United Nations report highlights growing inequality in South Africa

The tenth anniversary of the end of apartheid and the first democratic elections in South Africa has been widely celebrated throughout the country. The government has used the occasion to congratulate itself on its performance in eradicating poverty, reducing inequality, and generally producing “a better life for all.” However, a report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) presents a different picture to that painted by politicians and government spokesmen.

One of the most significant issues affecting working class South Africans is massive unemployment. Over the last nine years the rate of unemployment has steadily increased, with between 30 and 42 percent of the labour force caught in “a vicious cycle of open unemployment.” Between 5.2 million and 8.4 million South Africans are unemployed, depending upon whether one applies the official definition or an extended definition of unemployment.

South Africa also has one of the most unequal distribution of incomes in the world, with approximately 60 percent of the population earning less than R42,000 per annum (about US$7,000), whereas 2.2 percent of the population have an income exceeding R360,000 per annum (about US$50,000).


Source: World Socialist Web

Ramatlhodi: Inside the Scorpions probe

A Scorpions probe and a lawsuit brought by rugby boss Brian van Rooyen have opened a Limpopo province can of worms in which tender-rigging and financial favours to the African National Congress and former premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi are alleged.

The Mail & Guardian revealed last week that Ramatlhodi was earmarked to take over from Bulelani Ngcuka as head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) -- but that his appointment was stalled because he was being probed for corruption by the Scorpions, a division of the NPA. Ramatlhodi was a surprise omission from President Thabo Mbeki's Cabinet.

The NPA this week maintained its official policy of "no comment", but the M&G has ascertained key aspects of the probe from players in companies involved, and from court documents and related sources. At stake are the reputations of and potential criminal prosecutions against Ramatlhodi and Limpopo finance minister Thaba Mufamadi, who is also being probed. Both have denied the allegations.

Also of concern is the ethical implication of the ruling party receiving funding -- confirmed by key players -- flowing from a lucrative government contract. The controversial renewal of this contract, for the payment of social grants in the province, is being challenged in the Pretoria High Court by Van Rooyen and his company, Labat Africa Management Consulting. Labat claims the provincial government irregularly re-awarded the tender, worth about R250-million, to Cash Paymaster Services Northern (CPS) in late 2002 after a consortium led by Labat had scored higher on tender evaluation criteria. CPS and provincial authorities are opposing Labat's legal action.

Van Rooyen claims in court papers that tender criteria were "manipulated" by the late introduction of "track record" as a requirement. This, a Labat consortium representative charged this week, came after Labat had turned down a request for a bribe. CPS was first awarded the provincial grants contract in 1996. For much of the duration of this contract CPS was a joint venture between national technology company Aplitec and Limpopo-based Northern Corporate Investment Holdings, better known as Nicoh. It is Nicoh that has been funding the provincial ANC through a "charitable" trust set up to benefit the people and developing businesses in the province. It is also through Nicoh that individual politicians, Ramatlhodi and Mufamadi, are alleged to have benefited. Nicoh's principal players are lawyer Solly Mohale and businessman Gideon Serote. Also associated with it, whether directly or by way of the charitable trust called the Baobab Development Trust, are cane furniture king Habakuk Shikoane and prominent car dealer Haroun Moti.

There have been differences between the four over who are the true shareholders, but there is no dispute that Baobab has been at least a 10% beneficiary of Nicoh -- and that the ANC has benefited from Baobab. Mohale this week confirmed that Nicoh has given 10% of proceeds to Baobab, and that Baobab in turn has donated to the ANC. He refused to give a rand value, but the CPS deal has been estimated to have paid Nicoh R700 000 a month, which means R70 000 a month to Baobab. Said Mohale: "[Limpopo] is dominated by the main political party, the ANC ... If people come to ask for money, the trustees, if they agree with the objectives, will entertain it." He defended the party benefiting from a government contract, saying: "It depends on at what stage you are giving them money, whether it is open to everybody, and whether it is not illegal."

There are contradictory views on whether others besides the ANC benefited from Baobab. Mohale claimed "community structures" and other parties had also received donations. This was contradicted this week by Shikoane, who is the chairperson of Baobab. He said it was "only the ANC" and that he estimated that the total benefit to the party was "not more than R1-million".

ANC provincial secretary Cassell Mathale this week confirmed "it is quite possible [Baobab] may have donated money to the party", but would not comment further without checking the facts. Mufamadi, who is also the party's provincial treasurer, said: "The ANC receives donations from many business organisations."

As Baobab has funded the party, the question arises whether this helped CPS win the grants tender in the first place or when it was renewed. And if influential individual politicians Ramatlhodi and Mufamadi also benefited from the CPS contract via Nicoh -- the central question the Scorpions are trying to answer -- it would have been outright corruption. But the Scorpions investigation against Ramatlhodi and Mufamadi appears to have run into some difficulties. The original lead investigator, Cornwell Tshavhungwa, is now suspended from the Scorpions on corruption allegations relating to his dealings with a finance parastatal in Mpumalanga.

Tshavhungwa is understood to have recommended that the investigations into Ramatlhodi and Mufamadi be halted owing to a lack of evidence, but Ngcuka insisted that they be pursued. The M&G understands that Tshavhungwa interviewed key players such as Shikoane and Mohale, but neither of them confirmed the allegations. Other investigators have now taken over the probe from Tshavhungwa.

The Scorpions started probing the allegations against Ramatlhodi and Mufamadi last year after they were first publicly aired by noseweek magazine, which quoted Shikoane as confirming the kickbacks. Speaking to the M&G this week, Shikoane maintained no individuals had benefited. And Mohale said he had "no knowledge" of Ramatlhodi or Mufamadi having received money, "unless it was in their [ANC] executive capacities". Approached for comment, Mufamadi also denied individual benefit, saying it was "nonsense" and that "I have no relations with those companies that have been mentioned." Ramatlhodi referred all queries to the ANC.

Serge Belamont, chief executive of Aplitec, Nicoh's partner in CPS, said he had no knowledge of party funding flowing from the contract via Nicoh and the Baobab Development Trust, but said that "if that's the case it wouldn't be right". He said the province was correct to have re-awarded the contract to CPS rather than to Labat, as track record counted. "You are dealing with paying 800 000 poor people ... The tender board has a greater responsibility to decide than on simply who scored the highest points."

NPA spokesperson Sipho Ngwema this week said: "The NPA did not publish any information to the M&G or anyone for that matter that suggests that we are investigating Mr Ngoako Ramatlhodi and/or Mr Thaba Mufamadi. We are, therefore, unable to verify or deny any of your assertions."

Source: Mail & Guardian

New cabinet surprises

Former housing minister Brigitte Mabandla was named South Africa's new Justice Minister on Wednesday. Announcing his new cabinet, President Thabo Mbeki announced that Mabandla's portfolio would be taken over by Intelligence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.

Former Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour would take over as Correctional Services Minister but continue work with the 2010 soccer bid. He also named Naledi Pandor as the new Minister of Education, taking over from the retiring Kader Asmal. Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is the new minister of Home Affairs, replacing IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi. The ministry of Public Enterprises has been handed to former Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin. He takes over from Jeff Radebe who becomes Transport Minister. Former Eastern Cape premier Makhenkesi Stofile becomes the Sports Minister, while the new post of Science and Technology Minister goes to Azanian People's Organisation leader Mosibudi Mangena. "This is a very strong team. I'm glad that when I spoke to them all last night and early this morning they responded well ... to the critical challenge which is the implementation of policy," Mbeki said after announcing the new cabinet.

Mbeki announced that the ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology will be split into a ministry of Art and Culture and a ministry of Science and Technology. "We have not paid enough attention to Arts and Culture over the past ten years," Mbeki said, adding that science in its own right was important for the development of the country. There will also be three additional women in cabinet and two more women at the deputy position, he said. "As you can see we have not reached 50%," he said refering to the percentage of women in parliament.

A list of members of the cabinet and theire credentials can be found here.

Source: News 24

Edna Molewa: Premier of North West Province

Edna Molewa served in the North West legislature for eight years before she was appointed premier in 2004. She was one of the first women chairpersons of a parliamentary committee, heading trade and industry until 1996, when she became North West minister for tourism, environment and conservation. Two years later, she headed the economic development and tourism portfolio and then moved on to the agriculture, conservation and environment portfolio.

Molewa began her career as a teacher in the 1970s before becoming involved in the underground structures of the liberation movement. She served on various trade union leadership structures: she was a first deputy president of Saccawu, and in women's organisations, she was a member of the Federation of Transvaal Women, then provincial chairperson of the ANC Women's League. She completed courses in economic leadership and administration at two prestigious American institutions: the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Kennedy School of Governance at Harvard University.


