'Dead babies' hospital: Premier shocked

Syringes being used more than once, babies lying in soiled cribs and nurses chatting instead of looking after premature infants. These are just some of the shocking claims made by parents whose babies died at a Joburg hospital earlier this year. It took one meeting with the parents of the six babies who died at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital to convince Premier Nomvula Mokonyane that an investigation into staff negligence needs to be reopened.

Mokonyane and MEC for Health and Social Development Qedani Mahlangu sat for two hours with five parents of the six babies who died at the hospital in May. Earlier in the week, Mahlangu released a report which found the babies had died from a potent version of norovirus and that no hospital or staff negligence could be found. The MEC did say there was a problem with overcrowding and a shortage of materials, such as roller towels for nurses to dry their hands.

Mahlangu said she took responsibility for what happened onto her own shoulders. She did not give the public the actual report, but rather a summarised version. On the same day, a separate report presented in Parliament gave very different results. The second report, which was presented to the portfolio committee on health, said laboratory tests found klebsiella pneumonia in some of the sick babies and in their milk bottles.

The parliamentary report found norovirus and klebsiella in most of the 17 sick babies who were in the ward. The report also said the milk feeding room needed attention and that bottles and cleaning brushes were found to be old and rusty. Mokonyane told the media that meeting the parents was an eye-opener, and they were surprised to hear parents' observations about the attitudes and conduct of the nurses. "We will be investigating whether there was negligence of the team on duty," the premier said. "If we conclude that there was negligence, we will take appropriate action and make sure there is no repeat of bad behaviour." She said the initial report released earlier this week was a clinical report compiled by doctors, which they had accepted as final, but after talking to the parents, they would investigate claims of negligence further.

Mokonyane said parents had noticed a lack of hygiene, bad attitudes from nurses and multiple use of instruments that are supposed to be used only once. She said the parents had told her they had come into the ward and found children had vomited and had not been cleaned; syringes that were used more than once; and instead of telling them what was wrong with their children, nurses refused to speak to them because they were eating chips and busy gossipping.

The premier said the department had told the parents they had the right to sue for compensation, but the department could not offer them money without going through the courts. "No amount of money can compensate for life. I think the parents' biggest concern is that we must make sure this never happens again. We have learnt from this and need to make sure that this never happens again," she added.

Source: IoL

Graft 'unchecked' without Scorpions

There has been a significant drop in new corruption cases by the police since the Scorpions were closed down, according to a report from the influential Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The OECD this week slammed South Africa's corruption-fighting efforts, expressing concern about the ability of the Hawks to take over the Scorpions' functions. The Scorpions were closed down early last year after the ANC decided at its December 2007 national conference in Polokwane that members of the elite unite should be incorporated into the South African Police Service. On Monday the OECD released its report on South Africa's ability to curb corruption, concluding that the country should improve on its investigation and prosecution of bribery in international business deals.

In July last year the Hawks, a police unit that replaced the Scorpions, was launched and 288 cases were handed over for finalisation. In the past 12 months the Hawks unit (effectively an amalgamation of the police's organised crime and commercial branches) has focused more on violent and drug-related crimes than on corruption.

The unit has been quiet about high-profile corruption cases transferred to it from the Scorpions, including the arms-deal probe. According to the OECD's report, the organisation was assured by South Africa that no investigations had been dropped when the Scorpions unit was disbanded and that the Hawks unit was equipped to deal with the outstanding cases. But the organisation expressed concern about cooperation between investigators and prosecutors now that they are no longer based in the same unit.

The Scorpions' "troika" model of investigation, in which investigators, prosecutors and analysts worked together on cases, won international praise but it was done away with when the unit was disbanded. The Scorpions' biggest critics, including the ANC, disgraced former police boss Jackie Selebi and Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda, argued that that method of investigation was problematic and prosecutors should at all times be acting independently when going to court.

But the OECD's report confirms that a model in which prosecutors are involved in complex graft investigations from the outset is standard international practice. "The [OECD's] lead examiners ... remain concerned about the level of interaction between investigators and prosecutors and the need for oversight, and that the cooperation demonstrated between such personnel, such as it existed under the DSO [the Scorpions], has been lost with the restructuring of law enforcement. This issue should continue to be monitored," the report reads. According to it, South Africa is investigating only four cases of alleged bribery involving local officials and foreign companies. It "remains concerned" about the resources dedicated by South Africa to fighting foreign bribery and the level of skills available in the police and national prosecuting authority (NPA).

Ironically, the NPA's specialised commercial crimes unit, which is specifically tasked with dealing with complex matters of bribery and fraud, impressed the OECD. Earlier this year Menzi Simelane, the NPA boss, tried to disband the unit, but he was stopped by Jeff Radebe, the justice minister, after a public outcry.

The report further criticises the police for not following up on media reports about alleged bribery. Although police crime intelligence monitors media reports, "allegations of foreign bribery have not served as a basis for opening an investigation ... the [OECD] is concerned that despite the existence of such publicly avail-able allegations concerning foreign bribery cases ... neither the SAPS nor the NPA took the initiative to look into these allegations at an earlier stage".

The OECD also criticises South Africa for its lax response to international requests for mutual legal assistance and suggests that safeguards to ensure the independence of investigative and prosecutorial powers should be strengthened.

Simelane came under fire when he was justice director general for deflecting requests by German prosecutors for assistance in their investigation of the arms deal.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Helicopter crash kills seven police

A police helicopter crashed near Witbank on Friday, killing seven officers on board, as it flew to the scene of a suspected hostage-taking north-east of Johannesburg, officials said.

Police spokesperson Sally de Beer said the officers from the National Intervention Unit were leaving Pretoria in the chopper to help local police in the town of Witbank when the accident happened. "There was a business break-in at about 5am. Witbank police responded but they were shot at by the suspects who also said they had a hostage with them," she said. De Beer said two helicopters with a total of 12 people were sent to the scene, but one of them crashed. "There was a thick mist in the area at the time of the crash, but we don't want to say that is the reason it crashed until we finish our investigation."

Seven people were arrested over the break-in, but police discovered that no hostage had actually been taken, she said.

A spokesperson for ER24 private emergency services, Werner Vermaak, said paramedics who arrived at the scene found the helicopter burnt beyond recognition. "The local fire department and rescue services extinguished the flames. All of the occupants were already dead and there was nothing that paramedics could do," said Vermaak. National police chief Bheki Cele told radio 702 that he was in shock. "It is a really black Friday for us," Cele said. "It's a very devastating and painful situation. I personally know them all too."

Source: Mail & Guardian

SAA vs Ngqula: Shocking new details

SAA paid out bonuses of R60,7-million to 153 managers over three years -- at an average of almost R400 000 per employee -- as part of a retention scheme introduced by embattled former chief executive Khaya Ngqula. This is revealed in court papers served on Ngqula this week, in which SAA claims it suffered a loss of R27,4-million at Ngqula's hands for ­overspending on bonuses.

The Mail & Guardian has in its possession the summons and attached documents served on Ngqula on Tuesday. This is the first of two claims by SAA against him. The second summons has yet to be served on him and will focus on Ngqula's alleged irregular expenditure of R3.3-million on entertainment and international junkets for his friends. Court papers also reveal:

* Ngqula was given a company BMW 740i when he was appointed, for which SAA covered "all running costs";

* Ngqula's wife, former beauty queen Mbali Gasa, was allocated full-time VIP protection by SAA from 2005 because of the "reasonable risks" that he faced as chief ­executive; and

* The retention bonus scheme was introduced to keep talented SAA staff, who were leaving because of factors including "economic growth", the impact of HIV/Aids and "cultural misfit".

Ngqula was fired by the SAA board in March last year. On Tuesday the board chairperson, Cheryl Carolus, announced that the state-funded airline would reclaim R30,8-million from him for alleged wasteful expenditure. She announced that R27,4-million of that amount was due to retention bonuses paid to managers, but did not reveal the full extent of the scheme designed by Ngqula and the head of human resources, Bhabhalazi Bulunga. According to the details of SAA's claim, the airline's remuneration committee approved Ngqula and Bulunga's request on December 7 2007 for the implementation of a retention scheme. It was designed to keep key, talented staff after a "restructuring bonus" failed to stem the "departure of primarily skilled employees" from the airline. The scheme lasted for three years and could pay managers up to 100% of their total 2007 cost of employment over that period.

A "strictly confidential" document calculated the cost of implementing the scheme at R33,3-million from 2007 to 2010. But, according to the claim, SAA paid out bonuses of R60,7-million under Ngqula. The difference between this amount and the approved R33,3-million is what the airline is now claiming from him.

SAA will argue in court that Ngqula breached his fiduciary duties by overspending on the scheme and failing to adhere to stipulated financial limits. He "failed to exercise reasonable care and skill in fulfilment of his functions and duties" when he implemented the scheme. Billy Gundelfinger, Ngqula's lawyer, confirmed this week that a summons had been served on his client and said Ngqula would defend the allegations. Attempts to contact Ngqula and his wife directly were unsuccessful, but Gundelfinger said the matter would be aired fully in court.

Ngqula's employment agreement with SAA is included in the court papers and shows the benefits he enjoyed as chief executive. They included the use of a BMW 740i company car, an annual incentive bonus of 80% of his total cost-to-company package (R5-million at inception) if he achieved performance goals and complimentary flight tickets for him and his family. His contract also made provision for security services "to protect the president and CEO [Ngqula] and his family from any reasonable security risks that may arise" during Ngqula's tenure. "It is recorded that at the signature date of this agreement the spouse of [Ngqula] has been allocated VIP security protection from Monday to Friday and on weekends." On Tuesday Carolus accused Ngqula of hampering the KPMG investigation, saying he was not cooperative and that he was preventing the airline from discovering who might have helped him misspend millions of rands at SAA. After the report was delivered to the SAA board, it requested a meeting with Ngqula so that he could give his side. But Ngqula stipulated conditions that were not acceptable to the board and the meeting did not take place.

