The African Union said on Thursday it was imposing immediate sanctions against the leaders of Guinea's ruling military junta, which took power in a coup last December after the death of veteran leader Lansana Conte. "These sanctions are targeted at the civilians and military personnel that are perpetuating these unconstitutional acts in Guinea," Lamamra Ramtane, AU commissioner for peace and security, told a meeting of the African body in Nigeria. "It is not intended to target the people of Guinea," he said, specifying the sanctions would include such measures as the freezing of bank accounts and travel visas rather than trade sanctions against the country. He said the measures would be directed against the leadership of the CNDD, the ruling junta in the West African country led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.
International pressure and internal dissent have grown in Guinea, the world's top supplier of bauxite, since live ammunition was used against anti-government protesters in a stadium a month ago. A local rights group said 157 people were killed. The United States, France and the European Union have called on Camara to step down and the International Criminal Court has said it is investigating the killings.
The EU agreed on Tuesday to impose an arms embargo on the West African country, and restrict the travel and freeze assets of those involved in the killing of the protesters. The U.S. government has also restricted travel to the United States by some members of the junta and the government, as well as others who support actions that "undermine the restoration of democracy and the rule of law".
The AU had threatened sanctions if Camara, who promised to rein in the army and transfer power to civilian rule through elections, refuses to opt out of a poll set for January.
Source: reuters
The African Union communique can be found here.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Kimberley Process: Suspend Zimbabwe
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, scheduled to meet in Swakopmund, Namibia, from November 2 to 5, 2009, should immediately suspend Zimbabwe for continuing human rights abuses and widespread smuggling in the Marange diamond fields, Human Rights Watch said today. The government of Zimbabwe has not complied with any of the recommendations put forward in July by a review mission of the group, an international body that governs the global diamond industry.
Human Rights Watch researchers carried out follow-up investigations from October 12 to 23, establishing that elements of the Zimbabwean Defence Forces have consolidated their presence in the diamond fields and that they are abusing members of the local community and engaging in widespread diamond smuggling. On June 26, Human Rights Watch published "Diamonds in the Rough," a detailed report on human rights violations associated with illicit diamond mining at Marange.
"Zimbabwe has had more than enough time to put a halt to the human rights abuses and smuggling at Marange," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, it has sent more troops to the area, apparently trying to put a halt to independent access and scrutiny."
In their latest investigation in Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch researchers were able to interview 23 people directly linked to the Marange diamond fields and to confirm the following abuses, which put Zimbabwe in violation of the minimum standards required for membership in the Kimberley Process:
* The Zimbabwean army uses syndicates of local miners to extract diamonds, often using forced labor, including children.
* On September 17, a soldier shot and killed a 19-year-old member of one syndicate. The soldier stated, in the presence of witnesses, that he had shot the man for hiding a raw diamond instead of handing it over to the soldier.
* Local miners provided information that soldiers have begun to recruit people from outside Marange to join army-run diamond mining syndicates.
* Smuggling of Marange diamonds has intensified. Scores of buyers and middlemen openly trade in Marange diamonds in the small Mozambique town of Vila de Manica, 20 miles from Mutare.
The ownership of the Marange diamond fields is in dispute. The mines minister, the police commissioner, and the government-owned company, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), have all failed to comply with a High Court order issued by Judge Charles Hungwe on September 28, to restore prospecting and diamond mining rights in the diamond fields to the previous owner, African Consolidated Resources (Private) Limited (ACR).
Source: Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch researchers carried out follow-up investigations from October 12 to 23, establishing that elements of the Zimbabwean Defence Forces have consolidated their presence in the diamond fields and that they are abusing members of the local community and engaging in widespread diamond smuggling. On June 26, Human Rights Watch published "Diamonds in the Rough," a detailed report on human rights violations associated with illicit diamond mining at Marange.
"Zimbabwe has had more than enough time to put a halt to the human rights abuses and smuggling at Marange," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, it has sent more troops to the area, apparently trying to put a halt to independent access and scrutiny."
In their latest investigation in Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch researchers were able to interview 23 people directly linked to the Marange diamond fields and to confirm the following abuses, which put Zimbabwe in violation of the minimum standards required for membership in the Kimberley Process:
* The Zimbabwean army uses syndicates of local miners to extract diamonds, often using forced labor, including children.
* On September 17, a soldier shot and killed a 19-year-old member of one syndicate. The soldier stated, in the presence of witnesses, that he had shot the man for hiding a raw diamond instead of handing it over to the soldier.
* Local miners provided information that soldiers have begun to recruit people from outside Marange to join army-run diamond mining syndicates.
* Smuggling of Marange diamonds has intensified. Scores of buyers and middlemen openly trade in Marange diamonds in the small Mozambique town of Vila de Manica, 20 miles from Mutare.
The ownership of the Marange diamond fields is in dispute. The mines minister, the police commissioner, and the government-owned company, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), have all failed to comply with a High Court order issued by Judge Charles Hungwe on September 28, to restore prospecting and diamond mining rights in the diamond fields to the previous owner, African Consolidated Resources (Private) Limited (ACR).
Source: Human Rights Watch
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Scandals, murder taint World Cup stadium
Mbombela is one of the most atmospheric new stadiums built for the 2010 World Cup, nestled among the beautiful hills of Mpumalanga and supported by orange pylons that resemble giraffes. But the almost R1.3 billion stadium has been tarnished by a string of scandals, including the murder, apparently by professional hitmen, of a municipal official who blew the whistle on alleged corruption and malpractice.
The stadium has been built just outside Nelspruit, the gateway to South Africa's most famous game park, the Kruger - hence the giraffes - in an area of great beauty, where most of the country's citrus fruit and avocados are grown. But the multiple controversies over World Cup projects have tainted that beauty. Even the mayor describes them as ugly.
The scandals include a failed attempt by the municipality to buy the stadium land from the Matsafeni community owners for R1, allegations of irregular tenders, overpayments, conflicts of interest and tax evasion. In 2008 an angry high court judge blocked the deal, accusing the municipality of being like colonial settlers who tried to buy land for mirrors and shiny buttons. Now the Matsafeni have agreed on a transfer worth almost R9 million. Municipal manager Joseph Dladla was suspended early in 2008 after a scathing investigation by a local law firm which alleged his misconduct had brought the municipality close to collapse. His ally, mayor Justice Nsibande, was fired and the municipality placed under external administration. Municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala, the leading critic of alleged irregularities, was killed by masked men outside his home in January. No arrests have been made.
Stadium construction, now almost complete, was dogged by repeated labour protests and violent clashes between police and local people angered by failure to build new schools to replace two displaced by the project. Failures to deliver electricity and water to Mataffin township next to the arena mean that World Cup matches could be played within sight of tin shacks where people live in sordid conditions without piped water or sewers.
Excitement is growing about the World Cup in South Africa and Nelspruit is decorated with colourful posters for the tournament. But there is no enthusiasm in Mataffin. "We are not happy the World Cup is coming to South Africa," said Sarah Shabangu, 29, an unemployed mother of three, as she drew water from a dirty borehole close to pit latrines and shacks within sight of the stadium. "Only a greedy few corrupt officials and their friends are going to benefit. The people on the ground won't get anything," she said. Her friend Khelina Sibuyi, 49, agreed. "We use this water for drinking, cooking and bathing. The kids get sick and have diarrhoea; ever since they built the stadium we have been hoping for help in getting services but nothing is happening, there is no water or electricity."
Four girls plaiting each others' hair under a tree beside a dirt road in Mataffin said they had been off school for two weeks because of a strike over failure to build new classrooms. Their schools were taken over as offices by stadium builders in 2007 and the children moved into hot temporary classrooms that residents say are converted containers. The girls said air conditioners installed in 2008 worked for only two weeks.
Residents have a document signed by provincial officials in September 2008 promising new schools by July 2009. Frustration over the failure to keep that promise erupted earlier in October with stone-throwing youths clashing with police on three occasions. A squad car was set on fire. Residents say the police retaliated by storming into their houses and firing buckshot and rubber bullets. Phumzile Rooi, 23, sat listlessly outside her hut and showed an ugly wound on her leg she said was from a rubber bullet.
Police spokesman Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said only two policemen and one protester were hurt. He denied officers had stormed into residents' houses. Asked during an angry township meeting what World Cup fans would think when they saw Mataffin, another resident who asked not to be named said: "They will think they have come to hell." Differ Mogale, the municipality's 2010 coordinator, acknowledged that the scandals had damaged the city's image. "It does, irrespective of the truthfulness of whatever was said." But he said none of the allegations had been proven and until they were he was not worried about any impact on the World Cup. Asked about the schools, he added: "That really concerns us, because we were part of the stakeholders that confirmed the schools should be built."
Construction would be finished by the end of 2009 while water and electricity supplying the stadium would be extended into Mataffin before the tournament, he said. But he said: "This is Africa, we don't have to close certain things because they are ugly."
Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo said the situation in the township was "very painful; I have to admit that in this instance we have failed our people". He promised construction of new schools would start very shortly but many remain sceptical, including human rights lawyer Richard Spoor who helped the Matsafeni remove discredited leaders who agreed the R1 sale, which he said was a corrupt scheme to benefit a few politicians and officials. "They promised a new school, they promised a new church, they promised many things. Every single one of those promises and those undertakings has been broken, they have done nothing," Spoor said. "It is clear to me now that it is far too late to do anything about Mataffin, so visitors are going to come here and see the slums first hand; it is a pitiful situation."
Source: IoL
The stadium has been built just outside Nelspruit, the gateway to South Africa's most famous game park, the Kruger - hence the giraffes - in an area of great beauty, where most of the country's citrus fruit and avocados are grown. But the multiple controversies over World Cup projects have tainted that beauty. Even the mayor describes them as ugly.
