THE LEGAL SERVICES CHARTER: BLACK SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AND PROCUREMENT

What is there to say about the Legal Services Charter apart from – well – that it’s a Charter? I think the world has seen more than its fair share of Charters. A motley of United Nations Charters is gathering dust in libraries around the round, only to be dusted off once in a while when a poor sod somewhere in what is euphemistically termed the developing world becomes too smart for his own good.

Our own Freedom Charter promised the world and delivered – well – nothing for the vast majority of South Africans. All you need do is go and live in the township (for those of you who have not had the privilege) for a week and look around you.

My thesis is simple. Charters do not deliver anything. People do. People who are committed to the good cause. People who have a clear vision as regards what that cause is. People who have the integrity and resolve to see things through.

In unpacking my thesis, I shall do so in a tradition resembling that of an Anglican church sermon. The scripture comes from two books (Book 2 and Book 3) of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s seminal work, The Social Contract (Maurice Cranston’s translation). Book 2 chapter 8 deals with the nature of human beings from which I believe we can learn in our quest for developing black skills in the midst of misplaced and misinformed resistance. The short excerpt to which I want to draw your attention is this:

“Nations, like men, are teachable only in their youth; with age they become incorrigible. Once customs are established and prejudices rooted, reform is a dangerous and fruitless enterprise; a people cannot bear to see its evils touched, even if only to be eradicated; it is like a stupid, pusillanimous invalid who trembles at the sight of a physician.”

It is in the nature of human beings to resist measures designed to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number if such measures are perceived by the minority that has for generations been enjoying the greatest good to the exclusion of the greatest number, to disturb generations of comfortable oligopoly. That, in truth, is why the Bar keeps talking about transformation without anything being done. It is time for decisive action, not for putting measures in place. The Bar has reached an inflection point where its evils must be eradicated so that, at last, black will progressively become synonymous with enterprise and less so with unfounded perceptions of incompetence.

Established customs and prejudices wrought by apartheid (such as the belief that black lawyers are by reason only of their blackness less capable than their white counter-parts), will forever stand in the way of transformation until black skills are developed, put to work and suitably rewarded. The Bar and government must lead by example in this regard.

Black skills in the legal services sector are not altogether absent. I know of many black advocates who are exceedingly capable. What is needed is the cultivation of more black skills and putting those that are already there to work. I can think of no plausible reason why the largest consumer of legal services (namely, government in all its manifestations) should continue to avoid putting to work in large matters the skills lying dormant in black commercial firms across the country, resulting in those firms closing shop or being gormandised by larger white firms. Many senior practitioners in these black firms honed their skills in large white firms where they were put to use and generated enormous fees. Why then should those same skills now be found wanting when offered from Gugulethu, Zola or Soshanguve?

Many black advocates have left practice for salaried employment where none of their litigation skills are put to use, while a handful of white advocates are belching from government and state-owned enterprise briefs. The Bar is hugely to blame for this. Recently, I had occasion to ask a chairman of the Bar Council about the achievements of his Council and Bar on the transformation front, from which we here in JHB can learn. He told me about “measures” they have put in place. The measures to which he pointed were there in 1998 when I was serving on that Council. Yet we act surprised that black lawyers do not come to the Bar in droves.

The reasons for this are not hard to find. We have a bizarre rule that requires members to wait 90 days for payment of their fee in JHB. In Cape Town the peremptory waiting period is 60 days. This is absolutely inexplicable and the black Bar bears the brunt of this wretched rule. Yes, the black Bar! Why would the profession impose such financial strictures on its members? I have heard the arguments advanced for this and, quite frankly, it’s all rubbish. How can you claim to be protecting the junior Bar by forbidding juniors’ entitlement to their fee until 90 days have lapsed? Bertelsmann v Per does not justify this madness.

In commerce, 30 days is the norm, whereafter interest accrues. Members of the Bar cannot even charge interest. Now even the defaulters rule has been cynically emasculated to allow members who are not owed any fee by the defaulting attorney to accept briefs from that attorney. This is utter madness! No Charter can cure that. The 90-day rule must go. The mischief it was intended to address, if it ever did address it at some point, clearly still persists.

Albert Eistein is said to have defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The Bar is not insane, surely. Otherwise, God help us all! So why do we persist with a rule that is clearly not addressing the mischief it was intended to meet?

By comparison, the Rules of the Bar for England and Wales do not impose any time period before the expiry of which members are not entitled to fees for services rendered. So why is it necessary for the Bar in South Africa to prescribe how long members should wait for their fee?

There is also no reason why the Bar cannot influence briefing patterns to accelerate black skills development. Silks could pair themselves with black juniors who would do the research and the first draft. Silks would then have to sit down with the junior and discuss his work, pointing out areas in need of improvement and imparting skills. This achieves two things at once: the junior has work from which to learn, and he earns a fee. No Charter will ever achieve that. Commitment by senior members of the Bar to transforming the Bar will. I am sure Silks can persuade their attorneys to see the value of this exercise.

The English Bar allows barristers to obtain briefs from “Licensed Access Clients” without the intervention of an attorney. These are typically professional clients like accountants, engineering firms, regulatory authorities, auditing firms et cetera. These professional clients obtain a license from the Bar to brief counsel directly. The arrangement is then governed by a set of rules and regulations. This has the effect of lowering the cost of access to justice in a regulated form.

It appears the GCB was trying to follow this route with the introduction in 2002 of Rule 5.12.3. It, however, stopped short of the required standard in its excoriation of some of the desirable aspects of the English rules. The result is a half-baked croissant that is neither palatable nor objectively workable. The GCB rule leaves the conduct of relationships between counsel and “licensed access clients” to considerations of “public interest” in the opinion of the GCB on a case by case basis. That leaves room for subjectivity. For example, why is it in the public interest for counsel to obtain a brief directly from a Patent Agent without the intervention of an attorney, but not so to obtain a brief directly from the Competition Commission, or SARS, or the Asset Forfeiture Unit, or the Financial Services Board, or the FAIS Ombud, or the Banking Ombudsman, or a legal adviser at a government department?

The Legal Services Charter is a futile exercise – an act in circumnavigation that will do nothing but generate litigation. What is required, not only to develop black skills but also to put them to use, is decisive and definitive action from the top. The charter serves not only to delay the process of black skills development and use; it is also a distraction from what needs to be done.

Now we fight about whether Chinese people are Black, and whether white women were truly disadvantaged. The profession knows what needs to be done. Government knows what needs to be done. We all know who is black and do not need a court to tell us that.

That serves as a segue for the learning that Rousseau offers in Book 3 chapter 1 of The Social Contract. In a short treatise on the nature of government and how it can work best, Rousseau offers the following learning:

“Every free action has two causes which concur to produce it, one moral – the will which determines the act, the other physical – the strength which executes it. When I walk towards an object, it is necessary first that I should resolve to go that way and secondly that my feet should carry me. When a paralytic resolves to run and when a fit man resolves not to move, both stay where they are. The body politic has the same two motive powers – and we can make the same distinction between will and strength, the former is legislative power and the latter executive power. Nothing can be, or should be, done in the body politic without the concurrence of both.”

In simple terms, the executive has the duty and strength to do what the legislature wills. The Bar has a duty, strength and ability to ensure that what parliament wills is done. Armed with that information, let us consider what has happened in the past 12 or so years.

In October 1996, the Constitutional Assembly adopted a constitution that decreed black skills development and preferential procurement thereof. The Constitutional Assembly comprised not only representatives of black South Africans who have for generations been denied skills; it also comprised representatives of white thought, fears and insecurities. Both sides saw the necessity and wisdom of decreeing black skills development and procurement. In February 1997, the will of the Constitutional Assembly (broadly constituted) was certified by the constitutional court and later given effect to by Parliament in the form of various legislation including the Employment Equity Act by which Parliament expressed its categorical intention that black skills must not only be developed but also put to use commensurate therewith. Section 217 of the Constitution was given life by the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, 2000. So, why are we still lamenting black skills at the Bar some 12 years later?

I’ll tell you why. The Bar is intent on doing nothing decisive about it. Since the Bar is not a “paralytic” the only explanation is that it has resolved not to move an inch on transforming itself. And the finger is pointed firmly at Silks – particularly white Silks – and people in leadership positions at the Bar. When we all consider this dispassionately and with due regard to the facts, then it becomes clear that the GCB and its constituent Bars have failed black members miserably.

The fight about whether Chinese is Black or not, and about whether the applicable targets are those of the DTI’s Generic Codes or the sector Charter should never have occurred. We know what needs to be done. The Bar knows what needs to be done. So does government. So does industry. Charters are a feel-good factor – a conscience-soother – nothing more, nothing less. History has shown us that. Why should we expect any different from the Legal Services Charter?

V Ngalwana
Address to the Fifth Young Leaders Symposium

Kievitskroon Country Estate
Pretoria
19 July 2008

Source: Duma Nokwe Group

COSATU on arrest of David Masondo

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has learned with anger of the bloody assault by officers from Sandringham Police Station on David Masondo, National Chairperson of the Young Communist League of South Africa, and a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party, both organisations which are among COSATU's working-class allies within the tripartite alliance.

Cde Masondo was stopped at a roadblock while jogging in his tracksuit in the suburb where he lives. When addressed by two police officers he answered in his first language, Shangaan (a language spoken both in South Africa and in Mozambique), whereupon the officers called him a "(swearword) foreigner". While the first two officers were harassing him in this way, a third more senior one intervened to say that they should calm down and search Cde David.

As one was searching him, and while Cde David consequently had his hands up in the air, the other one suddenly and without any provocation punched him in the face, starting a fracas during which several other officers assaulted him. They then took him to the police station, trumped up a charge against him, and continued to mistreat him until eventually, later, and with the assistance of his fellow SACP Central Committee members, Solly Mapaila and YCL National Secretary Buti Manamela, he was released from custody. In the process, Cdes Mapaila and Manamela were also threatened with arrest.

David Masondo is a distinguished and respected South African national leader who is also a renowned university lecturer, who will shortly be going to work at New York University for a year with the internationally famous academic David Harvey and others. He was prominent among those who spoke on public platforms condemning the xenophobic pogroms that began on 11 May 2008 in Alexandra Township, not more than two kilometres from where he lives, and where he has now himself been beaten up in a xenophobic attack - by the police!