SAA's previous board requested the KPMG forensic investigation after transport unions presented allegations to the board. The investigation is said to have cost SAA R15-million. Carolus said that the report had been handed to the police commercial crimes unit to ascertain if there was enough evidence to lay criminal charges against any current or former employee of SAA, including Ngqula. At Tuesday's briefing it was revealed that SAA under Ngqula spent R141-million on sports sponsorships when only R3-million was budgeted for. These included a R120-million sponsorship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and a R21-million sponsorship with Argentinian golfer Angel Cabrera. Ngqula is also accused of spending R3,3-million without authorisation on leasing hospitality suites in four different sport stadiums in the country. The KPMG report alleges that these suites were "hardly utilised".

Another allegation involves spending R500 000 on junkets for friends to international sporting events such as the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany, the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France and a 2008 ATP tennis ­tournament in Monte Carlo. The forensic investigation has raised questions about a jet fuel tender that was awarded to a company in which Ngqula allegedly has an indirect interest. KPMG further found the awarding of a tender for in-flight catering was irregular. The tender was awarded to French catering group Servair, but questions were raised about the group's local partner, run by Vusi Sithole, an associate of Ngqula and a business partner of his wife. Servair has pulled out of the tender and SAA cancelled its contract, but Sithole's consortium is disputing this in court.

Sithole denied any impropriety this week, saying his company was chosen after a two-year evaluation process and had complied with all requirements of the tender. "After the award of the tender we continued to work with SAA on the implementation process up until it was interrupted by the investigation," said Sithole. "We are confident on our part that we complied with all the requirements of the tender and as far as we know our group did not compromise the process in any way."

Despite instituting the investigation into Ngqula SAA's former board, under the chairmanship of Jakes Gerwel, also came in for criticism this week when Carolus asked: "How did Mr Ngqula do this under the watchful eye of the board?" But she told Parliament's portfolio committee on public enterprises that the current board had no plans to extend KPMG's brief.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Unease over Zuma's Gupta ties

Concern is growing in political and business circles about the relationship between President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. Zuma has known the family, headed by three brothers -- Atul, Ajay and Tony -- since he was deputy president in 2002, but their ­relationship has blossomed since he became president.

Government ministers and business leaders became suspicious of the relationship during Zuma's state visit to India, where he was seen spending a disproportionate amount of time on meetings with the Guptas. "It was clear that they had organised things beforehand and took charge of at least some parts of his diary," one member of the business delegation that accompanied Zuma told the Mail & Guardian.

It is understood that some of the government officials who joined Zuma on the visit were questioned by their Indian counterparts about the Guptas' relationship with the president. "They were asked why the president is hanging around with these guys; they don't have a great reputation in India," a government source said. Business leaders told the M&G that the state visit underlined the special relationship between Zuma and the Guptas, which gave the family favoured access.

More than 200 business people joined Zuma on the trip as part of a delegation organised by the department of trade and industry. Some complained that they only had one opportunity to meet Zuma and that this was during a photo­ opportunity before a function. "Several of us were pissed off that we were not included. During the two-day programme, Zuma was kept separate and the only people allowed to be with him were the Guptas and [Kumba Iron Ore president] Lazarus Zim," said one of the business delegates. Another source who accompanied Zuma claimed that the president had attended meetings with prominent Indian business people that had been organised by the Guptas. Only selected South African business people, some of whom are said to be Zuma's known funders, attended these engagements, while other business people were sidelined, the source said. "It was clear that the family wanted to use Zuma to establish connections for themselves. We expected to meet potential investors, but it soon became clear all the deals were done already; we could just pick up the crumbs that fell from the main table," one businessman said.

The M&G sent questions to the presidency and the department of trade and industry, but the responses shed no light on who was responsible for Zuma's schedule and whether some meetings were arranged by the Guptas. On the state visit Ajay Gupta represented the family company, Sahara Computers, while Tony Gupta represented mining company Mvengela, of which he is director. Zuma's son, Duduzane Zuma, also represented Mvengela on the trip.

Gupta family spokesperson Gary Naidoo said that all meetings were arranged by the relevant government departments. Another source familiar with the family said that the Guptas were not particularly prominent in India and had built most of their wealth in South Africa. They now wanted to leverage their South African status to gain business in India. "They entirely grew in South Africa; they did not have much to speak of in India," said the source. This trip could have helped them gain access to people in India which they could not have seen otherwise," the source said. The Guptas' influence in cricket "helps to build links in India", he said. The family was known to have helped bring the Indian Premier League (IPL) to South Africa after security fears prevented it from taking place in India.

A civil society source in Mumbai confirmed that there was confusion when the Guptas started Sahara Computers, as a company of the same name operates in India. "They couldn't push their brand in India because the other Sahara is just so much bigger," the source said.

The presidency said the trade department prepares the business delegation lists and works on that delegation's programme during state visits. "The business delegation normally has its own programme, which runs parallel to that of the government delegation," the department said. "The [department] normally runs workshops with the business delegation and there is normally a business forum which is addressed by the heads of state of the two countries. The Indian state visit had more government-business interactions organised by the [department] to boost trade relations."

The visit also saw the relaunch of the India-South Africa CEOs' Forum, chaired by Africa Rainbow Minerals chief executive Patrice Motsepe. In addition to meeting the leader of the Congress Party, Sonia Ghandi, Zuma also met the leader of India's official opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress Party is historically aligned with the ANC and there are strong links between the two parties.

The presidency said Zuma had requested a special meeting with the entire South African business delegation to hear their views on how the visit went, as well as promising them a meeting in South Africa at a later stage. "This has not transpired yet," said Zizi Kodwa, Zuma's communications adviser.

Source: Mail & Guardian

'Blood diamonds': Flawed regulator must end half-measures

The Kimberley Process will only survive if governments and industry stand up for the principles on which it was built. The Kimberley Process certification scheme is often credited with ending the trade in conflict diamonds. As the blood spilled in Zimbabwe's diamond fields shows, the truth is more complex.

The KP set out to ensure that the kind of diamond-fuelled conflict and abuse exposed by Global Witness and others in countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia could never happen again. The technical aspects of the scheme are implemented by governments, while NGOs and the diamond industry act as observers. Essentially an import-export control system for rough diamonds, the KP provides a strong economic incentive for countries to join, since members can only trade with each other. To participate, governments must pass national laws and agree to meet the KP's minimum standards to guarantee that their diamond exports are conflict-free.

There have been successes: in some African countries the scheme has brought more transparency and increased official diamond revenues for governments. But recent crises have exposed shortfalls. In Zimbabwe the abuses are by a member government, as opposed to a rebel group. This highlights a fundamental flaw in the process: the KP's reliance on consensus among members has allowed regional allies to veto tough decisions on Zimbabwe, which remains a member despite the state-sponsored murder of hundreds of diamond diggers. The most recent agreement allows Zimbabwe a one-off limited export of diamonds from Marange. All further exports are conditional on Zimbabwe demilitarising diamond mining, cracking down on smuggling and ending human rights abuses in Marange.

The KP's half-measures and compromises in the face of one of the most egregious cases of diamond-related violence in years have battered its credibility and brought it to the brink of collapse. This scheme will only survive if governments and the industry stand up for the principles on which the process was built. Without this, diamonds in countries like Zimbabwe will continue to generate suffering rather than prosperity, and the global diamond industry will remain blighted by the taint of blood diamonds.

Source: The Guardian

Racism posing as rule of law

I wonder what a real rape survivor might think about Sabbar Kashur being convicted of rape and sentenced to 18 months in prison for sleeping with a woman who thought he was Jewish. The Arab-Israeli man was sentenced on Thursday in Jerusalem, after being under house arrest for two years for his "rape" of a Jewish woman in 2008.

Here's what happened -- he met an Israeli Jewish woman on the street, literally, they hit it off, and then went into the closest building to have sex. Then she figured out he was Arab, which turned their consensual sex into rape in the eyes of both the unnamed woman and Judge Tzvi Segal. "It is incumbent on the court to protect the public interest from sophisticated, smooth, sweet-talking offenders who can mislead naive victims into paying an unbearable price: the sanctity of their bodies and souls," said Segal.

There are so many problems here. First up, how many men would end up in prison for "deceiving" women that they slept with? Too many to fit our jails, I imagine. "I drive a BMW", "I like children" and "I love you" are all phrases that changed far too often in post-coital conversations around the world. But while it's not okay to lie to your partner, it's certainly not rape. Kashur also allegedly told her he was an eligible bachelor when in fact he is married with two children. While a lock-up for men who have extra-marital affairs is not a bad idea in my book, it's still not rape.

Rape is very specifically intercourse with somebody without their consent. While the specifics may vary in different countries, the concept of without consent remains firmly in place.

Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported that Kashur posed as a man seeking a long-term romantic relationship. Surely, if that was what the woman was seeking, a quickie in the closest structure 10 minutes after they met was not one of the criteria. If the woman was so specific about who she slept with, then perhaps a meal to get to know him slightly, or at least a cup of coffee would have cleared up any racist queries she might have had.

