Charles Taylor, Idi Amin, Bokassa, Mobutu and on and on, the list of murderous thugs running countries in Africa is endless. However even in this rollcall of villains Thabo Mbeki of South Africa holds a special place. Not because of anything that he did but because of all the good he could have done but chose not to. Becoming president after Nelson Mandela he inherited a country in peace, still basking in the afterglow of the end of apartheid and the best economy on the continent. During his tenure a few blacks have become rich but inequality has increased. Crime has exploded and everyone with money has to have bodyguards or face being mugged, raped or murdered. Mbeki has stubbornly denied the existence of HIV saying that it is a nutritional disorder. He sacked Assistant Health Minister, the widely respected Routledge but has supported Msimang, the Health Minister, a woman accused of corruption and of getting a fast track liver transplant to treat her alcoholic liver disease. He waited for two weeks, while mobs were killing immigrants, before calling the army to restore order. His support of Mugabi has meant the death of thousands in Zimbabwe and the peace treaty he has brokered still leaves Mugabi with control of the army and is bound to fail. The ANC have voted to oust him but the man they have chosen is Jacob Zuma who was accused of raping a HIV positive woman. When asked if he had taken any precautions he said that he had taken a shower. Africa still remains the Dark Continent.