Dalai Lama's visa delay to South Africa 'unlawful'

South Africa's government acted unlawfully in failing to give the Dalai Lama a visa in time for a planned visit last year, a court has ruled.

Tibet's spiritual leader was forced to cancel plans to attend Archbishop Desmond Tutu's 80th birthday celebrations in October 2011.

The Supreme Court of Appeal said the former home affairs minister had "unreasonably delayed her decision".

The government denied it had bowed to pressure from China to block the trip.

Stalling tactics

The Supreme Court of Appeal was hearing an appeal application by two opposition parties - the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Congress of the People (Cope) - about the issue. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said the failure to grant the Dalai Lama a visa was a disgrace

Earlier, the Western Cape High Court had dismissed the case, the South Africa Press Association reports. Archbishop Tutu was furious about the visa delay for his fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner and accused the government of behaving "worse than the apartheid government".

According to the AFP news agency, the Supreme Court of Appeal found no evidence that the government had actually made a decision not to grant a visa, but did detect stalling tactics.

"What is justified by the evidence is an inference that the matter was deliberately delayed so as to avoid a decision," the news agency quotes the judgment as saying.

The court said that former Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma "was not entitled to deliberately procrastinate", South Africa's City Press newspaper reports.

Ms Dlamini-Zuma, who is President Jacob Zuma's ex-wife, now heads the Africa Union.

The Dalai Lama eventually delivered a lecture at Archbishop Tutu's birthday celebrations via a video link.

Source: BBC News

Behind Sunday's incident in KwaMashu - Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Dear friends and fellow South Africans,

Sunday's incident in KwaMashu, in which SAPA reporter Mr Giordano Stolley's car was torched, costing him a new laptop, two hard drives and family photographs, is not quite what the NFP would like to portray it as. I thank God that the reporters, Mr Stolley, Ms Bawinile Ngcobo and Ms Mpume Madlala, were unhurt. My sympathies are with them over this terrible incident.

What they experienced needs to be placed in context.

There will be a by-election in KwaMashu next Wednesday, to fill the seat left vacant by the murder of the IFP's Councillor in that ward, Mr Themba Xulu.

Last month, on a Friday night, Councillor Xulu was abducted in KwaMashu by five men posing as police officers. On Saturday, as his distraught family awaited news, IFP supporters gathered in KwaMashu to surround them with support. Fears were rife that Councillor Xulu's abduction was politically motivated and that he had fallen victim to thugs affiliated to the NFP.

The Minister of Police, Mr Nathi Mthetwa, visited KwaMashu that Saturday, calling for calm and reassuring the community of a police presence. As the Minister left, Ms Celiwe Shezi, still wearing her IFP T-shirt, was gunned down near the train station. An NFP KwaMashu Councillor - a member of the NFP's National Working Committee - was arrested for her murder.

The following morning, Councillor Xulu's body was found, riddled with bullets. IFP leaders again called for calm. That same day, the IFP's Mr Bongani Lushaba was murdered. Mr Lushaba was a father of eight children.

A week later, IFP supporters were gathered outside Ntuzuma Magistrate's Court, where the NFP men accused of killing Ms Celiwe Shezi were on trial. In full view of the police and the media, a leader of the NFP - a member of the NFP's peace delegation - took out a gun and shot dead an IFP supporter, Mr Siyabonga Dlamini. Mr Dlamini had been a witness to Councillor Themba Xulu's abduction.

For weeks, leaders of the IFP implored people to stay calm, not to retaliate or seek revenge, and to assist the police with investigations. Tensions simmered in KwaMashu, with fear, grief and righteous anger pervading the community.

Then, last Sunday, IFP Councillor Mthembeni Majola was attacked by three armed men while travelling with his son. Thank God, they survived the hail of bullets. The following day, the IFP's block chairperson in KwaMashu, Mr Sihle Menzi Biyela, was gunned down in cold blood.

As the IFP's eThekwini Caucus leader Mr Mdu Nkosi said, "We keep telling our members to calm down, but we continue to bury members."

There is no question that the violent attacks over the past two months were meant to intimidate the IFP's members and supporters in KwaMashu, through the clear message that neither the police nor the media can offer safety. No one can stop our assailants.

Under these volatile circumstances, just days after their block chairperson was murdered, IFP supporters in KwaMashu saw the NFP's leader, Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi come rolling into town in a convoy of some 30 vehicles, ready to campaign for their votes in next week's by-election.

As Mr Giordano Stolley pointed out, her presence in KwaMashu was far from wise. Community members took up bottles and sticks and loudly expressed their desire for Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi to leave. Shots were fired, but who fired those shots is unclear. It may have been the people wielding sticks and bottles, or it may have been the extensive entourage of the NFP leader's bodyguards.

Regardless of the facts, Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi has jumped on her high horse accusing the IFP of creating a "no-go" area. Any thinking person's response would be that the NFP has created it themselves. Have your leaders kill a few people in a community, then see how welcome you are when you arrive to electioneer.

Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi is milking this incident for all it is worth, and then some. Police have been unable to verify her allegation that a woman was killed, or that two other cars were torched.

I am amazed at her accusation that, "Now everyone can see the IFP for what it really is." What it really is, is the party she grew up in and led as National Chairperson for years and years, until she grew tired of waiting for the top position. What the IFP really is, is the party she did her utmost to divide and split, through lies, treachery and even a failed court bid.

