Vol 52 No 15 | ZIMBABWE Spinning out of control 22nd July 2011 Four spin doctors vie for coverage on behalf of President Mugabe and his party as the battle over the next elections heats up The official line from President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and the highest policy-making body of his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, the Politburo, is that elections m...
Vol 52 No 15 | ZIMBABWE Unreliable economic barometer 22nd July 2011 The launch of the US$9.2 billion Medium Term Plan at Harare’s International Conference Centre on 7 July did not go according to plan. Although President Robert Mugabe and Prime Min...
Vol 52 No 15 | ANGOLACONGO-KINSHASA Bad fences, bad neighbours 22nd July 2011 Disputes over politics, oil and diamonds are dividing the two neighbouring governments Relations between Luanda and Kinshasa could deteriorate sharply after a series of disputes. Angolan border police expelled about 15,000 Congolese in April and May after rounding th...
Vol 52 No 15 | ANGOLA Media makeover 22nd July 2011 Luanda’s secretive government has set up a task force to overhaul its communications strategy before next year’s parliamentary elections. The grandly titled Grupo de Revitalização ...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 9 | ZIMBABWECHINA Polish to a shine 13th July 2011 Beijing frets over the image of Chinese companies as the Zimbabwean opposition rails against more loans and Chinese diamond miners Unionists and civil society members point to the close ties between the ruling parties of China and Zimbabwe to explain the lack of oversight of Chinese companies operating in the ...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 9 | SOUTH AFRICAZIMBABWETAIWAN Trucking trials 13th July 2011 The trial of Jack Hsieh (Hsieh Ping-sung) and his four truckers, accused of defrauding powerful Zimbabwean interests, rumbles on. Hsieh, who is from Taiwan and has South African na...
Vol 52 No 14 | SOUTH AFRICA Zuma and the securocrats 8th July 2011 Loyalists in crucial security positions are key to Zuma’s bid for a second term in office President Jacob Zuma’s intention to stand for a second presidential term next year has divided the ramshackle coalition which controls the governing African National Congress. Sinc...
Vol 52 No 14 | SOUTH AFRICA Police powers set to expand 8th July 2011 The security forces have gained extra powers under President Jacob Zuma and some fear that these could be used to curb political opposition. The police are certainly tough enough a...
Vol 52 No 14 | SOUTH AFRICA Veterans with influence 8th July 2011 Veterans of the African National Congress’s former military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), helped Jacob Zuma to get elected ANC leader in 2007 and he wants their support again for a...