But this is not only about sex. This is also straight-up racism posing as the rule of law. It is another means of making Arab-Israelis feel less human than Israeli Jews, just like keeping the plumbing systems in East Jerusalem in the same state as they were in the early 20th century, while upgrading those in West Jerusalem. This means that when you visit the toilet in East Jerusalem, your toilet paper can't be flushed down the toilet -- rather it needs to be thrown into a bid beside the loo. Getting to the gritty, most grossly physical aspects of humanity, through humiliation and attempt to crush dignity, is how Israel maintains its racist policies.

In the meantime, and for this end, rape survivors and those fighting sexual abuse are having their plight made a mockery of as the meaning of the truly horrendous and inhumane act of rape becomes diluted. Real rape victims are afraid to speak out, often for fear of being accused of crying wolf. Real rape victims do not get attention from police and from the justice system. But when racism is involved, and the Israeli government is trying to prove a point, then regretful sex leads to a conviction. Now a man will spend a year and a half in prison to make some unnamed woman in Israel feel innocent and pure again.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Nyanda: Maybe immoral AND illegal after all

Pierre De Vos wrote the following on his blog, consitutionally speaking:

It is rather difficult to get hold of a copy of the Ministerial Handbook (also known as A Handbook for Members of the Executive and Presiding Officers). I searched the Internet for more than an hour yesterday (which included a search on the government’s own website as well as several legal databases) – all to no avail.

Those Ministers sure do not want us ordinary folk to know what is in this mysterious Handbook of theirs. Finally, after contacting DA MP, Dene Smuts, an efficient DA researcher provided me with a copy of the Handbook (and as any good PR person would, also included DA proposals for changes to the handbook).

After studying the Handbook I understand why its content is being kept half-secret.

This is the thing: It is far from clear that claims by a spokesperson of Communications Minister, Siphiwe Nyanda, that the Ministerial Handbook had entitled the Minister to stay in the most luxurious 5 Star Hotels for 6 months at a cost of more than R500 000 could be squared with the actual provisions of the Handbook.

Why did Nyanda not stay in the house allocated to him after he became the Minister of Communications? Why was the poor man made to suffer for six months by having to stay at the most expensive Hotels in Cape Town? Personally I would not be seen dead at these terrible, inhumane, dumps and would rather sleep in the boot of my car.

Who could possible live in a ”spacious, grand and elegant suit” with “spectacular views of Table Mountain”, have access to “two heated swimming pools”, ”magnificent flood-lit tennis courts”, a yoga centre “complete with feature inspiring music, fresh flowers, candlelight, therapeutic scents and post-yoga refreshments”, an ”on-site golf practice net”, “on-site hair salon” and a ”world class holistic spa experience, where the trilogy of mind, body and spirit is nurtured”?

Sounds awful, doesn’t it? Who would not rather stay in a lovely state owned house in Upper Claremont?

(By the way, it’s a good thing Minister Nyanda was not allocated a house in lower Claremont because he would surely then have been entitled not to occupy a house in such a bad neighbourhood and would have been forced to stay at the Mount Nelson for another few years, poor man.)

Well, the Mail & Guardian reported as follows on the poor Minister’s woes:

A Cabinet colleague of Nyanda told the Mail & Guardian that the reason Nyanda had apparently given for refusing to move into his Hooggelegen residence in sought-after Upper Claremont was because the public works department had not bought him a bed. A senior communications department source confirmed this explanation was also doing the rounds in the department, but added that Nyanda was allegedly also unhappy that his house did not have a view.

Although Nyanda’s spokesperson strongly denied this, the department of public works confirmed on Thursday that Nyanda hadn’t moved in because of a delay with the delivery of furniture “to accommodate him”. Public works spokesperson Thamsanqa Mchunu confirmed that Nyanda’s furniture finally arrived on February 5 and February 26.

So, one explanation for his splurge was that while the house was furnished and he could have stayed in it (sleeping on one of the other beds in the house, one presumes) or could have bought his own bed (I am told one can buy a very nice bed for about R10 000 – a bit less than the R500 000 us tax payers eventually spent on the Hotel Bills), the house needed a bed for the General to sleep on. We all need a good night’s rest, after all, and national security, the national interest and the public good required the Minister to be alert at all times in case he had to deal with yet more reports of the SABC banning an old leader of the party from its airwaves.

Another, unconfirmed, explanation was that he was not happy with the view (even though the house was in upper Claremont). The official version was that new furniture (obviously replacing existing furniture) had to be provided “to accommodate” the General. One assumes this means the General was not happy with the original furniture (which was obviously not up to the standard of the Mount Nelson) and he thus ordered new furniture which would “accommodate” him and would ensure he would stay in the style and comfort that he had become accustomed to.

This kind of thing is covered by the Ministerial Handbook, which states in chapter 2:

If, owing to exceptional circumstances, a State-owned residence is not immediately available for Members upon assumption of duty of office, expenses in connection with alternative accommodation may be debited to the State until an official residence becomes available.

The first question would be whether the absence of one bed or unhappiness with the existing furniture would constitute “exceptional circumstances” as required by the Handbook. The second question would be whether a house is “not available” if some of the furnishings in the house are not to the liking of the new resident.

Now, maybe I am just not used to the millionaire’s lifestyle, but I find it rather difficult to believe that the absence of one bed or unhappiness with the state of the existing furniture could possibly have legally constituted “exceptional circumstances” as required by the Handbook. In a country where many people live in shacks, one could hardly argue with a straight face that unhappiness with the quality of furniture constituted “exceptional circumstances” that mandated an extended stay at tax payers expense in some of South Africa’s most expensive Hotels.

This conclusion seems irresistible if one reads the clause in conjunction with the provisions in Chapter 4 of the Handbook which stipulates what the Department of Public Works is required to provide to an official accommodated in official state housing:

The furnishing of State-owned residences is limited to the provision, and maintenance, of ordinary household furniture, mattresses, pillows, carpets, curtains, beds, stoves, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, tumble dryers and heaters, micro-wave ovens and dishwashers on request….. If a piece of furniture becomes redundant in a State-owned residence, the Office of the Member concerned should make the necessary arrangements in consultation with the Office of the Minister of Public Works to have the article/s removed and the inventories amended accordingly.

These provisions confirm that the Department would only provide the bare minimum of furniture for a house and would also – as a matter of course - replace “redundant” furniture. Such replacements are not treated as “exceptional circumstances” but are treated as ordinary day-to-day arrangements that should be made between the official and the Department. The sections in chapter 4 do not provide for a Minister to vacate his or her residence while the furniture are being replaced and it is thus not viewed as exceptional circumstances when any piece of state owned furniture is not up to the exacting standards of the relevant Minister.

More damning perhaps is that the residence was obviously “immediately available”. There it was standing – in upper Claremont nogal - a shiny house, shimmering in the morning light, furnished and ready to be used by any good servant of the masses of our people. Although the furniture were not to the Minister’s liking, that did not make the house “not available”. It just made the house not to the taste of the Minister (whom it turned out, had rather more expensive tastes than the previous owners).

All this suggests that the Minister was not allowed by the Ministerial Handbook to stay in 5 Star Hotels for six months at a cost of more than R500 000 and that he is legally required to pay back the money he had wasted. Maybe the Public Protector – who seems to be taking her job rather seriously and is acting without fear, favour or prejudice - should be asked to investigate this matter?

Meanwhile, the President might take up the suggestion of Cosatu’s Zwelinzima Vavi (is he finally regretting the fact that he gunned for the abolition of the Scorpions?) to have the serious allegations of corruption levelled against Minister Nyanda investigated. Just because General Nyanda has displayed a taste for the good life and seems to have flouted the Ministerial Handbook does not, of course, mean that he is a corrupt businessman too. But it does make one wonder.

Source: Constitutionally Speaking

ANC hits out on luxury hotel stays

The ANC came to the defence of cabinet ministers accused of wasting tax payers money by staying at luxury" hotels - and said it was "sensationalism of the highest order". The ruling party said in a statement issued yesterday that the "attack" on its ministers confirmed its long-held suspicion that ANC ministers were being "targeted".

"There is nothing immoral, illegal or unconstitutional in public representatives staying in hotels, as this is not a breach of the Public Finance Management Act, or the provisions of the Ministerial Handbook," said the ruling party's spokesman, Jackson Mthembu.

The furore over cabinet members spending millions of rands on hotel accommodation came as more reports over "extravagant" spending by minsters was published. Last week, the Democratic Alliance published its wasteful expenditure monitor table, setting out spending by the ANC considered to be wasteful or excessive. It reported that since President Jacob Zuma was elected president, government departments and state-owned enterprises had blown more that R1.5-billion on cars, parties, World Cup tickets and other luxuries.

But the ANC said yesterday the media was "failing" in its work to "properly inform" the public about laws governing accommodation of public representatives. "In line with the Ministerial Handbook and prescripts governing public representatives, c abinet ministers, MPs MECs and MPLs are entitled to stay in hotels while their permanent accommodation is not yet ready for occupation," Mthembu said. "No luxury can be derived in staying and working from a hotel environment, where you do not have the privacy you would enjoy staying in a proper home," he said.

Source: Times Live

The SACP in the headlines

60 years ago, the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) was declared an illegal organisation according to the 'Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950'. This apartheid act was approved on 26 June in parliament and came into force on 17 July 1950.

The Suppression of Communism Act banned the CPSA, and gave the government the power to ban publications that promoted the objectives of communism, and the power to 'name' people who could be barred from holding office, practicing as lawyers or attending meetings.

