South Africa's bailout of Robert Mugabe : Zim to ask SA for R6bn

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ50481sMgGDA5kX5SLVjRlGoV6Y5qW_JaP5v3WyyMKpP8D4No6rh1MHA7Sbjninap7YryViN-BbtnpbL8JhltOasNAO7InczdhZY3vihsYgjrJ9HIgeQ69lr27K7irdfMpEF6uJehykg/s1600-h/zim-flag.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306132776159934050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ50481sMgGDA5kX5SLVjRlGoV6Y5qW_JaP5v3WyyMKpP8D4No6rh1MHA7Sbjninap7YryViN-BbtnpbL8JhltOasNAO7InczdhZY3vihsYgjrJ9HIgeQ69lr27K7irdfMpEF6uJehykg/s400/zim-flag.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXB5fQCyF7hJ5vMeCYagdboIhnkjZvkUKdrrYL6ubW1JmuytBXyRA4l8WjHQgsUrfNBa24DTL3H1or8jx1WLMkZ7jw1tvEXgQoKk6D77NBek47Kh2glrrv7KortjjCGqat3MgGbLtIdg/s1600-h/Tsvangirai-morgan.jpg"></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected on Friday to ask President Kgalema Motlanthe for at least $600-million (R6-billion) in the form of a rescue package to fund salaries for Zimbabwe's civil servants and to meet other essential services expenditure in the next six months.<br /></span></strong><br />Tsvangirai, together with his new finance minister, Tendai Biti, and economic planning minister Elton Mangoma, is scheduled to meet Motlanthe, finance minister Trevor Manuel and foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in Cape Town on Friday.<br /><br />On Thursday, SA foreign affairs director-general Ayanda Ntsaluba said the two teams would be discussing the reconstruction of Zimbabwe, but he had no more information because the meeting had been requested by Tsvangirai.<br /><br />Authoritative sources said Tsvangirai, in his first visit to South Africa as prime minister, would plead with Motlanthe for the rescue package, which he wants as a loan to be repaid when "the new government gets Zimbabwe's revenue system re-established".<br /><br />If South Africa cannot afford the package on its own, Tsvangirai will ask Motlanthe to help get other Southern African Development Community countries to contribute.<br /><br />In addition to the rescue package, Tsvangirai will also ask South Africa to open new lines of credit to Zimbabwe's beleaguered private sector.<br /><br />The sources, who did not want to be quoted before Tsvangirai actually met Motlanthe, said the new government would face an uphill struggle in meeting its promises unless South Africa helped.<br /><br />At his inauguration last week, Tsvangirai promised to start paying professionals in foreign currency immediately. They are now paid in worthless Zimbabwean dollars.<br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"><span style="color:#cc0000;"><span style="color:#000000;">The United States and several European countries have already said</span> they will not help fund the new government </span><span style="color:#000000;">until a number of benchmarks about restoring the rule of law and democracy are met.</span> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#cc0000;"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">See </span></em><a href="http://southafrica-pig.blogspot.com/2009/02/wary-world-leaders-greet-new-look.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Will power sharing in Zimbabwe work, and is it time to lift sanctions?</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></em><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">The EU and the US are also worried about the continued influence of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, who has facilitated the salting away of millions of dollars from the bankrupt treasury for Mugabe and his family. Any help that has come into the country, including the <strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">R300-million in farming aid from South Africa</span></strong>, has seemingly been abused by the ruling elite at the expense of the poor.<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#000000;">SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao has announced a fact-finding mission to determine how the inputs were distributed.</span> </span><br /><br />Biti has reportedly already asked Gono to resign, but observers consider it unlikely that Mugabe will agree to let him go.<br /><br />The disagreement could provoke a major showdown in the new government.<br /><br />Mugabe reappointed Gono for another five-year term before the unity government was installed.<br /><br />The move incensed the MDC because the unity agreement that both parties signed barred Mugabe from making senior appointments unilaterally until the new government had been formed.<br /><br />The figure of R6-billion is based on a mini-budget of R1-billion monthly to pay civil servants' salaries and to meet other essential humanitarian costs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><a __eventidglow991033457="105" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7885343.stm"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Beyond repair? </span></em></a><a __eventidglow991033457="104" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7885343.stm"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">Can Tsvangirai fix Zimbabwe's basket-case economy?</span> </em></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><a __eventidglow533561333="108" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7901909.stm"><em>Zimbabwe recovery costs 'massive'</em> </a><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;color:#cc0000;">No assistance</span></strong><br /><br />Unlike many other African nations which receive aid from wealthy nations, Zimbabwe saw the International Monetary Fund turn off the taps a decade ago.<br /><br />Donors, led by the US and the European Union (EU), have said they will neither ease economic sanctions nor provide development assistance until it is clear that Mr Tsvangirai has truly managed to wrestle power from President Robert Mugabe.<br /><br />First, the EU would want to see "tangible signs of respect for human rights, the rule of law, and macro-economic stabilisation", it said in a statement.<br /><br />"We'll just have to wait and see," agreed US State Department spokesman Robert Wood, calling for evidence of "good governance and particularly real, true power-sharing on the part of Robert Mugabe".<br /><br />Direct investment into Zimbabwe from abroad has also all but collapsed, which leaves the government with just one way to get hold of foreign currency, namely exporting.<br /><br />In the recent past, more than half its export earnings have been generated by its platinum, gold, ferrochrome and nickel mines.<br /><br />In recent months, these earnings have plummeted as global prices for precious metals have slumped, with some mining companies mothballing operations till demand picks up again.<br /><br />"The impact on Zimbabwe has been particularly severe, " according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.<br /><br />"All four sectors are in serious trouble, partly because of the global downturn but also the collapse of basic infrastructure, especially electricity and water supplies."<br /><br />Zimbabwe's other foreign currency earner, agriculture, is a shadow of its former self after the wholesale looting of farms by Mr Mugabe's cronies during the early 2000s, when productive and profitable farms were either actively wrecked or left to rot.<br /><br />These days they do not even produce enough to feed the country's starving population.<br /><br />"Seven million people are in need of food aid"," says Mr Tsvangirai, so it is clear that significant export earnings from agriculture are out of the question.<br /><br />The country no longer has a tourism industry to speak of, and it could take years before visitor numbers pick up.<br /><br />Indeed, to make Zimbabwe attractive to tourists, the country's deadly HIV/Aids and cholera epidemics will need to be tackled and the rule of law must be re-established.<br /><br />With little scope for raising sufficient foreign currency from exports, another solution has been put forward.<br /><br />Zimbabwe should adopt the South African rand as its currency, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has suggested.<br /><br />But there are plenty of sceptics.<br /><br />"It would mean that Zimbabwe would have to follow very different policies than what they've followed up to now," says Rudolph Gouws, chief economist at Rand Merchant Bank.<br /><br />"This would require Zimbabwe to give up its monetary and exchange rate policy sovereignty," observes Alide Dasnois, economist with the Governance of Africa's Resources Programme of the South African Institute of International Affairs.<br /><br />Such a move would also leave Zimbabwe with "a very tight fiscal space in which to manoeuvre and pull itself out of its misery", he reasons in an article in the Cape Times.<br /><br />And as the rand would be overvalued relative to Zimbabwe's situation it would "destroy the competitiveness of its exports" and hence remove any chance of an export-led recovery, he continues.<br /><br />As such, adopting the rand would "paint Zimbabwe into a corner in its bid to revive its economy", though this is not the main reason why it is an unlikely scenario.<br /><br />"It would not work unless Zimbabwe accepted that South Africa would control its economy, which would make it virtually a province of South Africa," adds Azar Jammine, senior economist at Econometrix.<br /><br />Mr Mugabe in particular would resist any dilution of Zimbabwe's sovereignty, while Mr Tsvangirai would see it as "an attempt by South Africa to be party to the agreement via the back door", Mr Lwanda reasons, insisting that adopting the rand would be "unhelpful and politically unacceptable" to Zimbabwe.<br /><br />An economic solution to Zimbabwe's woes is clearly not forthcoming at this stage, so expect Mr Tsvangirai to focus on his political battles.<br /><br />He will have to fight on two fronts.<br /><br />At home he will need to make the power sharing agreement with Mr Mugabe work.<br /><br />While on the international arena he will need to convince both government leaders and investors that he has truly established himself as the nation's genuine leader.<br /><br />Only then will sanctions be lifted and both aid money and inward investment begin to flow.<br /><br />Without such input from the international community, there is little hope that Zimbabwe's economy can begin to recover and the country's humanitarian crisis be brought to an end.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#000099;"><em>See also </em></span><a class="readlink" href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25059868-12335,00.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em>Full News Article</em></span></a><em><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> : <span style="color:#000099;">Australia pledges $5m cholera aid to Zimbabwe</span></span></span></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></em><a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25057842-32682,00.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em>Despot's wife shops for investments</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em> </em></span><a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em>THE AUSTRALIAN</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em><br /></em></span><br /></p>

