Despite the fact that South African farmers produced high yielding maize crops this year, a confluence of global factors means that this staple food for millions of South Africans may be unavailable or prohibitively expensive for the foreseeable future. The poor, of course, will be the hardest hit: They rely the most on the crop and are […]
Crises tend to escalate quickly in South Africa. Just weeks ago there were precious few South Africans who could have identified John Hlophe, the Cape Judge President. Now he is at the center of a row over his alleged involvement in the ongoing arms scandal that some are calling “the greatest showdown in South Africa's […]
In its Daily News Brief today the Council on Foreign Relations has placed the Zimbabwe crisis at the “Top of the Agenda.” CFR provides lots of links about the ongoing crisis. UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan also posts about Zim today, with a handful of links, including to some powerful pictures.
Responses to the escalating crisis in Zimbabwe have accelerated, especially after Morgan Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the campaign today. Here is a roundup: Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos has sent a message to Mugabe asking him to make sure the election is free and fair and to eliminate the violence besieging his country. Zim's independent […]
Morgan Tsvangirai, the Movement for Democratic Change leader who has challenged Robert Mugabe has withdrawn from the runoff election. Tsvangirai, who is widely believed to have won the 29 March elections, and who would likely have won in the 27 June runoff were they free and fair, has cited the widespread violence aimed at MDC supporters […]
This week The Washington Post “Book World” profiles Africanist Alex de Waal, who contributes a piece in Book World's “The Writing Life” feature. De Waal is best known for his work on the Sudan and the Darfur crisis. I met de Waal at this year's Sudan Studies Association meeting. He has a fierce intellect and an […]
Talk about taking with one hand and giving with the other! Even as the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) seeks a way to have corruption charges against Jacob Zuma disappear and go over the top in their willingness to support him, the organization's leaders have also made clear that if Zuma disappoints, the ANCYL will have […]
South Africa's coasts have been battered with storms on both the Indian Ocean and Atlantic sides. Severe flooding has beset the coastal regions of the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Naturally the most vulnerable populations, the poor, those living in informal settlements, have been hit the worst. Cleanup has begun in KwaZulu-Natal, though the process will […]
Some of the latest developments from Zimbabwe can easily be expressed in shorthand: Mass arrests. Torturing people to death. Shooting and killing members of the opposition. Police, who are allowed to vote early, are forced to cast their votes for the ruling party. And then, because no story on modern-day Zimbabwe is complete without an […]
I am no supporter of President George W. Bush. I voted against him twice and would vote against him again if given the chance. I believe that he has done irreparable harm to the United States and to the world and that he has left a mess that future generations will have to clean up. […]
This is Zimbabwe has a map revealing the extent of terror in Zim: Each icon represents a single case of violence; the pin colours identify the perpetrator groups involved in the incident. Over 1,000 cases of political violence and intimidation, carried out after the March 29th elections, are represented on this map.
It may be one of the more bizarre stories from Africa, a continent familiar with bizarre stories. In 2004 there was an attempted coup in West Africa's oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. In Africa, alas, coups are not weird. especially when they come against autocrats such as President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled since 1979 […]
Is President Mugabe beginning to feel the increasing pressure from the outside? There is some indication that Mugabe's overheated rhetoric of late comes at least in part because of increased scrutiny of his country from regional leaders. Thus his threat to go to war if he loses the run-off and his warnings that people will […]
Royal Dutch Shell has temporarily halted production at its biggest offshore oilfield, the Bonga installation, in Nigeria. The stoppage comes in response to an attack from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). Nigeria might represent the quintessential example of the so-called oil or resource curse. By all rights Nigeria ought to […]
At H-SAfrica, the scholarly listserv on southern Africa, editor Peter Limb notes that there appears to be traction on the part of regional leaders becoming more vocal in their criticism of Robert Mugabe and his regime: There certainly are signs of stronger views from Africa leaders: In Kenya, PM Raila Odinga says the run-off is […]