Nov 29th - Zimbabwe PM welcomes South Africa's intervention

By CHENGETAI ZVAUYA Associated Press Writer

29 November 2009 11:11

Associated Press Newswires

APRS

English

(c) 2009. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Zimbabwe's prime minister said Sunday he is thankful for South African efforts to help rescue his coalition government, and he said South Africa's president is expected to visit the troubled neighboring country next week.

A spokesman for South African President Jacob Zuma did not comment on a possible visit, but said in a statement that a delegation of mediators sent by Zuma was leaving for Zimbabwe and expected to arrive late Sunday.

"We want to thank the government of South Africa, in particular President Zuma, for helping us," Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told about 30,000 people at a party rally in Harare. "They still continue monitoring what we are doing here in Zimbabwe."

Tsvangirai, the country's longtime opposition leader, entered into a power-sharing agreement in February with President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the country since its 1980 independence from Britain.

South African and other regional leaders had pushed for the coalition following a series of inconclusive elections marred by violence blamed on Mugabe's loyalists, urging the longtime rivals to work together to end their nation's political and economic crises.

But Tsvangirai temporarily withdrew from the unity government in October, cited the prosecution of one of his top aides among other issues. He returned three weeks later after receiving assurances that South Africa's president would intervene.

"People should not live in fear of violence or being beaten by police" because they support Tsvangirai's party, he said at Sunday's rally. "This must end."

Mugabe, in turn, accuses Tsvangirai of doing too little to persuade Western governments to lift foreign bank account freezes and other sanctions imposed on Mugabe and his top aides.

Tsvangirai said Sunday that instability in Zimbabwe also had affected South Africa, sending millions of economic refugees and political asylum seekers across the border.

South Africans "want to see us fulfill all that we have agreed," Tsvangirai said.

Tsvangirai has said that Zuma's predecessor took too soft a line on Mugabe. Thabo Mbeki, the regional point man on Zimbabwe, had argued that pushing Mugabe too hard could backfire.

It is not yet clear whether Zuma's approach will be tougher than Mbeki's. But in what was seen as a sign that Zuma was stepping up his intervention, he appointed two advisers and a special Zimbabwe envoy last week to work with politicians in Zimbabwe.

Zuma's spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, said Sunday that leaders at a regional summit in early November had called on Zimbabwe's politicians to start talks within 30 days to resolve their differences. Zimbabwean negotiators have been meeting behind closed doors in recent days, and Zuma's team was to report back to him on their progress, Magwenya said.

"What is important is that parties are in dialogue and have to remain in dialogue in order to iron out all outstanding issues," Magwenya said.

Source : Factiva

http://factiva.com/index_f_w.asp

Document APRS000020091129e5bt001qa

Nov 27th - Anger as Robert Mugabe raises World Cup trophy

Human rights groups attack football's governing body as tour hands propaganda coup to Zimbabwean president

David Smith in Johannesburg guardian.co.uk, Friday 27 November 2009 15.23 GMT

Robert Mugabe with the World Cup, which was passing through Harare on its way to South Africa for the draw for next year's tournament. Photograph: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP

Human rights groups in Zimbabwe have condemned world football's governing body for allowing Robert Mugabe to hold the World Cup trophy as it passed through Zimbabwe.

The trophy is on a tour of all 53 African countries ahead of next year's football showpiece in neighbouring South Africa. But activists in Zimbabwe criticised Fifa for handing a propaganda coup to a leader blamed for atrocities and oppression.

At a ceremony in Harare yesterday, Mugabe joked gleefully as he lifted the cup. Inspecting the 6.5kg solid gold trophy, the president could not resist a dig at his old enemy Britain, according to the New Zimbabwe website. "Britain does not have any gold, neither does Germany," he was quoted as saying.

"I am tempted to think that it came from Africa, and from Zimbabwe, and was taken away by adventurers who shaped it into this cup."

Mugabe's comments raised laughter at a ceremony attended by government officials, football fans and journalists at Harare international airport. He added: "When I hold the cup, I know all of you will have the urge that I should not let it go because this could be our gold."

Raymond Majongwe, secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, said Fifa should not have given Mugabe legitimacy.

He said: "It's a symbol of sporting excellence and the trophy every world leader craves to hold in their lifetime. They could have sent a political message by keeping it away from Zimbabwe. But with this, Mugabe was able to say the World Cup will come and go and he will still be there."

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/27/robert-mugabe-holds-world-cup

Nov 26t - Nelson Mandela's 'bogus' endorsement of African leader was real – but old

• Mandela foundation forced into embarrassing climbdown over book
• Congo-Brazzaville president used 1996 speech in foreword

David Smith in Johannesburg guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 November 2009 20.05 GMT

Nelson Mandela at his house in Qunu. Photograph: Themba Hadebe/Reuters

The Nelson Mandela Foundation has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown over its allegation that an African leader concocted a bogus endorsement by the anti-apartheid hero.

There was anger – and worldwide astonishment – when Denis Sassou-Nguesso, president of Congo-Brazzaville, published a book containing a foreword attributed to Mandela on its front cover. The foreword praised Sassou-Nguesso as "one of our great African leaders".

The Johannesburg-based foundation was quick to condemn the "brazen abuse" of 91-year-old Mandela's name and give a strong hint of litigation. Verne Harris, its acting chief executive, said: "Mr Mandela has neither read the book nor written a foreword for it ... we will be taking appropriate action."

Strictly speaking, Harris was correct. Mandela had indeed neither read the book nor written a foreword. Sassou-Nguesso was widely mocked for outrageous chutzpah in trying to sell books. But the case was not so simple.

The South African government confirmed today that the words used in the foreword were Mandela's. They were delivered by him in a speech in 1996, according to a statement from Sassou-Nguesso's office.

Tokyo Sexwale, a South African government minister who was reportedly a middle-man in granting permission for the use of the words – though not as a foreword – flew to Congo-Brazzaville this week to placate Sassou-Nguesso, who was smarting at the charge of dishonesty. Sexwale, a member of the Mandela foundation board, said: "I came here to give him a message from Nelson Mandela, who regards him as a brother and a true friend."

He continued: "The message I want to state is the following – and it must be absolutely clear – the book of President Sassou is a great book, and the quotations of Mr Mandela in that book are supported by Mr Mandela himself. The publishers just made a small mistake of saying the word 'foreword' but the quotation stands for itself. President Sassou-Nguesso is a leader in Africa – the words that had been put by Mandela in that book are correct."

Sexwale said he did not wish to dwell on the misuse of Mandela's speech in Sassou-Nguesso's Straight Speaking for Africa. "For us it is not an issue," he said. "It is just a mistake."

Mandela had written a personal letter to Sassou-Nguesso "clarifying the situation" and standing by the favourable words he spoke about him 13 years ago.

