Connie Kargbo is an associate producer at Worldfocus and a native of Sierra Leone.  She blogs here about her opinion on Africa and climate change policy.

Floods are thought to be one of the more severe effects of climate change. Dakar, Senegal. Photo: IRIN

Throughout history Africa has repeatedly gotten the short end of the stick. Colonialism left the continent decades behind other developing regions. Diamonds mined deep in the heart of Africa breed bloody conflicts as they flee the continent to adorn the fingers of westerners.

There is a chance now to change the script.

World leaders gather next week at the UN General Assembly to discuss climate change and prepare for the larger climate change conference in Copenhagen in December. The Copenhagen conference is seeking to produce a successor to the Kyoto Protocol environment treaty.  This time, Africa has come out with its boxing gloves ready to fight for the best climate change deal for the continent.

African leaders have read the scientific studies and seem well aware of the stark facts behind the effects of climate change.  Despite how little their countries contribute to the overall global carbon emissions, according to a recent development report out by the World Bank developing nations will bear 75-80 percent of the cost of our changing climate.  This seemingly unfair contradiction is why African leaders such as Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi are defiantly threatening to walk out of the Copenhagen conference in December if Africa’s demand for monetary compensation from carbon-intensive rich countries is not appropriately addressed. In his own words, “”if needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent.” South Africa, one of the world’s top polluters, has entered the ring as well stressing that it will not sacrifice economic growth for the sake of reducing carbon emissions.

Although these various approaches to securing a better deal for Africa are controversial, one thing seems constant: Africa is unified as the Copenhagen meeting nears. It’s been a long time coming.

President Jacob Zuma warned protesters to respect the law. But across that country, an estimated one million families live in shacks without power and very limited plumbing.

Many blame immigrants for taking jobs that might lead to a better life. For more, watch the Worldfocus signature story “Immigrants in South Africa deal with hostility, xenophobia.”

Yaw Nyarko, a professor of economics and the head of Africa House at New York University, joins Martin Savidge to discuss South African attitudes towards immigrants and the government, as well as economic conditions.

Mojubaolu Okome, a professor of political science from Brooklyn College, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the forum and how the global economic crisis has impacted African countries.

African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma.

Last week, South Africa went to the polls in the country’s fourth national elections since the end of apartheid. According to final results announced Saturday, the ruling African National Congress won, though it fell short of a two-thirds majority. 

The ANC has faced increased criticism in recent months, often centering on party president Jacob Zuma, who had faced charges of fraud and corruption, though they were dropped. 

Worldfocus editorial consultant Peter Eisner measures South Africa’s progess, however imperfect the country and its leaders may still be. 

South Africa’s president-elect, Jacob Zuma, capped off his remarkable political resurgence last week in another solid victory for the African National Congress. His election victory can be viewed in more than one way.

In one sense, it was an endorsement of his charismatic style and a confirmation of the ANC’s prominence in the 15 years since the ascension of Nelson Mandela and the collapse of apartheid. Zuma will take office in May as a result of nationwide balloting that took place peacefully and without incident.

The unfortunate way of viewing the South African election would be to overemphasize unfair complaints that South Africa has not progressed much since the end of apartheid.

South Africa is a vastly different country from what it was under white minority racist rule. Despite persistent poverty and unemployment, South Africa today is a truly democratic state, and the African National Congress has accomplished much. If it is not enough to say that the country’s 80+ percent black population lives now freely and with dignity, the ANC’s other successes are significant. Even the poorest of South Africans have benefits their families could not dreamed of a generation ago.

There is much work to be done, especially in the areas of health care and education, but the ANC has established social programs, provided housing and some basic needs such as electricity to millions of South Africa’s 49 million people.

The ANC came just short of winning a two-thirds absolute majority in the South African parliament, meaning Zuma will have to negotiate and work hard to win over skeptics. Meanwhile, he comes to office at a tough time for any world leader –- South Africa is deeply affected by the world recession and financial issues will be key. He’ll he hard-pressed to follow through on his basic promise: “an equitable, sustainable and inclusive growth path.”

