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Published 7th February 2014

Vol 55 No 3

South Africa’s volunteer force

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures
Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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Frustrated by delays in setting up an African standby force, Pretoria and its allies are pushing ahead with a smaller, rapid reaction force

The cannons roared and the guns blazed as diplomats and politicians arrived for the African Union summit in Addis Abba on 24-31 January. The raging conflict and wanton killing in Central African Republic and South Sudan could not have provided a worse backdrop for the summiteers or clearer proof of their organisation’s inability to pre-empt conflict or intervene effectively when the fighting starts. As the records of the United Nations and European Union show, the AU is far from alone in such failures. It also points to the magnitude of the AU’s ambitions: to build a standby military force for the region to be sent into action by an authoritative continental security council and to commission teams of independent experts to raise governance standards through peer review.

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The wizard of Accra

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Short-term economic worries and the government’s tin ear on corruption claims are wobbling Mahama’s presidency

Opposition activists like to portray President John Dramani Mahama as a kind of latter day Wizard of Oz, appearing to preside over a functioning government and thriving economy...

Fears for the new regime

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The new government has little time to assert its authority and end the sectarian slaughter. Some militants are even threatening to secede

Although two months have passed since the international military intervention began, the situation in Bangui has barely changed. Atrocities are still rife and life in the countryside is...

BLUE LINES
THE INSIDE VIEW

The death of at least eight miners after a fire and rock fall at a Harmony Gold mine near Johannesburg on 5 February threw proceedings at this week's Mining Indaba into stark relief. The 8,000 delegates who flocked to Cape Town for the meeting found South Africa's mining industry in political chaos.

The deaths at Harmony Gold, the worst for five years, reinforced the divisions over wages, profits and operating conditions in the industry. Frans Baleni, Secretary General of the Natio...

The death of at least eight miners after a fire and rock fall at a Harmony Gold mine near Johannesburg on 5 February threw proceedings at this week's Mining Indaba into stark relief. The 8,000 delegates who flocked to Cape Town for the meeting found South Africa's mining industry in political chaos.

The deaths at Harmony Gold, the worst for five years, reinforced the divisions over wages, profits and operating conditions in the industry. Frans Baleni, Secretary General of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), called for a detailed investigation and sanctions against any company officials found negligent. Analysts at the Indaba fretted about the costs of lost production. Mining houses also worry about South Africa's insistence that more ore should be processed before export, to boost employment and add more local value.

On the Indaba's opening day on 3 February, about 100,000 mineworkers downed tools at the Lonmin, AngloAmerican Platinum and Impala Platinum mines, demanding pay increases to reflect increasing production. The strikes are led by the radical Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, now the officially recognised union in the platinum sector having displaced the more moderate NUM, which backs President Jacob Zuma and is aligned to the governing African National Congress. The radical National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa backs the platinum strike and is calling out its members. Last month, NUMSA announced that it was ending support for the ANC, preferring to found a workers' party to represent unionists.

For all three sides – radical trades unionists, the ANC and the mine owners – the platinum workers' strike will be a critical test of strength.

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Renamo conflict escalates

The disgruntled rebels’ attacks are taking on the aspect of an insurgency but it seems that President Guebuza is in no hurry to settle the dispute

The political and military situation is deteriorating as the rebellion by the Resistência Nacional Moçambicana looks increasingly like a serious civil conflict. Armed violence began last April and...

No end to deadlock

The region has long been a bone of contention between Algeria and Morocco – and natural resource opportunities are forcing it up the agenda

The impasse over the sovereignty of the former Spanish Sahara is still preventing the five Union du Maghreb arabe (UMA) nations from achieving regional unity. Prospects of ending...

Banda and the jets

Beleaguered President Joyce Banda is suffering substantial political damage from what many Malawians are calling hypocrisy after she was found to be using the presidential private jet...

Tripling trade

African countries are calling for more investment in local manufacturing and processing capacity – and India's private sector is ready to oblige

India's diplomats started off the year with a flurry of official visits to North African countries with a view to strengthening economic ties there. External Affairs Minister Salman...

Donors up in arms

The countries helping fund the national budget are split on whether or not to suspend funds over corruption and bad governance

Mozambique risks the suspension of up to one third of the US$400 million it is due to receive in budget support funds from major donors this year, according...

New blood in old bottles

There’s a new Premier but many feel that one greedy faction has simply replaced another. Momentum towards a functional state is slowing again

The election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as President in September 2012 was meant to free politics of issues that had held it hostage for years: arguments between President...

Civil society under threat

Zambia has long boasted strong and independent institutions but the government has lately been riding roughshod over many of them

Zambian civil society was once one of the most effective on the continent. Mining unions played a key role in bringing down the one-party state and preventing President...

Hery must make his mark

The country is back in the international fold but the new President needs to distance himself from his predecessor

At last the island has a new President, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, elected on 20 December with 53.5% of the vote on a 50% turnout (AC Vol 55 No 2,...

Big plans for 2014

Despite recent missteps, South Korea's engagement with Africa will increase this year and move beyond natural resources to embrace information technology, communications and markets

New efforts by the Seoul government and by South Korea's private companies aim to widen cooperation with its African partners this year. These new initiatives follow a series...

A deal under duress

The combatants have signed up to a ceasefire more because they ran out of options than because they wanted peace

The threat of targeted sanctions against the combatants and the concern of East Africa's leaders that they would lose face at next week's African Union summit were the...

Peace process slows down

The Security Council has sent its own delegation to Mali to try to improve relations with Bamako and advance peace talks on the north

The United Nations Mission, the Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation au Mali, hopes to draw encouragement and a renewed sense of purpose from the...

Scandals to dominate polls

The trial of those accused of stealing state funds could hurt the President in the elections. Insiders accuse Britain of playing politics with aid

Anxiety is growing in presidential circles about the trial of prominent politicians and civil servants in the ‘Cashgate’ scandal over the theft of some US$100 million in government...

Abe in Africa

A rise in Japanese activity on the continent worries China, as does Tokyo's pledge to provide US$32 billion in finance by 2018

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's state tour to Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique and Ethiopia in early January was only the third official visit by a serving Japanese Premier to take...

Gems may unpick European sanctions

Zimbabwe's business leaders, championed by Belgium's diamond barons, are trying to draw in new money

In what may be Zimbabwe’s best hope of reversing economic decline, a high-level delegation of top executives led by Charles Msipa, the President of the Confederation of Zimbabwe...

Danger, road works ahead

The summit focused on immediate regional crises but made little headway on an African Standby Force or a new independent financing system for the organisation

Like the labyrinthine streets of host city Addis Ababa, the African Union's security strategy for the continent is undergoing drastic reconstruction and is beset with traffic jams. This...

Pointers

Seats for dissidents

The four oppositionists still detained in Juba – Pa’gan Amum, Oyai Deng, Majak d’Agot, Ezekiel Lol – are unlikely to join the talks due in Addis Ababa on...

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