South Africa

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South Africa in Crisis as Cabinet Walks Out With Mbeki

After Mbeki's ouster, 10 resignations could trouble economy

(Newser) - Most of South Africa's cabinet, including the powerful and respected finance minister, resigned today following the ouster of President Thabo Mbeki over the weekend. The walkout could be a devastating blow to the economic stability of Africa's most powerful nation, and to the new administration expected to take over on...

Zuma Loyalist Will Become South African President

Motlanthe will serve as caretaker ahead of 2009 elections

(Newser) - The African National Congress has chosen Kgalema Motlanthe, a moderate intellectual and the ruling party's No. 2, to be South Africa's caretaker president, Reuters reports. He will fill the job vacated by Thabo Mbeki, who resigned this weekend after the party demanded he step down. Motlanthe is a loyalist of...

Mbeki Leaves Mixed Legacy
 Mbeki Leaves 
 Mixed Legacy 
Analysis
Sep 20, 2008 4:55 PM CDT

Mbeki Leaves Mixed Legacy

How aloof leader will be remembered

(Newser) - Thabo Mbeki could never be as beloved as Nelson Mandela, so he didn’t try, writes Mark Tran in the Guardian. Instead, Mbeki projected himself as a competent technocrat: cool, aloof, almost disdainful of popular opinion. He leaves behind a legacy as inscrutable as that persona, with clear victories, like...

Mbeki Will Resign in S. Africa
 Mbeki Will Resign in S. Africa 
Sep 20, 2008 9:03 AM CDT

Mbeki Will Resign in S. Africa

President agrees to resign in wake of struggle with Jacob Zuma

(Newser) - South African President Thabo Mbeki has agreed to resign following orders from the ruling party. A statement from the presidency says that Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela in 1999, will "step down after all constitutional requirements have been met." Parliament is due to meet in the coming days...

South Africa's President May Be Ousted in Party Revolt

ANC meets as leaders plan to kick Mbeki out of office

(Newser) - The leaders of the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, are meeting today to debate whether to force Thabo Mbeki to resign. The country's president has been under fire since a court ruled that the prosecution of Jacob Zuma, Mbeki's archrival and the head of the ANC, was politically...

S. African Court Throws Out Zuma Graft Case

Ruling clears way for leader to become president

(Newser) - A South African court has thrown out a corruption case against Jacob Zuma, effectively clearing the way for him to become president next year. The judge ruled that the charges—including 12 counts of fraud, four of corruption, and one each of racketeering and money laundering—were invalid because he...

Zimbabwe Rivals Strike Deal
 Zimbabwe Rivals Strike Deal  
Sep 11, 2008 10:35 PM CDT

Zimbabwe Rivals Strike Deal

But details won't be out until next week

(Newser) - Zimbabwe's rival factions have reached a power-sharing agreement to end Robert Mugabe's 28-year monopoly on power, the Independent reports. Details, however, won't be spelled out until Monday, leading some Western analysts to reserve celebration. In broad strokes, however, Mugabe will share power with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who will be...

Pistorius Wins Paralympic Gold

South African who sued for right to compete in Olympics takes 100 meters; more to come

(Newser) - One gold medal down and two to go for sprinter Oscar Pistorius at the Beijing Paralympics. Despite a slow start on a wet track, the South African won the most difficult of his three races, taking gold today in the 100 meters in 11.17 seconds. Jerome Singleton was second...

Crash Kills 4 Carter Relatives
 Crash Kills 4 Carter Relatives 
Aug 22, 2008 7:35 PM CDT

Crash Kills 4 Carter Relatives

(Newser) - Four British relatives of actress Helena Bonham Carter died this week in a safari bus crash, the London Times reports. The minibus punctured a tire and overturned 6 hours outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, killing Carter's cousin Fiona Bonham Carter, 51, and three relatives including Fiona's mother. The Oscar-nominated actress...

