All quiet on the northern front for SA firms
THE BIG READ: Business as unusual in Zimbabwe
Business unruffled by Harare's placid coup
South African companies operating in Zimbabwe are playing it safe, with some putting in daytime shifts only while others have relocated staff - but most have adopted a wait-and-see attitude as analysts caution that the political crisis is unlikely to be resolved soon. Zimbabwe faces an uncertain future after armed forces chief General Constantine Chiwenga led a military intervention against President Robert Mugabe, placing him under house arrest. Mugabe, 93, has governed Zimbabwe since 1980. Liesl Louw-Vaudran, Africa expert at the Institute for Security Studies, said concerns remained. Factional fighting in Zanu-PF over succession, coupled with the economic implosion in 2008, has had "everyone in the region anxious for a long time". There was a sense that things were coming to a head, but anything could still happen, she said this week. "Military intervention ... could turn out to be a transition to a democratic system. But [as] we have seen in other African countries, it could per...
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