Among the skeptics are some members of his own party, where former leader Thabo Mbeki once stripped him of the role of deputy president because of corruption charges. The corruption charges have since been withdrawn and Zuma has also faced and been acquitted of rape charges.

Phillip Van Niekirk, a prominent South African journalist, notes that even South Africa’s white Afrikaner minority, responsible for the apartheid system, largely prefers Zuma to Mbeki.

“When talking to the business community, foreign dignitaries or journalists, Zuma can be equally impressive. He has great personal warmth and is lucid on the challenges ahead. He wants a crackdown on crime and corruption, greater accountability from politicians and office bearers and a concerted effort to deal with the country’s neglected education and health systems.”

- Peter Eisner

Nelson Mandela, the former head of the African National Congress who helped bring down the white supremacist system of apartheid, was one of an estimated 23 million South Africans registered to vote.

The current leader of the ANC, Jacob Zuma — who was imprisoned for 10 years alongside Mandela — is widely expected to emerge victorious. However, analysts say the ANC will struggle to win the two-thirds majority that it has won in the past.

Read more about South Africa’s power players.

YouTube user matlosana interviewed South Africans as they headed to the voting booths:

Zukiswa Wanner, a South African writer, notes the impressive turnout:

In 2004 when I voted in South Africa’s last presidential elections, I strolled at the voting station and less than 30 minutes later, I was out.

[...] The polls said it, the energy prior to this election highlighted it, but now I am seeing it for myself – today, it is different. It is only 7.45 and already there is a sizeable crowd at the voting station. I decide to just go indoors, get my ID and go and vote immediately to avoid spending my whole day waiting to vote. When I get back to the voting station, the line is already snaking round the corner and a good 300metres long and it is getting longer. It is like its 1994 all over again.

As indicative of my working class neighbourhood, there are people of all races. In front of me is a coloured couple and behind me is an Indian lady. A few feet from me is a white boy wearing a red t-shirt with a heart in ANC colours reading ‘Show your Love for the ANC’ but that is the only person wearing anything that hints at sloganeering. The line is moving slowly initially but I will not give up my place in line for a possibility of a shorter line later which might not come to pass. While in line I receive SMSs, many from the majority ANC party telling me to Vote ANC.

[...]I go out outside and feel a rush of emotion and patriotism for this one moment in five years that democracy allows most of my fellow South Africans to speak up for the one minute that we are behind the booth.

A blogger at “Socialyz” says that voting has gone relatively smoothly, with a few minor scuffles:

Well I’ve done my bit today. I woke up late, went to an election station and stood in a massive queue for about 10 minutes before deciding I’d come back later. Last time around I voted towards the end of the day and simply walked in and out. My general perception this time around is that there will be a larger voter turnout than the previous Election in South Africa.

Ink marks the vote in South Africa.

That’s a great thing. I find there is much more awareness this time and my peers are more excited and more motivated to vote. Iv’e been scanning the papers for initial reactions, and other than a few scare stories of villagers being told to vote ANC and ballot papers being strewn across a street someplace, it all seems to be going along smoothly. It must be rememberd that this is a massive logistical task and there will be the odd hiccup here and there. As a citizen, I’m happy with how it has been conducted so far.

Now we wait for the results.

Blogger “Jonathan Carter” has become more enthused about voting as challengers to the ANC have gained more traction:

Today is the national and provincial elections in South Africa. I just made my vote, and it’s the first time I ever voted. It was supposed to be the second time I voted. I didn’t vote last time, not because of apathy so much as that I knew it wouldn’t have made so much of a difference who I voted for.

This year it’s quite different, the ruling ANC party has a break-away faction called COPE, and it’s quite possible that the ANC might not get a majority (2/3rds) vote. The DA has also gained lots of momentum since the last elections, and it’s quite possible that they may win the provincial elections in the Western Cape province. If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I’m not a fan of the ANC. While they have done a lot for our country that I will always be grateful for, I am also disgusted at what it has become and how it is run.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Axel Bührmann under a Creative Commons license.

A rally for the African National Congress in South Africa.