The scandals include a failed attempt by the municipality to buy the stadium land from the Matsafeni community owners for R1, allegations of irregular tenders, overpayments, conflicts of interest and tax evasion. In 2008 an angry high court judge blocked the deal, accusing the municipality of being like colonial settlers who tried to buy land for mirrors and shiny buttons. Now the Matsafeni have agreed on a transfer worth almost R9 million. Municipal manager Joseph Dladla was suspended early in 2008 after a scathing investigation by a local law firm which alleged his misconduct had brought the municipality close to collapse. His ally, mayor Justice Nsibande, was fired and the municipality placed under external administration. Municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala, the leading critic of alleged irregularities, was killed by masked men outside his home in January. No arrests have been made.
Stadium construction, now almost complete, was dogged by repeated labour protests and violent clashes between police and local people angered by failure to build new schools to replace two displaced by the project. Failures to deliver electricity and water to Mataffin township next to the arena mean that World Cup matches could be played within sight of tin shacks where people live in sordid conditions without piped water or sewers.
Excitement is growing about the World Cup in South Africa and Nelspruit is decorated with colourful posters for the tournament. But there is no enthusiasm in Mataffin. "We are not happy the World Cup is coming to South Africa," said Sarah Shabangu, 29, an unemployed mother of three, as she drew water from a dirty borehole close to pit latrines and shacks within sight of the stadium. "Only a greedy few corrupt officials and their friends are going to benefit. The people on the ground won't get anything," she said. Her friend Khelina Sibuyi, 49, agreed. "We use this water for drinking, cooking and bathing. The kids get sick and have diarrhoea; ever since they built the stadium we have been hoping for help in getting services but nothing is happening, there is no water or electricity."
Four girls plaiting each others' hair under a tree beside a dirt road in Mataffin said they had been off school for two weeks because of a strike over failure to build new classrooms. Their schools were taken over as offices by stadium builders in 2007 and the children moved into hot temporary classrooms that residents say are converted containers. The girls said air conditioners installed in 2008 worked for only two weeks.
Residents have a document signed by provincial officials in September 2008 promising new schools by July 2009. Frustration over the failure to keep that promise erupted earlier in October with stone-throwing youths clashing with police on three occasions. A squad car was set on fire. Residents say the police retaliated by storming into their houses and firing buckshot and rubber bullets. Phumzile Rooi, 23, sat listlessly outside her hut and showed an ugly wound on her leg she said was from a rubber bullet.
Police spokesman Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said only two policemen and one protester were hurt. He denied officers had stormed into residents' houses. Asked during an angry township meeting what World Cup fans would think when they saw Mataffin, another resident who asked not to be named said: "They will think they have come to hell." Differ Mogale, the municipality's 2010 coordinator, acknowledged that the scandals had damaged the city's image. "It does, irrespective of the truthfulness of whatever was said." But he said none of the allegations had been proven and until they were he was not worried about any impact on the World Cup. Asked about the schools, he added: "That really concerns us, because we were part of the stakeholders that confirmed the schools should be built."
Construction would be finished by the end of 2009 while water and electricity supplying the stadium would be extended into Mataffin before the tournament, he said. But he said: "This is Africa, we don't have to close certain things because they are ugly."
Nelspruit mayor Lassy Chiwayo said the situation in the township was "very painful; I have to admit that in this instance we have failed our people". He promised construction of new schools would start very shortly but many remain sceptical, including human rights lawyer Richard Spoor who helped the Matsafeni remove discredited leaders who agreed the R1 sale, which he said was a corrupt scheme to benefit a few politicians and officials. "They promised a new school, they promised a new church, they promised many things. Every single one of those promises and those undertakings has been broken, they have done nothing," Spoor said. "It is clear to me now that it is far too late to do anything about Mataffin, so visitors are going to come here and see the slums first hand; it is a pitiful situation."
Source: IoL
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Pirates 'seize UK yacht couple'
A search is being carried out for a British couple who are feared to have been taken captive by Somali pirates while sailing near the Seychelles. Paul and Rachel Chandler, aged 59 and 55, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were heading for Tanzania in their yacht, the Lynn Rival. They sent a distress signal on Friday but have not been heard from since. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said his sources believed they were being taken to Somalia. He said it was thought the couple and their yacht were headed for the port of Haradheere. A pirate called Hassan told the Reuters news agency: "The British couple are in our hands now. We captured them as they were touring in the Indian Ocean." The two captives were healthy and ransom demands would follow, he added.A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokeswoman said it could not confirm whether pirates were involved. We are in touch with the family in the UK and the Seychelles coastguards which continues to monitor the situation and has conducted a search of the area," she added.A spokesman for the Seychelles Coast Guard said they had not heard from the couple, who were out of reach by satellite phone. He said: "There have been reports that they were hijacked by pirates but no one can prove that. We don't know what has happened and cannot speculate." The couple's niece Leah Mickleborough said she last saw the couple at her wedding in September. She told BBC Radio 5 live they were experienced sailors who had lived on their yacht for several years. She said the family were told on Friday that the distress signal had been set off but switched off again, as if it was an accident. They were expecting the couple to come into a dock on an island where they could make contact, but were warned by the FCO on Monday that there would be reports of a kidnapping in the media. "We were fairly confident that maybe it was just an accident," she said. "All of us in the family are extremely upset by what's happened and we're very distressed. "We all hope they are OK and this can be resolved easily." Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the couple's distress beacon was activated at 2300 BST on Friday.
They were on a 150 nautical-mile passage south-west to the Amirante Islands, en route to Tanzania when they used the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. The route would have taken the couple near Somali waters which are notorious for pirate attacks on ships and smaller boats. It is understood that there had been pirate activity in the area earlier in the day. Earlier this year Seychellois officials requested help from the international community to defend their waters.
The Chandlers previously wrote of "the Somali pirate problem" that delayed other voyages to Tanzania. In a post on their blog in June, the couple wrote: "The seas around the Seychelles are now too rough for the pirates to operate in."
Nick Davis, Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre, said the waters around the Seychelles had become one of the most dangerous areas in the world for piracy since warships had moved into the Gulf of Aden to protect merchant ships. In the past few weeks pirates have taken a fishing boat, container ship and cargo dry bulk carrier.
Source: BBC
Arrest warrant issued for Barry Tannenbaum
A warrant of arrest has been issued for mastermind of a recent multibillion-rand Ponzi fraud scam, said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday. Over 700 investors have been affected by the scheme and about R12-billion was involved, it has been revealed.
Gordhan spoke strongly about the need to quell corruption and fraud in South Africa. A warrant for Tannenbaum's former lawyer, Dean Rees, has also been issued. Tannenbaum has been living in Australia, according to reports, while the assets of Rees had reportedly been frozen.
Tannenbaum was said to have lured investors with the promise of 200% annual returns linked to pharmaceutical imports and was accused of forging HIV/Aids drug orders to give reassurance when money started to dry up.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Gordhan spoke strongly about the need to quell corruption and fraud in South Africa. A warrant for Tannenbaum's former lawyer, Dean Rees, has also been issued. Tannenbaum has been living in Australia, according to reports, while the assets of Rees had reportedly been frozen.
Tannenbaum was said to have lured investors with the promise of 200% annual returns linked to pharmaceutical imports and was accused of forging HIV/Aids drug orders to give reassurance when money started to dry up.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Guinea: September 28 Massacre Was Premeditated
An in-depth investigation into the September 28, 2009 killings and rapes at a peaceful rally in Conakry, Guinea, has uncovered new evidence that the massacre and widespread sexual violence were organized and were committed largely by the elite Presidential Guard, commonly known as the “red berets,” Human Rights Watch said today. Following a 10-day research mission in Guinea, Human Rights Watch also found that the armed forces attempted to hide evidence of the crimes by seizing bodies from the stadium and the city’s morgues and burying them in mass graves.
Human Rights Watch found that members of the Presidential Guard carried out a premeditated massacre of at least 150 people on September 28 and brutally raped dozens of women. Red berets shot at opposition supporters until they ran out of bullets, then continued to kill with bayonets and knives. “There is no way the government can continue to imply the deaths were somehow accidental,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “This was clearly a premeditated attempt to silence opposition voices. Security forces surrounded and blockaded the stadium, then stormed in and fired at protesters in cold blood until they ran out of bullets,” added Gagnon. “They carried out grisly gang rapes and murders of women in full sight of the commanders. That’s no accident.”
A group of Guinean military officers calling themselves the National Council for Democracy and Development (Conseil national pour la démocratie et le développement, CNDD) seized power hours after the death on December 22, 2008, of Lansana Conté, Guinea’s president for 24 years. The CNDD is headed by a self-proclaimed president, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch found that members of the Presidential Guard carried out a premeditated massacre of at least 150 people on September 28 and brutally raped dozens of women. Red berets shot at opposition supporters until they ran out of bullets, then continued to kill with bayonets and knives. “There is no way the government can continue to imply the deaths were somehow accidental,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “This was clearly a premeditated attempt to silence opposition voices. Security forces surrounded and blockaded the stadium, then stormed in and fired at protesters in cold blood until they ran out of bullets,” added Gagnon. “They carried out grisly gang rapes and murders of women in full sight of the commanders. That’s no accident.”
A group of Guinean military officers calling themselves the National Council for Democracy and Development (Conseil national pour la démocratie et le développement, CNDD) seized power hours after the death on December 22, 2008, of Lansana Conté, Guinea’s president for 24 years. The CNDD is headed by a self-proclaimed president, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Thursday, October 22, 2009
A Lone Cleric Is Loudly Defying Iran’s Leaders
A short midlevel cleric, with a neat white beard and a clergyman’s calm bearing, Mehdi Karroubi has watched from his home in Tehran in recent months as his aides have been arrested, his offices raided, his newspaper shut down. He himself has been threatened with arrest and, indirectly, the death penalty.
Once a second-tier opposition figure operating in the shadow of Mir Hussein Moussavi, his fellow challenger in Iran’s discredited presidential election in June, Mr. Karroubi has emerged in recent months as the last and most defiant opponent of the country’s leadership. The authorities have dismissed as fabrications his accusations of official corruption, voting fraud and the torture and rape of detained protesters. A former confidant of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and a longtime conservative politician, he has lately been accused by the government of fomenting unrest and aiding Iran’s foreign enemies.
