JOHANNESBURG – Having been deprived of seeing his own children grow up during his years in jail, Mandela has shown a commitment to improving the lives of youngsters, drumming up money from businesses to build schools in remote areas. At 83, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and successfully underwent treatment. In May 2004, Mandela…
CHIPINGE – Their labour is frowned upon by grown men, yet the children picking tea here are earning as little as $7 for a 25-day month. With heavily scarred legs as cutback tea stumps slash their naked legs and their sweat irrigate the crop, these children’s destitute labour help this agricultural sector remain profitable. While…
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe recently caught many unaware when he travelled to Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia for the African Golden Jubilee celebrations accompanied by his daughter, Bona. Mugabe’s wife, Grace did not travel with the president. Bona, 24 who resembles her mother, looked at ease as she walked the red carpet and greeted Zanu PF…
MUTARE – It is often referred to as the diamond city. But nothing glitters here. Only one traffic light works in Mutare — Zimbabwe’s fourth largest city sitting at the heart of rich diamond, gold and timber resources. The traffic light at the corner of Herbert Chitepo Street and Robert Mugabe Avenue at least represents…
HARARE – Standing on a 7 438m2 plot, Golden Peacock Hotel dwarfs the local environs. Owned by Chinese firm, Anjin Investments, which is mining diamond in Marange, the hotel is like a giant monster located just off the Mutare-Masvingo highway, which also leads to the diamond fields. Many local residents seem to have no idea…
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe is in the Far East in the latest in a series of whirlwind international trips, raising questions about what the 89-year-old leader seeks to achieve with this gruelling diplomatic schedule. He is visiting Japan to attend the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad), and flew out hardly a…
HARARE – Tobacco production in Zimbabwe is overshadowing the glitter of diamonds in the country by contributing more to the economy than most commodities. The golden leaf which has emerged in the past few years as one of Zimbabwe’s largest exports, accounting for a third of all foreign currency earnings, along with gold and other…
MPOSI – The minority Lemba (Varemba) people who have remained marginalised by the government are demanding back their Ngomalungundu which is believed to be the Ark of the Covenant and kept at a museum in Harare. Ngomalungundu is a scared and powerful ancestral drum which the Lemba people, also known as Black Jews, believe gives…
HARARE – Rural and small-scale farmers usually confined to mundane lives in their communities are painting parts of Harare red. They are financially strong thanks to the tobacco selling season. And they are not leaving Harare’s bright lights without having a taste of the capital’s fun and vice. For sex workers, information traders, petty thieves…
HARARE – They bask in the glory of fame and riches, but it is love which often becomes their Achilles’ heel. From hero to zero, most celebrities, rich business and powerful politicians successfully ride the tide but usually fall to the sword of love, often moving from glory to gory — all in the name…