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/26/nelson-mandela-bogus-endorsement-real

Nov 25th - South Africa: President Zuma Will Serve as Zimbabwe’s Mediator

By CELIA W. DUGGER

Published: November 25, 2009

President Jacob Zuma has taken over as the regional mediator in Zimbabwe’s political crisis. His predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, was mistrusted by Zimbabwe’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr. Tsvangirai said he believed that Mr. Mbeki was biased in favor of President Robert Mugabe. According to a statement from Mr. Zuma’s office, he appointed a new Zimbabwe team: Charles Nquakula, his political adviser; Mac Maharaj, his special envoy; and Lindiwe Zulu, his international relations adviser. The team will visit Zimbabwe soon and report back to Mr. Zuma, above.

Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai have been in a power-sharing government since February, but Mr. Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, have sent state security forces to arrest and jail rival politicians, human rights lawyers and civic leaders.

Source : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/world/africa/26briefs-mediator.html?scp=2&sq=South%20Africa&st=cse

Nov 24th - South Africa deports Israeli 'spy'

South Africa has deported an Israeli airline official following allegations that Israel's secret police, Shin Bet, have been operating in Johannesburg's international airport.

The official was employed by the Israeli embassy in South Africa and had a diplomatic passport, Israel's Ynet news reported on its website.

The deportation stemmed from an investigation by local television news show, Carte Blanche, into Jonathan Garb, a former El Al Israeli airline guard, who was aggrieved over the alleged non-payment of a bonus by his former employer.

After 19 years with the airline, Garb was fired, allegedly after he filed a complaint with the South African labour department, and decided to speak out to the media about his previous work.

'Secret police recruit'

Garb, a South African Jew, said he was recruited by Shin Bet, Israel's secret police.

"To members of the public they [El Al employees] will represent themselves as airport security ... But in fact we were working for the Israeli security agency, which is the internal security service of the government of Israel," Garb said.

In video

Watch the Carte Blanche report 'Take Off' with the 'confessions' of Jonathan Garb, above

"What we are trained [for] is to look for the immediate threat - the Muslim guy.

"You can think he is a suicide bomber, he is collecting information.

"The crazy thing is that we are profiling people racially, ethnically and even on religious grounds ... This is what we do."

Following up Garb's claims, the programme sent an investigator of Arab origin with a hidden camera to El Al's security area at the airport.

The report showed the man being stopped and questioned by a security guard.

When the reporter protested that he was not flying but waiting for a friend, a security manager from El Al arrived to further question him.

Embassy-registered weapons

Carte Blanche's report revealed that former staff had accused El Al of smuggling weapons licensed to the local Israeli embassy, into the airport for use by the guards.

People guards deemed as suspicious could be held in a room out of public view, where they were interrogated and subjected to strip searches while their luggage was taken apart, the report showed.

Clandestine searches of their belongings and laptops are also carried out to identify useful documents and information, Garb said.

These actions violate South African law, which only authorises the police, armed forces or personnel hired by the transport ministry to carry out searches.

South Africa has threatened to deport all of El Al's security staff, while the Israeli foreign ministry has purportedly sent a team to South Africa to try to answer the South African government's concerns.

Yossi Levy, a spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, said "the ministry cannot comment on security matters", but flights from South Africa to Israel were not at risk of being cancelled as a result of the diplomatic crisis, Ynet news reported.

Garb said: "This here is a secret service operating above the law in South Africa.

"We pull the wool over everyone's eyes. We do exactly what we want. The local authorities do not know what we are doing."

Source : http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/11/20091124125219472863.html

Nov 22nd - Mercenary: Govt knew of coup

Julian Rademeyer

Johannesburg - South Africa's intelligence agencies knew about the planned coup in Equatorial Guinea at least six months before it took place in March 2004. But they failed to do anything stop it and gave it their tacit approval, freed mercenary Niek du Toit says.

Du Toit, the plot's point-man, revealed in an exclusive interview with Rapport, that he had planned to “walk away” from the plot but was persuaded that South Africa wanted it to go ahead and would take no action against him and his co-conspirators.

The former Reconnaissance soldier and veteran of wars in Angola, Namibia (formerly South West Africa), Sierre Leone and Liberia said the plot was “compromised” from the start by government informers, spies and leaks.

“We were under the impression that if it did finally take place, we would have some support from the government... We were covered, we didn't have to worry very much.”

Both Simon Mann, the former British SAS officer who masterminded the coup attempt, and Du Toit's close friend and business partner Henri van der Westhuizen assured him that they had “inside information” that the South African government would not act against them.

Joined Special Forces

Van der Westhuizen had previously worked for military intelligence in the 1980s before joining the Special Forces where he drew up “elimination” dossiers of ANC targets. He had maintained ties with intelligence agencies after 1994.

“In September or October 2003, Henri showed me an intelligence intercept he had got from his contacts which showed that the government was aware of what we were planning.”

“I gave it to Simon Mann and said the operation was compromised, we can't continue.”

Mann's response was that it “is all right, we are covered”.

“I asked Henry what he thought and he said, 'no, you must leave it, you are going to burn your fingers'."

Wanted to catch the financiers

“I was on the point of walking out when, three days before we were due to fly to Equatorial Guinea, Henry told me he had spoken to a woman called Ayanda who worked for the intelligence services”.

“She said we should go ahead because they want to catch the people financing the coup."

“Henry left me with the impression that while the government would not formally recognise the coup, we would get some sort of support...We were just the pawns, we would not pick up big problems.”

What Du Toit didn't know was that Van der Westhuizen had reportedly also met former National Prosecuting Authority boss Bulelani Ngcuka on February 17 or 18 2004 and told him about the plan. Ngcuka said little and Van der Westhuizen took it to mean they were not being warned off. He gave the Scorpions an affidavit saying he had tried to get Du Toit to walk away but that Mann had said the investors “spent too much money on the project and...would definitely kill them if they withdraw”.

Du Toit confirmed the threat to Rapport.

Threatened

“Simon told me: 'The people behind this are very influential. If we withdraw they can do a lot of damage to you and your family'. I took it as a veiled threat.

“I don't easily allow myself to be threatened and I'm not afraid of much. But when it comes to your family, you have to pay attention.”

He threw caution to the wind, ignored all the “flashing red lights” and boarded the plane.

But there were just too many leaks and informants.

James Kershaw, a young computer wizard, was one. He ran the plotter's administration, finances and communications. But Kershaw was also on the payroll of Nigel Morgan, a former military intelligence officer in the British Army's Irish Guards.

First and last coup attempt

Morgan works as a freelance intelligence operative, hawking information to the British and South African spies from his home in the mountains near Harrismith in the Free State.

Mann also had frequent contact with Morgan.

“Everyone knows Nigel Morgan works for the South African intelligence services. I was very worried about that,” Du Toit said.