COSATU is particularly shocked that this should have happened to a gentle person whom we know and love, and who is a valued part of the national leadership of the movement. We are determined to defend our leaders. The federation has consistently denounced xenophobia and are well aware that it most often affects the most vulnerable people in our country, including members of our affiliated unions and others who have few friends at all to defend them.

COSATU therefore backs the YCL's demand that the xenophobic officers who assaulted Cde David Masondo should be subjected to an exemplary, rigorous, and speedy disciplinary process to demonstrate to the country that the South African Police Service intends to mend its ways and purge xenophobia from its own ranks, not just in Sandringham and Alexandra, but everywhere in South Africa.

It is intolerable to COSATU that the very force that is supposed to protect everyone in the country, of whatever origin, should be continuing to prove in incidents like this, of which we believe there are many every single day, that it is itself riddled with xenophobia.

Source: Politicsweb

Arms watchdog turns on its owner

South African citizens can be proud of the legislation that is supposed to govern the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC). It has flaws in that, for example, it fails to outlaw arms transfers to undemocratic countries.

But it also outlaws the sale of arms to countries that systematically abuse human rights and the need for reduced military expenditure in the interests of development and human security must be heeded.

Furthermore, the legislation demands transparency and lays down strict reporting requirements. While the functions of the NCACC may be delegated, applications for arms-sales permits must be considered case by case.

When it comes to the implementation of this legislation, South African citizens must hang their heads in shame.

It transpires that, in contravention of the case-by-case requirement, the NCACC has given carte blanche to defence secretary January Masilela to grant permits for arms sales and conveyance of arms, to Zimbabwe. The argument by Masilela that there was no problem in selling or conveying arms to Zimbabwe because there is no arms embargo against that country is either disingenuous or a display of absolute ignorance of the requirements of the legislation.

In general the impression created by the NCACC is that it will sell arms to virtually any regime, regardless of the legislation. The only criteria that it appears to take seriously are arms embargoes to which South Africa is party and the interests of the South African military.

The NCACC also failed to present to Parliament and release to the public its annual reports for the years 2005 to 2007. This should have been done within three months after the end of those years.

It also failed to make quarterly reports to Parliament.

Slurce: Mail & Guardian

Pieter Uys announced as new CEO of Vodacom

Pieter Uys has been announced as the new CEO of mobile services provider Vodacom. Uys, a 15-year veteran of the group and the current chief operating officer, will take over from Alan Knott-Craig on October 1 2008.

Uys joined the company in 1993 and was a founder member of Vodacom's engineering management team. Uys played a major role in the first phase of the planning and roll-out of Vodacom's GSM network, which at the time was the fastest roll-out in the world. Uys was then responsible for the successful launch of the Vodacom internet company, which quickly became a leading service provider. Uys has also held the post of the general manager responsible for the company's South African operations.

Source: Mail & Guardian - I-Net Bridge

Marxist Festival London

With every day that passes the capitalist system sinks deeper and deeper into crisis. The politicians, bankers and bosses want us to pay for this mess - by slashing jobs, pensions and wages while poverty and war stalk the globe.

But millions are beginning to question the logic of a capitalist system that puts profits before people.

The annual Marxism festival will take place from 2-6 July in central London. Thousands of people from around the world will gather to debate these issues and talk about the way forward.

http://www.marxismfestival.org.uk/

Will Browse Mole nail Pikoli?

Ten years after an intelligence report cost the defence force chief Georg Meiring his job government is pushing hard for suspended prosecutions boss Vusi Pikoli to be sacked in a similar way.

Source: Mail & Guardian

XXIII Congress of the Socialist International, Athens

Global Solidarity: The courage to make a difference

The Socialist International held its XXIII Congress in Athens, Greece from 30 June to 2 July with close to 700 participants from 150 parties and organisations from 120 countries attending. (List of participants)

With the theme Global Solidarity: The courage to make a difference, the Congress, the highest decision-making body of the organisation, adopted statements on each of the four key issues under discussion: climate change, peace and the resolution of conflicts, the world economy, including the current food crisis and the question of migration.

The morning session continued with discussions on the first main theme ACTING NOW ON CLIMATE CHANGE: To achieve a sustainable world society introduced by Co-Chairs of the Socialist International Commission for a Sustainable World Society, Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile and a Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on climate change and Goran Persson, former Prime Minister of Sweden. They were followed by wide-ranging contributions from members of the Commission, leaders and party representatives from different regions of the world, including the Chancellor of Austria, Alfred Gusenbauer. (Speakers on climate change)

The climate change debate also included two panel discussions, the first How to arrive successfully at a post-2012 regime? and the second How do we strengthen the multilateral architecture for a sustainable future? featuring speakers from the Spain, India, the United States, Russia and China.

Continuing its efforts to provide a platform to advance peace, the International brought together key actors from the Middle East, Lebanon, Asia and the Balkans for the discussions on the second day of the Congress - WORKING FOR A WORLD IN PEACE: To resolve conflicts and overcome instability.

SETTING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY ON A NEW PATH: To bring growth and development with opportunities for all, was the third theme of the Congress with keynote speeches from the Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcszany, and leader of the Hungarian Socialist Party, MSzP; the Chair of the SI Committee on the Economy, Social Cohesion and the Environment, Christoph Zopel, Social Democratic Party, SPD, Germany; Chantal Kambiwa of the Social Democratic Front of Cameroon; the President of the DS, Italy, Massimo D’Alema; the leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party, CSSD, Jiri Paroubek; the President of the Labour Party, Ireland, Michael Higgins; and, the President of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, PRD, Dominican Republic, Ramon Alburquerque.

(Speakers on the global economy)

A debate followed on the issue of food shortages and hike in prices, under the title Dealing with the food crisis: the long-term view, with panellists from Haiti, India, Australia and Senegal.

Lastly, the Congress tackled the impact of migration globally, with the theme GIVING MIGRATION A HUMAN FACE: To build a new migration agenda placing people first, introduced by the Chair of the SI Committee on Migrations, Amalia Garcia, Governor of the State of Zacatecas, Party of Democratic Revolution, PRD, Mexico, on the Committee’s work dealing with the issues arising due to this phenomenon in all regions around the world. Also taking part in this debate were Nouzha Chekrouni, Socialist Union of Popular Forces, USFP, Morocco, former Minister for Moroccans Abroad, Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, former minister of Justice, PSOE, Spain; and Sigfrido Reyes, Member of Parliament, FMLN, El Salvador, amongst others.

Source: Socialist International

Mandela taken off US terror list

US President George W Bush has signed a bill removing Nelson Mandela and South African leaders from the US terror watch list, officials say. Mr Mandela and ANC party members will now be able to visit the US without a waiver from the secretary of state.

The African National Congress (ANC) was designated as a terrorist organisation by South Africa's old apartheid regime. A US senator said the new legislation was a step towards removing the "shame of dishonouring this great leader".

'Rather embarrassing'

Under the legislation, members of the ANC could travel to the United Nations headquarters in New York but not to Washington DC or other parts of the United States. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called the restrictions a "rather embarrassing matter that I still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of South Africa, not to mention the great leader Nelson Mandela."

South Africa's apartheid government banned the ANC in 1960, imprisoning or forcing into exile its leaders. Mr Mandela, who turns 90 this month, was released in 1990 after spending 27 years in prison. He then became the country's first post-apartheid-era president, before retiring after serving one term in office.

Source: BBC News

SA arms flow to Zimbabwe

South Africa has been supplying Zimbabwe with weapons of war, including helicopters, revolvers and cartridges -- despite the mounting human rights atrocities in that country.

source: Mail & Guardian

Justice DG 'blatantly dishonest' with Ginwala inquiry

Justice and Constitutional Development Department director general Menzi Simelane had been "blatantly dishonest" with the Ginwala inquiry into suspended head prosecutor Vusi Pikoli's fitness to hold office, Advocate Wim Trengove said on Monday. Trengove, representing Pikoli, made the statement on the first day of a second round of hearings before the commission of inquiry chaired by Frene Ginwala.

Trengove was tracing the lines of authority between the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Justice and Constitutional Development Department, said Simelane was given legal advice that he had no control over the duties of the NPA staff. Trengove accused Simelane of being "blatantly dishonest" about withholding this information from the hearing. He said Simelane should have disclosed the fact that he had been given opinion that supported Pikoli.

"I want to suggest to you your conduct in relation to these opinions had been blatantly dishonest, Mr Simelane," said Trengove.

Simelane replied: "I didn't think there was a need to disclose that I took legal advice." Trengove confronted Simelane for failing to tell the inquiry that he had sought and been given legal opinion. Trengove said that when first asked about it, Simelane said he did not remember. Trengove questioned Simelane on what the Constitution and the NPA Act said about the NPA's powers.

Simelane was of the view that the NPA was a branch of the Justice and Constitutional Development Department and that this meant that he was the accounting officer for the NPA. The legal opinion set out that the NPA Act described the structures of the prosecuting authority and stated that the director general of justice had no part in it. Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla asked Simelane to discuss the issue with Pikoli.

President Thabo Mbeki then suspended Pikoli as National Prosecuting Authority head September last year, citing a "breakdown in the relationship" between Pikoli and Mabandla. But the "breakdown in the relationship" appears to have been between Simelane and Pikoli over the unlawful interference by Simelane in the NPA.

Pikoli's lawyers have said that the real reason for the suspension was the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions' investigation into police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, who is on special leave pending his corruption and defeating the ends of justice case.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Stand up for the Constitution

The most grievous damage inflicted by the ANC's leadership struggle is the growing political contamination of our legal system.

President Thabo Mbeki's opponents accuse him of using South Africa's law enforcement agencies to shore up his leadership -- his intervention in the Scorpions' planned arrest of police chief Jackie Selebi puts the matter beyond doubt. But supporters of Jacob Zuma who level this accusation are just as tainted.

This week Julius Malema made the outrageous threat that he and his fellow hooligans in the ANC Youth League are prepared to kill to prevent Zuma coming to trial. Their only motivation for this is the length of time it has taken to bring Zuma to trial -- when Zuma's systematic blocking tactic at every level of the court system is the main reason for the delay. It does not matter how long the judicial process lasts: if he has broken the law, he must face the music.