Picture: http://www.info.gov.za/images/cabinet/molewa_large.jpg
Source: Mail & Guardian

PREVENTION AND COMBATING OF CORRUPT ACTIVITIES ACT 12 OF 2004

The purpose of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act is to provide for the strengthening of measures to prevent and combat corruption and corrupt activities; to provide for the offence of corruption and offences relating to corrupt activities; to provide for investigative measures in respect of corruption and related corrupt activities; to provide for the establishment and endorsement of a Register in order to place certain restrictions on persons and enterprises convicted of corrupt activities relating to tenders and contracts; to place a duty on certain persons holding a position of authority to report certain corrupt transactions; to provide for extraterritorial jurisdiction in respect of the offence of corruption and offences relating to corrupt activities; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

WHEREAS the Constitution enshrines the rights of all people in the Republic and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom;

AND WHEREAS the Constitution places a duty on the State to respect, protect, promote and fulfil all the rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights;

AND WHEREAS corruption and related corrupt activities undermine the said rights, endanger the stability and security of societies, undermine the institutions and values of democracy and ethical values and morality, jeopardise sustainable development, the rule of law and the credibility of governments, and provide a breeding ground for organised crime;

AND WHEREAS the illicit acquisition of personal wealth can be particularly damaging to democratic institutions, national economies, ethical values and the rule of law;

AND WHEREAS there are links between corrupt activities and other forms of crime, in particular organised crime and economic crime, including money-laundering;

AND WHEREAS corruption is a transnational phenomenon that crosses national borders and affects all societies and economies, and is equally destructive and reprehensible within both the public and private spheres of life, so that regional and international cooperation is essential to prevent and control corruption and related corrupt activities;

AND WHEREAS a comprehensive, integrated and multidisciplinary approach is required to prevent and combat corruption and related corrupt activities efficiently and effectively;

AND WHEREAS the availability of technical assistance can play an important role in enhancing the ability of States, including by strengthening capacity and by institution-building, to prevent and combat corruption and related corrupt activities efficiently and effectively;

AND WHEREAS the prevention and combating of corruption and related corrupt activities is a responsibility of all States requiring mutual cooperation, with the support and involvement of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as organs of civil society and non- governmental and community-based organizations, if their efforts in this area are to be efficient and effective;

AND WHEREAS the United Nations has adopted various resolutions condemning all corrupt practices, and urged member states to take effective and concrete action to combat all forms of corruption and related corrupt practices;

AND WHEREAS the Southern African Development Community Protocol against Corruption, adopted on 14 August 2001 in Malawi, reaffirmed the need to eliminate the scourges of corruption through the adoption of effective preventive and deterrent measures and by strictly enforcing legislation against all types of corruption;

AND WHEREAS the Republic of South Africa desires to be in compliance with and to become Party to the United Nations Convention against Corruption adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 31 October 2003;

AND WHEREAS it is desirable to unbundle the crime of corruption in terms of which, in addition to the creation of a general, broad and all-encompassing offence of corruption, various specific corrupt activities are criminalized.

Source: SABINET

BASA: Awesome Africa Music Festival

“The arts are the soul of a people: they express their joys and sorrows, their fears and their hopes. The history of our cultural heritage is one to be preserved and inspire us to new creation.”

Athol Fugard,
Patron of Arts & Culture Trust


“The Festival’s links to the City (of Durban) have opened up various channels which have enabled the bank to forge a closer working relationship with local and provincial government. It has also given us the opportunity to endorse the City’s regeneration programme in the Albert Park area which will eventually offer more business opportunities for the bank.”

Thomas Naidoo, Provincial Director, Standard Bank

Results:Through its sponsorship of the festival, the Bank is seen to be making a direct contribution to the regeneration of the City. Arising from this is a successful partnership with the City of Durban, an important business partner for the Bank.

Source: BASA

Gito Baloi shot dead

Gito Baloi, a bass guitarist originally from Mozambique, lived and performed in South Africa for many years.

Gito Baloi, 39, was driving home from a gig in Pretoria when he was attacked. Eyewitnesses say he was shot three times through the window of his car by two men as he dropped off a friend in central Johannesburg.

This is the second killing of a high profile musician in Johannesburg this year - in February the lead singer of the band Mafikizolo, popular with young black people, was shot in Soweto in a road-rage incident.

His murder comes one week before a general election, in which South Africa's high crime rate is an important issue.


Source: BBC News

Suharto, Marcos and Mobutu head corruption table with $50bn scams

Mohammed Suharto, Ferdinand Marcos and Mobutu Sese Seko ripped off up to $50bn (£28bn) from the impoverished people of Indonesia, the Philippines and Zaire, a sum equivalent to the entire annual aid budget of the west, anti-bribery campaigners said yesterday.

Releasing a list of the top 10 most corrupt politicians of the past two decades, headed by the former Indonesian dictator, Transparency International warned that the scale of political corruption was undermining hopes for prosperity in the developing world and damaging the global economy.

No country is immune from corruption, the report says, citing the lax controls over political financing in Greece, the close connection between companies and the Bush administration and the unchallenged power of Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, over his country's media.

But the most egregious examples of wholesale looting have occurred in the developing world, TI said, depriving the desperately poor of vital state resources.

"The abuse of political power for private gain deprives the most needy of vital public services, creating a level of despair that breeds conflict and violence," said Peter Eigen, TI's chairman.

Most of the names on the list were protected by western governments who turned a blind eye to their criminal activities in exchange for support during the cold war.

Suharto, regarded as a bulwark against communism in Asia, stole as much as $35bn from his impoverished country during his three decades in power, before being deposed in 1998 in a popular uprising that was triggered by the Asian economic crisis.

He was charged with looting up to $500m from the state through various charities controlled by his family, but the judges ruled that he was too ill to stand trial.

Marcos, whose wife's 3,000-piece shoe collection became a byword for the corrupt excesses of his regime, was backed by successive US administrations.

Efforts to track down the estimated $10bn he embezzled during his 20 years in power were frustrated by years of strict banking secrecy laws in Switzerland. In August last year, 14 years after his death, the Swiss courts finally authorised the release of $657m to the Philippines' authorities.

Mobutu cleverly used the threat of an invasion from the then Marxist government of Angola to quieten concerns in the west about his increasingly blatant looting from one of the most resource-rich countries in Africa. Washington leaned on the International Monetary Fund to continue lending, despite the doubts of IMF officials.

By the time he was overthrown in 1997, Mobutu had stolen almost half of the $12bn in aid money that Zaire - now the Democratic Republic of Congo - received from the IMF during his 32-year reign, leaving his country saddled with a crippling debt.

Western multinationals must take responsibility for allowing corruption to flourish, TI says. "The corporate sector has a vital role to play in ending the abuse of power," the report says.

Bribery of local officials by western business is still widespread, despite global initiatives to stamp it out, such as the UN convention against corruption. The culture of secrecy surrounding access to resources in the developing world allows corrupt governments to hide revenues from their populations.

Companies from Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria and Canada topped TI's list of bribe-payers last year [companies from those countries are least likely to bribe, not most likely to bribe], despite the introduction of anti-corruption laws to comply with an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development convention banning bribery of foreign officials.

"We are very much aware that a lot of the responsibility for corruption in the developing world has been with northern companies and northern institutions," said Mr Eigen.

Britain was singled out for dragging its feet on the implementation of the OECD convention. It only outlawed the bribing of officials abroad two years ago, and no one has been prosecuted so far.

Oil, a curse more often than a blessing for poor countries, is a significant factor in corruption. "The flow of oil money is so vast it can distort decision-making in poor producer countries and the rich world alike," the report says.

On the take

Head of state Mohammed Suharto
Place, time Indonesia, 1967-98
Amount $15bn-$35bn

Head of state Ferdinand Marcos
Place, time Philippines, 1972-86
Amount $5bn-$10bn

Head of state Mobutu Sese Seko
Place, time Zaire, 1965-97
Amount $5bn

Head of state Sani Abacha
Place, time Nigeria, 1993-98
Amount $2bn-$5bn

Head of state Slobodan Milosevic
Place, time Serbia, 1972-86
Amount $1bn

Head of state Jean-Claude Duvalier
Place, time Haiti, 1971-86
Amount $300m-$800m

Head of state Alberto Fujimori
Place, time Peru, 1990-2000
Amount $600m

Head of state Pavlo Lazarenko
Place, time Ukraine 1996-97
Amount $114m-$200m

Head of state Arnoldo Alemán
Place, time Nicaragua, 1997-2002
Amount $100m

Head of state Joseph Estrada
Place, time Philippines, 1998-2001
Amount $78m-$80m

Source: The Guardian

'We're not sorry for kill the boer slogan'

It's a slogan that the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) called hate speech last year and it has resurfaced in the flurry of party propaganda in the run-up to the elections. Earlier this year, the Freedom Front Plus lodged a complaint against Mangaliso Kubheka, national organiser of the Landless People's Movement, claiming he had said "kill the farmer, kill the boer" during a speech.

The SAHRC investigated the complaint and ruled that the LPM apologise publicly via the newspaper Rapport, which had reported on the offending speech. They have until March 23 to respond. However, a defiant Mangaliso Kubheka told Saturday Star that the party would not apologise. "We have nothing to apologise for. The Freedom Front Plus is not a friend or a relative. Maybe the HRC should apologise for talking about things I do not know about."

Kubheka said he did not think the "kill the farmer, kill the boer" slogan constituted hate speech. "We are talking about a party that is calling for the death penalty. Can they tell you who the slogan was directed at anyway? If they say it's hate speech then they must say who it is directed at," Kubheka said. Leon Louw, spokesperson for the Freedom Front plus, said the party was considering suing the LPM. "We are waiting until the cut-off date and if there has not been a response by then, we will definitely take further steps."

Mogam Moodliar, head of legal services at the SAHRC, said their recommendation was that the LPM must apologise for the comments but should that not happen, the commission had brainstormed various responses. "We could mediate, ask the party if they really meant it, or the Freedom Front Plus could take the issue to the Equality Court."

Last June, the Freedom Front Plus lodged a complaint with the SAHRC after African National Congress members used the slogan during two public meetings, one of which was the funeral of ANC MP Peter Mokaba in 2002. On appeal, the SAHRC said the killing of a group of people was an "advocacy of hatred" that amounted to harm.

But Moodliar said this pronouncement did not result in any legal precedent. "It does not mean that every utterance is hate speech. We need to look at whether there was harm caused or intention to cause harm," he said.

Source: IoL

DA goes to court over 'Kill the boer' slogan

The Democratic Alliance is to take the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to the newly established Equality Court for incitement to violence.