Four months after mass protests erupted in response to the dubious victory claims of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the opposition’s efforts have largely stalled in the face of unrelenting government pressure, arrests, long detentions, harsh sentences, censorship and a strategic refusal to compromise. But for all its success at preserving authority, the government has been unable to silence or intimidate Mr. Karroubi, its most tenacious and, in many ways, most problematic critic. While other opposition figures, including Mr. Moussavi and two former presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, are seldom heard now, Mr. Karroubi has been unsparing and highly vocal in his criticism of the government, which he feels has lost all legitimacy.
After the government dismissed those allegations last month, Mr. Karroubi was summoned to appear before a three-judge panel investigating his actions. He welcomed the invitation. “It will be a good opportunity for me to talk again about crimes that would make the shah look good,” he said, according to the Green Freedom Wave Web site.
As calls for his arrest grow louder, he remains defiant. “If only I were not alive and had not seen the day that in the Islamic republic, a citizen would come to me and complain that every variety of appalling and unnatural act would be done in unknown buildings and by less-known people: stripping people and making them face each other and subjecting them to vile insults and urinating in their faces,” he wrote in his letter to the nation. “I said to myself, ‘Where indeed have we arrived 30 years after the revolution?’ ”
Sourc: New York Times
Once a second-tier opposition figure operating in the shadow of Mir Hussein Moussavi, his fellow challenger in Iran’s discredited presidential election in June, Mr. Karroubi has emerged in recent months as the last and most defiant opponent of the country’s leadership. The authorities have dismissed as fabrications his accusations of official corruption, voting fraud and the torture and rape of detained protesters. A former confidant of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and a longtime conservative politician, he has lately been accused by the government of fomenting unrest and aiding Iran’s foreign enemies.
Four months after mass protests erupted in response to the dubious victory claims of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the opposition’s efforts have largely stalled in the face of unrelenting government pressure, arrests, long detentions, harsh sentences, censorship and a strategic refusal to compromise. But for all its success at preserving authority, the government has been unable to silence or intimidate Mr. Karroubi, its most tenacious and, in many ways, most problematic critic. While other opposition figures, including Mr. Moussavi and two former presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, are seldom heard now, Mr. Karroubi has been unsparing and highly vocal in his criticism of the government, which he feels has lost all legitimacy.
After the government dismissed those allegations last month, Mr. Karroubi was summoned to appear before a three-judge panel investigating his actions. He welcomed the invitation. “It will be a good opportunity for me to talk again about crimes that would make the shah look good,” he said, according to the Green Freedom Wave Web site.
As calls for his arrest grow louder, he remains defiant. “If only I were not alive and had not seen the day that in the Islamic republic, a citizen would come to me and complain that every variety of appalling and unnatural act would be done in unknown buildings and by less-known people: stripping people and making them face each other and subjecting them to vile insults and urinating in their faces,” he wrote in his letter to the nation. “I said to myself, ‘Where indeed have we arrived 30 years after the revolution?’ ”
Sourc: New York Times
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Iranian American scholar gets 12-year term in unrest
Iran ignored appeals by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the rock star Sting and sentenced an Iranian American academic yesterday to 12 years in prison for his alleged role in antigovernment demonstrations after the country's disputed presidential election. The sentence for Kian Tajbakhsh, 47, was the longest prison term yet in a mass trial of more than 100 opposition figures, activists, and journalists in the postelection turmoil. Tajbakhsh's heavy sentence signaled that Tehran was sticking to a tough line overall on the political unrest. It came amid calls in Iran for prosecution of the most senior opposition figure, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, and suggestions that three U.S. hikers, detained in July after accidentally crossing into Iran, could face charges.Tajbakhsh, a social scientist and urban planner who holds dual citizenship, was arrested at his Tehran home July 9. He was the only American detained in the crackdown that crushed giant street protests by hundreds of thousands after the June 12 election. The opposition contends that the vote was rigged in favor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The security sweep went far beyond protesters on the streets, snatching up rights activists, journalists, and opposition politicians. The government accused them of organizing the protests on behalf of Iran's foreign enemies to foment a "velvet revolution" to overthrow the country's Islamic leadership.
The White House, in a statement yesterday, expressed "our deepest regret and strong objection" to Tajbakhsh's sentencing, saying that he posed no threat to Iran and urging that he be freed. Clinton had appealed in August for his release, and he also had been specifically named in a call by the British rock star Sting to free all political prisoners in Iran.
Tajbakhsh's lawyer, Houshang Azhari, told the IRNA news agency he would appeal the conviction on charges of "acting against national security." He said that the law barred him from divulging the full details of the sentence, asserting only that it was "more than 12 years." The appeal could open an avenue for freeing Tajbakhsh. Roxana Saberi, an Iranian American journalist arrested this year, was convicted of espionage but freed on appeal in what was widely seen as a political decision to defuse tensions with Washington.
Tajbakhsh had been targeted by Iranian authorities before. In 2007, he was arrested on similar charges while working for the pro-democracy Open Society Institute, run by U.S. philanthropist George Soros - a figure whom Iran often has cited as part of the antigovernment plot. Tajbakhsh denied the charges and was released after four months in prison. Afterward, Tajbakhsh left the Open Society Institution and remained with his family in Iran, working on a book.
Source:Philly.com
Monday, October 19, 2009
Asmal: Militarisation of police is 'craziness'
Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula's idea of militarising the police service is "craziness" and smacks of "low-level political decision-making", former minister Kader Asmal said in Cape Town on Monday. "The new administration is referring to the militarization of the police," Asmal told the Cape Town Press Club. "I have this former head of the youth league [Mbalula] who aspires to be secretary general of the ANC. Ha, really, I hope I won't be alive," he said. "He said we must militarise the police. We spent days and days in 1991 to get away from the idea of a militarised police force. Extraordinary. "This is a kind of craziness all of us have to take into account. It is part of that low-level political decision-making without reference to the Cabinet."
Mbalula has said he wants the police service transformed into a paramilitary force, with military ranks and discipline. It has been reported in the media that he has been canvassing African National Congress offices to elect him as the party's secretary general in 2012. Asmal said it was remarkable how the current administration's "political memory" had failed, hinting that it was showing signs of re-establishing apartheid-era security organisations such as the Bureau of State Security (Boss). "So the police service is wrong. According to the president it must be a police force. "We have a minister of intelligence now called minister of state security. Shew. Bureau of State Security. Boss it was known as. It is remarkable how political memory totally recedes into the background."
Asmal said the government would have to change the Constitution to "militarise" the police ranking system. "If a station commander is made general, what is going to happen to the national commissioner of police? "He is going to be 'generalisimo' or 'il duce' or Field Marshall. "According to the Constitution the president appoints the national commissioner of the police. You have to amend the Constitution and become the laughing stock of the world just to change a name."
Source: Mail & Guardian
Mbalula has said he wants the police service transformed into a paramilitary force, with military ranks and discipline. It has been reported in the media that he has been canvassing African National Congress offices to elect him as the party's secretary general in 2012. Asmal said it was remarkable how the current administration's "political memory" had failed, hinting that it was showing signs of re-establishing apartheid-era security organisations such as the Bureau of State Security (Boss). "So the police service is wrong. According to the president it must be a police force. "We have a minister of intelligence now called minister of state security. Shew. Bureau of State Security. Boss it was known as. It is remarkable how political memory totally recedes into the background."
Asmal said the government would have to change the Constitution to "militarise" the police ranking system. "If a station commander is made general, what is going to happen to the national commissioner of police? "He is going to be 'generalisimo' or 'il duce' or Field Marshall. "According to the Constitution the president appoints the national commissioner of the police. You have to amend the Constitution and become the laughing stock of the world just to change a name."
Source: Mail & Guardian
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The presidential hotline isn't working - DA
While there has been a decrease in the number of attempts it takes to reach an operator at the Presidential Hotline, the improvement is slight. Out of 51 connected calls only 6 were answered by an operator. All in all, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has spent close to 13 hours (749 minutes) trying to reach the presidential hotline over the past five weeks.
As it undertook to do when President Jacob Zuma first launched the initiative, the DA has tried to use the hotline to register a series of serious complaints with the Presidency, and has heeded the presidency's call to pursue other avenues first. The results of the DA's attempts are:
* In five weeks we have been able to register five complaints. We have reference numbers for two of them, despite repeated promises that they will be sent through to us. The lack of a reference number suggests the complaint has not been properly registered and thus cannot be tracked and the response to it gauged.
* Outside of those four complaints, the DA has phoned the hotline a total of 51 times, with only 6 calls reaching an operator. These 51 calls translate into 749 minutes on hold; or 12 hours, 48 minutes.
* The first complaint registered by the DA, regarding the appointment of Paul Ngobeni, was lost in the system and had to be re-registered. The reference number is 1952293 and we will be following up on the progress on this case in a month's time.
At protests in impoverished Mpumalanga townships, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protestors, wounding several who were demanding better sanitation, electricity and housing. When asked how else the protestors should make their problems known, Zuma's spokesman Vincent Magwenya stated: "There are avenues available to communities to engage government on challenges they face in service delivery and we encourage communities to use the presidential hotline."
If the hotline is not an effective tool to register complaints, and when complaints eventually get registered they are still not addressed, how can citizens wanting better service delivery be expected to hold for hours, knowing that they are wasting their time?
Source: Politicsweb
As it undertook to do when President Jacob Zuma first launched the initiative, the DA has tried to use the hotline to register a series of serious complaints with the Presidency, and has heeded the presidency's call to pursue other avenues first. The results of the DA's attempts are:
* In five weeks we have been able to register five complaints. We have reference numbers for two of them, despite repeated promises that they will be sent through to us. The lack of a reference number suggests the complaint has not been properly registered and thus cannot be tracked and the response to it gauged.