The IFP's supporters in KwaMashu are a community of angry, fearful residents in a situation of immense and on-going tension. They have been attacked and murdered. They have been killed in front of the police. They have been living in fear for their lives for months on end.

The NFP created this powder keg and Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi lit it.

I am not justifying the vandalism that took place on Sunday. I am pointing out that we are dealing with people who have been under duress for months. Outbursts like this cannot be unexpected.

Weeks ago, I asked Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi to go to her people and call for an end to violence, just as I was calling for peace among IFP supporters. This was the groundwork that needed to be laid before our two parties could come together and seek a resolution to the tensions between us. Instead, she arrived to campaign for the NFP to take over where the IFP's leader lay dead.

The IFP does not believe in "no-go" areas. We operate within the rules of democracy and the electoral system. We will therefore ask again that our supporters in KwaMashu remain calm and refrain from acting on their distress. Our supporters know that the IFP is a party of non-violence.

But we also know, just as Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi knows, that you can only push people so far. The leadership of the IFP will remain the fence holding in our people's emotions. I ask the leadership of the NFP .to stop being the dog that runs up and down outside the fence, inciting those emotions to burst.

I hope that Mr Giordano Stolley, Ms Bawinile Ngcobo and Ms Mpume Madlala will look deeper into what happened on Sunday and ask why KwaMashu really erupted.

Yours in the service of our nation,

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP

Issued by the IFP, November 27 2012

Source: Politicsweb

South Africa 1960 – 1994

a) Political, economic and social factors contributing to the end of apartheid

The policy of total strategy or counter-revolution as it became known did not stop the anti-apartheid groups such as the ANC, PAC and UDF (United Democratic Front) from protesting for political and social equality for all races in South Africa. Poverty for blacks continued in the townships and homelands. Unemployment was on the rise due to sanctions, and education and housing were still of a third world standard.

The state of emergency failed to make South Africa safer for whites. Many whites were suffering loss of liberties under the censorship and rigid laws of the military state. Moreover, the ANC in exile continued to attack ‘soft targets’ in South Africa including shopping centres and post offices. Many whites were becoming disillusioned with apartheid and feeling the rejection of their society and culture by the rest of the world. Many Coloureds and Indians were becoming openly defiant of the white state demanding nothing short of full democracy for South Africa.

The United Democratic Front (UDF)

In 1983 a multi-racial party, the United Democratic Front was formed with the aim of uniting all resistance groups in the fight against apartheid. The UDF was highly successful because its members became a uniting force and it had many high profile members, including church leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The UDF supporters also include ANC members such as Winnie Mandela. By 1985 the UDF gained over two million members and was a powerful force in demanding the immediate end to apartheid.

The gradual reforms of the Botha government, delivered no real change in South Africa, only cosmetic changes. South Africa could not change and embrace the modern world while apartheid existed. Many white South Africans and politicians began to feel that apartheid was like ‘living on the back of a tiger and they needed to find a way off without being eaten’.1

b) International factors contributing to the end of apartheid

By 1988 the cost of running the military state was staggering and the economic performance of South Africa was poor. Sanctions had driven the economy into recession; ‘sanction busting’ was failing to fix the problem. South Africa was unable to obtain foreign loans or foreign investment. 2

The impact of the Free Mandela Campaign, sporting sanctions, severe international criticism, military and technical equipment embargos and isolation by other African nations in the OAU (Organisation of African Unity) was crippling South Africa. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 removed the Communist threat which underpinned the existence of apartheid since the end of the Second World War. Festering social, political and economic grievances in all sectors of the South African population left the preservation of apartheid completely untenable by the start of 1990s.

c) Problems facing the National Party and the ANC in the transition to democracy in South Africa

In 1984 during townships riots, P.W. Botha declared, ‘I’m giving you a final warning; one man, one vote in this country is out-that is never!”.3 In 1989 after a mild stroke and the failure of Total Strategy, he resigned as President of South Africa. Botha was replaced by F.W.de Klerk.

On 2 February 1990, de Klerk opened Parliament, and in his maiden speech as President began dismantling the apartheid state. He rescinded the ban on the ANC, the PAC, the South African Communist Party and thirty other political organizations. He freed political prisoners and suspended the death sentence. On the 11 of November de Klerk released Nelson Mandela from prison4. South Africa would have one man one vote.

The transition to democracy was a challenging task. Some historians have called it a ‘miracle’. Both the National Party and the ANC struggled to keep South Africa from sliding into civil war in the early 1990s. Meetings were held to lay out South Africa’s new Democracy entitled A Convention for Democratic South Africa (CODESSA). It was in the CODESSA meetings, that the National Party and the ANC debated their differing visions of democracy. CODESSA 1 ended when the ANC walked out of negotiations5. Finally CODESSA II was able to pave the way for a new constitution and a national election.

Problems facing the National Party

• The traditional rulers of South Africa wanted to hold to power as long as possible. They wanted ‘one man, one vote’ to eventuate slowly to protect the white minority.
  
  
• Right Wing extremists’ elements including the AWB (Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging) vowed to prevent free elections and assassinate Nelson Mandela. They also wanted to create an Afrikaner homeland.
  
