Vol 37 No 25 |
- MOZAMBIQUE
A privatised business lobby is challenging the free-marketeers from Washington
Cashew nuts are the kernel of a battle between Mozambiques emerging private sector and the World Bank. Cashews are the countrys second export (after prawns), grown by thousands...
Foreign and local businesses are stepping up pressure on Western donors to resume aid to Frederick Chiluba' s government after the disputed 18 November elections. They say Chiluba'...
ZANU faces factional infighting among would-be successors
to Nkomo and a rash of public service strikes
Two issues dominate the political landscape – the government' s much criticised handling of the doctors' and nurses' strike and who is going to succeed the ailing Joshua...
Vol 37 No 25 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
An important battle looms over policy and tactics
After two and half years of African National Congress rule, the political forces of the left are in disarray. In the face of the government' s determination to...
Vol 37 No 25 |
- MADAGASCAR
Two former presidents face each other again
Two failed ex-presidents will compete in the second round of the presidential election, on 29 December. In the first round on 3 November, only 58 per cent of...
A dubious win, summary arrests, an empty treasury – Chiluba's second term begins
As soon as the elections were over, police went into the offices of Zambia's own election monitors, the leaders of the party that came second went into hiding...
Coca-Cola has been given a taste of the 'real thing' in its two-year bid to open a bottling plant near Luanda: it has been asked to hand nearly...
Vol 37 No 23 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
In its Eastern Cape heartland, many think that the ANC needs to make radical changes
The province that was the cradle of African education, leadership and prosperity has come to be regarded by many as the country's worst governed and administered. Many of...
The elections have been set for 18 November, despite ex-President Kenneth Kaunda's insistence that the United National Independence Party and five other parties will boycott them. The boycotters,...
The ruling MMD's refusal to talk to the opposition may push politics out of control
From 31 October, President Frederick Chiluba's government is into extra time. A head-on political confrontation looms. Supporters of Chiluba's Movement for Multi-party Democracy maintain that they have the...
Zimbabwe's economy is pretty healthy but the party still clings to its culture of secrecy
Even when the news is good, the old leadership of the ruling party cannot resist trying to suppress it. Thanks to rain and reforms, the economy is starting...
The UN is making progress on the military front but can't find a job for the rebel leader
Piece by piece, Angolans and the United Nations are knitting the government and rebel armies together but the critical issue – the future role of Jonas Savimbi –...
The President seems to want five more years, despite what the constitution says
President Sam Nujoma seems unhappy about the rule that he must hand over to a successor at the turn of the century. His democratic credentials have not been...
Vol 37 No 18 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
President Mandela wants to strengthen the party before he hands over to Thabo Mbeki
The post-Mandela African National Congress is beginning to take shape, amid jostling between competing factions. President Nelson Mandela wants a 'broad-church' leadership. The party hierarchy lobbies for its...
Vol 37 No 18 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Speculators talking down the economy have helped create some bargain investments
South Africa's mood swings wildly and so do its financial markets. Less than a year ago, equity and bond markets were booming and the rand exchange rate was...
Vol 37 No 17 |
- MOZAMBIQUE
Frelimo ministers seem keen to sell the land that feeds the people, often to themselves
The great southern African land rush is on. President Joaquim Chissano's government is almost half-way towards its target of selling concessions for some 20 million hectares of arable...
Namibia is looking eastward and Malaysia is its new friend. In late July, President Sam Nujoma visited Kuala Lumpur, where he announced 'large investments' by Malaysian companies in...
Vol 37 No 16 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The ANC's new capitalist faith is announced in a smart brochure: bankers question the figures while unions question the policies
Unveiled in the swish French resort of Cannes, launched in London as part of President Nelson Mandela's quasi-regal tour, the new economic policy of the African National Congress...
Vol 37 No 16 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
White Zulus now mastermind Inkatha's tactics but their ultimate aims remain unclear
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi is still the boss. But his management of the Inkatha Freedom Party's closed-door congress in Ulundi on 27-28 July placed him more tightly on the...
Vol 37 No 16 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Like Mandela and Mugabe, Masire has to settle the succession issue
On the face of it, Sir Ketumile Masire's Presidency has been a roaring success. For 16 years, he has run one of Africa's most stable and prosperous countries....
President Muluzi's coalition has broken up and so have the rival parties
Car crashes, corruption and conspiracies: President Bakili Muluzi's brave new Malawi looks too much like Kamuzu Hastings Banda's old one. Conspiracy theorists rarely allow politicians to die in...
Vol 37 No 15 |
- MOZAMBIQUE
A row over public holidays is being exploited by politicians and religious leaders
A bitter religious controversy has erupted as Mozambique's newly assertive Muslims flex their political muscles. President Joachim Chissano appears to be trying to delay signing a bill, passed...
Vol 37 No 14 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Disappointed by its showing in the local elections, Inkatha has to decide whether it has a future as a national opposition party
The failure of the Inkatha Freedom Party to extend its reach much beyond the rural Zulu constituencies in the latest round of local elections presents leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi...
Vol 37 No 14 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Some of the blame for Inkatha's weaker showing in the local elections is being laid at the door of the numerous 'white Zulus' who have attached themselves to...
Not everyone welcomed the new job they were offered in June's government reshuffle (AC Vol 37 No 12) by President José Eduardo dos Santos. João Baptista...
President Chiluba faces opposition of two kinds: from Western donors and from his predecessor
Zambians are the clear losers in the three-cornered fight between President Frederick Chiluba, his predecessor Kenneth Kaunda and Western donors ahead of October's elections. Donors froze aid at...