This comes after members of the tripartite alliance brandished posters saying "Kill the boer, kill the farmer" outside the Phalaborwa magistrate's court in Limpopo on Tuesday. Other posters waved outside the court read "Tired with the boers" and "Castrate the boers".

The angry ANC, SACP and Cosatu members were protesting over the brutal murder of former construction worker Nelson Chisale, who was fed to lions near Hoedspruit last month, allegedly by his former boss Mark Scott-Crossley, 35, and three other men, Simon Mathebula, 43, Richard Mathebula, 41, and Robert Mnisi, 34.

The murder charge against Mnisi was withdrawn on Tuesday, apparently after he agreed to turn state witness. Last year, the South African Human Rights Commission declared the slogan "Kill the boer, kill the farmer" to be hate speech. "It was outrageous for those slogans to have been used," DA spokesperson Sandra Botha said on Wednesday. "We should be getting rid of racism, instead they (the tripartite alliance) are using slogans that have been ruled as hate speech." Botha said that only one person accused of the murder was white, and that the crime was not racially motivated. "Whenever a white person is accused of a crime (against a black person) then the slogans are used against a section of the population, the farmers," said Botha.

She added that Scott-Crossley was not a farmer, but owned a construction company which he ran from a smallholding. However, the tripartite alliance has come out fighting, saying the DA is politicking during an election year.

ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said: "The question they are raising is about members using the slogans, whereas it is (actually) about one human being throwing another to the lions. "Our primary focus at the protest was to highlight the barbarism of the people who allegedly fed a man to the lions," he said. Ngonyama added that the DA was trying to "hide" the killing by only highlighting the sloganeering.

Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said: "We have made it quite clear that 'kill the boer, kill the farmer' is not and was never a Cosatu slogan. We understand how those protesters were feeling, and we believe in the rule of the law, and that law should take its course."

SACP spokesperson Mazibuko Jara called the DA "melodramatic" and "opportunistic". "The DA is trying to divert attention away from racism, the exploitation of farmworkers and violence on farms. The DA should condemn these atrocities and enter into dialogue with the people affected," Jara said.

Source: IoL

NPA ‘strengthened by Hefer Commission'

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has emerged as a stronger organisation following the Hefer Commission, national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka said yesterday. "We faced one of the toughest public tests any organisation can face. This does not happen with many institutions, especially not with organs of state. However, there should not be any doubt in our minds that as an organisation we emerged a lot stronger after the Hefer Commission".

Ngcuka was speaking at the NPA's national conference in Johannesburg. He said the Hefer Commission had united the personnel of the NPA. "We emerged stronger also because the people of South Africa witnessed first hand what the allegations were about. The result was that public confidence in the NPA and law enforcement in general increased". He warned that this confidence came at a price: "The price is that our obligations towards the public we are serving have now increased. People are now going to expect more from... the NPA, which is a positive challenge for us".

Ngcuka said the commission had also "exposed and tested the vulnerability of the relationships between the law enforcement agencies". The NPA now had to find ways to rebuild those relationships. The organisation's operations had also been tested in the process, he said. This was an apparent reference to former transport minister Mac Maharaj allegation that someone in NPA's investigating arm, the Scorpions, had leaked information to the media claiming his wife, Zarina, was being investigated for tax invasion. Ngcuka said: "Organisationally we need to re-examine our policies, procedures and processes. If we find any weaknesses, we need to tighten those up". Ngcuka said the organisation was still trying to come to terms with the impact of the commission. "We should determine, without delay, the extent of whatever collateral damage the whole Hefer episode might have caused to the reputation and the capacity of the NPA to meet the demands of its mandate".

Ngcuka said he chose to see the Hefer Commission as a positive opportunity to start afresh. "I am not saying that Hefer was not a painful experience nor that it did not do damage. It was painful and it has caused damage". Ngcuka said in the past the NPA had focused on technical competence. "Our experience during the Hefer Commission and our initial assessment of the impact of the commission on our organisation, clearly shows that the time has come to shift gears. In light of this "we need an attitude change, a leadership change". By this Ngcuka did not mean he was resigning: "I am not quitting. I am here to stay," he told delegates. He meant the NPA was to "embark on a new and exciting leadership initiative called the 'fearless executive'". This was a special programme drawn up for the NPA, which would be introduced soon.

The Hefer Commission was established to investigate allegations that Ngcuka may have been an apartheid spy. The commission's report can be found here

Zuma and Ngcuka in the spotlight once more

Another Hefer-style public hearing is near-inevitable as Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana pushes ahead with his investigation into Deputy President Jacob Zuma's allegation that Scorpions boss Bulelani Ngcuka abused his powers.

Just days after retired Judge Joos Hefer dismissed charges by Zuma's camp that Ngcuka had been a spy for the apartheid government, the Scorpions boss is facing an investigation that is likely to echo the dramatic scenes played out at Bloemfontein's Justice Building during the spy probe. Judge Hefer found that there was no substance to the spy allegation made against Ngcuka by two of Zuma's most trusted comrades, Mac Maharaj and Mo Shaik. The judge did not investigate their allegation that Ngcuka had abused his powers because this was not included in the terms of reference President Thabo Mbeki set for the commission.

Now, on the eve of the country's third democratic general elections, the ANC will be bracing itself for another bruising showdown between Zuma, the party's deputy president, and Ngcuka, one of the party's more senior heavyweights. In an interview with the Cape Times, Mushwana said he would meet Ngcuka this week to discuss Zuma's complaint that the Scorpions boss abused his office at the helm of the elite crime-busting unit as it investigated possible allegations of corruption against him. Now that Judge Hefer had made his findings public, Mushwana was pursuing the case and had studied documents relating to Zuma's complaint to the Public Protector. Although he was not keen on public hearings, which he described as the "agonising feature of the Hefer commission", Mushwana conceded that it would be difficult to hold oral hearings in private. Asked about the likelihood of a public hearing, he said: "We'll have to see. For a start, it's likely to be public. It will take a lot of effort to convince anyone that you can deal with a person of the stature of the deputy president behind closed doors. I don't wish it to go that way, but if it comes to that, then we definitely will have to do that."

Mushwana said his decision about holding oral hearings would depend on Ngcuka's written response to the allegation, but the chances of his investigation being based purely on affidavits were slim, given that he would "not be able to interrogate issues". According to Mushwana, Zuma's complaint was based largely on a statement Ngcuka made at a press conference on August 23 last year. Ngcuka said there was a prima facie case of corruption against Zuma, but that he would not prosecute as the case would not be "winnable" in court. "The deputy president is seriously challenging the use of that phrase. He is saying 'if there is such a case, then prosecute me, otherwise you must be prepared to withdraw the statement'," Mushwana said. Another of Zuma's reasons for his complaint was the alleged leaks by the Scorpions to the media about details of their investigation into his affairs. Third, Zuma was "seriously challenging the basis of the investigations" into his affairs. According to the Scorpions, Zuma was linked to an alleged attempt to solicit a payment of R500 000 a year from French company Thomson-CSF, which won a contract in the arms deal, in exchange for "protection" during the investigation into the deal.

Mushwana said Zuma was arguing that the probe into the arms deal by Mushwana's predecessor, Selby Baqwa, Ngcuka and Auditor-General Shauket Fakie had given no indication that the deputy president should be investigated. "(Zuma) said the conclusion of that investigation was that certain institutions were listed as warranting further investigation. He says he is not one of those institutions listed for further investigation and so now he doesn't... understand what it is that the Scorpions are investigating."

Mushwana said his office would sending Ngcuka a notice of the investigation and "his response will determine whether we should go down that (oral) painful road". On when he was likely to begin the investigation, Mushwana said: "If we decide to go the route of oral hearings, these people will have to have their legal representatives - one can't say exactly when, but from my side I'm almost ready to go."

Ngcuka's spokesperson, Makhosini Nkosi, said the National Prosecuting Authority was "prepared to co-operate with any investigation into (its) running by any agency of government". "We remain steadfast in our belief and assertion that there was never any abuse of office," said Nkosi. "We have nothing to fear and we want this matter to be dealt with speedily so we don't have further disturbances, as was the case when we were defending the spying allegations." Asked to comment on Zuma's complaint about Ngcuka's statement, Nkosi said: "The national director will state his case to the Public Protector - it's not for me to state his case in the press."

Lakela Kaunda, speaking for Zuma, said: "The deputy president submitted his complaint and awaits feedback from the Public Protector and has no comment on the processes or any aspect of the investigation."

# Maharaj and mining magnate Brett Kebble have also filed "abuse of office" complaints with Mushwana.

Source: IoL

Ngcuka was ‘probably never’ a spy-Hefer

National prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka "probably never" acted as an agent for the apartheid government, the Hefer Commission of Inquiry has found. "I have come to the conclusion that he probably never at any time before 1994 acted as an agent for a state security agency," commission chairperson, retired judge Joos Hefer, said in his final report made public yesterday. "... the suspicion which a small number of distrustful individuals harboured against him 14 years ago was the unfortunate result of ill-founded inferences and groundless assumptions".

The commissions report report can be found here.

President Thabo Mbeki, in a letter to Hefer, has accepted the commission's main findings. The judge made no finding as to whether Ngcuka had abused his official powers, saying this part of his brief had been cancelled by the finding that the prosecutions head had probably not been a spy. The two legs of the probe had to be linked, Hefer said. However, he described as "most disturbing" evidence by one of Ngcuka's main accusers - former transport minister Mac Maharaj - about leaks from the prosecuting directorate about a criminal investigation into Maharaj and his wife.

