COSATU Media Monitor, 08 November 2012

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COSATU Media Monitor

Thursday 08 November 2012

The articles in the Media Monitor do not represent the views of COSATU. They are selected because we believe they deal with topics of interest to our readers, who will then be informed on how the media is reporting and commenting on these topics. It will enable them, if necessary, to respond to inaccurate, misleading or biased reports or comment.

COSATU is on Twitter and also has a Facebook Page!

To participate and follow the Federation debates hashtag on Twitter #cosatu and/or search for Cosatu Today after logging on your facebook page

Contents

Workers

Ø Coal sector reaches deal on increase for entry-level workers

Ø Wage increase for coal sector

Ø NUM list of deceased released

Ø Striking Bokoni mineworkers reject once-off payment offer

Ø Harmony Gold defends hostel system as quarterly profit rises despite strike

Ø Marikana: life goes on

Ø Grape farms shut down

Ø Limpopo farmer fined R28m for labour law violations

Ø De Doorns ‘grapes of wrath’ strike spirals

Ø . Joburg Metrobus strike planned for Monday

COSATU

Ø Cosatu asks transport department to scrap e-tolling

Ø Cosatu vows to intensify fight against e-tolls

Ø Talks under way on farm protest

Ø Cosatu says re-hire the 1500 fired

South Africa

Ø We can’t continue with the provinces as they are’ — Gauteng premier

Ø South Africa: A country in dire need of its Obama moment

Ø PE black business owners cry foul Call for ban as public service graft nears R1bn

Ø Angie slams parents

Ø 1time officially under liquidation

Ø FIVE MINUTES: South Africa

Ø Netshitenzhe calls for Youth Wage Subsidy pilot projects

Ø Madiba’s arrest commemorated

Alliance

Ø Zuma congratulates Obama

Ø Anti-graft march hits CBD traffic

Ø SA in dire need of its Obama moment

Ø ANCWL want more women in judiciary

Ø Mbeki skips Zuma's lecture in his honour

International

Ø Victory to help Obama expand government’s reach

Ø SA needs urgently to restore confidence, IMF warns

Ø Chinese Communist Congress opens with calls for reform

Ø IMF repeats call for wage reform

Comment

Ø US poll showed a democracy in action - a lesson for SA

Ø We can do the maths

Ø Marikana: A cover-up for all to see

Ø Emerging economies now turn attention to China

Ø Obama and Mangaung

________________________________________

1. Workers

Coal sector reaches deal on increase for entry-level workers

Monde Maoto , Business Day, 07 November 2012

THE Chamber of Mines and recognised trade unions in the coal-mining sector have signed a new wage agreement for entry-level employees.

As part of the agreement, collieries affiliated to the chamber and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and Uasa have agreed to a 5% pay increase for lower category workers, who earn between R5,700 and R7,000 a month.

The coal miners and the unions have also agreed to a one-off "incentive" bonus of R2,000 after taxation, with the exception of Exxaro.

South Africa’s biggest coal producer agreed to pay a 2% bonus for the lowest-paid workers and 1% for the highest-paid category of mineworkers.

Both agreements are set to kick in on December 1, and sit outside the next round of wage negotiations, set to begin next year.

The coal industry has not been affected by the wave of labour unrest that hit the platinum and gold mining sectors.

NUM secretary-general Frans Baleni said the union was still in talks with Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) about bringing an end to the labour unrest at the Rustenburg operations of the world’s biggest platinum producer.

Questioning the motives behind the wave of intimidation meted out to fellow mineworkers, Mr Baleni said: "These events (at Rustenburg) raise the question of whether it is still about wages."

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Wage increase for coal sector

Sapa, The New Age, 07 November 2012

A wage increase agreement in the coal industry was signed in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

An entry-level hike of five % was included in an existing agreement and would affect all coal mining companies under the Chamber of Mines, said Frans Baleni, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers.

The agreement was signed by the NUM, the Chamber of Mines, Solidarity, and Uasa. A R2000 once-off "sweetener", after tax, would be paid out next month.

Exxaro decided that instead of the R2000, it would give lower category workers a two % increase, and higher category workers one %.

Baleni said the sweetener was an attempt to strengthen the collective bargaining framework.- Sapa

__________________

NUM list of deceased released

Luyolo Mkentane, The New Age, 08 November 2012

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) yesterday released a list of its 14 members who died as a result of violence associated with the wildcat strikes rocking the mining industry.

Of the 14, eight came from the Eastern Cape, three from the North West and one each from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho.

The NUM members who died during the violent strikes include Thembelakhe Mati, Hassan Fundi, Thapelo Eric Mabebe, Isaiah Twala, Molefi Osiel Ntsoele, Modisaotsile van Wyk Sagalala, Mongezeleli Ntenetya, Henry Mvuyisi Pato, Ntandazo Nokamba, Bonginkosi Yona, Andries Motlapula Ntsenyeho, Thabiso Mosebetsane, Dumisani Mthinti and Daluvuyo Bongo.

The union, which had earlier put the number of the deceased at 28, had claimed that a hit squad operating in the Rustenburg platinum belt was behind the “assassinations”.

But the claims were dismissed this week by police tasked with investigating mining violence in the area.

NUM Lonmin organiser Timmy Timbela, commenting on the change in numbers, said some of their members had been forced to join rival union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

These members, he said, were also among those who died during a violent confrontation between police and Lonmin mineworkers at a koppie in Marikana on August 16. “I can’t add them to the list as they now reflect as AMCU members,” Timbela said.

________________

Striking Bokoni mineworkers reject once-off payment offer

SABC News, 08 November 2012

Striking workers at the Bokoni Platinum Mine in Limpopo have described management's decision to offer them a once off payment of R2000 as an insult.

Labour Forum chairperson Elias Juba says they want a permanent salary adjustment. Juba says the management's offer is unacceptable. "They cannot accept an offer that will come once-off. We wanted an offer that will remain for their lifetime so when once-off adjustment is not a solution to the strike in fact it's an insult to the striking miners," adds Juba.

Meanwhile, the mine's chief operations officer Joel Kesler says they will issue a statement later. Bokoni workers have ignored the comapny’s fourth ultimatum to return to work or face dismissal; they accuse management of using scare tactics. They want their newly formed structure to be recognised and they are demanding for R16-500 salary.

_________________

Harmony Gold defends hostel system as quarterly profit rises despite strike

Martin Creamer, Miningweekly, 07 November 2012

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Harmony Gold CEO Graham Briggs put up a strong defence of hostel accommodation and the migrant labour system at question time after the company presented an excellent set of September quarter results, which saw its gold production rise 8% to 321 924 oz and operating profit rise 9% to R1.4-billion despite the strike at the Kusasalethu mine.

“A lot has been said about hostels without actually understanding what hostels are about,” said Briggs in response to Mining Weekly Online, which had sought his reaction to growing calls for the elimination of migrant labour and the hostel accommodation that goes with it.

Briggs reported that 38% of Harmony Gold’s employees continued to reside in hostels, for which a one-person-a-room target was under way.

Harmony Gold, which employs employs 34 200 people, excluding 6 000 contractors, saw its headline earnings a share soar to 123c a share in the latest quarter from 15c a share in the previous quarter, the collective R325-million loss from the Kusasalethu strike notwithstanding.

“There are many people who are suddenly very knowledgeable about what is happening in housing and hostels. To some of us, if it wasn’t so sad, it would be amusing.

“Hostels aren’t all bad and Harmony has spent a lot of money on improving the look of hostels, their amenities and also dedensifying them,” Briggs told Mining Weekly Online.

He said that those who were calling for the elimination of the migrant labour system offered no suggestions on what should become of the company’s current migrant labourers, whose average age was 48 to 49 years and who had in the main been working for the company for many years.

“You can’t just get rid of migrant labour. Where are they going to stay? As time goes on, we will have less and less recruitment from far away places and more and more recruitment in the local communities,” Briggs added.

Sixty per cent of the employees at Harmony’s Joel gold mine in the Free State were not accommodated in hostels but lived in normal residential villages in surrounding towns including Virginia and Theunissen.

“That’s what we are encouraging. This is not cheap accommodation, but it’s serviced with electricity and water by municipalities. We don’t have a squatter camp mentality at Harmony.

“There’s nothing wrong with migrant labour,” said Briggs, who believed that many of the migrant labourers were likely to continue to work for the company until they retired.

“What we are focusing on, of course, is on local recruitment and one person a room. We’re achieving our Mining Charter targets, which give us until 2014,” he added.

Asked by Mining Weekly Online whether the company was considering the adoption of migrant-labour global best practice, including a possible shortening of the work cycles, Briggs said that was easier said than done.

“We have people who work together as a team and if you are missing team members, you don’t operate as well. We do have people who have normal leave cycles and they get a Christmas break.

“People who do live far away obviously don’t see their families a lot, but if we are talking about people in the Free State, where most of our migrant labour is, most of that migrant labour comes from Lesotho, which is a couple of hours away.

“We encourage better family living. We don’t see negatives in what we are doing. We would like people to look at the positives instead of the negatives and they would see that there are other sides to the story.”

Harmony is promoting home ownership by providing first homeowners with an enhanced housing allowance.

A further five hostels will be converted into 1 000 family units by 2014 and mining communities are being integrated into local structures.

“The rental market is not good in South Africa and we’re improving it. We have been dedensifying our hostels to achieve a one-person-one-room target. We are achieving that on several mines,” Briggs said.

The Masimong 4 hostel project was completed to create available rental housing stock and dedensification had been completed at Tshepong and was under way at Doornkop, Kusasalethu and Phakisa.

Joel, Evander and Bambanani were already compliant to one person a room.

Employees who did not reside in company hostels earned a living-out or housing allowance.

Close to 50% of the workforce had elected to receive the housing allowance, while 38% continued to reside in hostels.

“We’re making fantastic progress with living conditions,” Briggs added.

For most developments, Harmony donated the land and the old buildings, funded the construction of infrastructure such as power and water, managed the projects and monitored their quality to ensure that proper rental units became available.

The company’s non-management-level remuneration packages are described as competitive.

They are made up of basic pay, benefits, a monthly production bonus and a 1% quarterly profit share after capital expenditure at the South African operations, plus shares in Harmony.

Forty four per cent of managers are now from the previously disadvantaged group, up from 43% in the previous quarter.

Harmony’s October 2012 wage adjustment resulted in the company paying out an additional R10-million a month.

“We’ve got a few things that make us a little bit different. If you speak to our employees, they will know that this quarter was profitable because they are sharing in the profits. Even our lowest employee will know that we had a good quarter,” Briggs said.

The bonus schemes have a safety element to them: “Whether you’re right down in the team or the CEO, you have a safety element to your bonus. We’ve been improving our safety statistics and that already improves the bonus levels and we’re achieving our quarterly plan, which lifts bonus levels still further.

“Our rock-drill operators get an additional bonus and on top of that, the profit share of 1% on the South African operations after capital is split among those in the pool, and not on ranking.”

Some R6 500 would be the least gross pay a worker not earning a bonus would take home, but on average, salaries were a lot higher, with rock-drill operators receiving R12 000 to R12 500 a month.

“We’re paying very competitive salaries and if you compare that to other industries, the mining companies do pay good salaries,” Briggs commented to Mining Weekly Online.

Harmony was achieving a margin on the gold price of R69 801/kg ($263/oz) on total costs and R146 464/kg ($553/oz) on cash costs.

Both the injury frequency rates and fatality frequency rate improved in the quarter.

During the three months of strikes in South Africa all Harmony’s operations, except Kusasalethu, which is surrounded by other striking mines in the Carletonville area, continued to work

During the October strike, Harmony lost 35 days, including 12 days of safety start-up days when workplace assessments, medicals and training took place, and 25 000 oz of gold.