South Africa's bailout of Robert Mugabe : Zim to ask SA for R6bn

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected on Friday to ask President Kgalema Motlanthe for at least $600-million (R6-billion) ...

Read more »

Cosatu needs a translator; Sexwale gets lost in translation; and Malema is untranslatable...

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0l9ls43nb4EdJXTno3cL5exfRxBpzwRmo2pC4mleHjmk-MRWBgVizzgbf1le2TT9fYCvyE8-en4aKXWTL2uyEw9mxXEHMMCrEI7zS0L2k8MzPjgmTwJTkCgYfK79MB44LvC1yr3zaHBs/s1600-h/propaganda-1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298354191450445170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0l9ls43nb4EdJXTno3cL5exfRxBpzwRmo2pC4mleHjmk-MRWBgVizzgbf1le2TT9fYCvyE8-en4aKXWTL2uyEw9mxXEHMMCrEI7zS0L2k8MzPjgmTwJTkCgYfK79MB44LvC1yr3zaHBs/s400/propaganda-1.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 284px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a></p><p><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;"></span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Nazi Germany had propaganda waxed; communist Russia was right up there; and while the Americans like to call it patriotism, we all know that it's really just propaganda.<br /></span></strong><br />Cosatu, hoping to emulate all of the above (except the US, of course, because it is an evil capitalist empire), has produced three million copies of a maroon (yes folks, that's maroon) booklet entitled: 'Defend our Movement: Advance the Gains of Polokwane! Expose and Isolate the Black DA'.<br /><br />Wow. That really is a masterpiece. A little unwieldy perhaps for a pamphlet title, but how would you instil fear, blind loyalty, hatred and intolerance in 14 words? Not to mention that stinging and carefully-crafted insult...<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;"><span style="color:#990000;">TRANSLATING COSATU-ISMS</span> </span></strong><br /><br />A lot can be learnt from that little maroon booklet. If nothing else, vocabulary.<br /><br />"Their (Cope's) role is to dislodge a progressive ruling party that has the support of the majority and impose the agenda of international capital and its local allies.<br /><br />"It's no accident that almost all the dissident leaders, including former trade unionists, are now wealthy business people.<br /><br />"The very people who, with their capitalist allies, are now mobilising for the dissidents were the most enthusiastic promoters of the pro-capitalist policies that caused all these problems.<br /><br />"They know however that to win support they cannot openly proclaim support for a blatant pro-capitalist project. So they seek demagogically to exploit whatever social grievances they can find among the people, grievances that result from the very policies they imposed while they were in government."</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioN6QXbEg35CfHOYMyLIMQGKeNtyp_x4GsB5tmyGTh79QWNKqgTx8J2mwLSXCf2ZquddHnW3yVlyz72uE6zJM-_nHor2eVkIwCEGQUPASoMSyHYnv7SAq-DY0gncr8zD2Vn-HmekuzKHM/s1600-h/Cosato11--297x250.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298354676658221330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioN6QXbEg35CfHOYMyLIMQGKeNtyp_x4GsB5tmyGTh79QWNKqgTx8J2mwLSXCf2ZquddHnW3yVlyz72uE6zJM-_nHor2eVkIwCEGQUPASoMSyHYnv7SAq-DY0gncr8zD2Vn-HmekuzKHM/s400/Cosato11--297x250.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 297px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 250px" /></a>Let me translate: We are scared Cope may get enough votes to reduce our power. We have to say something bad about the guys we used to follow (the fact that there are still many far more wealthy people in the ANC can be overlooked if you throw in the word 'dissident'). Capitalism is the reason that you are poor. Cope is made up of a bunch of liars who will do anything to trick and exploit you.<br /><br />Luckily Cosatu is all about helping the workers see things clearly.<br /><br />"The launch (of Cope) poses a big challenge to workers and the national liberation movement. It could confuse and divide voters, cause enough damage to reduce the ANC majority in Parliament."<br /><br />So, just to clarify — the workers are going to be confused by the launch of a new political party, but not be the word 'demagogically'. Right.<br /><br />I, for one, am a little confused by the ramblings of Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven. On the one hand he says:<br /><br />"What they were fighting for in the ANC is now what they are fighting against in Cope... They even went to the extent of borrowing portions of the ANC manifesto to woo voters."<br /><br />Then, on the other hand, he says:<br /><br />"Cope represents the BEE millionaires, whereas the DA represents the white millionaires, but they are both united in their defence of big business."<br /><br />Erm... so they borrowed portions of the ANC manifesto to prove that they are pro-big business?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;">A PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIR</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0hACBlkLcZLBVpmBu2EQBp4SjCI3KleaACLw2Xg3fOK9Mg5hspl819npCFoXWadlro0KDqTRDAnQ_fz6yXoKpgCSAwR9i35vmmYpZlHL9tjQuHDJ5E95fIONYWQBCffo9ehn0qaurxQ/s1600-h/mothlante.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298355413769107874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0hACBlkLcZLBVpmBu2EQBp4SjCI3KleaACLw2Xg3fOK9Mg5hspl819npCFoXWadlro0KDqTRDAnQ_fz6yXoKpgCSAwR9i35vmmYpZlHL9tjQuHDJ5E95fIONYWQBCffo9ehn0qaurxQ/s400/mothlante.