Poor leadership in the national executive committee of the ANC Women’s League as well as a surge of ”careerism” in its ranks are to blame for the 11th-hour switch in the league’s allegiance to support ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, ANC insiders said. Although the NEC was convinced it could unite the league’s vote behind President Thabo Mbeki, it did not do the necessary work to convince the provinces to follow its lead.

The decision by President Thabo Mbeki to address the issue of presidential pardons during his most recent speech to Parliament this year has been seen in some ANC circles as an attempt to polish his image before the party’s elective conference that starts in just more than three weeks.

With the African National Congress’s (ANC) elective conference a few weeks away, allegations are doing the rounds that those with deep pockets are using their money to sway voting delegates. This issue has come up on the fringes of the recent meeting of the national executive committee.

The new government strategy to tackle crime in South Africa will be flawed from the outset unless individuals in key positions are removed, role players in the criminal justice system said this week. The strategy, masterminded by Deputy Justice Minister Johnny de Lange and non-executive director of FirstRand Laurie Dippenaar, aims to overhaul the crime-fighting system.

Parliament might soon be able to flex its muscles and force the executive arm of government to take it more seriously. A report with suggested legislation will be tabled in Parliament on November 19 outlining the new role Parliament should play in deciding where the government’s spending priorities lie. This is part of a long tug of war between the national legislature and the national treasury.

Two of the key figures in the genesis of the arms-deal scandal — Patricia de Lille and Andrew Feinstein — went public again this week, fanning the embers of a corruption storm that has been smouldering for nine years. Feinstein, the former African National Congress leader of Parliament’s public accounts watchdog Scopa, resigned when the party moved to curtail investigations into the arms deal.

If President Thabo Mbeki remains ANC president and therefore has the power to appoint his own successor, South Africa after 2009 will be run by his two most-trusted lieutenants, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and government’s head of policy-making, Joel Netshitenzhe.

Every journey begins with a first step. While a few steps have been taken by China into resource-rich Africa, the country’s growing influence has been thrown into the spotlight with the investment by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Standard Bank — a deal totalling a staggering R36,7-billion. The Chinese say this is just the start.

Multimillionaire businessman Cyril Ramaphosa is ready to accept nomination for the presidency of the ANC, despite past public statements that he was not interested in the party’s top job. Ramaphosa’s low-profile entry into the ANC’s presidential race prompted by his nomination for the presidency by the party’s Gaby Shapiro branch in Rondesbosch, Cape Town — caused a stir in ANC circles, with some giving an almost audible sigh of relief.

A veil of silence has been drawn over allegations that National Intelligence Agency boss Manala Manzini abused his wife. The Mail & Guardian reported last week that the ANC Women’s League was planning to discuss the issue with Manzini’s wife, Mavivi Mayakayaka-Manzini, deputy chairperson of the league, at a national working committee meeting.