  
• Other white extremists were also letting off bombs and interrupting official democracy meetings such as CODESSA.

Problems facing the ANC

The ANC faced a number of difficulties:

• First in dealing with the National Party and with other anti-apartheid parties, especially Inkatha (a political organisation made up of Zulus from the Natal Province)
  
  
• The ANC wanted one person, one vote multiracial democracy immediately, and many of its members were understandably anxious to embrace democracy for the first time.
  
  
• In Natal/KwaZulu Province Chief Buthelezi of Inkatha refused to have anything to do with constitutional negotiations and savage violence between ANC members and Inkatha broke out. This included the assassination of Chris Hani, a national hero of the ANC and member of the South Africa Communist Party. Only a prompt appeal to the nation by Mandela averted a massive reaction.

• The ANC seemed to be losing control of its political base. Many feared that extremist whites were supplying Inkatha with weapons and instigating the fighting between rival black political groups, to prevent South Africa’s march towards democracy.

South Africa’s first democratic Election 27th April 1994

South Africans of all races turned out determined to vote in their first non-racial election on the 27th of April 1994. People lined up in long queues which stretched for miles to cast their historic ballot. The ANC won the election and Nelson Mandela, after spending almost three decades in jail, became President of a free South Africa, F.W. de Klerk became the Deputy President.

At his inauguration as President on the vast lawn of the Union Building in Pretoria Mandela said:

‘Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another… The sun will never set on so glorious a human achievement. Let freedom reign. God bless Africa’.6

Source: NSW HSC Online http://hsc.csu.edu.au © NSW Department of Education and Communities, and Charles Sturt University, 2011

Durban's R1,5m artwork

Will the controversial Durban elephants be freed, or will they be caged indefinitely? After a decision at the city's executive committee yesterday, at least one of the three elephants is to be saved to stand prominently at the new Warwick Junction interchange. But the fate of the other two remains uncertain.

Three months ago, work was abruptly stopped on the sculpture by South African artist Andries Botha of the three elephants, allegedly by an ANC bigwig, and a report was ordered to establish who had commissioned the R1,5-million artwork. ANC officials were unhappy with the choice of animal, which appears in the logo of the opposition IFP.

Now the municipality is expected to investigate the feasibility of introducing the four other animals in the famous Big Five at the same spot. Acknowledging the "embarrassing" debacle over the continent's most famous animal and its links to the IFP, the city's executive committee finally decided to resolve the controversy.

Deputy mayor Logie Naidoo was backed in his recommendation to "support the project and enable the work to continue, but only with one of each of the Big Five, not just the elephants".

Botha said yesterday that he had been asked by city manager Dr Michael Sutcliffe not to comment on the issue. He said he would see the city manager today. Botha said earlier that the city had paid about a quarter of the R1,5m and, until he had been paid in full, he jointly owned the elephants with the municipality.

There were protocols that needed to be followed when artworks were purchased, he said. Intellectual property rights were involved and the artwork could not be bought and then destroyed At a council meeting, it was revealed that the elephants were part of a larger landscaping initiative at the Warwick market and that other animals would be created. While the decision was supported, opposition parties were concerned about:

# How much extra cost may be incurred.

# Who was expected to pay for it.

# What would happen to the two other elephants.

# Was space and money available to put in the other four animals.

"Seventy-eight days have already passed; what charges will there be and who will pay?" asked the MF's Patrick Pillay.

The DA's Tex Collins said that regardless of who had initiated the project, city officials had gone "across their boundaries" to stop work that was being paid for by the national Department of Transport.

Sutcliffe will discuss the recommendation with the artist. Details of the costs and the inclusion of the other animals will be discussed and a second report will be presented to the city's top officials for a decision. "I took the decision to stop the elephants because neither I nor the mayor knew of the project," said Sutcliffe. He added that he was certain that the city officials who had undertake the decision for the landscaping had "had good intentions". "At that stage individuals and the media had politicised the issue," he said.

The IFP's Thembi Nzuza hit back at the elephant fracas, and said the IFP was "embarrassed"" "We were just dragged into this, yet we didn't even commission it. It's just a case of somebody who deep down in their heart who hates the IFP." Nzuza said she did not like the way the situation had been handled, and in fact, the IFP could do with an apology.

Source: IoL

The elephant that caused all the trouble

An iconic public artwork planned for Durban at a reported cost of R1,5-million has been scuppered, allegedly because the trio of elephants are reminiscent of the opposition IFP's logo in the ANC-run city, the Mail & Guardian learned this week. Politics and the arts are never comfortable bedfellows, and the project has now been put on hold, following an objection from an unidentified official.

Durban city manager Michael Sutcliffe on Tuesday claimed the project had been stopped “to allow for me to receive a report on the process followed”. He did not answer subsequent questions on the exact nature of the report.

Internationally acclaimed local sculptor Andries Botha was commissioned to produce the massive pieces as the first part of a R500-million upgrade of Durban's new Warwick Avenue interchange, and was paid part of his fee. However, the three elephants, made of steel and stone, seemed to have reminded some local officials of the symbol of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the ruling African National Congress's (ANC) long-time rival in the province.