South Africans are scheduled to head to the polls on Wednesday to vote in the country’s fourth national elections since the end of apartheid. PBS WIDE ANGLE web producer Lauren Feeney spoke with Azad Essa, a political blogger for the South African newspaper The Mail and Guardian, about the significance of the upcoming elections.

For additional information, see more of WIDE ANGLE’s coverage of South Africa.

WIDE ANGLE: The ANC, or African National Congress party is expected to win elections there on Wednesday. Can you tell us what this party stands for, and how it has changed since Nelson Mandela was the party’s leader?

AZAD ESSA: The mantra of this party has always been “the people shall govern.” If anything, the party and its supporters believe that this mantra, over the past 10 years, with Thabo Mbeki as the second [post-apartheid] president, was lost. Thabo Mbeki was a suited-up politician with a foreign education. The ANC supporters believe that today, this party is back in working class control with a grassroots leader like Jacob Zuma.

WA: Jacob Zuma is the leader of the ANC and likely the next president of South Africa. But Zuma has been dogged by corruption charges that were only recently dropped. What exactly was he accused of, and does he have the trust of the South African people?

AE: Jacob Zuma is a very, very interesting character. He’s had I think something like 750 counts of corruption against him — all sorts of racketeering, and other shady deals that he’s been accused of. The most significant issue was this arms deal with a French company, a multi-million dollar arms deal, and Zuma was accused of accepting bribes, et cetera, et cetera. He was charged and as a result was pushed to resign; he lost his job as deputy president. The issue has dragged on from that time, since 2005, and has been dropped and recharged and dropped, but now it’s been dropped completely because there’s enough evidence to suggest that the entire accusation against him was motivated politically. It’s very interesting that that happened last week, one week before the elections.

The trust of the people issue is very incredible. We have three types of voter in this country at the moment: the guy who’s supporting Zuma, the guy who’s afraid of Zuma, and the person who is going to vote for the ANC despite Zuma. The Zuma supporter, I call him the Zumamaniac, doesn’t mind that Zuma might be really guilty of these corruption charges. For him, everything that’s pitched against Zuma is a political conspiracy, and Zuma and the working class cause have become synonymous with each other. At the same time, you have sort of the middle class liberal thinker in South Africa who is very much against Zuma — Zumaphobic in a way. He believes that Zuma has his charm, but until and unless we get a case and he’s tried in a court of law and found not guilty, I’m not going to trust this guy, and we’re only really going to get somewhere in this country if we stem corruption from the start. And then, as I say, there’s the third guy who says, I’m supporting the ANC because of the history that it brings, and what the ANC stands for in the first place.

WA: Who’s the opposition in this race?

AE: The Democratic Alliance headed by Capetown mayor Helen Zille is the main opposition. Now, the Democratic Alliance is still majority-white; it still represents white interests, or is perceived to represent white interests. Nonetheless, over the past 2, 3 years it has emerged in leaps and bounds and has tried to rebrand itself as a truly South African party. The thing with the Democratic Alliance is that it’s a pro-capital party, and its campaigning has been with that focus — it’s striving to reduce labor laws to some extent, and it’s trying to attract foreign investment, and this is not going down very well with most people in the country. So it’s a very strange campaign, because while it’s trying to attract all, most South Africans are still very strongly allied with trade unions, so the D.A. looses a lot of possible membership because of that.

But what’s interesting about this election is the advent of the new opposition, and that’s the Congress of People Party or COPE. What happened after liberation when the country became a democracy is that obviously there were going to be very different ideas about how the country should be governed, but these difference have never come to the fore as they have today, and this has lead to the split of the ANC and the creation of the Congress of the People Party.

COPE is made up of all the guys within the ANC who have problems with Zuma’s presidency. COPE just emerged recently, and so it’s unclear what they stand for. So if you’re not supporting the ANC, you have a problem regarding who to support, because it’s not necessarily that these guys promote or offer anything much better, they just promise a future without Zuma. In the D.A. election campaign, you see posters out on the street saying “Stop Zuma. Vote for the D.A.” So this kind of demonizing of Jacob Zuma is almost the basis of both election campaigns.

