Zimbabwe:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] To many local observers, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is in a defining moment in his 27-year rule, facing a combination of civil disobedience, political unrest and infighting within Zanu-PF.
Yet his focus has been less on striking trade unionists or the political opposition than on one of the main factions seeking to wrest power from him, that of Solomon Mujuru, former military chief, who as 'Rex Nhongo' was his Zanla guerrilla army leader and right-hand man.
Politburo recriminations ...
RELATED REPORTS ...
Zimbabwe:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] Throughout the week Zimbabwe's police have been clamping down on opposition rallies, to prevent any show of strength.
A ban on all political rallies for a three-month period was announced early on Wednesday. The opposition likened the move to "a state of emergency" and said they would contest it in the courts.
There have been continuing arrests and beatings in the main centres. The atmosphere was further charged by rolling public service strikes.
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Zimbabwe:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] The International Monetary Fund decided on Friday to keep in place current sanctions against Zimbabwe, buttressing the European Union's decision on Monday to extend 'smart' sanctions for another year.
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Zimbabwe:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] South Africa has again rejected any notion of taking a more active diplomatic role in the Zimbabwe crisis.
Instead it is asserting that the problem is a multilateral one for the entire Southern African Development Community, an argument repeatedly used in the past.
Last week German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the EU presidency, urged SA in barely veiled terms to use its influence to help end the "suffering" from President Robert Mugabe's policies.
Namibia:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is due to visit Namibia next week. It is an official visit and he will see the president, Hifikepunye Pohamba, but also undoubtedly his old ally Sam Nujoma. They are likely to discuss how to hang onto power, and how to use their parties to do so.
Nujoma is setting up a return to power in the next election in 2010 after having been ousted in 2004.
Tension in the ruling Swapo party (the South-West African People's Organisation) has been heightened by Nujoma's move to recover the presidency.
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2 nov | 16 nov | 30 nov |
14 dec |
Congo:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] The Congolese national assembly plans to establish a "social market economy", the term itself showing the influence of economic ideas from the European Union. General liberalization measures have been announced, such as the end of the state monopoly over "certain" sectors of the economy.
One of the main priorities is security. The programme stresses finalizing the integration of the armed forces.
The other targets are the modernisation of the police and of the judiciary and the "moralisation" of the society.
RELATED REPORTS ...
Congo:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] The DRC government delivered an official protest over the expulsion from Angola over the last few weeks of more than 8,000 Congolese migrants, mostly illegal diamond dealers or miners, and the occupation by the Angolan army of several villages in the Kahemba area of the Bandundu province.
In the recent past, there have been other Angolan army incursions..
The willingness of Luanda government to risk its warm relations with Kabila over the diamond issue demonstrates the urgency with which it is now pursuing complete control of the diamond sector.
It also shows a growing confidence that its position in the region and in the international sphere.
Region:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] South Africa signed a defence co-operation agreement with the Central African Republic in Pretoria last week.
The CAR is rapidly being drawn into the imbroglio involving Uganda and Sudan, together with the eastern DR Congo, and the agreement indicates a new willingness by SA to engage in regions where conflict is brewing.
RELATED REPORTS ...
Region:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] Concern is growing in Uganda at the increasing influence of the military amid signs that stability in the triangle bounded by the DR Congo, Uganda, Sudan and Central African Republic could soon start to fragment.
Uganda's opposition 'Forum For Democratic Change' says power is increasingly concentrated in a clique of seven military generals.
The opposition is appealing to regional bodies because of Uganda's history in military involvement in neighbouring countries.
Generals in charge ...
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Region:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] Agathon Rwasa, the leader of Burundi's last rebel group, the FNL, has joined the government in implementing the ceasefire agreement.
SA this week also approved the deployment of 1,100 soldiers to Burundi as part of an African Union special task force.
Angola:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] Angolan authorities released a British human rights activist on bail Wednesday and ordered her to stand trial on spying charges.
Sarah Wykes, who was researching Angola's oil sector for the London-based non-governmental organization Global Witness when she was arrested in Cabinda last Sunday, was freed on US$2,000 bail.
RELATED REPORTS ...
Region:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] The European Investment Bank wants to open a dialogue with China on its lending, which it sees as posing a risk in Africa.
EIB chairman Philippe Maystadt has invited Chinese financial institutions to engage in a dialogue over conditionalities on investments in the continent.
The Chinese presence in Africa is impressive.Investments exceed those that the EIB plans to invest over the 2008-2013 .
EIB projects ...
Joining the Inga scheme ...
Lesotho:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] There was visible relief in SA that the elections in Lesotho went smoothly, thus far with only restrained mutterings from the losers.
The snap poll was a consequence of 18 members of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy crossing the floor to the new opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC) in late 2006 (SouthScan v21/21).
WATCHING BRIEFS ...
Region:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] South Africa has promised to support the Saharwi people's right to self-determination, a spokesman for the separatist Western Sahara region said on Wednesday after talks with the government.
SA's ruling African National Congress has been a strong supporter of the Polisario, the Sahrawi political movement.
M'Hamed Khadad, the Saharwi's chief negotiator, met with Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Earlier this month, Morocco unveiled a plan to grant self-rule to the region.
SA politics:
[© SouthScan v22/04 23 Feb 07] The Pretoria regional court this week found a group of eight alleged mercenaries involved in the Equatorial Guinea 'coup' plot not guilty of contravening sections of the Regulation on Foreign Military Assistance Act (SouthScan v22/03).
"There was credible evidence by the State's witnesses that the coup was sanctioned by the South African government or that they (accused) were under the impression that it was sanctioned," magistrate Peet Johnson said.