South Africa

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S. African Crew Held in $360K Coke Haul

11 pounds of the drug discovered in suitcase

(Newser) - A South African Airways crew was arrested at Heathrow Airport yesterday after officials found almost $360,000 worth of cocaine on their plane, the BBC reports. Officers seized some 11 pounds of the drug from a suitcase stowed aboard the flight from Johannesburg. The 15 crew members, now in custody,...

Qaddafi Named Chairman of African Union

Libyan leader vows to pursue plan for 'United States of Africa'

(Newser) - Muammar Qaddafi vowed to pursue his dream of creating a united, pan-African government after being named chairman of the African Union today, Reuters reports. Elected by African heads of state for a 1-year term, the Libyan leader said the organization must consider his proposal for a “United States of...

Court Reinstates Corruption Case Against Zuma

Ahead of vote, would-be S. African prez faces 16 counts of fraud

(Newser) - Jacob Zuma, the leader of the African National Congress and the likely next president of South Africa, once again faces corruption charges after the country's top appeals court reinstated 16 counts of fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion today. The court reversed a bombshell ruling from last September that threw...

South Africa's Jacob Zuma to Marry 3rd Wife

Wedding bells yet again for polygamous president-to-be

(Newser) - Jacob Zuma, the leader of the African National Congress and presumed next president of South Africa, is preparing to marry for a fifth time, reports the Telegraph. Zuma has never hidden his polygamous status, which is traditional for elite Zulus, and his new bride will be his third simultaneous spouse....

Anti-Apartheid Crusader Suzman Dead
Anti-Apartheid Crusader Suzman Dead
Obituary
Jan 1, 2009 1:26 PM CST

Anti-Apartheid Crusader Suzman Dead

Was one of few white South African pols to denounce segregation

(Newser) - Anti-apartheid icon Helen Suzman has died peacefully in her Johannesburg home, her daughter announced today. She was 91. Suzman served in South Africa’s parliament at a time when few whites criticized apartheid, and for 13 years was the only legislator to publicly do so. She was twice nominated for...

ANC Defectors Launch New South African Party

Congress of the People aims to be 'non-racial' in still-divided nation

(Newser) - A former defense minister is the first head of a new South African political party made up mainly of defectors from the African National Congress, the party of Nelson Mandela, the BBC reports. Called Congress of the People, or COPE, the movement spearheaded by Mosiuoa Lekota formed around dissatisfaction with...

Mugabe: Cholera Outbreak Has Been 'Arrested'

But 16,000 cases of disease contradict Zimbabwe's president

(Newser) - As the cholera epidemic worsened in Zimbabwe, with more than 16,000 people infected and thousands trying to flee to South Africa, Robert Mugabe said today that the disease had been "arrested." The president used a television appearance to lash out at a supposed western invasion of...

Carter: Zimbabwe Conditions 'Horrifying'

Humanitarian crisis getting worse because of stubborn Mugabe

(Newser) - Jimmy Carter and his group of international peacemakers have been barred from entering Zimbabwe, but reports of conditions there are “horrifying,” the former president tells NPR. Mugabe’s “campaign of oppression” has frustrated attempts to deal with a spreading cholera outbreak. “Mugabe had made every effort,...

Africa Must Oust Mugabe: Kenyan PM

Power-sharing isn't working in Zimbabwe, Odinga says

(Newser) - Zimbabwe’s unity government is a sham, and the only way to break the deadlock is to force President Robert Mugabe to resign, Kenya’s prime minister said today. “Power-sharing will not work with a dictator who does not really believe in power-sharing,” Raila Odinga told the BBC....

Mbeki AIDS Denial Killed 365K in South Africa

Study blames Mbeki for keeping antiretrovirals from citizens

(Newser) - South Africa's failure to provide antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients has cost 365,000 lives,  a new Harvard study finds. The report places the blame for the deaths with ousted president Thabo Mbeki, whose denial of AIDS' viral cause led Africa's richest country to ignore its sick citizens while...

Singer Makeba Dies After Concert

MIriam Makeba collapses as she exits stage in Italy

(Newser) - The South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba, known to many as “Mama Africa,” died today of an apparent heart attack, the New York Times reports. Makeba, who was 76, was exiled from South Africa in 1960. Her music was also banned from her home country in 1976...

S. Africa's Ruling Party Splits

Historic convention heralds birth of new party

(Newser) - The African National Congress has run South Africa essentially unchallenged since the fall of apartheid, but that may have changed forever this weekend as 6,400 delegates gathered to celebrate the birth of a new opposition party. A chunk of lawmakers loyal to Thabo Mbeki is breaking way from the...

Namibia's Ivory Sale Raises Poaching Fears

Legal auction could lead to more poaching

(Newser) - Namibia kicked off two weeks of ivory auctions yesterday, marking the first time in almost a decade that the elephant tusks have sold legally, reports the Times of London. Seven tons brought $1.18 million from Chinese and Japanese buyers, and 108 tons—the equivalent of 10,000 elephants—will...

Princes Go Off-Road For Charity

1,000 mile South African trek will raise money for children's charities

(Newser) - Dapper duo Prince Harry and Prince William are setting off on a South African off-road motorbike ride to benefit charity, the BBC reports. The 1,000-mile trek is expected to raise about $450,000 for three charities, including Harry’s Sentebale, which focuses on children with AIDS in Lesotho. The...

Schism Brewing in South Africa's Ruling Party

Angry Mbeki loyalists planning to break from ANC

(Newser) - Thabo Mbeki’s top officials are planning to break away from the party that deposed him, the Guardian reports. Mosiuoa Lekota, who spent nearly a decade as Mbeki’s defense minister, today announced a conference that he sees as a step on the path to “divorce” from the African...

Turmoil Can't Douse Zimbabwe's Hope
 Turmoil Can't Douse 
 Zimbabwe's Hope 
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2008 3:05 PM CDT

Turmoil Can't Douse Zimbabwe's Hope

Author cheered by 'thriving currency' of home

(Newser) - Since June's election, Zimbabwe's economy has been in crisis. Store shelves are empty and inflation is out of control. Robert Mugabe remains in power. So why would anyone want to stay? The answer isn't easy, but it's simple, Kate Chambers writes in the Christian Science Monitor. "I like living...

Interim Prez Takes Reins in South Africa

Motlanthe viewed as able to ease tensions within ruling party

(Newser) - Kgalema Motlanthe was sworn in as South Africa’s caretaker president today after winning three-quarters of a parliamentary ballot, the BBC reports. The left-leaning intellectual is seen as someone who can ease rifts between supporters of Jacob Zuma, head of the African National Congress party head, and former President Thabo...

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...

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