But the central point is that it is not for the ANC Youth League or any other political grouping to decide the ANC president's guilt or innocence -- that is the constitutionally determined job of the judiciary.

Then there is the case of Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe, accused by the full Bench of the Constitutional Court of trying to lobby two of its judges in Zuma's favour. Hlophe's guilt must still be decided by the Judicial Services Commission, but the court's complaint quotes him as talking of his "mandate" -- presumably political mandate -- and connections in the intelligence establishment. Let there be no doubt: if politicians and spooks start to lean on the highest court in the land, ordinary South Africans will be in the deepest possible trouble. Such interference raises the spectre of sectional political interests and vendettas shaping our fundamental law.

Freedom and constitutionalism don't disappear overnight. They are eroded by the rhetoric of intolerance, by ignorance and by apathy. Let us, as citizens, not be apathetic and speak up for the nation's founding document.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Scorpions battle taken to Constitutional Court

Johannesburg businessman Hugh Glenister will file papers in the Constitutional Court on Wednesday in a bid to prevent the government from disbanding the Scorpions.

Source: Mail & Guardian

The change Obama could bring

The US presidential hopeful is a great improvement on the current leadership, but just how progressive he might be remains to be seen.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Skwatsha stabbed at ANC meeting

The African National Congress's Western Cape secretary, Mcebisi Skwatsha, was stabbed in the neck at an ANC meeting in the Worcester town hall on Thursday evening.

The provincial ANC said in a statement that Skwatsha was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure and to clean up the wound. Police spokesperson Superintendent Andre Traut said a 30-year-old man was arrested and would appear in court soon. National party spokesperson Jessie Duarte said the meeting was held following a decision of the Western Cape ANC to suspend the Boland regional executive for "defiance of provincial directives on municipal matters. The ANC is deeply shocked at the knife attack." The Western Cape ANC said in a statement the meeting was well attended and orderly, but was "disrupted by a small group of people who came for the purpose of disrupting the meeting". "We stopped the meeting to ensure the safety of those who were present," it said.

Skwatsha is no stranger to controversy. In September last year, he was cleared by the Western Cape legislature's public accounts committee of wrongdoing in a lucrative Cape Town land deal. Allegations that Skwatsha had interfered in the sale of a province-owned 2,4ha erf in Tamboerskloof had been referred to the committee by the Democratic Alliance.

The Mail & Guardian reported in June 2007 that Skwatsha had used his former position as provincial minister of transport and public works to steer the land deal to business people close to the ruling party. That was the conclusion of forensic investigators and a provincial government disciplinary hearing. The documentary record obtained by the M&G, which included a draft forensic report, court papers and records from the disciplinary hearing, made it clear that Skwatsha had intervened with provincial officials, who appear to have committed fraud in an effort to ensure that the tender was awarded to a consortium known as Rowmoor Investments 490.

Rowmoor included among its directors Fezile Calana, a former ANC employee; Shaun Rai, a businessperson aligned with Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool’s opponents in several politically sensitive empowerment battles; and Nombeka Mlambo, who had since fallen out with Rai.

Also last year, Skwatsha also cleared of claims that he had failed to disclose an interest in two companies while employed as provincial transport and public works minister. A legislature committee said that Skwatsha had had interests in Jama Security Services and GAEB Game Farming, but there was no obligation on him to declare these in the register of members' interests as he was not an MPL at the time -- early 2004 -- that he resigned from the companies.

Skwatsha resigned his provincial cabinet post in July 2005.

Source: Mail & Guardian Online

Court sentences Jordaan to life imprisonment

The Pretoria High Court on Monday sentenced Andrew Jordaan to life imprisonment for the murder of seven-year-old Sheldean Human. Handing down judgement, acting Judge Chris Eksteen also sentenced Jordaan to three years' imprisonment for her kidnapping and 10 years for her attempted rape. Jordaan further got five years for indecently assaulting, and a further 15 for raping, Sheldean's friend, in addition to three months for dagga possession. Jordaan's lawyer is to appeal the sentence. "My instructions are that we should proceed with an appeal," advocate Kgomotso Tlouane said outside the court.

Top cop Piet Byleveld said he was pleased with the outcome while Human's grandfather said he was "satisfied" with the sentencing. Human's mother, Elize, said she had expected a tougher sentence and that she was relieved that the matter had come to an end. Last week, in his final argument before the court, state prosecutor Andre Fourie asked it to hand down two life-imprisonment sentences to Jordaan. Fourie said Jordaan had acted in a premeditated manner in Human's killing, and as a result he should be held responsible for his actions. Referring to Sheldean as a "soft target", Fourie said a heavy sentence was necessary. The defence argued that Jordaan could be rehabilitated as he is a first-time offender.

Source: Mail & Guardian

De Klerk: Critical test ahead for SA's rule of law

South Africa's commitment to the rule of law faces a critical test in the coming months, former president FW de Klerk told the British South African Law Association on Wednesday night.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Civil society petitions SA govt over Zim arms

Civil society bodies on Thursday urged the Southern African Development Community governments to impose a moratorium on the supply of arms to Zimbabwe.

“Bullets for Each of You”

On March 29, 2008, Zimbabweans cast their ballots in presidential, parliamentary, senatorial and local council elections, the first synchronized elections since changes to the constitution in 2007. This report documents serious electoral flaws and human rights abuses, primarily by the government and President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which have undermined a free and fair vote.

The violence is being orchestrated by the Joint Operations Command, which is headed by senior ZANU-PF officials and includes the heads of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, police, prison services, and the Central Intelligence Organization. In some areas local police are attempting to enforce the rule of law, but they are being undermined by their own superior officers. Human Rights Watch investigations indicate that the army is playing a major role in supporting the violence. It has provided known “war veterans” and ZANU-PF supporters with guns, transportation and bases from which serious human rights violations are carried out.

Source: Human Rights Watch

ANC: Zuma has no links to Hlophe

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

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

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

Source: Mail & Guardian

New Cosatu president appointed

The Congress of South African Trade Unions on Wednesday elected S'dumo Dlamini to take over as president after the sacking of its embattled president, Willie Madisha.

This was announced by Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi at a press briefing after the union's three-day central executive committee meeting in Johannesburg. Ousted Cosatu president Madisha, said to be a close ally of President Thabo Mbeki, was axed in February. This was shortly after Jacob Zuma was elected president of the African National Congress in Polokwane in December last year.

Madisha's exit came after Malawian businessman Charles Modise claimed to have made a R500 000 donation to the South African Communist Party (SACP). He said he gave the money, in black plastic bags, to Madisha, who in turn said he handed the cash to SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande. The latter said he never received it. -- Sapa

Source: Mail & Guardian

Nepal's monarchy abolished, republic declared

Political leaders in Nepal on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to abolish the Himalayan nation's 240-year-old Hindu monarchy and declare a republic. In an historic vote that caps a peace deal between Maoist rebels and mainstream parties, a new constitutional assembly ordered unpopular King Gyanendra to quit his palace within 15 days so it can be turned into a museum. "The sacrifice of thousands of Nepalese has been honoured today by us getting rid of the monarchy," Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AFP.

The abolition is a triumph for the ultra-leftists and marks a fresh start for one of the world's poorest countries, still reeling from a civil war that left at least 13,000 people dead. "The Nepalese people have been freed from centuries of feudal tradition, and the doors have now opened for a radical social and economic transformation," Mahara said. Nepal's fiercely-republican Maoists, who fought for 10 years to remove the monarchy and create a secular republic, won the largest single bloc of seats in the assembly in elections last month.

A senior member of the 601-member Constituent Assembly, Kul Bahadur Gurung, said only four lawmakers opposed the move. The republican declaration states that Nepal will become "an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular and an inclusive democratic republic." "All the privileges enjoyed by the king and royal family will automatically come to an end," it says, noting that May 29 will henceforth be celebrated as "Republic Day."

Gyanendra, who ascended the throne after a drunken prince killed most of the royal family in 2001, was given 15 days to pack up and vacate his Kathmandu palace. "This assembly asks the government to make the necessary arrangements to vacate the Narayanhiti Royal palace," Gurung told the late-night gathering, prompting huge cheers and applause. "The meeting also directs the government to take necessary actions to turn the palace into a national museum." Outside the venue, a crowd of about 1,000 people -- who had been waiting impatiently for the vote -- cheered wildly as the decision was announced, an AFP reporter at the scene said. "I am overjoyed. This is the most important day of my life," said Rajesh Subedi, a 21-year-old student and Maoist supporter.

The former rebels have told Gyanendra and his son and heir, Crown Prince Paras -- loathed for his reported playboy lifestyle -- to bow out gracefully and adapt to life as a "common citizen" or else face "strong punishment." Nepal's peace minister, Ram Chandra Poudel, told reporters the monarch "should understand and leave the palace by himself, that would be the best thing."

Gyanendra, seen by loyalists as the reincarnation of a Hindu god, was vaulted to the throne after the 2001 massacre of his popular brother Birendra and most of the royal family by a drink-and-drug-fuelled crown prince who later killed himself. But the dour-faced monarch never managed to win much support from the public, with many Nepalese suspecting he was in some way involved in the palace killings -- even though officials and experts have dismissed such a conspiracy theory. His ill-fated decision to seize absolute power to fight the Maoist rebellion further damaged his status. He still enjoys some support from Hindu hardliners and powerful elements in the armed forces and ruling elite, who argue the royals are a crucial symbol of the neutrality of a country wedged between Asian giants India and China. "No one now has a political basis to try and revive him," said analyst and commentator Prashant Jha.

Many had feared Nepal's radical transformation would give way to more violence, but this week suspected pro-royals only managed to carry out minor bomb attacks that caused a small number of light injuries. The Maoists are set to lead Nepal's new government, although many are still sceptical of the movement -- whose loyalists are regularly accused of using violence and intimidation. The United States also continues to list the former rebels as a foreign "terrorist" organisation.

Source: AFP

The forgotten kid of Guantánamo

When Mohammed Jawad, a 23-year-old Afghan detainee, was summoned to appear before the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay for his arraignment in March, he told his military handlers that he would not go. After being held for more than five years here, he didn't believe he could get a fair hearing from the U.S. military.

But appearing at arraignments at Guantánamo is mandatory, so as has been done with others, military personnel forcefully extracted Jawad from his cell and brought him to court in shackles. Sitting before the judge in his orange jumpsuit, the color reserved for uncooperative detainees, Jawad buried his face into his hands and announced that he would boycott future proceedings -- a right the commissions allow.