It was beyond doubt that such leaks did occur and it was highly likely that the guilty party was within Ngcuka's office, Hefer said. "Such a state of affairs cannot be tolerated," the report states. "Months have elapsed since Mr Maharaj was questioned by members of the investigating directorate (Scorpions) and, although Ngcuka has assured me that the investigation has not been completed, no charges have yet been preferred either against Maharaj or against his wife. In the meantime, press reports about the allegations kept appearing. In a country such as ours where human dignity is a basic constitutional value and every person is presumed to be innocent until he or she is found guilty, this is wholly unacceptable".

Although matters "do not appear to be what they should be" in Ngcuka's office, Maharaj's complaint in this regard was beyond the commission's terms of reference, Hefer said.

Source: Polity

1 216 get new homes in Durban

Housing Minister Brigitte Mabandla officially opened a slums clearance project in the eThekwini (Durban) municipality on Tuesday. Keys were handed to some of the 1 216 new homeowners located in the Welbedacht West area. It is one of six main areas that stand to benefit from the slum clearance housing project, which began in 2001 and has, to date, cost almost R218m to implement. "The settlements selected have been earmarked for complete relocation for a variety of reasons such as the threat of flooding, major environmental health risks, unstable land, fire risks and the size of the settlement which may be too small to be feasible for an upgrade project," said Mabandla.

She said project beneficiaries would receive their subsidies from the department of housing, as well as a substantial top-up from eThekwini municipality to ensure that adequate levels of service - such as tarred bus routes, sewer reticulation, water and electricity to each household - were provided. "Houses have been constructed in terms of the housing department's minimum norms and standards, which provide for a 30m² house," said Mabandla. All projects with the exception of Namibia Stop 8 in Inanda were at an advanced stage of construction.

The 10 869 houses and sites was anticipated to be a three-year construction programme, with the construction of houses and services almost 60& complete. Welbedacht East and West, as well as Parkgate, are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2004.

Meanwhile, eThekwini mayor Obed Mlaba said his council had committed itself to funding services and had contributed about R70m to achieve this. "The council has pursued a policy of bridge financing the development to ensure rapid delivery of housing and services," said Mlaba at Tuesday's handover. He said that, according to the eThekwini council's informal settlement programme, proposed housing interventions had been divided into four categories. These were in-situ upgrade; relocation; partial in-situ upgrade and partial relocation; and approved in-situ upgrade housing projects.

In phase one of the slums clearance project, a total of 3 500 informal households will need to be relocated from 10 settlements.

Source: News 24

A defiant Ngcuka takes the stand

"I will not stand back," was national Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka's message on Wednesday at the start of his testimony before the Hefer Commission. The chief prosecutor read a prepared statement to the commission, warning that he would not back off from investigating his accusers. "We are all equal before the law, no matter how wealthy or in which position," he added.

The commission is probing allegations that Ngcuka served as an agent for the apartheid government and consequently abused his current powers. He said on Wednesday that he expected some to be baying for his blood if he performed his duties (as head of the National Prosecuting Authority) without fear or favour. However, it never occurred to him that his former liberation struggle comrades and leaders would be among them. Ngcuka was apparently referring to former transport minister Mac Maharaj and former intelligence commander Mo Shaik, who are his main accusers.

Ngcuka said he would not retreat and run back to the "hole" from which he came, as Shaik's brother Schabir earlier told him to do. With this Schabir -- who is being prosecuted by the NPA -- meant Middeldrift in the Eastern Cape where he was born, Ngcuka explained. He said he did not intend to break the confidentiality agreement between him and a group of editors whom he gave an off-the-record briefing in July. Maharaj and former City Press editor Vusi Mona earlier accused Ngcuka of defaming people at this meeting whom his Scorpions unit investigated. Ngcuka denied all the allegations on Wednesday. "I broke no law, I defamed no-one and I made no racist remarks about my fellow South Africans of Indian descent," he said.

Ngcuka also denied any further abuse of power, saying he was deeply respectful of the office he held. He said he knew only too well what it was like to be at the receiving end of the abuse of state power. He was referring to his suffering at the hands of the apartheid government's security police. Ngcuka reiterated that he was not before the commission to clear his name or prove his innocence. "There is no need for that," he said. He denied that he ever informed on his former struggle comrades, saying none of them were ever arrested because of what he said or did.

Source: Polity

Red Notice Issued for Charles Taylor

The international law enforcement agency INTERPOL today issued a "Red Notice" to seek the arrest, with a view to transfer to the Special Court, of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was indicted by the Special Court in March 2003 for crimes committed during Sierra Leone's war. Mr Taylor faces a 17-count indictment on war crimes and crimes against humanity, which include terrorising the civilian population, unlawful killings, sexual violence, physical violence, use of child soldiers, abductions, forced labour, looting and burning, and attacks on peacekeeping personnel.

The issuance of the "Red Notice" is by an agreement that entered into force between the Special Court and INTERPOL on November 3, 2003 under which the Court may request that INTERPOL publish and circulate "Red Notices" for persons wanted by the Special Court. The Office of the Prosecutor said the INTERPOL "Red Notice" will serve as a reminder that Charles Taylor remains a fugitive from justice. The Office said there was no amnesty for war crimes or crimes against humanity. The Prosecutor added that Mr Taylor's indictment will not go away and that he remains wanted by the international community to face the very serious charges against him.

Source: Special Court for Sierra Leone

Interpol Puts Liberian Ex-Chief On World's Most-Wanted List

Interpol called Thursday for the arrest of the former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, for his suspected role in atrocities committed during Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war. Interpol put Mr. Taylor on its most wanted list by posting a "red notice" on its Web site, alerting police forces around the world to an arrest warrant issued by Sierra Leone in June.

Interpol's notice does little to change Mr. Taylor's status: he has been living in Nigeria since resigning his presidency in August as part of an American-brokered accord to end fighting in Liberia. But the Interpol action does raise the international profile of the Sierra Leone warrant, which Nigeria has so far ignored. "It reminds the world that Charles Taylor remains a fugitive from justice," said Allison Cooper, a spokeswoman for the United Nations court in Sierra Leone, speaking by telephone from Freetown. "It also demonstrates that there's no such thing as amnesty for war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The court, set up in 2000, has argued that because Nigeria is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, the African Convention on Human Rights and the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, it is obligated to turn Mr. Taylor over for prosecution as a war criminal or try him itself. But Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who granted Mr. Taylor asylum in hopes of neutralizing his influence in the region, has rejected Sierra Leone's extradition request. Mr. Obasanjo has said he might consider a similar request by Liberia, if that country seeks to prosecute its former president. Nigeria's asylum agreement with Mr. Taylor does not shield him from Liberian law.

Mr. Taylor, born to an American father and a Liberian mother, graduated from Bentley College in Massachusetts and worked in the Liberian civil service in the 1980's before he was accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. He fled and returned in December 1989 to mount a rebellion from neighboring Ivory Coast. From the beginning, his forces were accused of appalling violence. He became Liberia's president in July 1997, though the fighting in the country continued.

Mr. Taylor is charged with training and arming Sierra Leone rebels, many of them children, for that country's long and bloody civil war. Hundreds of thousands of people died during the fighting, and thousands more were left maimed by the Liberian-trained rebels who punished civilians by hacking off limbs. Sierra Leone's war ended in 2001, and its court indicted Mr. Taylor in June. The court applied to become an Interpol member this April, and that process was completed last month, allowing the police organization to post its notice.

As with all Interpol red notices, a photograph of Mr. Taylor appeared on the organization's Web site, with the added warning: "Person May Be Dangerous."

Source: New York Times

MILAN BABIC INDICTED BY THE ICTY FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND WAR CRIMES

On Monday 17 November 2003, Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti confirmed an Indictment against Milan Babic.

According to the Indictment, Milan Babic participated in a joint criminal enterprise that came into existence no later than 1 August 1991 and continued until at least June 1992. The purpose of this joint criminal enterprise was the permanent forcible removal of the majority of the Croat and other non-Serb population from approximately one-third of the territory of the Republic of Croatia ("Croatia"), in order to make them part of a new Serb-dominated state through the commission of crimes in violation of Articles 3 and 5 of the Statute of the Tribunal."

In addition the Indictment states "Individuals participating in this joint criminal enterprise included Slobodan Milosevic; Milan Martic; Goran Hadzic; Jovica Stanisic; Franko Simatovic, also known as "Frenki"; Vojislav Seselj; General Blagoje Adzic; General Ratko Mladic and other known and unknown members of the Yugoslav People’s Army ("JNA"); the Serb Territorial Defence ("TO") of Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro; local and Serbian police forces ("MUP forces"), including the State Security /Drzavna bezbednost ("DB") of the Republic of Serbia, and Serb police forces of the SAO Krajina and the RSK commonly referred to as "Martic’s Police," "Marticevci," "SAO Krajina Police" or "SAO Krajina Milicija" (hereinafter "Martic’s Police"). Milan Babic participated in this joint criminal enterprise until at least February 1992."

The Indictment further states that Milan Babic acting individually and/or in concert with other members of the joint criminal enterprise participated in the joint criminal enterprise in the following ways:

"In his capacity as the President of the SNC and subsequently as President/Prime Minister in the SAO Krajina and the RSK, he formulated, promoted, participated in, and/or encouraged the development and implementation of SDS and SAO Krajina/RSK governmental policies intended to advance the objective of the joint criminal enterprise. Throughout 1991, Milan Babic attended meetings with the Serbian, SFRY and Bosnian Serb leadership defining these policies of the joint criminal enterprise and presented its positions in international negotiations."