The sculptures cost R1,5-million, according to the Mercury. While several sources told the M&G that due processes were followed before the work began in November 2009, the city may claim the project was not properly authorised to rid themselves of the political headache it has caused. Head of international and government relations in the Durban municipality, Eric Apelgren, first suggested the project. He told the M&G that he had been impressed with Botha’s project -- a series of life-sized elephant sculptures that have been placed in significant public spaces around the world -- including Antwerp, Marseilles and Paris. On Apelgren’s recommendation, Botha made a presentation to various committees, and was asked to create the public art work that would be placed at the new Warwick Avenue interchange, an area undergoing significant revamping in preparation for the Soccer World Cup.

Botha is a world-renowned sculptor based in Durban whose work has appeared in exhibitions around the world. The series of elephants, made out of natural or recycled man-made materials, are a symbol of the Human Elephant Foundation, an organisation he started in partnership with respected South African conservationist Dr Ian Player. The foundation aims to highlight the interaction between humans and the natural environment. The elephants have appeared in various permanent and temporary positions in Mexico, Belgium, Norway and throughout North America.Work began in November 2009 and the three elephants were transported from Botha’s workshop north of Durban to their current location in early January, where they were to be finished on site. On February 9, Botha said he received a phone call from Siya Madlala and S'bu Mazibuko, two former students who were assisting him with the artwork, saying that they had been ordered to stop work immediately by a man who refused to identify himself. The man, driving a large black SUV, apparently told them that the elephants were a symbol of the IFP, and were therefore not welcome in a city run by the ANC.

Botha, fearing for the safety of his workers and the artwork, asked Rumdel Cape, the contracting company assigned to Warwick Avenue redevelopment, to provide extra security. Soon after the incident, however, Botha received an order from Rumdel Cape to “cease all activities concerning and related to the elephant construction on the Warwick Viaduct site until further notice”. According to Botha, he has been given no reason for the work stoppage, and has received no further communication.

Sutcliffe said that Botha "will be formally communicated with once I have established all the relevant facts and a process to deal with the matter has been adopted". Thembi Nzuza, leader of the IFP caucus in eThekwini council, said the brouhaha surrounding the elephant sculptures was "ridiculous and childish”."We, as the IFP, are actually taking offence by the municipality's behaviour -- the elephant goes beyond the IFP and is part of greater South Africa. Where will all this end: The DA uses the sun on its logo, so will the ANC next try and stop the sun from rising?" "The ANC in Durban is driven by one man -- John Mchunu, the regional chairperson and it seems we have to all massage his super-ego," said Nzuza, when commenting on who might have been behind the decision to stop work on the sculptures. Nzuza said the matter had not come before either the council nor the city's executive committee, or exco. Mchunu could not be reached for comment.

Sutcliffe meanwhile denied that politics were to blame for the intervention, and said that the reports of the apprentices being told to stop work on what could be seen on an IFP symbol were “not applicable”. When asked why it had taken so long for objection to be raised, seeing that the project had been started in November 2009, a contractor had been appointed and that money had already been spent on the project, Sutcliffe’s only answer was: “Not true, not applicable”. John Charter, Botha's partner at the Human Elephant Foundation told the M&G this week that he had approached Sutcliffe at a cocktail party and asked why the project had been stopped. According to Charter Sutcliffe said: "We're going to take them down immediately. It's not your fault. It's just not politically expedient. Don't talk about it."

Meanwhile, ANC officials in the area have tried to justify the interference. Durban deputy mayor Logie Naidoo said on Sunday that the city had wanted sculptures of the Big Five, but Botha "only did elephants", the Times reported. But Charter said the statement sounded illogical. "The whole concept of the foundation has always been about one animal: the elephant as a metaphor. When the city approached Andries [Botha] he gave them a big spiel about the foundation and the elephants." He said the Botha chose to use three elephants as that number worked best in the space at the new development. At the moment, the sculptures stand hidden under green shade cloth and black plastic. "They're on a major causeway at the end of a main road, no one can just put them there without permission," said an irate Botha, who fears that the situation will jeopardise the symbolism of conservation.

Support has grown for the artist and a Facebook group called “Save the Durban Elephant Sculptures” has been started, with members lamenting the intrusion of politics in art, stating that: "Art is art. An elephant is an elephant." Botha said that political interrogation of creative expression “puts everything at risk”. “I just want the dignity of the artwork restored," he said.

Globe Trotting Elephants

The IFP's Nzuza said his party would pursue the matter if work on the sculptures were stopped indefinitely. "This is a fruitless waste of money".

Source: Mail & Guardian

Constitutional Court to rule on prisoner pardons

The Constitutional Court will rule on Tuesday on whether 384 prisoners, some serving sentences for murder and robbery, are entitled to apply for political pardons. Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) chief whip Koos van der Merwe said on Monday he hoped the matter would "finally be resolved" six years after applications for presidential pardon were made. "Most of them are in jail for serious crimes, such as murder and robbery -- allegedly political," Van der Merwe told Sapa. "Not all of them are IFP members. But the point is that in six years the department of justice has done nothing. Even if only five of the prisoners qualify for a pardon, then they will have languished in prison for nothing."

Van der Merwe said the Ministry of Justice had been incompetent and arrogant in dealing with the issue. It was an international scandal, he said. "The gross violation of the human rights of these prisoners reflects badly on South Africa as a whole. Government's deliberate lack of action is clearly a violation of the spirit of our Constitution and we are therefore confident that the court will rule in our favour tomorrow."