So this month, when Jawad was scheduled to appear at the courthouse for another pre-trial hearing, nobody expected him to show up. But as a cluster of journalists, observers from nongovernmental organizations (including me, as a representative of Human Rights Watch) and military personnel gathered in the courtroom, Jawad, now dressed in khaki, a color reserved for more cooperative detainees, was escorted inside by two guards and quietly took a seat beside his defense counsel and an interpreter. Although he appeared uneasy and nervous, he was markedly calmer than at his arraignment.

Jawad put on the headset that would allow him to listen to a translation of court proceedings (something he refused to do during his March hearing) and politely asked the military judge, Col. Peter Brownback, if he could turn around to look at the audience in the courtroom. The judge agreed, and Jawad turned around to face us, revealing a wispy beard that only partly covers his post-adolescent acne.

The U.S. government claims that Mohammed Jawad is an unlawful enemy combatant who tried to murder two U.S. soldiers and their translator in Afghanistan by tossing a grenade into their vehicle in December 2002.

But Maj. David Frakt, his military-appointed attorney, argues that Jawad -- who was a teenager of 16 or 17 at the time of his alleged offense (Jawad doesn't know his birth date) -- is a victim. He says Jawad was a homeless teenager who was drugged and forced to fight with Afghan militia, then abused by the United States, which transported him halfway around the world and imprisoned him at Guantánamo for five years without charge and is now using him as a guinea pig to test a new system of military justice with no regard to his initial status as a juvenile.

When Frakt arrived at Guantánamo to meet Jawad, he said he found a profoundly disturbed young man who was reluctant to talk. "Jawad is in an extremely fragile mental state," Frakt said in an interview following the hearing. "He has been here for so long -- he has essentially grown up in Guantánamo. He has lost track of time, lost touch with reality, and suffers from severe depression. And he doesn't believe he can get justice from the military commissions."

Both U.S. and international law requires governments to provide children with special safeguards and care that take into account their vulnerability and culpability as children. They are supposed to be housed separately from adults, allowed to contact family members, provided with educational opportunities, and given prompt legal assistance. The United States has acknowledged holding eight teenagers at Guantánamo, but although some of them were given special housing and educational opportunities and were eventually released, the U.S. has ignored Jawad's status as a juvenile.

Jawad's decision to attend commission hearings this month appears to owe much to his newly appointed military defense counsel, Maj. Frakt, a law professor in the Air Force Reserves who was called up from Western State University in California to represent the young detainee (now 22 or 23) just a few days earlier. (Jawad's previous defense counsel left after his reserve duty ended in late March.) With the help of an Afghan interpreter -- an elderly man from the same tribe as Jawad who managed to establish a rapport with the detainee -- Frakt was able to persuade Jawad to appear before the court so that he can "challenge the legality and legitimacy of the military commissions" and possibly argue for an improvement in the conditions in which Jawad is being held.

Jawad is not the only detainee at Guantánamo to be charged before the military commissions for an offense allegedly committed as a juvenile. Omar Khadr, a Canadian charged with throwing a hand grenade that killed a U.S. soldier, was 15 at the time of his alleged crime. Khadr's story has made headlines in newspapers and magazines around the world. He is even the subject of a new book, "Guantanamo's Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr," by Michelle Shephard. Lawyers in Canada have sued the Canadian government for access to documents on his case, and child rights groups have embraced his cause.

But Jawad is an illiterate Afghan from a poor Pashtun family with no ties to the Afghan government. According to Frakt, Jawad's father died during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. His mother remarried, and the family fled to Pakistan. Jawad spent his childhood years in a refugee camp and was educated at a local madrassa where all the teaching is conducted orally. He never learned to read or write.

Frakt says that when Jawad was 13, his family kicked him out and told him he needed to find a job. He spent much of those years hanging around a mosque looking for work. Sometime in 2002, Jawad was told he could have a job helping eradicate land mines in Afghanistan, so he returned to his native country. Once he arrived, however, Frakt says he was recruited by the local militia, drugged and forced into combat. Soon after, he was arrested by the Afghan police and handed over to the Americans.

Unlike most of the detainees at Guantánamo, Jawad was never provided a "habeas counsel," that is, a civilian lawyer to file a petition of habeas corpus on his behalf. Until he was charged this year, he was virtually unknown to the world.

Frakt said that his meetings with Jawad have been difficult, in part because Jawad doesn't understand the legal process, and in part because Jawad doesn't trust anyone in a U.S. military uniform, which Frakt is obligated to wear when he visits his client. "It is difficult to establish a trusting relationship with a detainee who has suffered so much and been detained by the U.S. military for five years," Frakt said. "He has a natural distrust of me, and he is not sure that I am here to help him." For now, Jawad has agreed to allow Frakt to represent him in a limited capacity -- to challenge the legality and legitimacy of the commissions. Frakt hopes he will be able to persuade his client to allow him to give Jawad a more complete representation in a case that points to crucial questions about American justice in the war on terror.

From the government's point of view, Jawad's is a seemingly straightforward case. The prosecution has located eyewitnesses who claim to have seen the Afghan teenager throw the grenade. In addition, it says it has a signed confession from Jawad. But Frakt says the case isn't nearly as straightforward as the government alleges. He says that the prosecution chose to prosecute Jawad because it viewed his as a "sexy" case -- Jawad is a defendant with "blood on his hands," in the government's view, which is something the American public understands better than something more abstract, like charges of material support for terrorism. While Frakt acknowledges that the prosecution has witnesses who saw his client throw the grenade, he says the defense has also located witnesses who say the teenager appeared to be drugged at the time. As for the confession, Frakt says it is in Farsi -- a language Jawad does not speak. And the "signature" on it is in the form of a thumbprint, because Jawad does not read or write.

Frakt hopes to be able to make these arguments on Jawad's behalf if or when the case goes to trial. In the meantime, Frakt says has serious reservations about Jawad's ability to aid in his defense because of his fragile mental state -- something that was evident when Jawad himself addressed the court this month.

When the judge asked Jawad if he would like to make a statement, the young man spoke for about 20 minutes, saying that he didn't understand why he was at Guantánamo and why he was being punished. As he described his ordeal -- of being flown from Afghanistan to Guantánamo, locked in a steel cage, moved from cell to cell in the middle of the night, and sometimes being kept in a cell that had bright lights on 24 hours a day -- he said he had lost track of time and couldn't remember when or for how long he was held in each camp. Sometimes he stopped to rub his head and seemed to forget what he was saying in mid-sentence.

When Jawad finished his statement, Frakt requested that his client be taken out of the maximum security facility where he is currently housed -- where he is confined to a windowless cell at least 22 hours a day -- and moved to a "quiet, restful place where he can rehabilitate." He also requested that Jawad be examined by a mental health professional. The judge told Frakt to put the request in writing and said that he would consider it. But it remains unclear whether the judge at the military commissions has the authority to order military officials at the detention facility at Guantánamo to do anything.

The next hearings in Jawad's case are scheduled for June 24-25. Frakt is hoping Jawad will participate.

Source:

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo arrested for crimes allegedly committed in the Central African Republic

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, alleged national of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), about 45 years old, was arrested today by the Belgian authorities following a warrant of arrest issued under seal by the International Criminal Court.

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, President and Commander in Chief of the Mouvement de libération du Congo (MLC), is alleged to be criminally responsible for four counts of war crimes and two counts of crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the Central African Republic from 25 October 2002 to 15 March 2003. On 23 May 2008, Pre-Trial Chamber III issued a sealed warrant of arrest for Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo. The warrant remained under seal until today.

Pre-Trial Chamber III found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that in the context of a protracted armed conflict in the Central African Republic from about 25 October 2002 to 15 March 2003, MLC forces led by Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo carried out a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population during which rape, torture, outrages upon personal dignity and pillaging were committed in, but not limited to, the localities of PK 12, Bossongoa and Mongoumba. Pre-Trial Chamber III also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, as President and Commander in Chief of the MLC, was vested with de facto and de jure authority by the members of the MLC to take all political and military decisions.

According to the warrant of arrest for Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, he is criminally responsible, jointly with another person or through other persons, within the meaning of article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, on:

* two counts of crimes against humanity: rape - article 7(1)(g), torture ‑ article 7(1)(f);
* four counts of war crimes: rape ‑ article 8(2)(e)(vi), torture - article 8 (2(c)(i), outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment - article 8(2)(c)(ii), pillaging a town or place ‑ article 8(2)(e)(v).

Source: International Criminal Court

The Union of South American Nations

The Union of South American Nations (Spanish: Unión de Naciones Suramericanas - UNASUR, Portuguese: União de Nações Sul-Americanas - UNASUL, Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties - UZAN) is a supranational and intergovernmental union integrating two existing customs unions; Mercosur and the Andean Community, as part of a continuing process of South American integration. It is modelled on the European Union.

The UNASUR Constitutive Treaty was signed on May 23, 2008.

Source: Wikipedia

Political parties unite behind Scorpions

The African Christian Democratic Party, Democratic Alliance (DA), Independent Democrats and United Democratic Movement have filed a joint submission in the Pretoria High Court as a friend of the court in support of Hugh Glenister's bid to stop the disbanding of the Scorpions, the parties said on Thursday.

Recognition as a friend of the court permits the parties to offer information that would assist the court in arriving at a decision.

Law society calls for overhaul of justice system

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) on Friday called for an overhaul of the justice system to deal with crime in the country. Co-chairpersons Vincent Saldahna and CP Fourie said the scourge of crime needed a more holistic and serious solution, which included the proper training and deployment of police officers, as well as a proper overhaul of the criminal justice system. "Government is urged to give its undivided attention to finding such a solution, since the unacceptable levels of crime -- particularly violent crime -- are, among other things, a serious threat to our young democracy". They said the LSSA was committed to assisting the state in whatever way it could.

The LSSA also expressed concern at the statements made by the Deputy Minister of Safety and Security, Susan Shabangu, encouraging members of the public and the South African Police Service (SAPS) to use force against suspected criminals. "Owners of licensed firearms, be they members of the public or the SAPS, must in terms of legislation be fully cognisant of their rights and responsibilities as contained in legislation governing the use of firearms," they said. They indicated that such statements might encourage members of the public to act unlawfully and take the law into their own hands.