Source: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

South Africa's Ruling Party Struggles Within

Less than six months before South Africa's third presidential election, the ruling African National Congress is embroiled in an internal bloodletting that it seems powerless to stop. Already the volley of charges and countercharges has hurt the reputations of the deputy president and the national prosecutor. With the opening of what appears likely to become a lengthy inquiry into some of the allegations, President Thabo Mbeki may be hurt politically as well. For the last week, the South African public has focused on the juiciest aspect of the affair: the revelation that a white human rights lawyer who seemed to be a comrade in arms in the African National Congress's struggle against apartheid during the 1980's was in fact a spy for the apartheid government.

The lawyer, Vanessa Brereton, went public a week ago on South African television with a tearful confession that she had betrayed black South Africans' struggle for freedom because she was in love with a senior officer in the apartheid government's security police. As intelligence agent RS542, she said, she gave her lover and handler information about three antiapartheid activists, one of whom was later arrested and imprisoned without trial. Now living in England, Ms. Brereton said that she had apologized to those she betrayed and that she did not expect forgiveness.

But Ms. Brereton's role as an apartheid spy is but a sidelight in a poisonous battle for power between Mr. Mbeki's deputy president, Jacob Zuma, and the national prosecutor, Bulelani Ngcuka. Both men are senior members of the African National Congress, which gained more than 65 percent of the vote in the presidential election in 1999.

Mr. Ngcuka said openly in August that he suspected, but could not prove, that Mr. Zuma had benefited illegally from under-the-table dealings in a multibillion-dollar arms contract. Mr. Zuma's supporters struck back in September by accusing Mr. Ngcuka of acting as a spy -- code-named RS542 -- for the apartheid government in the last days of white rule here. That charge led Ms. Brereton to come forward because, she said, she did not want Mr. Ngcuka to suffer for her misdeeds. But Mr. Zuma's supporters have refused to back down, saying they never claimed to know the right code name for Mr. Ngcuka. Nor has the rivalry halted. Mr. Zuma has demanded a new inquiry into Mr. Ngcuka's conduct of the investigation into his role in the arms deal. In response, Mr. Ngcuka said Saturday that evidence against the deputy president would come out at the trial of an associate of Mr. Zuma's who was charged with fraud in the arms deal.

The battle has consumed the party since at least August. Mr. Mbeki's inability so far to resolve it has emboldened his detractors, who say he pays too much attention to his image as a statesman and not enough to problems at home. Mr. Mbeki reacted to the accusations against Mr. Ngcuka in early September by ordering a national commission of inquiry headed by a retired judge, Joos Hefer, to sort out the truth of the matter. That inquiry has bogged down amid reluctance by South Africa's intelligence agencies to fish through their apartheid files. ''So far, the commission is getting nowhere,'' said Shadrack Gutto, director for the Center of African Renaissance Studies at the University of South Africa. Judge Hefer is faced with a near impossible task, he said, and ''would do the nation some honor by throwing in the towel.'' However, others see the affair as evidence that South Africa's government is strong enough to chase down both corruption and possible abuse of prosecutorial power. ''This kind of thing does not happen in many countries, even in the developed world,'' said Thabisi Hoeane, a doctor of political studies at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. ''The allegations will be put out in the public eye, and we will eventually know the truth.''

Mr. Mbeki has rebuffed suggestions that Mr. Zuma should resign, saying no public official should be judged on mere allegations. Still, he has twice used his party's newsletter to lecture about the futility of hunting down the apartheid government's spies, saying South Africans closed that chapter of their history in the interest of unity. While there is little doubt that Mr. Mbeki will win re-election next spring, the affair has also given succor to Mr. Mbeki's critics -- long consigned to the status of permanent also-rans.

The leader of the Pan Africanist Congress has suggested that the nation's intelligence agencies are balking at subpoenas because they are protecting former apartheid spies within the government. The leader of the United Democratic Movement has charged that the A.N.C. labels dissenters as apartheid spies to silence them.

Source: New York Times

Kebble still pursuing case against Maduna, Ngcuka

Advocate Willem Heath yesterday strongly denied rumours that his principals, Roger and Brett Kebble, had abandoned an investigation into the alleged abuse of power by Justice Minister Penuell Maduna and National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka. "It is completely untrue that we have dropped any of the complaints. I have been instructed by the Kebbles to investigate such abuses of power both nationally and internationally as they intend to pursue these complaints to the fullest extent,” confirmed Heath. The Kebbles hired Heath earlier this year to probe Kebble Snr's November 11, 2002, arrest at Johannesburg International Airport.

At a media briefing in July, JCI chief executive Brett Kebble insisted that gold mining company Durban Roodepoort Deep (DRD) had bribed police to frame Roger Kebble for fraud. Kebble and his father have a long-running dispute with DRD and its current chairperson and chief executive, Mark Wellesley-Wood, over a series of decisions made by DRD's board in 1999 and 2000. These include a series of share transactions related to the attempted acquisition of Randfontein Estates gold mine, as well as Kebble Snr's removal from the DRD board, where he had been chairperson.

Source: Polity

'I keep Mamphela's vision'

Titus Makgela does not have legs, only two short stumps that protrude through his shorts. This has not stopped the 59-year-old Limpopo man from running his own vegetable garden on the grounds of a disused clinic and selling the produce in Lenyenye near Tzaneen. His inspiration was none other than managing director responsible for human development at the World Bank, Dr Mamphela Ramphele.

When Ramphele was banished to Lenyenye in 1977 by the apartheid government because of her involvement with the Black Consciousness movement, she built the first clinic in the area.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu officially opened it in 1981 and Titus was one of Ramphele's first employees. "She was a wonderful woman," he says. "Even though I was a disabled man, she had faith in me and gave me a job. She taught me about self-reliance and to believe in myself and my ability to change my living conditions."

Today "Mamphela's clinic", as it is known in the township, has been closed because of a lack of donor funds but Titus refuses to abandon it. He is determined to carry on the vision Ramphele had. Every day he crawls to the disused clinic to tend to his vegetable garden and to keep the yard clean. "I'll never abandon the clinic. Dr. Ramphele's dream will never die," says Makgela.

Source: News 24

Penuell Maduna throws in the towel

Penuell Maduna, the embattled minister of justice, says that he will not be available to serve as a minister in President Thabo Mbeki's cabinet after next year's elections. Maduna's statement, made during an exclusive interview, follows a series of allegations against him that range from spying for the apartheid regime to nepotism and corruption in his department.

Maduna acknowledged that the African National Congress had been torn apart by allegations that Bulelani Ngcuka, the national director of public prosecutions, had been an apartheid spy. "The ANC is hurting badly," he said. "But I don't care anymore what this [battle] is doing. It has already done a lot of damage. Families are suffering. They can't take it any longer. I will serve in the ANC in any other capacity, even as a floor sweeper." Asked whether he was set to quit his ministerial post now, Maduna said: "No, I am not quitting. I will serve my full term but I will not stand again."

Maduna's extraordinary pledge could make him the first victim of the escalating political row sparked by the Scorpions' investigation into whether Deputy President Jacob Zuma solicited a R500 000 bribe from a French arms company bidding in the multibillion-rand arms deal. The row reached new heights when ANC veteran Mac Maharaj supported claims that Ngcuka, the Scorpions' chief, was an apartheid spy.

This week a judicial commission, appointed by Mbeki and headed by Judge Joos Hefer, extended its mandate to include an investigation of Maduna as the minister with line responsibility for Ngcuka's national prosecuting authority. In an interview held at a Cape Town hotel, Maduna told of his anguish and frustration following accusations from mining magnate Brett Kebble that he had abused his office as the minister responsible for the national director of public prosecutions; claims by a senior official in his department that he was guilty of nepotism and corruption in the liquidation section; and continuing charges by Patricia de Lille, the leader of the Independent Democrats, that he was on a list of ANC apartheid spies.

Maduna, clearly at the end of his tether with the barrage of allegations made against him in recent weeks, said he had promised his family that he would quit his high-profile position. "I told the president my family is saying I should resign because they cannot take it any longer," Maduna said. "Just this morning one of my brothers-in-law, Sandile Mshengu, phoned me and said all my in-laws would be very happy if this noise stopped. I repeated the promise to him."

Maduna said he would serve his full term until the elections and would not leave the ANC, which he acknowledged was torn apart by the storm around Zuma and Ngcuka. Maduna admitted that the setting up of the Hefer commission two weeks ago was an attempt to stop the bleeding in the movement, "cauterising the wound" inflicted by the continuing backstabbing, smear campaigns and allegations of spying and misuse of office. Maduna also emphatically denied media reports that he recently threatened to resign after a fight with Zuma in a cabinet meeting.

The terms of reference of the Hefer commission were broadened this week to include a probe into whether Maduna and Ngcuka misused their offices "due to past obligations to apartheid". The commission was appointed originally to investigate allegations that Ngcuka was an apartheid informer, which surfaced in the wake of his comments that there was prima facie evidence of corruption against Zuma. As minister responsible for the investigation, Maduna has increasingly been drawn into the brawl. Furious, but in fight-back mode, Maduna spoke of a month-long campaign waged against him and Ngcuka in e-mails circulated to the media and the ANC, calling the two men "untouchables" who use their offices to target people selectively. "It's utter rubbish," Maduna said.

On September 15 he received a letter from Kebble in which allegations were made and responses demanded. "One of the allegations was that Bulelani and I were being controlled by the CIA," Maduna said. "Kebble copied the letter to the president, the minister of intelligence, the minister of safety and security, to Bulelani and the national commissioner of police, in a clear campaign against me. I ignored the letter, because I thought I should not stoop so low [as to respond]."