The strike cost R200-million and loss of profit R125-million with the total opportunity loss totalling R325-million.

The union representation at the Kusasalethu mine, which is currently under verification, indicates the presence of an Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union affiliation.

Harmony's ore reserves have increased by 27% and its dividends by 50%, net debt fell in the quarter and capital expenditure was funded entirely by operations.

The margin of 35% for the 2012 financial year (FY12) is up on the 26% of FY11.

The comany has 10 underground mines, one openpit operation and several surface sources in South Africa and a 50% joint venture in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with Newcrest Mining, where it has the Hidden Valley openpit mine, the Wafi-Golpu exploration project and also exploration areas in PNG that are fully Harmony owned.

It has 431 564 236 shares in issue, a market capitalisation of R33-billion and is listed on the Johannesburg and New York stock exchanges.

The September 2012 quarter results show a solid start to FY13 with gold production from underground operations 9% higher than the prior quarter, mainly driven by improved grade.

Cash operating costs increased 6% to R294 404/kg ($1 110/oz) on the June 2012 quarter, owing mainly to two months of winter electricity tariffs and labour increases implemented on July 1.

The rand gold price received during the quarter increased by 5% from R421 565/kg in the June 2012 quarter to R440 868/kg in the September 2012 quarter.

“The company continues to generate strong cash flows, with low debt and undrawn lending facilities. Our first-quarter results reaffirm that Harmony is guided by a clear strategy and expert management teams delivering sustainable and competitive results,” said Briggs.

Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter

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Marikana: life goes on

Amukelani Chauke, Times Live, 08 November 2012

While South Africa's top legal minds again prepare to square up against each other at the Marikana commission of inquiry in Rustenburg, life goes on in the small mining community.

People at the Nkaneng squatter camp near Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine were going about their business as normal yesterday. Their township gained notoriety after the killing of 34 mineworkers by the police.

Today, the commission will decide whether to investigate the use of live ammunition by the police on about 3000 striking rock drill operators on August 16 before looking into the roles of the parties involved, including the unions, Lonmin and the striking miners.

Almost three months ago, the world was shocked when police opened fire on striking miners occupying koppies at Marikana. The shooting was labelled the worst tragedy since the advent of democracy in South Africa.

Yesterday, life in the community appeared normal, with mineworkers clad in workwear walking to their shacks and hostels in the early hours of the morning.

Unlike during the tense and hostile situation during the month-long wildcat strike in August, mineworkers walked freely in and around the mine's premises. Tensions that are said to have been brewed by rivalry between the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union seemed almost non-existent yesterday.

On Monday, attorneys representing miners and unions accused the police of contaminating the August 16 crime scene by placing weapons next to and on the bodies of some miners.

On Tuesday night, a DA team visited one of the koppies on which miners were killed to hold a memorial service and plant 34 wooden white crosses in their memory.

Rustenburg's ward 33, in which Marikana falls, was one of several wards around the country that held a by-election yesterday.

The inquiry continues today.

________________

Grape farms shut down

Philani Nombembe And Nashira Davids, Times Live, 08 November 2012

Mbalentle Magalakangqa has worked on grape farms in the Hex River Valley for seven years but can barely put food on the table.

Magalakangqa is one of the 8000 farm workers who abandoned the vineyards on Tuesday and brought the N1 highway in De Doorns to a standstill.

Tensions were still high yesterday as wage negotiations between the farmers and the unions deadlocked.

The workers - who are represented by the Building, Wood and Allied Workers Union of SA, and the Food and Allied Workers Union - are demanding R150 a day.

Magalakagqa's story is similar to those of other farm workers, who gathered at a nearby stadium to listen to union federation Cosatu's provincial secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, call on them to close down the N1 until their demands were met.

"These farmers have been exploiting our people for years. But when you close the N1 everybody listens," he said.

Magalakangqa nodded in agreement. The mother of two earns R1 400 a month, or R70 a day. But her monthly expenses exceed R3 000.

In addition to the R110 she has to fork out for electricity every month, Magalakangqa also has to pay the farmer R80 for accommodation.

The return taxi fare between work and Worcester sets her back R60.

"When I moved here I thought I would have a better life and would be able to send money to my sickly brothers at home. But we earn very little but we work from 7am to 6pm," she said.

Western Cape police spokesman André Traut said nine people had been arrested - six for public violence, one for attempted murder and two for housebreaking.

Wouter Kriel, spokesman for agriculture and rural development MEC Gerrit van Rensburg, said there were concerns the strike might spread to other farms.

"We believe this to be politically motivated action and not a labour protest," said Van Rensburg.

Ehrenreich slated Van Rensburg, saying he had failed to understand the workers and their hardships.

"No political party needs to tell workers R70 a day is a slave wage," he said.

ONGOING PROTEST DESTROYS PROPERTY, INVESTOR CONFIDENCE

UP TO R15-million in damages and 50ha of scorched vineyards on about 100 farms. Not a pleasant situation for agriculture in Western Cape.

On Monday, striking farm workers went on the rampage, torching vineyards in the De Doorns area.

According to Wouter Kriel, spokesman for Western Cape MEC for agriculture and rural development Gerrit van Rensburg, the valley produces mainly grapes for the table - almost all of which are exported.

There are about 8000 permanent farm workers and 8000 seasonal workers employed on 180 farm units in the valley.

Porchia Adams, spokesman for Agri Wes-Cape, said it would cost the 100 affected farmers between R250000 and R300000 to re-establish the 50ha of scorched land.

"The real damage [other than that done to property] is to the image of agriculture and what it does to investor confidence in our country," said Kriel.

There are about 200000 farm workers in Western Cape. - Nashira Davids

__________________

Limpopo farmer fined R28m for labour law violations

Sapa, Times Live 08 November 2012

A Limpopo farmer was slapped with R28 million contravention notice for failing to comply with several labour regulations, the department of labour said.

"The compliance must be adhered to in 21 days and failure to do this will prompt us to take the matter to the labour court to make the compliance order an order of the court," said deputy director Phaswane Tladi.

"We applied for variation because the farm owner provides food and accommodation freely, while it has been discovered that this is not provided on a consistent and regular basis as a condition of employment.

"The accommodation also does not meet the requirement as set out in the Sectoral Determination 13 of the Farm Workers Sector."

He said the farmer, who owned over 20 farms in the province and employed over 2000 people, failed to pay minimum wages as per the sectoral determination, failed to pay employees' leave and had taken unauthorised deductions from them, between 2010 and 2011.

Tladi said the amount did not include the non-contribution towards the unemployment insurance fund (UIF) and the Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, which stood at over R1 million.

"We will still have to look at aspects of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and after our observations, make further recommendations in this respect."

Human resource manager at the farm, Peet van Niekerk, who took the compliance order on behalf of the farm, said they welcomed the findings of the department.

The farm's management would be notified and due action would be taken to remedy the situation, he said.

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De Doorns ‘grapes of wrath’ strike spirals

Bekezela Phakathi, Business Day, 08 November 2012

PROTESTING farm workers in De Doorns are likely to intensify their strike as negotiations with farmers to improve their pay deadlocked on Wednesday.

The strike has already cost farmers millions of rand. The area produces table grapes, mainly for the export market.

Farmers in the area employ 8,000 full-time workers and another 8,000 seasonal ones.

Talks between farmers and their workers started on Wednesday following days of violent protests that left some vineyards in flames. More than a dozen people, including farmers, were arrested.

Striking workers in the area want their daily pay to be doubled, with a minimum wage of R150 per day. Further, they are demanding an improvement in their living conditions.

A Human Rights Watch report released last year painted a grim picture of the farm workers’ living conditions in the Western Cape. It said they were deprived of decent housing, clean water, proper toilets and electricity.

At talks facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) at the Worcester Civic Centre on Wednesday, farmers offered to increase the workers’ daily wages to R80.

But it is understood that late on Wednesday the employers withdrew their earlier offer and proposed that negotiations take place "company by company".

The CCMA will be meeting with the farmers today and the unions on Friday.

Congress of South African Trade Unions Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich said the situation could get out of hand. "The ill treatment and underpayment of workers by some farmers must stop, otherwise we will see a Marikana in De Doorns.

"This protest will no doubt spread through all the areas where ill treatment and underpayments are endemic."

The spokeswoman for Agri Western Cape, which represents farmers in the province, Porchia Adams, said they were hopeful that the negotiations would be finalised on Thursday. "We really want to put a stop to this.

"Farmers are losing billions of rands because of the burned vineyards and yet workers come and ask for more money ."

________________

Joburg Metrobus strike planned for Monday

South African Labour News, 07 November 2012

Johannesburg Metrobus drivers are planning to go on strike on Monday after negotiations with their employer on new shift rosters and leave days reached a deadlock.

The bus operator issued a statement yesterday saying “services will be suspended in the interests of both passengers’ and drivers’ safety.”

About 900 SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) members are unhappy about the reduction of shifts and the forfeiture of leave days not been taken. In July drivers were told that accumulated leave days in excess of 48 would be forfeited if they were not taken by the end of the year.

_____________________________

2. COSATU

Cosatu asks transport department to scrap e-tolling

Sapa, Times Live, 07 November 2012

Cosatu wrote to the transport department on Wednesday, reiterating its call for the scrapping of e-tolls.

Road maintenance funds should be taken from tax revenues, not from motorists, Congress of SA Trade Unions spokesman Patrick Craven said.

Tolls would have a large impact on the poor, their transportation methods and food prices, while specific private companies would benefit in the long run.

"This will not just affect the people of Gauteng, as the government has now conceded that e-tolling will replace the existing toll-gates throughout the country."

Craven said South Africans were already deep in debt and the tolls would just add to their woes.

"The point is that large numbers of private vehicle users simply do not have a single extra rand to spend. The logic of the 'user-pays' principle is that those without the money to pay the tolls should be excluded from access to the best roads."

After months of debate, the proposed toll prices were reviewed and lowered in October. The SA National Roads Agency Limited said e-tolling would cost motorists with e-tags 30c/km. This was a reduction from the 40c/km decided on last year.

The e-tag tariff for motorcycles had also been dropped from 24c/km to 18c/km, for medium heavy vehicles (Class B) from R1/km to 75c/km, and heavy vehicles (Class C) from R2/km to R1.50/km.

The system was scheduled to start operating on November 26.

__________________

Cosatu vows to intensify fight against e-tolls

SABC News, 08 November 2012

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says they are more than determined to stop the implementation of e-tolls in Gauteng. Last month government announced new tariffs, with e-tag users of light vehicles expected to pay 30 cents per kilometre.

The public now has the opportunity to comment on the gazetted tariffs until November 26, after which Transport Minister Ben Martins will then have 14 days to apply his mind to the submissions.

But Vavi has warned that they will oppose the new tariffs on the streets. "We are preparing for war. We know the whole consultation process is a farce and will not change anything. Government is, through consultations, no longer making it a secret that all they want to engage on is the price to be paid at the tolls."

Government is absolutely determined to introduce the tolls irrespective of popular opinion

Vavi maintains that government is absolutely determined to introduce the tolls irrespective of popular opinion, saying "now we are equally determined, if not stronger, to stop the e-tolls in its track and we are going to do just that."

Following announcement of revised tariffs by government last month, the National Chairperson of the Justice Project of South Africa, Howard Dembovsky, said cabinet has not considered any other alternative ways to e-tolling. Dembovsky said e-tolling is very costly and intolerably high.

He added: "The cabinet remains thick-headed about this idea of bringing in e-tolling as opposed to bringing in an incensed petrol levy which will make the collection of this money easier and a lot less costly. For some reason they are using all sorts of justification that there is only one way to collect money for infrastructure development and that is not true."