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a>Slightly less confusing (but only just) are the rumours of President Motlanthe's simultaneous affairs with two women, one of whom is 24, pregnant and works at Luthuli House.<br /><br />If true, these rumours raise many questions, the most pressing (and least graphic) of which are: how are we only finding out about this now? And (perhaps just as importantly) why are we finding out about this now?<br /><br />It doesn't matter, insists the ANC's Lindiwe Zulu, because the president's private life is his own business.<br /><br />"President Motlanthe's life, like everyone else's, remains his private life and that we cannot make a statement on his private life at the moment. He is the only person that can be able to deal with his private life."<br /><br />Um... no. When you become the president of a country, you lose the right to impregnate young women working for you without public scrutiny. Just ask Bill.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;">DEGREES OF CRIMINALITY</span></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawH4MAXg9VR9dJhKjcv447EEn9fT7QorFmg-hA7mEgDHPFonwKCmjh_rFpkFy5f4BhFHaKtUghQFBY_i6BQvoO0oFPv8k_NkphzLsWUJN1TLmuK4YhbIu7WZ4AxaISgk9rvjk4jSizK8/s1600-h/Winnie+Madikizela-Mandela.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298355654463315570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawH4MAXg9VR9dJhKjcv447EEn9fT7QorFmg-hA7mEgDHPFonwKCmjh_rFpkFy5f4BhFHaKtUghQFBY_i6BQvoO0oFPv8k_NkphzLsWUJN1TLmuK4YhbIu7WZ4AxaISgk9rvjk4jSizK8/s400/Winnie+Madikizela-Mandela.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 229px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 298px" /></a><br />As electioneering gets underway, the ANC has come under some attack from opposition parties for their inability to fight crime.<br /><br />"Crime is a clear example of the huge gap between what is said and what is done (in the ANC)... We thought we saw the bottom of how bad the failure to manage crime could be but nothing could prepare us for the spectacle of incrimination of the head of police, the persecution of the head of the National Prosecuting Authority and the constant attack on judges and the judiciary." — IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi.<br /><br />"Can we trust them to be custodians of the judiciary, when they attack judges? Can we trust them to fight crime when their leaders are dodging their day in court?" — UDM leader Bantu Holomisa.<br /><br />In other news, the ANC is seriously considering putting Winnie Madikizela-Mandela forward as a parliamentary candidate.<br /><br />"I have to look at it carefully, but the way I see it she would qualify (to become an MP). She did not go to jail," said Carl Niehaus.<br /><br />No, but she should have. She was convicted and sentenced — twice, for unrelated crimes.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;">LOST IN TRANSLATION</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEZElS2Ie85oC7jKLcEWVECzY2OU58YuxwbSsbenRfkwr7TR2tOnXoRYaqd8cjrTaHWFL0uDVWedurZoiqkDnWiAyx-Fo9ub7vB5KZdW3FMpdDN2-2d0HgHOuXfLg6jKpCh5zfAQuNB0/s1600-h/sexwale.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298355863988707522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEZElS2Ie85oC7jKLcEWVECzY2OU58YuxwbSsbenRfkwr7TR2tOnXoRYaqd8cjrTaHWFL0uDVWedurZoiqkDnWiAyx-Fo9ub7vB5KZdW3FMpdDN2-2d0HgHOuXfLg6jKpCh5zfAQuNB0/s400/sexwale.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a>Tokyo Sexwale needs a translator or, at the very least, a good PR agent. Using the word 'witchcraft' at a public rally is never really a good idea. Speaking out against Cope, Sexwale reportedly said:<br /><br />"Our mothers are taken, house to house, they are also parade on TV, these people are performing witchcraft with our mothers... They are liars. You can't have respect for people who use older people in that fashion."<br /><br />Unfortunately, you also can't have respect for people who use the word 'witchcraft' in a political argument. Why did Bush invade Iraq? Witchcraft. Why did Mugabe destroy Zimbabwe? Witchcraft. Why did Obama win the election? Witchcraft.<br /><br />He has, of course, subsequently offered an explanation.<br /><br />"We speak rich African languages, mine, Sepedi, Sesotho, Sexhosa. And there will always be the danger... (to try) to make political capital, to reduce very rich expressions said in African languages to a kind of kitchen English.<br /><br />Give it a shot. English does, after all, have the largest vocabulary in the world.<br /><br />Completely untranslatable and incomprehensible is Julius Malema. No number of translators and public relation geniuses can turn this one around.<br /><br />"When a woman didn't enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning. Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and taxi money. In the morning, that lady requested breakfast and taxi money. You can't ask for money from somebody who raped you," said Malema about Jacob Zuma's rape accuser.<br /><br />Words fail me.<br /></span><br /></p>

Cosatu needs a translator; Sexwale gets lost in translation; and Malema is untranslatable...

Nazi Germany had propaganda waxed; communist Russia was right up there; and while the Americans like to call it patriotism, we all know that...

Read more »

