COSATU Media Monitor, 15 March 2010
Mluleki Mntungwa
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Contents
1.1 Public sector source of protests
1.2 NUM slams pending sale of state mineral rights
1.3 Union prods MPs for decision on labour broking
1.4 Resist Sadtu’s bullying: Zille
1.5 Lack of classrooms puts kids under pressure
2.1 ANC reads riot act on ‘spats and insults’
2.2 ANC could hinder Eskom loan
2.3 ANC MPs at loggerheads over accountability to Scopa
2.4 PIC’s Molefe denies ANC ‘fallout’ led to quitting
2.5 No more public rows, says ANC
2.6 Onus on NEC to fill leadership void as Zuma dithers
2.7 Move to unseat Zuma in the spotlight
2.8 ANC's faith in Gordhan 'has grown' in fact
2.9 Mandela's ex-wife denies criticising him in interview
2.10 ANCWL lodges complaint with Zuma
2.11 Malema and the R250m mining deal
2.12 Malema found guilty of hate speech
1. Workers
1.1 Public sector source of protests
Jan de Lange, FIN24, 15 March 2010
TRADE unions representing 1.2m of the country's public servants last week attended a conference in Durban - entitled the Public Sector Summit.
Let there be no doubt: the unrest and protest actions over poor service delivery increasingly ravaging the country are directly related to the ineffective public sector - especially at local level, but also in the national departments and provinces.
Over the past three years several leaders have warned about the rot in the public service. The best known of these is probably the academic, physician and activist Mamphela Ramphela, who has declared that certain public sector functions, especially education and health, are today in a worse condition than they were under apartheid.
This is a terrible indictment, but not without merit. The unofficial "annual report" of the country's education system must surely be the annual matriculation results. In 2008 fewer matriculants passed with matric exemption than in 1993.
It is certainly no exaggeration to describe this as high treason against the country's youth. The problem is whom to cite for the state of affairs.
Bring out the whip
Should a court case be feasible, the public sector unions would probably be "accused number one". And if government were at all serious about straightening out the public service, it would have used the Durban "summit" to bring out the whip and lambaste the unions.
At a news conference announcing the summit, Randall Howard, the former general secretary of the Transport and Allied Workers Union, Satawu, and currently special adviser to Richard Baloyi, minister of public service and administration, did not go so far as to agree that the unions' undue influence and power over the public service was a major cause of the deterioration in service delivery.
It takes, for instance, at least three years to conclude a disciplinary hearing in the public service. Depending on the seriousness of the transgression, the official accused is generally suspended - on full pay. This means that he sits at home for three years and gets paid for it.
But Howard did however say that this state of affairs would be raised at the summit. Nevertheless, the unions did not regard this as the principal object of the conference.
Fikile Slovo Majola, general secretary of Nehawu, one of the public service's biggest unions, pointed out that the difference between the minimum wage in the public service and the salaries of top officials need attention now that the minimum wage is at a more acceptable level.
The minimum wage in the public service, Mr Majola, is now around R3 200 a month for a cleaner. The minimum wage in the private sector for a packer at Pick n Pay is close on R1 200 a month. The biggest difference between the two is not the difference in rands and cents, but the fact that government offices are generally filthy while Pick n Pay's shelves are usually full.
The Tokiso report on the labour market pointed to a dangerous trend that has been developing since the 2007 public service strike - the biggest strike in the country's history. Wage increases for public servants and municipal officials are generally at the lower end of the wage graph, but in the past three years have advanced to the highest level.
This is the consequence of the 2007 strike - a battle that the unions undoubtedly won. At the end of last year the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town calculated that a public sector job now implies a salary 28% higher than that for an equivalent job in the private sector, thanks to public service wage increases since 2007.
The public service is sucking South Africa dry, rather than serving the country.
The Tokiso report showed that 53% of the number of work days lost were owing to public sector strikes but, measured in terms of the number of strikes, only 21% of the total were in the public sector.
Easy bargaining
The reason of course is that there are far fewer business units in the public service, but these are much larger than those in the public sector. This makes central collective bargaining easier than in the private sector, with much more bargaining power.
Tokiso predicts that in future the public service will serve as the fulcrum of trade union power in the country.
The most important reason for the deterioration in the public service is that the ruling party has been at the helm for 15 years - and because public servants believe the party will remain there for at least another 15. The consequences of poor performance will therefore not reflect in the polls.