“Kershaw was the centre-point around which everything Simon Mann did in South Africa revolved. He knew everything. Mann could just as well have gone to the government and said: 'Listen here, this is my plan.'”

Du Toit said he would never again contemplate something like the Equatorial Guinea coup plot.

“Of course, you learn your lesson. If you didn't learn from something like this, then you're stupid. It was my first and last coup attempt.”

He feels betrayed by his friends.

Documents were stolen out of his house and the conspirators “stabbed each other in the back”.

“If Henri hadn't told me I must go ahead because that is what the government wants, I would have dropped the whole thing.

“We were friends who had a close relationship of trust. But his actions showed that the friendship meant nothing to him.”

- Rapport

Source : http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/4b0e6b79626d409dbf7de2819631bfbb/22-11-2009-12-37/Mercenary_Govt_knew_of_coup#

Nov 21st - Migrant workers at risk in S Africa

Zimbabwean migrants in search of employment in South Africa are facing persecution at the hands of local people who are blaming them for taking their jobs.

The persecution, which forced about 2,000 migrants to seek refuge in a rugby stadium, began on Tuesday when the migrants' shacks in a farming community in De Doorns were levelled.

Local residents say they are tired of competing with Zimbabweans for space and jobs.

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from De Doorns, said the residents want farmers to hire workers from neighbouring towns like Rainsburg a few kilometres away.

'Horrific attacks'

Many of those displaced came from a squatter camp and they left after they lost everything, our correspondent reported.

"Some of the attacks are just so horrific [that] whole houses have been razed to the ground," she said.

Last year violence unleashed on migrants on the outskirts of Johannesburg, the commercial centre, left at least 62 people dead, forcing the UN refugee agency to move many migrants into relief camps.

Aid groups have dubbed Tuesday's attacks xenophobia, but government officials say it is a labour matter that local farmers shouldn’t favour one nationality over another.

Manfred van Rooyen, a local official, said migrants from other countries had not been targeted.

"This is not per say xenophobia - we also have other people from Lesotho and other parts of Africa that live in De Doorns and they are not being affected," he said.

But Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said: "This is the first xenophobic attack affecting refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa since the countrywide violence in May 2008."

No quick fix

Ntombi Mcoyi, of Africa Unite, an organisation that works with migrant communities in Cape Town, said the government was getting "resources of survival" to the people.

A spate of violence over jobs has displaced at least 2,000 Zimbabwean migrants

But she said "it is not a situation that can be resolved overnight or in a couple of months".

"What's happened is not just about foreign nationals moving to South Africa," Mcoyi told Al Jazeera.

"But it's also the need of South Africans that have not been met over the years."

She said South Africa is still going through a "lot of poverty, high unemployment in the communities".

"There's a lot of ill-feeling of South Africans in the local communities of their needs not being met ... That's being transferred as anger to foreign national communities," Mcoyi said.

"Alot of promises were made to South African people post-1994 [when South Africa held its first ever multi-racial elections].

"People expected to get a lot and gain a lot. This hasn't happened and now with the influx of foreign people."

Source : http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/11/2009112110571766836.html

Nov 18th - South African Govt Probes Mercenary Reports

by Melody Chironda

18 November 2009 08:05

All Africa

AFNWS

English

(c) 2009 AllAfrica, All Rights Reserved

Cape Town, Nov 18, 2009 (allafrica.com/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- The Pretoria government is probing reports that South African mercenaries are training Guinean militia, recruited by the country's military junta on an ethnic basis.

Ayanda Ntsaluba, director-general of South Africa's foreign ministry, told reporters in Pretoria on Tuesday that "some of the information seems to point in that direction, but I don't think we've got the full picture yet."

He said the government's information suggested that those allegedly working for the junta were employed by "companies operating largely through Dubai" but this still had to be verified.

A specialist writer on military affairs working for the South African newspaper, Beeld, reported last month that a group of up to 50 South Africans had been recruited to give armed support to the junta, headed by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. The writer said an advance party of three had travelled to Conakry on October 13.

The allegations come as Guinea prepares for elections next year. "When the military took over," Ntsaluba said, "there was an understanding... that that the current military leadership will not avail itself to run for those elections, a position that has subsequently changed and [the military] having changed it, we also know that there was a civil society negative reaction to that, which then led to the carnage that we saw [in September]...

"As things stand now, the logic of the argument is that that military leadership indeed is determined to avail itself for the presidential elections and also anticipates that there is going to be a reaction from civil society and therefore it's trying to prepare for that eventuality."

Ntsaluba said the possibility of South African mercenaries operating in Guinea was "a very significant issue" for the government. "We would not like to see our country and its citizens involved in all sorts of nefarious activities and especially where the effect of that... is to strengthen activities that run counter to policies that are advanced by... the African Union."

However, he cautioned that there had been "both true and false leads" on the issue, and the government was trying to establish the veracity of the accusations.

Source : Factiva

http://factiva.com/index_f_w.asp

Document AFNWS00020091118e5bi000o0

Nov 13th - The world's eyes on Africa

Africa must grab its potential for exponential growth, argues Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa

On Friday June 11th 2010, the first-ever FIFA World Cup held on African soil will get under way in Johannesburg. Watched by soccer fans across the world, it will be a bold statement of the continent’s determination to revive its fortunes after decades of marginalisation.

From the flagship stadium in Johannesburg to the new bus rapid-transit systems in major host cities, the 2010 World Cup will showcase the biggest infrastructure investment programme in South Africa’s history. At a time of world economic crisis, this programme has helped place the country in a position to take advantage of the global recovery.

The infrastructure programme goes far beyond football. Since the turn of the century, South Africa has embarked on a massive investment programme in road and rail networks, public-transport systems, power generation and telecommunications. New schools and clinics are being built. The infrastructure of our growing cities is being enhanced.

Combined with private-sector investments, this has seen gross fixed capital formation as a percentage of GDP rise from 15% in 2001 to 23% by the middle of 2009. In the three-year period to 2012 our public-sector investment programme will amount to over $100 billion.

All this investment will have benefits well beyond the immediate challenge of sustaining economic activity in a downturn. It will reduce the cost of doing business, accommodate far greater rates of growth and respond to the country’s social needs.

Unlike other countries that have had to implement stimulus packages, South Africa’s public investment programme predates the economic crisis. Money is not being spent on bailing out banks or badly run private enterprises, but on building roads and schools.

Rich countries need to honour their commitments to increase development assistance to Africa

This has been made possible by the sound management of public finances. Moreover, our banks operate within an effective regulatory framework, which has mitigated the impact of the financial crisis.

That is not to say that South Africa has been spared the impact of the global crisis. In 2009, for the first time in the 15 years of democracy, South Africa entered a recession. With revenue declining, the budget has come under pressure, and the country is having to borrow more. But we are doing so in a responsible manner, such that credit-rating agencies have retained their outlook for the country and our international bond issues have generally been over-subscribed.