The prisoners first applied for pardons six years ago, but their applications were dismissed on "technical grounds". The IFP then took the issue to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) which ordered former justice minister Brigitte Mabandla to finalise the applications within three months. The IFP took Mabandla to court after she ignored the SAHRC ruling. "Subsequently, the IFP took the matter to the High Court of South Africa who also made a ruling against Mabandla ordering her to finalise the matter within three months," Van der Merwe said.

Mabandla then applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which was granted. Five judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal unanimously rejected Mabandla's appeal. Mabandla then appealed to the Constitutional Court. The IFP laid a complaint against former president Thabo Mbeki and Mabandla with Amnesty International.

Van der Merwe said the IFP's lawyer had informed him that President Jacob Zuma had filed an affidavit on the case late on Monday. "They have had six years to do something about this, but they leave it until late in the final afternoon on the day before the case. It is remarkably incompetent."

Source: Mail & Guardian

Appointment of judicial officers

In terms of Section 176 (3) of the Constitution of South Africa: "The President as head of the national executive, after consulting the Judicial Service Commission and the leader of parties represented in the National Assembly, appoints the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice and, after consulting the Judicial Service Commission, appoints the President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal."
[Sub-s. (3) substituted by s. 13 of the Constitution Sixth Amendment Act of 2001.]

A CV of Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke can be found here.

A CV of Justice Sandile Ngcobo can be found here.

Source: the Constitutional Court of South Africa

Buthelezi's traditional leader post up for grabs

The top post in the KwaZulu-Natal house of traditional leaders currently occupied by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi will be up for grabs this week.

Traditional leaders from KwaZulu-Natal's 11 districts will converge on Durban's Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre on Friday to elect a provincial chairperson of the house.

Buthelezi, who is also Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader, has been chairperson of the house since 2006 when the groundbreaking KwaZulu-Natal Traditional Leadership and Governance Act was implemented.

Before the act was promulgated, Buthelezi was the traditional prime minister of the Zulu nation for years and his position was never up for re-election.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Five held for attack on ANC motorcade

Five more people have been arrested for the murder of an ANC supporter and the attempted murder of six others in Swayimani near Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday. This brought the number of people arrested in connection with Monday's ambush on the ANC motorcade to seven.

Mphatiseni Gumede, 27, was arrested just a few hours after the attack. Police confiscated a firearm. He briefly appeared in the Camperdown Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on charges of murder and attempted murder. Police spokeswoman Director Phindile Radebe said Gumede would stay in custody until his next court appearance on May 13. Radebe said a further two firearms were found when the five suspects were arrested on Wednesday.The ANC motorcade was ambushed as party members were celebrating the party's election victory. ANC provincial secretary Senzo Mchunu welcomed the arrests. He said one of those arrested was an IFP chairman. "This is not the first time that the IFP leadership has been linked to the murder of ANC members. In Nongoma an IFP councillor Hezekiah 'Fish' Ngwenya was arrested for the murder of ANC member Jabulani Khumalo and is currently out on bail." Khumalo was shot dead in March.

Another IFP councillor was arrested for the shooting of ANC member Bongani Ngcobo in the ANC's offices in Nongoma, said Mchunu. "The IFP leadership must come out strongly to condemn their members' involvement in the attacks of ANC members, otherwise people will start believing that they are acting on the mandate of their top leadership." The IFP on Monday criticised ANC leaders for jumping to conclusions during the early stages of the investigation.

IFP national organiser Albert Mncwango said ANC leaders were "reckless and irresponsible". Their statements could fuel tensions between IFP and ANC supporters, he said.

Source: IoL

ANC: Zuma has no links to Hlophe

The African National Congress (ANC) said on Saturday that its president, Jacob Zuma, had nothing to do with a senior judge accused of trying to influence members of the Constitutional Court in legal cases involving him. Media reported on Friday that the Constitutional Court said Cape Judge President John Hlophe had approached several members of its bench to influence them in legal cases involving Zuma.

Zuma's defence team has filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court to overturn a lower court ruling allowing prosecutors to use documents seized in raids on properties belonging to the ANC chief and one of his lawyers.

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Saturday said Hlophe's immediate departure would help to restore trust in the judiciary. The Saturday Star reported that Hlophe has dismissed the accusations made against him as "utter rubbish".

Source: Mail & Guardian

Masetlha 'above the law'

Home Affairs DG Billy Masetlha seems to have placed himself above the law resulting in a major setback for democracy in South Africa, the department's minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Thursday. Replying to questions in the National Assembly, Buthelezi said by working without a valid contract, Masetlha had placed the legality of all actions taken by the department in jeopardy. "It is possible that Mr Masetlha is placing himself above the rule of law and creating the invalidity of an enormous amount of actions taken by my department with unforseeable consequences for the state. It was also an enormous setback for our democracy as it seems that certain people are becoming untouchable and beyond the reach of law."

The support Masetlha was receiving from "many sectors" was effectively placing him beyond the reach of the law. Buthelezi said he, as the political head of the department, was therefore not able to perform his Constitutionally mandated function of being accountable to Parliament. Relations between the minister and the DG have been strained for months and Buthelezi has claimed - backed by legal opinion of senior counsel - that Masetlha had not had a valid employment contract since June this year. The minister told MPs on Thursday that "no conclusions were reached" at a meeting earlier this week between himself, President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Contrary to statements issued by the Presidency, the meeting was not convened to deal solely with the Masetlha issue. "The impression I got from the Deputy President was that it was a meeting that we have, the three of us, from time to time. At this meeting this issue, among other things, was raised but no conclusions were reached on that," he said.

