For those of you in Africa...

What kinds of things are going on in South Africa & other regions right now?
I hear things are stirring in Zimbabwe as well?

Thanks

hi rock, there is a whole lot happening in our region, in sa things are going the same as from 1994 ,on a downhill trend im sorry to say that the cart is now gaining speed and i fear the brakes are overheating the wheels are slightly wobely and the driver is wide eyed antiscipating desaster but in flat-out denial, looking at his comments that he made on the zim election desaster and our current crime wave we are expieriancing,if the current prez of zim will only accept defeat and call off his troops, they can be on a speedy road to discovery before all animal life and farms are destroyd.

I have read reports of wildlife abuses, human rights abuses and the like.  It's nauseating that it can't be stopped even when the people cry out for help.
I believe Mugabe in the early to mid 1980s, killed approximately 20,000 of his countrymen in Matabeleland.  (Sounds like Iraq or Kosovo) Even his recent record of human rights violations and racist violence is ghastly.   And if seething racism, in itself, does not qualify as a weapon of mass destruction, I guess I don’t know what does.  

This tyrant began his manipulation of the polls when he made life so intolerable for opposition supporters that many fled the country.   He started a program to clean up slums in Harare, an opposition stronghold, making countless people homeless and, therefore, disqualified for voting.  He instituted a redistricting program that favored his party.  He used his youth soldiers to intimidate citizens.  He moved the election date ahead of schedule to March 29th.  He made it illegal to speak negatively about the regime, making a criminal out of anyone who dared run against him or even called a meeting to discuss opposing the regime.  Obviously I could go on and on.  

The irregularities regarding the current election are exhaustingly numerous and criminally complex.

Mugabe and his cronies continue to terrorize Zimbabwe of course, and with they think with good reason.  Those appointed by Mugabe have much to lose should he not be able to claim the presidency; cars, farms, houses, lifestyles in general.  Shame.  They should have thought of that before they agreed to participate in thug politics.

But the Zimbabwe people need a leader who is not “styling” while they are starving.  I’m with them all the way, even if I am powerless to do anything except speak.

bwana i cannot agree with you more african leaders think they are above the law or immune from critisism mainly because their neighbors condone their indiscretions or will just turn a blind eye because of the mentality if the west hates it it is good for africa, but like you say we can speak up but our hands are tied. for us living here it is even more frustrating.should you speak out you are branded as a racist.

Mugabe's time is up. He may not go down without a fight but if he brings one on I don't think he will escape retrobution from the rest of the world. No one has been willing to intervein, and many felt Britain would as Zim was once their colony (Rhodesia). I hope to return soon, but I don't see change in the way indigenous people run their Gov't. Just one big mess after another. grayghost

On the upside Zimbabwe is currently experiencing 20-30% PER WEEK inflation.  That's no good for anybody who lives there, but for a traveller it might be good news.  Last I checked the exchange rate was 1 US Dollar = 40,000,000,000 Zimbabwe Dollars (Yes, 40 Billion)

I wonder just how much worse it can get?!?

I know someone that is there right now on a lion hunt, I'll let you guys know what he says when he gets back. I told him before he left that I didn't know what was more dangerous, the game he was hunting or the country he was hunting it in. I also asked him to put me in his will for his really nice 03-A3 just in case.

They guy that I know that went to Zimbabwe had a successfull hunt. He didn't have any trouble at any of the check points because he was a hunter and that's about the only thing that they've got going for them now. He was advised to keep his camera hidden lest he be mistaken for a journalist.

Despite the drag of the depressed stock and property markets, the city's GDP grew 10.3 percent to 653.07 billion yuan in the first half of 2008, a whisker below the national growth rate of 10.4 percent in the same period, Shanghai municipal statistics bureau said.A crane carries materials in front of the OrientalFFXI Gil Pearl Tower in Shanghai's Lujiazui. [Bloomberg]  The downturn of activities in the property sector weighed down the GDP growth rate by 0.4 percent, while the bearish securities dofus kamasmarket made "zero contribution" to economic growth, said Cai Xuchu, the bureau's chief economist and spokesman. In contrast, the two sectors contributed 19 percent to the city's growth in the first six months of 2007, he said.According to Cai, Shanghai's housing sales slid 18.5 percent in the first half to reach 12.28 million sq m, of which 10.7 million sq m were newly built residential apartments.Because of its openness, "the Shanghai economy is more exposed to the influences of global economic conditions. That's why Shanghai's GDP growth lagged behind the nationwide level for the second time since 1992", Cai said. Theworld of warcraft gold first time this happened was in 2005.He added that the city's growth was also affected by the elimination of outdated production facilities in the ongoing economic restructuring. "The development of the service industry was hampered by the bearish stock market and tepid real estate sector," he said.The city's consumer price index (CPI), the barometer of inflation, rose 7.1 percent in the first six months of this year from the same period a year ago.Shanghai would still face inflation pressure in the next half fuelled by the likely price increases of edible oil and vegetable products, Cai said.The bureau's figures also showed that Shanghai's fixed-asset investment rose 2.3 percent to hit 197.2 billion yuan in the first six months, downwow gold 7.3 percent from the first half of last year due to the tightening macroeconomic control, decreased number of infrastructure development projects and the shrinking of capital supply.The investment in real estate development climbed 3.8 percent to 64.3 billion yuan in the first half, but the growth rate shed 2.4 percentageage of Conan gold points from the same period of last year. In addition, 54.3 billion yuan was dived into the industrial investment from January to June, down 7.8 percent from last year.Shanghai's import and export volume still climbed 23.2 percent to reach $157.6 billion in the first half. The export sector gained $80.4 billion with 25.1 percent growth last year, despite the declining demand in overseas market.

mugabe tried to gain entrance to communist china to attend the Olympics. While the Zimbabwe team was welcomed, mugabe was barred entrance and told to leave. Pretty bad when the commies don't want you.

Blessed Be

SharonAnne

Pretty rich coming from China.
They're up there with the worst when it comes to the destruction of native animals and widespread human rights abuses.
There are a couple of species of freshwater dolphin that are now completely extinct due to the new dam project they put up there.
And what sort of democratic rights do the Tibetans have?
That's not even mentioning the fact that China executes political prisoners, harvests their organs and then sells them off to westerners at the highest price possible.
If you're rich, have no conscience and don't want to wait for a new heart/kidney/liver just hook up with the Chinese.
Zimbabwe is terrible but the Chinese are 100 times worse.

I did a eco-4x4 tour in the Eastern side (Wankie) / Robins camp / Pandamatenga area in April 2008. Zimbabwe is in chaos...Rather stick to hunting, tour, photograpic grounds in the South, West and East of Zim. Mugabe time is up, and i hope they can sort out all there problems before 2010 because Zimbabwe is a wonderful country to do sight seeing.

Do n ot spam the boards with the same thing posted over and over again.
 
Thx,
Daryl

What can you hunt in Zimbabwe?
And how bad is the cholera outbreak?
Mugabe declared it over a few days back but secret BBC footage seemed to suggest it was far from finished.