Nonetheless, there are systemic challenges. Unemployment remains stubbornly high, in part because of our narrow skills base.

It is for this reason that my administration is stressing education in plans for the next five years. We are working hard to get the fundamentals of schooling right, improving access and quality for the poor, and measuring results against international benchmarks.

The other critical challenge is health. While 95% of South Africans now live within 5km of a health facility, life expectancy has declined in the past decade, partly a consequence of the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS. We are improving public health care as a stepping stone towards an affordable and efficient health system that integrates the capacities of the public and private sectors.

These challenges are typical of many developing countries. It remains to be seen whether the economic crisis will undo the benefits of the commodity boom and new investment programmes for many African economies.

It has certainly reduced the availability of credit and slowed investment and trade. Africa cannot be allowed to slide backwards. Global financial institutions need to ensure that African countries will still have access to investment resources and markets for their exports. Rich countries need to remove the trade and other barriers that stifle the development of African agriculture; they need to honour their commitments to increase development assistance to Africa.

Victory begins at home

Ultimately, though, Africa’s future rests in the hands of Africans. The economic crisis has demonstrated only too clearly the vulnerability of economies that rely on commodity exports. African economies need to develop their manufacturing capacity, and take advantage of the huge, untapped market that they collectively represent.

Of one thing we are certain: if there is one part of the world that possesses the potential for exponential growth in the coming few decades, it is the African continent. This ranges from the extraction and processing of mineral resources and infrastructure development to the manufacturing of goods and provision of services for a growing employed population and middle class.

The prospects for Africa in 2010 are good. It might even be the year in which, for the first time, an African team holds aloft the FIFA World Cup trophy.

Nov 6th - South Africa to sign deal with Zimbabwe

By Richard Lapper in Johannesburg 6 November 2009

Financial Times (FT.Com)

FTCOM

English

Copyright 2009 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

South Africa is close to signing a bilateral investment treaty with Zimbabwe, paving the way for what could be a sharp increase in private sector investment in its troubled northern neighbour, according to officials in both countries.

The treaty would provide mechanisms to help resolve disputes and sharply reduce the price of political risk insurance, helping ease concerns about Zimbabwe's political stability that have inhibited investment despite interest from South African groups ranging from mining companies to banks and retailers.

"There is huge interest but the biggest stumbling block has been the [failure] to finalise an investment treaty," said Ufikile Khumalo, of South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation. The government development bank earlier this week made its first loan to a Zimbabwe business since Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, agreed to form a coalition government with his political rival, Morgan Tsvangirai in February.

News of the investment treaty comes as the Zimbabwe economy continues to stabilise following the abolition of the local currency and amid signs that the South African government is keen to encourage closer bilateral ties.

It also follows Mr Tsvangirai's decision late on Thursday to re-engage with his Zanu-PF coalition partners inside the power-sharing administration. Mr Tsvangirai, who withdrew his Movement for Democratic Change from the country's unity government last month because of differences with Mr Mugabe, agreed to rejoin the coalition at a summit in Mozambique attended by southern African leaders including Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president.

Earlier this week, Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe's MDC finance minister, played down differences with Zanu-PF and said that the investment agreement would be signed in South Africa in the last week of November.

The IDC loan extended a $10m (£6m, €6.7m) facility to the London-listed miner Mwana Africa, allowing the company to step up gold production that it resumed in Zimbabwe in October. Mr Khumalo said other investments could soon follow and that commitments to Zimbabwean-based businesses might eventually reach 10 per cent of the corporation's portfolio, which totalled nearly $9bn in 2008.

Local businesses believed they could steal a march on their more risk-averse rivals outside the region, he said. There was still some uncertainty about the willingness of the Zimbabwe government to include investments in land - a politically controversial area - within the terms of the treaty, he said, but "outside of this, everything has been agreed upon".

Mr Biti indicated that other issues that have worried potential investors were being resolved. Kingdom Meikles, the retail, hotel and banking group that was until recently Zimbabwe's biggest listed company, was no longer subject to government intervention, he said. So-called "specification measures" under which government agents were appointed to run the company's affairs in September had been lifted, paving the way for the de-merger of the group.

Mr Biti insisted that the government, including Mr Mugabe, wanted to take a flexible approach to foreign investors.

Separately, he told news agencies on Friday that a local newspaper report on proposed draft legislation to force foreign-owned companies to allocate a 51 per cent majority stake to black Zimbabweans was "speculative".

Source :

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83e07228-caf6-11de-97e0-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss

Nov 6th - World Cup Hosts Brazil and South Africa Crack Down on Crime

By Jens Glüsing, Maik Grossekathöfer and Horand Knaup

There are 50 murders a day in South Africa, the host country of the 2010 football World Cup. And Brazil, host of both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, also suffers from extreme violence. With a view to the high-profile events, the two countries are now attempting to crack down on rampant crime -- and are using ruthless tactics to do so.

An orchid, a laptop and a Bible adorn the desk of Pricilla de Oliveira Azevedo. She is wearing the blue uniform of the military police, but there is no weapon visible in her small office. Her territory is the Favela Santa Marta, a hillside slum in the heart of the southern tourist zone of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. From the top of the hill, there is a magnificent view of Sugar Loaf Mountain, the statue of Christ the Redeemer and Copacabana beach.

Until the end of last year, the Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, the city's largest and oldest organized crime group, controlled Santa Marta, a favela with a population of about 10,000. The street leading up the hill begins behind a German school. Child soldiers working for the drug mafia used to stand guard at access points into the slum, wearing T-shirts and sandals, with Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders and pistols stuck into the waistbands of their Bermuda shorts. Only a few steps away from a main thoroughfare, they sold cocaine, crack and marijuana.

Today Azevedo, 31, controls the neighborhood. She commands 120 police officers that now patrol the favela's narrow streets around the clock. The residents greet them politely and ask for their help with domestic violence or when a neighbor's music is too loud. There hasn't been a murder in the neighborhood in more than a year.

Azevedo runs Rio's first UPP, which stands for "Police Pacification Unit." These units are Rio's trump card for the 2014 Soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

Too Dangerous

The city's residents were ecstatic a month ago, when Rio de Janeiro won its bid for the Olympics, defeating competitors Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid, even more so than they were two years ago, when Brazil was selected to host the 2014 World Cup. Rio had been in the running for the games twice before, and now it had succeeded, bringing the Olympics to South America for the first time. Now, finally, beach volleyball will be played on the world's most famous beach, against a backdrop of sunshine, the ocean and palm trees.

But the euphoria had hardly subsided before the critics began speaking out in large numbers. Awarding the games to Rio, they said, was not an example of modern sports policy, but pure lunacy. The city, they argued, is much too dangerous.

