Vol 53 No 17 | SOUTH AFRICA The Marikana massacre 24th August 2012 The ANC’s anti-Zuma faction tries to use the shootings to help depose the President Senior politicians, not least of all President Jacob Zuma, are failing to deflect public anger about the massacre of 34 miners by police on 16 August at Lonmin’s...
Vol 53 No 17 | SOUTH AFRICA Battle of the unions 24th August 2012 The dispute at the Lonmin mine is as much about rivalry between the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the National Union of Mineworkers as about wages....
Vol 53 No 17 | SOUTH AFRICA Rail to the chief 24th August 2012 Ex-President Thabo Mbeki has taken issue with South Africa’s push to get Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma elected Chairwoman of the African Union. She defeated the incumbent, Gabon’s Jean Ping, prompting criticism that South...
Vol 53 No 15 | SOUTH AFRICAAFRICAN UNION Dlamini-Zuma takes charge 19th July 2012 South Africa finally won the battle for the AU Commission chair, amid high hopes for reform and more effective interventions Security crises in five countries and pressing economic problems confront the new Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Although she has three months to wind up...
Vol 53 No 15 | SOUTH AFRICAAFRICAN UNION A diplomatic coup in Addis 19th July 2012 Just hours before voting began for the new chairperson of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa on 15 July, veteran diplomats were predicting a repeat of the...
Vol 53 No 15 | SOUTH AFRICA No bang (this time) 19th July 2012 The authorities have tried to hush up a break-in that took place at South Africa’s largest nuclear research centre, the Pelindaba facility near Pretoria, on 28 April. The...
Vol 53 No 14 | SOUTH AFRICA Zuma delays judgement day 6th July 2012 Arguments over personalities rather than ideas dominate the ANC’s policy conference in the Free State Policies were not changed nor presidents toppled when the African National Congress met last week. Yet everyone – supporters of President Jacob Zuma and of his two main...
Vol 53 No 14 | SOUTH AFRICASADC Bank to bank 6th July 2012 The Southern African Development Community, anxious to free its financial operations from domination by the large, state-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa, plans to set up a rival...
Vol 53 No 13 | GUINEASOUTH AFRICA A new battle to control the mines 22nd June 2012 The collapse of an opaque scheme to set up a multi-billion dollar national mining company prompts recriminations in Conakry and South Africa The Guinean government’s decision this week to shut down a bid by South African businessmen who wield high-level political connections, to run its national mining company follows growing...
Vol 53 No 13 | GUINEASOUTH AFRICA Who's who in the Guinea loan saga 22nd June 2012 • Walter Hennig, Chief Executive Officer of Palladino, a South African. The considerable fortune enjoyed by the Hennig family comes mainly from diamond trading and farming, though Walter...