South Africa's Crime

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLevrd-d-YhhJydMC8DEzaKdauJ0JQ6WCe4V0uVfkZmJHnnp8U6rbe7sU4nPe4NzcFc6wDOfcN5DujJ1gwwOO4Wb_Uh-hIF2hGNgZEPBn-IzDoHmDPiipP21WIefxAOK57wEGf9UHyHzw/s1600-h/Kgalema+Motlanthe+Mugabe.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294604530132284578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLevrd-d-YhhJydMC8DEzaKdauJ0JQ6WCe4V0uVfkZmJHnnp8U6rbe7sU4nPe4NzcFc6wDOfcN5DujJ1gwwOO4Wb_Uh-hIF2hGNgZEPBn-IzDoHmDPiipP21WIefxAOK57wEGf9UHyHzw/s400/Kgalema+Motlanthe+Mugabe.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 190px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 286px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">The SA government is enabling Robert Mugabe's destruction of neighboring Zimbabwe, at the cost of thousands of lives.</span></strong><br /><br />SOUTH AFRICAN President </span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Kgalema+Motlanthe?tid=informline" target=""><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Kgalema Motlanthe</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> concedes that the situation in Zimbabwe is "very dire." No doubt he's familiar with what the </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/United+Nations?tid=informline" target=""><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">United Nations</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> is reporting: that more than 1,000 people have died of cholera in a spreading epidemic, that 17,000 others are infected and that more than half of the country's remaining population requires emergency food aid to avoid starvation. Hospitals have closed, 80 percent of the country lacks safe drinking water and school attendance is down to 20 percent. Inflation was last registered at 231 million percent; as a practical matter the economy has stopped. As U.N. Secretary General </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Ban+Ki-moon?tid=informline" target=""><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Ban Ki-moon</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> put it last week, Zimbabwe "stands on the brink of economic, social and political collapse." </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So is Mr. Motlanthe at last ready to use South Africa's considerable leverage to end the nightmare in its neighbor? Will his government finally join those of Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, the United States, Britain, France and Canada in calling for 84-year-old strongman </span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Robert+Mugabe?tid=informline" target=""><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Robert Mugabe</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> to step down? Well, no. "It's really not for us," the president told reporters Wednesday. "I mean, I don't know if the British feel qualified to impose that on the people of Zimbabwe, but we feel that we should support and take our cue from what they [Zimbabweans] want." </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Actually, what Zimbabweans want, desperately, is an end to the humanitarian emergency in their country -- which can come only with Mr. Mugabe's departure. What South Africa wants is something else entirely: to resuscitate Mr. Mugabe's dying regime through a bad deal cooked up by "mediator" </span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Thabo+Mbeki?tid=informline" target=""><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Thabo Mbeki</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">, Mr. Motlanthe's predecessor. The plan calls for a "unity" government between Mr. Mugabe and the winner of last March's presidential election, </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Morgan+Tsvangirai?tid=informline" target=""><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Morgan Tsvangirai</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">. Yet it long ago became clear to all but the South Africans that the formula is unworkable. Mr. Mugabe has no intention of sharing authority, especially over the military and police, which have been waging a violent campaign against the opposition. "I will never, never, never surrender . . . . Zimbabwe is mine," he said Friday. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The terror apparatus is the last functioning part of Mr. Mugabe's government. According to </span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Amnesty+International?tid=informline" target=""><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Amnesty International</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">, two dozen opposition activists have disappeared in the past six weeks. Mr. Mugabe lately has been claiming that the opposition is training fighters in Botswana and trying to assassinate his ministers (the air force chief was mysteriously wounded in the hand by a gunshot). The opposition believes that Mr. Mugabe may soon attempt to impose emergency rule, using those false allegations as an excuse. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The outgoing Bush administration and Britain tried again last week to have the </span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/United+Nations+Security+Council?tid=informline" target=""><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">U.N. Security Council</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> take up this crisis. Once again they were stopped by South Africa, with support from Russia. Instead Mr. Motlanthe has announced a vague initiative by South Africa's neighbors to supply humanitarian support. What's happening here is pretty clear: South Africa, a country that aspires to continental leadership, is allowing a depraved strongman to utterly destroy a neighboring country, at a cost of thousands of lives. Mr. Motlanthe's government has the economic, political and military leverage to rescue Zimbabweans from their leader; yet it not only refuses to act but actively blocks intervention by other countries. Mr. Motlanthe, Mr. Mbeki and those in South Africa who support this unconscionable policy have become accessories to a grave humanitarian crime.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Source : </em></span><a class="l" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/20/AR2008122001648.html" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','res','1','')"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>South Africa's Crime - washingtonpost.com</em></span></a> <p></p>

South Africa's Crime

The SA government is enabling Robert Mugabe's destruction of neighboring Zimbabwe, at the cost of thousands of lives. SOUTH AFRICAN Pres...

Read more »

South Africa be warned 'You will be the next victims'

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSo0a720vTZ-GP88qFvyjJ4Yt6LrP9otiukNK-9T0b45a63AxHElCfg7-HX2BQu5g99q6mHwYdmegeugf49Q1GHmXN1d2Z4m-kpYENa9TLG0Fr9tx-eo31Qc0ou-5X4IPeB2h9K5IzwRI/s1600-h/Motlanthe-chairperson-SADC.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270196321492415746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSo0a720vTZ-GP88qFvyjJ4Yt6LrP9otiukNK-9T0b45a63AxHElCfg7-HX2BQu5g99q6mHwYdmegeugf49Q1GHmXN1d2Z4m-kpYENa9TLG0Fr9tx-eo31Qc0ou-5X4IPeB2h9K5IzwRI/s400/Motlanthe-chairperson-SADC.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#cc0000;">ZIMBABWEAN war veterans have blasted President Kgalema Motlanthe and the South African Development Community over their inability to resolve the stand-off between Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and the Movement for Democratic Change.</span><br /><br />“It is kindergarten stuff for SADC. If you call children to solve this, they will come up with a better solution than these leaders. It is simple. We want an answer from Motlanthe. We want him to condemn Mugabe. We would have liked him to be more forthright. If the chairperson [of SADC] is not willing to reign in someone, how can you call him a leader?” Wilfred Mhanda, secretary of the Zimbabwe Liberation Veterans Forum, told The Times.<br /><br />The forum, consisting of fighters who restarted the Zimbabwean independence war in 1975, met in Pretoria at the weekend at Idasa.<br /><br />Mhanda said South Africans will not be convinced of Motlanthe’s leadership abilities if he cannot hold a SADC member to account.<br /><br />Last week Motlanthe talked tough when he chaired an extraordinary SADC summit in Sandton, but despite slating Mugabe and the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai for political immaturity, they were no closer to forming a unity government.<br /><br />Disagreement over the allocation of ministries, especially over control of the important ministry of home affairs, has scuppered progress towards forming a national unity government, as agreed in the September 15 power-sharing deal brokered by former president Thabo Mbeki.<br /><br />[Both want the Home Affairs ministry because it controls Zimbabwe’s police and intelligence services.]<br /><br />“We as liberation fighters and senior commanders feel the ideals we fought for have been betrayed by people like Robert Mugabe. We had hoped our colleagues, who fought for liberation in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique, would hold Mugabe to account. But he is trying to wriggle out of the [September 15 power sharing] agreement and the guarantors of that agreement, SADC and the African union, just stand by with their arms folded – cowed into submission by Mugabe. Why?” Mhanda wanted to know.<br /><br />“There was a free and fair election on March 29, which the MDC won. And now you find that spineless leaders are siding with the loser. What was the struggle for? To support someone who is killing his people? It is a shame on the whole of humanity.”<br /><br />Happyson Nenji, member of the forum, said that while the collapse of state services in Zimbabwe is now virtually complete, SADC was negating its own principals by not denouncing Mugabe’s intransigence. “SADC should enforce the principals as they did after the June 27 one-man election. All it takes is their voice. We are not asking for soldiers to be sent to Zimbabwe. It is simple. SADC must condemn Mugabe first, like with the election and then seek the solution. But why are they afraid of him? Where in the world have you seen people share a ministry? You are asking the winner to surrender to the loser,” Nenji said.<br /><br />Mhanda and Augustus Mudzwingwa warned South Africans that not holding heads of state and SADC to account would invariably lead to the Zimbabwean crisis repeating itself in neighbouring states in the future: “Zimbabwe does not exist in a vacuum. South Africa and the rest of the reason are not immune to the fall-out. You will be the next victims. In the end you will loose everything if you do not act out of self interest and for the greater good, in demanding respect for democratic principals. Once you abandon those principals you become vulnerable too. You sacrifice your freedom,” Mhanda said.<br /><br />Mudzwingwa said: Our freedom was usurped. The behaviour of the leaders of SADC surprises us. Do they not realise this may actually happen in South Africa or Mozambique? People have to open their eyes. Demand that your leaders learn from the Zimbabwean situation. You are being forewarned and fore armed.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://multimedia.thetimes.co.za/videos/2008/11/zim-war-veterans-blast-motlanthe/"><em>Video: Zim war veterans blast Mugabe</em></a></span><em><br /></em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p>