It was the same story five-and-a-half years ago, when the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) decided to hold the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The country has one of the world's highest crime rates, with 200,319 murders committed in the last 10 years. One could praise FIFA's decision as a form of development aid, or one could simply call it negligent. To remove such doubts, Brazil and South Africa must now find ways to guarantee the safety of fans and tourists.

Rio de Janeiro, with its 6 million residents, is one of the world's most violent cities, a place where robberies, murders and kidnappings are routine. There were 5,717 murders last year in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which includes the city. Drug cartels control about 300 of the more than 700 favelas, and the drug bosses employ thousands of soldiers, some of them armed with bazookas.

Violent Standoff

The brutality with which rival gangs go about their business was in full evidence in mid-October once again in a favela called Morro dos Macacos, or Monkey Hill. Two warring drug gangs engaged in gun battles in the favela, and they even shot down a police helicopter with their submachine guns as it was trying to make an emergency landing on a nearby football field. At the end of the week-long standoff, at least 21 people had been killed.

The city now plans to have more than 60,000 police officers, including units like the one run by Captain Azevedo, patrolling the streets in time for the 2014 World Cup. There will be 1,000 cameras installed, from the beaches to the most important residential areas, to keep an eye on trouble spots. All police stations will be outfitted with computers, and the police, traffic authority and fire department will all be connected in a common computer network, something which has not been the case up until now.

The city also wants to buy two unmanned drones to keep watch over the favelas from the air. After the violence on Monkey Hill in October, Justice Minister Tarso Genro announced that the equivalent of €98 million ($145 million) had been earmarked for immediate action programs. "We want to permanently improve security in the city, not just for three or four weeks here and there," says José Mariano Beltrame, Rio's secretary of public security. He sounds confident.

'An Abnormal Criminal Problem'

South African President Jacob Zuma sought to convey the same confidence at a speech he gave in Pretoria a month ago. But South Africa, unlike Rio, lacks the time for long-term operations; the kickoff is just over seven months away, on June 11, 2010. Zuma, forming the shape of a pistol with his thumb and index finger, said: "We have an abnormal criminal problem in South Africa. We must therefore apply extraordinary measures."

From April 2008 to March 2009, 18,148 people were killed in South Africa, or an average of 50 murders a day. The police also recorded 70,514 sexual offences, but the number of unreported cases is believed to be much higher. In Gauteng province, where there are three World Cup stadiums and where the German team plans to stay, the murder rate has risen by 6 percent, the number of residential robberies by 11 percent and the number of store holdups by 22 percent.

Almost two-thirds of all homicides happen in the townships. The slums with the highest murder rates are directly adjacent to the cities where matches will be held next summer: Umlazi, outside Durban, and Nyanga, near Cape Town. The violence has also taken hold in upscale residential neighborhoods where residents seek to protect themselves with security cameras, electric fences and guard dogs. This summer Force Khashane, a nationally renowned journalist, was shot dead by six bullets in front of his home.

New Standards

The government has taken steps to combat the violence. The police has spent €115 million on the World Cup alone, purchasing 10 water cannons and six helicopters. To improve the quality of the police force, whose officers have been known to wait an inordinate amount of time before heading to the scene of a crime, hiring standards have been tightened. However, 41,000 additional police offers who will patrol the World Cup stadiums next year, and who attended accelerated training programs, are not affected by the new standards.

The army was brought in to provide extra security at the Confederations Cup in June, a dress rehearsal of sorts for the World Cup. For next year's event, the FBI, Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and Britain's Scotland Yard will advise the South Africans on how best to secure arenas and tourist areas.

President Zuma has decided to take a tougher approach to fighting crime. Shortly after taking office in May, he appointed Bheki Cele as his new police commissioner, a wiry hardliner who sometime refers to criminals as "cockroaches" and advises police officers to "shoot them in the head." When the police recently killed six gangsters as they were trying to hold up a money transport, he told the men: "Well done."

Cele is working under high pressure, and with the president's explicit support, to draft a law that would allow his officers to retaliate regardless of the circumstances, the motto being "shoot to kill." Under current law, South African police officers are only permitted to shoot if they or people around them are threatened. In the future, violent criminals could also be shot as they are attempting to flee -- and not just in the legs.

Reclaiming the Slums

Rio's police force is no less squeamish, having killed about 1,100 people last year, when it began storming and occupying favelas. However the government has also sent social workers to the Santa Marta slum, the electric utility has legalized the power supply, the water company has installed a new sewer system, and garbage collection now reaches even the remotest parts of the slum. There is now a tram that travels to the top of the hill, stopping at five stations along the way. "Step by step, the city is reclaiming the favelas," says José Mariano Beltrame, Rio's security minister.

Five favelas were pacified using similar measures in recent months, including Cidade de Deus (City of God), a favela made notorious by the film of the same name. Forty-seven other favelas are on the city's priority list, and four are scheduled for occupation by the end of the year.

The most difficult and largest slums are yet to come: the Rocinha, Morro do Alemão and Maré favela complexes. Each of these giant slums is home to about 100,000 people, and the drug bosses who control them have a veritable military arsenal at their disposal. The expressway to Rio's international airport, which leads directly through the Maré favela complex, often has to be closed because of gun battles, and drivers are frequently robbed while stuck in traffic jams.

A Real Estate Boom?

Rocinha lies along the main road between Rio's southern zone and the Barra da Tijuca district, where most of the events will take place during the Olympics. The federal government is investing hundreds of millions of reais into urbanizing the slum, but occupation is a step the police are still reluctant to take. The drug gang in Rocinha is considered one of the city's best armed.

If the authorities manage to pacify Rocinha, the favela -- located opposite one of the city's most expensive residential areas, between a country club and the beach -- could experience a real estate boom before the 2014 World Cup. In Santa Mara, the favela now under Captain Azevedo's control, real estate prices have shot up since the police occupation began.

In locations higher up the hill, with views of Sugar Loaf Mountain, a shack could once be had for about 20,000 reais (around €8,000 or $12,000). Prices have since tripled.

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

Source : http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,659427,00.html

Nov 5th - South Africa Cancels A400M Order, Dealing Blow to Airbus

By David Pearson 5 November 2009 10:40

The Wall Street Journal (Online and Print)

WSJO

Europe Business

English

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

PARIS--The South African government Thursday said it was cancelling its order for eight Airbus A400M planes, a big blow to the problem-plagued military airlifter program.

Airbus said that it "very much regrets" the South African government's decision, the first cancellation for the program that is already running more than three years late and is incurring billions of euros in extra costs for Airbus's parent company, European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.

"It certainly isn't the death knell for the A400M program," said CM-CIC analyst Harald Liberge-Dondoux. "But clearly the cost of the plane is rising steeply, and this could discourage other potential export customers."

