| Essay competitions among
school children will constitute a major feature of the commemorations of this
year’s SADC Day that will be celebrated on 17 August. The
theme of the essays will be “SADC in the next millennium; working together for Peace,
Progress and Prosperity”. The essays are to be written in English or Portuguese and
should be between 1.000 and 1.500 words and should discuss what SADC needs to do to attain
peace, progress and prosperity in the next millennium.
Each SADC member state will identify the schools that will
participate in the essay competition and three winners will be shortlisted at national
level. Zimbabwe has, through the media, invited all school children to participate in the
essay competition.
The SADC Secretariat has provided US$600 to each member state for
prizes to the winning essayists at the national level. The first prize will be worth
US$300 while US$200 and US$100 will be for the second and third prizes respectively. |
The winning national essays
will be sent to the SADC Secretariat where they will be adjudicated by a panel of judges
which will award US$1.000 for the first regional prize, US$750 for the second prize and
US$500 for the third prize. Students who win the regional prizes will be invited to the
SADC Day commemorations in Mozambique. Other attractions on
SADC Day will be a soccer tournament in which national teams compete, carnival parades
featuring school children, music, dance, poetry performances and fireworks.
Last year’s commemorations of the day were marked by a speech
from the Chairman of SADC, former South African President, Nelson Mandela.
He urged all member states to take pride in the speed with which
democratic culture has taken root after the elimination of one-party and apartheid rule.
“We want southern Africa to emerge as a powerful force in
rebirth of our continent and a region of choice for the international investor”, said
Mandela. |
Mpumelelo Mbangwa of ZimbabweCricket:
SA, Zimbabwe shine at world cup
Southern Africa’s cricket powerhouses, South Africa and
Zimbabwe managed to get into the “Super Six”, with the former reaching the
semifinal, stage of this year’s World Cup cricket tournament in England, underlining
the growth of the game in the region.
While South Africa was a hot pre-tournament favourite to lift the
cup, neighbours Zimbabwe were underdogs, just a rung above African rivals, Kenya.
Zimbabwe reached the Super Six stage of the globe’s premier
limited overs tournament with four points following sensational victories over South
Africa and India in the first round. In the Super six, Zimbabwe managed a point against
New Zealand in a rain-washed match, but was defeated by eventual tournament winners,
Australia, and previous holders as well as the tournament’s losing finalists,
Pakistan.
South Africa, which reached the semi-final stage, was edged by
Australia after drawing their game, with the latter going through by virtue of superior
final Super Six standings.
SADC Day to be marked by commemorative essays
SADC dance festival postponed to next year
Cosafa Castle cup under way
Cricket: SA, Zimbabwe shine at world cup
Health ministers sign co-operation
protocol
DRC: Ilunga new rebel leader
Angola: Concern over humanitarian
conditions
SADC peacekeeping centre opened
The ideology of militarism and human
security |
| The rebel Rassemblement
congolais pour la democratic (RCD) recently named medical doctor Emile Ilunga as its new
leader replacing the ousted Ernest Wamba dia Wamba. The
change was announced after a special congress of 50 RCD founder members and 22 military
commanders in the their capital Goma, the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported. The news
agency said the aim of the congress was to solve an internal power struggle which
intensified two months ago, culminating in Wamba transferring his base from Goma to
Kisangani. Another top official, Lunda Bululu, was also ousted from the leadership.
One of the new leader’s urgent tasks is to try and unify the
movement and resolve the squabbles that rocked the former leadership, RNA said. |
Other news organisations
quoted RCD official Bizima Karaha as saying Wamba’s exit was the “only way”
to resolve the leadership struggle. The movement also retained military commander
Jean-Pierre Ondekane and Moise Nyarugabo as first and second vice-presidents respectively.
Ondekane told AFP Ilunga was “an experienced man who has run military campaigns and
worked in politics”. Reacting to the reshuffle,
Uganda’s senior presidential adviser for media and public relations John Nagenda told
IRIN recently that the move “is none of our business”. “It does not concern
us, it is for the Congolese to decide,” he said.
In Nairobi, DRC embassy official Deo Safari said Wamba’s departure “casts a
shadow on the negotiation process”. |
| This year’s
Confederation of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) Castle Cup competition
have reached an advanced stage with the region’s football giants dominating the
preliminary rounds. Zambia and Zimbabwe were given a bye
into the last eight of the Castle Cup by virtue of reaching the finals last year and are
joined by Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
Malawi and Botswana were knocked out of the competition.
Zimbabwe lost 0-1 to neighbouring Zambia in last year’s final
but should have no difficulties in defeating Swaziland in the one-legged match to be
played in Mbabane on the weekend of 16 to 18 July. |
The recent draw for the
last eight held in Gaborone sought to separate the region’s soccer giants from
meeting each other. Angola, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe were seeded according to the
Fifa world rankings. No
country, however, would be seeded in the semi-finals, as a draw would determine the
pairings and venues, also on a one-leg basis. |