WATERLOO, Canada — Governments from the South are assuming leading roles in decisions on global issues such as climate change, health governance, trade regimes, and water and food security.

The election of Jacob Zuma to the South African presidency has raised concerns about the future of the 'Rainbow Nation'. "He has four wives!" read some of the headlines of the British tabloids, although we have never seen similar headlines for, say, Arab kings. It so happens that Zulus are polygamous, and that is an accepted practice under South African customary law.

outside the corridors of power of London and Washington (and even within some of them) Nelson Mandela, "Madiba" to his friends, is regarded as one of the very few iconic leaders of the 20th century - up there with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, Charles de Gaulle and Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.

As South Africa bade farewell to the eight African heads of state who had attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Cape Town, earlier this month, President Thabo Mbeki found himself having to answer yet more questions about last month's attacks on thousands of African migrant workers living in his country.