Dietrichsen is one of that dwindling band of diplomats who represented both the apartheid regime and South Africa’s new democracy led by President Nelson Mandela.

His memoir contains gems of a unique history that includes the complex and often exasperating transition between the two.

Dietrichsen writes in a detailed, discursive manner that reminds one of the procedural style adopted by writers of the increasingly popular Nordic Noir genre.

Presumably he owes this either to the kilometers of diplomatic drafts he was required to write in a 35 year career in the foreign service or to his Danish heritage, which explains the puzzling title of the book.

Full disclosure, I did military service with the author in D company of the Army Gymnasium in 1967.

He went on to graduate from the Military Academy in Saldhana Bay. He hung up is uniform in 1972 to join the foreign service.

Over the years, we met up a receptions and foreign affairs events – he as a diplomat and public servant, me as a journalist.

This book puts meat on the bones of what I learned about his rather stellar career.

More importantly, it is a concise and well constructed history of the demise of apartheid and the birth of South Africa’s democracy.

Apart from experiences abroad, he played a role driving the rapprochement with neighbouring Mozambique through the Nkomati Accord; in the eventual inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president; and in the formation of the diverse new Department of International Relations.

The book  is elaborately  embroidered with his personal experiences and family tales. 

His three daughters, who have personally distinguished themselves thanks to or perhaps despite his unsettled diplomatic wanderings, add a colourful tailpiece to the book.

They were clearly inspired by their father’s sense of curiosity and adventure and took full advantage of the opportunities provided by his peripatetic lifestyle.

Dietrichsen overcame the disappointment at being pushed aside to make way for an “affirmative” appointment , having been named as ambassador to Indonesia and received agrement  from the host government.

He went on to become ambassador to Switzerland  Liechtenstein  and Ireland.

He left the department in 2007 to accompany his wife on her posting to Hanoi. 

Never one to put up his feet, he has embarked on an academic career training the leaders of tomorrow.

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The jury remains out on whether the African Union’s determination to silence the guns this year will be actualised.

Anglophone rebels of the Southern Cameroons Defence Force have agreed for humanitarian reasons to lay down their arms while the battle rages against COVID 19.

The larger Ambazonia Defence Force has yet to say it is calling off its three-year insurgency.

In Mozambique the Islamist separatists in the gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado have got even tougher.

In the past week they have raided two towns, sending residence fleeing in boats to the provincial capital Pemba.

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Analysts fear that,  like Al Shabaab, the terror group will use relatively soft targets in Africa to show it is still operational.

So-called Islamic State has made its deadly presence felt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Mozambique, Mali and Burkina Faso.

The news portal Defence Web says this should of concern to South Africa’s National Defence Force which might be called in to protect neighbors from the Southern African Development Community.

The ISIS fighters have not been flown in to African locations. They have come in smaller numbers escaping fighting in Syria and Iraq, bringing with them experience, skills, techniques and tactics.

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The watchdog group wants the pontiff to talk about human rights to heads of state, civil society representatives, diplomats and community leaders he will see in Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius.

Amnesty International says Pope Francis should use the pomp of his visit to cast the spotlight on human rights.

AI says there are serious violations in Mozambique where journalists and human rights defenders have been assaulted.

In Madagascar it lists prolonged pretrial detention in inhumane conditions.

The Pope arrives in Maputo tomorrow and moves on to Antananarivo on Thursday and Port Louis next Monday 

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He’s been stuck in a lift in the Vatican for 25 minutes and had to be recused by firefighters.

From his balcony overlooking the throng on St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis apologized for being late for his customary Sunday meeting with the masses.

He explained he had been stuck in a lift which he has had been caused by a drop in tension of the the electricity. 

The pontiff asked the faithful to applaud the firemen who had rescued him.

In his address he said the world was undergoing a climate emergency and urged governments to take drastic measures to stop global warming.

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He will not, however, travel beyond the capitals of Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius.

ends intro

Pope  Francis is adamant that the authorities in the three countries he’s visiting should not splash out on hosting  him. He wants only the most basic requirements.

Nevertheless the Mozambique government has spent R5-million getting ready for the papal visit.

Campaigning is underway for elections there in a fortnight.

Smaller parties have started slowly because money they are due from the electoral commission is late.

Residents of Beira, still recovering from cyclone Idai that killed more than 600 people six months ago are disappointed they will not get to see the Pope. 

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The copper coin from the Kilwa Sultanate pre- dates by 800 years the European discovery of Australia.

Archaeologist Mike Hermes says the discovery of the Kilwa coin draws into question who exactly discovered Australia.

Finding how it made the 10 000 km journey  to Northern Australia could turn on its head what we know about global trade.

The Kilwa Sultinate spread from the Horn of Africa down to Mozambique along what is known as the Swahili Coast.

Historian Mike Owen says the coin is the Holy Grail for the Past Masters who’ve been scouring the coastline for rock art, stone tools, shipwrecks and human remains looking for evidence of Australia’s past.

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She’ll be accompanied to Beira and Chimanini by mining magnate and humanitarian POatrice Motsepe.

ends intro

Foreign minister  Lindiwe Sisulu will visit South African and United Nations rescue teams working to help those displaced by the flooding two weeks ago.

She’s carrying food, clothes, water and blankets collected from South African businesses and individuals.

The death toll from the cyclone in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi and South Africa is approaching 700, although the final number might never be be known.

Sisulu will visit South African National Defense Force rescuers and compatriots who have volunteered  to do para-medical and rescue work for NGOs 

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In Mozambique, which was hit twice by the wind and water, people are still being plucked from trees or rescued from roofs.

Hundreds have died and the toll could exceed 1000.

The worst weather disaster to strike the southern hemisphere has changed forever the lives of millions who have lost family members, homes and livelihoods.

Pope Francis, speaking in the Vatican yesterday, appealed for international help.

The governments of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi acknowledge that the disaster is too big for them to handle unassisted.

Food and clean water is an immediate need in affected areas.

Unless immediately addressed, disease and even more deaths are inevitable.

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This follows the assertion by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu that Manuel Chang, who has been held in Johannesburg since last December  will be returned to Mozambique.

US Assistant Secretary of State Tibor Nagy says in a telephone interview today that Washington expects South Africa to honor its 20-year-old agreement with the US and extradite Manuel Chang.

He’s wanted in the US for his part in a one-point-two-billion dollar fraud involving the purchase of fishing boats and surveillance vessels.

South Africa’s foreign minister Lindiwe Sisulu said in an interview with a website news blog that the easiest thing for everyone would be to return Chang to Mozambique once the court in Kempton Park has dispensed with the US extradition request.  

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