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/ 1 June 2008

Daring to be a Daniel

POINT: In April 2001, 22 months after Thabo Mbeki became president, the Mail & Guardian ran a full-length front-cover photograph of him alongside the question: ”Is this man fit to rule?” Letters to the paper the following week convey the intensity of the reaction. ”Who are these racists masquerading as newspapermen?”

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/ 26 May 2008

Minister: Xenophobic violence under control

Xenophobic violence against foreign nationals has been brought under control, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Monday. ”I do believe the situation is under control … the violence has subsided,” he said at a briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria following an inter-governmental task team meeting with President Thabo Mbeki.

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/ 25 May 2008

Absent Mbeki criticised over violence

South African President Thabo Mbeki, already under fire for perceived policy failings that caused an anti-immigrant backlash in his country, now faces questions about his handling of the crisis. The head of state is yet to visit the worst affected areas of Johannesburg after two weeks of violence against foreigners.

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/ 24 May 2008

SA knew of xenophobia threat, says Kasrils

South Africa’s government admitted on Friday it was aware of the potential of anti-immigrant sentiment to explode into violence. ”Of course we were aware there was something brewing. It is one thing to know there is a social problem and another thing to know when that outburst will occur,” said Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils.

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/ 22 May 2008

NIA: Violence deliberately unleashed

The recent wave of so-called xenophobic violence had been deliberately unleashed ahead of next year’s general election, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director General Manala Manzini said on Thursday. At least 42 people have been killed and 16 000 displaced since the outbreak of the attacks on foreigners in Alexandra on May 12.

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/ 19 February 2008

Kasrils: Spy cases are ‘apartheid baggage’

Recent cases of spying involving the mayor of Cape Town and a report alleging a conspiracy to bring down the government are part of apartheid ”baggage”, Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils said in Cape Town on Tuesday. He said it is a ”knee-jerk reaction” to assume that the National Intelligence Agency is behind such cases.

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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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/ 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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/ 21 November 2007

FXI due in court over Masetlha documents

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) will appear in the Constitutional Court on Thursday in the case of Independent Newspapers versus the minister of intelligence. The FXI said on Wednesday it would argue that Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils did not follow proper procedure when trying to withhold certain documents from the public.

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/ 10 November 2007

Masetlha ‘had no political ambitions’

Former spy boss Billy Masetlha had no political ambitions and would have retired as National Intelligence Agency director general had he not been fired, the Hatfield Community Court heard on Friday. He is charged with allegedly withholding information from Inspector General of Intelligence Zolile Ngcakani.

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/ 3 October 2007

Mbeki was entitled to sack Masetlha

The Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that President Thabo Mbeki did have the power to sack former National Intelligence Agency director general Billy Masetlha. The president had the power to terminate his employment under section 209(2) of the Constitution, read with section 3 of the Intelligence Services Act.

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/ 13 September 2007

Court told of ANC ‘counter-revolution’

Former director general of the National Intelligence Agency Billy Masetlha has implicated Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils in a ”counter-revolution” meant to destroy the African National Congress (ANC). ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe had said that certain things happening in the party bordered on ”counter-revolution”, Masetlha testified on Wednesday.

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/ 4 September 2007

Masetlha case postponed

Former National Intelligence Agency director general Billy Masetlha and his two co-accused, software specialist Muziwendoda Kunene and IT specialist Funokwakhe Madlala, had their fraud case postponed in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday. The case was postponed to October 1 for trial and plea.