No image available
/ 2 September 2005
The African National Congress feels the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has jumped the gun by rejecting President Thabo Mbeki’s call for an inquiry into claims that there is a plot against Jacob Zuma. ”We feel it is unfortunate that Cosatu has rejected the proposal before engaging,” said ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama.
The South African Communist Party expressed anger at the release of a letter by President Thabo Mbeki on Jacob Zuma on Friday, saying it was supposed to be an internal alliance document. In the letter, Mbeki suggests a commission of inquiry to probe claims that he and others are seeking to destroy Zuma politically.
Former deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday he is humbled by the support South Africa has given him since allegations of corruption were first levelled against him. Meanwhile, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal will hold meetings across the province to explain the party’s stance on Zuma.
White farmers can be assured that their views on land reform will be taken into account, the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs said on Friday. ”We can assure them. They must be frank, fearless and open about their views,” said Director General of Agriculture Masiphula Mbongwa at the land summit in Johannesburg.
Successful land reform is not about how much land is transferred, but about how it improves the lives of South Africans, the Land Bank told the land summit in Johannesburg on Friday. Land Bank general manager George Oricho discussed the challenges of financing land reform in the country.
If land reform does not happen fast enough, people will organise themselves and force redistribution to occur, a Zimbabwean professor said on Thursday. ”If the state does not move when it is challenged, it will be challenged,” Professor Sam Moyo, of the African Institute for Agrarian Studies, told the national land summit in Johannesburg.
The deputy president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has apologised after raising his views on who should lead the ANC in 2007. Reuben Mohlaloga apologised for raising his views outside the working structures of the ANCYL, league president Fikile Mbalula told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Only eight of the group of 61 of suspected mercenaries will be prosecuted in South Africa after they appeared in the Pretoria Regional Court on Friday. Their case was postponed to July 8 for further investigation. The men, who are out on warning, are facing charges of contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act.
Former president Nelson Mandela has won the first part of his legal battle with his ex-lawyer and a publisher over the sale of his artworks. The Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday ordered lawyer Ismail Ayob, publisher Ross Calder and various other companies to stop selling the artworks.
It is unclear whether the 62 alleged mercenaries jailed in Zimbabwe will return to South Africa on Friday, their lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, said from Harare on Thursday. The men were supposed to have been released from Chikurubi maximum-security prison on Tuesday.