WA: The results of this election seem to be a foregone conclusion — everyone is expecting Jacob Zuma and the ANC to win — but nonetheless, people are calling it one of the most important elections in South African history. Why is this election so important?

AE: I think the first thing is that there’s been a surge in the amount of people taking part in this election, so we’re looking at 23 million people out of a total population of around 50 million that are going to be voting, so that’s an incredible achievement, and that has also come from, believe it or not, this Obama sort of mania, where people believe “we’ve got to take part to change things.”

Probably the most significant thing is the tears within the ANC. It’s a very fascinating and very important time in South African politics because people are wondering, is this the election that showcases the beginning of a real opposition in this country? Because until now there has been no real opposition, I mean, in 2004, the ANC won 69 percent of the vote. With the advent of COPE, and with the D.A. gaining because of people not wanting to vote for Zuma, people are wondering if it’s going to be less than 60 percent for the ANC, so maybe in the next election in 2014, maybe there will be a real opposition by that time.

See the original post.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user bbcworldservice under a Creative Commons license.

Google’s Lok Sabha Election Center

The Australian government announced plans to build a 43 billion dollar Internet network to bring broadband access to 90 percent of the country. The development will be administered by a publicly-owned company providing 37,000 jobs.

Blogger Sam Varghese of “iTWire” responded to the news with skepticism, writing:

I’d be really happy if some company or group could build something that just doubles the 6 to 8 Mbps that I get at the moment. Provided it happens in my lifetime.

I don’t mind if North Korea can provide it. Or even Iran. I’d just like to use something that works at a decent speed before I die.

Talk of decent broadband in this country is beginning to resemble talk about the unicorn.

Another country making headlines for its Internet use is India, where Google India predicts rapid growth this year, citing 50 percent growth in 2008 in a country traditionally known for its low Internet use.

Google is not only studying but also feeding India’s online interaction as the country’s general election approaches, with its Lok Sbha Election Center information portal. Gaurav Mishra writes for his “Guaravonomics Blog“about Internet technologies in India’s elections:

The Indian National Congress seems to be stuck in the web 1.0 era. Both the official Congress website and the Congress Media websites are online brochures. The Vote for Congress portal, which was supposed to revolutionize its online campaign by providing the Congress candidates a platform to blog (Hindu/ TOI), is still not up. None of the senior Congress leaders — Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Manmohan Singh — have a website and, what’s worse, their URLs are owned by cyber-squatters (Indian Express). The party does want to set up 600 internet kiosks across the country (Hindu) but without engaging interactive content, their effectiveness might be limited.

Shashi Tharoor — author and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations — is perhaps the only Congress candidate to seriously leverage the web in his campaign, with presence on Facebook and Orkut (CIOL/ Sify). Former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna has a Twitter profile. Some of the younger Congress candidates like Priya Dutt, Milind Deora (Facebook) and Sachin Pilot also have well-designed websites, but aren’t really active on social media (Hindu). Some regional Congress leaders, like Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, also have a respectable presence on the web (Hindu/ Exchange4Media/ Indian Express).

China already has Internet traffic to match its population, and a January Economist article showed it passing the U.S. in Internet use. Andy of the “Saving to Invest” blog writes about the importance of considering international traffic and catering to a global audience: 

In time as the world adopts e-commerce at a consumer level the “value” of a transaction is likely to increase overseas much faster than it will locally. Which means that you need to ensure your online business model factors in this new audience and potential revenue source. In time, I have a feeling that the most successful online businesses (and blogs) will be the ones that appeal to a global audience and not just a local one.

Theresa of “Lives of Wander” writes about her difficulties finding an Internet connection in South Africa and other African countries, nowhere near as connected as the countries she and commenters visited in South and Central America:

Unfortunately, however, Internet here is not the God-given right that many of us have come to expect. We’ve had Internet access in about half the places we’ve stayed. Or at least we have access to a computer that is supposedly connected to the Internet. Most of the time the computer is so old and so slow, that it’s a miracle if it connects. If it does connect, getting any page to load can take ages. And the kicker here is that you’re paying for it. Internet is not only not ubiquitous, it’s also not free. So while I’m waiting 20 minutes for my Gmail to load, I’m paying for each of those 20 minutes. And it’s not even cheap either, costing $4 or more per hour. So if you haven’t heard from us lately, if you haven’t gotten emails or comments on your blog or a Skype call, you know why. Sorry.

