A summary on communism's influence on the Republic of South Africa's current government.Click here to download the first draft in PDF format.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Are communists running the country?
A summary on communism's influence on the Republic of South Africa's current government.Click here to download the first draft in PDF format.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
And the Oscar goes to...
Zuma trial: More sordid details
09/03/2006 11:59 - (SA)
Johannesburg - An ANC court docked six months pay off two men who had sex with Jacob Zuma's rape accuser - not because the court found she had been raped, but because she was a child.
The Johannesburg High Court heard on Thursday that one of the men to this day denies he had sex with her when she was in her early teens and feels he was dealt "rough justice".
These details emerged from a draft of an autobiography that the defence handed in as evidence, to the shock of the woman, at the start of the trial.
The woman insists that they had sex with her without her consent but the court heard that the ANC court, conducted in exile, said that she had agreed to sex.
Both men were members of the exile community at the time and were in their 20s and 30s.
One of the men, who'd been living in her parent's house, said her mother had "given her to him", by allowing her to walk around the house improperly dressed.
'Even if I was a prostitute he wouldn't have the right'
The woman also said that the man's girlfriend had beaten her and that he hadn't intervened. At one stage he stood at the door and said "that's enough".
The woman, who alleges Zuma raped her on November 2 last year, said her mother was devastated to hear that the man (living in her house) had had sex with her and would never have allowed it.
"I very clearly remember my mother saying he has no right to do it and that even if I was a prostitute he would not have the right."
The ANC court was established after the women close to her got to hear that the man had forced himself on her.
When 16 pages of the autobiography were produced on Thursday, the court fell dead silent, with only the turning of pages in reporter's notebooks audible.
The few people present for the in camera hearing leant forward to catch every word.
The case continues.
Source: News24
*How did Zuma's defence get a hold of this 'evidence'? Surely it didn't just appear out of the blue!
What is that other word for 'autobiography' again? Oh! Right! 'Diary'. Regardless of whether this is the case, one feels that Zuma should get a standing ovation at the next Oscar's for his current production, entitled "Trial by Media". Wait a minute... that's the tag to his other trial... the corrupt armsdeal scandal!
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
SA Heritage council spends R4.5m on trip to Ghana
An emissary of South Africa's National Heritage Council recently spent R4.5 000 000 on a luxurious trip to Ghana. The emissary, which consisted only of a small group of officials, flew business class and also stayed in a five star hotel.
The apparent cause for this trip was to study Ghana's "cultural policy". The study produced a whopping half-page report.
This trip follows closely on the heels of a recent political scandal in which South Africa's deputy-president, Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, spent more than R750 000 state money on a glamorous trip for her-and-her-family to Dubai.
*A big "thank you" to the reader who e-mailed this to us. Apparently this is a shortened translation of an article that appeared today on the PRAAG website.
The apparent cause for this trip was to study Ghana's "cultural policy". The study produced a whopping half-page report.
This trip follows closely on the heels of a recent political scandal in which South Africa's deputy-president, Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, spent more than R750 000 state money on a glamorous trip for her-and-her-family to Dubai.
*A big "thank you" to the reader who e-mailed this to us. Apparently this is a shortened translation of an article that appeared today on the PRAAG website.
Zimbabwe 'running out of wheat'
Zimbabwe has only two weeks of wheat supply left, while citizens are faced with soaring bread prices, Zimbabwe's main milling organisation has said.
The cost of bread has risen by 30%, pushing Zimbabwe's inflation rate to more than 600%.
Zimbabwe has been in economic decline since President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms in 2000.
The government is reported to have put its security forces on alert in the rising discontent leads to protests.
David Govere, deputy chairman of the Millers Association, told AFP news agency the scarcity of wheat has meant a reduction in supplies to bakeries.
"Due to depleted stocks, GMB [state-run food distributor Grain Marketing Board] is now giving us 400 tons of wheat a week, down from 600 tons," he is quoted as saying.
Shortages of wheat could force bakers to import flour from South Africa, which could lead to more price rises.
A loaf of bread in Zimbabwe currently costs $66,000 Zimbabwean (66 US cents), having risen 30% in just one week.
President Mugabe denies that his land reform programme has contributed to the crisis, blaming the effects of drought instead.
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the situation is becoming unbearable.
"It's terrible right now because of shortages," Arthur Mutambara, leader of one of two factions of the MDC.
"Fuel is not available, commodities are unaffordable, unemployment 80%, inflation above 600%.
"It's a travesty of justice that the country has been so run down by Robert Mugabe's regime."
Food aid
Zimbabwe's leading millers - National Foods, Blue Ribbon and Victoria Foods - have shut production at most of their mills because of the wheat shortage, according to AFP.
International aid agencies say about 4.3m out of Zimbabwe's 13m people will require food aid until the next harvest in May.
The country has suffered increasing food shortages, rising unemployment and runaway inflation since the government began redistributing seized white-owned farms six years ago.
Economists say the rate of inflation could reach 1,000% by April.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4773876.stm
Published: 2006/03/04 12:51:41 GMT
© BBC MMVI
The cost of bread has risen by 30%, pushing Zimbabwe's inflation rate to more than 600%.