Maduna said on Monday he received another letter from Kebble, copied to others, that repeated the allegations while adding that the justice minister received a number of gifts, including a luxury motor vehicle for his personal use. "He said the car has since been sold," Maduna said. "My car at home smokes. It will not survive the election campaign. I have never had a luxury car for personal use."

Maduna said he told Mbeki this week that while both of them were concerned about the allegations, the smear campaign should be included in the brief of Judge Hefer. "I told the president: 'You are concerned, you want clean government. Expand the commission and ask the judge to subpoena them [the accusers]. Because I have never instructed prosecutors and members of the Scorpions to target any individual.' "

Kebble, who faces prosecution by the Scorpions for alleged fraud at Western Areas mine, had sent a complaint to the public protector, accusing Ngcuka of using his position to achieve his own ends. He said this week he was not attacking Maduna, but merely informing him of problems in his department that needed to be addressed. At a news conference this week, the mining magnate also lashed out at Ngcuka for a briefing recently to black editors on the Zuma affair, where he allegedly made comments about Kebble.

Maduna also wants the Hefer commission to probe allegations made in parliament in 1997 by De Lille that he was an apartheid spy, which she recently repeated to the media. He again said he was instructing his lawyers to pursue a defamation case against her. "I am going to fight her in a separate suit," Maduna said.

On the nepotism accusations levelled against him this week by Mike Tshishonga, the deputy-director general in the justice ministry, Maduna denied he was involved in the appointment of liquidators, an issue already rectified by Pravin Gordhan, the revenue services commissioner. Maduna alleged that Tshishonga was being used by "certain circles" to which the official could be connected and hinted that Tshishonga had an axe to grind after being rapped over the knuckles for poor work performance. "Mike is the most timid public servant," he said. "At worst he is the sort of person who would not be able to box himself out of a wet paper bag. You can print that."

Source: IoL

ANC tense as Hefer commission gets ready

Tensions in the ANC mounted at the weekend as the ruling party braced itself for a public airing of allegations from senior members that the national director of public prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, was an apartheid spy.

It could prove to be the most testing few weeks for President Thabo Mbeki and his party since it swept to power in the country's first democratic elections in 1994 when a commission of enquiry, headed by Judge Joos Hefer, starts work on Monday.

There are fears that the ANC, which is already divided into opposing political camps over the Scorpions' investigation into Deputy President Jacob Zuma, could take further strain if those who made the accusations against Ngcuka - ANC veteran Mac Maharaj and senior government official Mo Shaik - disclose more information at the commission. There are fears that far from putting the spy controversy to rest, as it is intended to do, the commission could provide a platform for Maharaj and Shaik which could feed the tit-for-tat spy-naming and even tear the ANC apart along populist and technocrat lines. The threat of a split within the cabinet was made worse in August

It was announced by Justice minister Penuell Maduna on Thursday that the commission would be expanded to include an investigation into his own office, as line minister responsible for the national prosecuting authority, to ensure that there had been no abuse of the office as a result of "past obligations", a euphemism for spying for the apartheid regime. Zuma, who has consistently claimed that the investigation into his accepting an alleged R500 000 bribe from a French arms company is politically motivated, is expected to be called by the commission to substantiate his claims.

The fact that Zuma was the head of ANC intelligence when the organisation returned to South Africa from exile in 1990 has exacerbated the tensions and perceptions that there are two rival camps forming within the ANC over the suspended investigation into Zuma's alleged bribe. The threat of a split within the cabinet was made worse in August when Zuma allegedly won the day against Maduna when he tried to get a ruling, allegedly in line with Mbeki's wishes, that ANC officials should refrain from commenting on the Zuma affair. Between them, Zuma, as the former intelligence master, and Maharaj, as the former head of the underground Operation Vula, command widespread support within the ANC as was illustrated by Zuma's hero's welcome at Cosatu's annual conference last month and slogans denouncing Ngcuka.

Others expected to be called by the commission include Ngcuka, who is expected to attend the hearings throughout, Maduna, Maharaj, Mo Shaik, mining magnate Brett Kebble, MP Patricia de Lille, former Sunday Times journalist Ranjeni Munusamy, Schabir Shaik, Zuma's self-styled financial adviser who is facing trial on fraud charges, and, possibly a former spy master such as Niel Barnard or Mike Louw, who headed the apartheid-era National Intelligence Services. It is considered unlikely that Mbeki, who finds himself at the centre of the ANC's most bitter internal battle since coming to power in 1994, will be called to testify at the commission.

Commission sources said yesterday that it was already making provisions to sit for two months or more despite its brief to complete its work as soon as possible. It was earlier expected that the commission would sit for no longer than a month. Maduna, who himself was named as an apartheid spy when Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille read from a list of alleged ANC spies in parliament in 1997, is also under pressure for allegations of nepotism and corruption in the liquidation section of the justice department by a senior justice ministry official. Maduna also received a letter this week from mining magnate Brett Kebble in which it is understood that he accused Maduna and Ngcuka of undermining the justice department and abusing their official positions.

Kebble was allegedly named by Ngcuka in a derogatory context in an off-the-record briefing to black editors several months ago. Mbeki's legal adviser, Mojanku Gumbi, said yesterday that the inclusion of Maduna did not relate to allegations that he was an apartheid spy but was as a result of his position as the minister with line responsibility for Ngcuka's department.

Ngcuka stands accused by the likes of Maharaj, Mo Shaik and Brett Kebble of abusing his office by using it to get at his political enemies among who are those who resent his alleged role as an apartheid spy. Ngcuka has vigorously denied the claims and Mbeki has backed him up insisting that the "masses of the people" would not forgive those who made spying allegations.

Source: IoL

Kebble: I may sue Ngcuka for defamation

Mining magnate Brett Kebble says he has reported National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka to the Public Protector and that he may yet sue him for defamation. "Far from being impartial, fair or upholding my constitutional rights (Ngcuka) has found me guilty without a trial and trampled on my rights," Kebble told a media conference on Thursday.

Ngcuka's statements had cost his company transactions that would have created thousands of jobs and enhanced South Africa's influence in Africa. He had filed a complaint with the Public Protector and would await the outcome of this investigation before deciding what other action to take. He had not ruled out the possibility of a defamation lawsuit, Kebble said. This follows a meeting Ngcuka had with selected newspaper editors on July 24 to brief them off the record on the progress of the investigation into allegations against Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Selected details of the briefing - including statements Ngcuka is alleged to have made about Kebble - were leaked to a weekly newspaper.

Kebble said he had not commented before as he had believed the state, especially the justice ministry, would deal with the problem. But "there has been a deafening silence from the authorities" about Ngcuka's "(abusing) his office when he addressed editors". Asked how he knew Ngcuka had made the statements reported by the weekly, Kebble said he had obtained "verification". He claimed a former associate, whom he was suing for more than R50-million he believed was owed to him, of being behind the campaign to "bring about my downfall".

Kebble faces trial on fraud charges, which he has said relate to alleged technical breaches of company regulations. Responding to Kebble's comments on Thursday, Ngcuka's office denied any wrongdoing in the criminal action against him or members of his family. "Mr Kebble will have ample opportunity to raise his concerns next week when he appears in the high court in Johannesburg to answer fraud charges relating to share price manipulation and other contraventions of the Companies Act," said the statement. It said Justice Minister Penuell Maduna had written to Kebble inviting him to put his allegations before Judge Joos Hefer's commission of inquiry, which would establish if there had been an abuse of power.

The retired judge is investigating an allegation, carried in a weekend newspaper, that Ngcuka had been an apartheid spy.

Source: IoL

South Africa: report reveals dire conditions facing farm workers

A report, recently released by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), has highlighted the appalling conditions faced by South African farm workers.

The report was the result of an inquiry launched by the SAHRC in June 2001, in response to an increasing number of reports of brutality towards farm workers, execrable working and living conditions on farms, child labour practices and the ongoing murder of farmers.

The historical background to the deplorable conditions endured by South African farm workers lies generally in South Africa’s history of colonial conquest and dispossession of indigenous people, but more particularly in the 1913 Natives Land Act. This piece of legislation outlawed the ownership of land by blacks in areas designated for white ownership. Essentially, it solidified the distribution of land that emerged from the era of colonial wars against indigenous tribes and polities. It further sought to roll back black ownership of land in certain areas. The outcome was that 87 percent of land became white owned, whilst blacks were relegated to the remaining 13 percent.

According to the SAHRC report, an estimated 1.4 million people were evicted from farms in South Africa between 1950 and 1980. In 1997 the South African government promulgated the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA), aimed at protecting occupants of rural land from arbitrary evictions.

Source: World Socialist Web

Awesome Africa

The fifth Standard Bank Awesome Africa Music Festival was held for the first time in Durban's Albert Park last weekend and has been applauded by organisers, the public and the community alike as being the best ever. The event was 100% incident free with the nearly 7 000 music lovers enjoying a feast of international and South African music in absolute safety in the most beautiful park setting, over the weekend.

"We are thrilled that the festival was such a phenomenal success," says Awesome Africa's Prof Pitika Ntuli. "We feel that we have a unique template and platform which we can develop which includes great international and local music, urban regeneration programs and job creation and tourist potential. We would like to publicly acknowledge our sponsors and partners - in particular Standard Bank, the City of Durban, KZN Tourism and iTrump - for their vision, support and commitment in making this wonderful festival happen,"

"Many people were sceptical about us moving into Albert Park, but we knew that Durban's spirit is unique. We are setting an example here for the rest of Africa" says co-ordinator Thalia Erwin.

"The festival saw some phenomenal music collaborations taking place as well as some profound and culturally astonishing music genres being showcased. Audiences had the rare opportunity of seeing the largest contingent of international and Pan African performers ever assembled together in South Africa," says Awesome Africa's Dan Chiorboli.