Commenter Audrey writes about similar troubles in Central Asia and how technologies like Twitter can circumvent both censorship and obscenely slow lines:

We started using Twitter in this part of the world to let our family and friends know we were OK and to give them a little taste of what’s going on (in 140 characters or less). The interface is rather simple, so it comes up much quicker than having to go through a blog editor. Also, we found that government censors in highly controlled countries (eg, Burma, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) hadn’t been turned onto Twitter yet, so it was usually open when other communication channels had been blocked. If internet continues to be difficult, Twitter might be an alternative to get a quick message out.

Internet connectivity proves an ongoing problem across the African continent outside of big cities, but Africa is included in Google’s long list of development sites, and the Google Africa blog traces the company’s efforts across the continent.

In Sweden, connectivity is not the problem, but rather what people choose to do with their Internet connections. Sweden launced aggressive anti-piracy campaigns with the adoption of a new law allowing copyright holders to take names of users from ISPs. The day the law went into effect, Swedish Internet traffic reportedly dropped 40 percent. Techdirt’s “keep-whac’ing-that-mole department” speculates on the boost this gives to encryptors while really commenting on the misguided infeasibility of these aggressive practices.

With Sweden’s new antipiracy law in effect, it seems that one industry is getting a nice boost: apparently there’s a lot of new interest in encrypting your internet traffic, and services that provide encrypted VPN services are getting lots of new business. This, once again, points out that near total pointlessness in playing Whac-A-Mole over file sharing. It just become an endless game where each side continues to elevate itself, and it makes it that much more difficult in the end for the entertainment industry to do what it will inevitably be forced to do anyway: start building business models that embrace file sharing. But the further they push users of such services underground, the more and more difficult they’ll find it to embrace these services down the road. Each attempt to knock out these services or their users only comes around to backfire on the industry itself.

Meanwhile, South Korea continues to inspire envy in Web users around the globe.

Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Seemungal explores the rising poverty in South Africa’s white community.

Mob violence in cities like Cape Town and smaller communities has led to the creation of camps to which foreigners escape for safety. Tracey Saunders volunteers at these camps and speaks about South Africa’s difficulties with cultural integration.

Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Seemungal explores the ongoing problems faced by South Africa’s immigrants.

Listen to an extended interview with Dr. Xolela Mangcu of the Platform for Public Deliberation. He discusses the widening class divisions in the country. Some footage in the below video is courtesy of Filmmakers Against Racism.

Dr. Xolela Mangcu of the Platform for Public Deliberation and the Social Cohesion and Identity Research Programme discusses this divide and the failure of a liberated people to meet the demands of the Mandela promise.

Mobile testing units like the one featured in the video below offer free test results and spread the message that living with HIV is not a death sentence, but a chronic disease.

Worldfocus correspondent Martin Seemungal’s signature story “AIDS ravages 1,000 per day in South Africa” explores South Africa’s AIDS epidemic in further detail.

Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Seemungal, who has covered Africa for almost 20 years, explores the stigma and denial of AIDS in the province of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa.

Also, watch the web original video: Fighting the stigma and treating HIV across South Africa

But a gap still exists today between have and have-nots, and many of the poor are black. They may be equal on paper, but because of impoverished conditions, many still feel unequal.

Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Seemungal takes look at the “new” South Africa, beginning in Soweto, a former black township in Johannesburg that came to symbolize the repressive “old” days.

Below, bloggers in South Africa and elsewhere discuss the state of race relations in the country. Also watch an extended interview: Class divisions widen in racially free South Africa.