Source: Mail & Guardian

A hip-hop metro cop

With a R17-million mansion and a fleet of top-end sports cars and sports utility vehicles in the driveway, all under the watchful eye of armed guards, Durban Metro Police officer S’bu Mpisane is living a life straight out of a hip-hop music video. But there are more questions than answers about his lavish lifestyle.

Is he merely a good businessman, as his father explained to local media this week? Or, as one former colleague suggested, did he marry into money, which flows in through a host of companies that benefit from government tenders?

Or is there, perhaps, a darker connection to organised crime syndicates in the city, which may have been armed with guns originating from Metro police officers themselves?

Investigative magazine noseweek reported recently that Mpisane’s BMW M5 sports car was one of several getaway vehicles used by a gang of hitmen during a 1998 shootout outside the Durban High Court during the trial of high profile taxi bosses. The shooting left bystanders wounded and led to the death of Sergeant Craig van Zyl of the police dog unit.

Mpisane subsequently disappeared for almost a year before seamlessly returning to work -- despite a “manhunt” for him launched by the former Durban murder and robbery unit, wrote noseweek.

“He came back to work a year later and it was all kept very quiet,” said a high-ranking former policeman. “The matter was dealt with at a very high level and not very many people were briefed about what transpired. He may even have been in a witness protection programme, but it was all kept very hush-hush.”

According to the municipality’s senior human resources officer, Monty Naidoo, Mpisane was dismissed when he returned after a year’s absence, but was reinstated after lodging an appeal with the bargaining council.Naidoo was unable to confirm the nature of Mpisane’s appeal.

Mpisane was also one of 13 police officers cleared by a 2006 investigation instituted by municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe into allegations ranging from gun-running to corruption, nepotism and maladministration.

DA caucus leader in the Durban municipality, John Steenhuisen, questioned the thoroughness of the internal investigation. “Another cop on that list, Dees Govender, was cleared but subsequently arrested by the Scorpions for corruption after being caught in a sting operation,” Steenhuisen pointed out.

Sutcliffe dismissed inquiries by the Mail & Guardian about Mpisane’s year-long absence, saying only that it had occurred before he was installed as municipal manager.

Mpisane did not respond to messages left by the M&G at one of his businesses, Zikhulise Auto Restorers in Briardene, Durban.

Sutcliffe has, meanwhile, launched an investigation into whether Mpisane was given permission to pursue outside business interests and whether he had declared them. He said the probe stemmed from a “separate set of procurement issues” almost two months ago. He refused to elaborate.

South African Municipal Workers Union KwaZulu-Natal secretary Jaycee Ncanana was sceptical about the probe, calling it a “smokescreen”. “Why is it taking so long? It takes a day for them to find out if a declaration [of outside interests by Mpisane] was made or not,” he said, adding that he was in possession of a declaration signed by Mpisane in 2007.

But Sutcliffe’s probe might be extended to Mpisane’s wife, Shaun Flora Mkhize, the daughter of Durban ward 96 councillor Florence Mkhize.

With noseweek reporting that the Mpisanes’ neighbours had seen various high-profile ANC politicians visiting their mansion in the upmarket suburb of La Lucia, there is no doubt the couple are politically connected.

And, according to the DA’s Steenhuisen, the Zikhulise Cleaning, Maintenance and Transport company has already benefited from a R179-million government contract for the maintenance and refurbishment of low-cost housing developments.

Other companies registered by Mpisane or his wife include Ukhozi Civil, Cleaning and Construction and a shelving company, Inyanga Restorers 559 cc. Shaun Flora Mpisane referred questions from the M&G to her senior counsel, Jerome Brauns, who, in turn, referred them to lawyer Thipe Mothuloe, who did not respond to calls.

This week Metro Members Police Forum chairperson Wiseman Mchunu lauded Mpisane for “showing policemen the way forward towards financial independence” and avoiding bribery and corruption. Others take a different view. Said Steenhuisen: “Such a lavish lifestyle would mean quite big business interests, which really makes one question his ability to do his job as a policeman if he’s getting calls about a matter at his business empire. “I also wonder if it is right for a policeman to have a panelbeating and automative restoration business. What happens if stolen cars come into his shop? Or if he is asked to investigate a car hijacking syndicate?”

Since being shot in the stomach during a gun battle with would-be
hijackers in 2003, Durban Metro police officer Cherise Cox’s life has
been “a nightmare”. After 13 operations, she has “no large colon and only a little bit of my small intestine left”. The 35-year-old lives with constant pain, restricted movement and a
colostomy bag. She is attempting to wean herself off the 100mg of morphine she has to take every two or three days when the pain becomes too intense: “I feel like I’m too young for this, I feel like I’ve had my job -- which I loved -- and my life taken away from me,” says Cox. “Besides the pain, I’m trying to get off the morphine. But its hard. You get the sweats but you can never be warm enough ... I’ve also been vomiting so much,” says Cox.

To compound the tragedy, the guns used against Cox belonged to the
Durban Metro Police. At the time it was alleged that the weapon which mutilated Cox was one of 128 guns found by an audit in 2002 to be missing from the municipal armory. There were suggestions that these had been sold to criminals by police officers. An internal investigation by eThekwini municipal manager Michael
Sutcliffe exonerated two officers, Thembinkosi Mthethwa and Sthembiso
Zimu, of selling the guns. The investigation concluded that the weapons
had been stolen from the two officers at gunpoint. But several police officers were sceptical about the finding.

A 2006 Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) investigation into the
missing fire-arms pointed to “discrepancies”. The ICD report found that 21 case numbers provided by the Metro police as relating to stolen police weapons either did not match SAPS records or were non-existent. It also found that 66 firearms had been reported missing but had not been recovered at the time the report was finalised. A further 25 firearms had been recovered, while two firearms reported stolen
“actually belonged to private persons”.

Metro deal for Metro cop’s wife

The wife of Durban’s "millionaire" Metro cop secured a R10,3 million housing deal funded in part by the eThekwini Municipality where he works.

S’bu Mpisane (48), a sergeant in the Metro police dog unit reportedly earning R15 000 a month, hit the headlines last week when it emerged that he and his accountant wife Shauwn Mkhize (33) own a R15,5 million mansion in La Lucia. Now questions are being asked about a housing tender granted to a company owned by Mkhize, her business dealings with the municipality and whether she declared her links to Mpisane and to an ANC councillor believed to be her mother. A lawyer acting for the Mpisane family has threatened to sue anyone who "defames" them.

The DA has written to the KwaZulu-Natal head of the Scorpions, calling for them to investigate Mpisane’s "lavish lifestyle". eThekwini councillor John Steenhuisen wrote that "it is abundantly clear that Mpisane could not afford this lifestyle on a police officer’s salary". The municipality paid R3,5 million in January 2004 to fund the Lamontville housing project and develop 277 sites. The balance of funding came from the Housing Department. Zikhulise Construction was awarded the tender to build the "top structures", according to a press release issued before the launch on
January 17, 2004.

The only company that corresponds on the eThekwini municipal suppliers list is Zikhulise Cleaning, Maintenance and Transport, which is owned by Mkhize. A previous member of the business was Dumazile Mkhize (65), an eThekwini ANC councillor who, according to Steenhuisen, is Mkhize’s mother.

The councillor has refused to comment and referred questions to the same legal team representing the younger Mkhize. The elder Mkhize reportedly resigned from the business on February 25, 2004 — a month after the tender was announced.

According to the municipality’s "vendor" records, Zikhulise’s listed "competencies" include civil construction, concrete works, fencing, general building work, paving, plumbing and roadworks. It can also supply building materials, cleaning supplies and chemicals, food supplies and stationery. According to a print-out of the municipality’s computerised records, Zikhulise has five full-time employees and lists its annual turnover at only R200 000.Mkhize this week did not deny securing the tender, but declined to comment and referred all queries to her legal representatives.

Lawyer Thipe Mothuloe — who is acting for her and her husband — said he is unable to comment on whether his client declared a conflict of interest as he has not seen the tender documents submitted to the municipality. "What is wrong with being a cop and being a millionaire? … What are you seeking to achieve with that line of questioning?" Mothuloe asked. He said he has been "instructed to institute legal action against the publications who have clearly defamed my client by suggesting he is a fraudster". "You must just be careful about that," he warned.

eThekwini city manager Mike Sutcliffe would not be drawn on whether Mkhize declared her interests or whether there is a conflict. "The Mpisane issue emerged out of our own investigations into procurement matters. I’m not going to answer to specifics now until our investigations are complete."

Another company of which Mkhize is the sole member, Ukhozi Civil Cleaning and Construction CC, is also on the eThekwini Municipality list. It too has five full-time employees, but has a far greater annual turnover of R5 million.

In 2004, Mkhize’s business was highlighted in the Soros Economic Development Fund annual report as a beneficiary of Nurcha, a not-for-profit construction finance company funded by the South African government and the Soros Foundation.

According to the report, Mkhize — an accountant — started business with contracts to renovate schools. In March 2003, it built 117 houses in KwaZulu-Natal.Not long afterwards, Mkhize received another construction contract worth about R4,7 million to build 307 low-income houses. She obtained a R1,4 million loan from Nurcha. According to the Soros report, she made a R290 000 profit. By 2004 she was involved in two other projects.

Mpisane has remained mum about the source of his wealth. "I do a lot of things other than being a policeman, but I cannot mention them right now," he said last week.

He also said he is a qualified pilot, a claim dismissed by the Civil Aviation Authority, which said his student pilot licence expired in March.

Source: The Witness

Cele loses provincial support

The African National Congress (ANC) zones in the eThekwini region have endorsed John Mchunu to lead the party in a move seen as a rebuff for current leader, MEC of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Bheki Cele. Mchunu is the current ANC secretary in the eThekwini region and is also a member of provincial legislature.

ANC leaders sympathetic to Cele said yesterday that he has been betrayed by the region he successfully led since 2002. Last year, Cele was asked not to stand for any of the top five ANC provincial leadership positions ahead of the party's elective provincial executive committee at the end of this month. Acting on the region's directive, Cele said late last year that he would not be available for nomination for any position in the provincial executive committee. Sources state that Cele, tipped as one of the front runners for provincial chairman, had listened to the directive hoping that he would keep his position as leader of the eThekwini region.