* Outside of those four complaints, the DA has phoned the hotline a total of 51 times, with only 6 calls reaching an operator. These 51 calls translate into 749 minutes on hold; or 12 hours, 48 minutes.
* The first complaint registered by the DA, regarding the appointment of Paul Ngobeni, was lost in the system and had to be re-registered. The reference number is 1952293 and we will be following up on the progress on this case in a month's time.
At protests in impoverished Mpumalanga townships, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protestors, wounding several who were demanding better sanitation, electricity and housing. When asked how else the protestors should make their problems known, Zuma's spokesman Vincent Magwenya stated: "There are avenues available to communities to engage government on challenges they face in service delivery and we encourage communities to use the presidential hotline."
If the hotline is not an effective tool to register complaints, and when complaints eventually get registered they are still not addressed, how can citizens wanting better service delivery be expected to hold for hours, knowing that they are wasting their time?
Source: Politicsweb
Friday, October 16, 2009
ICC prosecutor to examine Guinea killings
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Thursday he was investigating last month's deadly crackdown on opponents of Guinea's military ruler, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. At least 157 people were killed and 1,200 injured on Sept. 28 when security forces in the West African nation attacked tens of thousands of protesters calling for Camara to step down.
It was the worst outbreak of violence since Camara seized control of the world's biggest bauxite-exporting nation in a December 2008 coup. "A preliminary examination of the situation has been immediately initiated in order to determine whether crimes falling under the Court's jurisdiction have been perpetrated," the office of ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement. "From the information we have received, from the pictures I have seen, women were abused or otherwise brutalised on the pitch of Conakry's stadium, apparently by men in uniform", Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement. "This is appalling, unacceptable. It must never happen again. Those responsible must be held accountable."
The violence drew international condemnation. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Guinea's military rulers should quit. France said it had cut military cooperation with its former colony. The European Union's aid chief, Karel De Gucht, said Camara should stand trial for a "crime against humanity". The African Union has given Camara until mid-October to confirm he will not stand in presidential elections slated for Jan. 31, warning of sanctions if he misses that deadline. Camara has blamed uncontrollable elements within the Guinean army for the killings, saying he cannot be held responsible. The Hague-based ICC is the world's first permanent court set up to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and other major human rights violations.
The African Union (AU) reiterated that Camara had about 24 hours to comply with the body's ultimatum. "What has happened is very, very unacceptable. It's condemnable," AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra said, adding that the Peace and Security Council had considered the types of sanctions to be imposed. Lamamra did not give details. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will discuss the situation in Guinea on Saturday at a one-day meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
Source: reuters
It was the worst outbreak of violence since Camara seized control of the world's biggest bauxite-exporting nation in a December 2008 coup. "A preliminary examination of the situation has been immediately initiated in order to determine whether crimes falling under the Court's jurisdiction have been perpetrated," the office of ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement. "From the information we have received, from the pictures I have seen, women were abused or otherwise brutalised on the pitch of Conakry's stadium, apparently by men in uniform", Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement. "This is appalling, unacceptable. It must never happen again. Those responsible must be held accountable."
The violence drew international condemnation. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Guinea's military rulers should quit. France said it had cut military cooperation with its former colony. The European Union's aid chief, Karel De Gucht, said Camara should stand trial for a "crime against humanity". The African Union has given Camara until mid-October to confirm he will not stand in presidential elections slated for Jan. 31, warning of sanctions if he misses that deadline. Camara has blamed uncontrollable elements within the Guinean army for the killings, saying he cannot be held responsible. The Hague-based ICC is the world's first permanent court set up to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and other major human rights violations.
The African Union (AU) reiterated that Camara had about 24 hours to comply with the body's ultimatum. "What has happened is very, very unacceptable. It's condemnable," AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra said, adding that the Peace and Security Council had considered the types of sanctions to be imposed. Lamamra did not give details. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will discuss the situation in Guinea on Saturday at a one-day meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
Source: reuters
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement of South Africa & Another v Premier of KwaZulu-Natal & Others (Concourt)
Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement of South Africa, an organisation representing thousands of people who live in informal settlements, and its President, Mr Sibusiso Zikode, approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, Durban, challenging the constitutionality of the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act. The High Court dismissed the challenge.
The applicants made two contentions before this Court. They claimed first that the whole provincial Act was invalid because the KwaZulu-Natal legislature had no provincial power to make the law because it trespassed into land tenure a legislative competence reserved for the national legislature.
They also contended that section 16 of the Act was inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid. Section 16 gives the Member of the Executive Council of the province power to publish a notice in the provincial gazette determining a period within which an owner or person in charge of land or a building that is occupied by unlawful occupiers mustinstitute proceedings to evict the occupiers under the PIE Act. If the owner or person fails to comply, the municipality must bring proceedings to evict the occupiers.
Yacoob J, writing for a unanimous Court on the legislative competence issue, found that the Act was within the power of the province to pass laws on housing. He pointed out that the Act is not concerned with evictions alone but with the elimination of slum conditions by upgrading and relocation. He also pointed out that the Act placed detailed responsibilities on municipalities as well as the Member of the Executive Council responsible for housing in the province. A slum is a home in which people live. An Act concerned mainly with improving the circumstances in which people lived is concerned with housing. The Court therefore rejected the first contention and held that the provincial legislature had the power to pass the provincial Act.
On the constitutional validity of section 16 of the Act, Moseneke DCJ, writing for the majority (with Langa CJ, Cameron J, Mokgoro J, Ngcobo J, Nkabinde J, O'Regan J, Sachs J, Skweyiya J and Van der Westhuizen J concurring), held that section 16 of the Act is inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid.
Moseneke DCJ found that section 16 compels an owner of a building or land or the municipality within whose jurisdiction the building or land is located to institute eviction proceedings against unlawful occupiers even in circumstances where the requirements of the PIE Act, which protects unlawful occupiers against arbitrary evictions, may not be met.
Moseneke DCJ noted that section 16 of the Act will make residents of informal settlements, who are invariably unlawful occupiers, more vulnerable to evictions should an MEC decide to issue a notice under section 16.
Moseneke DCJ also concluded that the power given to the MEC to issue a notice is overbroad and irrational because it applies to any unlawful occupier on any land or in any building even if it is not a slum and is not properly related to the purpose of the Act, which is to eliminate or to prevent the re-emergence of slums.
Accordingly, the majority judgment granted an order declaring that section 16 of the Act is inconsistent with section 26 of the Constitution and invalid.
Yacoob J dissented on this second issue. He found that the contested provision could be read subject to all the safeguards provided by the Constitution and the PIE Act. He held that, on a proper construction of the Act, an owner or municipality had to comply with the PIE Act and all other relevant legislation before an eviction could be ordered.Neither the municipality nor the owner could evict unless the evidence at their disposal satisfied these requirements. The section was therefore consistent with the Constitution.
A copy of the judgment can be found here.
Source: Polity.org
The applicants made two contentions before this Court. They claimed first that the whole provincial Act was invalid because the KwaZulu-Natal legislature had no provincial power to make the law because it trespassed into land tenure a legislative competence reserved for the national legislature.
They also contended that section 16 of the Act was inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid. Section 16 gives the Member of the Executive Council of the province power to publish a notice in the provincial gazette determining a period within which an owner or person in charge of land or a building that is occupied by unlawful occupiers mustinstitute proceedings to evict the occupiers under the PIE Act. If the owner or person fails to comply, the municipality must bring proceedings to evict the occupiers.
Yacoob J, writing for a unanimous Court on the legislative competence issue, found that the Act was within the power of the province to pass laws on housing. He pointed out that the Act is not concerned with evictions alone but with the elimination of slum conditions by upgrading and relocation. He also pointed out that the Act placed detailed responsibilities on municipalities as well as the Member of the Executive Council responsible for housing in the province. A slum is a home in which people live. An Act concerned mainly with improving the circumstances in which people lived is concerned with housing. The Court therefore rejected the first contention and held that the provincial legislature had the power to pass the provincial Act.
On the constitutional validity of section 16 of the Act, Moseneke DCJ, writing for the majority (with Langa CJ, Cameron J, Mokgoro J, Ngcobo J, Nkabinde J, O'Regan J, Sachs J, Skweyiya J and Van der Westhuizen J concurring), held that section 16 of the Act is inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid.
Moseneke DCJ found that section 16 compels an owner of a building or land or the municipality within whose jurisdiction the building or land is located to institute eviction proceedings against unlawful occupiers even in circumstances where the requirements of the PIE Act, which protects unlawful occupiers against arbitrary evictions, may not be met.
Moseneke DCJ noted that section 16 of the Act will make residents of informal settlements, who are invariably unlawful occupiers, more vulnerable to evictions should an MEC decide to issue a notice under section 16.
Moseneke DCJ also concluded that the power given to the MEC to issue a notice is overbroad and irrational because it applies to any unlawful occupier on any land or in any building even if it is not a slum and is not properly related to the purpose of the Act, which is to eliminate or to prevent the re-emergence of slums.
Accordingly, the majority judgment granted an order declaring that section 16 of the Act is inconsistent with section 26 of the Constitution and invalid.
Yacoob J dissented on this second issue. He found that the contested provision could be read subject to all the safeguards provided by the Constitution and the PIE Act. He held that, on a proper construction of the Act, an owner or municipality had to comply with the PIE Act and all other relevant legislation before an eviction could be ordered.Neither the municipality nor the owner could evict unless the evidence at their disposal satisfied these requirements. The section was therefore consistent with the Constitution.
A copy of the judgment can be found here.
Source: Polity.org
Sunday, October 11, 2009
An opportunity for women missed
One of President Jacob Zuma's preferences for the four vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, North West Judge President Mogoeng wa Mogoeng, refused to comment this week on a DA complaint that he is unfit for the position because of an incident during the time he served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee.