Blogger “Ellie” at “PostBourgie” writes about what Barack Obama’s election meant to black South Africans:

Being abroad for Obama’s election was bittersweet. [...] True, the country has only been free from apartheid for 15 years, but the level of physical segregation and economic disparity are shocking by any standard. Life in the townships, where most Blacks and Coloureds are relegated, is a life of poverty and little opportunity, especially with regard to education.It’s often hard to see change coming; in one city, I saw a segregated toilet facility at a gas station. At least 20 women were in line waiting for the one toilet for Blacks, yet the Whites Only toilet remained locked and unoccupied, guarded by a Black employee. When I asked her how this could possibly exist, she told me that Blacks deserve this treatment because “we’re dirty and we don’t know how to flush.” I wanted to tell her that she was beautiful, and just as good as anybody else, but all I could do was walk away in shock. Black South Africans may be in charge of the government, but White South Africans control the two most important things: the money, and the minds of a people who have been taught to think of themselves as an inferior race.

Still, South Africans have an incredible sense of optimism and hope. This became especially clear to me after Obama was elected. [...] Why are South Africans so excited about Obama? Because, deep in their hearts, they are yearning for their own campaign of change, unity, and hope. Black presidents in South Africa have brought an end to legal racial segregation, but have failed to lift the overwhelming majority of South Africans out of dire poverty. What many South Africans are looking for is a candidate who won’t win the Black vote because he’s Black, or the White vote because he’s White, but a candidate whose vision of a better country inspires everyday citizens across color lines. That’s what Obama has done, and that’s what South Africa desperately needs to begin to heal the racial wounds of the past.

A blogger at “SA Expats” writes about why s/he moved away from the country, as one of many white South Africans who have left:

Granted, there are scores of white South Africans that left purely on racial grounds. Good riddance for SA, bad for the places they are staying know. However if you are still under perception it is only white people leaving SA, you’ll be sadly surprised.

The fact is more and more educated South Africans of all races find it hard to make ends meet in SA. When more than a third of your work forcé are unemployed, they need to do something…

I purely left because of a better work opportunity. I was reaching a stage in my professional career where affirmative action was stopping me from progressing. Although I understand the economic need for affirmative action and redistribution of income, I need to feed myself and my family and wasn’t going to “take one for the team.” Why should I, whom had no say in the previous apartheid regime, suffer for the sins of my forefathers? I wasn’t ready to live a life of poverty and constant struggling for the “greater good.”

I was also constantly concerned about safety in SA. You all know how it is. Yes, people say, “we should work together to make the country a better place.” I agree, we should, but it doesn’t seem the criminals care to much about that sentiment.

In her recent introductory post, South African blogger “MizzLee” paints a glowing image of progress since apartheid:

I’m a South African and as a South African I face many little “landmines” everyday. . . .Taxi’s, The Ekhuruleni Town Council, Potholes and power failures. As a way to passively get rid of all my frustration and perhaps get some insight I have decided to start blogging. Not only for my own sanity, but also to show the world how truly wonderful South Africa is, how far we’ve come since apartheid, how rich we are with culture and diversity and last but not least how South Africa truly is the best place on earth

However, in a later post, the same blogger deplores rampant crime and ineffective police:

My family and I have been living in the same house for just over 4 years now. The area is good and crime is relatively low in comparison to our neighbouring suburbs, but all that changed last week when the family 2 houses from me found themselves tied up and all their possessionswhere being loaded up into their own car by the thieves. [...]But as we all know South Africa is the land of crime with out punishment.

A map at United For Africa invites South Africans to document continuing xenophobic attacks in their country.

In Wide Angle’s Road to Riches, learn about Uthingo, the consortium of black-empowerment companies that manages the national lottery.

Thado Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, is mediating Zimbabwe’s power-sharing agreement.

South African leaders are scheduled to meet next week to discuss the political situation in Zimbabwe, where rival political parties remain at a standstill despite a power-sharing agreement signed four months ago. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) complained that President Robert Mugabe was refusing to share key government posts.

Some, like Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, have called for military intervention in the country and for the forced removal of Mugabe.

Michael Keating is a senior fellow and associate director of the Center for Democracy and Development at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he is an Africa specialist. He writes at World Politics Review to argue that military intervention would further destabilize Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe: Military Intervention Would Be a Disaster

While the United States and most of the world celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama, the people of Zimbabwe were once again being pushed to the brink. Talks between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangarai have broken down over several key issues, prompting Tsvangarai to say: “For us as the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), this is probably the darkest day of our lives, for the whole nation is waiting.”