South Africa's public service is enormous. To reform it would prove extremely difficult and expensive. Such reform is usually only possible following a period of economic growth so that the dividends of growth - higher tax revenues - can be applied to it.
The most important prerequisite for success in reforming the public service is political will and momentum from the highest government authority - in other words, from the president. And President Jacob Zuma lacks that will.
For that reason Baloyi, Zuma's minister tasked with the public service, sent Howard to represent him at the news conference, not thinking it important enough to attend himself.
The Public Sector Summit in Durban will therefore not produce much more than an early Easter weekend at the sea for a privileged few - who play the fiddle while the flames in the townships rise higher.
1.2 NUM slams pending sale
of state mineral rights
Business Report, 15 March 2010
Johannesburg
- The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has condemned the possible sale of
state mineral rights.
The union said in a statement on Sunday that these rights should be
consolidated into a single state mining company to benefit the entire South
African society.
"As per our resolution and in line with the Polokwane resolutions, the
state must operationalise the state mining company for proper distribution of
wealth as well as to ensure that development projects are better
financed," it said.
This followed media reports over the weekend of the possible sale of state
mineral rights by the Limpopo Development Agency (LimDev).
NUM also said it was "disturbed" by reports that the rights concerned
would benefit "politically connected individuals". It called on the
government to intervene. - Sapa
1.3 Union prods MPs for decision on labour broking |
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ALISTAIR ANDERSON, Business Day, 15 March 2010 |
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THE Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called on the chairwoman of Parliament’s labour committee, Lumka Yengeni, to declare the outcome of public hearings on whether labour broking should be banned or regulated.
The union, which wants a ban, claims the committee is delaying the release as it favours a regulatory approach. The call comes amid intense debate in the tripartite alliance with leftist allies of the African National Congress (ANC) demanding an outright ban.
While there was enthusiastic support among MPs in the ruling party for the ban, the delay suggests sentiment might well be swinging in favour of regulation rather than a complete ban.
Yengeni’s office said she would comment today.
After calls by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), Parliament last year conducted public hearings to get first-hand information on the extent and effects of labour broking.
CWU spokesman Matankana Mothapo said holding back the information contravened the ANC’s Freedom Charter and the election commitment to create “decent work for all”.
“To quote the Freedom Charter, ‘child labour, compound labour, the tot system and contract labour shall be abolished’,” Mothapo said.
Cosatu, to which the CWU is affiliated, has made creation of decent work (sustainable jobs that live up to international labour standards ) its priority this year. The union federation wants labour broking banned .
“We want to create quality jobs that last. To do this, we must ban the labour brokerage system,” said Cosatu national organising secretary Theo Steele.
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said his tabling of a labour law bill missed its the deadline for Parliament’s first legislation cycle as he was awaiting the outcome of the hearings. According to Parliament’s legislation cycles, legislation to be passed by August 27, the end of this year’s first of two legislative cycles, had to reach it by March 5.
Mdladlana said last year at public appearances that he wanted to ban labour broking because it did not serve employees at all. However, he said later that he wanted to address the practice, but would not say how.
Business representatives such as Business Unity SA (Busa) have committed themselves to regulation of the system.
Busa CEO Gerry Vilakazi said: “Companies need certain numbers of people so we have a continuously reported need to strengthen regulation, especially in an economy that is under distress.
“There are many instances where people are employed in such circumstances but they get the normal benefits, like leave.”
1.4 Resist Sadtu’s bullying: Zille |
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Union wants only one body THE South African Democratic Teachers Union has forged ahead in its quest to elbow other teachers unions out of the Education Labour Relations Council. The 240 000-member union has written a letter to the ELRC proposing that unions with a memberships under 100 000 should not be allowed to participate in the bargaining council. This is part of a Cosatu resolution of “one sector, one union” seeking to limit disintegration in labour unions. Sadtu president Thobile Ntola and general secretary Mugwena Maluleke have been engaged in merger talks with smaller unions in a bid to increase Sadtu’s muscle at the bargaining council. Sadtu is already the most influential in SA. DA leader Helen Zille recently accused Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga of treating Sadtu members with kid gloves. Zille said Sadtu was to blame for the low matric pass rates. “M ost teachers in failing schools are Sadtu members,” Zille said. “At other schools teachers tend, by and large, to belong to other unions such as the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) or the Suid- Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie (SAOU).” If adopted the Sadtu proposal could close down the smaller unions that include Naptosa and the SAOU, which negotiate as a coalition called the Combined Teacher Union at the bargaining council. The new coalition has a combined force of 108 000 members. Ntola told the Financial Mail the bid was meant to unite teacher unions, not divide them. “One way to do this would be to raise the threshold so that organisations that fall below it will be put out of the bargaining chamber. “They will have to look to other unions for cooperation.” Ntola advised the smaller unions to join Sadtu. “If they are pushed ou, they will have other rights, but not organisational rights,” he said. The Sadtu proposal suggests that a proliferation of unions will promote industrial disharmony. Yesterday the DA called on Motshekga to reject Sadtu’s proposal. “Sadtu’s record of irresponsible strikes and protection of the worst teacher shows that if it gets undisputed power to represent teachers, it will push our teetering system over the cliff of total failure. “ Motshekga should stand up to Sadtu’s bullying and she should reject this proposal.” |
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1.5 Lack of classrooms puts kids under pressure
By Lesego Masemola, Sunday Independent, 15 March 2010
Tshwane
needs 1 881 classrooms to ease the pressure on overcrowded high and primary
schools. They are among the nearly 6 000 classrooms required throughout
Gauteng.