___________________

Talks under way on farm protest

SAPA , Sowetan, 07 November 2012

Talks will take place between farmers and their workers in De Doorns, Western Cape on Wednesday following violent protests, Cosatu said.

Congress of SA Trade Unions provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said they would join the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to facilitate negotiations at the Worcester civic centre.

“These negotiations must find a way in which workers can get decent wages and end the atrocious living conditions of workers on farms and in the informal areas,” Ehrenreich said.

Cosatu said it would make sure protests were peaceful.

Workers had gathered on the N1 highway since Monday, resulting in 30 hectares of vineyards being burned, and several arrests.

On Tuesday, around 8,000 workers gathered in the small town before protesting, forcing the temporary closure of the N1 between De Doorns and Touws River.

A farmer was arrested during the day for attempted murder after he allegedly shot at protesting workers.

Police spokesman Lt-Col Andre’ Traut said two people were arrested on Tuesday after looting a bottle store.

“The situation in De Doorns is still being monitored, and no violence or incidents have been reported today [Wednesday].”

Both the Democratic Alliance and provincial agriculture MEC believed the protest was politically motivated.

DA provincial leader Ivan Meyer blamed the African National Congress.

“It is very clear to me that much of the protest in this area is politically motivated, and the local ANC... once again played a large role in inciting the violence and vandalism,” he said on Tuesday.

Wouter Kriel, spokesman for agriculture MEC Gerrit van Rensburg, on Tuesday said there did not seem to be people leading the protest and no list of demands was handed out.“This is not a labour strike and [is] not organised by farm workers, even though farm workers are involved. It seems to be politically motivated,” Kriel said.

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Cosatu says re-hire the 1500 fired

Luyolo Mkentane, The New Age, 07 November 2012

Labour federation Cosatu has given the city of Tshwane 14 days to reinstate 1500 workers “unfairly dismissed” last year.

Addressing an anti-corruption march organised by the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) in Pretoria yesterday, Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini accused the metro of driving an agenda to weaken Samwu, the home of the dismissed workers.

The workers were employed through a labour broker under the metro’s waste and parks division.

Dlamini said: “Dismissing them (is an) agenda to weaken Cosatu.”

Dlamini said Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa had said during a recent meeting that the dismissals were “wrong and an oversight”.

“I’m surprised that 35 days after the meeting the workers remain dismissed,” Dlamini said. In an angry tone, he said to applause: “Reinstate these workers now!”

Dlamini said the march was also aimed at forcing the metro to release a Special Investigation Unit report detailing massive metro corruption.

According to the Pretoria News the city bus service was “hardest hit” by corruption. It reported that officials had signed for a new municipal bus fleet costing R40000 a month while the bid committee recommended the tender be awarded to a service provider for a monthly fee of R19000.

The municipality thus incurred additional costs in excess of R70m.

The memorandum, received by MMC for housing Joshua Ngonyama, stated the law needed to take its course on anyone “negatively implicated in the report”.

The march from Schubart Park to the mayor’s office and to the department of labour was attended by 500 people.

Said Dlamini: “Next time, Mr Mayor, it won’t be Cosatu coming to your office, (you will) come to Cosatu House.”

Mayoral spokesperson Pieter de Necker said they would address all substantive issues raised in the memorandum and “report back to the organisations”.

He said it was “impractical to say we will address all the issues within 14 days”.

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3. South Africa

We can’t continue with the provinces as they are’ — Gauteng premier

Sue Blaine, Business Day, 07 November 2012

GAUTENG Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said on Wednesday some of South Africa’s provinces needed more political power than others, and a greater share in the fiscus.

Ms Mokonyane’s comment is likely to cause some outrage as the democracy’s guiding principle is that all are equal, including the weak, and the constitution guarantees equality among individuals.

"If we have to think long term, we may have to reduce the size of some (provinces) and incorporate others, ... we may have to allocate more authority to some provinces. There can’t be a one-size-fits-all ... We can’t continue with the provinces as they are," Ms Mokonyane said at a Johannesburg media briefing on the results of Census 2011.

If Ms Mokonyane gets her wish, Gauteng, still Africa’s economic hub, and South Africa’s most populous province — home to almost a quarter (23%; 12.3-million) of the 52-million people living in South Africa — would be a clear winner in the race to the top.

The premier said the issue warranted public debate and South Africans should not "shy away from talking about it in the interest of the country".

"The storyline of the census is that we have been vindicated. We are a province that serves people beyond our (national and provincial) borders," said Ms Mokonyane.

She cited the "busloads" of people who travelled from Limpopo to Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital; that 30% of South Africa’s workforce was in Gauteng; that 33% of the nation’s work was to be found within its tiny borders; and the phenomenon of schoolgoers coming to the province at the start of the year, registering at schools to collect books, stationery and uniforms, and then heading back to the provinces from which they had travelled.

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South Africa: A country in dire need of its Obama moment

Ranjeni Munusamy, Daily Maverick, 8 November 2012

After Barack Obama’s stirring victory speech, it was perhaps unfair to look back home and expect someone, anyone, to give South Africa some inspiration too. Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe had the opportunity on Wednesday; he didn’t exactly rise to the occasion. Meanwhile the Mangaung battle is plunging into further murkiness. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

For one heart-stopping moment, while answering questions in Parliament on Wednesday, it looked as if Kgalema Motlanthe was in the zone and finally ready to get in the game. Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko had laid the groundwork for him, citing instances of abuse of state power including the police action at Marikana, the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) defiance of a high court order to make available the “spy tapes”, and the excessive spending on President Jacob Zuma’s private home at Nkandla.

She said there was “unparalleled abuse of the state power” under the Zuma administration and “respect for our Constitution had been eroded”. She asked whether Motlanthe thought it was justifiable to spend so much money on the private home of a sitting president.

“Will you take any steps to prevent further abuse?” Mazibuko asked Motlanthe.

“I will take steps to prevent abuse of public funds,” Motlanthe began.

Then, he could have said: I will fight for this long-suffering country of ours.

He could have said: I will not stop or rest until my task is finished.

He could have said: I will lead the people of South Africa in their quest for justice and truth.

Instead, he stopped. And didn’t say how. Or when.

He just offered a well-practised response: the Nkandla renovations are the responsibility of Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi to clarify, he said. He added that he was also aware that the Public Protector was investigating the matter.

In that moment, he could have been a leader. He could have become a contender. Instead, he decided to retreat behind the curtain.

When asked about the spy tapes, which the DA is seeking to evaluate the basis on which the corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma was dropped, Motlanthe said if the DA felt aggrieved by the NPA’s refusal to accede to the high court order, they should seek further recourse through the courts.

Congress of the People leader Mosiuoa Lekota had earlier asked Motlanthe what was being done to protect the public from state funds being abused, following instances where members of Cabinet had done so without being arrested or funds being recovered from them. He named former Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde for her role in the irregular police deal saga and former cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Sicelo Shiceka (deceased) who used state funds for private overseas travel and expensive hotel stays.

Motlanthe said the Asset Forfeiture Unit had the power to confiscate possessions from ill-begotten gains. But he said he was not aware of any allegation against Mahlangu-Nkabinde of embezzlement “or helping herself to public funds”.

“If you are aware of such, a note to head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit would see to that matter. As for former minister Shiceka, may his soul rest in peace,” Motlanthe said.

Earlier in the question session, Motlanthe seemed less constrained when he spoke about the need to do away with the migrant labour system.

“The tragic events unfolding in the mines, beginning at Marikana, are cause for serious worry and deserve to be tackled and eliminated. The underlying social determinant of the ongoing unrest on mines, beginning with the tragedy at Marikana, was no doubt the migrant labour system itself.

“If there is one good thing that must result out of this whole painful saga, it is the elimination of the migrant labour system," he said.

Mining companies should allow workers to return to their rural homes more often instead of only once a year, Motlanthe said. The long absences caused broken homes and were detrimental to the families left behind in rural areas. He said the workers should be allowed to return home at regular intervals of not more than five to six weeks of absence.

Motlanthe said the “sleepout allowance” which some mining companies were giving to mineworkers was encouraging miners to live in informal settlements. The single sex compounds on mines were not desirable but were better than informal settlements.

“Therein lies the perversity of living out allowances. Rather than allowances, mining companies should be providing the workers with decent safe transport go home, to their real homes. This would address most of these challenges of informal poorly serviced settlements and the consequences of secondary homes could also be addressed,” he said.

The reason Motlanthe is uninhibited on this matter, of course, is that it is not directly related to the dynamics around the ANC’s Mangaung battle, and he understands the issues relating to mineworkers intimately as the former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers.

But throw anything his way that requires him to show his hand on current controversies or that tests what he would do if he were in the position to make decisions in the near future, and Motlanthe immediately recoils.

With 38 days to go before the ANC’s 53rd national conference begins, Motlanthe remains the ever-reluctant presidential candidate. Meanwhile there is a whole movement mobilised around him, with heavy campaigning in ANC structures, a new political party being registered in the event that Zuma wins a second term, and a website, Twitter and Facebook account launched by the “forces of change”.

The homepage of the website says the group is calling for change because:

South Africans do not have confidence in the leadership of President Zuma.

We need a leadership that will lead the ANC towards quality and durable change, towards an ideal as set out in the Freedom Charter, which remains its strategic vision and mission.

A leadership that will regain the confidence of all Africans on the African continent.

The site also names their slate for the top six positions, broadly the same as that of the ANC Youth League and Limpopo province: Motlanthe for president, Mathews Phosa as his deputy, Thandi Modise as national chairman, Fikile Mbalula as secretary general, Thenjiwe Mtintso as his deputy and Tokyo Sexwale as the treasurer. The site does not give details of people behind it and there are no contact details.

The campaign by shadowy figures takes the Mangaung battle to a new level of divisiveness, for which nobody will take responsibility. It is yet another consequence of the ANC’s failure to modernise and run an open and free election race, insisting on barring a transparent campaign process and preferring to make its decision in smoke-filled back rooms, away from the public.

On Wednesday morning, people of South Africa watched Barack Obama deliver a rousing address after winning another term as United States president. It was difficult not to envy the Americans, who heard their president say: “While our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.”

It was the mark of the man who was able to articulate his nation’s future as such:

“And tonight, despite all the hardship we’ve been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I’ve never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.

“I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.”

In South Africa, we can only think wistfully of a time when our leaders talked with such passion about our country, when we knew who we were electing and why we were voting for them, when we could have held those in high office to account, and when we were not mostly treated as fools.

And the only thing worse than a leaderless country, is a leaderless country that once had a leader. A sincere, fearless man who was prepared to sacrifice his life for what he believed, a leader who could take a whole country from the edge of the abyss and, through sheer will power and commitment to a higher ideal, deliver hope to hungry and depraved.

That's why watching Barack Obama on that Wednesday morning felt so painful. Our own road has been hard; our own journey has been long. We have fought our way back. We have almost managed to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. And yet, after a long and sometimes hopeless journey, we find ourselves in a leaderless country, where, once more, the whims of 4,500 trump the needs of 51 million.

So when we hear Barack Obama put it crisply and with true conviction, we have to ask ourselves a most painful question:

Will we ever again, deep in our hearts, know that for South Africa, the best is yet to come?

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PE black business owners cry foul over tenders

Lumko Jimlongo, SABC News, 07 November 2012

Black Business owners in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro are accusing the Municipality of side-lining them in favour of their white counterparts in the awarding of municipal tenders.

They have staged a protest at the City Hall in Port Elizabeth, blockading access with big trucks preventing the daily happenings at the Municipality's head office.

They claim the metro's economic policies are not promoting black business. Taking their grievance to the streets, the business people say Black economic empowerment is a pipedream in the Nelson Mandela Metro.