Airbus, EADS and their customers are currently renegotiating the terms of the 2003 contract that launched the A400M program, which EADS officials have acknowledged can't be profitable for decades. They have set a deadline of reaching an agreement by year end, and defense ministers from the seven European governments that have ordered planes are scheduled to meet this month to review progress.

Airbus officials said they remain confident that the A400M will make its first flight before the end of the year. That's an important milestone for EADS, as it would receive a large sum of cash from its customers.

EADS already has set aside €2.3 billion ($3.4 billion) in provisions for the A400M program, which has been plagued with problems chiefly related to the engine-management software. Analysts expect that it will have to take an additional financial hit of several hundred million euros in its second-half accounts.

South Africa ordered the planes in 2005 to replace its aging fleet of C-130 Hercules airlifters, saying it wanted to use the four turboprop-engined planes for peacekeeping, disaster relief and military missions. At that time, the government estimated the cost of the eight-plane order at €837 million.

The cancellation "came totally out of the blue," Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said in a telephone interview. The surprise was all the greater "at a time when the program is making very good progress toward a first flight before the end of the year," he said.

Airbus "is studying the possible financial impact of this announcement," Mr. Schaffrath said.

Officials familiar with the situation said the South African government had given no indication that it was thinking about cancelling its contract. They noted that the two sides had been talking about increasing the amount of work that South African companies had been allocated on the A400M program, as compensation for the extra costs.

South African government spokesman Themba Maseko said South Africa wouldn't incur any penalties because of the delays in the delivery deadlines stipulated in the contract, and added that Airbus will have to repay advances of 2.9 billion rand (about $380 million) under the terms of its contract.

Robb M. Stewart in Johannesburg contributed to this article.

Write to David Pearson at david.pearson@dowjones.com

Source : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013004574517443004127638.html

Nov 4th - Freed Guinea coup plotter offers to testify

By Tom Burgis 4 November 2009

Financial Times (FT.Com)

FTCOM

English

Copyright 2009 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simon Mann, a former special forces officer convicted of plotting to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, warned on his release from jail on Wednesday that he would be willing to testify against alleged co-conspirators should they be brought before a UK court.

Speaking after he was freed from the Black Beach prison in Malabo, the capital, Mr Mann said he was "very anxious" that Mark Thatcher, the son of Lady Thatcher, the former British prime minister, and Ely Calil, a UK-based Lebanese businessman, should face justice for the roles he alleges they played in the plot.

The Eton-educated soldier of fortune was pardoned "on humanitarian grounds" by the oil-rich west African nation's authoritarian president on Monday after serving two years of a 34-year term.

"In prison I made statements to the UK police, whose investigations are continuing," Mr Mann said. "I am very happy to restate those things in the UK in court as a witness to the prosecution."

Mr Mann's comments raise the possibility of fresh light being thrown on a murky tale.

He served four years in a Harare prison after his arrest in Zimbabwe in 2004, along with an aircraft load of alleged mercenaries said to be en route to Equatorial Guinea. Mr Mann was then extradited to face trial in Equatorial Guinea where he acknowledged that he had managed the coup attempt but said he was not the most senior conspirator.

In court Mr Mann said Mr Thatcher was "part of the management team" and that Mr Calil, who made his fortune as an oil trader in Nigeria, was "the boss".

Both have denied any part in the conspiracy to overthrow Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea since he seized power three decades ago.

However, in 2005 Mr Thatcher, who knew Mr Mann when both lived in South Africa, admitted unwittingly financing the coup attempt. He received a fine and a suspended four-year prison sentence in a plea bargain with South African authorities. Mr Thatcher now lives in Spain.

Mr Calil has admitted to financing Severo Motto, an exiled Guinean opposition leader who was allegedly due to take over as part of the coup plans but said he had no role in plotting the coup itself.

The UK's Metropolitan police force said it was "investigating whether any offences have been disclosed in this country in relation to the trial in Equatorial Guinea".

Four South African men were pardoned along with Mr Mann. They include Nick du Toit, who according to some accounts was Mr Mann's chief of staff.

Mr Mann has maintained that South African intelligence was aware of the coup plan and did nothing to stop it, which he interpreted as a green light.

Source :

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24ea5570-c995-11de-a071-00144feabdc0.html?catid=21&SID=google

Document FTCOM00020091104e5b4006hd

Oct 23rd - Activists Slam Unscrupulous NGO's Exploiting Zimbabwean Refugees in South Africa

by Lance Guma 23 October 2009 19:41

All Africa

AFNWS

English

(c) 2009 AllAfrica, All Rights Reserved

Oct 23, 2009 (SW Radio Africa/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Several activists and MDC officials in South Africa have slammed an NGO that allegedly manipulated the plight of Zimbabwean refugees there to raise funds for a repatriation programme. MDC SA Chairman Austin Moyo told Newsreel on Friday that hundreds of Zimbabwean refugees at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg were duped into going back home, on the back of a promise of R7000, computers, printers and scanners, to start internet cafe's back home.

Recently two buses packed with the refugees made the long journey back to Zimbabwe. On arrival back home none of the promises were delivered, instead the refugees were given R200 to use as bus fare to travel to their respective villages. Within a few days most of the refugees were back in South Africa at the Central Methodist Church, which has become home for thousands over the years. Some reports said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration may have helped fund the repatriation programme.

UNHCR and IOM officials are yet to comment on the matter but sources say the equipment for the refugees was bought some time back, but for some reason has not made its way to the intended beneficiaries.

Newsreel sought comment from Elliot Moyo, whose organization raised the funds for the repatriation. He told us he was in a meeting and could only speak to us after our Friday broadcast. Moyo however promised us a response by Monday. MDC SA spokesman Sibanengi Dube told us it was a very common problem to have NGO's raising money, using the plight of Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa, and later diverting the money for their own use. He said they were investigating the latest case to see where the money and computers went to.

The Zimbabwean crisis has seen the mushrooming of hundreds of NGO's in and outside the country. Although some are genuinely involved in helping the situation, several unscrupulous individuals have also created room for themselves to divert money from donors meant to help people in need.

Source : Factiva

http://factiva.com/index_f_w.asp

Document AFNWS00020091024e5an0000m

Oct 19th - China’s appetite boosts South Africa

By Richard Lapper in Johannesburg

Published: October 19 2009 20:08 | Last updated: October 19 2009 20:08

Links: Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Hu Jintao of China have met several times

When European steelmakers began to reduce their orders towards the end of last year, many of the 4,300 workers at the Sishen iron ore mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape province were understandably nervous for their jobs. Ten months on though those anxieties are a distant memory.

A 35 per cent increase in demand from China’s growing industry has compensated for the 50 per cent decline from recession-hit Europe, Japan and South Korea. Executives at Kumba, the Anglo-American subsidiary that runs the facility, are pressing ahead with expansion plans.

For Eddie Majadibodu, a trade unionist who negotiates for the miners, it makes a refreshing contrast from the gloom in sectors such as platinum, where thousands of jobs have been lost.

