The Presidency on Tuesday could not confirm reports that African National Congress deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe would be deployed to the Cabinet within days. ”I don’t know … I have not been advised on anything,” said presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga.
A statutory media tribunal would not only be unconstitutional but it would not solve the plethora of problems in the industry, a discussion group concluded on Tuesday. Jane Duncan from the Freedom of Expression Institute said the proposed body would obviously be unconstitutional, and would not fly.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for a fourth militia leader from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for recruiting child soldiers to fight in the country’s devastating civil war, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Bosco Ntaganda was charged for his actions during the conflict in the eastern province of Ituri.
South African President Thabo Mbeki’s failure to criticise neighbouring Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe has weakened his international stature, analysts said. Once hailed as a leader focussed on Africa’s revival, Mbeki’s silence on Zimbabwe has been blamed either on misplaced loyalty or crippling deference.
South Africa faces a new threat 14 years after the first democratic election, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Saturday. She was addressing a large crowd at the KwaZulu-Natal Freedom Day celebrations in Molweni, outside Durban. ”The threat is a ruling party that believes it is more important than the Constitution. It is a party that believes it will rule until Jesus comes,” said Zille.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Friday rejected foreign criticism of his country as international pressure mounted for him to stand down. "Zimbabwe has a history and heritage and it will never be afraid. Zimbabwe is not for sale and Zimbabwe will never be a colony again," Mugabe said at the opening of an international trade fair in Bulawayo.
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The energy crisis gripping South Africa this year is a turning point, an adversity presenting opportunity, African National Congress president Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. Addressing a business breakfast at the Royal Africa Society and Commonwealth in London, Zuma said business leaders he met had raised concerns over the issue.
A shipment of Chinese arms bound for Zimbabwe will be recalled after South African workers refused to unload the vessel and other neighbouring countries barred it from their ports, China said on Thursday. The recall came in addition to Western pressure over Zimbabwe’s election crisis.
African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma said on Thursday it is not yet the time to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe in the wake of its undecided presidential election. ”I do not think we have reached the stage of an arms embargo in Zimbabwe,” Zuma told journalists during a visit to London.
The government’s decision to reopen teacher training colleges — announced this week by Education Minister Naledi Pandor — indicates that despite programmes to increase the number of teachers trained, there is still a shortage in key areas, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday.
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief executive Dali Mpofu has conceded that the public broadcaster is under political pressure, but said it was resisting this pressure, Business Day reported on Thursday. ”The test is if you can withstand political pressure,” he said at a conference on media and electoral democracy held in Pretoria on Wednesday.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma and Britain made a united call on Wednesday for an end to the election stalemate in Zimbabwe, stepping up pressure on President Robert Mugabe to release results. Zuma, who has become the most outspoken African leader on Zimbabwe, held talks in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The drunken-driving charge against former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni has not been dropped, a prosecutor at the Parow Regional Court in the Western Cape confirmed on Wednesday. The prosecutor said earlier reports indicating that charges against Yengeni had been dropped were incorrect.
The Education Department is considering reopening teacher training colleges, says Education Minister Naledi Pandor. In a written reply to a question in Parliament by Desiree van der Walt of the Democratic Alliance, Pandor said the department is investigating options for expanding the provision of teacher education.
Ahead of talks in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma on Wednesday refused to condemn Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe over the ongoing failure to publish presidential election results and widespread post-election violence.
Trustees of the insolvent estate of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble want more than R25-million back from beneficiaries of Kebble’s largesse, Business Day reported on Wednesday. Alleged beneficiaries ranged from senior African National Congress members to a prominent business journalist.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille was emerging as a person who would go to extremes to cover up the truth, a former member of the DA said on Tuesday. ”[She is] a person who criticises the judiciary and the media because their duties do not fit her political agenda,” Kobus Brynard, a Western Cape MPL for the African National Congress, said.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday Africa must send a mission to Zimbabwe to end a delay in issuing election results, which he called unacceptable. Zuma has made several forthright comments on the election delay, distancing himself from South African President Thabo Mbeki, the regional mediator.
The mayor of Bushbuckridge, Milton Morema, should be suspended, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. Morema is currently facing murder charges. DA local government spokesperson Anthony Benadie said the mayor should be suspended immediately, pending the outcome of investigations.
South Africa is honouring her for helping it overcome the legacy of apartheid, but Linda Biehl says she is simply doing what any parent would after the death of a child: trying to find meaning in loss. She was speaking on the eve of a ceremony at which President Thabo Mbeki is to grant her one of the country’s highest honours.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma on Monday called for greater cooperation between the Group of Eight (G8) and the five emerging economies of the South — China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. He was speaking in Berlin at a North-South dialogue on relations between the G8 and the five emerging powers.
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille on Monday vowed to take her fight against the Erasmus commission to the Constitutional Court. The commission was set up by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool in December 2007 to investigate the City of Cape Town’s probe into controversial councillor Badih Chaaban.
A national energy summit must be convened with immediate effect to address the current electricity crisis, the African National Congress (ANC) said after a national working committee meeting on Monday. The meeting — which was also attended by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka — was held to discuss the crisis and proposals for a tariff increase.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa on Monday asked President Thabo Mbeki to meet South Africa’s ”collective leadership” to discuss three critical matters of concern. In a letter to Mbeki, Holomisa said, firstly, that there was the question of South Africa’s involvement in resolving the tribulations of Zimbabwe.
African National Congress (ANC) veteran Andrew Masondo died on Sunday, the ANC said on Monday. ”Masondo dedicated his life to the cause of the South African people, having served as a soldier since the early years of Umkhonto weSizwe,” the party said.
Cases of corruption in the public sector reported to the National Anti-Corruption Hotline increased by 46% between 2004 and 2007, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday. DA spokesperson on public service Karel Minnie said this was according to a 2008 report released by the Public Service Commission.
President Thabo Mbeki is set to appoint African National Congress deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to his Cabinet next month after being ordered to do so by his party, the Sunday Times reported. Motlanthe is likely to be sworn in as a member of Parliament when it opens in the first week in May.
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Soweto is internationally recognised as a home for all South Africans, African National Congress president Jacob Zuma said on Saturday. ”I’m really happy to celebrate my birthday in Soweto,” he said. Zuma arrived just after 1pm in Klipspruit.
The recent shoot-to-kill comments by a deputy minister display disrespect for the country’s Constitution, the Wits Centre for Applied Legal Studies said on Friday. The centre also deplored African National Congress president Jacob Zuma’s support for the remarks by Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Susan Shabangu.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe came out fighting on Friday in his first major speech since disputed polls, fending off criticism over his rights record and accusing Britain of stirring up unrest. But Mugabe did not speak about the outcome of the March 29 presidential elections, the results of which are still to be announced.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma expressed surprise at the level of poverty among white people during a tour of an informal settlement outside Pretoria on Friday. ”I did not think it was at this level,” he said as he talked with the small, poor white community living at Bethlehem.
The United Nations will close its human rights office in Angola after the authorities there withdrew their cooperation, the office of the high commissioner said on Friday. Angola has ordered the office to cease its operations by the end of May after pulling out of talks to establish a formal agreement to regulate the rights body’s work in the country.