South Africa be warned 'You will be the next victims'

ZIMBABWEAN war veterans have blasted President Kgalema Motlanthe and the South African Development Community over their inability to resolve...

Read more »

New shock for ANC

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdibvIk5FB66-02S8ztwxqki86fsHP3GE_Y4RmbUdqkR5o2jkj3m09CAUJT0TwpjXzBvI0RM3dZQ_b_IAURzJQu3bVlLr_ijlX0Zy5gRj3kEZ3b8dJZdZkvj4xM_jibirx8-DVoG9z8A/s1600-h/ANC.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253421256870946946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdibvIk5FB66-02S8ztwxqki86fsHP3GE_Y4RmbUdqkR5o2jkj3m09CAUJT0TwpjXzBvI0RM3dZQ_b_IAURzJQu3bVlLr_ijlX0Zy5gRj3kEZ3b8dJZdZkvj4xM_jibirx8-DVoG9z8A/s400/ANC.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /></a><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">The ANC and DA are neck-and-neck in the polls among urban voters seven months before next year’s general election, a shock Sunday Times survey shows.</span></strong><br /><br />Unhappiness with the direction in which the country is headed and with the events of the past week — including the ousting of president Thabo Mbeki — have lost the ruling party a swathe of support in mainly urban areas, a survey by Ipsos Markinor conducted this week shows.<br /><br />The survey of 1500 South Africans — conducted between Tuesday and Thursday — was intended to gauge public opinion on the political events.<br /><br />It is representative of the population with landline telephones, according to researcher Mari Harris. There are about 4.6 million landlines in South Africa, including business, according to Statistics SA.<br /><br />The study also found that:<br /><br /></span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">South Africans are intending to turn out en masse for the election next year;<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Mbeki is still more popular than his arch-rival, ANC president Jacob Zuma, among urban voters; and<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">New president Kgalema Motlanthe is more popular among ANC voters than Mbeki or Zuma.<br /><br /></span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">But the most shocking finding was that fewer than three in 10 respondents (27%) would vote for the ruling ANC if the election were held tomorrow.<br /><br />About 26% of participants would vote for the opposition DA, while 27% are undecided.<br /><br />The DA has apparently gained ground in the Western Cape and Gauteng, according to Harris.<br /><br /></p></span><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Those pledging support for the ANC were:<br /><br /></span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Blacks — 55%;<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Whites — 7%;<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Coloureds — 13%; and<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Indians 21%.<br /><br /></span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Conversely only 4% of blacks would vote for the DA compared with 46% of whites, 36% of coloureds and 15% of Indians.<br /><br />Close on 10% of respondents said they would not vote. The Independent Democrats and Freedom Front+ garnered support of 1.6% each, the Inkatha Freedom Party 0.8% and a new party founded by disgruntled ANC members only 0.9%.<br /><br />Despite his ousting, Mbeki is still more popular than his arch-rival, ANC president Jacob Zuma, getting a 5.95 favourability rating out of 10. Zuma scored only 3.89.<br /><br />Motlanthe was also favourably viewed (5.52), as was former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (5). New deputy president Baleka Mbete has a 4.68 rating.<br />Mbeki scored slightly higher than Zuma in the popularity stakes among blacks, with a favourability rating of 6.1 against 5.87. Zuma’s popularity rating was lowest among coloured respondents at 2.<br /><br />Motlanthe was the most popular among blacks, with a rating of 6.47. He was also the most popular with ANC voters at a rating of 6.82. Zuma had a rating of 6.74 among ANC voters versus 5.75 for Mbeki.<br /><br />Most respondents ( 52%) said South Africa was “going in the wrong direction”. Only 24% felt South Africa was heading in the right direction, with whites (16%) and coloureds (15%) the most pessimistic.<br /><br />ANC voters were more optimistic, with 44% saying the country was heading in the right direction against 35% who thought the future was bleak.<br /><br />Recent political developments have left a majority of respondents wanting to vote in the next election.<br /><br />More than seven in 10 participants (71%) said they were very likely or likely to cast a vote next year, with whites most enthusiastic at 79%, followed by 66% of black and coloured respondents and 71% of Indians.<br /><br />Despite the uncertainty of the past week, more than half of respondents — 51% — were still optimistic about the future of South Africa versus 31% who were pessimistic, but 65% said they were “insecure” about the country’s political direction.<br /><br />Close on three in every 10 participants (27%) said they would now consider emigrating.<br /><br />Seven in 10 respondents (71%) thought the ANC was “too powerful” and 59% thought the sacking of Mbeki was an act of retaliation for firing Zuma. More than eight in 10 respondents — 85% — thought Mbeki should have been allowed to finish his term.<br /><br />Only 40% supported Motlanthe’s appointment while 33% disagreed with it.<br /><br />An overwhelming proportion of participants — 71% — also felt there should be a commission of inquiry into the arms deal.<br /><br />However, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said it would be a surprise if the ANC and DA were neck-and-neck, “unless it was in the Western Cape”.<br /><br />Harris conceded that a study conducted in April, involving 3500 interviews with members of households across the country, had indicated that 69% of rural dwellers would vote for the ruling party against 9.5% for the DA.<br /><br />“The ANC’s support is much stronger in the rural areas,” she said.<br /><br />Political analyst Xolela Mangcu disagreed that the ANC and DA could be neck-and-neck: “It’s impossible. It will never happen given the racial demographics of this country. ”<br /><br />FF Plus chief whip Corne Mulder agreed: “I think it’s a knee-jerk reaction to what has happened in the past week. ”<br /><br />Mangcu and Mulder said Mbeki was benefiting from a perception that he had been treated unfairly.<br /><br />Mangcu added: “What it demonstrates about Zuma, though, is that even though he may be popular within the party, he may be very unpopular among the general population, which may have implications for how the ANC will perform in the elections next year.”<br /><br />Mangcu predicted that Motlanthe would garner more support as he “gets better known”.<br /><br />But UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said: “These results show that the honeymoon for the ANC is over. The one-party state has no future in South Africa. ”<br /><br />DA leader Helen Zille said the survey was “encouraging”.<br /><br />“It shows there is a new fluidity in South African politics, which opens exciting possibilities,” she added<br /><br />On why Mbeki’s resignation sends an egative message:<br /><br />“The most important reason is that everyone knows the Zuma faction is looking for a political solution to Jacob Zuma’s legal problem. So everybody suspects that this has nothing to do with a principle; its got everything to do with the Zuma faction trying to usurp power so that they can get Zuma off the legal hook </span></p>

New shock for ANC

The ANC and DA are neck-and-neck in the polls among urban voters seven months before next year’s general election, a shock Sunday Times surv...