The eThekwini region is the biggest in the province and it was one of the regions that played a pivotal role in campaigning for ANC president Jacob Zuma before the Polokwane conference. Vigorous campaigns spearheaded by Cele, among other leaders in the region, resulted in Zuma trouncing the incumbent, President Thabo Mbeki. In what has been described as a major blow for Cele, the Daily News has learnt that of the region's 17 zones, 15 have nominated Mchunu and only two chose Cele as their preferred candidate.

The ANC Youth League is one of the ANC wings backing Mchunu. Sthe Mshengu, the league's regional secretary, confirmed that they were fully behind Mchunu, but denied there was a concerted effort to snub Cele. "We have made our position clear. We want comrade John (Mchunu) to lead the region. It must also be made clear that we acknowledge the contribution that Bheki (Cele) made when he led the region," Mshengu said.

The region will choose five top officials and 15 additional members during a three day conference starting on May 30. An eThekwini ANC leader said there was general agreement that Mchunu should be at the helm of the ANC in the region. "The movement has a pool of people with the potential to lead. We don't want people who hold too many positions at the same time. Bheki is okay holding the national executive position and we need to give other people a chance to lead," he said.

Cele, who is currently in Germany, yesterday refused to comment, saying that he was too busy. Mchunu also refused to comment, arguing that it would be improper for him to say anything because his name was also involved. According to the proposed list, S'bu Sibiya is earmarked to be secretary and Zandile Gumede, the eThekwini Municipality's Masakhane committee chairperson, is likely to get the treasurer position. There are still engagements on who should be deputy secretary and deputy chairman. Cele is likely to get a position in the national assembly after the general elections in April next year, sources said.

South African 'Scorpions' boss to join World Bank

The head of South Africa's Scorpions crime-fighting unit, Leonard McCarthy, was appointed Monday to lead the World Bank's anti-corruption department, a day after the South African government said it would disband the unit. World Bank President Robert Zoellick, in a statement, said South African President Thabo Mbeki had agreed to release McCarthy from service to take up the position as vice president of the bank's Department of Institutional Integrity on June 30.

The World Bank anti-corruption unit investigates fraud and corruption in development projects financed by the global development agency in developing countries, and McCarthy will lead an overhaul of the department. "Leonard McCarthy is recognized worldwide for his integrity, independence and effectiveness in fighting corruption and strengthening good governance," Zoellick said. McCarthy's appointment comes a day after Mbeki's government agreed to dissolve the Scorpions, bowing to pressure from supporters of rival and head of the governing African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, who accused it of political abuse. In 2005, the unit raided properties belonging to Zuma and his lawyer as part of an investigation of the politician, who is scheduled to go on trial in August for fraud, bribery and other wrongdoing tied to an arms scandal.

The ANC leadership last year voted to dissolve the unit, officially known as the Directorate of Special Operations. The unit was established by Mbeki to fight high-profile corruption cases and scored successes against organized crime in a number of cases. On Monday, an independent report by Judge Sisi Khampepe defended the Scorpions, arguing it was needed to tackle organized criminals in the crime-infested country. While urging Mbeki to retain the Scorpions, the report also criticized the unit for feuding with police and delving into matters outside its realm. The unit was independent of the police and reports to the National Prosecuting Authority, which in turn answers to the South African Justice Department.

McCarthy has held numerous positions in government, including investigating director in the Office for Serious Economic Offenses, deputy attorney general of the Cape province and senior public prosecutor. He was appointed as a director of public prosecutions by former President Nelson Mandela. The World Bank's integrity department has not been without its own controversy over the past several years, amid concerns about its investigative practices and pressure from member countries that the bank must do more to root out corruption.

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker led a panel last year to examine the World Bank unit's role amid criticism of its director, Suzanne Rich Folsom, who resigned in January. Volcker's panel said tensions and friction between the World Bank anti-corruption unit and the rest of the bank undermined the unit's ability to do its work properly. It suggested the bank find ways to better integrate its work into mainstream operations. An internal World Bank group in January said it agreed broadly with Volcker's recommendations, including the creation of a small independent advisory board to ensure the independence and accountability of the anti-corruption unit.

Source: Polity

Cabinet approves end of SA's elite crime unit

President Thabo Mbeki's government has approved the disbanding of an elite South African crime-fighting unit, bowing to pressure from supporters of rival Jacob Zuma who accused it of political abuse. Mbeki's cabinet adopted two bills last week paving the way for the end of the Directorate of Special Operations, commonly known as the Scorpions, and the creation of a new unit within the police, South Africa's Sunday Times reported.

The FBI-style unit had been living on borrowed time since Zuma beat Mbeki for the leadership of the ruling African National Congress in December. Zuma's camp accused the Scorpions of engaging in a plot to smear and deny Zuma the ANC top job. In 2005, the unit raided properties belonging to Zuma and his lawyer as part of their corruption investigation of the politician, who is scheduled to go on trial in August for fraud, bribery and other wrongdoing tied to an arms scandal. Government spokesman Themba Maseko said the bills dissolving the unit would be tabled in parliament this week and be followed by public hearings, the Times said. The ANC-dominated parliament is expected to ratify the move.

Established by Mbeki in 1999 to fight high-profile corruption cases, the Scorpions have scored successes against organised crime, despite seeing their reputation attacked as a result of the Zuma investigation. The unit is not part of the police and reports to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The NPA in turn answers to South Africa's Justice Department. The Scorpions had waged a turf war with the police and were accused of using their power to settle scores, most notably in Zuma's corruption case but also in an investigation of the country's police chief. Zuma is widely seen as the frontrunner to replace Mbeki, who must leave office in 2009, and Zuma supporters have been purging party and parliamentary bodies of the most pro-Mbeki officials.

The rivalry between the two has stoked investor fears of political instability in Africa's largest economy. It is unclear, however, whether disbanding the Scorpions will have any bearing on the legal case against Zuma, who has pledged to step down as ANC leader if convicted. Mbeki fought to save the Scorpions and had the support of the main opposition party, but his ministers were lukewarm to the idea in the face of pressure from the Zuma-led ANC. The South African leader is due on Monday to release a report of an investigation into the Scorpions that will recommend the unit be retained while criticising the way it operated, the Times said.

Source: Polity

Khampepe commission of inquiry into the mandate and location of the Directorate of Special Operations

This report, compiled by Justice Sisi Khampepe, was intended to create a guideline and provide direction into the mandate and location of the Directorate of Special Operations.

The report can be found here.

Source: Polity

Investigation into Teta almost complete

Fidentia CE J Arthur Brown was on Thursday late for a scheduled appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court, on charges that include fraud involving the Transport, Education and Training Authority (Teta). In the dock without him were co-accused Dr Piet Bothma, Teta's CE, and a newcomer, Jacobus Theart, who is cited in the charge sheet as accused number three.

Scorpions prosecutor Bruce Morrison SC, assisted by Tersia du Toit, told the court they had called the case earlier than expected, and that Brown was not at fault for his absence. He and Du Toit had tried without success to telephone Brown to get him to court sooner, they said. The case was postponed to July 29 in Brown's absence.

Morrison said the investigation was almost completed and that there were "just a few more things to be done". He said he envisaged an additional charge to the current charges of fraud, corruption, money laundering, reckless trading and a contravention of the Financial Intelligent Centre Act.

The fraud charge relating to Teta involves over R2m. Theart faces charges of theft involving R800,000 and money laundering. However, Morrison did not indicate to the court how Theart fitted into the picture. He said both the Cape Town and Randburg Courts had jurisdiction to deal with the case, and he would launch an application to centralize the charges -- so they could all be dealt with together in Cape Town.

In the Teta case, the trio are expected to eventually go on trial in the Cape High Court. Later, Brown alone stood in the dock of the Cape Town Regional Court, where he is to go on trial on September 15 on two charges of fraud, one of theft and one of violating the Companies Act.

These charges relate to his involvement with Fidentia. In these proceedings, Du Toit told magistrate Wilma van der Merwe that she had furnished defence attorney Asghar Mia with further particulars to the charges. At her request the case was postponed to May 30.

Source: Moneyweb

An executive-minded decision

The issue of land claims and homelessness continues to be one of the most pressing of our social problems. Unsurprisingly, the courts have been drawn into the intricacies of this problem, particularly when it comes to squatters and their removal.

Recently, in the Johannesburg City case, the Constitutional Court sought to guide authorities confronted with the dilemma of the removal of a large group of people who reside in unsafe buildings but who have nowhere else to live. The court's judgement ruled that the relevant authority engaged with the affected dwellers before eviction could take place: "Engagement is a two-way process in which the city and those about to become homeless would talk to each other meaningfully in order to achieve certain objectives." This follows earlier qualifications to the previously absolute right of an authority or land owner to evict persons, but its full implications do not appear to have reached Cape Town.

On March 10, the Cape High Court ordered the eviction of about 20 000 residents from the Joe Slovo settlement. The residents argued that the parties that sought their removal -- a company charged with the task of transforming the settlement into formal housing and the provincial and national ministries -- had no legal standing to bring an application for eviction. They also argued they had a expectation that 70% of the opportunities afforded by the new housing at Joe Slovo would be awarded to their community.

The decision on the argument regarding legitimate expectations is illuminating. Their claim on 70% of Joe Slovo was not denied by the applicants for their eviction. The court accepted this and the entitlement would act as a defence against eviction. But the court also found that the initial occupation was unlawful, which can never give rise to a legitimate expectation, so the residents could not rely in law upon the undertaking that had been given to them.

This is surely a controversial judgment. It cites but one decision as authority for this finding. Although there is no unanimity on the point, there is alternative authority that supports the argument that there is a substantive legitimate expectation, where such an undertaking is given, except if the undertaking is made in violation of a statute or when it is not in the public interest. Neither was the case in this dispute; hence there appears to be a significant injustice if people were removed from land where clear promises had been made to them.

But more problematic is the absence of any engagement as set out by the Constitutional Court. Though the Cape High Court found compliance with the Johannesburg City case, the residents asserted that no meaningful consultation had taken place. The applicants conceded that consultation had been limited. No evidence of such engagement was shown.

A unilateral decision was made to move the residents more then 37km, far from where their children went to school and where many were employed.