DA MP Natasha Michael could not provide precise details, but said that while a member of the amnesty committee, Mogoeng failed to recuse himself in a case in which his wife was the prosecutor. The DA has called for KwaZulu-Natal High Court judge Leona Theron to replace Mogoeng on Zuma's list of proposed Constitutional Court judges. Mogoeng's PA, who refused to give her name, said on Thursday: "Judge Mogoeng told me to say 'no comment'." A further objection is that although Mogoeng has written judgments with constitutional ramifications, he is largely a labour law specialist who previously served in the Labour Court. But even in this area, says Unisa law professor Shadrack Gutto, Labour Court Judge President Ray Zondo -- also a candidate for a Constitutional Court seat -- has stronger credentials.
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) member and leading advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza defended Mogoeng's proposed appointment, saying that Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo might have influenced the decision. Zuma is known to have consulted Ngcobo. Ngcobo's passion for labour law -- he acted as both Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court head for many years -- might have influenced him. But a source close to the Constitutional Court, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Mogoeng's inexperience could create a perception that he is open to influence. Most junior judges sought guidance from senior judges as a matter of course, the source said.
The DA's objection to Mogoeng in part reflects broader criticism that the president’s list does not reflect a commitment to gender equality. Only one judge on Zuma's list of four, Sisi Khampepe, is a woman. Several commentators said that at least two women should replace outgoing judges Yvonne Mokgoro and Kate O'Regan. A female judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Mandisa Maya, had been strongly tipped for the Constitutional Court, but now looks set for a judge president's position, possibly in her native Eastern Cape. Eastern Cape Judge President Cyril Somyalo retires next May. Theron is heavily tipped as the next judge president of KwaZulu-Natal when the incumbent, Vuka Tshabalala, retires next April.
Ntsebeza said that Zuma's decision not to appoint Maya could have been motivated by the need to keep her at the SCA, so as not to "deplete [the] SCA of good people". But he did not dismiss the possibility that she could be heading for a judge president's position. Ntsebeza said he does not see Zuma changing his mind unless there is "strong lobbying" from gender groups. "An opportunity missed" was how Gutto described Zuma's failure to appoint at least two women to South Africa's highest court Gutto said there were legitimate expectations that the president would appoint "two, if not three" females. He believes there is sufficient competence to make such appointments.
It would be "understandable" if Zuma intended to appoint both Maya and Theron to other leadership positions in the judiciary. There was a dearth of female leaders, with Western Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso being the most senior woman judge. Although no strong objection was raised to Zuma’s preference for Eastern Cape High Court Judge Johan Froneman, there are some misgivings about Justice Minister Jeff Radebe’s open liking for him at the recent JSC hearings.
Froneman's legal approach has been described as "revolutionary" and he told the hearings that he had caught the "vibe" of the Constitution before others. Ntsebeza lauded him as a progressive judge whom Zuma was certain to confirm. Froneman, who has served on the Labour Court as deputy judge president and has been an acting judge in the SCA, is celebrated for a landmark judgment allowing social-grant recipients to pursue a class action suit against the Eastern Cape government. He first attracted admiring attention for his 1994 judgment in the Qozeleni case, later relied on by the new Constitutional Court under Arthur Chaskalson. In that ruling, handed down while the Constitution was still being negotiated, he used the Ciskei's Bill of Rights to reinforce the principle of equality before the law.
Source: Mail & Guardian
DA MP Natasha Michael could not provide precise details, but said that while a member of the amnesty committee, Mogoeng failed to recuse himself in a case in which his wife was the prosecutor. The DA has called for KwaZulu-Natal High Court judge Leona Theron to replace Mogoeng on Zuma's list of proposed Constitutional Court judges. Mogoeng's PA, who refused to give her name, said on Thursday: "Judge Mogoeng told me to say 'no comment'." A further objection is that although Mogoeng has written judgments with constitutional ramifications, he is largely a labour law specialist who previously served in the Labour Court. But even in this area, says Unisa law professor Shadrack Gutto, Labour Court Judge President Ray Zondo -- also a candidate for a Constitutional Court seat -- has stronger credentials.
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) member and leading advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza defended Mogoeng's proposed appointment, saying that Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo might have influenced the decision. Zuma is known to have consulted Ngcobo. Ngcobo's passion for labour law -- he acted as both Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court head for many years -- might have influenced him. But a source close to the Constitutional Court, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Mogoeng's inexperience could create a perception that he is open to influence. Most junior judges sought guidance from senior judges as a matter of course, the source said.
The DA's objection to Mogoeng in part reflects broader criticism that the president’s list does not reflect a commitment to gender equality. Only one judge on Zuma's list of four, Sisi Khampepe, is a woman. Several commentators said that at least two women should replace outgoing judges Yvonne Mokgoro and Kate O'Regan. A female judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Mandisa Maya, had been strongly tipped for the Constitutional Court, but now looks set for a judge president's position, possibly in her native Eastern Cape. Eastern Cape Judge President Cyril Somyalo retires next May. Theron is heavily tipped as the next judge president of KwaZulu-Natal when the incumbent, Vuka Tshabalala, retires next April.
Ntsebeza said that Zuma's decision not to appoint Maya could have been motivated by the need to keep her at the SCA, so as not to "deplete [the] SCA of good people". But he did not dismiss the possibility that she could be heading for a judge president's position. Ntsebeza said he does not see Zuma changing his mind unless there is "strong lobbying" from gender groups. "An opportunity missed" was how Gutto described Zuma's failure to appoint at least two women to South Africa's highest court Gutto said there were legitimate expectations that the president would appoint "two, if not three" females. He believes there is sufficient competence to make such appointments.
It would be "understandable" if Zuma intended to appoint both Maya and Theron to other leadership positions in the judiciary. There was a dearth of female leaders, with Western Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso being the most senior woman judge. Although no strong objection was raised to Zuma’s preference for Eastern Cape High Court Judge Johan Froneman, there are some misgivings about Justice Minister Jeff Radebe’s open liking for him at the recent JSC hearings.
Froneman's legal approach has been described as "revolutionary" and he told the hearings that he had caught the "vibe" of the Constitution before others. Ntsebeza lauded him as a progressive judge whom Zuma was certain to confirm. Froneman, who has served on the Labour Court as deputy judge president and has been an acting judge in the SCA, is celebrated for a landmark judgment allowing social-grant recipients to pursue a class action suit against the Eastern Cape government. He first attracted admiring attention for his 1994 judgment in the Qozeleni case, later relied on by the new Constitutional Court under Arthur Chaskalson. In that ruling, handed down while the Constitution was still being negotiated, he used the Ciskei's Bill of Rights to reinforce the principle of equality before the law.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Friday, October 9, 2009
Inside the Malema machine
As the Mail & Guardian arrives at Luthuli House at 3.40pm on Wednesday, late for an interview with ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, we are told to wait our turn to see “the president”. There is already a queue outside his office. The patient line -- ranged in groups in the outer office or wherever they can find a chair -- includes former ANC spin doctor Carl Niehaus and the newly elected South African Football Association president, Kirsten Nematandani, and his entourage. Then there is the Progressive Youth Alliance, a fundraising group for a Caster Semenya gala dinner and the leadership of the National African Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc).
The queue waits patiently, as petitioners at a royal court, for their turn inside Malema’s seventh-floor corner office with views over the city and an imposing portrait of Nelson Mandela on the wall facing the youth league president’s desk. After about 45 minutes Malema, wearing a golf shirt and jeans, pitches up and asks us to accompany him to his office. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting, my chief. It has been a long day,” he says, smiling.
Malema’s cellphone keeps ringing throughout our interview as people try to secure a meeting with him. One of those who calls is the deputy minister of police, Fikile Mbalula, who is politely told by Malema to wait until he has worked his way through the queue outside. In some parts of society Malema is seen as the ANC’s in-house court jester and a buffoon, but a closer look reveals him to be the party’s crown prince, who wields influence and power while others just stand by and watch. He is the one people go to when official structures have failed them or have not delivered the results they wanted.
Although Malema holds no official government position and is only an ad hoc member of the ANC’s powerful national working committee (NWC), he knows that when he talks, everyone -- inside and outside the ANC -- listens. The primary source of his power is the fact that he was elected by a critical constituency for the ANC -- the youth.
A senior member of President Jacob Zuma’s inner circle describes Malema’s role thus. A year ago there was widespread concern in the party about voter apathy among the youth and how this would influence the ANC’s overwhelming majority at the ballot box. Concerns were rife that increasing unhappiness with bad service delivery was threatening the ANC’s authority and providing a breeding ground for anti-ANC sentiments. Then came Malema and, in one swoop, he captured the hearts and minds of these straying sheep with his frank comments and criticism. “He is the only voice who is willing to stand up and say: ‘This is how we feel and what we want.’ People understand the anger in what he is saying,” says writer Jabu Ngwenya, author of I Ain’t Yo’ Bitch, a recently published novel about the experience of young people in South Africa. “I admire him. He’s got the balls to stand up and speak his mind.”
ANC leaders have more questionable reasons for “supporting” him, claiming he holds some of them hostage. “Many people in the NEC have baggage. He knows about everyone’s baggage and they know he knows,” says one NEC member who is also a government official. Crucially, as a founding member of the campaign to elect Zuma as ANC president in 2007, Malema knows why certain leaders jumped on the Zuma campaign wagon. Says the NEC member, dryly: “He knows their reasons were not always noble and ... he’ll use that power when he thinks he needs to.”
A former Limpopo youth league member, who has now defected to the Congress of the People, puts things even more bluntly: Malema will use blackmail to get what he wants. “He gets to know a secret about a certain politician, especially about how they amassed wealth, and then he will use that against them when they differ.” As a measure of how seriously he is taken within party structures, the ANC even established a group of leaders to give him guidance, though privately some of them say he refuses to listen. “He receives correction, but it doesn’t really look like he’s changing the direction,” said one such mentor. “We have accepted that he is a problem child.”
