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A message from this feed's publisher: Today, Durban is the busiest container port in Africa and a popular tourist destination. The Golden Mile, developed as a welcoming tourist destination in the 1970s, as well as Durban at large, provide ample tourist attractions, particularly for people on holiday from Johannesburg. It lost its international holiday pre-eminence to Cape Town in the 1990s, but remains more popular among domestic tourists. The city is also a gateway to the national parks and historic sites of Zululand and the Drakensberg. Durban and its suburbs are hilly, with very few flat areas, except for locations in and around the central business district and the harbour. The western suburbs off Hillcrest and Kloof are significantly higher above sea-level, reaching up to 850 metres (2,789 ft) in the community of Botha's Hill. Many gorges and ravines are found within the metropolitan area. There is almost no true coastal plain.
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African jitters over blogs and social media
Posted: 2011-06-19 05:18:19 UTC-06:00
African governments are turning to more sophisticated techniques to block internet sites and bloggers who they perceive to be a threat. That is the conclusion of The Committee for the Protection of Journalists, who together with the internet giant Google SA, have gathered African journalists together in Johannesburg's financial hub Sandton to take stock in the wake of the North African uprisings. In recent months we have seen the traditional means of blocking content continue. Uganda, for instance, turned off social networking sites in April during the peak of the "walk-to-work" campaign.
Though it denied doing so at first, the Uganda Communications Commission wrote to service providers asking them to "block the use of Facebook and Twitter" and "to eliminate the connection and sharing of information that incites the public".
The BBC saw a copy of the letter. In June, the Rwandan site Umuvugizi was blocked as its editor was sentenced in absentia to more than two years in jail for insulting the President Paul Kagame in an opinion piece.
And in Swaziland, SMS and the Facebook site were suspended during the much-trumpeted protest marches that failed to take off at the start of April.
But these "technical blocks" are fast becoming surpassed by "more sophisticated and targeted tools using Malware", says Danny O'Brien from the CPJ.
Cloning websites - He says a tactic that was previously used in China, Malware enables an individual's website to be infiltrated via a virus or spyware designed to damage a user's system and "suck out important content".
It also enables the "infiltrator" to clone the original system and send out information that would be hard to detect as being fake.
There is evidence that this sophisticated tool is being used in Tanzania and Sudan, according to Tom Rhodes, CPJ's East Africa lead.
JamiiForums, a Swahili language version of Wikileaks, is being "cloned" by Tanzania's government to disrupt conversations of opponents, he says.
There has been no comment from the Tanzanian authorities on this.
Nevertheless with Chinese influence in Africa growing rapidly, should journalists and bloggers be more concerned?
Google thinks so.
The company has found its search engine periodically blocked by China over the past decade and Ory Okolloh, its feisty government relations manager, is a trailblazer for media freedom.
She was the brainchild behind the Kenyan site Ushahidi, which used mapping technology and mobile phones to help identify sites of post-election violence in 2008.
Given the events in the Middle East and North Africa, Ms Okolloh argues that there is a "growing need among individuals and organisations in the forefront of online freedom of expression, to learn about the complex issues surrounding news technology products and social media tool".
Journalist defence networks agree. "Governments now have unprecedented access to the wires and pipes of the internet," says Mr O'Brien.
What is more, with 80% of those Africans using the internet accessing it via mobile phones, the breadth of information that can be gleaned is much greater.
Mobile phones require government licences and greater co-operation between providers and the authorities, and so the pressure to suspend services cannot be underestimated.
Internet accessed by smart phone users not only tells a hacker what sites are being monitored and who they are talking to, but it will also gather information on their precise geographical location and what they are seeing.
This is no longer the stuff of sci-fi movies but the everyday reality of citizen journalists everywhere. Timothy Kalyegira was in a Ugandan prison cell facing charges of criminal libel last week.
A few days later the Ugandan journalist and blogger was out on bail as one of the delegates of the meeting in a plush hotel in Sandton.
Mr Kalyegira's "crime" in the eyes of the Ugandan government was to stray into the sensitive territory of security issues. On his website, the Uganda Record, he questioned whether it really was the Somali Islamist organisation al-Shabab that was behind last year's World Cup bombings in Kampala.
Some will undoubtedly appreciate Uganda's argument that is an issue of national security, but many of the other delegates who joined Mr Kalyegira in Sandton have felt the strong arm of the law for what may seem far more "benign" reasons.
For instance simply posting a view on Facebook, publishing a cartoon or publishing a few tweets on Twitter. These men and women earn a pittance from their online work; they do not enjoy the diplomatic cover that big news organisations receive when things go wrong; but they are rapidly becoming the voices of dissent.