Read more »

He drove Mbeki's ouster, he has threatened Zuma with a similar fate, now ANC tells Malema to shut up

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpi17Mv6Iim2IOd6OEvduUWEuIkenCBXmMqm9NqNKSzo_QoYEshvo9iVRfKd635I24ulG-rn70A6I4ZoaO5wVJejI02Lya1ztNMdc0jMmvv2rs4LHUMV_s3wNcTgeRimTyQWV8XcE2jrA/s1600-h/malema-ancyl.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249197245744827810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpi17Mv6Iim2IOd6OEvduUWEuIkenCBXmMqm9NqNKSzo_QoYEshvo9iVRfKd635I24ulG-rn70A6I4ZoaO5wVJejI02Lya1ztNMdc0jMmvv2rs4LHUMV_s3wNcTgeRimTyQWV8XcE2jrA/s400/malema-ancyl.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#990000;">Firebrand Julius Malema was very vociferous in the runup to the Polokwane conference when Zuma was elected president of the ANC. He subsequently was the driving force in the ouster of Thabo Mbeki. He has even threatened to have Zuma removed should he not toe the line Cosatu, the SACP and the ANC Youth League are laying down. The ANC has now belatedy told Malema to shut up.</span> <p><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;"><em>Watch your mouth, ANC tells Malema</em></span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#990000;"><em>Party bosses put leash on youth leader<br /></em></span><br />THE ANC has finally told Julius Malema, the president of its youth wing, to tone down his rhetoric.<br /><br />Malema, who shot to public prominence by making controversial statements, was told to watch his mouth at a meeting of the ruling party’s national executive committee at the weekend.<br /><br />The party leadership is said to be concerned that Malema’s reckless talk might cost the ANC votes in next year’s general election. Yesterday, Malema was among the ANC leaders who attended a press conference at which party president Jacob Zuma spoke.<br /><br />But it was evident that the committee had put a leash on Malema — he was not given an opportunity to speak.<br /><br />During the press briefing, ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa was seen restraining the firebrand youth leader from responding to a question put to Zuma.<br /><br />Party officials later told The Times that the national executive committee had reined in Malema, who was not happy with the decision. Zuma was expected to meet Malema late yesterday to discuss the matter.<br /><br />When The Times asked Malema if he had been gagged, he refused to comment, saying he would brief the media today.<br /><br />“Come to the press conference and you can ask that question,” he said.<br /><br />Since taking office at the Youth League’s rowdy conference in April, Malema has been Zuma’s most vocal backer.<br /><br />He also led the charge for President Thabo Mbeki’s removal from office.<br /><br />Malema’s controversial statement that the league was prepared to “take up arms” and “kill for Zuma” caused so much outrage that he was hauled before the Human Rights Commission and asked to apologise for his inflammatory remarks.<br /><br />He took his fight to the Constitutional Court, accusing judges of “taking decisions in beer halls”.<br /><br />When ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe came out in defence of the independence of the judiciary, the Youth League responded by publicly attacking him. Though Malema and Motlanthe later agreed not to attack each other publicly, the young firebrand was at it again during the league’s 64th anniversary celebrations earlier this month.<br /><br />Malema said then: “We respect the judiciary, but that doesn’t mean we can’t criticise drunk judges.<br /><br />“When they decide to say something at their public lectures, we will respond. And even if [Motlanthe] intervenes, we would have had our say.”<br /><br />Earlier this month, shortly before Zuma’s last court appearance in Pietermaritzburg, Malema warned that the league would not let Zuma go to jail without a fight.<br /><br />“Any force that tries to block our way, we will eliminate. We are on a mission here. We will crush you. It doesn’t matter who you are … even if you are in the ANC,” Malema said.</span></span><br /></p>

He drove Mbeki's ouster, he has threatened Zuma with a similar fate, now ANC tells Malema to shut up

Firebrand Julius Malema was very vociferous in the runup to the Polokwane conference when Zuma was elected president of the ANC. He subseque...

Read more »

Kgalema Motlanthe named as president to lead South Africa

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglK2Cx516K8jpcA4DcMbFP-lc88XmBDGQ4TWAKo6o3IXrzKY9L2XZBIsdQVsUZMf8xsCyd-2Li7BPJJVG6quC5gg2-o0HxVxnhLc4VYU8LJOEwHnoFQzuYt2YWIuO8faCbUXgbEQNWwhM/s1600-h/KgalemaMotlanthe.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248799157802229506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglK2Cx516K8jpcA4DcMbFP-lc88XmBDGQ4TWAKo6o3IXrzKY9L2XZBIsdQVsUZMf8xsCyd-2Li7BPJJVG6quC5gg2-o0HxVxnhLc4VYU8LJOEwHnoFQzuYt2YWIuO8faCbUXgbEQNWwhM/s400/KgalemaMotlanthe.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">The ruling African National Congress (ANC) will name party deputy head Kgalema Motlanthe as South Africa's caretaker leader on Monday to replace President Thabo Mbeki, ANC members of Parliament said.<br /><br />Motlanthe, who already sits in the Cabinet, was named to take over from Mbeki until elections -- due in about April next year -- during a meeting of the ANC's parliamentary caucus, ANC MPs told Reuters on condition of anonymity.<br /><br />Motlanthe is a left-leaning intellectual who has never sought the limelight. Motlanthe won praise at the ANC's national conference in Polokwane for calling ill-disciplined, younger members of the party to order.<br /><br />When asked if it was true that Motlanthe was the candidate named to replace Mbeki, an ANC MP said "Yes, it is."<br /><br />"Motlanthe will be the president, not interim, he will be the president of the republic until the election," spokesman for the ANC parliamentary caucus KK Khumalo said after a meeting between the party and lawmakers.<br /><br />Motlanthe's nomination comes a day after President Thabo Mbeki announced his resignation in a live broadcast, after calls by his party for him to step down seven months before the end of his second term.<br /><br />Motlanthe was elected party deputy president at a crunch ANC conference in December last year, which was when Jacob Zuma toppled Mbeki from his position as party chief.<br /><br />According to the South African constitution, parliament elects the president from among its members, dominated by the ANC since 1994.<br /><br />"In terms of the process we are going to follow Mr Motlanthe is going to, in the days running up to the election ... be president of the country," said Phosa.<br /><br />Motlanthe was only recently appointed to parliament as minister in the presidency charged with smoothing the transition from one administration to the next.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Vote in coming days</span></strong><br /><br />ANC spokesperson Khotso Khumalo said Parliament will vote on the president in the next few days.<br /><br />"The political leadership is addressing the matter and getting hold of the chief justice and from then on, it will be nomination and voting, between today [Monday] and Thursday," Khumalo said.<br /><br />ANC leader Jacob Zuma was due to address a news conference in Johannesburg at 12pm.<br /><br />Parliament convenes at 2pm and Motlanthe's appointment may be put to a snap vote on Monday, almost certain to be officially approved by the ANC-dominated Assembly.<br />Mbeki, who presided over South Africa's longest period of economic growth, said in a televised address on Sunday he had tendered his resignation after the ANC asked him to quit before the end of his term next year.<br /><br />The ANC made its request eight days after a judge threw out corruption charges against party leader Jacob Zuma, suggesting there was high-level political meddling in the case.<br /><br />News of Mbeki's departure helped push South Africa's rand weaker in overnight trading, although traders said the political moves would not affect the currency much in the short term.<br /><br />Analysts say the currency, which weakened by as much as 1,7 %, will remain vulnerable in the transition period and that any volatile changeover will have a negative impact.<br /><br />"While investors may welcome greater certainty in terms of the future political outlook, a more volatile political transition is likely to cost the country dearly," said Razia Khan, Standard Chartered regional head of research for Africa.<br /><br />Mbeki, who took over from Nelson Mandela as president in 1999, said on Sunday he remained a loyal ANC member and respected the party's decision but repeated that he did not influence the prosecution in the case of Zuma, his rival.<br /><br />Zuma, who holds no government post, is all but certain to become head of state in an election in 2009. -- Reuters<br /></span><p></p>

