Mbeki on Zimbabwe, Another Beetroot Solution?
President Mbeki’s stance on Zimbabwe should be seen in the context of his approach to crises of similar magnitude. We, as Zimbabweans, would be expecting too much from the Mbeki administration, given its track record on dealing with the HIV crisis in South Africa. Mbeki has drawn controversial lines in the battle against the HIV [...]
Bravery in the Congo, A Zimbabwean Fighter Pilot Recounts
FIGHTING a war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of miles away from their homeland and sharing trenches with unpredictable allies who crossed the floor in the heat of the storm, Zimbabwean soldiers went through an experience that exposed them to the dynamics of modern warfare.
Bravery in the Congo, A Zimbabwean Fighter Pilot Recounts
This story originally appeared in The Saturday Herald, Zimbabwe By Tawanda Kanhema 12 August 2004 FIGHTING a war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of miles away from their homeland and sharing trenches with unpredictable allies who crossed the floor in the heat of the storm, Zimbabwean soldiers went through an experience that exposed [...]
Curse of the Marange Diamonds: Diamond rush triggers negative social repercussions
The Marange diamond rush, however lucrative, has triggered an array of negative social repercussions for the community. TAWANDA KANHEMA was in Chiyadzwa recently and discovered that besides the looming demolition of houses within diamond fields, the sudden wave of prosperity among villagers driven by the diamond craze, while attracting a heavy police and military presence, is fueling moral decadence. Money laundering, promiscuity, alcoholism and fraud have become commonplace as the illicit diamond economy expands, attracting swarms of police patrols to the small rural community. Villagers now speak with diamonds under their tongues, as they try to avoid detection.
Foreigners join Marange diamond rush
Constant police raids along the highway have not significantly dented the illicit trade as locals continue to advertise and sell their diamonds to motorists at growth points and on the streets in Mutare.
Botswana fence rips families apart
The fence at Maitengwe is barely high enough to keep foraging livestock from crossing to either side of the border in the dry region, and villagers leisurely leap over the rusty fence to buy basics, mourn their relatives, marry and make merry just as the Tswana did before Zimbabwe’s independence in the 1980. The area has well pronounced footpaths that lead to numerous crossing points, and animals grazing in the area have trampled on the fence in search of water upstream in the heavily siltated Maitengwe river, which meanders across the border.