They also accused the metro of favouring white owned companies for municipal tenders - the construction of the world cup stadium, the failed BRT system and reconstruction work after heavy rains are a few of the examples quoted.

"Enough is enough, we have been folding our arms waiting for the leadership of this institution to cater for our black business people in the main stream development of this municipality but seemingly, we are only being seen as only people who can accept hand-outs from the white owned companies and we're therefore saying enough is enough," said Litemba Singapi of the Nelson Mandela Metro Black Business Forum.

The group has threatened to disrupt all developments in the Metro. The Metro says it is unacceptable for people to blockade roads and have called on them to use available channels to raise their concerns. A meeting between the businesspeople and the Metro is currently underway.

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Call for ban as public service graft nears R1bn

Linda Ensor, Business Day, 08 November 2012,

PUBLIC servants should be prohibited from doing business with the government, according to the Public Service Commission (PSC).

It has proposed the radical measure to combat the corruption plaguing state administration.

According to the commission’s data, the cost of financial misconduct to the state in 2010 -11 was R932m — up from R346m in 2009 -10 and R100m in 2008 -09.

Commission director-general Richard Levin said in a hard-hitting briefing on corruption trends to Parliament’s public service and administration portfolio committee on Wednesday, that 2011 -12 figures for public servants’ corruption and misconduct were not available yet, but he was hoping it would not hit the R1bn mark.

Public servants are allowed to contract with the government but are required to declare their interests. Prof Levin said this requirement was not sufficient and was often not complied with or enforced.

Auditor-general Terence Nombembe found in his 2010 -11 provincial audit outcome for the Eastern Cape, for example, that 698 awards, totalling R978m, were made to public servants or their relatives.

About 90% of senior managers in the Eastern Cape education department were in business with the government. There were 567 tenders valued at R894m awarded to the department ’s staff or their close family members.

Prof Levin said the commission believed that more legal weight should be given to its recommendations to counter the "culture of no consequences" in the public service which allowed corruption to flourish.

The commission recommended that, in the absence of a total prohibition on doing business with the government, offending heads of departments and senior managers should be charged with misconduct for failing to disclose conflicts of interest.

The commission’s recommendations should have the status of directives with legal force and with consequences for noncompliance, Prof Levin argued.

The government’s senior managers, especially, and officials working in supply chain management should be prohibited altogether from doing business with the government, he said.

Democratic Alliance public service and administration spokesman Kobus Marais urged that legislation be introduced to prevent senior government officials from doing business with the state.

Prof Levin said there was a "sizeable number" of public servants who had private financial interests in businesses which aspired to secure contracts with the government. "Our view is that it is wrong," he said.

An examination by the commission of public servants’ financial disclosures in 2010 -11 found that 20% of senior managers in the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs had interests in many firms; 19% in the Department of Transport and 17% in the Department of Public Works. He questioned whether these officials could do their state work when they were involved in a host of outside activities.

"The perpetrators of corruption are increasingly at a more senior level and this highlights the need for better, more ethical leadership," Prof Levin said.

"It is worrying that over the years there has been a steady increase in the number of SMS members (senior managers) charged with financial misconduct."

In 2010 -11, there were 838 senior officials charged with financial misconduct, compared with 689 and 652 in the preceding two years. At middle-management level, the figures were significantly lower at 126, 166 and 106.

Of concern, Prof Levin said, was that in 2011 -12 many national and provincial departments had not submitted their financial disclosure reports — the most basic level of compliance.

He added that departments had "consistently failed" to demonstrate their commitment to fighting corruption by instituting criminal charges wherever this was appropriate.

Discipline was not managed effectively due to an inadequate capacity to chair disciplinary hearings and to represent departments, resulting in many accused officials spending long periods under precautionary suspension, he said.

"Ensuring professional ethics in the public service is an ongoing priority but requires dedicated capacity and so resources are needed," Prof Levin said.

He recommended that the code of conduct for government employees needed to be promoted more vigorously.

Prof Levin proposed that lifestyle audits of key staff be undertaken as well as audits into the indebtedness of employees. Investigative capacity needed to be strengthened and policies on whistle-blowing and access to information needed to be developed and implemented.

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Angie slams parents

Denise Williams, Times Live, 08 November 2012

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has told Northern Cape parents that their children's sex lives are their business and they should stop expecting her department to solve their problems.

In a sharply worded lecture on parental rights and duties, Motshekga told parents at a National Council of Provinces meeting in De Aar that they could not "pass the buck" to her department when their children fell pregnant or became substance abusers.

The minister - who came under fire this year for the closure of schools in Northern Cape because of service-delivery protests, and for the Limpopo textbook scandal - laid the blame for pupils' behaviour firmly at the door of communities and parents.

"Teenage pregnancy is a problem imported to schools by homes and the community. [But] it's a department problem for us," she said.

"They don't make sex at schools; they make sex at homes.

"This is a problem, there's something wrong that it now becomes my problem.

"We don't provide beds; we provide pens and books," she said.

Motshekga said that, instead of bringing their concerns to the Department of Basic Education during parliamentary hearings, parents and teachers should have sorted out their problems with their school's governing body.

A Statistics SA study this year revealed that 160754 schoolgirls became pregnant between July 2008 and July 2010.

In response to a parliamentary question in May about the number of pregnancies, Motshekga said "school-based sexuality" was included in the life orientation curriculum and her department was compiling regulations on pupil pregnancies to help schools deal with the problem.

Motshekga's sharp rebuke yesterday was prompted by appeals from parents who want sex education at schools to be improved.

A mother from Colesberg said teenagers were being forced to leave school because of pregnancy and unsympathetic teachers.

Motshekga said that though she agreed that sex education was crucial at school, her department could not provide contraceptives to pupils without their parents' consent.

"We can't give your kids condoms and we can't go and give them prevention tablets without the permission of parents," she said.

But, at the opening of a school mobile clinic in Cullinan last month, President Jacob Zuma urged parents not to "shy away from talking about sex" and said contraceptives, including condoms, would be made available to pupils.

Some Northern Cape parents complained yesterday about alcohol abuse by teachers and pupils in schools across the province.

"The teachers are also drunk and there's corporal punishment where they use pipes and fists. The children are dropping out now," a parent said.

A teacher complained that her colleagues were often drunk and, even after having rehabilitation treatment, came to work at the school reeking of alcohol.

But Motshekga washed her hands of this problem, too, saying it had to be dealt with by school governing bodies, not by her department.

Northern Cape education MEC Grizelda Cjiekella asked why the department was blamed for violence in schools.

"We [the community] don't want to take responsibility. People allow their children to go to a tavern and when they get stabbed it's the Department of Education's problem. We must not pass the buck," said Cjiekella.

But COPE member of the Northern Cape provincial legislature Fezile Kies said he was appalled by the minister's comments, calling her "rude".

"As COPE, we would have expected the minister to emphasise the importance of life orientation and social skilling of the children in the care of the education system," he said.

Motshekga slammed the presence of teachers and of children in school uniform at the gathering yesterday.

"Teachers must be in class teaching ... That's why I asked the event organisers to say children are supposed to be at school, they are not supposed to be here. And that's something we are trying to say everywhere; we must protect teaching time.

"Between 8am and 3pm nothing must be happening besides learning and teaching."

Just because the National Council of Provinces was "in town" should not mean no schooling took place, said Motshekga.

Kies said there was no room for Motshekga's personal views regarding the presence of teachers at the meeting.

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1time officially under liquidation

Sapa , Times Live, 07 November 2012

1Time was granted provisional liquidation by the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday, the company said.

"Yes I can confirm that we have been granted provisional liquidation by the court," said spokeswoman Refilwe Masemola.

She could not give details on the liquidation process because the company was being handed over to a liquidator who would take responsibility for all communication.

1Time announced on Friday that it had applied for business liquidation, and that all of its flights had been grounded. The firm had about R320 million in short-term debt and had been in negotiations with creditors since March.

An estimated 520 workers would be left jobless by the liquidation.

The airline said passengers who had bought tickets in cash would have to wait longer to get it back, as their money was considered as cash which belonged to the company.

However, those who had used credit cards to purchase their air tickets could be refunded by the banks.

Comair CEO Erik Venter blamed Mango for 1Time's collapse, a statement that was rejected by Public Enterprise Minister Malusi Gigaba.

Gigaba said Mango, which was owned by state airline South African Airways, "did not benefit from any capitalisation or guarantee issued by its parent company".

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FIVE MINUTES: South Africa

Daily Maverick Staff Reporter, Daily Maverick, 8 November 2012

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

MIDVAAL, EMFULENI MERGER ON GAUTENG’S CARDS

The Gauteng government has denied that a proposal to merge the DA-run Midvaal Municipality with Emfuleni is politically motivated. Municipal Demarcation chairman Landiwe Mahlangu said it was considering 202 cases of boundary changes, and that the Midvaal and Emfuleni merger was one of two in Gauteng. Mahlangu told reporters in Pretoria that the Midvaal/Emfuleni “corridor” had “become almost the new Midrand”. Business Day reported earlier that head of local government and housing in Gauteng, Mongezi Mnyani, “studying how to increase the economic viability of municipalities” and was exploring options in relation to Midvaal, including merging it with Emfuleni into a metro.

CCMA MEDIATING BETWEEN DE DOORNS FARMWORKERS, FARMERS

Unrest continued in the De Doorns are of the Hex River Valley in the Western Cape on Tuesday as the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) tried to mediate between protesting farm workers and farmers. The farmworkers are asking for R150 per day in wages, up from the current R70 they are currently receiving. Farmers have offered a R10 increase, which workers rejected. Roads in the area remain closed, as do three clinics that were forced to close their doors due to protest action. The CCMA said farm workers weren’t just protesting wages, but had raised “many issues…not necessarily workplace-related”.

STATE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION ‘INADEQUATE’

“Parasitic forms of accumulation” in terms of procurement plague the public service, a report on corruption in the public service has revealed. Professor Richard Levin, director general of the Public Service Commission, which wrote the report, told the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration that anti-corruption mechanisms were inadequate. DA spokesman on the public service, Kobus Marais, said the report showed the need for a dedicated anti-corruption unit and legislation that prevented officials from doing business with the state. The report said there had been a steady increase in the number of senior managers involved in financial misconduct.

COAL COMPANIES, UNIONS SIGN WAGE DEAL

Coal companies have signed a wage deal with unions in an effort to avoid a wave of deadly illegal strikes such as those that rocked the country's gold and platinum sectors. Reuters reports that the companies belonging to the Chamber of Mines, including Anglo American, had agreed to raise certain entry-level wages by up to 5% and offered one-off payments to higher categories of workers. Philemon Motlhamme, deputy head for industrial relations at the chamber, said unions approached the body that represents the industry in September to ensure that illegal strikes would not spread to coal. "The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the other two unions asked how we can strengthen our collective bargaining framework and ensure continuous stability in the coal sector," he said.

NO ‘FRIVOLOUS’ DEBATE ON NKANDLA, SAYS ANC

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip says the subject of Nkandla has been “exhaustively dealt with by Parliament” and that it would not entertain a “flurry of frivolous requests” by the DA to debate the issue. “We are appalled at the obtrusive and completely opportunistic tactics being employed by Lindiwe Mazibuko and Helen Zille, which includes the weekend's inspection of the private residence of the President of the country,” the ANC said in a statement. The DA disagrees. Parliamentary leader Mazibuko said President Zuma’s “failure to provide a comprehensive reply to my question on how much his family will be contributing to the upgrade of Nkandla home shows his determination to hide the details of this scandal in the dark and escape accountability”.