Zimbabwe has been in economic decline since President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms in 2000.
The government is reported to have put its security forces on alert in the rising discontent leads to protests.
David Govere, deputy chairman of the Millers Association, told AFP news agency the scarcity of wheat has meant a reduction in supplies to bakeries.
"Due to depleted stocks, GMB [state-run food distributor Grain Marketing Board] is now giving us 400 tons of wheat a week, down from 600 tons," he is quoted as saying.
Shortages of wheat could force bakers to import flour from South Africa, which could lead to more price rises.
A loaf of bread in Zimbabwe currently costs $66,000 Zimbabwean (66 US cents), having risen 30% in just one week.
President Mugabe denies that his land reform programme has contributed to the crisis, blaming the effects of drought instead.
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the situation is becoming unbearable.
"It's terrible right now because of shortages," Arthur Mutambara, leader of one of two factions of the MDC.
"Fuel is not available, commodities are unaffordable, unemployment 80%, inflation above 600%.
"It's a travesty of justice that the country has been so run down by Robert Mugabe's regime."
Food aid
Zimbabwe's leading millers - National Foods, Blue Ribbon and Victoria Foods - have shut production at most of their mills because of the wheat shortage, according to AFP.
International aid agencies say about 4.3m out of Zimbabwe's 13m people will require food aid until the next harvest in May.
The country has suffered increasing food shortages, rising unemployment and runaway inflation since the government began redistributing seized white-owned farms six years ago.
Economists say the rate of inflation could reach 1,000% by April.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4773876.stm
Published: 2006/03/04 12:51:41 GMT
© BBC MMVI
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
"Failed states" fail because of too much government power
Alvaro Vargas Llosa
(Not too little as contended by Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace)
A recently published index by Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace ranks countries that are considered "failed states." These areas pose a serious threat to world security, say the researchers, because of an absence of state power. But this view is false, says Alvaro Vargas Llosa of the Centre on Global Prosperity. He contends that it is precisely the presence of centralised power and the lack of individual-based rights that creates insecurity in these countries.
Consider:
# The Ivory Coast tops the index, but its problems are not due to a lack of centralised power; indeed, the centralisation of the state has created various factions vying for control.
# The Democratic Republic of Congo, which ranks second, was a highly-centralised dictatorship for three decades under Mobuto; in 1997, his replacement, Kabila, still retains a centralised power structure.
# Rwanda and Burundi, which rank 12th and 17th respectively, are other examples of stratification caused by too much state power; after the Hutus gained independence in Rwanda, they used government power to oppress the Tutsis, who eventually came to power and forced the Hutus to flee to the Congo.
# Venezuela, which ranks 21st, is another example of too much state power; the government owns the oil, which accounts for 85 per cent of the country's exports.
Also among the "failed states" is Peru, where excessive government regulation and taxation have created a black market that comprises about 70 per cent of the economy.
Foreign Policy correctly warns, "2 billion people live in insecure states." However, it is too much government, not too little, that accounts for such instability.
Source: Alvaro Vargas Llosa, The Failure of States, The Independent Institute, September 8, 2005.
For text: http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1564
For Failed States Index: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3100
For more on International: Culture and Political Systems: http://www.ncpa.org/iss/int/
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 20 September 2005
http://www.freemarketfoundation.com
*The ANC in South Africa enjoys a two-third majority vote, which gives them absolute power.
(Not too little as contended by Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace)
A recently published index by Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace ranks countries that are considered "failed states." These areas pose a serious threat to world security, say the researchers, because of an absence of state power. But this view is false, says Alvaro Vargas Llosa of the Centre on Global Prosperity. He contends that it is precisely the presence of centralised power and the lack of individual-based rights that creates insecurity in these countries.
Consider:
# The Ivory Coast tops the index, but its problems are not due to a lack of centralised power; indeed, the centralisation of the state has created various factions vying for control.
# The Democratic Republic of Congo, which ranks second, was a highly-centralised dictatorship for three decades under Mobuto; in 1997, his replacement, Kabila, still retains a centralised power structure.
# Rwanda and Burundi, which rank 12th and 17th respectively, are other examples of stratification caused by too much state power; after the Hutus gained independence in Rwanda, they used government power to oppress the Tutsis, who eventually came to power and forced the Hutus to flee to the Congo.
# Venezuela, which ranks 21st, is another example of too much state power; the government owns the oil, which accounts for 85 per cent of the country's exports.
Also among the "failed states" is Peru, where excessive government regulation and taxation have created a black market that comprises about 70 per cent of the economy.
Foreign Policy correctly warns, "2 billion people live in insecure states." However, it is too much government, not too little, that accounts for such instability.
Source: Alvaro Vargas Llosa, The Failure of States, The Independent Institute, September 8, 2005.
For text: http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1564
For Failed States Index: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3100
For more on International: Culture and Political Systems: http://www.ncpa.org/iss/int/
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 20 September 2005
http://www.freemarketfoundation.com
*The ANC in South Africa enjoys a two-third majority vote, which gives them absolute power.
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