Beginning of the End?

From the Times:

"Jacob Zuma's arrival at the Presidency of South Africa could hold a few surprises for Africa's dictators - not all of them welcome.

Behind the smiles and back-slapping, Mr Zuma is expected to show little patience towards fellow leaders who might obstruct broader policy intentions.

South African diplomatic sources say that Mr Zuma has already indicated that President al-Bashir of Sudan, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court over alleged genocide in Darfur, will not be welcome at his inauguration on May 9, and that he could even risk arrest and deportation to The Hague. Were it to happen, Mr Zuma's standing in the West would rise.

Most notably, however, the new President will be keen to change his country's position regarding the crisis in Zimbabwe. His allies among the union movement have been far more critical of President Mugabe than the official position adopted when Thabo Mbeki was South Africa's President."

A Spar in Harare in August 08

Conductor counts trillions on the bus from Harare to Bulawayo

Root of the problem

Heard of Angola in the News Recently?

Well I haven't. I'm not a news junkie, in my opinion, but I've bought hundreds of pounds worth of newspapers in the last few years and I don't recall reading much at all about Angola. In fact, even when I was growing up in Zimbabwe I never learned much about the country.

But now they're in news because they are sending "ninjas" to Zimbabwe. Jesus. Actually, they're "Ninja paramilitaries" to be precise. So surrealism fades into horror when you learn that they wonder around in trucks with mounted machine guns on them.