, the campaign did not appear to have brought the desired rewards as evidenced by an exchange between Baba Jukwa and another troll going by the name Sahwira waBaba Jukwa, who is believed to be Mkhululi Chimoio where Mxolisi berated their followers for not opening the purse strings.

In a Google chat dated May 30, 2013 with Sahwira WaBaba Jukwa and in response to his question on how the fundraising was going, Baba Jukwa complained that the money they had received through PayPal was too little. "Not gud at all zimbos (colloquial for Zimbabweans) are fools they don't appreciate good things just imagine 30 dollars so far." Despite this, the documents at hand show that they two received up to eight transfers in one day broken down as US$30, £36, and 60 Australian dollars. This money was ostensibly meant to contribute to the development a new mega media platform to fight Zanu-PF.

It is unclear how much was actually realised or what it was used for but what is clear is that the two journalists made money even from their employer, Wilf Mbanga whom they duped into believing he was dealing with a senior Zanu-PF Politburo member. The game Mbanga engaged Baba Jukwa as a columnist, and agreed to pay him for promoting his paper on his page. Baba Jukwa was paid US$50 per article published by The Zimbabwean and an undisclosed amount of money for promoting the paper on the Facebook page.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201405120143.html

Dewani arrives in SA

British murder accused Shrien Dewani has landed at Cape Town International Airport, just after 9.30am, from London.

According to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development spokesperson, Mthunzi Mhaga, Dewani will be immediately escorted to the Western Cape High Court, where he is expected to appear for the first time in a South African court of law at 11:30am. There he will be formally charged and processed by the investigating team. He will be charged with murder and is expected to face charges relating to conspiracy to commit murder and defeating the ends of justice. Dewani is accused of orchestrating the murder of his wife, Anni, while on honeymoon in November 2010. He claims he and his wife were kidnapped at gunpoint as they drove through Gugulethu, and that he was released unharmed.

Dewani arrived in the country today on a chartered flight procured by the department. Mhaga said the use of the private aircraft was informed by Dewani's peculiar medical condition, which needs to be monitored. The use of a commercial flight, Mhaga said, had the potential to compromise Dewani and that could have an adverse effect on the pending medical examination.

"We took into account the fact that there was undisputed evidence during the extradition hearing that he had displayed suicidal tendencies and the South African government did not want to take chances. "There was a need to ensure that Dewani and the whole team are secure, and that would have been difficult on a commercial flight with many passengers, which had the potential to compromise their security, as his identity is now well known," said Mhaga.

Dewani has been fighting removal from the UK on the grounds of mental health problems, including severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Before the trial, Dewani will first undergo a psychiatric assessment to determine if he is fit to stand trial. If he is not fit to stand trial within 18 months, he will be returned to the UK, as agreed by the British and South African authorities.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201404080468.html

Is there any hope for Zimbabwe opposition?

After being pummeled in the last election, and riven with infighting and recrimination in the months since, Zimbabwe's political opposition is at its lowest ebb in a decade. The Daily Maverick asks the obvious question: if not Zanu, then who? The answer makes for disheartening reading - unless your name's Robert Mugabe, and you've got a country you want to keep running.

It wasn't just losing last year's election that dealt a knock-out blow to Zimbabwe's main opposition groups, in particular Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change faction (MDC-T); it was how the election was lost, by such a wide margin that even if Zanu-PF had rigged the elections - and we're not saying they did, although we have our suspicions - it did not need to.

Look at it this way: despite everything that Robert Mugabe has done, despite the economic calamities he has presided over the and the steady erosion of basic rights he has legislated, a majority of Zimbabweans would rather have Mugabe and his henchmen in charge than trust in any of the alternatives.

For Morgan Tsvangirai, this realisation must be a particularly bitter pill. The veteran opposition leader, now 62, came as close as anyone has...

Read the full story on the Daily Maverick website.

Questions raised over Bona Mugabe’s husband

As Zimbabweans continue to discuss the lavish wedding of Bona Mugabe over the weekend, it has emerged that the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) raised questions about her new husband. Not much is known about 37 year old Simba Chikore, except that his mother is known as a "reverend" in a church group called the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa. It was also, until recently, claimed that he was a pilot.

But speculation has been rife since media reports were released that discredited the claims of his pilot status. Other reports also quoted a CIO official as branding Robert Mugabe's new son-in-law as 'unsuitable' for the First Daughter. The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Chikore does not work for either Emirates or Qatar Airways as widely reported. The paper stated that people in the aviation industry in Southern Africa have never heard of him.

Another report, this time by NewZimbabwe.com, quoted a junior CIO officer as saying that Chikore was a 'playboy' ill-suited to be Bona's husband. The officer reportedly said Grace Mugabe's "determination for the marriage to go ahead and her disdain for the country's spy agency had prevented proper vetting of the First Son-in-Law."

The unnamed CIO official was quoted as saying: "He (Chikore) is a workout addict and also much into bike riding. He is known for womanising from his high school days and recently involved in a spate of affairs which were glossed over by the (CIO) team that prepared the final report. This man was deemed too old for the first daughter and too tainted to be involved with her."

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201403040060.html?aa_source=acrdn-f0

Rwandan government expels six SA diplomats

The government has expelled six South African diplomats in retaliation for expulsion of Rwandan diplomats by South Africa. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo confirmed on her twitter handle that the South African diplomats were ordered to leave Rwanda in 'reciprocity' and added that it was also because of 'South Africa harboring of dissidents responsible for terrorist attacks in Rwanda.'

The South African government has refused to extradite Rwandan fugitive Kayumba Nyamwasa who fled to South Africa and has been accused of being the brains behind several grenade attacks in the country. Others, such as the recently murdered Patrick Karegeya, also lived freely on South African soil. The murder has so far not been solved.

The Rwandan diplomats were expelled from South Africa after an attack in that country on the home of Nyamwasa, although no details have been given by South African police on the circumstances. It is not yet clear which Rwandan diplomats were expelled by the South African government.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201403100146.html

Sanctions on eight Zim officials lifted

The European Union yesterday suspended illegal sanctions on eight officials - among them service chiefs, politicians and war veterans - but kept President Mugabe and the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe on the embargoed list. This comes as a visiting EU parliamentary delegation yesterday said it felt embarrassed to be part of the bloc that imposed illegal sanctions on a sovereign nation.

Zimbabwe's head of delegation to the African-Caribbean-Pacific and EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Cde Makhosini Hlongwane, also described any claims by the EU that it was lifting travel bans as deceptive because what the country needed was an end to economic sanctions. The five-member EU delegation was in Zimbabwe on a fact-finding mission on the impact of sanctions.

Led by European People's Party vice president Dr Mario David of Portugal, they met senior Government officials, business leaders, farmers and health officials. Other legislators were from Italy, Romania and Spain. As the delegation wound up its mission, the 28-nation EU announced it was removing travel bans on all individuals except the First Family.

Those removed from the travel ban list are Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga, Army Commander Lieutenant-Gen Phillip Valerio Sibanda, Air Force Commander Air Marshal Perrance Shiri, intelligence supremo Brigadier-Gen (Retired) Happyton Bonyongwe, police boss Commissioner-Gen Augustine Chihuri, Zimbabwe Prisons boss Major-Gen Paradzai Zimondi, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Cde Didymus Mutasa, and war veterans leader Cde Jabulani Sibanda.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201402180344.html