Of course a court must seek to balance the state's attempt to give effect to its constitutional obligation to provide housing with the rights of those who are homeless but whose actions may frustrate the housing programme. That will often prove to be a difficult balancing exercise, hence some sympathy for the judicial dilemma. But in this case the court manifestly glossed over the undertaking given to the residents and the legal implications of meaningful engagement before any removal could take place. It is this deference to developers and the diminution of the importance of consultation that makes this judgement so problematic.

This case must raise a debate about the meaning of legal transformation.

Zimbabwe Arms Shipped by China Spark an Uproar

A Chinese ship loaded with armaments for Zimbabwe steamed into the port of Durban this week (19 April 2008) and set off a political firefight, putting newfound pressure on South Africa — and now China — to reduce support for Zimbabwe’s government as it cracks down on its rivals after a disputed election.

Dock workers at the Durban port, backed by South Africa’s powerful unions, refused to unload the ammunition and weapons on Friday, vowing protests and threatening violence if the government tried to do it without them.

Source: New York Times

UN Rights Council to Review South Africa

South Africa’s human rights record will be scrutinized on April 15, 2008 by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva at a Universal Periodic Review Session that is likely to focus on abuses around HIV infections, sexual violence, and asylum procedures.

Under the review process, governments submit a written report and nongovernmental organizations are invited to comment on the human rights situation. But since South Africa did not submit its report until the eve of the session, and did not consult ahead of the session with South African civil society groups and international nongovernmental organizations, these groups were only able to present written concerns about a wide range of human rights issues to the council.

Among the topics of concern to Human Rights Watch are:

* The high incidence of sexual violence and the scale of HIV infection in South Africa. It is essential that health provision reform due in May 2008 ensure that all victims of sexual violence have prompt access to and information about post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to reduce the chance of contracting HIV.
* The 2007 Sexual Offences Act, which requires victims to either file criminal charges with the South African Police or report the alleged offence to a designated health establishment as a condition of receiving PEP. Human Rights Watch and other organizations have found that conditioning assistance on filing a police report may effectively prevent victims from receiving lifesaving PEP because many survivors are reluctant to file charges or because of police delays.
* Asylum procedures, which can be onerous. Asylum-seekers often face obstacles in filing asylum applications. With the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, urgent reform is needed to ensure protection for Zimbabweans seeking refuge in South Africa.

Zuma on crime: Shabangu has a point

Deputy Safety and Security Minister Susan Shabangu's controversial "shoot to kill" comment has received African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma's backing.

Speaking at the KwaZulu-Natal Institute of Local Government and Traditional Leadership's fund-raising gala dinner on Friday night, Zuma said: "If you have a deputy minister saying the kind of things that the deputy minister was saying, this is what we need to happen." Zuma pointed out that police had at one stage been "asked not to shoot at criminals". "Because the fact of the matter [is that] criminals shoot police. Instead of talking at that level, we ought to be seeing action that we are tougher on the criminals. That's the point I'm making. What the deputy minister was saying is what we are to be doing is dealing with the criminals rather than talking about it."

Shabangu, who was speaking at an anti-crime imbizo (meeting) in Pretoria West, was quoted by the Pretoria News as saying: ""You must kill the bastards if they threaten you or the community. You must not worry about the regulations. That is my responsibility. Your responsibility is to serve and protect." While her comments have sparked outrage among some and received the backing of others, the issue of crime has been raised repeatedly at several functions attended by the ANC president in Durban and Richards Bay during the past two days. "You know, if you haven't experienced crime, you can theorise about it, but for those that have experienced it, it is a painful thing," Zuma said. He said he had visited the Cape Flats and heard several horrendous crime stories. He added that many of those who felt strongly about crime had been victims themselves. Addressing the media, he said: "I'm hoping that when you write, [you] don't sensationalise what I said. Use the words that say exactly what I say. I just hope the clarity is as clear as I put it."

Earlier on Friday, Zuma had said that the issue of bail for those accused of rape and murder needed to be debated. "I don't think we have debated the issue. Let us do something that favours the victim and not the criminal." Asked if he was personally in favour of rape and murder accused being denied bail, Zuma said: "I'm not saying it's my personal view. I want to say that these things need to be looked at." Zuma cited a number of examples where members of the public had questioned him about criminals being released on bail. "I have not been able to give them answers. We over-stretch human rights sometimes," he said. He pointed out that once a murder had taken place, a person's right to life had already been infringed. "We need to look at the things we do that don't favour the victim." He also said it was an "open secret" that murderers released on bail often interfered with witnesses.

At the dinner, Zuma said he believed that education could play a major role in combating crime. If the country could tackle crime, health and education, many of its problems would be resolved. He suggested that remuneration in these three sectors needed to be addressed. "I don't think we should be afraid to pay for those services," he said.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Kill the criminals, minister tells cops

Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Susan Shabangu told police that they should kill criminals if they threaten police or the community, the Star reported on Thursday. "You must kill the bastards if they threaten you or the community. You must not worry about the regulations. That is my responsibility. Your responsibility is to serve and protect," Shabangu said at an anti-crime imbizo in Pretoria West on Wednesday.

Shabangu, who received a standing ovation, was responding to questions on what police and the government are doing to curb crime. Residents of Danville, Pretoria West, Lotus Gardens, Hercules and Elandspoort complained about the "pathetic excuses" given by police allegedly unable or unwilling to deal with crime. "I want to assure the police station commissioners and policemen and women from these areas that they have permission to kill these criminals. "I won't tolerate any pathetic excuses for you not being able to deal with crime. You have been given guns, now use them." She added that there should be no warning shots. "I want no warning shots. You have one shot and it must be a kill shot. If you miss, the criminals will go for the kill. They don't miss. We can't take this chance. "Criminals are hell-bent on undermining the law and they must now be dealt with. If criminals dare to threaten the police or the livelihood or lives of innocent men, women and children, they must be killed. End of story. There are to be no negotiations with criminals."

She said law-abiding people and not the criminals must be protected. "I say that criminals must be made to pay for their crimes. The Constitution says criminals must be kept safe, but I say No!" she said.

Source: Mail & Guardian

McCarthy resignation a mystery

The Presidency and Justice Ministry on Friday claimed to have no knowledge of Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy's attempts to resign.

They also claimed to knowing nothing about President Thabo Mbeki's reported refusal to accept the resignation letter. "There's no such thing," said presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga. "Leonard McCarthy accounts to the minister of justice. The Department of Justice will deal with this matter."

Spokesperson for Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla, Zolile Nqayi said he knew neither of a reported meeting between McCarthy and the Justice Ministry, nor of the resignation itself.

The Cape Times reported on Friday that Mbeki was apparently refusing to accept McCarthy's resignation letter, which was submitted this week. According to the article, the newspaper had "reliably learnt" that McCarthy met Deputy Justice Minister Johnny de Lange on Thursday to discuss the issue. The government, the National Prosecuting Authority and legal sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the meeting, as well as Mbeki's apparent reluctance to accept the resignation, the Cape Times reported.

Source: News 24

FBI nabs Fidentia fugitive

One of the alleged masterminds in the Fidentia scandal was arrested by the FBI in the United States, the National Prosecuting Authority said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Tlali Tlali said Steven William Goodwin was arrested following a request by the Directorate of Special Operations, better known as the Scorpions.

According to the NPA, Goodwin was detained on Saturday at Los Angeles airport by US authorities and the Customs and Immigration Department. "Their intervention followed an alert issued by Interpol that Goodwin was en route to the US and that a warrant for his arrest had been issued in South Africa in July 2007. "Goodwin left South Africa for Australia in early February 2007, following the appointment of a curator to manage the Fidentia group of companies and before the Scorpions investigation was authorised in February 2007," said Tlali.

Goodwin was described as the "real founder" of Fidentia and has been named repeatedly in a draft indictment against Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown. He left South Africa just days before Brown was arrested in March last year. The draft charge sheet says that at the time Goodwin owned and was MD of a company named Worthytrade 185. Acting as a broker, he initiated the contact that resulted in the Transport Education Training Authority (Teta) entrusting promissory notes worth R100,3-million to Maddock Incorporated in April 2003.

The NPA has 60 days within which to apply for Goodwin's extradition and is preparing papers to launch such an application, said Tlali. "The Scorpions are currently working with the US Department of Justice to ensure the matter is resolved speedily and successfully. Once on South African soil, Goodwin will face charges of theft, fraud and corruption running into millions," he said. The charge sheet says Brown acted "in the execution of a common purpose" with Goodwin in providing a R6-million bribe to ensure that the Teta board made the investment with FAM. Goodwin is also named repeatedly in the section of the charge sheet that deals with money laundering.

Brown will go on trial in September on fraud and theft charges. He is out on R1-million bail.

The financial director of Fidentia, Graham Maddock, was effectively jailed for seven years on 54 counts involving fraud, theft, money laundering, contraventions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and the reckless or fraudulent conduct of business.

Source: Mail & Guardian

The Prince of Mines

Patrice Motsepe entered the mining business when South Africa ended apartheid. Today the onetime lawyer and avowed capitalist is the country's first black billionaire.

On a brilliantly sunny Thursday in January, Patrice Motsepe, a vigorous 46-year-old with regal posture, is striding through a gleaming shopping mall on the Cape Town waterfront. Suddenly a crowd forms. A half-dozen employees from the Build-A-Bear Workshop ask for his autograph. Two giggling young women roll up their sleeves as Motsepe signs their arms with a black marker, smiling while admirers snap photos with cell phones. An older woman approaches Motsepe and nearly swoons, grasping his arm and laying her head on his chest as he pats her back and murmurs thank you in Xhosa, one of the six African languages he speaks.

All this is not for a movie star or entertainer but for South Africa's first black billionaire. Over 15 years Motsepe, preaching free market capitalism, turned a low-level mining services business into the country's first black-owned mining company, African Rainbow Minerals, with 2007 revenue of $875 million. Driven by the Asian commodities boom, ARM's share price has rocketed in the past year from $12 to $24, pushing the value of Motsepe's net worth to $2.4 billion. Motsepe, a lawyer by training, serves as ARM's executive chairman, with a 42% stake in the company. He also owns a 5.5% stake worth $295 million in Sanlam, a publicly traded financial services company outside Cape Town.