At the heart of the dispute is control of key ministries in the power-sharing arrangement being pushed by the South African Development Community (SADC) and its chief mediator, former South African President Thado Mbeki. It appears that the SADC agreement is basically the same one that was put on the table last September, essentially undermining attempts by the Tsvangarai faction to assume some control over key ministries that the Mugabe camp refuses to cede.

In other words, Mbeki is promoting a compromise plan without a compromise. Although the plan calls for Tsvangarai to assume the post of prime minister, it also allows for Mugabe to appoint two vice-presidents from his ZANU-PF party, and it fails to specify which ministries will go to the MDC and which to ZANU-PF. MDC has made it clear that it wants — at least — Home Affairs and Finance, but Mugabe refuses to budge. So the Zimbabwean danse macabre continues.

This outcome, which spells disaster for the people of Zimbabwe, might have been avoided if Mbeki and the other SADC leaders had taken a harder line with Mugabe from the beginning. Instead, the Zimbabwean president feels he has a mandate to make whatever shoddy offer he pleases to his opponents in a take-it-or-leave-it strategy that Tsvangarai has decided is just too paltry.

Headlines dealing with Zimbabwe dwell on the collapsing economy and health-care system, and calls from international activists for military intervention are growing. But there are still people working within the broken-down Zimbabwean judicial system to address some critical legal issues, particularly around land-reform.

The issue is whether the people in Mugabe’s inner circle who benefited from land confiscations will be able to hold on to all of their ill-gotten gains, since the compromise agreement says explicitly that beneficiaries can only hold one farm at a time. Many white farmers view this as an opening to use the court system to get their land — or at least portions of it — back, and to resume pursuing their livelihoods on some of Africa’s richest soil.

The simple fact that white farmers have yet to pack up and leave their native country suggests that, from their perspective, there is still hope.

International activists who have called for military intervention seem to forget the lessons of the Congo, where marauding interveners from multiple countries raped and plundered their way across the landscape, doing nothing but enriching themselves while further destabilizing a chaotic situation. To think that wouldn’t happen in Zimbabwe is naïve.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user World Economic Forum under a Creative Commons license.

AUDIO: Elizabeth Shelburne of GlobalPost discusses South Africa’s efforts to deal with tuberculosis.

A tuberculosis patient at the Botsabelo Hospital in Lesotho.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of tuberculosis (TB) infection worldwide and has declared a national emergency in response to the disease.

TB is a source of stigma in the country, which forcibly quarantines patients.

Countries must weigh the civil liberties of patients infected with the airborne disease against the greater public’s health interests.

Blogger “Peter” writes about the new home care for patients with Extreme Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB).

The “Encyclopedia of Earth” blog argues that environmental risk factors must be addressed to solve the TB problem, saying that one group has helped families pay for an additional room to house the infected patient — thus lessening the chance of spreading infection.

Blogger “Rick Stark” criticizes South Africa’s practice of dumping infected migrant workers across the border, arguing that the “cruel” tactic only augments the spread of the disease.

For more on migrant labor’s role in South Africa’s tuberculosis problem, read a recent report: The mining sector, tuberculosis and migrant labor in Southern Africa [PDF].

Blogger “Ethan Zuckerman” posts the work of photographer James Nachtwey, who chronicled the lives of XDR-TB patients in Southern Africa in an effort to raise awareness and put a human face on the disease.

South African blogger “Ridwan” despairs at the average life span in his country, made worse by TB prevalence and poor medical care.

Drug-resistant TB dominated U.S. headlines over a year ago, when one infected man flew to and from Europe and another was imprisoned for failing to wear a protective mask in public.

In the 1950s, New York confined uncooperative TB patients to Rikers Island to prevent the spread of the disease.

In 2006, about 9.2 million new cases of TB were reported — a 40 percent increase from 1990. The United Nations fears that the global financial crisis will limit medical research and the rate of infection will worsen still.