At high school level 3 009 classrooms are needed while primary schools fall
short by 2 892 classrooms, according to Gauteng Department of Education (GDE)
statistics.
Pretoria News reported on overcrowding in schools in Akasia and Centurion in
2007, a situation which continues.
Basic Education Department spokesman Grandville Whittle said that these
shortages must be understood in the context of many classrooms and schools that
are empty "as a result of migration and demographic patterns".
To ease overcrowding the GDE is spending millions of rands on mobile classrooms
and transport.
Department spokesperson Charles Phahlane said projections from the 2009/10
financial year suggest that the department was spending R127 million on
transport alone.
He could not confirm how much was being spent on mobile classrooms but in
January this year more than 100 mobile classrooms were ordered for schools in
the province.
The GDE is reportedly planning to spend more than R4.4 billion over the next
three financial years to build and renovate schools to address the situation.
One of two Mamelodi schools is already under construction.
A total of R1.3bn will be spent in the 2010/11 financial year, while R1.4bn
will be spent during 2011/12 and R1.6bn for the 2012/13 financial year said
Phahlane.
The Tshwane South district which includes Centurion, Mamelodi and Pretoria East
has a shortage of 772 classrooms followed by Tshwane West with a shortage of
729 and Tshwane North with 381.
Budget constraints, cited as the main reason for the backlog, will be addressed
over the next three years.
Teacher unions and the DA have expressed concern about the impact it has on the
education system.
The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) spokesperson Nomusa Cembi
said: "Shortage of classrooms leads to overcrowding which has a negative
impact on learning and teaching as learners do not have a chance to engage
one-on-one with the teacher."
The South African Teachers Union (SAOU) says that reducing overcrowding is one
of the methods education authorities can employ to assist teachers and
learners.
"It should be borne in mind that overcrowding inhibits both teachers and
learners from optimising available teaching and learning time and is one of
many factors that can exercise a detrimental effect on learning outcomes,"
said SAOU spokesman Huw Davies.
The DA believes that the education department should rope in private companies
to assist them.
"This situation is depriving learners of an opportunity to realise their
full potential and freedom through access to a quality education. The DA is
proposing a strong partnership with private companies to help but such proposal
is not explored to its full capacity. Rather the department repairs schools
that are vandalised because it has failed to turn schools into community
resources," said Khume Ramulifho, DA Gauteng education spokesperson.
2. South Africa
2.1 ANC reads riot act on ‘spats and insults’ |
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SIBONGAKONKE SHOBA, Business Day, 15 March 2010 |
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AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) leaders got a sharp warning yesterday to halt public spats, insults and personalised attacks as the national executive committee (NEC) sought to instil discipline in the fractious ruling party.
Secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, speaking after a two- day NEC meeting, decried the “disrespect shown by some leaders and structures” relating to the “succession debate” leading up to the party’s conference in 2012.
The NEC meeting took place amid instability in the tripartite alliance. Tension in the ruling party and its labour and communist allies has been spurred by vicious public spats on a range of issues.
These include nationalisation of mines, the Reserve Bank’s mandate, succession and struggles for control and influence in the ANC and the Cabinet since Zuma rose to power. The polarising effect of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema also soured relations.
If successfully implemented, the disciplinary measures could give the ANC the means to rein in Malema, who has locked horns with alliance leaders, Cabinet members and NEC members.