Malema’s decision to close down Lembede Investments, the youth league’s investment arm that was fraught with allegations of corruption, gave the ANC hope that he would be a strong and responsible leader. But now the party leadership is “uncomfortable” about his behaviour and unsure of how to deal with it. As one NEC member who is also in business remarks: “Closing Lembede was a good sign that the youth league [would] be a beacon of moral credibility. But now it seems to be going the other way.” Under Malema the youth league campaigned vigorously for the sacking of Thabo Mbeki. There is some truth in the assertion that Malema is used to saying things the ANC is not able to say. A week before the ANC NEC took a decision to relieve Mbeki of his duties, Malema “predicted” that Mbeki would be fired as president. But a senior Luthuli House official told the M&G that Malema “was given information” and then went out in public and spread the word.
Malema himself has admitted to being a decoy during the 2009 elections to distract DA leader Helen Zille while “Zuma was sprinting to the Union Buildings”. Malema believes that as a youth leader he should be allowed latitude. “Maybe the problem is how we raise issues. But comrades should accept I can’t raise issues like ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe. I must put more fire on what I say so that people can feel the heat.”
Despite the fact that Malema evokes hate and derision from many South Africans, most ANC leaders see a bright future for him, even touting him as a possible contender for the ANC presidency some day. “There is no reason why he cannot be president one day, if nothing major goes wrong. He comes from the movement and knows a lot about the ANC,” says one.
Zizi Kodwa, Zuma’s spokesperson and former youth league leader, concurs: “What I’m sure of is that he will mature with age, like the vintage wine of the Cape. We expect him to grow over time and, in the ANC, such growth is appreciated and rewarded.”
One weekday in the late 1990s, as schoolchildren went about their classroom business, a lone teenage boy stood at the corner of Landros Mare Street and Hospital Road in Polokwane, holding up a placard, writes Mmanaledi Mataboge. He was protesting against the late delivery of stationery at schools, corporal punishment and “ineffective” school principals. Within minutes, he was joined by hundreds of schoolchildren. The boy was Julius Malema and his solitary protest, which gained such rapid momentum, signalled one of the ANC Youth League president’s precociously early steps on the road to crafting a career in politics.
The youth league’s secretary in Limpopo’s Capricorn region, Jacob Lebogo, grew up with Malema in Se-shego and was one of the classmates who joined Malema in his street-corner protest. He relishes retelling the story and remembers that many elders in the area were scandalised: “What is this child doing?” In hindsight the elders might rather have asked: “Who is this child?”
Malema (28), the firebrand youth leader often criticised for his controversial public statements, is a respected, even a feared, figure, within the ANC and its youth wing. Those who grew up with him or helped groom him into the leader that he is today describe him as a textbook product of the ANC, from a militant teenage hothead fired up in the dying days of the struggle against apartheid to the country’s most powerful youth leader. And, they say, he is still evolving. “He has become a different person from the boy I initially met,” says one of his close comrades, Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale, who started working with Malema when the youth leader was elected national president of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) in 2001. Back then few politicians, never mind anyone else, took him seriously. Says Mathale: “We had known him before, but we dismissed him as just another school kid. He still had the militancy of high-school politics. Just like all of us, his head was hot.”
Malema was raised in the ANC’s nursery from the age of 10 when he joined Masupatsela, a pioneer movement of the party, the young members of which were both lectured on democracy and tasked to act as enforcers of boycotts. Says Lebogo: “He did not jump any step of learning in the organisation. He was trained in mobilising people and in being a marshal. He collected and pushed tyres that were burned during stayaways.” Malema rose through the ranks to lead Cosas in the province and nationally and in 2003 he was elected provincial secretary of the youth league before ascending to the party presidency last year. Among those who groomed him were former youth leaders: the late Peter Mokaba, the late Frans Mohlala, and Mathale. The Limpopo premier sees nothing unusual in Malema’s behaviour. “We were all fearless. That’s why Oliver Tambo called us the young lions. You do not sugarcoat things; a stone is
a stone.”
Malema’s boyhood passion for politics saw him attending the funeral of Chris Hani, the late SACP general secretary, in 1993 in Johannesburg, when he was just 12. Says Lebogo: “He sneaked on to an [ANC supporters’] bus [in Seshego] and the only time they realised he was on a bus was when he was hungry and came out.”
Malema’s image as a bully who shoots off ill-informed bullets in public is a little more complicated: according to his comrades, he consults as a matter of course, but sometimes can’t resist blurting out what he had wanted to say all along. Mathale, one of Malema’s confidants, says Malema usually consults him on issues before raising them in formal meetings -- though his advice is not always heeded. “When I see it is wrong I’ll tell him not even to bother raising it because I will not support it. But because he is difficult sometimes, he will go ahead and put the matter on the table for discussion, and when he loses, he comes back and says ‘I should have listened to you’.”
In public Malema refuses to back off from some of his wilder statements, but in private he is capable of regret. He might call Mathale after an outburst and tell him: “I have said something I should not have said. Do not be surprised when you hear about it.” Still, Malema’s outbursts are not merely tolerated; several close commentators on Malema’s brand of politicking assume the tones of indulgent parents.
As one youth league NEC member who did not want to be named remarked that Malema should be allowed time to grow and make mistakes. “If you have a toddler who does not cause havoc in the house and break things, you should get worried. We all know that a child should explore.”
The advantage to the ANC of having a “fearless” youth leader such as Malema who can say what they think but would not themselves say publicly is broadly accepted. What shocks some sectors of the public -- Malema’s fury about the absence of black Africans in the economic cluster, for example -- can relieve ANC leaders of the responsibility of putting such issues on the table. “But,” says one source, “when we go to an NEC meeting they will say: ‘You’ve got it right.’”
Malema’s unedited honesty can also make itself felt much closer to home. “If you gossip, you’re in trouble,” says one youth wing NEC member. “He’ll expose you in a meeting.” Mathale believes Malema is still evolving into the mature leader many in the party believe he will become. “He can engage in any debate. That’s what makes him different from other young leaders ... and in five years the country will see a different Julius.”
Lebogo is equally confident about Malema’s future. “You don’t need to market Julius -- everybody knows him.”
Source: Mail & Guardian
The queue waits patiently, as petitioners at a royal court, for their turn inside Malema’s seventh-floor corner office with views over the city and an imposing portrait of Nelson Mandela on the wall facing the youth league president’s desk. After about 45 minutes Malema, wearing a golf shirt and jeans, pitches up and asks us to accompany him to his office. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting, my chief. It has been a long day,” he says, smiling.
Malema’s cellphone keeps ringing throughout our interview as people try to secure a meeting with him. One of those who calls is the deputy minister of police, Fikile Mbalula, who is politely told by Malema to wait until he has worked his way through the queue outside. In some parts of society Malema is seen as the ANC’s in-house court jester and a buffoon, but a closer look reveals him to be the party’s crown prince, who wields influence and power while others just stand by and watch. He is the one people go to when official structures have failed them or have not delivered the results they wanted.
Although Malema holds no official government position and is only an ad hoc member of the ANC’s powerful national working committee (NWC), he knows that when he talks, everyone -- inside and outside the ANC -- listens. The primary source of his power is the fact that he was elected by a critical constituency for the ANC -- the youth.
A senior member of President Jacob Zuma’s inner circle describes Malema’s role thus. A year ago there was widespread concern in the party about voter apathy among the youth and how this would influence the ANC’s overwhelming majority at the ballot box. Concerns were rife that increasing unhappiness with bad service delivery was threatening the ANC’s authority and providing a breeding ground for anti-ANC sentiments. Then came Malema and, in one swoop, he captured the hearts and minds of these straying sheep with his frank comments and criticism. “He is the only voice who is willing to stand up and say: ‘This is how we feel and what we want.’ People understand the anger in what he is saying,” says writer Jabu Ngwenya, author of I Ain’t Yo’ Bitch, a recently published novel about the experience of young people in South Africa. “I admire him. He’s got the balls to stand up and speak his mind.”
ANC leaders have more questionable reasons for “supporting” him, claiming he holds some of them hostage. “Many people in the NEC have baggage. He knows about everyone’s baggage and they know he knows,” says one NEC member who is also a government official. Crucially, as a founding member of the campaign to elect Zuma as ANC president in 2007, Malema knows why certain leaders jumped on the Zuma campaign wagon. Says the NEC member, dryly: “He knows their reasons were not always noble and ... he’ll use that power when he thinks he needs to.”
A former Limpopo youth league member, who has now defected to the Congress of the People, puts things even more bluntly: Malema will use blackmail to get what he wants. “He gets to know a secret about a certain politician, especially about how they amassed wealth, and then he will use that against them when they differ.” As a measure of how seriously he is taken within party structures, the ANC even established a group of leaders to give him guidance, though privately some of them say he refuses to listen. “He receives correction, but it doesn’t really look like he’s changing the direction,” said one such mentor. “We have accepted that he is a problem child.”
Malema’s decision to close down Lembede Investments, the youth league’s investment arm that was fraught with allegations of corruption, gave the ANC hope that he would be a strong and responsible leader. But now the party leadership is “uncomfortable” about his behaviour and unsure of how to deal with it. As one NEC member who is also in business remarks: “Closing Lembede was a good sign that the youth league [would] be a beacon of moral credibility. But now it seems to be going the other way.” Under Malema the youth league campaigned vigorously for the sacking of Thabo Mbeki. There is some truth in the assertion that Malema is used to saying things the ANC is not able to say. A week before the ANC NEC took a decision to relieve Mbeki of his duties, Malema “predicted” that Mbeki would be fired as president. But a senior Luthuli House official told the M&G that Malema “was given information” and then went out in public and spread the word.
Malema himself has admitted to being a decoy during the 2009 elections to distract DA leader Helen Zille while “Zuma was sprinting to the Union Buildings”. Malema believes that as a youth leader he should be allowed latitude. “Maybe the problem is how we raise issues. But comrades should accept I can’t raise issues like ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe. I must put more fire on what I say so that people can feel the heat.”