Just like the "samizdat" illegal publications in cold war Europe were the engine of change in the late 1980s, so the voices of the Rwandans, Ethiopians, Ivorians and Nigerians gathered in Sandton are making contributions that are rattling governments continent wide.
Credits: BBC and Karen Allen Southern Africa correspondent, BBC News
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Michelle Obama's trip to southern Africa
Posted: 2011-06-19 02:03:27 UTC-06:00
Michelle Obama's trip to southern Africa to focus on youth. First lady Michelle Obama's official trip to southern Africa next week will focus on youth leadership and education, and will include meetings with key figures in the anti-apartheid struggle.
Obama will make stops in South Africa and Botswana during the weeklong visit that starts Monday.
She will highlight the benefits of education and wellness, and urge youth in the continent to be part of the national dialogue, according to the White House.
"The trip is a continuation of Mrs. Obama's work to engage young people, especially girls and young women, at home and abroad," the White House said.
The first lady's first stop will be in Pretoria, where she will meet with South African President Jacob Zuma.
Before heading to Johannesburg and Cape Town, she will take a tour of an apartheid museum with Nelson Mandela's wife, Graca Machel.
She will also visit Robben Island, where Mandela was held for the majority of the 27 years he was in detention for fighting apartheid.
The schedule released by the White House did not mention a meeting with the 92-year-old former president.
The latter part of the trip includes a meeting with Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and a visit to Soweto and the site of the 2010 World Cup.
Her visit to neighboring Botswana will include a tribute to girls overcoming hurdles to success.In addition to visits with top leaders, she will also attend a series of public events, meet embassy officials and take part in community service projects in both countries.
After a safari, she will depart from the Botswana capital of Gaborone on Sunday.
Her visit marks the second to sub-Saharan Africa by a member of the Obama family since the president took office more than two years ago.
President Barack Obama went to Ghana in 2009.The first lady made similar trips to Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom. She will be accompanied by her mother, Marian Robinson, and two daughters, Sasha and Malia.
Credits: CNN here...
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Lunar eclipse over South Africa
Posted: 2011-06-19 04:47:15 UTC-06:00
SA in pole position for eclipse. Astronomers say that South Africans are in one of the best positions to view tonight's total lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes behind the earth, so that the earth blocks the sun's rays from striking the moon.
Claire Flanagan from Joburg's Planetarium about what is in store for tonight:
"If you go out, then you'll see the full moon. Then, from about 8.22pm it will start going into the shadow of the earth," she said.
"It will be very, very easy to see. You'll notice the edge of it getting like a shadow on it, until it gets bigger and bigger and bigger until the moon's completely in the shadow of the earth. That will take about an hour to happen. And then it will probably be glowing a dullish red colour for another hour-and-a-half, then after 11 o'clock it will start to recover."
Flannegan says experiencing a full lunar eclipse over your particular part of the world is quite rare. The next one over South Africa will be in 2015.
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South African president to meet Gadhafi
Posted: 2011-06-19 04:47:27 UTC-06:00
South African president to meet Gadhafi next week. President Jacob Zuma will visit Tripoli next week for talks with embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, according to a statement on the South African leader's website. Zuma will meet Gadhafi Monday in "his capacity as a member of the African Union high level panel for the resolution of the conflict in Libya," the statement said.
The African Union panel to Libya includes Uganda, Mauritania and South Africa.
It is the second trip for Zuma, who was part of an African Union delegation that visited the nation last month. That visit included talks on a cease-fire, which appear to have failed.
The visit is part of an international effort to end a months-long standoff as forces loyal to Gadhafi battle rebels demanding his ouster.
A coalition of nations under NATO have struck military targets in the nation as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians.
The airstrikes started in March after the United Nations Security Council authorized "all necessary measures" to protect civilians from government forces eager to crush the uprising.
Zuma's visit comes amid a diplomatic spat between the two nations over the fate of South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who has been missing in Libya since April and is believed dead.
South Africa says it got assurances from Libya that the journalist was alive. But a Libyan government spokesman said his whereabouts are unknown.
"We never had him with us at any stage," spokesman Musa Ibrahim said.
As the clashes and airstrikes rage on, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has requested arrest warrants for Gadhafi and two relatives, linking them to "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilians as they struggle to retain power in Libya.
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said the court in The Hague will also investigate allegations of institutionalized rape in the war-torn country.
Gadhafi welcomes the court's investigation, a government official said, adding that prosecutors "have not been to Libya to do an investigation" amid the allegations.
