ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma has described the controversy around him as a challenge to South Africa's Constitution.
The test was how these matters were being handled, he told Metro FM on Tuesday. "I'm saying that things that are happening are a challenge to our democracy, a challenge to our constitution, a challenge to our political maturity, a challenge to the understanding of the nation as a whole. How then do we then deal with the situation, I think, that's what I'm saying," he said. "And in no way can you have a country that doesn't go through challenges at a given time. I think the test is how do you address those issues in order to find an appropriate solution."
President Thabo Mbeki fired Zuma as SA's deputy president in July after he was found by Durban High Court to have had a generally corrupt relationship with his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik.
Source: News 24
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Monday, August 8, 2005
Pay hike for SA politicos
The Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers has recommended that a hike of 5.75% be provided to South African elected politicians - including members of parliament and members of provincial legislatures and judges.
The commission - headed by Judge Dikgang Moseneke, who was recently appointed Deputy Chief Justice - said: "Having duly consulted as required by law, and having considered all relevant factors ...as well as other factors prescribed by applicable legislation, the commission recommends that the salaries, benefits and allowances of public office bearers be increased by 5,75% for the 2005/06 financial year, with effect from April 1 2005." The recommendations are made to President Thabo Mbeki in terms of the constitution.
The commission noted that it had considered annual and month-on-month CPIX figures. (Month-on-month CPIX for May 2005 was 3.9%).
Source: News 24
The commission - headed by Judge Dikgang Moseneke, who was recently appointed Deputy Chief Justice - said: "Having duly consulted as required by law, and having considered all relevant factors ...as well as other factors prescribed by applicable legislation, the commission recommends that the salaries, benefits and allowances of public office bearers be increased by 5,75% for the 2005/06 financial year, with effect from April 1 2005." The recommendations are made to President Thabo Mbeki in terms of the constitution.
The commission noted that it had considered annual and month-on-month CPIX figures. (Month-on-month CPIX for May 2005 was 3.9%).
Source: News 24
Ibrahim Ferrer, 78, Cuban Singer in 'Buena Vista Social Club,' Dies
Ibrahim Ferrer, the Cuban singer whose life included one of popular music's most triumphant second acts, died on Saturday in Havana. He was 78. The cause was multiple organ failure, his manager, Carmen Romero, announced.
Mr. Ferrer was at the center of the Buena Vista Social Club, a phenomenon that brought long-delayed international fame to a group of older Cuban musicians thanks to a Grammy-winning 1997 album produced by Ry Cooder and a subsequent film by Wim Wenders, both by that name. Besides offering American audiences a musician's-eye view of Cuba, the film set up Mr. Ferrer as a particularly sympathetic figure - tall, distinguished and lively, an excellent bolero singer who used space and silence in his relaxed elegant delivery to increase the drama, a man who had been rolled over by history and was now simply trying to enjoy an absurdly lucky situation.
At the time that he was enticed out of retirement to make the album, Mr. Ferrer was living on a small state pension and shining shoes in Havana for extra money.
He was not interested in recording anymore; he had retired from singing in 1991.
"An angel came and picked me up and said, 'Chico, come and do this record,' " he said in 1998. "I didn't want to do it, because I had given up on music."
Born in 1927 at a social club dance in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba - his mother went into labor on a night out - Mr. Ferrer's first professional involvement with music came at age 13, a year after he became an orphan, when he joined a band, Los Jóvenes del Son.
Later he sang with groups that included Conjunto Sorpresa, the Orquesta Chepín Chovén (with which he had a local hit, "El Platanal de Bartolo," in 1955) and the Beny Moré orchestra, with which he was a background vocalist; in 1953 he began working with Pacho Alonso's band, Maravilla de Beltrán, in Santiago. The band later moved from Santiago to Havana and called itself Los Bocucos.
For most of his career Mr. Ferrer generally sang uptempo numbers, guarachas and sones, not the slow romantic boleros, even though he loved them. But his chance finally came on "The Buena Vista Social Club," when Mr. Cooder and Juan de Marcos González, the album's musical director, persuaded him to sing songs like "Dos Gardenias," which he had learned decades before when singing with Moré.
In 1998, the Cuban Egrem label released "Tierra Caliente," an album of older songs he had made with Los Bocucos. In 1999 the British World Circuit label (with Nonesuch in the United States) released Mr. Ferrer's first solo album, and in 2003 his second, "Buenos Hermanos"; both were produced by Mr. Cooder. In "Buenos Hermanos" Mr. Cooder took more artistic liberties, stirring the very un-Cuban accordion and the gospel singing group the Blind Boys of Alabama into the mix.
Though by this time he was in his 70's, Mr. Ferrer won a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2000. "Buenos Hermanos" won a Grammy for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album of 2003, but Mr. Ferrer was denied a visa to enter the United States for the awards ceremony last year.
His last performance in New York was in April 2003. He was on a European tour in the week leading up to his death.
Mr. Ferrer is survived by his wife, Caridad Díaz, 6 children, 14 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, Ms. Romero said.
