The South Africa Report
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Overview
History: After the British seized
the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers)
trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867)
and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation
of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments, but
were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902). The resulting Union of South
Africa operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate development
of the races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid politically and ushered
in black majority rule.
Africa, terrorism top G-8 agenda
Yomiuri Shimbun
Promoting support for development in Africa will be one of the major items
on the agenda at a
summit of leaders of the Group of Eight major powers to be held on June
26 and 27 in
Kananaskis, Canada, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Sunday.
The government is planning to declare that it will give African countries
several tens of billion of
yen in aid to encourage them to achieve financial independence, sources
said.
According to the sources, leaders at the summit will discuss three main
agenda items: the world
economy, cooperation in fighting terrorism and support for Africa. Official
documents are to be
adopted for future action, including "African action program" and "initiative
for nonproliferation
of weapons of mass destruction and a decrease in the threat of terrorism."
In addition, the
situation in the Middle East also is likely to be taken up at the summit
meeting.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will once again stress his efforts to
promote domestic
structural reforms, review past Japanese contributions to the antiterrorism
campaign and to
solving development problems in Africa and pledge Japan's continued involvement
in these
issues.
Canada, as host country and chair of the meeting, considers the problems
in Africa a high priority
and has invited the leaders of Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and South
Africa to attend the
meeting.
The G-8 leaders will draft an African action program to support those countries
efforts. They also
will discuss their basic policy for the U.N. World Summit on Sustainable
Development to be held
in Johannesburg in late August, in terms of coexistence between development
and environmental
conservation.
The Japanese government started the Tokyo International Conference on African
Development in
1993 and is preparing for its third meeting next year. The government intends
to urge the
international community to make greater efforts to help underdeveloped
African nations at the
summit meeting.
No country from the football-mad Africa has ever reached the quarter-final
stage of the World Cup,
soccer's showcase.
Although Africa is represented by only five countries, there are hopes
that this time round one of teams
will overcome the jinx of having never made it past the second round.
Cameroon, the African Nations Cup and Olympic Games
soccer champions, have as much chance as any of
achieving the feat to complete a Grand Slam in style.
With gifted players such as Samuel Eto'ofils and Geremi
N'Djitap, the Indomitable Lions stand a real chance of
making it to the last eight, or even four.
Senegal, the 2002 African Nations Cup runners-up,
Nigeria, the former Olympic champions, and South Africa
are as good as any of the 32 teams in Japan and Korea.
Only Tunisia did not impress in the lead up to the kick off
this weekend.
The five African flag-bearers have every reason to be proud of making
it to the finals of the month-long
fiesta, which gets underway in Korea and Japan on Friday this week.
But Africa will not only be going to the tournament with five teams,
it is also fielding a candidate for the
Fifa presidency.
This is happening at a time when Fifa, the international soccer governing
body, is embroiled in bickering
and politics.
Fifa goes to the polls on Tuesday this week, with the African Football
Confederation president, Issa
Hayatou, seeking to unseat the incumbent Joseph "Sepp" Blatter.
Blatter was recently accused of vote-rigging and "criminal offences"
by Fifa's five members who instituted
legal proceedings against him three weeks ago.
Five Fifa vice-presidents, including, Hayatou himself, Blatter's only
rival in the May 29 election, and the
president of of UEFA Lenhart Johansson, were among the 11-man group
that filed a complaint in Zurich,
Fifa headquarters.
The move came a week after the Fifa general secretary, Michel Zen-Rufinen
presented a report to the
executive committee accusing Blatter of corruption, impropriety and
financial mismanagement.
Blatter has not only refused to stand down, he has also repeatedly denied the charges.
Just over two months ago members of the Council of East and Central
African Football Association
(Cecafa) met in Nairobi and resolved to vote for Hayatou "en-masse."
But no sooner had that decision been taken than cracks began to appear.
Four countries - Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Sudan - went back on
their word and announced their
intention to vote for Blatter instead of Hayatou.
But Cecafa secretary-general Nicholas Musonye is unworried.
He says: "With most of our member-associations standing by our decision, I feel we shall carry the day.
"The countries which have gone against the resolution unanimously reached
during our meeting in
Nairobi, have done so in bad faith."
Links
Sources
Visit the official website of the 2002 World Cup
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