Content and image credits: CNN
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Africa attractive to investors
Posted: 2011-06-19 04:47:41 UTC-06:00
Africa's attractiveness as a place to invest is growing, according to a survey about business across the continent. At the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, Ernst & Young spoke to over 500 companies around the world, as well as Africans themselves, about how attractive it is to do business in the continent.
The results? Africa is becoming increasingly attractive to international investors.
But it's not all good news for African business. The survey shows that Africa is seen as an attractive investment primarily by Africans and then by emerging markets - but less so by developed countries.
"We looked at it relative to foreign investment and that's where we saw a concerning trend, and the concerning trend there is Africa only gets about 4.5% of global foreign direct investment flows," explained Ajen Sita, CEO of Ernst & Young in Africa.
"Given the optimism, the confidence in Africa and its potential, that 4.5% is about $100 billion - it's not enough," he continued.
The findings also point to a deepening relationship between the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the rest of Africa.
But Ernst & Young points out that compared to other emerging markets, Africans are more optimistic towards business opportunities.
"It's quite interesting - confidence levels in Africa are better than Brazil, better than Russia, less than America, parts of the Soviet states, only lag behind Asia, but capital flow's only at 4.5%," Sita said.
Sita explained that these findings show Africa needs to be getting its message out more effectively.
"There's an interesting expression in Africa: The hunter is a storyteller and the lion isn't. And Africa is in the same position - it needs a storyteller," he said.
"It is filled with abundant competitive advantage -- whether it's the billion people population, whether it's the natural resources, the agriculture sector which has an opportunity to provide food security for the rest of the world," he added. "But we don't see enough of that story or enough of that proposition to the rest of the world."
However, Sita says it's not just the news agencies fault for choosing to cover other stories but the fact that Africa is such a big place.
"Africa's one billion people reside in more than 50 countries; there are about four different time zones, there's different languages, regulatory environments," he explained. "What we really need in Africa is a common economic market and a single vision for the continent, as opposed to navigating 50-plus countries.
"The feeling among investors is that the continent needs to break down regional barriers so that trade within Africa can be increased.
Read the complete report at CNN here...
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Sand creations bring life to Durban beach front
Posted: 2011-06-19 04:47:58 UTC-06:00
If holiday-makers building sand castles on the beach in South Africa's port of Durban need inspiration, they do not have far to look. Half-way down the golden sands to the cascading waves of the Indian Ocean there usually lies a collection of amazingly lifelike sand sculptures in the form of cars, buildings and wild animals.
These works can take up to a week to complete but can be destroyed in a matter of minutes. So why do their creators make them? For Siboniso Shezi, a 16-year-old homeless teenager, sculpting often means he doesn't have to go to bed on an empty stomach. "Sometimes people are really impressed by what we do and give us money," he says.
"I enjoy what I do because it keeps me out of trouble. I also like getting donations from the tourists who visit Durban." His car sculpture took him and a friend three days to complete. The perfectly named Sandile Dube, 17, lives more than 40 kilometers outside Durban.
"I use some of the money I make to travel between home and the beach. Some days I make up to 100 rand ($13; £9) a day, it makes me feel proud to earn a living on my own." "I love making sand sculptures, most of them include wild animals because they fascinate me. His latest masterpiece is a woman whose head is stuck inside a leopard's mouth.It used to take me weeks to finish one thing but now I can finish big statues in two days”
Mr Dube pays meticulous attention to detail, he uses black sand to create the spots on the animal's body and carefully carves its teeth with a sharp object. "I see pictures of wild animals in magazines - that image stays in my head until I make a sculpture of it," he says.
Tourists stop to admire the figure as it nears completion, they drop coins on a handkerchief he has laid out a few inches away from him - next to a piece of cardboard urging "please support". Passers-by sometimes offer to extra money so they can take photographs near the works of art.
Mr Dube has been making sculptures since he was 13 years old but says his skill has improved over the years. "It used to take me weeks to finish one thing but now I can finish big statues in two days," he boasts.
Sculptors line up along Durban's north and south beaches, either working on a new design or rebuilding one that was destroyed overnight by heavy rains or wind. Mr Shezi says none of them have formal training and adds that creativity is important here.Lungile Dlamini, 32 agrees.
He is one of the oldest sculptors working from the Durban beach front and says the younger sculptors offer some healthy competition. "You have to stay on top of your game and always be creative; I enjoy the competition we have here."