Numbers Soaring, S. Africa Mulls Elephant Cull

In 13 years since killing ban, overpopulation posing serious threat

(Newser) - South Africa's 1995 ban on culling elephants has proven wildly successful—perhaps too successful, writes Karen Lange in National Geographic. As the population has skyrocketed from 8,000 to 13,000 in the years since, starving elephants are now ravaging vegetation and taxing the nation's ecosystem, forcing experts to consider...

Freed Tsvangirai Arrives in South Africa

Zimbabwe opposition leader gets passport back, talks to continue

(Newser) - Morgan Tsvangirai has arrived in South Africa today on the eve of a weekend summit with regional leaders expected to focus on Zimbabwe's political crisis, reports the AP. The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change will meet with Thabo Mbeki, the South African president who is mediating power-sharing talks...

Tsvangirai Barred From Mbeki Meet

Opposition leader detained in airport, passport yanked

(Newser) - Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition, was detained at the airport in Harare today and prevented from flying to South Africa. Authorities confiscated his passport, as well as the travel documents of fellow members of the Movement for Democratic Change, before letting him leave. Tsvangirai was to attend a...

Oprah School Matron Pleads Not Guilty

Former dorm matron pleads not guilty

(Newser) - The former dorm matron at Oprah Winfrey’s $40 million Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa pleaded not guilty to abuse charges today, Reuters reports. Virginia Mokgoba, 27, was charged in November with assault, harassment, soliciting a minor to perform indecent acts, and verbal abuse. Testimony from six teenage...

Mandela's Birthday Wish: Help the Poor

South African legend celebrates 90th, calls on rich to do more

(Newser) - Nelson Mandela turned 90 today, and he used the occasion to talk to reporters about the plight of South Africa’s poor, the BBC reports. “If you are poor, you are not likely to live long,” he said. “There are many people in South Africa who are...

Pistorius Misses Last Shot at Beijing

Amputee not selected for relay team

(Newser) - Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius was not chosen today to be on South Africa's Olympic team for Beijing. After failing to qualify for the 400 meters earlier, Pistorius was left off the 1,600-meter relay team, the AP reports. Four other South Africans had faster times, and two others were chosen...

Amputee Racer Fails to Qualify for Olympics

South Africa can still pick him for relay by defying panel

(Newser) - Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius fell short of the 400-meter qualifying time for the Olympics today, though his lifetime best run could yet get him to Beijing in the relay. The 21-year-old South African shrugged off the pre-race distraction of threatening legal action against the IAAF and finished third in his...

Pistorius Fails in 2nd Olympics Bid

South Africa's Pistorius short of qualifying for 400, may have one chance left

(Newser) - Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius missed out in another attempt to qualify for the Olympics today, the AP reports, improving his time in the 400 meters but still falling short of the qualifying time at a meet in Rome. The 21-year-old South African will try again Wednesday in Switzerland, and could...

South Africa Offers Zimbabwe Truce Proposal

Opposition welcomes plan ceding real power to Tsvangirai as PM

(Newser) - South African president Thabo Mbeki has proposed a compromise in Zimbabwe’s political crisis: Let Robert Mugabe remain president in name, but hand power to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as temporary prime minister, the Guardian reports. Members of opposition party Movement for Democratic Change were said to be largely satisfied...

Stubborn Mbeki Denies the Blood on Hands
Stubborn Mbeki Denies  the Blood on Hands
OPINION
Jul 3, 2008 6:45 AM CDT

Stubborn Mbeki Denies the Blood on Hands

From HIV to Zimbabwe, S. African's inaction has cost lives, says Cohen

(Newser) - Five years ago Roger Cohen interviewed Thabo Mbeki in the New York Times, and even then the South African president insisted that Zimbabwe will "get over" its conflicts. So as supposed mediator in Zimbabwe's deepening economic and humanitarian disaster, why has Mbeki still done nothing? An earlier act of...

Mandela Finally Removed From US Terror List

US takes icon off terrorist watch list

(Newser) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela is finally being removed from US terrorism watch lists, CNN reports. The 90-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was designated a terrorist because he battled against the old apartheid regime in South Africa. His name was never officially removed from the US lists until a...

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