The Act, later extended through the Internal Security Act, sanctioned the banning/punishment of any group or individual intending to bring about 'any political, industrial, social or economic change in the Union by the promotion of disturbances or disorder, by unlawful acts or omissions or by the threat of such acts and omissions'.

This definition of communism was so broad and crude that its liberal opponents suspected it was seeking also to trap liberals in its net. In 1953, the party was renamed the South African Communist Party (SACP) at a national conference, where it was decided that the organisation would operate underground.

It was no accident that the apartheid regime saw communism as its foremost enemy. The Communist Party had been the first to advocate non-racism, and to open its ranks to people of all races and cultures. It had pioneered progressive trade unionism, and supported rural struggles. It had run night schools, and worked on developing its cadres.

The Act was progressively tightened up in 1951, 1954, and yearly from 1962 to 1968. Between 1948 and 1991, the apartheid government banned more than 1,600 men and women. Banned persons endured severe restrictions on their movement, political activities, and associations intended to silence their opposition to the government’s apartheid policies and stop their political activity.

In addition, the Act facilitated the government’s take down of liberation organizations such as the ANC. The Act forced these groups to go underground with their activism. Ironically, because of this act, groups such as Umkhonto we Sizwe (armed and ‘underground’ wing of the ANC) did seek support from Communist parties for financial aid. Liberation struggle leaders like Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki all received life sentences in prison partly because of this Act (Rivonia Trail).

Source: South African History Online

Minister wants action on corruption “without fear or favour”

Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane on Friday said it is the duty of law enforcement agency’s to act on allegations of corruption without fear or favour.

Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda is at the centre of another tender storm. It is alleged Nyanda wants all tenders for the department to be cancelled until they have been discussed and approved by him. He is also said to have stripped his director general, Mamodupi Mohlala, of powers to administer tenders because she refused to sign off on tenders linked to him or people close to him. The Communications Ministry has denied the allegations.

Chabane said police need to look into claims and investigate. “We should avoid a situation where we as politicians would interfere with the normal work of the operations of the authorities who have been given responsibilities. Our task needs to be clearly defined in terms of what it is we need to do, law enforcement agencies need to continue doing their work without fear or favour,” said Chabane.

Source: Eye Witness News

A two-day job after minister and DG clash

An acting director general was appointed for two days this week in the communications department after a mysterious fallout between Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda and his director general, Mamodupi Mohlala. Dr Harold Wesso, who was heading an e-skills institute in the department, told the Mail & Guardian he was placed in the post of acting director general late on Wednesday afternoon. The M&G was told that Wesso was temporarily appointed because Nyanda had tried to set up a meeting three times with Mohlala, but she had said she was sick. Because of her claim, Nyanda appointed Wesso in the acting position but did not suspend her. "My appointment letter said it was just for two days, until Friday," Wesso said on Thursday. "What is happening after that, I am not sure. I was appointed acting director general late [on Wednesday] afternoon and I will be trying to maintain the status quo."

Nyanda's and Mohlala's families have strong links with each other, but on Thursday Business Day reported that Mohlala was about to be suspended by Nyanda, following repeated disagreements over tenders she refused to sign. The story reported unsubstantiated claims that she had refused to approve tenders that were awarded to companies linked to people close to Nyanda and a private company partly owned by Nyanda, General Nyanda Security (GNS). Communications department spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso said Nyanda dismissed the allegations in the report "as false, spurious and malicious". "The minister is not involved in the issuing or adjudication of tenders," he said. "Such is the responsibility of the management of the department." Nyanda would not address administration and human resources issues through the media and was dealing with departmental management internally, Rikhotso said.

Mohlala agreed to answer M&G questions about the tender controversy but then failed to do so. Instead, she confined her response to an explanation of her relationship with the minister and said she would return to the office on July 19. "The minister and I have a conducive work relationship and I respect the mutual relationship both the minister as an executive authority and I as an accounting officer have," wrote Mohlala. In past weeks communications department staff said tensions have become apparent between Mohlala and Nyanda. A source close to the ANC NEC's communications subcommittee said Mohlala had alienated the party when she bypassed the committee on policy issues. "There have been major fireworks ... she doesn't attend meetings with them and has taken new policy to the Cabinet, such as on broadband, where there has been no debate."

Source: Mail & Guardian

Nyanda denies rift with DG

A terse statement issued today by the Department of Communications (DOC) denies a newspaper report that communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda is about to suspend his director-general, Mamodupi Mohlala. Earlier today, national newspaper Business Day reported that Nyanda was about to suspend Mohlala following repeated disagreements over tenders she refused to sign.

The newspaper said tenders that were the subject of the disagreement included those for advising Telkom on its black economic empowerment strategy, an IT system for the South African Post Office, and the turnaround strategy for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The report also cited the delay in the digital broadcasting migration strategy, with the process of changing SA's national TV system from analogue to digital as a point of tension between the two.

Nyanda has been on the receiving end of much criticism from the media and other sources, following his company General Nyanda Security being awarded lucrative Transnet contracts. His decision to spend more than R2 million on luxury cars, and his accommodation at luxury Cape Town hotels placed Nyanda close to the top of the official opposition Democratic Alliance's fruitless and wasteful expenditure list.

The DOC statement issued today says the minister dismisses the allegations contained in the report as false, spurious and malicious. “The minister exercises political oversight over the department and he gives it policy direction in line with his statutory and constitutional mandate. Furthermore, he respects the legal prescripts defining the scope, nature and extent of his responsibilities,” the statement says. It further denied any involvement by Nyanda in the issuing or adjudication of tenders. Such is the responsibility of the management of the department, it adds. The statement goes on to say Nyanda will continue with his responsibility of ensuring the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act, Public Service Act, and all relevant laws and regulations are adhered to and not flouted within the department.

It says Nyanda will not address the department's administration and human resources issues through the media. This position is in deference to the department's staff, including Mohlala, it notes. “The minister is dealing with issues that are impacting the management of the department internally and according to the applicable laws, regulations and public service policies,” the statement reads.

Niekie van den Berg, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of communications, says he is not surprised that reports of tension between Nyanda and Mohlala are surfacing. “I noticed during the Parliamentary briefing where both were present that the minister appeared to be very irritated in explaining why the country should be investigating another [Brazilian] system when it had already committed to a European standard,” he says. SA is in the middle of its digital migration strategy, with Cabinet having setting the switch-off date for the analogue system for 1 November 2011. Talk of changing standards at such a late stage has been vigorously opposed by the industry, broadcasters and others, as they have already committed themselves to the European standard and procured some of the equipment needed.

Source: IT Web

Why Zuma's top aide is leaving

It is becoming an old and rather monotonous story. Someone resigns from the presidency. Presidential aide Lakela Kaunda gets blamed. Kaunda denies it. And then life goes on, until the next resignation.

Previously the resignations have been those on Kaunda's level as deputy director general (for instance, chief operations officer Jessie Duarte) or beneath her (presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya). The next one that is anticipated is the most senior administrative official in government, the director general in the presidency, Vusi Mavimbela. And the reasons for Mavimbela's imminent departure may be the same as everyone else's but the way they reflect on Zuma makes it more chilling.

Mavimbela, as former spy boss and presidential adviser, is no stranger to government. With his wealth of experience and access to privileged information he was adamant to implement plans to make the presidency run like clockwork as an example of how government can do its job. But insiders say Kaunda would overrule him -- brief ministers and DGs about the president's demands without consulting him or not include him in processes which he should be leading. Eventually senior government officials started to wonder out loud whether he has any real say in the presidency.

When the Mail & Guardian asked Kaunda extensive questions about her leadership in the presidency last week she referred them to Zuma's spokesperson Zizi Kodwa. Kodwa on Thursday did not want to comment on Mavimbela's situation, because a final decision on his future had not yet been made, although those around Mavimbela says he is negotiating a plum diplomatic posting that would suit his status in government. Presidency staffers who are close to Zuma say it is simple: The president could not, after a year, trust his director general as much as he should. And no president would keep someone on whose loyalty he doubts.

Mavimbela's spy background and his former job at Mvelaphanda cast doubt on him. Is he fuelling a campaign for human settlements minister Tokyo Sexwale, rumoured to have presidential aspirations? Will he use priviledged information to undermine Zuma's bid for a second term as president? Does he still carry a torch for his former boss, former president Thabo Mbeki? Zuma couldn't figure it out and therefore decided it was best to let him go.

Another set of presidency officials have a different view: he decided to jump out of frustration. Said one: "If Zuma had a problem with his Mvelaphanda links, why did he hire Mavimbela in the first place for such a strategically important position?" No one seems to know the answer. What everyone does know is that Zuma is not comfortable in a meeting unless Kaunda is there. Some say it is for the president to be secure in the knowledge that someone "has his back", while others believe that she is simply the most effective administrator he has. But Kaunda's relations with colleagues aside, what is of real importance is how Zuma's manages these relations to ensure an effective administration. Although the director general is on his way out, the tensions will not leave with him. Some insiders already talk of a fight brewing in the legal services department because Kaunda instructed junior officials without going through the necessary bureaucratic processes -- which may be cumbersome but are important in the running of the organisation.

And when things come to a head, as they did with Mavimbela, Zuma cannot, as his aides say, "be above it all" and leave these issues to sort themselves out. He needs to take the time to ring fence duties and responsibilities, and hold those people to account. And he must ensure that in all this, loyalty does not trump competence.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Credit Suisse offices raided by tax officials

German prosecutors have raided 13 branches of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse in connection with an inquiry into tax fraud. The prosecutor's office in Dusseldorf said on Wednesday that about 150 investigators took part in searches. The search is focusing on allegations that bank staff assisted clients to evade taxes.