Despite the fact that Malema evokes hate and derision from many South Africans, most ANC leaders see a bright future for him, even touting him as a possible contender for the ANC presidency some day. “There is no reason why he cannot be president one day, if nothing major goes wrong. He comes from the movement and knows a lot about the ANC,” says one.
Zizi Kodwa, Zuma’s spokesperson and former youth league leader, concurs: “What I’m sure of is that he will mature with age, like the vintage wine of the Cape. We expect him to grow over time and, in the ANC, such growth is appreciated and rewarded.”
One weekday in the late 1990s, as schoolchildren went about their classroom business, a lone teenage boy stood at the corner of Landros Mare Street and Hospital Road in Polokwane, holding up a placard, writes Mmanaledi Mataboge. He was protesting against the late delivery of stationery at schools, corporal punishment and “ineffective” school principals. Within minutes, he was joined by hundreds of schoolchildren. The boy was Julius Malema and his solitary protest, which gained such rapid momentum, signalled one of the ANC Youth League president’s precociously early steps on the road to crafting a career in politics.
The youth league’s secretary in Limpopo’s Capricorn region, Jacob Lebogo, grew up with Malema in Se-shego and was one of the classmates who joined Malema in his street-corner protest. He relishes retelling the story and remembers that many elders in the area were scandalised: “What is this child doing?” In hindsight the elders might rather have asked: “Who is this child?”
Malema (28), the firebrand youth leader often criticised for his controversial public statements, is a respected, even a feared, figure, within the ANC and its youth wing. Those who grew up with him or helped groom him into the leader that he is today describe him as a textbook product of the ANC, from a militant teenage hothead fired up in the dying days of the struggle against apartheid to the country’s most powerful youth leader. And, they say, he is still evolving. “He has become a different person from the boy I initially met,” says one of his close comrades, Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale, who started working with Malema when the youth leader was elected national president of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) in 2001. Back then few politicians, never mind anyone else, took him seriously. Says Mathale: “We had known him before, but we dismissed him as just another school kid. He still had the militancy of high-school politics. Just like all of us, his head was hot.”
Malema was raised in the ANC’s nursery from the age of 10 when he joined Masupatsela, a pioneer movement of the party, the young members of which were both lectured on democracy and tasked to act as enforcers of boycotts. Says Lebogo: “He did not jump any step of learning in the organisation. He was trained in mobilising people and in being a marshal. He collected and pushed tyres that were burned during stayaways.” Malema rose through the ranks to lead Cosas in the province and nationally and in 2003 he was elected provincial secretary of the youth league before ascending to the party presidency last year. Among those who groomed him were former youth leaders: the late Peter Mokaba, the late Frans Mohlala, and Mathale. The Limpopo premier sees nothing unusual in Malema’s behaviour. “We were all fearless. That’s why Oliver Tambo called us the young lions. You do not sugarcoat things; a stone is
a stone.”
Malema’s boyhood passion for politics saw him attending the funeral of Chris Hani, the late SACP general secretary, in 1993 in Johannesburg, when he was just 12. Says Lebogo: “He sneaked on to an [ANC supporters’] bus [in Seshego] and the only time they realised he was on a bus was when he was hungry and came out.”
Malema’s image as a bully who shoots off ill-informed bullets in public is a little more complicated: according to his comrades, he consults as a matter of course, but sometimes can’t resist blurting out what he had wanted to say all along. Mathale, one of Malema’s confidants, says Malema usually consults him on issues before raising them in formal meetings -- though his advice is not always heeded. “When I see it is wrong I’ll tell him not even to bother raising it because I will not support it. But because he is difficult sometimes, he will go ahead and put the matter on the table for discussion, and when he loses, he comes back and says ‘I should have listened to you’.”
In public Malema refuses to back off from some of his wilder statements, but in private he is capable of regret. He might call Mathale after an outburst and tell him: “I have said something I should not have said. Do not be surprised when you hear about it.” Still, Malema’s outbursts are not merely tolerated; several close commentators on Malema’s brand of politicking assume the tones of indulgent parents.
As one youth league NEC member who did not want to be named remarked that Malema should be allowed time to grow and make mistakes. “If you have a toddler who does not cause havoc in the house and break things, you should get worried. We all know that a child should explore.”
The advantage to the ANC of having a “fearless” youth leader such as Malema who can say what they think but would not themselves say publicly is broadly accepted. What shocks some sectors of the public -- Malema’s fury about the absence of black Africans in the economic cluster, for example -- can relieve ANC leaders of the responsibility of putting such issues on the table. “But,” says one source, “when we go to an NEC meeting they will say: ‘You’ve got it right.’”
Malema’s unedited honesty can also make itself felt much closer to home. “If you gossip, you’re in trouble,” says one youth wing NEC member. “He’ll expose you in a meeting.” Mathale believes Malema is still evolving into the mature leader many in the party believe he will become. “He can engage in any debate. That’s what makes him different from other young leaders ... and in five years the country will see a different Julius.”
Lebogo is equally confident about Malema’s future. “You don’t need to market Julius -- everybody knows him.”
Source: Mail & Guardian
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Kennedy Road truth being hidden
The truth is that no such forum has ever existed at Kennedy Road, and that the term only began to be used after the MEC sent out a press statement on the 28th blaming the “forum” for the attacks. Instead of some forum, what existed before the attacks was the elected Kennedy Road Development Committee and its many subcommittees, including the safety and security committee. But this subcommittee was elected and it was not terrorising community members. Instead, this committee was carrying out the mandate of the concerned majority of Kennedy Road who wanted the illegal shebeens to close at 10pm rather than go on for 24 hours. I know that no sinister forum existed because I lived in Kennedy Road for weeks. I myself have had to listen to music blaring at 3am and worry about night-time shack fires caused by drunken patrons. After talking to numerous residents this past week, I can only conclude that Mchunu is either misinformed or straight-out lying — and that the eight people arrested this past week were innocent Abahlali leaders, many of whom were victims in the recent attacks.
It is obvious to anyone who has spent a lot of time at Kennedy Road and has spoken to the community itself that the MEC’s story makes no sense and that the only real explanation for the attacks was that they were orchestrated by the local branch of the ANC. It also follows that the MEC is either hiding this or was involved in the attacks in the first place. The MEC has demanded that the leaders of Abahlali baseMjondolo come to Kennedy Road for a meeting with “stakeholders”. However, many people I know have been told that if they return to Kennedy Road, they will be killed. How can people be expected to attend a meeting called by the very people who want them dead?
The only way out of this impasse is for the national government to call an independent investigation. This has already been demanded by more than 20 civil society organisations, but has been refused by the MEC.
Jared Sacks
Executive Director, Children of SA
Source: Business Day
Presidential hotline teething problems
The high volume of calls to the presidential hotline has resulted in some people not getting through, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday. "We are working to address this challenge to ensure that we give every call the attention it deserves," Zuma said at the launch of the presidential hotline, 17737, in Pretoria. He said the fact that some people could not get through to the hotline should not be viewed as a problem but a success as it indicated the number of people wanting to voice their concerns to their government. "We will continue to improve the service each day until we reach a stage where each South African is able to obtain quality service with ease as it should be".
The hotline was piloted on September 14 and Zuma said common queries and problems across all provinces related to housing, water and electricity. Housing matters include unfinished Reconstruction and Development Programme houses, the slow pace of housing delivery and alleged corruption at municipalities. There were also many queries about the department of labour relating to alleged corruption, unfair dismissals and general unemployment problems.
The hotline is aimed at making government more accessible to the public.
The hotline was piloted on September 14 and Zuma said common queries and problems across all provinces related to housing, water and electricity. Housing matters include unfinished Reconstruction and Development Programme houses, the slow pace of housing delivery and alleged corruption at municipalities. There were also many queries about the department of labour relating to alleged corruption, unfair dismissals and general unemployment problems.
The hotline is aimed at making government more accessible to the public.
Zuma: Govt working on presidential hotline
The government is trying to deal with people not getting through to the presidential hotline due to high call volumes, President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday. "We are working to address this challenge to ensure that we give every call the attention it deserves," Zuma said at the launch of the presidential hotline, 17737, in Pretoria.
The fact that some people could not get through should not be seen as a problem, but rather a success, as it indicated the number of people wanting to voice their concerns to their government. "We will continue to improve the service each day until we reach a stage where each South African is able to obtain quality service with ease, as it should be."
The hotline was piloted on September 14. Zuma said common queries and problems across all provinces related to housing, water and electricity. Housing matters included unfinished reconstruction and development programme houses, the slow pace of housing delivery and corruption at municipalities. There were also many queries about the Department of Labour relating to corruption, unfair dismissals and general unemployment problems. In addition, there were complaints to the departments of home affairs and land reform about inefficient and corrupt officials.
Zuma said the hotline was aimed at improving service delivery and was not a public relations exercise On its first day of operation, the hotline had 27 000 callers. More than 2 500 calls were received in the first hour, increasing to 7 000 in the third hour. Calls from Gauteng made up 30% of all calls received, followed by Limpopo, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape. The Northern Cape and Mpumalanga had registered the lowest number of enquiries.
Zuma said many calls by young people related to failure to pay school and university fees, emphasising the challenges of access to higher education by the poor. "Many callers are people who have spent months or even years trying to get their problems resolved to no avail," he said. He said other government interaction with the public, in the form of imbizos would continue.
Source: Mail & Guardian
The fact that some people could not get through should not be seen as a problem, but rather a success, as it indicated the number of people wanting to voice their concerns to their government. "We will continue to improve the service each day until we reach a stage where each South African is able to obtain quality service with ease, as it should be."
The hotline was piloted on September 14. Zuma said common queries and problems across all provinces related to housing, water and electricity. Housing matters included unfinished reconstruction and development programme houses, the slow pace of housing delivery and corruption at municipalities. There were also many queries about the Department of Labour relating to corruption, unfair dismissals and general unemployment problems. In addition, there were complaints to the departments of home affairs and land reform about inefficient and corrupt officials.
