politics

Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chairperson, Elasto Mugwadi, hit the nail on the head when he reported that ZANU-PF is using relief aid, especially food, as a campaign tool by denying it to opposition party members ahead of the crucial 2018 elections.
 
According to a NewsDay reader, Pardon Maguta, as usual, President Robert Mugabe sprung into action during the ZANU-PF central committee meeting this month in defence of the perpetrators.
 

Graft is so widespread on the continent and in this country it robs the poorest of the poor of services.
 
It comes as no surprise that nearly 70 percent of Africans believe political party leaders are more concerned with pursuing their own political ambitions than with representing the people’s interests.
 
In a survey across 36 African countries by Afrobarometer, fewer than half of the survey participants said they trusted their MPs (48 percent) and local councillors (46 percent).
 

According to newspaper reports, at least 2 600 people have fled unrest in Mozambique and are now living in makeshift camps in Chipinge district of south-eastern Zimbabwe where food is running short.

The latest figure is a sharp increase on the early August tally of 712 Mozambicans who are reported to have fled into Zimbabwe in recent months to escape alleged attacks by opposition Renamo fighters.

According to the Manica Post newspaper, conditions are often grim for those arriving in Chipinge, with water and food shortages at a camp in Mutoki Village.

Zimbabwe’s Civil Service Commission chairperson, Dr Mariyawanda Nzuwah, racked up a cellphone bill of US$200 000 while on a month-long foreign trip.

Documents seen by The Sunday Mail show the whopping figure accumulated from calls and data use on his NetOne and Econet contract lines whose bills are met by Treasury.

A Zimbabwe Statistics Agency ICT Household Survey Report for June 2013-June 2014

Zimbabwe's Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has accused the police of brutality and violating the rights of protesters when clamping down on anti-government demonstrations in the last two months.

Political tension is rising in the southern African nation, where public anger at the dire state of the economy, in particular an 80 percent jobless rate, cash shortages and delays in salaries for public workers, has spilled onto the streets.

The Southern African Catholic Bishop’s Conference (SACBC) says it is not convinced by President Jacob Zuma’s stated position that he cannot intervene in the standoff between Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, and the Hawks.

SACBC’s Bishop Abel Gabuza insists that President Zuma can and should do more, adding that, “We ask the president to intervene in the current impasse in a manner that assures the country that the probe against the finance minister is not politically motivated.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo has refused to renew the visa of a senior Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher, who was to leave the troubled African country shortly.

Kinshasa did not give a reason for the decision to effectively expel, Ida Sawyer, who has worked for the United States rights group in DR Congo since 2008.

Government spokesperson, Lambert Mende, has been quoted as saying that the government's immigration service did not want to renew the visa, adding that, “That is all."

The Umzinto Equality Court has ruled that controversial KwaZulu-Natal realtor, Penny Sparrow, must pay R150 000 to the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation for her racist comments.

Magistrate, Irfaan Khalil, says the amount has to payable within 60 days and he interdicted Sparrow from further hate speech.

Sparrow raised ire with a controversial Facebook post in which she likened black beach-goers to monkeys.

A research report shows that voters, particularly in poor communities, believe that the handing out of food parcels during elections campaigns amounts to vote buying.
 
This month Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that the distribution of food parcels in 2009 by Julius Malema, then leader of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League, was an abuse of state resources.
 

The Constitutional Court will hear an urgent application for leave to appeal concerning the obligation of the Electoral Commission of South Afirca to furnish the addresses of registered voters to those contesting elections.
 
The hearing comes after the Constitutional Court ruled in December last year that the by-elections held in Tlokwe held in were null and void.
 
The candidates had complained that the voter registration and the subsequent voters’ roll compiled by commission were incorrect and inaccurate.