FIVE SOL PLAATJE MUNICIPALITY WORKERS KILLED

The Sol Plaatje Municipality is investigating the death of five workers who died at Kimberley's Homevale wastewater treatment plant, city official Sello Matsie said. One man was cleaning the pump house six metres below ground when sludge filled the room, releasing methane gas. His colleagues tried to help him, and were overcome by gas, Matsie said. The SACP in the Northern Cape has slammed the municipality, saying the workers “lost their lives as a result of an avoidable accident at their workplace. This tragic loss of life calls into question the health and safety conditions that workers face everyday at Sol Plaatje municipality”. Different state departments, the police and the municipality are investigating the accident.
SANRAL READY TO ROLL WITH E-TOLLS

The South African National Road Agency is ready to rollout the Gauteng e-tolling system. Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) manager Alex van Niekerk said the system had been in operation for a few months, and had been “thoroughly tested”, although road users had not been charged. Van Niekerk said it was very important for people to get their e-tags and have them fitted before the implementation of the Gauteng e-tolling system. But Cosatu is standing firmly behind its stance that road users should not be liable for the costs of upgrading roads. Spokesman Patrick Craven said, “road maintenance funds should be taken from tax revenues, not from motorists”.

SAS QUEEN MODJADJI CREW GIVEN TRAUMA COUNSELLING

South Africa’s defence minister says the crew of a submarine that struck the seabed off the Eastern Cape coast earlier this year had to receive trauma counselling. Responding to a question in the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the SAS Queen Modjadji "did make contact with the sea bottom, mud and sand, on 18 July during a routine diving safety drill and hydraulic oil pressure failure exercise". She said all crewmembers were “psychologically evaluated after the incident as part of the normal procedure”. The cost to repair the sub was around R500,000.

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Netshitenzhe calls for Youth Wage Subsidy pilot projects

SABC News, 08 November 2012

Former government spokesperson and now Head of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection Joel Netshitenzhe has called on government to test the feasibility of implementing the Youth Wage Subsidy.

He was delivering the tenth annual Harold Wolpe Lecture in Cape Town. The lecture is named after a political activist and academic who died in 1996. Netshitenzhe says one way of dealing with the issue of the subsidy is by setting up pilot projects in a few provinces.

In his State of the Nation Address in February 2010, President Jacob Zuma announced plans for a Youth Wage Subsidy, this was followed by the Finance Minister’s announcement of a R5 billion budget for it. But the Congress of South African Trade Unions is, however, opposed to the subsidy.

Netshitenzhe says the State must be independent of the various interest groups, noting that government is at the moment "too indecisive to act autonomously of these interest groups even if it were to mean running extensive pilot projects on the Youth Wage Subsidy in two or three provinces."

He says instead of acting autonomously, government would rather address concerns that are currently being discussed only in theoretical terms.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is among those who have been rooting for the Youth Wage Subsidy. Party leader and Western Cape premier Helen Zille has urged government to follow her provincial administration’s example and roll out nationwide pilot projects.

Earlier this year the DA came out to share the success of its own pilot projects in the Western Cape, highlighting that the Youth Wage Subsidy will ease youth unemployment and poverty.

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Madiba’s arrest commemorated

Gillian Pillay, SABC News, 07 November 2012

Fifty years ago today, Madiba was convicted and sentenced for the first time to five years in prison. A place of worship and ironically also a bastion of apartheid injustice.

The Pretoria old Synagogue was converted into a Special Supreme Court in 1952. It dealt with various cases relating to the anti-apartheid struggle. Fifty years to the day, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to five years imprisonment for incitement and leaving the country illegally.

The 7^th of November 1962 is a day etched in the country’s collective consciousness. Three months prior, he had been trapped at a police roadblock in Tweedie en-route from Durban to Johannesburg as he had been underground for 17 months mobilising funds and support for the MK.

Years later, Madiba returned to the infamous site reliving the moment his freedom was snipped short.

“As we stopped, a tall gentlemen came out of his car and walked up to us. He looked at us as though he knew who we were. He then took out his warrant of authority and introduced himself as Sergeant Voster from Pietermaritzburg police. He asked me what my name is and I said David Motsamai, which was my cover name. He asked if I was not Mandela and that I had given him my name but he ended up arresting me,” says Madiba.

Fellow Rivonia Trialist, Ahmed Kathrada attended his trial. “I saw him awaiting trial and then I saw him in court, when he appeared for a day or two in Johannesburg as well as at the Synagogue. It was the first trial of its nature, where a senior leader is now charged after he has been underground for a long time. In that sense it was unique,” says Kathrada.

Years on, the Synagogue stands in virtual obscurity and bears precious little evidence of the events that led to a nation's long walk to freedom.

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4. Alliance

Zuma congratulates Obama

Eyewitness News , EWN, 07 November 2012

JOHANNESBURG - President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday congratulated his United States (US) counterpart Barack Obama on his second term on behalf of the government and people of South Africa.

The president said the country was confident that America would continue to play a positive role in developing Africa.

Spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Coorporation, Clayson Monyela, said, “President Zuma said we value our relations with the United States and look forward to strengthening bilateral corporations in the years to come. President Zuma also reiterated that the United States has an important role to play in Africa’s development.”

Earlier in Chicago, Illinois, Obama moved to inspire America after being elected to the White House for another four years.

He beat republican rival Mitt Romney, but it is still unclear whether he won the key battleground state of Florida.

Obama delivered his victory speech in his hometown, telling Americans they could achieve anything if they were willing to work hard.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love… you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.”

But the prospect of partisan gridlock in a divided US congress remains.

While the democrats hold the Senate, the republicans have retained control of the House of Representatives.

Nevertheless, the president said he was optimistic.

"Despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I have never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America - and I ask you to sustain that hope.”

Obama’s commanding speech followed that of a gracious Romney.

The Republican spoke in Boston, Massachusetts, thanking the nation for its support.

“I don’t think believe that there has ever been an effort in our party that can compare with what you have done over these past years.”

Romney also wished President Obama well.

“This is a time of great challenges for America and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation.”

Meanwhile, Obama supporters continue to celebrate his victory, with some Americans living in Cape Town saying they have set the bar high for him as he enters his second term in the White House.

Eyewitness News came across a group of US citizens at the American consulate in Tokai.

The group applauded as they listening to Obama's first re-election speech.

Geordie Bracken said he has high hopes.

He feels America's economy should dominate the president’s agenda for the next four years.

“I think this is a good day for the country.”

Obama supporter Mona Ewees admitted she was worried Republican candidate Mitt Romney would win.

“I was very nervous. I didn’t sleep for two days.”

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Anti-graft march hits CBD traffic

Karabo Ngoepe And Mogomotsi Magome, Business Report, 07 November

Pretoria - Members of Cosatu, the SA National Civic Organisation and the SACP brought traffic to a standstill when they marched to the mayor’s office to deliver a memorandum of grievances.

At least 800 people, dressed in red T-shirts and singing with placards in hand, walked through the streets, causing traffic to back up.

The marchers said they were worried about the way in which the municipality was being run.

They said the city was rife with corruption, nepotism, maladministration, favouritism and failure to implement collective agreements adopted at meetings.

Another issue that sent the marchers to Kgosientso Ramokgopa’s doorstep was the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report detailing massive corruption in divisions of the municipality.

The SIU has confirmed that high-ranking officials in the Tshwane municipality are implicated in the corruption.

It has also confirmed that the probe, which the SIU expects to finalise by the end of March, has identified irregularities in more than R500 million in contracts.

Other matters have been reported to the SIU since the probe began and could be included in the investigation.

“There are high-ranking officials involved in some of the matters,” said SIU spokesman Boy Ndala.

“Fifteen investigations have been finalised, and reports on these are being finalised before submission to municipality for action.”

The probe was launched in 2010 following allegations, made from various quarters, of maladministration, mismanagement and corruption in the municipality.

The secretary-general of the SACP’s Greater Tshwane area, Apson Makaung, has demanded that the report be made public.

Makaung said the SACP did not want to see a situation similar to that which occurred after advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza submitted his report on the investigation relating to then-city manager Kiba Kekana. Kekana was given a golden handshake of about R2.3m, for reasons not disclosed to the people of Tshwane.

“We demand that the report be made public, because [the probe] was conducted using [rayepayers’] money. People deserve to know what happened.

The Ntsebeza report was not made public and we were surprised when [Kekana] was given a golden handshake. We don’t want to see a similar incident with the SIU report,” Makaung said.

Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini was also present at the march and echoed Makaung’s sentiments. He said Cosatu wanted about 1 500 employees dismissed from the waste and parks division to be reinstated.

He said the workers were employed by labour brokers and were unfairly dismissed regardless of the collective agreement on phasing out labour brokers.

Among those dismissed is Ernest Boshielo, who said the workers were not given a reason for being axed. Ramokgopa had promised them that they would be permanently employed.

“We started as volunteers and the mayor last year promised to give us permanent jobs by June of 2012 and add 3 000 more people.

We were surprised when we were dismissed and the 3 000 new people got jobs that we were promised,” he said.

The large group, which had gathered at the Munitoria, demanded that their memorandum be accepted by Ramokgopa personally, but it was the mayoral committee member for housing and human settlements, Joshua Ngwenyama, who accepted it.

Mayoral spokesman Pieter de Necker said Ramokgopa would study the memorandum.

Asked if the issues relating to the SIU investigations being raised by the marchers were valid, he said a lot of the matters they were raising had been attended to.

Pretoria News

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SA in dire need of its Obama moment

Ranjeni Munusamy, EWN, 08 November 2012

“Will you take any steps to prevent further abuse?” Mazibuko asked Motlanthe.

“I will take steps to prevent abuse of public funds,” Motlanthe began.

Then, he could have said: I will fight for this long-suffering country of ours.

He could have said: I will not stop or rest until my task is finished.

He could have said: I will lead the people of South Africa in their quest for justice and truth.

Instead, he stopped. And didn’t say how. Or when.

In that moment, he could have been a leader. He could have become a contender. Instead, he decided to retreat behind the curtain.

“If you are aware of such, a note to head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit would see to that matter. As for former minister Shiceka, may his soul rest in peace,” Motlanthe said.

Earlier in the question session, Motlanthe seemed less constrained when he spoke about the need to do away with the migrant labour system.

“If there is one good thing that must result out of this whole painful saga, it is the elimination of the migrant labour system," he said.

Motlanthe said the “sleep out allowance” which some mining companies were giving to mineworkers was encouraging miners to live in informal settlements. The single sex compounds on mines were not desirable but were better than informal settlements.

The homepage of the website says the group is calling for change because:

South Africans do not have confidence in the leadership of President Zuma.

We need a leadership that will lead the ANC towards quality and durable change, towards an ideal as set out in the Freedom Charter, which remains its strategic vision and mission.

A leadership that will regain the confidence of all Africans on the African continent.

It was the mark of the man who was able to articulate his nation’s future as such:

And the only thing worse than a leaderless country, is a leaderless country that once had a leader. A sincere, fearless man who was prepared to sacrifice his life for what he believed. A leader who could take a whole country from the edge of the abyss and, through sheer will power and commitment to a higher ideal, deliver hope to hungry and depraved.

So when we hear Barack Obama put it crisply and with true conviction, we have to ask ourselves a most painful question:

Will we ever again, deep in our hearts, know that for South Africa, the best is yet to come?

This column appeared in The Daily Maverick.

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ANCWL want more women in judiciary

Stephen Grootes , EWN, 08 November 2012

JOHANNESBURG - The ANC women's league and the gender commission have told Eyewitness News they want to ensure the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) recommends a woman to be the next Constitutional Court judge.

There are currently only two women among the 11 judges.

The JSC is currently asking for nominations to the court as Judge Zac Yacoob will soon be stepping down.