Zuma said the hotline was aimed at improving service delivery and was not a public relations exercise On its first day of operation, the hotline had 27 000 callers. More than 2 500 calls were received in the first hour, increasing to 7 000 in the third hour. Calls from Gauteng made up 30% of all calls received, followed by Limpopo, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape. The Northern Cape and Mpumalanga had registered the lowest number of enquiries.
Zuma said many calls by young people related to failure to pay school and university fees, emphasising the challenges of access to higher education by the poor. "Many callers are people who have spent months or even years trying to get their problems resolved to no avail," he said. He said other government interaction with the public, in the form of imbizos would continue.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Thursday, October 1, 2009
South Africa's Poor Targeted by Evictions, Attacks in Advance of 2010 World Cup Democracy Now
Thousands of South Africans are being displaced in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. While Durban completes the finishing touches on its new stadium, thousands of the citys poor who live in sprawling informal settlements are threatened with eviction. On Saturday, an armed gang of some 40 men attacked an informal settlement on Durbans Kennedy Road killing at least two people and destroying 30 shacks. We speak to two South African activists who are fighting back.
Source: Democracy Now
Source: Democracy Now
Informed citizens are empowered to participate
Last year, information came to light that the Kenyan parliament, one of the few in Africa that has complete control over its own budget, paid its members the equivalent of about $10 000 (R74 300) a month, of which only about 20 percent was taxable.This previously unknown fact was a revelation that caused a public outcry.
Selective release and use of information is often the veil behind which governments operate without public scrutiny.
One of the mechanisms for improving the right of access to information and citizen agency could be the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.Adopted by the African Union in January 2007, the charter has been hailed as a milestone in Africa's bid to promote and develop its governance systems.States have nominally committed themselves to promoting and strengthening their governance structures through citizen participation, transparency, accountability, rule of law, gender equality, decentralisation, human development, eradication of poverty and credible elections.
The charter is unique in that it was formulated and negotiated by African states and adopted by the AU. As such, the charter is a strong statement of the goals and prevailing aspirations of Africa. It is a statement in support of the principles that underpin democracy.However, two years after its adoption, only two countries have signed and ratified it. Even countries such as South Africa, which took a leading role in the formulation and adoption stages, have yet to affix their signature to the charter, let alone ratify it. Until it is ratified in 15 countries, this endeavour remains a statement of intention rather than a plan of action.
While it is important to acknowledge the progress that has been made by African countries in terms of developing democratic institutions, there remain significant challenges in improving the responsiveness of African institutions and in promoting a culture of democracy - one with an informed and engaged electorate.
A culture of democracy, as set out in the charter, speaks more to the way in which decisions are made, who makes them and why they make them. It speaks to a more systematic inclusion of citizens whose role in the democratic process is not limited to elections.
Using a simple checklist, most countries in Africa meet the outward appearance of a democratic state.All have parliaments in one form or another, judicial systems, elections, and a collection of institutions that are meant to safeguard human rights, ensure the protection of vulnerable and minority groups, combat corruption, etc. All of these are founded on constitutions that - some more than others - also guarantee the full range of basic human rights. Some have included access to information as a fundamental human right.While enacting legislation to promote access to information is taking place in several countries, Angola, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Uganda are the only countries that have done so.
But a culture of democracy should go beyond legislation and into practice. One such example is the judicial process in Ghana, where there is the formalised involvement of traditional leaders and lay magistrates in dispute resolution.These locally based mechanisms have made the judicial system more accessible to the people. Indeed, perhaps one of the more exciting ideas in democracy-building is the potential to harness traditional cultures, values and processes to enhance the culture of democracy and representative systems of governance.
It is widely acknowledged that democratic elections alone do not define a healthy democracy, nor do they guarantee that elected officials will be responsive to the needs of the people. As one member of parliament in Lesotho pointed out: "MPs want to go into politics because they are poor and hungry. And when they get into politics, they don't want to go back to their constituencies because the people there are poor and hungry."
One rather ominous omission from the charter is the lack of clarity with regard to whom government institutions should be accountable. Article 15.3 of the charter states that institutions should be "accountable to competent national organs". This essentially removes the core element of a democratic system, the citizen. That institutions are, in fact, accountable to the people should not be taken for granted, particularly where there may be several intermediaries between those institutions and the people they are intended to serve.
One attempt to bridge this gap between parliaments and citizens is the use of constituency offices. Various forms of these can be found on the continent. In many instances, however, these are linked to political parties rather than to parliament.This poses an obstacle to smaller parties, which may not have the financial means to sustain such offices in all constituencies.
In Zambia and Lesotho, the move is to link the offices directly to parliament, funded through the parliamentary budget, and to be used by the MPs representing that constituency, regardless of the party to which he or she belongs.That said, initiatives to improve engagement and access are all too rare, and the legal frameworks to promote public participation in decision-making is an area that needs further development.
Although many countries are making attempts to decentralise and promote the role of local government, this has yet to be fully realised.For instance, integrated development plans are used by South African municipalities for medium-term strategic planning and resource allocation, and are intended to be fully participatory. However, the public often lacks the information and thereby capacity to fully participate in the process of formulation.
A vital component of any healthy governance system is the right of access to information and being able to discuss this information in open and credible forums. This right enables citizens to claim other rights, like education and health. It allows them to monitor social programmes and expenditures, and enhances political discourse.
Culture being a way of life, a culture of democracy thrives among informed citizens. An informed citizenry will feel empowered not just about what the government can do for them, but also what they can do for themselves.
Coming back to the Kenyan story, in response to the public outcry over wages, the MPs decided to discuss the issue in a plenary session, behind closed doors.
Source: Polity
Selective release and use of information is often the veil behind which governments operate without public scrutiny.
One of the mechanisms for improving the right of access to information and citizen agency could be the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.Adopted by the African Union in January 2007, the charter has been hailed as a milestone in Africa's bid to promote and develop its governance systems.States have nominally committed themselves to promoting and strengthening their governance structures through citizen participation, transparency, accountability, rule of law, gender equality, decentralisation, human development, eradication of poverty and credible elections.
The charter is unique in that it was formulated and negotiated by African states and adopted by the AU. As such, the charter is a strong statement of the goals and prevailing aspirations of Africa. It is a statement in support of the principles that underpin democracy.However, two years after its adoption, only two countries have signed and ratified it. Even countries such as South Africa, which took a leading role in the formulation and adoption stages, have yet to affix their signature to the charter, let alone ratify it. Until it is ratified in 15 countries, this endeavour remains a statement of intention rather than a plan of action.
While it is important to acknowledge the progress that has been made by African countries in terms of developing democratic institutions, there remain significant challenges in improving the responsiveness of African institutions and in promoting a culture of democracy - one with an informed and engaged electorate.
A culture of democracy, as set out in the charter, speaks more to the way in which decisions are made, who makes them and why they make them. It speaks to a more systematic inclusion of citizens whose role in the democratic process is not limited to elections.
Using a simple checklist, most countries in Africa meet the outward appearance of a democratic state.All have parliaments in one form or another, judicial systems, elections, and a collection of institutions that are meant to safeguard human rights, ensure the protection of vulnerable and minority groups, combat corruption, etc. All of these are founded on constitutions that - some more than others - also guarantee the full range of basic human rights. Some have included access to information as a fundamental human right.While enacting legislation to promote access to information is taking place in several countries, Angola, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Uganda are the only countries that have done so.
But a culture of democracy should go beyond legislation and into practice. One such example is the judicial process in Ghana, where there is the formalised involvement of traditional leaders and lay magistrates in dispute resolution.These locally based mechanisms have made the judicial system more accessible to the people. Indeed, perhaps one of the more exciting ideas in democracy-building is the potential to harness traditional cultures, values and processes to enhance the culture of democracy and representative systems of governance.
It is widely acknowledged that democratic elections alone do not define a healthy democracy, nor do they guarantee that elected officials will be responsive to the needs of the people. As one member of parliament in Lesotho pointed out: "MPs want to go into politics because they are poor and hungry. And when they get into politics, they don't want to go back to their constituencies because the people there are poor and hungry."
One rather ominous omission from the charter is the lack of clarity with regard to whom government institutions should be accountable. Article 15.3 of the charter states that institutions should be "accountable to competent national organs". This essentially removes the core element of a democratic system, the citizen. That institutions are, in fact, accountable to the people should not be taken for granted, particularly where there may be several intermediaries between those institutions and the people they are intended to serve.
One attempt to bridge this gap between parliaments and citizens is the use of constituency offices. Various forms of these can be found on the continent. In many instances, however, these are linked to political parties rather than to parliament.This poses an obstacle to smaller parties, which may not have the financial means to sustain such offices in all constituencies.
In Zambia and Lesotho, the move is to link the offices directly to parliament, funded through the parliamentary budget, and to be used by the MPs representing that constituency, regardless of the party to which he or she belongs.That said, initiatives to improve engagement and access are all too rare, and the legal frameworks to promote public participation in decision-making is an area that needs further development.
Although many countries are making attempts to decentralise and promote the role of local government, this has yet to be fully realised.For instance, integrated development plans are used by South African municipalities for medium-term strategic planning and resource allocation, and are intended to be fully participatory. However, the public often lacks the information and thereby capacity to fully participate in the process of formulation.
A vital component of any healthy governance system is the right of access to information and being able to discuss this information in open and credible forums. This right enables citizens to claim other rights, like education and health. It allows them to monitor social programmes and expenditures, and enhances political discourse.
Culture being a way of life, a culture of democracy thrives among informed citizens. An informed citizenry will feel empowered not just about what the government can do for them, but also what they can do for themselves.
Coming back to the Kenyan story, in response to the public outcry over wages, the MPs decided to discuss the issue in a plenary session, behind closed doors.
Source: Polity
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