Southern Africa's political leaders rallied round Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, and publicly lauded as a hero the man who has brought his country to the brink of total collapse. | Barf. |
Zimbabwe's combative justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, accompanying Mr Mugabe, said: "There are no political reforms necessary in my country. We are a democracy like any other democracy in the world." Human rights organisations say all Zimbabwean parliamentary and presidential elections since 200 have been heavily rigged, but the justice minister said: "We have a most efficient electoral system. I can't see how a system can be more transparent or any fairer."
As Mr Chinamasa spoke, reports surfaced that a 15-year-old boy and a security guard were crushed to death as hordes of shoppers had tried to buy scarce sugar in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo.