Vicki Robinson
Guest Author
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/ 18 November 2005

Riding on Zulu empathy

There is a good Zulu word that captures why African National Congress Deputy President Jacob Zuma’s guilt or innocence on fraud charges is not an issue for his supporters. It is ukusizelana — ”empathy” or ”mutual help”. ”It’s like this,” says Mike Zuma, a guest at the Friends of the Jacob Zuma Trust cocktail party on the Durban beachfront last Friday evening.

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/ 4 November 2005

Spending key to growth plan

Massively increased levels of public investment lie at the heart of Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s plans for accelerated and shared economic growth. But its ambitious 6% target for economic growth has been scaled back to 4,5%, at least for the next five years. The 6% growth mark is seen as being attainable only between 2010 and 2014.

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/ 28 October 2005

Graft message key to anti-Zuma campaign

African National Congress president Thabo Mbeki believes his deputy, Jacob Zuma, will exhaust himself politically before the crucial 2007 ANC congress, and plans to weaken him by constantly beating an anti-corruption drum. Senior party sources said this was the core of Mbeki’s counter-strategy in the vicious battle over the presidential succession.

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/ 28 October 2005

E Cape wastes R52m on grants wrangles

According to Rhodes University’s Public Service Accountability Monitor, the Eastern Cape social development department has spent R52-million over the past four years defending lawsuits by applicants demanding their social grants. The figure is contained in a damning report by the PSAM highlighting the department’s inability to fulfil one of its primary functions.

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/ 28 October 2005

Motlanthe targeted in e-mail exchange

E-mail messages allegedly exchanged between senior African National Congress leaders outline a plan to work the financial destruction of ANC general secretary Kgalema Motlanthe, the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> established this week. The existence of the messages was confirmed at the weekend by Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, and they are reported to have been unlawfully obtained by the National Intelligence Agency.

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/ 21 October 2005

S’bu on the skids

A number of African National Congress leaders in KwaZulu-Natal have warned that they will not support Premier S’bu Ndebele’s re-election at the 2007 provincial conference unless he shows decisive leadership over the Jacob Zuma saga. The <i>Mail & Guardian</i> spoke to leaders from eight of the 11 ANC regions in the province.

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/ 17 October 2005

No change, no vote

A year after Harrismith’s impoverished Intabazwe township erupted against poor service delivery, the community has vowed they will not vote, or will vote for opposition parties, in the upcoming local government elections. They insist that promises made by the African National Congress-led council have been dishonoured.

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/ 10 October 2005

Fat cats take the cream

Fat-cat salaries are crowding out socio-economic delivery in many of South Africa’s municipalities, official figures show. The salaries of municipal councillors and officials outstrip spending on services by nearly R10 -billion — 10% of the total municipal budget. The figures must be seen against the backdrop of the municipal protests that have exploded across South Africa in the past six months.