The 14th African Union (AU) Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, decided to strengthen the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) programme by transforming the NEPAD secretariat into an implementation Agency – the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA). - NPCA now has a clear mandate “to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of continental and regional priority programmes and projects”, according to the AU Assembly Decision No. AU/14 (XIV) of 1 February 2010. The NPCA is also mandated”to mobilize resources and partners in support of their implementation”, the decision stipulates. Welcoming the AU decision, the CEO of…

- The recent surge in attacks against foreigners in South African townships has been portrayed as something that came out of nowhere. This is not the case. As far back as 1997 there have been reported incidents of xenophobic attacks particularly against Somalis, Mozambicans, Malawians and Zimbabweans. The attacks have left 44 foreigners dead and close to 20,000 being displaced. As migrants that are fleeing political and economic hardships many of them are illegal and they therefore cannot find formal work without the required papers. They also end up moving into township squatter camps that are inhabited by nationals that are already living in squalor. More often than not, the migrants te…

- ISS Today 30 June 2008: Less Sugar-Coating For Victims Of Xenophobia In South Africa Meet Tendai*. He is smartly dressed in a grey shirt, black jeans and a matching dark tie. He is articulate and knowledgeable. He is a Zimbabwean national and he seems like the kind of person that would be at home in any African capital city. He offers me a firm handshake. He then goes on to tell my colleagues and me how he ended up at the Rand Airport camp for displaced foreigners. He explains that until March of this year he was working as a teacher in Zimbabwe. However, due to the political and economic turmoil in that country he decided to make his way to South Africa - as have thousands of othe…

- This is an earlier opinion piece that appeared in 'The New Vision'. 'Mugabe Not As Bad As Portrayed By West' New Vision (Kampala) OPINION 6 January 2008 Posted to the web 7 January 2008 By Andrew Kanyegirire Kampala THE demonisation of President Robert Mugabe by Western leaders, commentators and their local comprador agents in Africa, masks their refusal to engage with the question of land reform in Zimbabwe. In addition, their calls onto African leaders to vilify Mugabe portrays their disregard for the region's geo-politics. For instance, in the article titled: "African leaders must condemn Mugabe" (New Vision, December 11, 2007) t…

- What impact are ongoing electricity black-outs likely to have on the property market? In response to the above question Monté Jordaan, MD of Multi-Projects, an investment property marketing company based in Somerset West, says: "We do not know how great the impact on the economic growth of South Africa is going to be. Only time will tell on that score. But we do believe that the energy crisis will have an effect on property developments - and developers who do not plan for alternative energy sources will suffer. "Developers and developments that incorporate alternative energy sources to Eskom-produced power will flourish. Developments with generators and alternative…

- For the second time in my life I am being faced with electricity load shedding. The power has consistently been going off for the past week btn 1pm and 4pm. In the absence of an alt source many orgns are having to shut down during those periods. Eskom's - SA's electricity provider - CEO took the brave step to come out openly and say that short of us all taking cold showers (not me , using ugly energy saver bulbs, cutting back on ironing etc there isn't much that they can do about this over the next 3-5 yrs which incls 2010 the year of the footie world cup. What! roared the public in total disbelief. Fact is that for many people this is simply what they go through on…