Tax officials bought a CD in February that reportedly contained information on about 1,100 wealthy Germans. There were reports at the time that the authorities paid about 2.5m euros for the disc to an unnamed individual. The data contained information that led prosecutors to believe that some 1.2bn euros (£1bn) of undeclared income was stashed in the Swiss accounts by the 1,100 people.

Investigations were launched into the individuals, but now officials have turned their attention to bank staff for allegedly aiding and abetting customers to avoid taxes. In April, Credit Suisse's chief executive Renato Fassbind said it appeared increasingly likely that some of the bank's clients were listed on a disc containing stolen data. The company was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday's raids.

Governments in Europe and the US have been cracking down on tax evasion. It is not the first time that Germany is thought to have paid for data on bank customers. In France and the UK too, authorities have bought information on wealthy bank customers who may have hidden money in secret accounts.

Source: BBC News

Concern at political interference in media

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) is "gravely concerned" about seemingly increasing political interference in the South African media, the institute's executive director, Ayesha Kajee, said on Wednesday. The newly appointed Kajee said in a statement she was especially concerned about allegations of political interference at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as the national broadcaster, and at renewed calls from various political actors to establish a media tribunal.

It was recently reported that the acting head of news at the SABC, Phil Molefe, had banned senior news executives from using interviews with former president Thabo Mbeki, after an interview with him was screened during the Soccer World Cup. These reports said that Mbeki's appearance on SABC television undermined ANC leader Jacob Zuma. The SABC denied these allegations, but its board said it would investigate the matter. "Given the right to a free press enshrined in the South African Constitution, both developments appear to signal a disturbing trend towards greater political control of the news media, and merit public scrutiny and debate," said Kajee.

Kajee said the recent incident at the SABC had similarities with the blacklisting saga of 2006/07, where former head of news Snuki Zikalala banned certain political commentators (perceived to be critical of Mbeki) from being interviewed on the national broadcaster. Kajee said while the FXI welcomed the SABC board's promise to fully investigate the new allegations, these developments appeared to indicate that censorship continued to be a problem at the public broadcaster. "The SABC has a mandate to represent the full spectrum of South African society, in a manner that is free from political or other bias," she said. "To ensure that the public broadcaster does not become diluted into a state organ subject to the whims of those in political power, it is critical that the SABC withstands pressures that may result in censorship and that the board strongly defend the broadcaster's independence." She said individuals within the ruling tripartite alliance had recently used a number of seemingly unrelated issues in the media as fuel to resuscitate calls for the formation of a media tribunal to regulate the press.

These included allegations of media bias around the investigation and trial of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, convicted last month on corruption charges; the revelation by former Cape Argus political journalist Ashley Smith that he received payment for writing favourably slanted reports about then-Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool; and an artist's depiction of former president Nelson Mandela as a corpse. Kajee said the concept of a media tribunal was first proposed at the ANC's 2007 elective conference in Polokwane, as the ruling party felt the major media companies in the country were "hostile" towards it and that the self-regulation of the media via the Office of the Press Ombudsman was insufficient.

The proposal was slated by media practitioners as being a move towards state intervention and control of the media. "It must be noted here that neither journalists nor politicians can operate without accountability and that neither group is above the law," Kajee said. She said the possibility of either strengthening the existing Press Ombudsman or the establishing of a truly independent media tribunal merited consideration and a public debate. "In either case, independence must be safeguarded by ensuring that there is no direct regulation by the state or the commercial media," she said.

Source: Mail & Guardian

The ANC, human dignity and freedom of the media

Pierre De Vos wrote the following on his blog:

When Tony Blair became leader of the British Labour Party he set out to befriend media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch owns The Sun, the biggest tabloid newspaper in Britain, as well as Sky News. In previous elections The Sun had supported the Conservatives and Blair understood that he needed the support of The Sun (topless page three girls included) to win the next election. He soon got that support and in 1997 won the general election in a landslide.

The Sun remained a supporter of the Labour Party in election after election but switched sides before the general election earlier this year. Labour, of course, lost this election to a coalition of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. (The fact that Sky News was obviously rooting for the Conservatives might also have helped a bit.)

Clearly the African National Congress (ANC) does not share Tony Blair’s Machiavellian view of how to influence the media. In recent days several ANC leaders and spokespeople have revived the idea of a Media Appeals Tribunal. It is unclear what this Tribunal would do or to what extent it would impose the ideological world view of the ANC on the media.

For Gwede Mantashe, it seems, a Media Appeals Tribunal will help to “correct” the anti-ANC bias in the media. He argues that the media is driven by a dark conspiracy to discredit the National Democratic Revolution (conveniently forgetting that the vast majority of South Africans receive their news from the SABC, a state broadcaster masquerading as a public broadcaster).

Blade Nzimande would like to see the Tribunal used to stop the alleged corruption in the media. He points out, correctly, that the Ashley Smith affair asks some serious questions not only about the integrity of Ebrahim Rasool, but also of Smith and other members of the media and calls for a re-evaluation of the role the media plays in South Africa.

(Is it not ironic that a cabinet Minister has taken the allegations made by former Cape Argus reporter Ashley Smith at face value and has used it to argue for the institution of a Media Appeals Tribunal, while the President has appointed the very person who has allegedly bribed Smith as our ambassador to Washington? Will Nzimande demand that the appointment be rescinded or will he show himself to be a rank hypocrite?)

ANC spokesperson, Jackson Mthembu, so it seems, want to use the Media Appeals Tribunal to censor the media and to stop them publishing things that might be upsetting or distasteful. Lambasting the Mail & Guardian for publishing a picture of the highly controversial Mandela autopsy painting, Mthembu stated:

This unbridled freedom of the media, as evidenced by projection of this so called art in the Mail and Guardian, confirms that the self-regulated print media environment is a recipe for disaster and negates the core values we hold dear as the society as contained in our constitution.

All these statements have at least two very scary things in common. First, it shares an utter lack of understanding of freedom of expression and the media in a well-functioning constitutional democracy. Second it endorses a view that ideas, facts, practices or opinions that the ruling party opposes or thinks is dangerous or harmful (to itself, to the state?) should not be published in the media and that a Tribunal should regulate the media to stop them printing such things.

In an open and democratic society, the media is an important and powerful player. It would be naive to think that members of the media do not have political views and that such views are not reflected in the choices of stories they carry and the way these stories are told. What is excluded is often just as important as what is included.

That is why one does not have to be a rocket scientist to know that the SABC is close to a mouthpiece of the ANC, while ETV and the print media are more critical of the ANC. No wonder the ANC wins every election with more than 60% of the vote, as the SABC is the main source of information and news for almost 80% of South Africans.

A free media is important because it protects and enhances our human dignity. It does this by providing us with different views so that we can make up our own minds about who we are, what we think and how we want to live. A free media helps us to have some agency and thus to become people whose inherent human dignity is respected.

The diversity of views seem all important, which means that as a rule, the majority or the majority political party should not be able to tell the media what it can and cannot publish as this would infringe on the human dignity of every South African. If we know nothing except that which we are allowed to know by our leaders, we do not live lives of dignity. Instead we live lives as people who are only half human, cut off from a sense of self, part of a collective, yes, but not able to change our minds or decide for ourselves what is good or bad in our world and how we want to deal with this reality.

Of course, in a democracy, political parties try to woo the media to get them to write nice things about them. If they make mistakes, they try and manage the media to limit the negative effects of their mistakes. Helen Zille, as a former journalist, is quite good at this kind of media management when she keeps her paranoid anti-ANC rhetoric in check. ANC leaders are seldom good at it and if they are (like Tokyo Sexwale) they are viewed with suspicion.

People who work in the real media (as opposed to those who work for the bureaucratic pro-state SABC) like to think of themselves as cool, intelligent and hip. When the ANC talks about the National Democratic Revolution, deploy fake revolutionary phrases that went out of fashion around the time that the USSR invaded Hungary, and talk about dark conspiracies by the enemies of the new order (by which they usually mean critics of the ANC and the government of the day), they alienate ordinary, decent, journalists who might otherwise have been ideologically rather close to the ANC.

What the ANC and the government it leads actually needs is not a Media Appeals Tribunal, but a media strategy to woo the non-state media to its side by talking the language of ordinary people and citizens. Instead of talking that fuax revolutionary drivel and blaming the Dark Lord Sauron, anti-transformation forces, the CIA or the Devil himself for their bad record on service delivery and for the bad publicity on corruption and the like, the ANC needs to face up to the facts and take quick and decisive action to correct mistakes to try and convince the real media that it really, really cares and is doing its best to stamp out corruption and to improve service delivery.

The ANC has been spoilt by its praise singers at the SABC, so it does not understand or respect real media freedom. Thus it cannot see the difference between disagreeing with something the media did (publishing the Mandela painting, for example) and demanding that the media be stopped from doing it. In a real democracy there are laws of defamation that protects the dignity of everyone and the media must operate within those laws but otherwise freedom of the media means exactly that: freedom to publish even things that the majority party does not like or finds despicable.

When the media does something that one really finds upsetting, one is of course entitled to criticise them. One can call the Mail and Guardian callous for publishing the painting of Mandela’s autopsy, or one can argue that the painting is just a really bad piece of art and that the Mail & Guardian has been sensationalistic and has shown a shocking lack of taste in publishing a “work of art” that is no more than a cheap and pathetic attempt to garner publicity for the artist.

