"This thing of rape," said Colonel Edmond Ngarambe, shifting uneasily on his wooden bench high in the mountains of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, "I can’t deny that happens. We are human beings. But it’s not just us. The Mai Mai, the government soldiers who are not paid, the Rastas do the same thing.
‘Riddled with corruption’
Widespread corruption and mismanagement are revealed in a confidential presidential audit in Sierra Leone exclusively obtained by the BBC. Newly-elected President Ernest Bai Koroma commissioned the report. It catalogues grave inadequacies in key areas such as health care, tax collection and the security services. And it provides a unique and searingly frank insight into the
Russia to explore Namibian oil
A Russian oil drilling company, Sintezneftgaz, is expected to start drilling for oil in Block 1711 in the Namibe Basin early next year. In an interview yesterday, Oil Commissioner, Immanuel Mulunga, said Sintezneftgaz is expected to start drilling in the first quarter of next year. This will be the sixteenth oil well to be drilled
ANC Gauteng Branches Opt for Zuma
THE majority of African National Congress (ANC) Gauteng branches have come out in support of Jacob Zuma in the party’s leadership race set to come to a head at its conference in 34 days. In Johannesburg, Gauteng’s most influential region, not a single branch voted in favour of President Thabo Mbeki’s bid for a third
Brain drain cannot be reversed
South Africa’s skills shortage has reached calamitous proportions, and the belief that expatriates will come home to reverse the situation is an illusion, a recruitment expert told a labour conference in Midrand. Gusti Coetzer, of Leaders Unlimited, said there was a world-wide shortage of talented people and South African recruiters were "fishing in the same
Grootste kragsentrale kom
Die Franse maatskappy Alstom het pas ‘n kontrak van meer as 1,4 miljard euro losgeslaan om ‘n nuwe steenkoolkragsentrale in Suid-Afrika op te rig. Die ses nuwe turbines/alternators sal elektrisiteit aan Eskom voorsien.
Dié beplande sentrale kom twintig jaar nadat iets soortgelyks laas opgerig is. Dit sal die grootste sentrale wees wat nog ooit in die land gebou is, as dit eers staan. Alstom het die projek vandag in ‘n persverklaring bekend gemaak.
Die Franse maatskappy Alstom het pas ‘n kontrak van meer as 1,4 miljard euro losgeslaan om ‘n nuwe steenkoolkragsentrale in Suid-Afrika op te rig. Die ses nuwe turbines/alternators sal elektrisiteit aan Eskom voorsien.
Dié beplande sentrale kom twintig jaar nadat iets soortgelyks laas opgerig is. Dit sal die grootste sentrale wees wat nog ooit in die land gebou is, as dit eers staan. Alstom het die projek vandag in ‘n persverklaring bekend gemaak.
Barclays bankrolling Zimbabwe
Controversy has brewed once again for the British Barclays Bank over its alleged bankrolling of the Mugabe regime. This time the bank is accused of providing loans to Robert Mugabe’s land owning Ministers, to ‘improve productivity in agriculture,’ despite the fact that the farms were taken illegally and violently. The revelations come only months after
Officials divert billions from education
AN estimated Shs16 billion released annually by the Ministry of Finance to run the Universal Primary Education programme is diverted by district authorities, a new report sanctioned by the Ministry of Education reveals. The report titled; ‘Efficiency of Public Education in Uganda’ attempts to answer queries about "how much leakage there is between the release
SAUK moet sy swak Afrikaans staak
Ons het almal waardering vir Riaan Cruywagen se professionele aanbieding van die Afrikaanse TV-nuus. Hy verteenwoordig egter die spreekwoordelike swaeltjie wat nie somer maak nie.
So pas het Cruywagen ‘n toekenning van Stellenbosse studente ontvang vir sy bydrae tot Afrikaans in die media. Maar in sy polities korrekte reaksie daarop poog Cruywagen nou om die agterlosige foute, swak uitspraak en intonasie van sy kollegas op taalkundige gronde te verskoon, as sou dit “variante van Afrikaans” wees. Kim “Kloetie” (in Afrikaans sê ons gewoon Cloete) en haar trawante op die TV-nuus is nie by magte om in Afrikaans verslag te doen nie.
Ons het almal waardering vir Riaan Cruywagen se professionele aanbieding van die Afrikaanse TV-nuus. Hy verteenwoordig egter die spreekwoordelike swaeltjie wat nie somer maak nie.
So pas het Cruywagen ‘n toekenning van Stellenbosse studente ontvang vir sy bydrae tot Afrikaans in die media. Maar in sy polities korrekte reaksie daarop poog Cruywagen nou om die agterlosige foute, swak uitspraak en intonasie van sy kollegas op taalkundige gronde te verskoon, as sou dit “variante van Afrikaans” wees. Kim “Kloetie” (in Afrikaans sê ons gewoon Cloete) en haar trawante op die TV-nuus is nie by magte om in Afrikaans verslag te doen nie.
Postapartheid Pretoria
Last September, not long after the Israeli-Hezbollah war, South Africa’s minister of intelligence, Ronnie Kasrils, praised the Islamist group committed to Israel’s destruction. The Iran News Agency, albeit prone to exaggeration, reported that Mr. Kasrils "lauded [the] great victories of the Lebanese Hezbollah against the Zionist forces" and "stressed that the successful Lebanese resistance proved