For more on the global health challenge that tuberculosis presents, see the World Health Organization’s 2008 report on tuberculosis control.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Open Society Institute under a Creative Commons license.

Nationality laws vary greatly around the globe.

In Greece, for example, some children face insecurity and confusion because they are not Greek citizens, despite being born in and living in the country. In Japan, the government may pass a law granting 20,000 mixed race children Japanese citizenship.

When a child is born, he or she can gain a nationality in a variety of ways – from the place of birth or from parents’ nationalities or ethnicities; sometimes automatically and other times requiring an application process.

Standard basis for citizenship:
Jus soli — birthright — a rule that the citizenship of a child is determined by the place of its birth
Jus sanguinis — blood right — a rule that a child’s citizenship is determined by its parents’ citizenship

The chart below details the foreign populations in world countries, residency requirements for naturalization (excluding special factors such as marriage to a national) and types of citizenship.

Data is from 2005, the latest available date for comprehensive comparative information. For more detailed information on citizenship laws and requirements in a particular country, visit that country’s Web site.

	642,000 15.9% of population *	Residence for 1,350 days of past 5 years	Eliminated birthright  citizenship in 2006
	1.2 million 15.1% of population 40.9% are nationals	10 years continuous residence	Blood right
	585,000 14.1% of population 45.2% are nationals	3 years residence	Eliminated automatic birthright citizenship in 2004
	38.36 million 12.9% of population 46.4% are nationals	Legal residency for 5 years	Birthright
	10.14 million 12.3% of population	At least 8 years  residence	Blood right
	6.47 million 10.7% of population 53.1% are nationals	5 years residence	Blood right; delayed birthright (can acquire citizenship on request)
	5.41 million 9.1% of population	5 years residence	Many types of  citizenship (vary)
	974,000 8.8% of population 41.5% are nationals	10 of last 12 years	Blood right; birthright if  no other nationality  acquired
	2.52 million 4.3% of population 47.5% are nationals	10 years residence	Blood right; birthright if no other nationality acquired
	168,000 2.7% of population	3 years residence	Birthright
	1.11 million 2.3% of population	4 of 8 last years	Blood right
	124,000 2.3% of population	5 years residence	Blood right
	2.05 million 1.6% of population	5 years of residence	Blood right
	644,000 0.6% of population	5 years residence	Birthright; recognizes  dual nationality
	596,000 0% of population	Settlement in China	Blood right

*When data on foreign-born nationals is blank, the information is not available.
Sources: United Nations, NationMaster. Photos courtesy of Flickr users under a Creative Commons license.

Algae.

“Another day, another algae company,” says Michael Kanellos of Greentech Media.

Algae-based energy may not share the popularity of corn-based or sugar-based biofuels, but it is projected to be in commercial production within three years.

Along with green revolution trends like natural gas, nuclear power and ethanol fuel blends, people around the world are exploring a host of other “alternative” alternative fuels.

In Canada, a new cellulosic ethanol plant will make use of beetle-killed wood.

Blogger Patrick Kiger of “Is This a Good Idea?” weighs the idea of using artificial tornadoes to generate electricity.

Blogger “Naija Pundit” of “My Nigeria” excerpts a report from a Nigerian man using his septic tank as a bioreactor to generate electricity, provocatively joking that the success of this practice could put national power companies out of business.

In Patagonia, South America, plant scientist Gary Strobel has discovered a forest fungus that produces many of the same hydrocarbons found in diesel. Strobel proposes that it might be genetically combined with faster-reproducing bacteria to develop new energy sources.

In the arena of consumer vehicles, an air-powered CityCat car is schedule to arrive in the U.S. by early 2010. A version of the car was supposed to be in production in India in July, and the “Xtreme Machines” blog provides an overview of the machine.  Yet reports say that the technology is still in development.

Blogger Noel of “Green Stumbler” showcases other air-powered cars including South Africa’s Air Car, the South Korean Energine engine, and the French K’Airmobile.

Michael Kanellos at “Greentech Media” reports that Japanese car manufacturer Nissan is now developing a car that charges itself.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Olfert under a Creative Commons license.