Women’ league treasurer and Deputy Economic Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize said the court needs to reflect the country’s demographics.

“I think we have taken too long to realize the importance of ensuring that there are people who become a hub of transformation within the judiciary.”

The gender commissions Jabu Baloyi said this is particularly important in light of discussions around the traditional courts bill.

“This will send a strong message if we have women in the judiciary.”

The last vacancy saw Supreme Court of Appeal judge Mandisa Maya making the final shortlist, but President Jacob Zuma appointed judge Raymond Zondo to the top court.

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Mbeki skips Zuma's lecture in his honour

Moipone Malefane , Sowetan, 08 November 2012

FORMER president Thabo Mbeki will not attend the lecture in his honour in Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, tomorrow.

The lecture, which will be delivered by his successor, President Jacob Zuma, forms part of a series of ANC centenary lectures on the lives of past presidents of the organisation.

Sowetan understands that Mbeki will be in Brazil to attend a United Nations conference - he is head of the UN panel trying to stem the flow of illicit funds.

Mbeki has informed the ruling party that he had other planned engagements.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu yesterday said that, as with all other lectures, the party had been inviting the families of the past leaders to the events, and that the same applied to Mbeki.

"We do have four family members working with us here already and one of them will speak on Friday," he said.

Mbeki was appointed to the UN position in May, and he already knew that his centenary lecture would be in November.

Last month was dedicated to the late ANC leader Oliver Tambo.

The lectures started in January, with most attended by family members.

Mbeki and former president Nelson Mandela, apart from Zuma, are the only surviving ANC leaders. Mandela, however, could not attend his lecture in Limpopo in July but was represented by his wife Graça Machel and granddaughter Ndileka, who delivered a speech on his behalf.

Mbeki's lecture follows his scathing attack on the ANC leadership last month in Eastern Cape. At the lecture, he raised some concerns, saying he did not know how to "respond to what is obviously a dangerous and unacceptable situation of directionless and unguided national drift" of the country.

The rivalry between Mbeki and Zuma culminated in a bruising leadership battle, which placed Zuma at the helm of the ruling party in Polokwane in 2007.

After his recall as president of the country in 2008, Mbeki had stayed away from commenting on domestic politics until recently when he commented on the Marikana tragedy that left 34 mineworkers dead, and how the country was losing its image under the current leadership.

The ANC in Gauteng also hosted an event in Johannesburg last Saturday to celebrate Mbeki's life.

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5. International

Victory to help Obama expand government’s reach

DAVID LINDSEY, business day, 07 NOVEMBER 2012

WASHINGTON — Both sides called it a generation-defining race for the White House: a choice between Democrat Barack Obama’s brand of government activism and Republican Mitt Romney’s commitment to reducing Washington’s role in Americans’ daily lives.

Mr Obama’s victory, however, did not settle that question. Instead, the hard-fought battle for the White House exposed an electorate deeply divided by race, age and party.

Tuesday’s elections — in which Republicans kept control of the US House and Mr Obama’s Democrats held on to the Senate — suggested that bitter partisanship was likely to remain very much alive in Washington in the new year. They also revealed that there was no broad mandate for much beyond the broadly shared goals of improving the economy and reducing government debt.

That means that undertaking bold new initiatives comparable to healthcare reform, financial regulation and economic stimulus programmes will be a great deal more complicated for Obama 2012 than they were for Obama 2008.

Even so, Mr Obama — now unfettered by not having to face voters again — is in position to pursue an ambitious agenda that could leave his mark on the government for a generation or longer, including a move to revamp the nation’s immigration laws.

Some analysts believe Mr Obama is likely to spend much of his second term "locking down the achievements of his first term", including ensuring that "we will have a functioning national healthcare system", said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

For some, that would be enough to secure his place in history.

Read the latest news and analysis of the 2012 US elections

"Just by re-electing Obama, that means the Affordable Care Act will continue to be implemented, and that’s very important because that’s one of the most important pieces of legislation in half a century," Theda Skocpol, a political scientist at Harvard University, said of the law that helps extend health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.

"Most of the action will occur between the president’s administration and states, and my guess is a lot of the Republican governors will find ways to accept parts of the Medicare expansion," Ms Skocpol said.

A boost from the bail-out?

In at least one respect, Tuesday’s election results vindicated Mr Obama’s belief in an activist government.

By supporting an $85bn federal bail-out of the vehicle industry in 2009, a measure that was not particularly popular at the time, Mr Obama may have helped to save not just the industry, but also his presidency.

The vehicle bail-out — and the Obama campaign’s attacks on Mr Romney over his opposition to it — appeared to be key factors in the president’s victory in the crucial battleground state of Ohio, where one in eight jobs is connected to the vehicle industry.

Nationwide, Mr Obama — the nation’s first black president — trailed Mr Romney among working-class white male voters by 17 percentage points, according to Reuters/Ipsos election day polling. But in Ohio, white men with incomes of $75,000 or less were split 49-49 between Mr Obama and Mr Romney.

Analysts said the disparity indicated that the vehicle bail-out — which saved nearly 1.5-million jobs nationwide, according to the Center for Automotive Research — was likely to have given Mr Obama a critical boost in just the right place.

"While Romney enjoys a large advantage among lower-income white males nationally, the trend reverses in Ohio," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said. "This underlines the importance of the auto bail-out in Ohio, and perceptions of Romney as unsympathetic to the challenges faced by the working class in this state."

Second-term agenda

Political analysts and strategists expect Mr Obama’s second-term agenda to be layered with increased federal spending on education, job and energy programmes.

But such an agenda will be complicated by the government’s $16-trillion debt and the looming "fiscal cliff" — a $600bn tax increase scheduled to take effect along with mandatory spending cuts at the start of the new year unless Mr Obama and Congress can agree on a deficit reduction deal.

Mr Obama’s commitment to immigration reform — a key goal for Democrats who want to solidify their hold on the growing Latino vote — would seem to have an increasingly clear path to success, especially as Republicans seek ways to improve their appeal to that minority group.

But the biggest, most immediate challenge is the looming showdown with Republicans in Congress over spending and taxes, during which Mr Obama will press to keep his campaign promise to raise taxes on the wealthy while retaining lower tax rates for others.

Mr Obama has signalled he may try to force Republicans to accept his demand to increase taxes on those making $250,000 or more a year by threatening to veto any legislation aimed at preventing the tax increases and massive spending cuts that are slated kick in automatically at the end of the year.

The notion that one of Mr Obama’s boldest second-term moves could be reinstating Clinton-era tax rates on the wealthy suggests that the president’s agenda could be significant but limited, some analysts say.

"It’s not like you’re going to have a new New Deal," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, referring to the broad array of social programmes enacted by president Franklin D Roosevelt to help the nation recover from the Great Depression of the 1930s.

During the presidential campaign, "the rhetoric is so dramatic, you think you’re deciding between FDR and a (staunchly conservative) candidate from the 19th century", Mr Zelizer said. "I’m sure most Republicans see Obama as a big-government liberal and most Democrats see Romney as a right-wing, Tea Party zealot."

In fact, Mr Zelizer said, both Mr Obama and Mr Romney were "relatively in the middle of the political spectrum, with limits on what they (could) achieve in a gridlocked Washington".

Challenge for Republicans

It may be too soon to tell whether the 2012 election will be a turning point in how Americans view the role of government in society. But the election does appear to mark another type of political transition.

Mr Romney, 65, could be the last Republican of his generation to make a serious bid for the White House. The Republicans who appear to be in position to run for president in 2016 represent a new generation of leaders who generally are more conservative than their predecessors.

They include Mr Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan (42), Florida Senator Marco Rubio (41), Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (41), former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum (54), New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (50) and House of Representatives majority leader Eric Cantor of Virginia (49).

For them and any other Republicans who might consider a run for the White House, Tuesday’s election results brought a sign of potential trouble ahead.

Mr Obama won about 66% of the vote among Hispanics, who make up about 17% of the US population and are projected by the Pew Research Center to account for nearly 30% by 2050.

The Republican Party’s harsh stance on immigration has hurt its ability to attract Latinos, according to analysts who say the new generation of Republican contenders will need to tone down the party’s harsh rhetoric on immigration or risk certain defeat in several states because of Hispanics siding with Democrats.

"We certainly seem to be at the end of some thing, and at the beginning of another, when it comes to Republican candidates," Southern Methodist University’s Mr Jillson said. "The Republican Party is untenable in its current form and in serious trouble as a viable governing vehicle (because) the Democratic Party is more attractive to growing constituencies — anyone who feels vulnerable and as if they may need support."

During the campaign, Mr Obama signed an executive order granting temporary legal status and work permits to young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children. He also has said he would push Congress to pass the DREAM Act, which would make the order permanent and create a path to citizenship for many undocumented workers.

Mr Romney said he opposed the DREAM Act and that he favoured harsh immigration policies that would lead illegal immigrants to "self-deport". He later seemed to back away from that stance, and said he would seek some form of immigration reform that tied US citizenship to education and jobs.

If Republicans do not improve their image among Latinos, Mr Jillson said, some solidly conservative states might not be that way much longer.

"The Republican Party absolutely will have to soften its message," he said. "Texas (now dominated by Republicans) is 15 years away from a two-party system" because of its growing Hispanic population.-Reuters

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SA needs urgently to restore confidence, IMF warns

Linda Ensor, Business Day, 07 November 2012

RECENT developments in the global and domestic economy mean there is greater urgency for the South African government to restore and maintain investor confidence, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in Parliament on Wednesday.

The head of the IMF’s Southern African division, Calvin McDonald, said these developments — which included the impact of the strikes in the mining and other sectors of the economy; the weaker fiscal position of the government; and the deterioration in the global economy — served to strengthen the policy advice the IMF gave the government following its annual consultation report on South Africa a few months ago.

Mr McDonald reaffirmed this advice in a briefing to Parliament’s standing committee on finance on the first day of a visit by an IMF team of senior economists to South Africa, during which they will meet officials from the Treasury and the Reserve Bank.

The advice given by the IMF to the government in the report was that it maintain investor confidence through continued fiscal consolidation and that it restrain growth in the public-sector wage bill so the government could invest more in infrastructure.

Other elements of the IMF’s advice was that South Africa rely increasingly on monetary policy to support growth and that the government continue to push for reform of labour and product markets in the medium term. The greater reliance on monetary policy was necessary, Mr McDonald said, because South Africa no longer had the fiscal room to promote growth by raising the level of public debt and widening the budget deficit.

He noted that the Bank had already cut interest rates this year in response to the weak global outlook and South Africa’s weak growth prospects, and that there might be room for further cuts in the event of further weakening, though this would also depend on trends in inflation.

Mr McDonald said the recent developments had given "greater urgency" to this advice.

He noted that the recent downgrades in the credit ratings of South Africa by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s had taken a toll on South Africa’s international reputation and had contributed to the weakening of the rand.

The downgrades were based on South Africa’s lower growth prospects and a loss of confidence in the authorities’ ability to maintain fiscal policy. Mr McDonald said the government’s credibility with the rating agencies would improve if it could build confidence that it had the fiscal and monetary institutions to deliver on its policies.

Commenting on the medium-term budget policy statement tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in October, Mr McDonald said that while it signalled lower growth and higher fiscal deficits, the government was committed to reducing public debt.

Mr McDonald stressed the need for South Africa to improve the international competitiveness of the economy through investment in infrastructure. He conceded there was concern about the capacity to implement the infrastructure investment programme and called for greater private-sector involvement to strengthen it.

The IMF’s report stressed the need for labour market reforms as a way to address structural unemployment. It said high wages contributed to high unemployment by acting as a constraint on labour absorption. The IMF report argued the high wage settlements had raised the cost of production and reduced South Africa’s global competitiveness.

