In the search for MPs in about 20 parliamentary constituency offices this week, we had just one close encounter, missed by a mere 10 minutes: MPs had either ”just left” or were at the office only on certain days.
”Very sour and strained” relations between African National Congress MP Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and fellow parliamentarians, including those of her own party, meant she would not have received a fair hearing over her non-disclosure to Parliament of regular monthly donations and financial interests.
Anton Ackermann, the man who prosecuted the apartheid regime’s chemical and biological warfare chief, Wouter Basson, is to head up a unit to oversee apartheid-era prosecutions.
President Thabo Mbeki may soon have all government information at his fingertips at the push of a button, if a new electronic monitoring system for the president gets the go-ahead.
It costs between R16,73 and R31,50 to administer each social grant, whether it is a R700 monthly pension or a R160 child support grant, says the Intergovernmental Fiscal Review.
A pilot project in two of Malawi’s constituencies showed that about 100 000 voters, or 2% of the voters’ roll, had died of HIV/Aids-related diseases. Concern that the HIV/Aids epidemic already threatens democracy and governance appears to be confirmed in research by the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa.
In a week of high defection drama, the African National Congress has emerged the clear winner, while the Democratic Alliance won the race among opposition parties.
After several 419 fraudsters tried to trade on a bogus ”government mining department”, the Department of Minerals and Energy established a risk management unit to work with police and intelligence officials to track down these conmen.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has failed to keep full and proper accounting records since April 1994, while public works could not provide proof of ownership of state properties which incurred operating costs of R169,4-million, the auditor general’s report for the 2001/02 financial year reveals.
Teflon politician Peter Marais has gone solo. Under the motto ”Come home” he announced his own unnamed political party on Thursday.