Both Buthelezi - the Inkatha Freedom Party leader - and Masetlha, a former ANC intelligence operative, have previously asked for Mbeki's intervention. Buthelezi said he had referred all information and documentation on Masetlha's contract to the Public Service Commission following a recommendation by Parliament's home affairs portfolio committee. The commission was investigating the matter, but ultimately the final decision of the DG's status rested with the President. The minister said he had only agreed to Mbeki's request that Masetlha's contract be extended on condition that the situation was reviewed when the President returned from an overseas trip. He had, at that time, communicated this to Masetlha and the Cabinet.

Buthelezi last week presented a 10-page document citing 64 examples of alleged wrongdoing by Masetlha to the home affairs committee. He accused the director-general of insubordination and defiance. Masetlha said in response that he was angry and disappointed by the accusations, which he contended were part of a campaign to vilify him.

Source: mail & Guardian

Mbeki's mistakes - a UK view

The prospect of President Thabo Mbeki's acceptance of Justice Minister Penuell Maduna's advice to exclude Judge Willem Heath from a probe into an alleged arms deal scam, is being seen here in the same light as the South African government's "three other major blunders".

The newspaper The Guardian elaborates on "anger" experienced in South Africa over the government's disregard of a parliamentary committee for public accounts' insistence that Heath be included in the probe into a suspect government arms contract of R43 million with Britain and other foreign arms companies.

The newspaper finds the South African government guilty of other "serious political errors of judgement". The three black marks against Mbeki's name are for his blundering over HIV/Aids, the government's laxity regarding Zimbabwe, and the rumpus over Lesotho.

"Despite accusations raised by its opponents, there is no evidence of corruption by the South African government in the arms deal. However, it is guilty of other serious political errors of judgement."

The newspaper argues that even though Mbeki retracted on his denial of a connection between HIV and Aids, his prestige took a sharp knock in South Africa, the country with most HIV-infected people world-wide.

In addition, the government's lame stance over Robert Mugabe had been as ineffective as the furore created in Britain over the issue.

"Mbeki, however, has more to lose. Should Zimbabwe be crippled economically, an influx of its citizens could paralyse South Africa," the newspaper said.

The government's intervention in Lesotho in 1998 had also been a "military and political blunder". The nation had been outraged when a well-equipped, but poorly prepared South African force got bogged down against an ill-equipped opponent, leaving Maseru practically destroyed.

The article, reporting over Mbeki's acceptance of Justice Minister Penuell Maduna's recommendation that Heath be excluded from the three investigating teams into the arms deal, says that in South Africa the government is being accused of overriding democracy.

Extensive coverage is given to the fact that a request from the committee for public accounts was disregarded, and also to criticism from the PAC, the IFP and even from the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Reverend Njongonkulu Ndungane.

Source: News 24.com

'Kill the Boer' slogan led to murders

The convicted murderer of a Vryheid farmer told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday that his crime was influenced by the "kill the Boer, kill the farmer" slogan he heard at African National Congress rallies.

Ntuthuko Chuene, 28, is serving a life sentence for the murder of Godfrey Frederick Lanz Heuer on August 22, 1992. He also stole a Rossi Special firearm, ammunition and a suitcase containing about R1 000 in cash, a pocket calculator and books. He said he stole the guns to defend his community from the Inkatha Freedom Party. Chuene said his accomplice in the killing, Piet Nkosi, was later shot and killed by the police. He said he was forced by circumstances in the area where he lived, Mondlo, to commit the crimes. The killing was not directed at Heuer, as he just happened to be a white farmer at the wrong time. "I could have killed any other white man I came across at that time. My frustrations were directed to white men because they had what we did not have," Chuene said. "I am sorry, I look back now and regret."

Heuer's wife Amy said she did not believe Chuene killed her husband because of politically motivated reasons. "I do not want him to be granted amnesty. I watched my husband die in front of me and could not help him," she said.

Source: IoL

Executed women may take clues to grave

When 25-year-old Sheriza Singh and the man she claimed was her live-in lover, Gavin Wessels, are laid to rest this week, they may take with them the truth behind their gruesome murders and the apparently senseless killings of three other women in Kwadukuza (formerly Stanger), on the KwaZulu Natal north coast. Singh witnessed the shooting of Wessels at the Just Friends nightclub, apparently at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, early on Sunday.

Police say she claimed to be living with the popular IFP councillor and businessman, although she was too emotional to make an official statement at the time. She apparently then went home to her family farm."She was to have come in to make a statement yesterday," said Superintendent K Naidoo. However, on Sunday evening, four gunmen wearing balaclavas attacked the house. With single shots to the head, they executed Singh, her 73-year-old grandmother Sabkhree Singh, her mother Nirmala Singh (40), and a friend, Meriska Naiker (18). A relative, Vijen Singh (21), was seriously injured and is in a critical condition.