They could also restrain, at least temporarily, the ambitions of ANC figures touted as possible candidates for the top six ANC posts at the party’s elective conference in 2012. The party youth league’s public push to replace Mantashe with Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula could nosedive if the ANC manages to halt leadership contests.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, who is on record as saying he would accept nomination for a leadership position in the ANC in 2012 when he steps down as Cosatu boss, would have to wait to be nominated by branches before making any more public pronouncements on his readiness to serve in the ANC.
Commentators say the move is a bid by President Jacob Zuma to exercise leadership after claims that he has not acted firmly.
“This is the kind of leadership they (the ANC) have not shown in the past,” said Centre for the Study of Democracy political analyst Steven Friedman.
He said Malema would be the first “test” to check whether ANC members would respect the resolution and if the party would enforce it. “Previous behaviour suggests he will not respect this decision. The president warned against this (public spats) in the past, but Malema carried on as if nothing happened.”
Any failure to stand by the resolution would make the ANC “look very bad”, Friedman said.
Zuma said recently the ANC would never muzzle Malema, but the resolution is the closest the party has come to gagging the controversial youth leader. Malema’s weakened public posture with the public scandal over government tenders linked to companies of which he is a director, coupled with potential contraventions of the new rules, could help the ANC deal with him internally without incurring political costs.
The ANC has been criticised widely for not acting against Malema for insulting and criticising alliance leaders in public.
One such attack was the league’s lambasting of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan last week, when it said it had lost faith in him. Gordhan incurred the league’s wrath when it emerged that the Treasury, the South African Revenue Service and the Special Investigating Unit were probing alleged tender irregularities linked to Malema’s extensive business interests in Limpopo.
Mantashe said yesterday the NEC had decided this had to stop. “All public spats must stop. These public spats do not strengthen the ANC,” he told reporters at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters.
Any members disregarding this resolution would have to answer to the disciplinary committee for their actions.
The ANC’s attempts to develop proper rules of engagement on succession are contained in a document that was presented to the NEC meeting. It calls for “consequences” in line with the provisions of the ANC’s constitution to deal with anyone who steps out of line.
Mantashe said the gag did not mean Cosatu and the South African Communist Party could not articulate positions on issues. “It does not mean Cosatu must not do its work and the SACP must not be itself,” Mantashe said.
The ANC also planned to meet with Cosatu before the alliance summit scheduled for June to improve relations. The weekend NEC meeting was preceded by ANC-SACP talks called in part to address the booing of Malema.
The allies resolved to work together after admitting “mistakes” by both organisations.
In a joint statement, the SACP expressed “regret” at how Malema was treated, but stopped short of apologising as Malema demanded.
Zuma led the ANC delegation. Mantashe said the ANC would seek clarity on Cosatu’s criticism of Gordhan’s budget, which Cosatu said did not go far enough in charting an alternative growth plan.
The federation’s unhappiness over looming electricity tariff hikes and its claim of a conspiracy to remove Zuma and Mantashe will be on the agenda for the meeting.
2.2 ANC could hinder Eskom loan
Jean-Marie de Waal, FIN24, 15 March 2010
Cape Town - The indirect stake that the ANC's investment company, Chancellor House, holds in the Eskom expansion programme could count against the ANC government in its desperate application for a World Bank loan for Eskom.
This is while the board of the World Bank is deliberating the massive loan regarded as essential for the South African economy.
Questions apparently continue to be asked about Chancellor House's 25% interest in the Hitachi consortium that won the contract to build the pressure vessels for Eskom's gigantic power stations, Medupi and Kusile, whose costs will run to R120bn and R140bn respectively.
At a press conference on Friday Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan and Energy Minister Dipuo Peters faced questions about Britain's apparent concern over the issue despite a report a year ago by advocate Lawrence Mushwana, the former public protector, which indicated that the awarding of the contract to Hitachi had been legitimate. There was however a conflict of interest owing to the "personal interest" of then chairman of Eskom's board, Valli Moosa, as an ANC member. Peters denied that the contract was being interrogated by Britain.
Hogan referred to the report's recommendation that legislation should be introduced to regulate business relations between government institutions and political parties.
Trade unions also have interests in companies - should it therefore be declared illegal for companies to have these unions as empowerment partners, she asked.
Lance Greyling from the Independent Democrats (ID) recently asked the new public protector, Thulisile Madonsela, to table the report in parliament.
Unlike what most ANC members might think, Greyling said, the ID considered it immoral for the ruling party to derive financial benefit from putting to rights the energy disaster caused by gross inefficiency on the part of some of its leaders.