Vol 37 No 13 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Leftists and rightists are joining forces to attack two ANC ministers who refuse to go
Two public attacks on African National Congress ministers have pushed the government onto the defensive and raised serious questions about its accountability. Much of the force behind the...
The monarch is trying to manage change before it moves too fast for him and his court
The Royal Cattle Byre at Ludzidzini had never seen anything like it. On the sacred site where the kings of Swaziland have since time immemorial listened to their...
Vol 37 No 13 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The African National Congress and Inkatha Freedom Party face a close-run race in kwaZulu- Natal. Earlier this year, the ANC was accusing both the IFP (AC Vol 37...
The ailing president has sacked all his ministers and seems to be travelling in a different direction from his party
President José Eduardo dos Santos' sacking of Prime Minister Marcolino Moco and his cabinet on 3 June is a belated attempt to rally his troops before they...
Vol 37 No 11 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The National Party's departure from the government leaves Inkatha hanging loose
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi greeted the National Party's walkout from government on 9 May with the remark that he wouldn't like to 'take a cue' from the NP. During...
Mugabe's reshuffle marked a more open style but it didn't promote a new generation
At long last, Zimbabwe has a minister in charge of its economy. The most significant name at President Robert Gabriel Mugabe's two-hour press conference on 9 May, when...
On 7 May, four senior Cabinet ministers were sacked. A week later, two others resigned; more are expected to go soon. A squabble at the annual conference of...
Vol 37 No 9 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The ANC's negotiating star is going into business but not to give up politics for good
Trades union leader, constitutional negotiator, fisherman, devout Christian and now corporate chief, Cyril Ramaphosa looks like the African National Congress' Renaissance man. He was the most plausible alternative...
Vol 37 No 9 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Two years after it lost power, the National Party seems to have lost its credibility too
The National Party spent ten million Rand (US$2.27 mn.) on its relaunch in February. The main results were more defections and derision from the African National Congress. The...
Politburo member Solomon Mujuru (once army commander 'Rex Nhongo') is suing Horizon magazine for Z$250,000 for questioning his accumulation of farms, supermarkets and hotels. His evidence details how...
Pretoria's relations with Washington and London are being tested again, this time over the bizarre case of a British arms dealer held in South Africa. Paul Grecian was...
Vol 37 No 7 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Foreign money is flooding in but Finance Minister Chris Liebenberg's low risk strategy is yet to cut unemployment
There are two sets of statistics on South Africa's economy. One tells an economic story only marginally less miraculous than that of the political transition: foreigners investing a...
The mountain kingdom has to forge a new relationship with South Africa
As politicians and soldiers in Maseru snipe (sometimes literally) at each other, they are unable to tackle the biggest issue in the kingdom: its relationship with South Africa....
Vol 37 No 6 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
New diplomats and some new policies may help Pretoria's lack-lustre diplomacy
A much praised political transition, a President of unimpeachable moral authority, and a core of skilled and experienced diplomats should have given South Africa a dynamic foreign policy....
Mixing privatisation and public policy in food supply is a recipe for scandal and high prices
Scams, scandals, sackings and rumours of starvation surround the Grain Marketing Board's transition from public control to the arena of market forces. General Manager Renson Gasela was put...
Nothing is sacrosanct as Lonrho chairman Dieter Bock unsentimentally cuts the conglomerate down to size. In Zimbabwe the disposals have included major ranchlands, Lonrho House headquarters, the Northchart...
Vol 37 No 5 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The ANC wants the new constitution to remake society but the minority parties fear more social engineering
Bouncing from crisis to breakthrough and back again, the constitution-making negotiations are running true to South African form. Doubts are growing about the schedule to finalise the new...
Vol 37 No 5 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
The government's key members are as follows.
All ministers are ANC unless otherwise indicated
Vol 37 No 5 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Changes in the hierarchy aim to calm foreign nerves about the economy and the sucession
The emergence of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki as a super-minister coordinating economic and development policy strengthens his personal position and points to government concern about the slow pace...
South Africa's victories help heal old wounds and highlight Africa's soccer skills
It was a political as much as a sporting triumph when South Africa’s national team, Bafana Bafana (‘The boys, the boys’) stormed through to the African Cup of...
Bandits and corrupt politicians are more of a threat than guerrillas
From outside looking in, Mozambique seems a triumph of conflict resolution and reconciliation. A newly arrived diplomat like Britain's High Commissioner Bernard Everett can claim that trade, not...
The old guard's time is almost over but nobody knows who will clear up after them
Nobody doubts that President Robert Mugabe will win a fresh six-year term of office at the presidential election on 16-17 March. The real question is how much of...
A feudal regime is finding it hard to survive to the big new democracy next door
Swaziland is now the only country in Southern Africa in which political parties are now banned. The People's United Democratic Party, the main opposition movement, is therefore illegal....
The omens are not good for Crown Prince Letsie David Mohato's second coming to the Basotho throne. His first reign started an effective coup when he dissolved the...
Vol 37 No 2 |
- SOUTH AFRICA
Mysterious deaths and tapped telephones raise questions about the security services
Who bugged the telephones of South Africa's top policemen, and why? Some of the country's security operatives want to find out, others to keep it quiet. National Police...
A group of armed dissidents in the Manica region offer a helpful diversion to Harare
Reports that armed Zimbabwean dissidents are operating in Mozambique are being taken seriously by the authorities in Harare and Maputo. Both governments seems to lack reliable information about...
The MPLA government hopes to sort out Cabinda's future by the year 2000. Perhaps
Worried that instability in Cabinda could divert resources from its confrontation and negotiations with Jonas Savimbi's rebels, the Luanda government has spent several months trying to make diplomatic...