250 artists from 22 countries congregated in Durban for the two-day festival. Many of the artists ran workshops and master-classes prior to the Albert Park event to share their skills and experiences with locals. In particular Kwaito star Zola spent time with the children from the Thutakhani Harm Reduction Centre and was so moved by this experience, that he donated his Awesome Africa performance fee to the home.

"The festival has the potential to be one of the most significant events on the KZN calendar and it can go a long way to really putting Durban on the international musical map," said UniCity Manager, Dr Michael Sutcliffe. Albert Park is undoubtedly the most appropriate venue for this festival - welcoming the public into the spacious Albert Park goes a long way to reclaiming the park. The festival also gave the Tropicale a new lease on life - it was the perfect al-fresco jazz venue and it is hoped that it will be able to be used for similar events in the future.

Source: SA Rock Digest

New arms-deal claim as Fakie defends report

As Auditor-General Shauket Fakie defended the final report of the arms deal investigation before Parliament on Wednesday, a new allegation emerged of irregularities in the awarding of sub-contracts.

Briefing the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), the AG maintained that media claims of omissions and "doctoring" in the final report were unfounded, and impugned the dignity of his office.

He, again, called on the watchdog committee to protect the integrity of his office.

Fakie said the draft and final reports on the probe into the multi-billion rand deal differed only in style and format, and that the executive did not, in any way, influence the content of the report.

"I want to state categorically that due process was followed and that no changes were made to the report based on pressure from the president or the executive," he said.

The deal was investigated by the AG, the Public Protector and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, who found no evidence of unlawful conduct by the state.

Scopa chairman Francois Beukman said the committee would evaluate the AG's responses, as well as a legal opinion received regarding the media allegations, before presenting a resolution to the House.

The legal opinion, commissioned by Beukman, found that claims that the final report was doctored were not unsubstantiated.

Source: Polity.org

Interim Liberian Government Head Named

Liberia's warring parties chose a mild-mannered and politically obscure businessman today to lead an interim government until 2005. Delegates from the government and two rebel factions, meeting in Accra, Ghana, chose Charles Gyude Bryant, 54, who is an Episcopal leader, a dealer in heavy equipment and the head of a minor political faction, the Liberian Action Party.

Under the accord, the chairman of the interim government -- the title will be chairman, not president -- had to be an outsider unaligned with the three warring parties. "I see myself as a healer," Mr. Bryant said in a telephone interview. "I see myself as neutral. I side with no group."

Liberia has been in almost constant conflict for 14 years, since the last president, Charles G. Taylor, a former warlord who left last week for exile in Nigeria, began fighting his way to power in 1989. Mr. Taylor's immediate successor, his vice president, Moses Blah, will resign in October.

The interim government led by Mr. Bryant is to try to help hold Liberia together until elections in October 2005. Mr. Bryant's selection came as a surprise to many diplomats and foreign officials, and to many Liberians. Many had expected the chairmanship to go to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 64, a former international banker and senior United Nations official who had led the candidates submitted by the government's negotiators to the rebel parties for their approval. But some diplomats cited last-minute maneuvering by Mr. Taylor's loyalists to block Ms. Johnson-Sirleaf, who lost to Mr. Taylor in the last election Liberia held, in 1997. She said in an interview today that she would back Mr. Bryant.

Several of the Liberian delegates were injured this afternoon when the Ghana Air Force plane meant to carry them home failed to take off and its undercarriage collapsed, airport officials said. The mishap did not seriously injure any of the 44 passengers, the officials said, but it closed Accra's international airport.

In Monrovia, aid groups carefully began shipping some food into the countryside today. Fighting is continuing between government and rebel forces within 50 or 60 miles of Monrovia, despite a cease-fire. On Friday, more than 200 soldiers from Ghana are to join a West African peacekeeping force of nearly 1,000 troops, overwhelmingly from Nigeria. By October the force is to number 3,250, and the mission is to be turned over to the United Nations.

The United Nations envoy for Liberia, Jacques Klein, an American diplomat, said he would seek a mandate from the Security Council for up to 15,000 troops from all over the world to help secure the countryside so aid can reach a starving and war-weary population. There is also talk in Monrovia of a formal request to the United States to help train a Liberian army that was undermined and corrupted during Mr. Taylor's presidency.

Source: New York Times

What the U.S. Owes Liberia

This is an article by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

When Liberians got their first chance to vote in multiparty elections, old women walked from their villages in the scorching heat to stand in long lines at the polling places. My party's symbol at the time was the rooster, and I remember the crowds lining the road to cluck and flap their elbows as a sign of support. Anyone who saw their enthusiasm, like me, could have no doubt that Liberians yearn for democracy.

That was 1985. Sadly, the military stuffed ballot boxes and burned ballots, and Samuel Doe, a sergeant who had seized power in a 1980 coup, declared himself the winner. Liberians' hopes were dashed by American recognition of the results. It is hard to imagine that Chester Crocker, the Reagan administration's assistant secretary of state for African affairs, was not being deeply ironic when he praised Doe at the time for claiming only 51 percent of the vote. It was, he said, "unheard of in the rest of Africa, where incumbent rulers normally claim victories of 95 to 100 percent."

I have been pondering that betrayal recently as I attend peace talks for my troubled country here in Accra. Founded by emancipated American slaves in 1847 as a beacon of democracy for Africa, Liberia has degenerated into a violent free-for-all. As the battle rages for our capital, Monrovia, politics has been reduced to an extended street fight among gun-toting boys. Had the United States respected the will of Liberia's voters in 1985, we would not be in the desperate straits we are today. The failure to challenge Doe's electoral fraud discredited the democratic process and paved the way for an increasingly brutal competition for power.

But we can still dare to hope. President Charles Taylor, who displays an almost psychopathic will to power and has been indicted by a United Nations-backed tribunal for war crimes in Sierra Leone, says he will step down from office today. West African states have sent peacekeepers and the United States is considering a military role. The peace talks include not just the government and the two rebel factions, but also 18 political parties and five civil society organizations.

After six frustrating weeks in Accra, I can say that the peace talks are flawed and unstructured. The process is under the direction of a mediation team from the Economic Community of West African States, and meetings take place haphazardly in ad hoc groups, with only the occasional plenary. Yet I remain optimistic that an agreement will emerge on a future transitional government. I have to, because the talks are our only way out.

Unfortunately, the United States has steadily downgraded its diplomatic presence at the Accra discussions and is now represented by a relatively junior official. This is a mistake. As the Bush administration should already have learned in Iraq, military intervention is often the easy part. The political process that follows -- call it ''nation building'' if you will -- can be much tougher.

The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, recently appointed Jacques Klein as his special representative for Liberia. Because he is a former United States Foreign Service officer and a retired major general in the United States Air Force, he is seen among the Liberian parties as a virtual American envoy. Senior State Department officials are also paying increasingly frequent visits. But that is not good enough. The Bush administration should immediately dispatch a full-scale mediation team to Accra to see the process through.

If the administration does not get the politics right, any military intervention will be doomed to failure. Up to now, Washington's policy has been largely reactive. Liberia has fundamental problems to tackle if it is ever to live up to its founders' dreams of freedom and political participation. First, we need to restore hope and confidence to people subjected to despair, particularly to the thousands of young boys and girls who have been press-ganged into combat. Then we need to rebuild our institutions to ensure accountability and transparency; restructure the economic system so that it is no longer dominated by a small elite; conduct a national dialogue; and then hold elections that bring to an end our tragic tradition of rule by strongmen.

We need Washington's help to construct a credible transitional government that is interested in more than its own greed. After the betrayal of 1985, the United States owes us that much.

Source: New York Times

LEADER OF LIBERIA SURRENDERS POWER AND ENTERS EXILE

Charles G. Taylor, a star player in this country's 14 years of sporadic civil war, resigned from the presidency today and left his country for exile in Nigeria. "History will be kind to me," Mr. Taylor said, addressing the crowd in a sweltering second-floor room inside the Executive Mansion that had been packed for the ceremony with Liberian politicians, three African heads of state and foreign journalists. "I have accepted this role as the sacrificial lamb."

Sounding alternately bombastic, chipper and defiant, Mr. Taylor, 55, as usual likened himself to Jesus, blamed international forces for his downfall and challenged the United States in particular to step in, now that he had done his part. President Bush called on Mr. Taylor to leave Liberia more than two months ago and made his exit a condition for any American involvement in peacekeeping here.

Dressed in white, Mr. Taylor handed over the presidency to his longtime ally and vice president, Moses Z. Blah. Mr. Blah will steer the country until a new transitional government takes over in mid-October, President John Kufuor of Ghana announced today.

Mr. Taylor, accused of spreading conflict across the region, has been under a United Nations arms embargo and has been charged with playing a role in the civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. "I want to thank Mr. Bush, even though we have had some disagreements," Mr. Taylor said, adding that he was confident that as a Christian, Mr. Bush would soon see the truth. "He's been misled," he offered. "God will reveal the truth to him."

The White House, under competing pressure for and against intervention to restore security to this crushed nation founded by Americans 150 years ago, has yet to decide to what extent it will engage in Liberia. Three American warships appeared on the horizon here today, apparently more for show than anything else at the moment. Two helicopters hovered from a warship to ferry supplies to the American Embassy this afternoon. "Today's departure of Charles Taylor from Liberia is an important step toward a better future for the Liberian people," Mr. Bush said in remarks this afternoon in Aurora, Colo. "The United States will work with the Liberian people and with the international community to achieve a lasting peace after more than a decade of turmoil and suffering."