Wessels' brother Anton denied there had been any relationship between Sheriza and Gavin, saying his family did not know her at all. "He went to the nightclub alone, got into an argument and was shot at point-blank range. This was so unnecessary," he said. He said his brother, although estranged from his wife, had been in daily contact with her recently with a view to reconciling. Singh's family also could not shed any light on the incident.

A close friend commented that it was sheer speculation that the disco shooting and the farmhouse killings were linked. Police are also hesitant to connect the two incidents. "The only link is Sheriza, and while everything may point to a connection because she was at the club, it would be dangerous to say it for sure," said Naidoo. However, he said, the style of the farmhouse murders did not point to ordinary robbery.

A man arrested immediately after the shooting of Gavin Wessels will appear in court today.

Source: IoL

KZN warfare described to TRC

Any deaths of family members caught in violent clashes between the leaders of the ANC and the IFP in Shobashobane on the south coast in the early 1990s resulted in the counter-attacks that led to the high incidence of bloodshed in the area. This was the evidence of an amnesty applicant before the amnesty committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on Wednesday. The TRC also heard that the two political organisations "did not see eye to eye as to which one should operate in the area".

Ziphakamise Nyawose (30) told of how people closest to him were killed during the attacks, which made him flee the area to stay in the bush for three months."As a member of the ANC I was also a victim of these attacks. In 1991 I was attacked on three occasions at my home. In 1992 my house was attacked twice and I was also attacked at the taxi rank. In 1993 my brother Bongani was murdered and his decomposed body was found in the bush after a week. "In the same year I was in the company of Mandla Blose when we were attacked at a taxi rank. On that occasion we retaliated by shooting back at our attackers," he said.

Nyawose said he went to report the shooting to the police but was told that they would not investigate matters involving ANC supporters. "From there it was clear to us that the police were collaborating with our attackers. These attackers were known in our area. Their names were Mhlati Mbambo, Thokozani Blose, Dudu and Sithombe (Goodman) Ngcobo. They were all IFP members," he said.

Nyawose has applied for amnesty for the murder of Bhekabantu Samuel Cele and attempted murder of IFP strongman and businessman Goodman Ngcobo in 1993. Nyawose said Cele had died in the shoot-out but he was not the target; he was only caught in the crossfire. "Ngcobo was attacking us because some members of the ANC had killed his mother in 1990, but I was not involved in that killing," he said. He said he lost everything when his house was burned down by IFP supporters during the violence. He told the amnesty committee that he had since reconciled with Ngcobo.

Source: IoL

Sisters oppose brothers' amnesty

TWO sisters have turned against their brothers, one of whom pursued and shot dead their 79-year old father, who was also necklaced and set on fire. Ms Zodwa Cele and Ms Nkosazana Cele on Tuesday opposed the amnesty application of their brother Mr Roy Cele (40), who killed his father, Mr Amos Cele, in the late 1980s. The sisters testified at the amnesty hearing of their brothers Roy and Thulani Cele (34), who together led a group of youth in the Inanda area. Both men have applied for amnesty for the murder in December 1989 of their IFP-supporting father and of their relatives Ms Dudu Ngcobo and Mr Martin Ngcobo, who were also aligned to the organisation. The brothers were each sentenced to five years in jail for public violence and 15 years each for the murders.

The Cele sisters told the amnesty committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, sitting in Durban, that their brothers used the community to settle a domestic dispute following previous conflicts with their father. They dismissed any political motive for the crime. "I pursued somebody and shot him in the bush. I think it was my father, because he was found the next day at that spot," said Roy Cele. He said his father's houses were also set alight by the groups he led.

The amnesty committee, led by Judge Sisi Khampepe, spent time cross-examining Cele. Zodwa Cele told the committee that the two other victims were related to Thulani and Roy, the leaders of the vigilante group. She said they had come from Umlazi to Inanda for Christmas and not for political activities. Trouble started when Martin Ngcobo was found dead at a bus stop. A group of people then came from Umlazi to Thulani and Roy's house to inquire about the murder and the arm missing from the body.

Evidence that a group of people came looking for the brothers was denied by Zodwa Cele. Instead, she said the group beat her with a sjambok, assaulted her with stones and left her bleeding. "As I was running back home I saw a group of people led by Thulani Cele beating up Dudu (Ngcobo)," she said. She told of the chaos in the family when Roy led the group to his father's house. The sisters, one pregnant with twins, held their children and fled from their house. The Cele sisters said they would not like their brothers granted amnesty because they lied in their testimony.

Source: IoL

Pretoria's Words: 'Extrajudicial Killing'

Following are excerpts from the final report issued by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission today:

Primary Finding

On the basis of the evidence available to it, the primary finding of the Commission is that:

The predominant portion of gross violations of human rights was committed by the former state through its security and law-enforcement agencies.

Moreover, the South African state in the period from the late 1970's to early 1990's became involved in activities of a criminal nature when, amongst other things, it knowingly planned, undertook, condoned and covered up the commission of unlawful acts, including the extrajudicial killing of political opponents and others, inside and outside South Africa.

In pursuit of these unlawful activities, the state acted in collusion with certain other political groupings, most notably the Inkatha Freedom Party (I.F.P.). . . .

Certain members of the State Security Council (the state President, Minister of Defense, Minister of Law and Order, and heads of security forces) did foresee that the use of words such as ''take out,'' ''wipe out,'' ''eradicate,'' and ''eliminate'' would result in the killing of political opponents.