Kgalema Motlanthe named as president to lead South Africa

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) will name party deputy head Kgalema Motlanthe as South Africa's caretaker leader on Monday to...

Read more »

Mbeki and the monsters he created

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Uje5r2ipWu7DyLnVIX6gKHVfVrQVdVXS7OIHPZ_YRFyX0YQ59FFGn4_5Jbjx4fcwVBpFVvIJf5Cjt1YMHUNxy5YIaLQu8BdCTR2qtNaAuxMQQnhf50qCQBsfaWjaeXh-6MSryk-NZ2Y/s1600-h/PoliticsColour.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248666370039513762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Uje5r2ipWu7DyLnVIX6gKHVfVrQVdVXS7OIHPZ_YRFyX0YQ59FFGn4_5Jbjx4fcwVBpFVvIJf5Cjt1YMHUNxy5YIaLQu8BdCTR2qtNaAuxMQQnhf50qCQBsfaWjaeXh-6MSryk-NZ2Y/s400/PoliticsColour.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Deputy-president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is set to lead an exodus of cabinet ministers who are unhappy with the ANC national executive committee (NEC) decision to axe Mbeki.<br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Mlambo-Ngcuka</span> has always been the embodiment of this conspiracy against <span style="color:#cc0000;">Zuma</span>. After all, she is Bulelani's (the former NPA boss) wife. People forget the reason why we are in this mess at the moment is because Bulelani Ngcuka, probably with the acquiescence of the minister of justice, made the decision of not charging Zuma in the hope that he would go away. Instead of going away, Zuma grew bigger. <strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Zuma is the creation of Bulelani Ngcuka and of Thabo Mbeki himself. </span></strong>Without that kind of cynical behaviour on their behalf... we wouldn't have been in the position we are in today.<br /><br />Some of the ministers who are expected to quit when Mbeki resigns are his right-hand man, </span><a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=899" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Essop Pahad</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">, Public Works Minister </span><a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=926" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Thoko Didiza</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">, her colleague at public enterprises, </span><a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=920" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Alec Erwin</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">, Health Minister </span><a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=903" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Manto Tshabalala-Msimang</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> and Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.<br /><br />Goodbye and good riddance, more than half the cabinet ministers should go! They are incompetent and pose direct threats to the wellbeing of the public. Mbeki has allowed his ministers to continue regardless of the havoc they wreak on the nation in their respective portfolios.<br /><br />Ministers from the departments of correctional services, safety and security, home affairs, justice, labour, health, public enterprises, transport, agriculture, constitutional development and communications, to mention a few, should all be given the boot for the gross mismanagement of major aspects of their portfolios.<br /><br />For one, it is unfathomable why Mbeki reinstated the sickly and sickening <span style="color:#cc0000;">Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang</span>, despite her spectacular failure. Maybe Mbeki kept her on so she can benefit from the substantial pension benefits ministers get on retirement as a reward for her self-denying loyalty to him. Or maybe he did so just to spite the Treatment Action Campaign.<br /><br />Given the decline of the public sector, Manto is not the only one who should be fired. At least half the cabinet should go. The gross mismanagement of the sector education and training authorities (Setas) is good enough reason for <span style="color:#cc0000;">Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana</span> to be fired. The continuing debacle around South African Airways is good enough reason to give <span style="color:#cc0000;">Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin</span> the boot; eNatis is one among many reasons <span style="color:#cc0000;">Transport Minister Jeff Radebe</span> should be relieved of his duties.<br /><br />Marching orders should be given to the <span style="color:#cc0000;">Nqakula</span> couple. He has done very little to reduce the unacceptably high levels of crime in SA. His spouse has literally run home affairs into the ground.<br /><br />I can go on and on about Mbeki's monsters, whose services should be terminated for good reason, but the one who escapes scrutiny is <span style="color:#cc0000;">Agriculture Minister Lulama Xingwana</span>. Her failure to stem the farming crisis is astounding. More than 20,000 farmers have left the land, add to that the 3000 farmers murdered since 1994, and the picture looks grim. The government is the biggest single threat to commercial farmers.<br /><br />As with the doctors who leave in droves, so too, farmers are leaving in great numbers, not least because of land expropriations due to land claims and the lack of support from the government. The Land Bank, which should be helping farmers, gave an R800m loan to Pamodzi Investment Holdings — a nonagricultural investment — whose shareholder includes ANC high-up <span style="color:#cc0000;">Kgalema Motlanthe</span>. Can anyone explain who decides that R800m of the Land Bank’s funds go into an investment company in which senior ANC politicians have major shares, bankrupting the bank and leaving it to rely on the state to bale it out? Where is the logic in this? Where are the checks and balances? The former CEO Alan Mukoki, chief financial officer Xolile Ncame and risk manager Godfrey Masilela, earned exorbitant salaries and bonuses while seriously mismanaging the bank. Where are these people?<br /><br />Why does Mbeki allow such major forms of mismanagement when Jacob Zuma is dragged into court for amounts that pale into insignificance by comparison?<br /><br /></span><p></p>

Mbeki and the monsters he created

Deputy-president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is set to lead an exodus of cabinet ministers who are unhappy with the ANC national executive commit...