That is all fair comment. But to suggest that the Mail & Guardian should not be allowed to publish the painting is to endorse a kind of censorship that cannot be squared with a constitutional democracy. I for one want to know what the fuss is about and want to make up my own mind on whether the painting is a cheap and pathetic publicity stunt or a meaningful and thought-provoking meditation on wisdom and learning.

The problem is that the ANC has not yet embraced the notion that its own views about what is right and wrong, what is acceptable or not, about what is an affront to the dignity of one of its leaders or not, is just that: its own view and one of many. It has not yet accepted that it does not speak on behalf of the nation (what a paternalistic notion!) and can thus not tell everyone what it is allowed to publish or to think. Its views – no matter how widely shared, cogent or laudable - is just one set of views.

There are many other views and if we want to live in a real democracy (and not the kind of fake democracy found in Hungary after 1956) we have to allow the many different views as long as the expression of these views stays within the bounds of the law of defamation.

This does not mean we cannot get upset or that we have no right to express our contempt and anger at the media. It just means that we cannot impose our own view – which is one of many different views that must be allowed to flourish in a society based on human dignity – on all.

Source: Constitutionally Speaking

'Lakela Kaunda is an Assertive Black Woman'

For someone with a growing reputation as resident "chief bully" in President Jacob Zuma's office, Lakela Kaunda is remarkably cool about the hullabaloo surrounding her. Broadsides thrown her way publicly include that she is a control freak, a bully, involved in a smear campaign against colleagues, and a selfish gatekeeper to Zuma even denying advisers access to him. But Kaunda, a soft-spoken Durbanite, isn't bothered. She quipped nonchalantly this week, in a brief interview with sister title the Sunday Tribune: "People love wicked women, don't they? A Delilah must be found somewhere."

While Zuma's first year in office played out like a soap opera, behind-the-scenes, Kaunda reportedly had a starring role, eclipsing several high-profile figures. Chief operations officer Jessie Duarte left unceremoniously in April, triggering a mass exodus in which communications chief Vusi Mona, director-general Vusi Mavimbela and senior communications aides Steyn Speed and Vincent Magwenya left.

While Duarte, in her famous e-mail to secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, complained about "a smear campaign, rumour mongering, gossip and vilifications" within the presidency before leaving, she later gave some insight into what Lakela Kaunda stands for. "Kaunda is not a bully. She is an assertive black woman. There are people (in the Presidency) who want to push her around (for their own gain), but she is not one to be pushed."

Affectionately addressed by Zuma as "Ntombinkulu", or Big Girl, Kaunda has an especially good relationship with the President in his 500-member-strong Presidency, having worked with him since the mid-1990s, when Zuma was economic affairs and tourism MEC and would turn to her to do his spin-doctoring. Kaunda, who hails from Hambanathi, in the sugar cane town of Tongaat, has also been a newshound of note. A one-time political correspondent at the Natal Witness, she worked her way up to assistant editor. She was appointed editor of the now-defunct Port Elizabeth newspaper Evening Post in 1999 - the first woman to edit a daily newspaper in the country. She also served as chairwoman of the SA National Editors' Forum.

When Zuma was promoted to deputy president, there she was, at the reins of his PR machinery. When he was fired, she left for the social development ministry, where she became special adviser to Minister Zola Skweyiya. She returned to Zuma's side, managing his office at Luthuli House, and when he was inaugurated as President, she was in the Presidency's communications unit of 40 people. A former colleague described her as highly efficient and a go-getter. She was "always astute and very committed... very focused, very professional in terms of helping us interact with the deputy president. I found her very helpful, that is why it is difficult to comprehend these stories written about her".

Presidency spokesman Zizi Kodwa said Lakela worked as part of a collective. The private office she heads was a small part of the Presidency, with about 40 staff who provide personal support to the President. Kodwa said Zuma was an accessible and a "very humble person who "tries to give his time to as many people as possible, including staff".

Eusebius McKaiser, political analyst at the Centre for Study for Democracy, said the exodus of key staffers was not likely to cripple Zuma's ability to function, but was not something he needed. McKaiser said that in the Presidency a number of positions were created because people had to be given "a slice of the victor pie". The real problem was that "the Zuma camp has to say thank-you to a lot of different constituencies that carried him to victory. Zuma's communications department needed "good communicators and political strategists who understand the power of gatekeeping," he said.

Wisecracks have ventured that it is Kaunda - and not Zuma - who runs the country.

Source: All Africa

Premier faces intimidation charge

Mpumalanga police are investigating an intimidation case against the province's Premier David Mabuza, police said on Thursday.

"I can only confirm that a charge of intimidation was laid against the premier in Barberton about three weeks ago," said Captain Leonard Hlathi.

He could not give details about the incident or the person who had brought the criminal charge against Mabuza.

Source: News 24

R30K to clear your criminal record

It was a "get out of jail free" card of sorts. Your R30 000 payment gave you a new, "clean criminal record". That is if you knew three men - one a police captain, who appeared on Tuesday in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court.

Thabo January Kabini, 49, a casual worker from KwaMhlanga, Mpumalanga taxi driver Thomas van der Merwe, 43, and Captain Mananya Joseph Marokane, 46, of Soshanguve, have pleaded guilty to charges of theft and corruption. Acting with a common purpose, they stole the documents pertaining to the criminal profile of Lucky Tileni Mathebula and removed his criminal record from the police's Criminal Record Centre system. Unknown to them, however, the person who asked for their help was a police informer, working as part of a police sting to crack the "business".

Criminal records may be altered or updated only when a "set aside" document is received from the Justice Department. Although Marokane was stationed at the record centre's adjudication section, he wasn't authorised to cancel or alter any existing criminal records. Van der Merwe said in his plea explanation that Kabini was a childhood friend. "He asked me to recruit 'clients' with criminal records so that we could 'assist' them in return for payment."

The case was postponed to September.

Time for rethink on traditional leaders

Millions of South Africans live much of their lives according to customary law (instead of having their lives regulated via the common law). During the apartheid era, customary law was viewed as second class law. We were told that the law that counted was statute law and, more importantly (for most – white – lawyers and legal academics), the “magisterial”, so called “conceptually refined” and “fundamentally fair” system of common law. When I studied law at Stellenbosch University, we did not study a single aspect of customary law. It was as if customary law (and the millions of people who lived in terms of it) did not exist.

Later I discovered that some of the ideological underpinnings of the Roman Dutch common law were rather suspect, what with its radical assumptions about freedom of contract and a predisposition to favour the powerful and the propertied classes above all others. At the same time it dawned on many that, for better or worse, millions of South Africans lived much of their lives in terms of customary law.

The official view on customary law has thankfully now changed, as the status of customary law in South Africa is constitutionally entrenched. Section 211 of the Constitution provides that the institution, status and role of traditional leadership are recognised subject to the Constitution. As the Constitutional Court has made clear in the case of Alexkor v Richtersveld Community, customary law must now be regarded as equal with the common law and as an “integral part of our law” and “an independent source of norms within the legal system.” Like any other source of law, customary law has a status that requires respect. Customary law must also not be judged through the lens of the common law.

But what happens if traditional customary law rules – interpreted and applied in its proper context and not with reference to the common law – conflicts with other provisions in the Bill of Rights? This question came to mind when I read about claims by Princess NomaXhosa Sigcawu from the East Cape that she had been overlooked to lead the AmaGcaleka Kingdom and that this was unconstitutional.

NomaXhosa said her mother, Queen Nozizwe, had been her father (King Zwelidumile Sigcawu’s) senior wife. Because she had been a baby when he died, King Xolilizwe, her older brother from another mother, had been made king. When King Xolilizwe died in 2006, one of his sons, Mpendulo, took the throne. The Princess claims that this move – based on the customary law rule in that community that only the oldest male heir could become King or Chief – discriminated against her on the basis of her sex or gender.

This case differs from the case of Shilubane and Others v Mwamitwa, where the Constitutional Court recognised the fact that a traditional community itself could change the rules to allow the female children of chiefs to take up the reigns, despite a previous custom that only the oldest male child could do so. This is because in the case of Princess Sigcawu, the community had not changed the custom and is resisting her attempts to become the Queen.

Commenting on the case, Chief Patekile Holomisa, Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA) president, said custom dictated who should be a royal leader. “Legitimacy of ubukhosi is derived from custom, not from the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” he said, referring to kingship. “It is not automatic that a woman as the first-born is a successor. If a traditional council decides to go against the custom, the court can allow that, but we do not accept it.”

As the Constitutional Court makes clear, this view by the President of CONTRALESA is not sustainable. Several provisions in the Constitution affirm that – like common law – customary law is now subject to the Constitution and cannot contravene the Constitution. Moreover, although Courts should try and respect the right of communities that observe systems of customary law and should try and respect their right to develop their law as they wish, where a custom discriminates against women or infringes on the rights of individuals, a court had a duty to declare that custom unconstitutional and to amend it.

There is a serious debate raging in academic circles and also amongst judges on how to deal with this issue. On the one hand, courts – especially the Constitutional Court – is acutely aware that customary law has been disregarded and disrespected in the past and that courts should now recognise the fact that customary law is a living law that can change over time. It is not the rigid and inflexible system of fossilised rules, written down by white colonialists and enforced by white judges during the apartheid era, and courts should be sensitive to this and, where possible, should allow the customary law to be develop by the relevant community themselves.

On the other hand, the courts have a duty to develop customary law rules to bring them in line with the spirit, purport and object of the Bill of Rights. Where customary law rules discriminate against women, they must be developed or declared unconstitutional. As the Court said in Shilubana:

courts must be cognisant of the fact that customary law, like any other law, regulates the lives of people. The need for flexibility and the imperative to facilitate development must be balanced against the value of legal certainty, respect for vested rights, and the protection of constitutional rights.

