Category: Rubrique

Military units in Lesotho surrounded government and police buildings and gunfire was heard in the small mountainous southern African kingdom on Saturday, in what diplomats said appeared to be an attempted coup.

“Military police have surrounded State House and there are reports of gunfire,” said one diplomat from the capital Maseru, who asked not to be named.

South African radio stations also reported that private radio stations were off the air in the nation, which is surrounded by South Africa.

Political tensions have been running high in Lesotho since June when Prime Minister Thomas Thabane suspended the country’s parliament to avoid a no-confidence vote amid feuding in the two-year-old coalition government.

Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing had vowed to form a new coalition that would oust Thabane.

Neighbouring South Africa and the regional Southern African Development Community of which Lesotho is a member have warned the political rivals in the country that any unconstitutional change of government would not be tolerated.

Since independence in 1966, Lesotho has undergone a number of military coups. In 1998 at least 58 locals and eight South African soldiers died and large parts of Maseru were damaged during a political stand-off and subsequent fighting.

Zimbabwe’s Ruling ZANU PF Grace Mugabe’s political entry roils Zanu PF

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The EFF accused the ANC of organising a group to assault its MPs in Parliament on Wednesday.

“The Economic Freedom Fighters has learned that the ANC is mobilising hooligans in the townships of Cape Town to come and assault EFF MPs today in Parliament,” party spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said.

“The EFF has learned that they are loud-hailing across the townships, promising people free buses to go to Parliament and deal with the EFF.”

Disrupt Parliament

Ndlozi said this was a “clear plan” to disrupt Parliament and render its work dysfunctional.

“It means the ANC is planning to undermine the very Parliament that it claims to protect and respect.”

Moloto Mothapo, spokesperson for ANC chief whip Stone Sizani, rubbished the claim and said the EFF had lost its mind.

“It’s becoming clearer and clearer everyday that they are losing it. They are obviously imagining things, and this is a figment of their imagination,” he told Sapa.

“Probably it is some sort of propaganda gone wrong on their part. They really have to come with something better if they want to be taken seriously. We have got no time to waste on the EFF.”

Tension

A war of words between the EFF and the security cluster of ministers heated up on Tuesday following a meeting over the chaos in Parliament last week.

The justice, crime prevention, and security cluster condemned the action of EFF MPs who disrupted proceedings in the National Assembly last week while President Jacob Zuma was answering questions. Police were called in to calm the situation.

The cluster, led by Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, said extra-ordinary measures had been put in place to prevent a repeat of the incident.

Last Thursday, EFF leader Julius Malema was not happy with how Zuma had answered questions on when he would pay back part of the money spent on R246m security upgrades to his private Nkandla residence in KwaZulu-Natal.

Speaker Baleka Mbete instructed Malema and his fellow MPs to leave the House when they kept interrupting and asking that Zuma answer their question.

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela had recommended in her report on Nkandla that Zuma repay that part of the money not spent on security measures, like the swimming pool and cattle kraal, among others.

Zuma has been accused of delaying his response in Parliament to Madonsela’s report after he said he would leave it to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko to determine if he should repay any of the money.

News24

China’s president Xi Jinping on Monday hailed Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe – a pariah in the West – as a renowned African liberation leader and an “old friend” of the Chinese people.

The former guerrilla turned Africa’s longest-ruling leader, now 90, was on his 13th trip to China, seeking more Chinese investment in his nation’s stagnant economy.

“The traditional friendship between China and Zimbabwe was forged in the glorious years when we stood shoulder to shoulder against imperialism, colonialism and hegemony,” Xi told Mugabe – who is subject to sanctions by the US and European Union – at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

“The Chinese people value friendship and we will never forget those good friends and good brothers who have shown mutual understanding and support vis-a-vis China and who have come through thick and thin with us.”

The comments by the leader of the world’s second-largest economy were unusually effusive compared to the usual Chinese diplomatic formality. He also called the Zimbabwean president a “renowned leader of the African national liberation movement” and “an old friend of the Chinese people whom we respect very much”.

Full military homours

Mugabe said he felt “very much at home”, thanking Xi for the invitation which reminded him of the past and “brings our past to the present”.

Zimbabwe’s relations with China and the Chinese Communist Party date back to the liberation struggle of the 1970s, when Beijing provided arms and trained some of the top guerrilla leaders.

Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan greeted Mugabe and his wife Grace – dressed in a vivid yellow and brown African-style outfit – with full military honours, with a band playing the two countries’ national anthems as a 21-gun salute was fired and the two presidents inspected a military honour guard.

Zimbabwe’s state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper at the weekend quoted Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba as saying the five-day state visit was “largely looking for investment of an infrastructure nature”, with the focus on energy and transport.

Corruption and mismanagement

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, his more than three decades in power starting amid optimism but eventually characterised by corruption and mismanagement leading to hyperinflation and enduring economic crisis, along with brutal crackdowns against political opposition.

In the face of Western opprobrium he adopted a “look east” policy, forging new ties and buttressing existing ones with east Asian countries including China. There was a partial economic recovery during a power-sharing agreement with the Movement for Democratic Change, which ended last year when Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party won elections which the opposition says were rigged.

Independent analysts estimate that unemployment in what was once known as the breadbasket of Africa stands at 80 %.

But Chinese investment in non-financial sectors in Zimbabwe exceeded $602m last year, more than in any other African country, the official Xinhua news agency cited citing Chinese government figures as saying.

Chinese companies are active in mining, construction, telecommunications and agriculture. At least two China-linked firms, Anjin Investments and Jinan Mining, have operated concessions at Zimbabwe’s hugely valuable Marange diamond fields.

Controversial seizure of white-owned land

Zimbabwe’s military, police and intelligence services are believed to have links to the mines, where overseas campaign groups have raised concerns about rights abuses. Chinese firms also have interests in platinum and chrome mining.

Mugabe drove Zimbabwe’s controversial seizure of white-owned land, and the country has a law requiring foreign firms to hand over 51% of their shares to black Zimbabweans. It is not clear how Chinese investors will be affected.

Besides meeting Xi, Mugabe’s visit includes talks on Tuesday with Premier Li Keqiang. As well as his wife, Mugabe is accompanied by the ministers for agriculture, tourism, industry and commerce, and finance and economic development, Xinhua reported.

Mugabe is currently chairperson of the Southern African Development Community, and is also in line to lead the 54-nation African Union from next year. But he was the only leader from southern Africa not invited to attend a major US-African summit in Washington earlier this month.

– AFP