Read more »

(ANC) Deputy Kgalema Motlanthe appointed to Cabinet

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYp-ikaCuV5VC-lS-kzGyFm7IZcHWFINtc-AjLVSTMuXfiiNsKotkN76Povjhz0ldxdIa4jKV5dws61dn-82ZK-qMuM-HH9XZ6OmCzLFeFCaNls_CRakPZDRCsnqHfCx6sS99kDOViwgU/s1600-h/jzkgm.bmp"><span style="font-size:78%;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222231214351421314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYp-ikaCuV5VC-lS-kzGyFm7IZcHWFINtc-AjLVSTMuXfiiNsKotkN76Povjhz0ldxdIa4jKV5dws61dn-82ZK-qMuM-HH9XZ6OmCzLFeFCaNls_CRakPZDRCsnqHfCx6sS99kDOViwgU/s400/jzkgm.bmp" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Motlanthe former student activist, trade unionist and soldier in the ANC's disbanded military wing UmKhonto we Sizwe grew up influenced by the revolutionary ideologies of the Black Consciousness Movement and pursuing the aims of the ANC liberation movement. Sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#cc0000;">Political view point</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">A a powerful ally of party leader Jacob Zuma, Motlanthe has been the only ANC leader who publicly defended sacked Deputy President Jacob Zuma.<br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Corruption </span><br />In February 2006, auditors revealed that a total of about R2 billion in loans by the Land Bank, a government institution established to help farmers, had gone sour. Earlier, a R800 million (about $112 million) 10 year loan was given to Pamodzi Investment Holdings, a company whose shareholders include Motlanthe. This amounted to nearly one-third of the Land Bank's total assets, and was a non-agricultural investment. There is no suggestion that this particular loan was non-performing. Pamodzi chief executive Ndaba Ntsele denies there was any wrongdoing. [1]. The government has since fired the Land Bank chairman and agreed to inject R700 million to keep the Land Bank operative.<span style="color:#cc0000;"><strong> </strong></span><span style="font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;"><em>(see full story below dated 17 July 2005)<br /><br /></em><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;"><span style="color:#cc0000;"><span style="font-size:130%;">ANC bigwigs in dodgy Land Bank loan deal<br /></span>17 July 2005<br /></span><br />QUESTIONS have been raised over a massive loan made by the Land Bank to fund a BEE purchase with lofty political connections at a time when rural community projects were battling to get access to funds.<br /><br />The state-owned Land Bank funded the buyout of a food empire for a company in which ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe and presidential adviser Manne Dipico have a stake.<br /><br />The Land Bank provided R800-million to Pamodzi Investment Holdings, enabling the company to buy the remaining 49% it did not already own of Foodcorp, one of Africa’s largest food firms — and one whose core business is not agriculture.<br /><br />The Pamodzi deal was the first large empowerment deal to be financed by the Land Bank — and was questioned by the bank’s own auditors, Ernst & Young, the Sunday Times has established.<br /><br />The firm was concerned about the bank having overexposed itself by lending such a large amount to a single entity.<br /><br />The R800-million constituted more than 40% of the bank’s reserves. The norm is for the bank to limit its exposure at between 15% and 20% of its reserves per client.<br /><br />After concerns were raised, the Land Bank’s board issued a directive to the bank’s management to review its prudential limits and to approach some of its clients to reduce the amounts of loans made.<br /><br />The bank confirmed this week that in January this year its operations department told Pamodzi it intended renegotiating the deal with a view to reducing its R800-million exposure. The money was repaid last month.<br /><br />Pamodzi, however, says it was never approached to repay the money early, but had done so — after the Land Bank raised the red flag — because it had obtained cheaper finance elsewhere.<br /><br />At the time of the deal Motlanthe and Dipico had a stake in Pamodzi through the Pambi Trust, which owns an 8% stake in the company through a “special purpose vehicle” called Shady Grove.<br /><br />The two men are beneficiaries of the trust, and not trustees; Pambi’s trustees are either executives or directors of Pamodzi.<br /><br />Pambi Trust had its share of financial woes during the Pamodzi transaction. In 2000, Pambi paid a 10% deposit for 15.68% of Pamodzi, valued at R17-million at the time.<br /><br />But by May this year, Pambi was about to lose its stake, having failed to come up with the balance.<br /><br />Rand Merchant Bank came to the rescue, buying Pambi’s entire stake in Pamodzi — by then worth about R22-million — and transferring an 8% stake in Pamodzi to Pambi as fully paid-up shares.<br /><br />Motlanthe, Dipico and other beneficiaries of the trust in effect increased their ownership of the initial holding from 10% to 50%, without spending any more money.<br /><br />Pamodzi, founded in 1996 by a group of black entrepreneurs, said this week that Motlanthe and Dipico were “not actively involved in any Pamodzi business”.<br /><br />Speaking through its lawyers, Werksmans Attorneys, Pamodzi said there was nothing wrong with the funding transaction.<br /><br />The company also said that “neither Motlanthe nor Dipico knew of the transaction while it was taking place”.<br /><br />The company’s lawyers also added that the beneficiaries had not yet received “any dividends or benefit from their indirect shareholding”.<br /><br />Yesterday, the bank said it “rejects any suggestion that it was unduly exposed at the time the loan was granted or that there was undue risk involved”.<br /><br />The bank funded Pamodzi’s deal at a time when hundreds of desperate farmers were battling to get funding for tractors, seeds, shovels and fertilizer.<br /><br />The Sunday Times has found that at least one community farming project suffered as a result of not getting funding from the bank.<br /><br />The Mathebula Communal Property Association in Mpumalanga applied for a R110000 loan from the Land Bank in April last year — the same month that Pamodzi received its funding.<br /><br />Approval for funding for this community project eventually came 11 months later, in March this year — and the community has still not received a cent.<br /><br />“The project needs the money to buy, among other things, chicken stock, and feeding trays,” said Aida Mathebula, chairman of the project.<br /><br />The Land Bank is a public entity responsible for rural development and financing of established and emerging farmers. It reports to Minister of Land Affairs Thoko Didiza.<br />Pamodzi’s acquisition, Foodcorp, makes Dogmore, Glenryck Pilchards and Yum Yum peanut butter.<br /><br />Neither Motlanthe nor Dipico responded to several requests for comment. — Additional reporting by Dumisane Lubisi and Dominic Mahlangu</span></p><br /></span></span>

(ANC) Deputy Kgalema Motlanthe appointed to Cabinet

Motlanthe former student activist, trade unionist and soldier in the ANC's disbanded military wing UmKhonto we Sizwe grew up influenced ...

Read more »