Whether a court will show deference to customary law and wait for it to develop organically, or whether it will intervene will depend on several factors. These factors would include:

the nature of the law in question, in particular the implications of change for constitutional and other legal rights; the process by which the alleged change has occurred or is occurring; and the vulnerability of parties affected by the law.

It is clear that a customary law rule that prohibits women from becoming traditional leaders like chiefs or queens, unfairly discriminates against women. It is based on patriarchal notions about the “proper” roles of men and women in society and is often justified on the basis that a chief or a king can only become one if he was fathered by a chief or a king. As women cannot father any children, they cannot and should not become chiefs or kings.

This view perpetuates the notion that men – because they father children – have a higher status in society than women. Although very few women will therefore directly be affected by this customary law rule (as very few women are actually the daughters of chiefs or kings), the rule would have far-reaching consequences for many women living in traditional communities exactly because it is based on patriarchal assumptions about the general subordination of women to men and because it reinforces and perpetuates this subordination.

I would therefore argue that in this case, the court should not wait for the community to develop the customary law rule to bring it in line with the requirements of gender equality, but should intervene (if asked to do so) to declare this customary law rule unconstitutional.

This is a pressing problem for another reason. There is a dirty little secret at the heart of traditional leadership which is never spoken about or acknowledged by Contralesa. The fact is that many traditional communities are controlled by Chiefs who were appointed as proxies of the apartheid government to exercise control on behalf of the apartheid state and they will not want to diminish their power and prestige by amending customary law rules to recognise gender equality. The very system of traditional leadership has been completely subverted by colonialism and apartheid and is far removed from the kind of benign system which made King Moshoeshoe such a revered leader more than hundred years ago.

Maybe it is time to recognise that our whole system of traditional leadership as it has evolved, is deeply problematic and not really compatable with a system of democratic governance. On the one hand one is acutely aware of the need to respect the traditional beliefs and cultural practices of millions of South Africans whose way of live was so fundamentally circumscribed and for ever changed by colonialism and apartheid.

On the other hand the system of customary law and of traditional leadership has been fundamentally subverted and corrupted by the colonial authorities and the apartheid state – often (but not always) with the collusion of traditional leaders. Some Chiefs or other traditional leaders do not always act in the best interest of the community and according to rules of customary law that protect everyone in the community as a member of the community.

Such unscrupolous and unelected leaders often borrow from customary law those parts that suit them and then also rely on common law or statute law rules based on a more individualistic view of the world in order to subvert the very system of rules which organised communal living, which (it could be argued) used to operate for the benefit of all. Instead many traditional leaders now act to cement their own hold on communities and to enforce completely unacceptable and bastardised forms of customary laws on their subjects. This leads to much hardship and suffering on the part of their “subjects” and seems to be in conflict with principles of democracy and the demand for respect of the inherent human dignity of all.

Maybe it is time for the government to return to the original policies regarding traditional leadership adopted by the ANC when they were still in exile and to do away with the undemocratic and often oppressive system of traditional leadership. I suspect this will not happen, but I also suspect customary law will only be able to take its rightful place as an equal and important body of law alongside the common law – as required by the Constitution – when traditional leadership structures are fundamentally reformed and democratised. The current system is undemocratic and (often) oppressive and has no place in a Constitutional democracy.

Source: Constitutionally Speaking

Nyanda under investigation

The decision to start an official probe into allegations of conflict of interest against communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda will be taken at the end of July. Public protector Thuli Madonsela is currently compiling reports based on her investigations into the complaints received against the minister, according to her spokesperson, Kgalalelo Masibi. Masibi says the reports will be ready at the end of the month and the findings will guide the public protector in deciding whether an official probe is necessary.

Masibi explains that the first complaint was about the minister's alleged breach of the Executive Members Ethics Code by receiving benefits from an allegedly irregular tender from Transnet. Julie Killian, of COPE, laid this complaint on 19 March. Nyanda's company, General Nyanda Security (GNS) Risk Advisory Services, was awarded a R55 million contract by the now-dismissed Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama. Nyanda has come out in support of Gama in his ongoing legal battles.

The second complaint was laid by the Democratic Alliance (DA). “It relates to a tender that was allegedly irregularly issued by the Gauteng Department of Transport to a company linked to Minister Nyanda (Abalozi Security Risk Advisory Services), before he became a minister, and his continued benefit from the contract now that he is a minister and has a duty to protect government interests,” says Masibi. The DA has also asked that the Public Protector investigate any other tenders that may have been irregularly issued to the company in question, she adds. DA Gauteng member of the Provincial Legislature Jack Bloom says the main issue is to discover why the contracts were awarded without tender and then not reviewed. “I think there should be a probe separate from the Ethics Act investigation and it could be done in co-operation with the director-general or the Special Investigations Unit or Hawks, whichever is the relevant body.”

National spokesman for the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Patrick Craven, says the union welcomes an investigation. “It's important in all these cases where the media has been publishing allegations. We're not in any way saying we agree that the people involved are guilty, but it's important because if they are guilty, then the matter can be dealt with, and if they're not, then they can be exonerated.”

Bloom says if the conclusion is that there was irregular lobbying for the tenders on behalf of the minister, and he is benefiting from them, then he could possibly be charged and there could be investigations into him as a sitting Cabinet minister.

Nyanda has previously not responded to requests for comment over the deal, which landed Gama in hot water. Department of Communications spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso says the minister has no comment to make at this point in the matter. “For now these are just mere complaints taken to the Public Protector and the minister has nothing to say about this, because these complaints were not brought to him.”

Source: IT Web

'No crisis' as Presidency officials resign

The Presidency has announced three more departures by senior officials in its office but denied that there was a "crisis". "There is no exodus of staff, and there is no crisis or turmoil in the institution," the Presidency said in a statement posted on its website on Monday. "What is happening are normal staff movements as it happens in any organisation at any time," the Presidency said, adding it was concerned about "speculative reporting" on staff changes. The comments were contained in a statement entitled, "Staff changes in the Presidency", which confirmed weekend rumours of more departures by senior officials.

The statement said President Jacob Zuma's economic adviser Mandisi Mpahlwa and deputy director-general for communications Vusi Mona would move to other jobs. The presidency said that Mpahlwa had been appointed ambassador-designate to the Russian Federation. "Given the importance of Russia, we needed a seasoned cadre to represent the president and the national interest in that country," said the minister in the Presidency responsible for administration, Collins Chabane. Mpahlwa will assume the post in September.

Mona will move to the Government Communications and Information System. "The weekend media reports that Mr Mona has been asked to resign are incorrect," said the statement. "Meanwhile, President Zuma and Minister Chabane are currently in discussions with the Director-General, Mr Vusi Mavimbela regarding his role and this has not been finalised yet." The resignation of chief director for presidential support services Steyn Speed -- "who is leaving to undertake further studies" -- was also announced in the statement.

Zuma's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya resigned last week to "rejoin the corporate world". Chief operating officer Jessie Duarte resigned in April. At the time, the then deputy director-general in the Presidency -- and now chief of staff -- Lakela Kaunda, dismissed reports linking her to Jessie Duarte's resignation as "grossly incorrect" and "unfortunate". "I have never had a quarrel with Ms Jessie Duarte," said Kaunda at the time.

In February, it was reported that Duarte wrote an "emotional email" to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, citing a "smear" campaign, "gossip" and "vilification" as reasons for intending to leave.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Ex-Police Chief in S. Africa Convicted

South Africa's former national police chief was convicted of corruption Friday after a nation beset by crime heard months of testimony about its top cop going on designer shopping sprees with a convicted drug smuggler. The case against Jackie Selebi, a one-time president of Interpol, has been a chief exhibit in a national debate over whether corruption and political meddling is undermining the fight against crime. South Africa's rates of murder and assault are among the world's highest.

Selebi, 60, showed little reaction as the verdict was read, and told reporters he had nothing to say as he left the central Johannesburg courthouse. He was not asked to post bail and is free until his sentence is determined in hearings set to start July 14. Selebi, once an important official in the governing African National Congress, had pleaded innocent. He claimed evidence was fabricated for the charge he accepted money and gifts in exchange for meeting the drug smuggler's business associates and tipping him off to investigations into his crimes. Selebi argued he was targeted by enemies who wanted to punish him for his criticism of an elite and now defunct crime-fighting unit. The unit attached to the national prosecutor's office -- setting up clashes with police -- was known as the Scorpions and disbanded in 2008 after it tried to prosecute Jacob Zuma on corruption charges before he went on to become South Africa's president.

Judge Meyer Joffe, in delivering the verdict, said Selebi's conspiracy theory had no basis, and that the former police chief showed ''complete contempt for the truth'' during the trial. The red-robed Joffe said ruling a witness was not credible ''stigmatizes the person as a liar and a person of low moral fiber. ''Every day, society in general and the courts in particular rely on the honesty, integrity and truthfulness of police men and women,'' Joffe said. Selebi has ''not set an example that should be emulated.''

Johan Burger, a researcher with the independent Institute for Security Studies and a former assistant commissioner in the South African police force, said corruption appeared to be on the rise in the force. But Burger said that was hard to document because Selebi disbanded the police anti-corruption unit soon after he took over the force in 2000. Burger said a public concerned about crime will be left questioning how Selebi was able to get away with wrongdoing for years. ''Although the fact that in the end justice prevailed should in many ways address some of the skepticism in the public's mind,'' Burger said. Burger said many on the force saw Selebi as an outsider imposed on them by the ANC.