“There were concerns but the company is doing well,” he said.

Kumba is not the only company to benefit from South Africa’s rapidly growing connection with China. In the first half of this year, while exports to Germany, the UK, Japan and the US plummeted, China kept growing and sucked in increasing amounts of South African iron ore, chrome and other raw materials.

In the latest sign of China’s intensifying relationship with Africa, the fifth-largest export market for South Africa a year ago is now the most important destination for the country’s goods.

China’s emergence as South Africa’s number one export market coincides with signs of growing Chinese investment interest. It seems to be pushing into the background previous concerns in South Africa that China’s industrial strength and buoyant electronic and textiles exports could swamp domestic industry.

With connections to countries such as Brazil and India also becoming stronger, for the first time since the governing African National Congress came to office in 1994, at the end of white rule, the former liberation movement’s interest in promoting a so-called southern axis linking the big emerging nations and Africa shows signs of being matched by economic ­realities.

Although a large chunk of the estimated $7bn that China has invested in South Africa so far is accounted for by the landmark purchase by the Commercial and Industrial Bank of China of a 20 per cent stake in South Africa’s Standard Bank two years ago, there are other signs of increased interest.

Bankers report that Chinese investors might buy stakes in local miners, especially those poorly capitalised junior companies which have been weakened by last year’s slump.

“There is lots of sniffing around. We are getting one or two people through our doors every week,” said one investment banker in Johannesburg.

More broadly, South Africa’s communications and transport infrastructure makes it an attractive location for Chinese companies operating elsewhere in the region.

One big Chinese trading company recently set up a Cape Town subsidiary to service a multimillion dollar housing investment project in Angola.

Observers still believe that the connection will develop relatively slowly. Bankers hint at logistics problems, arguing that companies sometimes have difficulty in getting funds out of China.

China’s drive has already hit political and cultural resistance and there is always a chance this may manifest itself again.

Only three years ago Thabo Mbeki, then the president, warned of the risks of a new colonial relationship, prompting the government to impose temporary quotas on Chinese textile imports in 2007 and 2008.

“They are not always welcomed with open arms,” added the banker.

In the short-term China’s dominant trade position might weaken as Europe recovers. Executives at Kumba, for example, expect sales to China to decline as a proportion of their total next year.

Equally though, there are indications that although cyclical factors are responsible for this year’s acceleration, China’s ties with South Africa can only grow stronger in the longer term.

Source : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2c126ef0-bcde-11de-a7ec-00144feab49a.html

Oct 11th - Call to legalise World Cup sex trade

Fear of spread of HIV infection among football fans sparks demand for registration of South African prostitutes

Tracy McVeigh and Savious Kwinika The Observer, Sunday 11 October 2009

Prostitutes wait at a bar in a plush northern suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug 22, 2002. Photograph: Juda Ngwenya/Reuters

Calls are growing for South Africa to legalise prostitution ahead of next year's football World Cup in an effort to limit HIV infection among millions of fans visiting the country for the tournament.

A leading health specialist told the Observer that the World Cup presented a huge risk and said there was an urgent need to start registering prostitutes and screening them for the virus. It is estimated that 50% of the country's sex workers are infected.

Professor Ian Sanne, head of the clinical HIV research unit at Johannesburg's Witwatersrand University, said the party atmosphere being touted by the football authorities, travel companies and the South African government was a green light to alcohol abuse and promiscuity among fans next summer.

Around 3.2 million tickets will be sold for the matches. A million will go to South African residents, with the rest split between international fans and sponsors. Twenty thousand England fans are expected to head for South Africa, where those without tickets will be catered for with huge screens and temporary bars across the country.

Sanne said not only would the visitors be at risk, but young South Africans and the sex workers too, opening the way for the virus to spread at a dramatically increased rate.

"HIV/Aids is a problem globally and there is a great need to encourage and enforce better health and responsibility, especially to the young South Africans who could be at risk during the World Cup," he said.

He called for legal frameworks to regulate the practice of sex workers rather than discriminate against them.

"Interim legalisation of prostitution would be best for the country, rather than leaving it uncontrolled," he said. "Sex workers need to register with a board that will regulate their practice and give certification to practise, but they have to go through a mandatory HIV testing process first, and only those who test negative will be allowed to practise."

South Africa is the centre of the global HIV epidemic, with more than five million adults infected. An estimated one in two of working prostitutes is living with the virus and the lack of medication led to a quarter of a million people dying of Aids-related illnesses there last year. The antiretroviral medication that helps prevent HIV developing into full-blown Aids is being taken by fewer than 30% of those infected.

Infection rates among women aged 15 to 24 declined slightly from 22.1% in 2007 to 21.7% in 2008, but among women in the 30 to 34 age group, the infection rate was 40.4% in 2008.

But while Sanne said authorities should use the World Cup as a platform to raise awareness on the need for testing, Aids/HIV campaigners responded furiously that it would take concern for foreigners rather than its own citizens to make the South African government act.

"The clear way forward to help tackle the tens of thousands of women forced into prostitution through poverty is to legalise it now, not to make it a temporary measure for the World Cup," said Vuyiseka Dubula of the Treatment Action Campaign.

"We need prostitution decriminalised now so we can start to help these women, many of whom have been abused and brutalised from a young age."

Former South African police commissioner Jackie Selebi, now suspended over corruption allegations, caused widespread dismay when he first suggested legalising prostitution and public drinking for the duration of the World Cup, arguing that it would free his officers to deal with security, but the issue is hugely contentious in a country where the sex trade is regarded as immoral and unacceptable.

A spokesman for the FA said: "They [English fans] will all be issued with guidance along with their tickets and we are working now on how best to communicate the dos and don'ts in South Africa to people. But the FA can't be responsible for all the English people travelling to South Africa next summer."

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/11/legalise-world-cup-sex-trade

Oct 9th - French firm wins bidding war for Gandhi house

India disappointed as French tourism firm Voyageurs du Monde buys former home of Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa

David Smith in Johannesburg guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 October 2009 14.22 BST

Inside the house in South Africa where Gandhi lived for three years Photograph: Greg Marinovich

A former home of Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa has been bought by a French tourism company, causing bitter disappointment in his birthplace, India.

The Kraal, in a quiet suburb of Johannesburg, was home to Gandhi for three years when he was a young lawyer formulating his philosophy of non-violent resistance.

Its owners of 28 years, Jarrod and Nancy Ball, struggled to attract interest in the property until its availability was reported in a South African newspaper, sparking a worldwide bidding war.

Voyageurs du Monde is believed to have paid in the region of $500,000 (£315,000) for the house. It plans to turn it into a Gandhi museum "in line with its philosophy of investing in heritage properties worldwide".