Source: New York Times
Mr. Ferrer was at the center of the Buena Vista Social Club, a phenomenon that brought long-delayed international fame to a group of older Cuban musicians thanks to a Grammy-winning 1997 album produced by Ry Cooder and a subsequent film by Wim Wenders, both by that name. Besides offering American audiences a musician's-eye view of Cuba, the film set up Mr. Ferrer as a particularly sympathetic figure - tall, distinguished and lively, an excellent bolero singer who used space and silence in his relaxed elegant delivery to increase the drama, a man who had been rolled over by history and was now simply trying to enjoy an absurdly lucky situation.
At the time that he was enticed out of retirement to make the album, Mr. Ferrer was living on a small state pension and shining shoes in Havana for extra money.
He was not interested in recording anymore; he had retired from singing in 1991.
"An angel came and picked me up and said, 'Chico, come and do this record,' " he said in 1998. "I didn't want to do it, because I had given up on music."
Born in 1927 at a social club dance in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba - his mother went into labor on a night out - Mr. Ferrer's first professional involvement with music came at age 13, a year after he became an orphan, when he joined a band, Los Jóvenes del Son.
Later he sang with groups that included Conjunto Sorpresa, the Orquesta Chepín Chovén (with which he had a local hit, "El Platanal de Bartolo," in 1955) and the Beny Moré orchestra, with which he was a background vocalist; in 1953 he began working with Pacho Alonso's band, Maravilla de Beltrán, in Santiago. The band later moved from Santiago to Havana and called itself Los Bocucos.
For most of his career Mr. Ferrer generally sang uptempo numbers, guarachas and sones, not the slow romantic boleros, even though he loved them. But his chance finally came on "The Buena Vista Social Club," when Mr. Cooder and Juan de Marcos González, the album's musical director, persuaded him to sing songs like "Dos Gardenias," which he had learned decades before when singing with Moré.
In 1998, the Cuban Egrem label released "Tierra Caliente," an album of older songs he had made with Los Bocucos. In 1999 the British World Circuit label (with Nonesuch in the United States) released Mr. Ferrer's first solo album, and in 2003 his second, "Buenos Hermanos"; both were produced by Mr. Cooder. In "Buenos Hermanos" Mr. Cooder took more artistic liberties, stirring the very un-Cuban accordion and the gospel singing group the Blind Boys of Alabama into the mix.
Though by this time he was in his 70's, Mr. Ferrer won a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2000. "Buenos Hermanos" won a Grammy for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album of 2003, but Mr. Ferrer was denied a visa to enter the United States for the awards ceremony last year.
His last performance in New York was in April 2003. He was on a European tour in the week leading up to his death.
Mr. Ferrer is survived by his wife, Caridad Díaz, 6 children, 14 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren, Ms. Romero said.
Source: New York Times
Friday, August 5, 2005
Mauritania officers 'seize power'
Mauritanian army officers have announced the overthrow of the country's president and creation of a military council to rule the country. The council said it had ended the "totalitarian regime" of Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya, who is now in Niger. It named security chief Col Ely Ould Mohamed Vall as the new leader. There were street celebrations in the capital, Nouakchott, as troops controlled key points. African and world bodies condemned the action.The African Union said it "strongly condemns any seizure of power or any attempt to take power by force". United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan was "deeply troubled" by the reports, insisting political disagreements should be settled peacefully and democratically, a spokesman said.
President Olusegun Obasanjo of regional powerhouse Nigeria said "the days of tolerating military governance in our sub-region or anywhere" were "long gone". President Taya, attending the funeral of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd at the time, was flown to Niger's capital, Niamey. He was met by Niger President Mamadou Tandja before travelling on to a villa in Niamey, where officials say he may stay for several days, the Associated Press reports.
The national armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the oppressive activities of the defunct authority. The new Military Council for Justice and Democracy said it would rule the West African state for a transitional period of two years, after which it would organise free and fair elections. Following the announcement on national radio, people took to the streets of Nouakchott in celebration, hooting their car horns. "I can hear the cars now and people running in the streets. People are celebrating," president Hassan Ahmed told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Heavily armed forces surrounded state radio and television buildings as well as the presidential palace from 0500 GMT. State media broadcasts were cut and the airport closed. Some sporadic gunfire was heard at first, and there were unconfirmed reports of senior army officials being arrested. Shops immediately shut down and civil servants left their offices, said witnesses.
President Taya took power in a bloodless coup in December 1984 and has been re-elected three times since. Correspondents say he later made enemies among Islamists in the country, which is an Islamic republic. Critics accuse the government of using the US-led war on terror to crack down on Islamic opponents. Mr Taya has also prompted widespread opposition by establishing links with Israel. Earlier this year, nearly 200 people, including former President Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah, were put on trial for a series of alleged coup plots. Mauritania is deeply divided between three main groups - light-skinned Arabic-speakers, descendents of slaves and dark-skinned speakers of West African languages.
Source: BBC
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