Selebi was a former school teacher who in his youth was twice detained without trial for his anti-apartheid activism. He went into exile in Tanzania and later the Soviet Union, where he underwent military training. After apartheid ended in 1994, he was a member of the first all-race parliament, and later served as the envoy to the U.N. in Geneva. Selebi is just one of many prominent ANC members tainted by corruption. In a brief statement Friday, the party said the Selebi case ''clearly indicates that South Africa as a country is governed by laws that are applied without any fear or favor to anyone, regardless of their standing.''

The main opposition Democratic Alliance said it was ''time for the many other senior ANC politicians, not least President Jacob Zuma, who still have unanswered questions about corruption hanging over their heads, to also have their day in court.'' Last April, weeks before Zuma led the party to victory in national elections, top prosecutors dropped corruption charges against Zuma, saying the case had been tainted by political meddling.

South Africa comes in 55th out of 180 on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, based on surveys of businesses and experts. That means South Africa is seen as less corrupt as places like Greece, Thailand and Zimbabwe, but worse than Botswana, at 37th the highest-ranking African country.

While convicted of corruption, Selebi was found not guilty on the second charge he faced, defeating the ends of justice. The star witness in the trial, which began last October, was convicted drug smuggler Glenn Agliotti. Agliotti himself faces trial later this year, accused in the 2005 murder of mining magnate and ANC financier Brett Kebble. Agliotti has pleaded not guilty to the charge, claiming the death was an assisted suicide. Prosecutors have said that in return for more than 1 million rand ($130,000 U.S.) in cash and gifts over the years, Selebi did favors for Agliotti, including letting him see documents British police sent to their South African counterparts linking Agliotti to drug smuggling. Prosecutors said Agliotti took Selebi shopping at upscale stores in Johannesburg and London, paying for suits, shirts, ties and shoes. Agliotti also bought items for Selebi's sons, wife and girlfriend, prosecutors alleged.

Source: New York Times

Aurora link to suspect land deal

A controversial property developer in the North West province has links to empowerment company Aurora Empowerment Systems. Despite Aurora's dire financial troubles with the liquidated Pamodzi Grootvlei and Orkney mines, the company appears to be interested in a questionable land deal on the Hartbeespoort Dam that has left the local Madibeng municipality divided. It seems the deal secured by developer Naas Grimbeek traded on political clout. The land was sold for R77-million but is said to be worth much more and the deal was pushed through by the province in the teeth of opposition from the local council.

Aurora's political credentials are well established. Khulubuse Zuma, President Jacob Zuma's nephew, Michael Hulley, Zuma's lawyer, and Zondwa Mandela, Nelson Mandela's grandson, are on the Aurora board. In July last year Aurora announced with huge fanfare the R78,5-million acquisition of Zambian-based company, Redwood Timber Merchants, from Grimbeek. The asset would be injected into the listed company Cenmag.

In interviews Khulubuse Zuma said: "Aurora owns Cenmag. Cenmag is the vehicle that we are going to use to make a string of acquisitions. This is only one -- there are other acquisitions that are coming to the fore. Redwood Timber is the biggest timber company in the southern hemisphere, the largest sawmill in the southern hemisphere." Zuma said Grimbeek had already been paid R32-million. But the deal with Cenmag collapsed and it appears there are other claims over the assets of Redwood.

This week Grimbeek first claimed the Redwood deal had collapsed because Aurora was unable to pay for it -- but if financing came through from Aurora's latest funders, the deal would be on again. He later declined to say anything more about the deal, other than the contract was being renegotiated. Meanwhile, the M&G has established that the Industrial Development Corporation has obtained a R14,5-million warrant of execution against Grimbeek and his companies for the non-payment of a loan for Redwood Timbers. Grimbeek would not answer questions about the warrant. It appears the loan was to cover debts still owing on the company and that attempts have been made by the Zambian government to repossess the property on which the sawmill is located.

Now Grimbeek has emerged as the man behind what has been described as a "murky purchase" of approximately 400ha of prime land, the Oberon resort, on the Hartbeespoort Dam. But he denied that Aurora was involved in the land deal, although he said Zuma had expressed an interest in Oberon. But contractors working for Grimbeek on the resort, renamed Eagle Waters Wildlife, said Grimbeek had mentioned Aurora as a stakeholder in the project. There are other smaller links.

The M&G has established that, in December last year, Aurora made a R14 000 payment to Hentiq 2784, a company through which Grimbeek owns the property. Grimbeek says it was repayment of a loan. Merloni Brand Consultancy, owned by Mandela and Yaseen Theba, the son-in-law of Suliman Bhana, a controversial former adviser to Aurora, were employed by Grimbeek to design the website for Eagle Waters. Grimbeek said that the relationship between him, Mandela and Zuma was confidential, though he admitted earlier that he spoke regularly to the two Aurora directors.

Eagle Waters is the talk of the town in Hartbeespoort, with local papers, councillors and business people in an uproar about what they see as a land deal sorely lacking in transparency. Oberon, the land where Eagle Waters is being built, was the last piece of public-access land open to the community. "It's ridiculous," says Titus Mlambo, secretary of the local policing forum. "They didn't even ask our consent. We are surprised that they sold this land because there are informal settlements on it and these people will be evicted. Now, we have no access to the dam." Grimbeek bought the Oberon land from the North West department of public works, roads and transport for R77-million, but local estate agents said the property's value was closer to R450-million. Grimbeek disputes this. He said his valuations showed that the land, without the development of services, was worth between R70-million and R120-million. A high-level source in the North West department of public works told the M&G that the deal did not go through the usual channels but was treated as a special project by the provincial minister and premier.

Originally the land was under a 99-year lease to the Madibeng local municipality, which still had 86 years left on the lease when it was sold off to Grimbeek in 2009. The M&G understands that the provincial department put significant pressure on the municipality to sign a clearance certificate to allow the land to be sold to Grimbeek. A number of ward councillors for the area who initially were vehemently opposed the sale, believing it would be detrimental to the community, later changed their minds. A member of the community who asked not to be named said the councillors felt they were "fighting a losing battle". "There was pressure from the consortium and the provincial government. They said they had already sold the land." A councillor also said that a high-level politician had intervened when the "transparency and legitimacy" of the land deal was questioned and told the councillor to back off.

Grimbeek said the purchase was above board and his company acted "ethically and diligently". He would not say where the funding had come from for it or if the full purchase price had been paid. The M&G had not received responses from the province, the municipality or Aurora at the time of going to print.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Environmental probe for dodgy mining rights

A special environmental government task team is to investigate mining in sensitive areas. This follows a swarm of controversial green lights given by the mining department for mining and prospecting rights in sensitive areas in the past couple of years.

The task team is the result of the long-anticipated meeting last week between Environmental Mminister Buyelwa Sonjica and Mining Minister Susan Shabangu. The two had met to discuss Sonjica’s concern over the controversial Vele colliery next to World Heritage Site Mapungubwe. "The minister is still deeply concerned about what is going at the mine," Sonjica’s spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said. But he said the minister believed the task team was a step in the right direction to resolve the environmental concerns. He described the meeting with Shabangu as fruitful.

Shabangu’s department issued mining rights to Coal of Africa at the beginning of this year, but Sonjica came out strongly against the Vele mine. She requested a formal meeting with Shabangu on the matter in February, but last week’s meeting was the first to result in significant reported progress between the two departments.

Last week the Mail & Guardian reported that the Green Scorpions had swooped down on Coal of Africa’s Vele mine in May. Two weeks ago the department of environmental affairs issued an order against the mine for environmental transgressions. Coal of Africa must now make representations to the environmental department on why it should not be prosecuted.

The M&G understands that the department is now conducting regular surveys to determine what exactly Vele had done. This week officials from both departments flew over the mining area as part of the ongoing investigation. "We need to determine whether the work Vele had done is within the scopes of permission it had been granted, and just how far they had gone beyond the legal framework," Ratau said.

Coal of Africa has maintained that all the work it has done so far, including the clearing of bush and building of new structures, falls in within the mining rights order it obtained. Last week Coal of Africa’s CEO Riaan van der Merwe insisted that the mine had acted within the law at all times.

Vele will not be the only mine investigated by the task team, though it is understood that much of its focus will be on Mapungubwe. "The task team is to look at the bigger picture, the ultimate impact of mining on sensitive areas," Ratau said. "And of course Vele will be one of the new focus areas, as it has been a contentious issue." The task team, which will have high-ranking officials from both the mining and environmental department on board, is also aimed at relieving tensions between the two departments and improving dialogue on environmental issues.

Other sensitive spots that have been in the news for mining activities include areas near Dullstroom, Chrissiesmeer and Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga, Verlorenvlei near Piketberg in the Western Cape, as well as the Winelands. In many of these areas only strong environmental activism served as a warning to the impacts of mining on the local environment. But environmental activists say their job is getting more difficult with the avalanche of mining licenses the mining department has been awarding.

The two ministers will now draft a definition of what they see as sensitive areas, and the locations of these areas. On Thursday, Gareth Morgan, the DA’s spokesperson on water and environmental affairs, welcomed the task team but called for the two departments to extend this project by establishing a mining advisory forum with a specific focus on the effects of mining on the environment. "The discussion on what is a sensitive area should not be contained only in government," he said. "It should be thrown open to stakeholders from civil society, including farming and environmental organisations," Morgan said.

Source: Mail & Guardian