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/ 18 December 2007

ANC voting: ‘So far, so good’

A third day of cool, rainy weather in Polokwane did little to quench the fiery support for the front-runners in the ANC presidential race: Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Voting for the party’s top six officials started later than the scheduled time of 6am on Tuesday morning due to computer-related delays.

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/ 18 December 2007

Watch this man

”Comrade Motlanthe, sabela uya-bizwa,”sang delegates at the conference on Sunday. ”Comrade Motlanthe, you are being called to service!” Kgalema Motlanthe has been portrayed by both camps as the indecisive, weak link in the ANC infighting.

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/ 17 December 2007

Sexwale steps out of ANC race

<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=ancconference_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/327874/livefrompolo.gif" align=left border=0></a>African National Congress (ANC) heavyweight Tokyo Sexwale on Monday night declined his nomination to the position of national chairperson as the names of those in the running for the ruling party’s top six positions were announced. As predicted, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma go head to head in the contest for party president.

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/ 17 December 2007

ANC hopes to start voting on Monday

The African National Congress’s Polokwane conference may deal with nominations for the party’s presidency late on Monday, according to a senior party official. The nomination process is expected to result in a head-to-head clash for the top post between party president Thabo Mbeki and his deputy, Jacob Zuma.

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/ 17 December 2007

And the runners-up are …

On Sunday a picture emerged of strong support for Jacob Zuma, overshowing the rest and spectacularly managing to humiliate national ANC chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota. As strong an indicator as it was, some delegates supporting President Thabo Mbeki insisted that an Mbeki win remained a possibility.

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/ 17 December 2007

‘This conference is different’

Delegates to the ANC’s national conference in Polokwane were on Sunday concerned about disruptions, but also hopeful that the party will emerge stronger and better. Motsotose Ndyalivani (49), a delegate from the Rogersfontein region of Grahamstown, said the conference was different from the six that he had attended in the past.

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/ 16 December 2007

ANC elections running late

The first day of the African National Congress’s (ANC) Polokwane conference ended abruptly just after 9.30pm on Sunday, without dealing with nominations for the party leadership. ANC national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota told delegates to come back on Monday, explaining there were ”a few details” the national executive committee wanted to tie up.

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/ 7 December 2007

Skweyiya regrets publication of Lekota letter

”Unfortunate and regrettable” was how Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya on Friday described the publication of a letter in which he criticised Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota. ”I wish to state that the letter was intended for internal discussion within the African National Congress, and not for public consumption,” he said.

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/ 5 December 2007

How do SA Cabinet members unwind?

What does President Thabo Mbeki like to do in his spare time? Ballroom dancing? Playing the piano? No, the man likes to work during leisure hours, says his spokesperson. As the ruling party’s national conference in Polokwane approaches members of the South African Cabinet certainly need ways to unwind.

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/ 30 November 2007

Mbeki: ANC must defend its values

The African National Congress (ANC) must defend its principles and values without hesitation or ambiguity, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Some people seemed very keen to denounce any restatement of the most basic ANC positions as constituting an attack on ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, he said in his weekly online newsletter.

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/ 28 November 2007

Union wants Lekota charged over Lohatla

The South African National Defence Force Union on Wednesday threatened to lay a criminal charge against Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota for contravening the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The union also wants the Labour Department to take action against the South African National Defence Force for non-compliance with health and safety legislation.

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/ 27 November 2007

DA highlights problem of stock theft

More than 28 000 animals were stolen from farms around the country over the past 18 months, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. Less than 40% of the stock — including game, cattle, sheep and goats — was recovered, DA rural safety spokesperson Ryno King said in a statement.

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/ 20 November 2007

SA, Mozambique sign treaty on defence, security

South Africa and Mozambique on Tuesday signed a treaty for the establishment of a Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security. Speaking at the signing of the agreement, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said cooperation on defence and security between South Africa and Mozambique is critical with an eye on the 2010 World Cup.

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/ 14 November 2007

ANC branch denies having nomination list

The Sandton branch of the African National Congress (ANC) has not drawn up or endorsed any list of desired candidates for ANC leadership positions due to be determined later this year. The branch responded on Wednesday to a City Press article published this week that alleged the party had created such a list.

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/ 28 October 2007

Cosatu: Alliance won’t survive Mbeki re-election

The tripartite alliance will not survive if Thabo Mbeki is re-elected president of the African National Congress in December, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Sunday. ”A status quo will see the destruction of the alliance itself,” he told what was in essence a Jacob Zuma election rally in Kimberley.

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/ 23 October 2007

Cosatu jumps into ANC T-shirt fray

African National Congress (ANC) chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota is being one-sided in calling for a clampdown on T-shirts showing support for ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma while defending T-shirts bearing President Thabo Mbeki’s image, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday.

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/ 17 October 2007

Cosatu accuses Lekota of ‘hostility’

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota’s ”hostility” towards the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was reflected in his ”ignorance” of its policies, presented as an alternative to those of the government, Cosatu said on Wednesday. Lekota had challenged Cosatu in a radio broadcast to ”present alternative policy positions to those of the ruling party”.

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/ 17 October 2007

Investigation into military accident under way

A military board of inquiry into an accident in which nine soldiers were killed has begun its work, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday. Lekota was visiting seven troopers in various Bloemfontein hospitals, who were injured in the anti-aircraft gun accident at the Lohatla training area in the Northern Cape last Friday.

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/ 16 October 2007

Lekota defends Pikoli’s suspension

African National Congress chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota in the National Assembly on Tuesday defended the decision to suspend National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, as well as the police probe into the alleged theft of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s health records.