South Africa’s assumption of the United Nations Security Council’s rotating presidency this week could hardly have come at a more contentious time.
The council’s permanent members — the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany — are scrabbling for more sanctions on Iran relating to its nuclear ambitions, while South Africa supports the right of countries to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
President Thabo Mbeki met Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, in Pretoria last weekend, but the outcome of their talks was not revealed. What South Africa did do was to urge Iran this week to act in a transparent manner when dealing with the UN over its nuclear ambitions.
Iran’s Islamic government has repeatedly insisted its programme is merely aimed at fuelling power plants for electricity, but that assertion has done little to calm tensions and many of Iran’s critics say this is just a front for assembling atomic weapons.
Meanwhile, rumours continue to surface in Washington that President George Bush’s administration is planning a strike on Iran. Sources said that if there were an attack, it would more likely be next year, just before Bush leaves office. The Bush administration insists the military build-up is not offensive, but aimed at forcing Iran to make diplomatic concessions.
South Africa can likely contribute positively as an objective third party, but must step cautiously into the fray to avoid choosing sides and becoming entangled in this sticky nuclear web.
| FULL SPEED AHEAD |
NOT SO FAST |
John Perlman
South Africans just can’t seem to get over the resignation of this SAfm anchor par excellence. Like electricity, or the air, you might not have been able to see him, but you knew he was there. And now he’s gone as a direct result of his employer, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which said it had accepted his resignation ‘with regret”. South African journalism is the poorer for his departure. |
 J Arthur Brown
Choirs and sports teams, widows and orphans — all face an uncertain future due to money seemingly lost by Fidentia Asset Management, which is now under curatorship. Fidentia boss Brown needs to answer some tough questions — as does the Mineworkers Provident Fund, which was warned on three occasions to sever ties with Fidentia. |
Most-read stories
February 22 to 28 2007
1. Iran: A war is coming
The United States is planning what will be a catastrophic attack on Iran. For the Bush cabal, the attack will be a way of ‘buying time” for its disaster in Iraq. In announcing what he called a ‘surge” of American troops in Iraq, George W Bush identified Iran as his real target.
2. Inside the mind of a dictator
The man shuns the beautiful landscapes, the winding rivers that pour down magical gorges and the glossy inland lakes of his own country and goes to Malaysia on holiday. He addresses villagers in complicated English and keeps himself away from any personal contact with his people.
3. ‘Ask some whites to leave’
Nowhere else in Cape Town is the contrast between the wealthy and the wretched as visible and as stark as in Hout Bay. And nowhere else are people as desperate, fed-up and suspicious of one another.
4. The uneasy logic of black empowerment
Government strategy has created a tiny black elite! Black economic empowerment (BEE) favours rampant crony capitalism! BEE is just corporate trickle down to the black middle class! Black empowerment is no more broad-based than Jacob Zuma’s bank balance!
5. Mugabe celebrates amid Zim gloom
Zimbabwe’s veteran President Robert Mugabe lavishly celebrated his 83rd birthday on Saturday, with a warning to his opponents planning protests against a proposed extension to his rule.
6. ANC papers over cracks in alliance
The African National Congress (ANC) is “more than capable” of speaking for itself on its state of organisation and other matters affecting it, the party said on Sunday.
7. Fidentia: Union fund was warned
Seventy percent of the money belonging to widows and orphans apparently lost by financial institution Fidentia could have been recovered, according to the lawyer who advised the Mineworkers Provident Fund (MWPF) trustees on three occasions last year to move the money out of Fidentia’s clutches.
8. An inconvenient truth: Al Gore’s bloated bills
Al Gore knows a thing or two about the vicissitudes of public life. Six years ago he was virtually written off as a has-been vice-president after he won the popular vote only to lose the 2000 race for the White House.
9. Last resting place of Jesus and family?
If it really were the most important archaeological discovery in history, the point of truth came with very little song or dance. There was no drum roll or fanfare, just the sweeping aside of black felt drapes to reveal a pair of simple stone boxes sitting side by side.
10. Daylight robbery?
Creating two separate time zones in the country could lead to a massive annual saving of about 500MW of electricity generation, says an internal Eskom study.