He specialises in sculptures of buildings - from modest huts, including a recreation of the village of Zulu King Shaka, to skyscrapers. He has been working along the beach front for the past 10 years. Mr Dlamini is from Umlazi township, approximately 20 kilometres outside Durban and commutes to town daily - just to get his hands on the sand. "I enjoy recreating homes or buildings I've seen. I think what we do goes a long way in further beautifying the beach," he says.
And while it could be frustrating to see all your efforts flattened by the high tide each day, at least it means he starts each day with a blank canvas.
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Tourism boss praises Durban
Posted: 2010-03-02 06:41:15 UTC-07:00
A lot has changed - for the better - in Durban in the six years since the president of one of the world's most influential tourism organizations was last here. "There is a vision and the city is projecting itself into the future ... there is a big improvement," said the impressed Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president and chief executive of the London-based World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
"Six years ago, people were very concerned about security, but now it seems things have changed for the better. The city seems to have addressed the real problems."
The council consists of 100 top chief executives in the travel and tourism business: global decision makers in an industry which includes hotels, airlines, tour operating companies, car rentals, cruises and booking systems.
South Africa and the continent is represented on the council by Jabo Mabuza of Tsogo Sun, who is also the chairman of South African Tourism. Baumgarten is in the country to attend this week's UN World Tourism Organisation Summit on Tourism, Sport and Mega-events in Joburg, where he is giving a presentation.
But before then, he flew to Durban, where he was met at the airport by Premier Zweli Mkhize, who presented him with a souvenir Bafana Bafana shirt, and was hosted by Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN).
He also met Mike Mabuhukhulu, the MEC for economic development and tourism, as well as local tourism organisations and key players in the industry.
Baumgarten was also on a site visit, checking out the tourism and other facilities that the city has to offer.
Durban is bidding for the council's prestigious 2011 annual global summit, to be attended by heads of state and tourism ministers from around the world, as well as non-council key players and media.
He visited the award-winning Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, boarded a helicopter to fly over the new King Shaka International Airport, Hazelmere Dam, the Valley of Thousand Hills, went to uShaka Marine World, and checked out local hotels. And he was blown away by what he saw at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Baumgarten recalled that 20 years ago governments around the world did not understand the value of tourism.
Now that was changing, partly because of the WTTC, which handled issues of global importance , spending millions of dollars every year to show the impact of travel and tourism on the economy.
"We don't do it because we like to play with numbers, but because it helps when I see the head of a government to highlight the economic impact of tourism," he said.
The biggest issue which council members have to tackle at the moment is the recession, he said, and how they can help governments restart their economies and what role travel and tourism can play.
Governments which spent trillions of dollars on their financial systems now had a tendency to look to where they could raise taxes.
"There is a danger of them using travel and tourism as the golden goose,"he said. "The UK has already come out with plans to raise taxes on long-haul flights. But we are fiercely fighting that. They must rather take it from the bankers: they can afford it."
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Ready to host the best tournament ever.
Posted: 2010-02-22 10:12:59 UTC-07:00
Durban in full swing for the world cup. With just 108 days to go to the world cup, Kwa-Zulu Natal’s provincial government said on Monday it is ready to host the best tournament ever. Premier Zweli Mkhize launched the provinces mass awareness campaign on Monday afternoon.
Mkhize chose the Durban Country Club as the venue for launching the campaign because of its sweeping view of the newly constructed Moses Mabhida soccer stadium.
He said the beautiful building bares testimony to his claim the province is ready for the world cup.
Mkhize also used the opportunity to go public with the finer details about security and emergency services readiness, fun-parks, and the upgrades to local infrastructure.
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Up and about
Posted: 2010-02-22 01:56:20 UTC-07:00
Came in late at Nosy Be, not such a nice place as it used to be at Antananarivo. At least as I recall... it's been years... just like Durban. However, Nosy Be seem to be same old - plain and simple beautiful....
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First time since 2002...
Posted: 2010-02-21 17:51:31 UTC-07:00
Just passing thru for 36 hours (inclusive sleep - lol) in way to Nosy Be, Madagascar to check a scuba resort with a interested buyer, Jean. Good travel companion.. ;-) Lot's of laughing all the way. Stayed at hotel on Marine Drive, Bluewaters. Went to Joe Cools. Drive to La Mercy to check route to airport. Lot's of changes. Drive by "old" house. Memories..... Want make it on way back to "Durbs" since going via Maputo. Jean want's 2012 start scuba biz in Madagascar and Mazambique as well some RSA. Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks and of course Sodwana Bay. Will see how it goes... More later..... Try to maintain this a little now here with my brain-farts... (yeah, promises, promises... since I have not enough already... well, I try)
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