It also urged that the high margins made by companies in the product markets be addressed.

Since compiling its report on South Africa, the global environment had weakened further, to the country’s detriment.

The IMF has lowered its forecast for global growth in 2012 to 3.3%, from its July forecast of 3.5%, with its 2013 forecast falling to 3.6% from 3.9%.

Conditions in Europe continued to deteriorate and there were significant risks in the US, Mr McDonald said. There had been policy tightening in China and Brazil, and weak global demand was affecting China and India.

However, Mr McDonald said the IMF had not yet revised its 2.6% growth forecast for South Africa, saying this was one of the major issues to be discussed with the government during the current visit.

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Chinese Communist Congress opens with calls for reform

Sapa-AFP, Times Live, 08 November 2012

Chinese President Hu Jintao called for stepped-up political reform and a revamped economic model as the Communist Party opened a historic congress to usher in a new slate of leaders.

The week-long congress, held every five years, will end with a transition of power to Vice President Xi Jinping, who will govern for the coming decade amid growing pressure for reform of the communist regime's iron-clad grip on power.

After a top-level murder and graft scandal involving former regional boss Bo Xilai, Hu delivered a stark warning on the need for the party to clean up its act, admonishing that corruption could cause the "collapse of the party".

Speaking to more than 2,200 delegates inside Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Hu also positioned the world's second-largest economy for a more assertive international role as he insisted China should be a "maritime power".

Heading into the 18th party congress, China has been skirmishing with Japan and other Asian neighbours over a slew of territorial disputes, and flexing its growing military muscles to the disquiet of the United States.

"We must continue to make both active and prudent efforts to carry out reform of the political structure and make the people's democracy more extensive, fuller in scope and sounder in practice," Hu also said.

Without naming Bo, the outgoing communist general-secretary said the party "must make sure that all are equal before the law".

Hu also dwelt on the need for China to recalibrate its export- and investment-led growth model after years of breakneck expansion in the economy.

"In response to changes in both domestic and international economic developments, we should speed up the creation of a new growth model and ensure that development is based on improved quality and performance," he said.

The congress will end next week with the installation of Xi as the party's new general-secretary, and he is in line to succeed Hu as state president next March.

But the scandal surrounding Bo, who has been ejected from the party and is now awaiting trial, exposed divisions in the leadership and related back-room jockeying for top positions.

The delegates drawn from the Communist Party's ranks of 82 million members gathered amid intense security around Tiananmen Square for the congress, which runs to November 14, when the new leaders will be presented.

Delegates in the ornate hall, dominated by the party's signature colour of red in the form of flags, carpeting and banners, studiously took notes or followed the text of Hu's speech as he read it out, offering occasional applause.

The party elite appear to have settled on the new leadership line-up in the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest decision-making body.

The committee will be steered by Xi, 59, who has previously headed some of China's most economically dynamic and reform-minded areas.

"We have overcome numerous difficulties and risks and achieved new successes in building a modern, prosperous society," Hu said in his speech of just over 90 minutes, reviewing the five years since the party's last congress in 2007.

But Xi, the son of a revolutionary hero who has been Hu's heir apparent since 2007, will take over at a challenging time with China facing a rare slowdown in economic growth.

Even the best-informed China-watchers say relatively little is known about Xi and how he will confront challenges facing the nation both at home and abroad, as it increasingly challenges the United States in various arenas.

And while Hu cited the need for some kind of political opening, authorities have taken every precaution to ensure dissenting voices do not intrude on the congress.

Areas of central Beijing near the Great Hall of the People were swarming with police, and authorities have reportedly taken such measures as banning sales of knives and even ping pong balls, for fear they might be used to spread "reactionary" messages.

Hundreds of activists have been put under house arrest, rights groups say, while taxi drivers have been told to lock their back windows apparently to prevent passengers from throwing out flyers with political messages.

A state-run newspaper published a survey Wednesday suggesting eight out of 10 Chinese in major cities want political reform, adding to mounting calls for change of some sort in how the corruption-ridden Communist Party runs China.

The contrast with how the United States manages its political affairs was laid bare with President Barack Obama's re-election triumph, and did not go unnoticed among commentators on China's wildly popular social media websites.

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IMF repeats call for wage reform

Linda Ensor , Times Live, 08 November 2012

There was greater urgency for the government to restore and maintain investor confidence in light of recent developments in the global and domestic economy, the International Monetary Fund said in parliament yesterday.

The head of the IMF's Southern African division, Calvin McDonald, said these developments - which included the impact of the strikes in the mining and other sectors of the economy, the weaker fiscal position of the government, and the deterioration in the global economy - served to strengthen the policy advice that the IMF gave the government following its annual consultation report on South Africa a few months ago.

McDonald reaffirmed this advice in a briefing to parliament's standing committee on finance on the first day of a visit by an IMF team of senior economists to South Africa. They will meet officials from the Treasury and the Reserve Bank.

Other elements of the IMF's advice were that South Africa should rely increasingly on monetary policy to support growth and should continue to push for reform of labour and product markets.

Greater reliance on monetary policy was necessary, McDonald said, because South Africa no longer had the fiscal room to promote growth by raising the level of public debt and widening the budget deficit.

He noted the Reserve Bank had already cut interest rates this year in response to the weak global outlook and South Africa's weak growth prospects, and said there might be room for further cuts in the event of further weakening, though this would also depend on trends in inflation.

McDonald said the recent downgrades in the country's credit rating had taken a toll on its international reputation and had contributed to the weakening of the rand. The downgrades were based on lower growth prospects and loss of confidence in the authorities' ability to maintain fiscal policy.

The government's credibility with the rating agencies would improve if it could build confidence that it had the fiscal and monetary institutions to deliver on its policies, McDonald said.

Commenting on the recent medium-term budget policy statement, McDonald said though it signalled lower growth and higher fiscal deficits, the government was committed to reducing public debt.

McDonald stressed the need for South Africa to improve the international competitiveness of the economy through investment in infrastructure. He conceded that there was concern about the capacity to implement the infrastructure investment programme and called for greater private sector involvement to strengthen it.

The IMF's report stressed the need for labour market reforms as a way to address structural unemployment.

It said high wages contributed to high unemployment by acting as a constraint on labour absorption. The IMF argued that high wage settlements had raised the cost of production and reduced global competitiveness.

The high margins made by companies in the product markets should be addressed.

Since the IMF compiled its report on South Africa, the global environment had weakened further, to the country's detriment.

The IMF has lowered its forecast for global growth in 2012 to 3.3%, from its July forecast of 3.5%, with its 2013 forecast falling to 3.6% from 3.9%. Conditions in Europe continued to add to deterioration and there were significant risks in the US, McDonald said. There had been policy tightening in China and Brazil, and weak global demand was affecting China and India.

He said the IMF had not yet revised its 2.6% growth forecast for South Africa, saying this was one of the major issues to be discussed with the government during the current visit. - I-Net Bridge

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6. Comment

US poll showed a democracy in action - a lesson for SA

The Times Editorial, 08 November 2012

The Times Editorial: To an outsider, there might seem to be a lot wrong with US politics. There are the huge financial and media resources required to fight an effective presidential campaign, effectively consigning smaller parties to the political wilderness. And there's the electoral college system, which can render the popular vote almost irrelevant in some states.

But Tuesday's US election was a breathtaking spectacle and its outcome, the re-election of President Barack Obama - a feat achieved by only one other Democratic president since the Second World War - was celebrated by billions of people worldwide.

Obama's victory is all the more striking because it was achieved in the face of a stubbornly high unemployment rate - a result of the 2008-2009 recession that bedevilled his first term.

Obama now has the opportunity to safeguard the projects he started in his first term, including his landmark reforms of healthcare and Wall Street.

But the challenges he faces will be formidable. They include deciding how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme, restarting the stalled Middle East peace process and responding to the opportunities and challenges of the Arab Spring.

Perhaps his biggest challenge will be at home, where he must find common ground with the Republicans in Congress if the nation is to avoid plummeting over the "fiscal cliff" - the expiry of tax cuts from the Bush era. And he has to raise the US debt ceiling while reining in government debt in the longer term.

As one watched the drama unfold, it was difficult not to make comparisons between the US political system and our own.

South Africa needs a more competitive political environment in which politicians and parties are held to account by the voters, and in which presidential candidates go head-to-head on live television to convince the nation that they really are fit to lead.

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We can do the maths

Jonathan Jansen, Times Live, 08 November 2012

If you still believe mathematical literacy should remain in the school curriculum, consider the following question from the Grade 12 Paper 1 examination written last week: "State whether the following event is CERTAIN, MOST LIKELY or IMPOSSIBLE: Christmas Day is on December 25 in South Africa."

For this brainteaser you would gain two marks. I am not sure what upsets me more - the fact that there are three options to this question, the cultural bias against non-Christian pupils, or that the mathematics in question 1.1.7 is not obvious at all.

Then, if that were not enough, Statistics South Africa released its Census 2011 report which, on its front cover, shows a smiling young teacher with chalk and duster in hand addressing a group of school children. Behind her is a black- board showing division problems, one below the next. Question 3 shows a line that reads 21 ÷ 7 = 6. Whether this is poor use of the blackboard space or a simple error of calculation, the carelessness of mathematical representation speaks to the broader crisis of maths and science in our country. That Stats South Africa did not realise the embarrassing front page message makes you wonder about the reliability of what appears between the covers.

Small wonder the fifth Financial Development Report of the World Economic Forum, also released last week, placed South Africa last out of 62 countries for the quality of its science and mathematics education. Ahead of us were poor countries like Kenya, Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria. A good friend told of a countryman who saw the forum's announcement in a positive light - we got 100%, 62 out of 62.

Fret not, there is wonderful news just released. The minister of basic education will appoint a committee to investigate the standard of the matric exams. Don't hold your breath; I can confidently give you the results of that investigation in advance. The study will not declare the matric standards a disaster; they will report that our standards are actually quite high and on a par with other countries, but perhaps minor adjustments need to be made. It is called politics; when under pressure, establish a commission.

In the meantime, the foundations of mathematics teaching and learning remain a crisis and no amount of testing and retesting will change that fact.

Here are three simple realities: Most primary school teachers do not know enough maths to teach it (content), they do not know enough about the teaching of maths to teach the subject effectively (pedagogy), and they do not work in stable school contexts to teach without interruption (instructional time).

This brings me to the story of Thembi* (a pseudonym), which I shared with you last week. I was deeply moved, and at times emotional, as scores of South Africans at home and abroad sent e-mails offering to contribute to the university education of this remarkable young matriculant who not only survived the horror of rape and bearing witness to the murder of her mother at the hands of her father, but rose above these traumas to score her highest marks this year (90%, 94%) in not one but two mathematics papers.

Many readers said they were pensioners, and one asked: "Would you mind if I gave R20 only? It's all I have." A mother shared the story with her child, who also wanted to contribute from his meagre pocket money. Others said they had no money at all as they were unemployed, "but I will pray for her" said one, and from another jobless person, "Can I read to her or help in any other way"?

The commitments still come daily, and I want to thank you sincerely on behalf of the young woman; she will write to you after the Grade 12 exams are over.

I can assure you there are millions of young women like Thembi out there who, given half a chance at a decent maths education, will also excel in this subject with quality teaching in stable school environments. What grieves me deeply is the amount of talent that is wasted because our expectations of youths are so low.

Yet your responses prove to me what is possible with citizen action. Just imagine that the energy, commitment and selflessness that you demonstrated were used to change all our schools and improve the academic prospects of every student across the country.

What if, as you showed, our first response to an education crisis somewhere was not our incorrigibly fractious government but our own resources - spiritual, emotional, intellectual and material?