P. W. Botha

During the period that he presided as head of state (1978-1989) according to submissions made to and findings made by the Commission, gross violations of human rights and other unlawful acts were perpetrated on a wide scale by members of the South African Defense Force, including:

The deliberate unlawful killing and attempted killing of persons opposed to the policies of the Government, within and outside South Africa.

The widespread use of torture and other forms of severe ill treatment against such persons.

The forcible abduction of such persons where were resident in neighboring countries.

Covert logistical and financial assistance to organizations opposed to the ideology of the A.N.C. . . .

Inkatha

The Commission finds that in 1986, the South African Defense Forces (S.A.D.F.) conspired with Inkatha to provide the latter with a covert, offensive paramilitary unit (or ''hit squad'') to be deployed illegally against persons and organizations perceived to be opposed to both the South African Government and Inkatha. . . The Commission finds . . . that the deployment of the paramilitary unit in KwaZulu led to gross violations of human rights, including killing, attempted killing and severe ill treatment. The Commission finds the following people, among others, accountable for such violations: Mr. P. W. Botha, Gen. Magnus Malan, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi. . . .

The A.N.C.

While it was A.N.C. policy that the loss of civilian life should be ''avoided,'' there were instances where members of its security forces perpetrated gross violations of human rights in that the distinction between military and civilian targets was blurred in certain armed actions, such as the 1983 Church Street bombing of the South African Air Force headquarters. . . . In the course of the armed struggle, the A.N.C., through its security forces, undertook military operations which, though intended for military or security force targets, sometimes went awry for a variety of reasons, including poor intelligence and reconnaissance. The consequences in these cases, such as the Magoo's Bar and Durban Esplanade bombings, were gross violations of human rights in respect of the injuries to and loss of lives of civilians.

Individuals who defected to the state and became informers and/or members who became state witnesses in political trials . . . were often labeled by the A.N.C. as collaborators and regarded as legitimate targets to be killed. The commission does not condone the legitimization of such individuals as military targets and finds that the extrajudicial killings of such individuals constituted gross violations of human rights.

The commission finds that, in the 1980's in particular, a number of gross violations were perpetrated not by direct members of the A.N.C. or those operating under its formal command, but by civilians who saw themselves as A.N.C. supporters. In this regard, the Commission finds that the A.N.C. is morally and politically accountable for creating a climate in which such supporters believed their actions to be legitimate. . . .

A.N.C. Camps

The Commission finds that suspected ''agents'' were routinely subjected to torture and other forms of severe ill treatment and that there were cases of such individuals being charged and convicted by tribunals without proper regard to due process, sentenced to death and executed.

Winnie Mandela

The Commission finds that Ms. Madikizela-Mandela was central to the establishment and formation of the Mandela United Football Club, which later developed into a private vigilante unit. . . . The Commission finds that those who opposed Ms. Madkizela-Mandela and the Mandela United Football Club, or dissented from them, were branded as informers and killed. The Commission finds that Ms. Madikizela-Mandela . . . is accountable, politically and morally for the gross violations of human rights committed by the Mandela United Football Club.

The Commission finds further that Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela herself was responsible for committing such gross violations of human rights.

Source: New York Times

A revealing British documentary on post-apartheid South Africa

In 1994 the Government of National Unity, consisting of the African National Congress, the National Party (a long-time pillar of apartheid) and the Inkatha Freedom Party replaced the South African apartheid regime. ANC leader Nelson Mandela took the place of F.W. De Clerk as president.

John Pilger, a respected investigative journalist, returned to South Africa 30 years after he was banned for his reports on apartheid to find out what changes have taken place since 1994. His findings were shown nationally in a documentary entitled, "Apartheid Did Not Die," aired on Britain's ITV station April 21.

Pilger says: "Yes, apartheid based on race is outlawed now, but the system always went far deeper than that. The cruelty and injustice were underwritten by an economic apartheid that regarded people as no more than cheap, dispensable labour. International corporations in South Africa, Britain, Europe and the United States backed it. And it was this apartheid, based on money and profits, which allowed a small minority to control most of the land, most of the industrial wealth and most of the economic power. Today the same system is called, without a trace of irony, the free market." This film, he adds "asks why apartheid continues by other means."

Pilger's insistence that "apartheid did not die" confuses the issue. Apartheid has ended, but capitalist oppression continues. The ANC, like bourgeois nationalist movements throughout the world, have proven incapable of putting an end to the legacy of poverty and exploitation in the oppressed nations. That is the task of the South African and international working class.

Source: World Socialist Web; International Committee of the Fourth International

Police in South Africa Fire on Soweto Crowd

A total of 32 people died in fighting between black factions since Saturday, reports said. Hundreds have died since the violence in black townships near Johannesburg began less than one month ago.

Residents accused supporters of the conservative Zulu movement Inkatha of starting the nighttime attack with police help. They also said masked white men had taken part in the assault on the Tladi squatter camp in Soweto. The head of the South African Council of Churches, the Rev. Frank Chikane, visited the camp and said he had seen enough to know that ''police are involved in killing us.'' The police fought running battles with residents who hurled rocks and firebombs throughout the morning near the camp in the sprawling township southwest of Johannesburg.

Source: New York Times