The Indian government expressed disappointment and said it was not giving up on the house. Sriprakash Jaiswal, the coal minister, was quoted as saying: "The matter concerns national sentiment and I will leave no stone unturned to acquire the historic property and declare it a national monument."

The Balls, who are moving to Cape Town, said they chose Voyageurs du Monde because of its commitment to preserving the rich heritage of the thatched-roof rondavel-style house.

Nancy Ball, a US-born artist, said: "I know India has responded not too happily but we think it went to the right people and we're delighted. One of our end-use conditions was that something be done to protect the heritage."

She said they had been "more than surprised" by the global interest. "It was kind of mindboggling, especially as we had been trying to sell it for more than a year. All of a sudden the time was just right."

Ball said they received four firm bids, and declined to reveal the final sale price. "It will be hard to say goodbye but I'm very much at peace with the next custodian of this property and that's the best way to look at it."

Gandhi lived in South Africa for 21 years, working as a lawyer and activist who fought for the right of Indians in the country to be treated as citizens. He said in his autobiography that he would "always be a South African Indian".

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/09/mahatma-gandhi-south-africa-house

Oct 5th - Why do South Africans hate Nigerians?

An acclaimed Nigerian novelist on the difficult relationship between the two African nations

Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieThe Guardian, Monday 5 October 2009

District 9 Photograph: Sony Pics/Everett / Rex Features

Last week it was reported that Nigerian officials were trying to ban District 9 – a science fiction film set in South Africa, but in which the biggest baddies are Nigerian – from being shown in the country's cinemas. The row highlights old tensions between South Africa and Nigeria, writes the Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Some years ago, on a visit to Durban, a woman at a roadside market spoke to me in Zulu. I had romanticised ideas of Shaka Zulu's brave battles in my head and was pleased to be mistaken for Zulu but I had to explain why I could not respond. "I'm Nigerian," I said. Her face fell. And the possibility of friendship, it seemed to me, disappeared. I would learn later that Nigerians were generally thought of as fraudsters, drug dealers and cheats, that Nigerian men were "taking away" South African women, that Nigerian immigrants were "worse" than Zimbabweans and Malawis and Mozambiquens.

But South Africa continues to draw Nigerians. Because it is not as recognisably "African" in its infrastructure and opportunities, it ranks much higher than the rest of sub-Saharan Africa on the scale of cool. Wealthy Nigerians own property there. Companies shoot commercials there. Young men in my hometown dream of going to find jobs in what they call "SA". South Africa represents a kind of "doable" ambition, steps below Europe and the US, but still the sort of place that impresses your village relatives when you come back home at Christmas.

There are obviously Nigerians involved in drugs and fraud in South Africa, just as there are many more doing honest work, but for the estimated 1.5 million Nigerians who now live in South Africa, to be Nigerian is to walk under a cloud of negative stereotypes. The reasons are economic and historical. A system as viciously brutal as apartheid will, it seems to me, take at least as long to undo as it lasted.

South Africans and Nigerians (and indeed other African immigrant groups) have simply not had the time or the neutral space to grow an organic understanding of each other. The Nigerians arrive with their different, more distant colonial experience, with their mercantile spirit, with none of the conditioning of the South African menial wage-earning experience and – yes – with that swagger. They arrive in a vulnerable country where the legacy of institutional exclusion still thrives. They create spaces for themselves in whatever way they can and, of course, they arouse resentment.

And these are people who, like me, grew up in a Nigeria that was fiercely anti-apartheid. We all sang Free Mandela. In primary school, we collected money to free the brothers in South Africa. Perhaps this is the reason I found South Africa a disconcerting place to visit, in the end. I felt incapable of truly understanding it, ill-equipped to grasp meaning and nuance, in a way that I have not experienced anywhere else in sub-Saharan Africa. It cracked my pan-African idealism.

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/05/chimamanda-gozi-dichie-nigeria-south-africa

Sept 28th - Bharti, MTN Near Compromise

By AMOL SHARMA

Indian and South African officials were working toward a compromise that would allow a $24 billion deal between two of their nation's cellphone giants to proceed, people familiar with the situation said.

India's Bharti Airtel Ltd. and South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. have essentially agreed on an arrangement in which each would take a large stake in the other and eventually merge to create the world's third-largest wireless operator by subscribers. But the deal is now largely in the hands of political negotiators as a Wednesday deadline for exclusive discussions between the parties nears.

Reuters

Bharti Airtel and MTN face similar challenges as they try to squeeze profits out of users who pay on average just a few dollars per month for service. Above, a mobile phone customer in India this month.

South African Treasury officials visited their Indian counterparts late last week to press for a structure that would allow the companies to maintain separate sets of shareholders and still combine cash flows and operations, rather than a traditional merger, the people familiar with the situation say. But such a "dual-listing" structure would require significant changes to Indian corporate law, which wouldn't happen quickly.

The countries' negotiators are close to reaching a compromise in which the companies could complete and announce their initial stake-swap deal in the near term while leaving the negotiations over a dual-listing structure for later, the people said.

MTN and South Africa would want a firm commitment from India that the country plans to make any necessary legal changes down the road to ensure the two companies can formally join forces, the people said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh that he supports the deal. A spokesman for India's Finance Ministry had no immediate comment.

Bharti and MTN declined to comment on the status of the deal negotiations. The companies have already twice extended their talks, and it is possible they could do so for a third time, the people familiar with the situation said. Regulators in both countries would have to approve any deal.

A combined Bharti-MTN would have more than $20 billion in revenue and over 200 million customers, making it the third-largest wireless operator in the world behind China Mobile and the U.K.'s Vodafone Group PLC. The companies are each growing rapidly -- adding millions of new customers per quarter -- and face similar challenges as they try to squeeze profits out of users who pay just a few dollars per month for service, on average.

India's securities regulator last week dealt what seemed like a significant blow to the Bharti-MTN deal when it announced rule changes that would require companies purchasing more than 15% of an Indian firm -- whether through direct shares or global depositary receipts -- to make an open offer for an additional 20%.

The original deal the companies agreed to, which would give MTN shareholders a 36% interest in Bharti, would trigger that regulation. But the people familiar with the situation said the companies have found ways to restructure the transaction so MTN won't be required to purchase a larger stake.

Bharti is also likely to assuage South African concerns about retaining the national character of MTN after a merger by agreeing to keep top MTN management, including Chief Executive P.F. Nhleko, on board, the people said.

South Africa has shown it is open to large cross border deals. Earlier this year, the U.K.'s Vodafone took a controlling stake in Vodacom, another large South African wireless carrier. But having sanctioned the sale of one national champion to a foreign buyer, South African officials are sensitive about another one in the same sector changing hands, the people familiar with the discussions say.

—Robb Stewart contributed to this article.

Write to Amol Sharma at amol.sharma@wsj.com

ma@wsj.com

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page B3

Source : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125407120709044251.html