For now, be certain to enjoy December 25.

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Marikana: A cover-up for all to see

Greg Marinovich, Daily Maverick, 6 November 2012

As more conflicting and questionable police data streams into the public consciousness courtesy of the Farlam Commission, the picture of a horrible crime becomes ever-more complete. And what’s even more disturbing, an organisation-wide cover-up becomes increasingly obvious.

The Farlam Commission continues to be the vehicle for revealing the most shocking information about what happened at the place called Small Koppie on 16 August.

On Monday, Captain Jeremiah Apollo Mohlaki, crime scene investigator, was presented with two sets of images taken at the scene. The first set was taken while there was still daylight and showed the dead miners, few of whom had weapons near them. The commission then presented corresponding images of the same miners with traditional and hand-made weapons close by, even on top of the dead strikers.

One really does not need Mohlaki’s own admission - and that of the police counsel Ishmael Semenya – to understand that the police had doctored the crime. The police at the scene were trying to make their claim of self-defence plausible. One understands this behaviour, inasmuch as any perpetrator will lie about their crimes.

Yet here we have an expert whose job is to gather evidence for prosecution apparently going along with this subversion of justice. Why?

It is clear from the records of the day that senior officers, including Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega, were at Marikana through most the day of the 16th. It is inconceivable that these same officers – from the generals down – were not at the site of Small Koppie before the sun has set on that bloodiest of days. They must have seen the Scene 2, or had other high-ranking brother officers report to them on it, before the tampering.

During the nine-day bosberaad or indaba held in Potchefstroom to plan the police submission to the commission, these same high ranking officers would have watched the before-and-after footage. They would have been aware of how the scene looked before those dangerous weapons were so evocatively placed – if not first hand, then from both the police stills and the video footage. There would have been frank discussions about what happened that day.

Did these top cops then say, “Hey okes, bafana, magents, this is wrong, you are subverting the justice we are sworn to uphold?”

Seems not.

It appears that the nine days were spent, at the taxpayers’ cost, planning a strategy to extricate the police from culpability for what they had done at Marikana. It might have been here that they decided to try to intimidate witnesses by arresting and torturing them. If not, then why have the revelations of this brutality not seen any of the officers who tortured the miners arrested for assault?

The commission heard from the police that Phiyega became aware that the crime scene might have been tampered with two weeks ago and had launched an investigation. Two weeks and five days ago Riah Phiyega waslaughing and joking during the hearings as footage of police killing miners was shown.

So when we hear the phrase “two weeks” out of the police counsel’s mouth, is that perhaps a little over two weeks? What does a newly appointed civilian with a business reputation have to gain by abetting police crimes and cover-ups? Who is she beholden to – the police or the country?

And then there is the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), the cops who are there to monitor the cops, the people who protect us from the rotten apples. They were called, apparently, to Marikana that same day. When exactly did they arrive on the scene? Their investigation included taking statements from wounded and arrested miners who were eyewitnesses to what happened, as well as from the policemen whose weapons fired the bullets that killed those men. IPID has access to all the evidence – including those before and after images at Small Koppie. They must have been aware – for months – of how police were trying to cover up the crime scene.

Why were those police officers not suspended while the investigations continued? Why have the superiors in charge not been suspended?

As far as we are aware, there is no reason for justice to be put on hold while the commission is in progress. Indeed, the police and National Prosecuting Authority have most definitely not been sitting on their hands, if the wave of arrests and court appearances of miners is anything to go by. In fact, some of those hands have been pretty busy, beating miners in custody.

Yet IPID did nothing. (Or at least nothing we as Joe Public can see.) What we see is that police are a law unto themselves. That they – and their political bosses – are above any rules and regulations; they are above South Africa’s Constitution.

The message is crystal clear: our government will back the boys and girls in blue above any constitutional rights of our citizens. The police will quell any popular movement by the underclass that threatens the interests of the political, labour or business elite.

The police are acting with impunity. Their political masters are acting with impunity.

In the South Africa of 2012, if you are poor and without political clout, you are on your own.

_________________

Emerging economies now turn attention to China

Ron Derby, Business Day, 08 November 2012

NOW that the US elections have come and gone, the next point of focus for emerging market economies including SA is the Chinese Communist Party’s electoral conference. The imminent leadership change in the world’s second-biggest economy is more important to the health of the nuts and bolts of the real economy, while the US presidential contest matters more to stock markets and other asset classes.

The re-election of Barack Obama means the US will continue with its cheap dollar policy to boost its job market, which more than anything else has supported global stock markets. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange has been trading near record highs despite the poor global economy.

The choice of leader in China is significant for the global economy, especially in SA’s case. China is SA’s biggest trading partner.

China’s leadership transition could end up having a far bigger effect on the emerging economies as it is the major export destination for many of them. The current account deficits SA and Brazil are facing bear testimony to the effect a slowdown in China has had.

Selection of China’s new leader will take place behind closed doors and involve only a handful of people in a week-long party congress starting today. Whomever these gentlemen choose to lead is going to have to find a new economic path for China. Worryingly for commodity-producing countries such as SA and Australia, all scenarios don’t play out too positively for mineral resources.

Before the 2008 financial crisis, China’s growth was attributable to manufacturing, with its cheap labour costs making it near impossible for anyone to compete. After the crisis and with slower developed markets, the country sped up government expenditure to support an economy used to growth rates above 9% for about a decade. The growth rate helped keep the commodity super-cycle going.

That era has passed. There are only so many bridges and roads a country can build, hence the declining growth rates we’ve seen out of China this year. Whether it’s bottomed remains to be seen.

With the European economy expected to remain in a perilous state next year, China’s export woes look likely to continue to drag in its performance. The 17-member common monetary union was expected to expand 0,1% next year compared with 1% forecast in May, the European Commission said yesterday. Germany is forecast to grow 0.8% from 1.7% projected earlier.

Last year, China’s share of global exports increased by its smallest amount since 1999. Rising labour costs haven’t helped boost its competitiveness either.

Low demand for its exports because of a slower global economy and an erosion of its cost competitiveness, combined with less government expenditure, necessitates a change in economic policy in China. Further, overcapacity is a major concern in China’s manufacturing sector, while the country faces a property glut if real estate investment doesn’t slow down.

"The installation of a cohesive Chinese leadership committed to putting the economy on a more sustainable footing would create opportunities for consumer goods producers while also signaling an end to the global commodity boom," London-based Capital Economics said in a note.

"The alternative is not more of the same but a further slowdown in China’s growth that would hit the emerging world much harder."

This change in trajectory is going to have a profound effect on countries that have focused too heavily on raw materials extraction instead of supporting the manufacturing sector.

China’s appetite for minerals will remain, but it won’t be as insatiable as it once was. Emerging market economies able to sell to the Chinese consumer look more likely to prosper in the next decade.

...

IS IT time to focus on inflation over economic growth? This is the question the Reserve Bank faces as it heads towards its last monetary policy committee meeting for the year with inflation looking more likely to breach its target band of 3%-6%.

The central bank surprised markets after its July meeting by cutting the interest rate by a 0.5 percentage point to 5% to boost the economy as the Europe’s debt crisis affected exports. The situation hasn’t improved and the illegal strike activity that started across the platinum belt has dented the country’s economic prospects further.

I am not writing off the possibility of yet another cut at some point in the near future. It would be really brave to hike rates without being sure there’s a sustainable recovery in the global economy.

___________
Obama and Mangaung

Gareth Setati, M&G, 07 Novemner 2012

Truth never damages a cause that is just — Mohandas Gandhi

And so Barack Obama takes the presidency. A congratulatory note to the American people for choosing leadership continuity. We must take this moment to recognise the smooth and painless electoral process that sees Obama with another opportunity to effect change domestically and internationally. Presumably he finds himself in his last term with the expectation he has now less of a need to please everybody and more scope for boldness in policy direction. As Mitt Romney remarked in his concession of defeat, let us pray that it will be so in a progressive direction, especially with regards to meeting his still somewhat unfulfilled promises of hope and change.

Obama is one of only two Democrats to gain a second term since World War II. We must nevertheless draw important lessons about the importance of leadership continuity. You see, in any organisation, there is some profit in allowing leaders and administrations to see out more than one term. How else would we get to measure their performance fairly and adequately? Not only that, it is common cause that visions and programmes at senior levels require time for their initiators to see them through.

In my view, perhaps a naive one, to replace an administration that still has another term requires that administration to satisfy at least two conditions:

1. It must have adequately demonstrated to have presided over royal mess-ups
2. Furthermore it must be easily demonstrable that whoever gains political power, if it is so determined by voters, can be shown to be an agent of tangible change.

Let us then turn our attention to our situation. In South Africa these two conditions ought also to be applied in settling our leadership struggles. As things stand, swapping President Jacob Zuma for Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe will be exactly that, a mere swap! It will be an exercise in farce.

First off, Motlanthe is second in charge and therefore in our posturing and politicking towards the leadership elections in Mangaung, let us not forget this fact: the deputy president is party to the existing policies, he is just as accountable for the efficacy or lack thereof in implementing policies.

Secondly we must demystify the matter further by asking how much better, from a policy direction and policy implementation perspective, a Motlanthe-led administration is expected to fare in contrast to a Zuma-led one. We should strongly doubt that after this sort of reflection we will continue to make emotional calls for a painful leadership change that leaves the unity of the people and the movement wounded. Let us be reminded that unnecessary leadership change, especially for dubious and frivolous short-term motivations, has the effect of setting such precedents and embedding in the movement a pernicious culture of political expediency.

In the context of our country and its realpolitik it would be healthier and make better sense to chop and change leadership so quickly if only we expected the new nominees to usher in sweeping reforms to current policies. Or better yet if we expected their capacity to implement those policies to surpass those of the incumbents’. But alas this appears not to be the case! As a matter of fact, and herein is the farce, the large proportion of the nominees can more or less be said to be the very incumbents. This is the very reason why we should expose our vehement calls for leadership change in the ruling party as political red herrings!

The point made here must not be taken to mean the Zuma administration is not without its challenges. We all know the pitfalls this administration has suffered. We all appreciate there are plenty areas of improvement but we must recognise, with no trace of humour, that these pitfalls have been suffered and the potential improvements thereof, by default, apply equally to the so-called “new” leadership being punted.

In saying and asking these things, we must of course concede that any administration has its challenges. On this, then, political maturity and political honesty will come into its own when we concede that this will be the case with Motlanthe at the helm or Fikile Mbalula as the ruling party’s secretary — for they are already members of Cabinet.

Let us take lessons from history. Let us take lessons from what we see to be working around us. A case in example is the Chinese. Of late their system is seen to be beginning to reap some success. The Chinese embrace leadership continuity so much so that their system has fixed leadership transitions that occur every decade. And on another note also deploy very capable technocrats where necessary.

It’s important to note the American democratic system does not provide a perfect example for comparison purposes with our democracy but this should not make it impossible for us to draw lessons. It should suffice to say there is obviously a lot to be said on the subject of democratic transitions, good leadership, the strength of opposition parties and frank politics. Though such a debate must be had, and this is not my undertaking here, we must keep vigilant in questioning our decisions and actions rather than accepting to be swept by rhetorical flights of political fancy. There are lessons everywhere. Let us be decisive in our quest to take emotion and expediency out of our politics.

“Forward” indeed.

_______________

Norman Mampane (Communications Officer)

Congress of South African Trade Unions

110 Jorissen Cnr Simmonds Street

Braamfontein

2017

P.O.Box 1019

Johannesburg

2000

South Africa

Tel: +27 11 339-4911 or Direct 010 219-1342

Mobile: +27 72 416 3790

E-Mail: mam...@cosatu.org.za

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