By billionaire standards Motsepe has a modest lifestyle. His three sons attend prestigious private schools, but he has only one home, in the affluent Johannesburg suburb of Bryanston, and no yacht or plane. His one indulgence is to own the Mamelodi Sundowns, a soccer team. It doesn't tarnish his star quality that he's married to one of South Africa's most glamorous women, a medical doctor turned fashion impresario.

But for all the adulation, in South Africa such success comes with a price: being labeled an oligarch. Even many blacks have complained that the country's 1994 transformation from apartheid to democracy has benefited only the elite few. The criticism stems from laws that require substantial black ownership in certain industries, including mining. A handful of politically connected individuals have grown enormously wealthy as a result. One of Motsepe's sisters, Bridgette Radebe, who's married to transport minister Jeffrey Radebe, heads a mining company and is said to be among the wealthiest black women in the country. "It's called crony capitalism," says Moeletsi Mbeki, 62, brother of South Africa's president and an outspoken critic of the race-preference laws. "It's an anticompetitive system."

Motsepe concedes he benefited from the system yet says that his success was no handout, as he began building his mining business before the laws started taking effect in 2005. He says, "The legislation came way after we did our deals."

Motsepe and his family were in a better position than most to take advantage of the end of apartheid. Born in the sprawling black township of Soweto (next to Johannesburg), where his mother had grown up, Motsepe is a member of a royal clan within the Tswana tribe. He is, in fact, a prince.

Motsepe's father, Augustine Motsepe, was a critic of the apartheid regime. Before his son Patrice was born, Augustine was banished by the government to Hammanskraal, a rural area north of Pretoria where the government thought he could do less damage (he named his son after Patrice Lumumba, head of the Republic of the Congo and one of the first black African postcolonial leaders). There he opened a grocery store and then a beer hall and restaurant. "People don't know that there were very successful black businessmen in the years of apartheid," says Motsepe.

Though one of Patrice's maternal great-grandfathers came from Scotland, the old government classified the Motsepes as African. The family had to pull strings to get their seven children admitted to an Afrikaans-language Catholic boarding school that was officially designated for so-called "coloreds," South Africans of mixed race. From age 6, Motsepe spent school holidays working behind the counter in his father's store, where he says he learned his earliest lessons about business. "Whenever my father made a profit, he always plowed it back into the store," Motsepe recalls.

He graduated from the University of Swaziland and then became one of the few black law graduates of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, designated whites-only by the apartheid government (Motsepe had to apply for an exemption to attend). In 1988 he joined Bowman Gilfillan, one of South Africa's largest corporate law firms, and in 1993 he became the firm's first black partner. Energetic and affable, Motsepe never wore his race on his sleeve, says Bowman partner and longtime Motsepe lawyer and confidant Neil Rissik.

Indeed, ask Motsepe about what it was like to grow up as a black man under the violent, racist apartheid regime and he responds with bromides. "The apartheid system was very bad for our people, very bad," he says blandly, switching quickly to the positive. "Only in South Africa could you have a change in government without civil war. If there wasn't the depth of love and caring among our people, this would not have happened."

Source: Forbes Magazine

'If you show that you support MDC, you will starve'

Credible elections in Zimbabwe were among the main objectives of the talks between the Zimbabwean government and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) last year. But despite new regulations, Zimbabwe's polls are unlikely to be free or fair.

President Robert Mugabe's government would like the world to believe otherwise, arguing that political space has been opened up for the opposition to campaign. Neighbouring states should look beyond the rhetoric as, sadly, nothing could be further from the truth.

For weeks now, I've been travelling through Zimbabwe's 10 provinces. Ordinary voters around the country described to me how supporters of the ruling party have physically attacked and intimidated people perceived to support the opposition.

Food has become a political weapon. In nearly all the provinces I visited, Zimbabweans told me that only supporters of the ruling Zanu-PF receive state-subsidised grain or farming equipment. An elderly man from Marange in Manicaland province told me: "If you show yourself to support the opposition, you will starve."
In Mutare, even a Zanu-PF loyalist confirmed that the party manipulates the distribution of food according to political loyalty: "It is very easy. Only those who are on the councillors' lists can access the grain," she told me. "At our rallies, only known supporters of Zanu-PF are allowed to attend."

Despite improved electoral laws, across Zimbabwe I found a chaotic -- and easily abused -- voter registration process. The electoral commission is unprepared and partisan. The voting procedure will be new and more complex than before, but there has been minimal voter education around the country. The opposition's access to the broadcast media is restricted.

A local activist from Makonde constituency in Mashonaland West province told me about the intense intimidation of opposition supporters in his area. "The opposition MDC are visited daily by Zanu-PF youth who shout and sing outside their homes," he said. "They call them sell-outs and tell them they will deal with the MDC candidates after the elections."

In spite of the intimidation, violence has been less conspicuous than in previous elections - in part because of prohibitions in the reformed Electoral Act. But, given the widespread violence during elections in 2000 and 2002, mere threats or allusions to past acts are enough to scare people.

In Masvingo province, a primary-school teacher told me how ruling party youths attacked him after he urged people to register to vote.

"They hit me with clubs on my head," he told me. "They displayed me before the rest of the school and now they are keeping an eye on me." Terrible scars were still visible on his head a month after the attack.

The police claim they are taking a "zero tolerance" approach to violence ahead of the polls, although many members of the police were previously involved in attacks on the opposition, civil society activists and perceived opposition supporters. None of these incidents, documented by Human Rights Watch, have been investigated. The teacher in Masvingo reported the incident, but the perpetrators were never caught.

The onus for reporting violations now rests on regional observers, in particular the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission. International and local observers who charged that previous elections in 2000 and 2002 were blatantly fraudulent were not invited to return for parliamentary elections in 2005, nor for the general elections.

Mugabe's government claims that the elections will conform to the SADC guidelines and principles governing democratic elections. South Africans and their SADC neighbours have a key role to play in the run-up to the elections. SADC should call on the Zimbabwean government to grant access to all election sites. To gauge compliance, observers need to judge the political context in which the elections are being held, not just the voting process itself.

Previous post-election assessments by SADC were alarmingly positive, despite widespread human rights abuses and irregularities in the last three polls. If South Africa and other SADC observers are serious about ending Zimbabwe's political crisis, then another round of flawed elections in Zimbabwe cannot be followed by a "business-as-usual" approach.

South Africans have already seen hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans vote with their feet by crossing the Limpopo to flee hunger, violence and persecution. Now is the time for SADC to help ordinary Zimbabweans to exercise their right to vote freely at home.

Source: Human Rights Watch

Shock testimony at Taylor trial

Charles Taylor celebrated his rise to power in Liberia with a ceremony involving a human sacrifice, burying a pregnant woman alive in sand, one of his former military commanders has testified.

The admission came during a trial at The Hague where the former president is accused of war crimes. During a day of grim testimony, Joseph "Zigzag" Marzah described the ceremony and acknowledged committing hundreds of other murders on Taylor's orders.
"We executed everybody - babies, women, old men. There were so many executions. I can't remember them all," Marzah told the court. Among the victims were Taylor's opponents and former allies who he thought had betrayed him, Marzah said. One was a guerrilla commander known as Superman, who Taylor ordered executed and his severed hand brought to him as proof of his death. The killers ceremonially ate Superman's heart, and afterwards were given $200 each which they were told came from Taylor for "cigarette money".

Taylor often leaned forward with a scowl on his face as he listened to Marzah's testimony for more than five hours. Asked under cross-examination if he had any "pangs of conscience", Marzah replied "yes", but said he had no difficulty carrying out his orders."I was a servant to my chief, Charles Taylor," he said. He was adamant that Taylor had specifically ordered him to chop off hands, and paid a monetary reward for the killing of babies. He recalled receiving an order from Taylor to cut open a woman close to giving birth because the unborn child "is an enemy". Under prompting from Courtenay Griffith, defence counsel, Marzah said: "It's not difficult to kill a baby. Sometimes you just knock them on the head, sometimes you throw them in a pit, sometimes you throw them in the river and they are dead. Then you give the report to Charles Taylor."

Prosecutors described Marzah as one of their key witnesses, testifying with inside knowledge of the former Liberian president's operations in Liberia and neighbouring Sierra Leone. In both countries he is accused of responsibility for the widespread murder, rape and amputations committed by soldiers loyal to him.

The first former African head of state to face an international tribunal, Taylor, 59, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is being tried by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone. His trial began last year but was halted for six months after a chaotic first day on which he fired his legal team. The case resumed in January, when prosecutors began to call the first of dozens of witnesses expected to testify.

Describing the ceremony on the beach behind White Flower, Taylor's executive mansion in Monrovia, Marzah said a woman was placed standing up in a pit between two oil drums, then covered over with sand. Then a white sheep was killed on the spot. "It was a sacrifice," Marzah said. Taylor "was the first person to put sand in his hand and put it in the hole". Marzah said the event happened in 1995, although Taylor did not come to power until he won an election in 1997. At other times, Marzah repeatedly became frustrated and angry when questioned too closely about the timing of events, saying he had been with Taylor "from beginning to end," and had done too much to recall the dates of each event.

Marzah said Taylor encouraged his fighters to "play with human blood" to create fear among his enemies. He described militia checkpoints meant to terrify the population. After setting up roadblocks, "we used human intestines. We put heads on sticks for people to be afraid. "When the person is executed, the stomach is split and you use the intestine as a rope".

Source: Al Jazeera

NPA: Parly 'incorrect' over Browse report

Parliament's joint standing committee on intelligence came to "incorrect conclusions" in its report on the so-called "Special Consolidated Report" produced by the Scorpions, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Wednesday.

Source: Mail and Guardian

Anger at Cape eviction order

The Cape High Court has given the go-ahead for the eviction of several thousand residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement to make way for a housing development. The order, handed down by Judge President John Hlophe on Monday, followed an application by state-owned developer Thubelisha Homes, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Western Cape minister of housing Richard Dyantyi. Hundreds of Joe Slovo residents, who had gathered in the street outside the court, chanted angry slogans after the judgment was handed down.

Anti-Eviction Campaign coordinator Mzonke Poni said: "We really do not welcome the judgement because we are saying there's no way a judge can issue an order to evict more than 20 000 people without considering the impact it will have on their livelihoods. The residents are being evicted to make way for the construction of the N2 Gateway housing project.

Source: Mail & Guardian