It was not clear when the Americans, or the West African peacekeepers who are already on the ground here, would secure the vital Free Port of Monrovia to open the lifeline for food and fuel to the rest of the city. The port is in the hands of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, a rebel group. In Washington this afternoon, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the commander of the Marine Expeditionary Unit off Liberia's coast would come ashore, probably on Tuesday, to discuss how to assist in getting aid supplies into the port. "They have agreed to leave upon a turnover," Mr. Powell said of the rebels, adding that the West African mission in Liberia "will be in the lead." "The United States is there to see how we can assist them," he said.

Monrovians rushed to the beach at the first sight of the American ships late this afternoon. They stared out at the sea, anxious and hopeful. "We eat something now," said an optimistic Koko Wreh, 40, a resident of the rebel-held side of the city who was seeking shelter in an overflowing building on the government side. "I'm tired of fighting," said Johnson B. Sulonteh, 20, a government soldier sitting on sandbags near the beach. "I'm ready to go back to school."

Peace talks between government and two rebel factions have been under way in Ghana's capital, Accra, for more than two months. "The war in Liberia has ended," said Mr. Kufuor, the Ghanian president. Mr. Kufuor, who currently leads the regional bloc known as the Economic Community of West African States, escorted Mr. Taylor and his family to Nigeria this afternoon. Waving a white handkerchief to a crowd that rushed onto the tarmac to wave and weep, Mr. Taylor boarded a Nigerian government jet. West African officials said he was bound for the capital, Abuja. The Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had offered Mr. Taylor a safe haven.

The first of 3,250 West African troops have begun arriving in Monrovia, but so far have done little more than erect checkpoints near the Executive Mansion. A United Nations peacekeeping force is expected to take over this fall. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, at the handover ceremony today, pledged to contribute troops. "It has indeed been a shameful thing that as Africans, we have killed ourselves for such a long time"' he said. "It is indeed time this war should come to an end."

Mr. Taylor's exit, while it closes one page in Liberia's sad history, also paves the way for new challenges. The warring parties must agree on an interim government before elections can be held. The port must be opened and desperately needed aid delivered. Soldiers on both sides must be offered reasons not to pick up their guns again. Before anything, the fighters who still control their patches of the city, on opposite sides of a set of strategic bridges, must be told what to do. Confusion reigned today after Mr. Taylor's resignation, as rebels in Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, known as L.U.R.D., pranced on their part of what is called the New Bridge, and began taunting the government side's chief. Shots were fired in the air. Then, throngs of civilians from both sides tried to press through, meeting again midway, only to driven back by the gun-toting youths who rule each side. Neither side had agreed to open up the bridges.

A commander on the government side, Gus Menwon, said he was awaiting orders. His men were asking him who would take care of them now. Asked if reconciliation was possible, he first waxed optimistic, saying many fighters on the other side were his friends. But then, he added, "It's hard to trust human beings." Shots were fired in the air jubilantly this afternoon, after news came of Mr. Taylor's exit. Around sundown, chaos erupted for a little while, as rebel fighters started shooting in the air to blow off steam, witnesses said. Apparently, two of their men had been executed for killing civilians. "For us in L.U.R.D., the war is over," said the rebels' secretary general for civilian administration, Sekou Fofana.

The rebels had been rankled by the choice of Mr. Blah as president, preferring someone they considered more neutral. Today, Mr. Blah, 56, reiterated his invitation to the rebels to join the interim government. "Let the nation begin to heal," Mr. Blah said. "Let all of us unite as one people and work to peace."

Source: New York Times

R100m disappears from courts

A probe has been set up into about R100m suspected to have been stolen or mismanaged in a number of magistrates courts allegedly by justice department officials, the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) said on Friday. SIU head Willie Hofmeyr said the investigation would cover at least 40 courts and a bulk of these were in the rural parts of Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. "Magistrates, prosecutors and court clerks are among officials that we will be investigating," he told Sapa.

The R100m was part of a R1.5bn held in trust by the State for people to receive child maintenance through the courts and those who pay bail and traffic fines. Hofmeyr said the unit did not suspecting corruption at present because the money could have been maladministered, or in some instances just unaccounted for because of poor financial records. He said the funds could have been spent legitimately, but the SIU wanted records to this effect. He said the SIU instituted the investigation recently after the Department of Justice approached it six months ago about allegations of gross financial irregularities at courts. "We have been communicating with the department in this regard since then and we believe these allegations warrant an investigation. "So far preliminary investigations point to syndicates operating in the major cities, while bad auditing and lack of internal controls in rural areas make it easy for graft and unscrupulous officials to operate."

Hofmeyr said he was assembling a team of 25 specialist investigators, lawyers and forensic auditors. The team is scheduled to start work on September 1. "We want to get under way as soon as possible. The department has also offered us about R6m for the operation," he said. "We will be recruiting from the elite Scorpions detective unit, police and auditing firms. These people will have to resign from their current positions to concentrate fully on this probe." The investigation was expected to take about two years.

Departmental spokesperson Paul Setsetse said the probe followed a proclamation signed by President Thabo Mbeki three weeks ago. The upcoming SIU probe was preceeded by the department's internal investigation into the matter, which took place two year ago. "It took us a year to conclude our investigation because these irregularities started prior 1994 when the State used to allocate budgets to courts without monitoring them." Setsetse said currently, the department was in the process of appointing court managers to looks after funds given to courts. "We are taking responsibility away from our officials like magistrates and court clerks so that people with appropriate skills can take over the managing of these funds," he said.

Source: News 24

Sierra Leone rebel leader dies

Foday Sankoh, the leader of a 10-year terror campaign in Sierra Leone, has died while waiting to be tried for war crimes. The spokesperson for the United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone told BBC News Online that he had died at 2240 GMT on Tuesday. Sources say he died from complications resulting from a stroke he suffered last year.

Sankoh founded the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) which became notorious for mass rape and hacking off the hands, feet, ears and noses of thousands of civilians during a 10-year civil war, which ended last year. He was detained in 2000 and is believed to have died in Choithrams hospital in western Freetown where he has been since April after suffering a partial stroke.

According to a statement from the Special Court for Sierra Leone's chief prosecutor, David Crane, Sankoh's death from natural causes granted him "a peaceful end that he denied to so many others".

The court last week rejected a request to drop murder charges against him on health grounds. In June court registrar Robin Vincent said the tribunal had hoped to send him abroad for medical treatment. However, the court had then reported that it could not find a country that was willing to accept the rebel leader even for short-term treatment. At one court hearing last year, he said he was "surprised that I am being tried because I am the leader of the world". Earlier this month doctors treating Sankoh said he was in a "catatonic state" - incapable of walking, talking or even of feeding himself and he could not recognise his immediate surroundings.

Sankoh, like President Charles Taylor of neighbouring Liberia, trained in the guerrilla camps of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. He was captured after his fighters shot more than a dozen protesters outside his Freetown home in 2000. The war in Sierra Leone was formally declared over in 2002 following military intervention by the UK and the UN.

Source: BBC

HRC says 'kill boer' slogan is hate speech

It's official. The slogan "kill the farmer, kill the boer" is hate speech, according to a finding of an appeal tribunal of the South African Human Rights Commission. Thursday's finding came after a complaint from the Freedom Front (FF) about the use of the slogan - and an appeal against an earlier commission finding that the phrase was not hate speech. "Even though we had to struggle for three years, we welcome the finding. Finally they came to the right conclusion," said FF leader Pieter Mulder.

Declaring the slogan to be hate speech was a first step in the right direction to stop farm killings, Mulder said. "The first finding had double standards because it meant racism was only wrong when it was by whites to blacks, but now we know that it is also wrong for blacks to be racist against whites," said Mulder.

The party lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg after African National Congress members used the slogan during two public meetings in June last year. One was at the funeral of ANC MP Peter Mokaba in Polokwane, and the other at an ANC youth rally in Kimberley. Earlier this year, the commission said the slogan did not constitute hate speech, but was an instance, although an undesirable one, of the right to freedom of expression. The Freedom Front appealed against the finding. "The slogan 'kill the farmer, kill the boer' as chanted at an ANC youth rally in Kimberley and at Mokaba's funeral is hate speech as defined in Section 16(2)(c) of the Constitution," said commissioner Karthy Govender.

He said freedom of expression was a fundamental right in democracy but by the same token South African courts were clear that the freedom of expression was not a supreme right as in the United States constitution. "We have concluded that the calling for the killing of a group of people is an advocacy of hatred, which must amount to harm," he said.

Simon Kimane, of the Freedom of Expression Institute, expressed disappointment with the finding. "There is no causal connection between the slogan and any actual killings of Afrikaners in this country," he said. He said the institution's submission had pleaded for the right of freedom of expression for the young South African democracy, and that the institution feared that the finding might set a bad precedent.

ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said "kill the farmer, kill the boer" was never an adopted slogan of his party. "The ANC will discourage people from using the slogan," he said.

Source: IoL

Ethnically Targeted Violence in Northern DRC

The war in Congo has been misdescribed as a local ethnic rivalry when in fact it represents an ongoing struggle for power at the national and international levels, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The 57-page report, ‘Covered in Blood’: Ethnically Targeted Violence in Northern DR Congo, provides evidence that combatants in the Ituri region of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have slaughtered some five thousand civilians in the last year because of their ethnic affiliation. But the combatants are armed and often directed by the governments of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda. A number of treaties and ceasefires, the most recent signed in Burundi on June 19, have supposedly ended the conflict between the governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC, as well as Congolese rebel movements set to share power with the Kinshasa government. But the minor players—often the proxies for the principals—continue the war.

Source: Human Rights watch