2.3 ANC MPs at loggerheads over accountability to Scopa
Chantall Presence, Eyewitness News, 15 March 2010
ANC MPs are at odds over
whether they are answerable to Parliament’s watchdog on public accounts.
ANC MP Mandla Mbili said he stood by his comments ministers were compelled by
law to appear before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts
(Scopa).
Mbili spoke to the Sunday Times and came under fire from Chief Whip
Mathole Motshekga at the weekend.
He claimed Motshekga was told to write to the speaker to withdraw his comments
on the matter.
Motshekga reportedly told journalists ministers should not be made to appear
before Scopa because they had a country to run.
Caucus Spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said Motshekga was never forced to withdraw
any statements.
“The things that he has said are not based on facts. The meetings that
he’s referring to, we’ve never said and never discussed anything of
that sort. The decision that he’s referring to, was not taken by any
structure of the ANC in Parliament,” he said.
2.4 PIC’s Molefe denies ANC ‘fallout’ led to quitting |
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SISEKO NJOBENI, Business Day, 15 March 2010 |
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PUBLIC Investment Corporation (PIC) CEO Brian Molefe said yesterday he was leaving the company with his integrity intact.
The PIC said on Friday that Molefe would not renew his contract which expires on April 12. He has been CEO since 2003. The PIC has not indicated who will act in the post after Molefe’s departure or how long it will take to find a new head. The company declined to comment on Molefe’s resignation.
The government-owns PIC manages assets valued at about R870bn, making it one of the largest investment managers in Africa. Its clients include pension, provident, social security, development and guardian funds. The Government Employees Pension Fund is PIC’s largest client. It accounts for 89,2% of the assets under PIC’s management.
Molefe denied that his departure was a result of a fallout with the African National Congress, and insisted he was leaving voluntarily.
“I don’t know where that comes from. I’ve been CEO for seven years and it’s the right time to leave.”
He said he was proud of his record. “When I joined PIC, it was a commission with close to 30 people who were Treasury employees. It was managing assets of R308bn. By the time I leave, the assets will be over R870bn.
“I carried my responsibilities with integrity. Nobody is accusing me of corruption. I did not drag the PIC name in the mud. I believe the investments we have made are giving PIC good returns.”
Molefe would not comment on speculation that he was heading for Investec . He had a stint with First National Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa before joining the government.
Molefe had disputes with several companies in which the PIC invests, mainly about transformation.
2.5 No more public rows, says ANCIOL, 15 march 2010Disciplinary action will
be taken against any African National Congress leaders who trade insults or
engage in public spats or personal attacks, party secretary-general Gwede
Mantashe said on Sunday. |
2.6 Onus on NEC to fill leadership void as Zuma dithers
The Times, 14 March 2010
The Times Editorial: Sense appears to have finally prevailed in the ruling party with regard to the endless public bickering among its leaders.
For far too long, President Jacob Zuma and other senior ANC figures have refused to acknowledge the damage caused to the government by the series of spats involving ruling-party leaders.
It is all in the spirit of frank and open debate, the president would argue - even in those instances in which utterances by the likes of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema and by Cosatu went beyond the accepted boundaries of democratic dialogue.
But, at a meeting of its national executive committee this weekend, the ANC finally woke up to reality and decided to do something about these wars of words that have turned both the party and the government into a circus.
From now on, the committee declared, ANC leaders who publicly attack other parties and trade insults will be disciplined.
If this threat is carried through, it would mean that hard-working, competent Cabinet leaders such as Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan would no longer be publicly bullied and humiliated by the ANC Youth League for refusing to give in to its unreasonable demands.
The ANC is fond of referring to itself as the "centre of power" - pointing out that it has an overwhelming mandate from the electorate to appoint ministers and determine government policy. But the government cannot be effective if its ministers live in constant fear of being ridiculed by Malema, and of its policies being constantly second-guessed by the ANC's alliance partners.
Seeing that Zuma is unable to crack the whip, especially when it is those who helped propel him to power who are at fault, let's see if his party's national executive committee is serious about filling the leadership void.
2.7 Move to unseat Zuma in the spotlight |
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A new plot to unseat President Jacob Zuma and a recent threat to disrupt the 2010 Soccer World Cup will top the agenda when the leadership of the ANC and Cosatu meet next month. Also on the agenda is the recent attack on Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan by the labour federation, the ongoing power squabbles in the ruling tripartite alliance and Cosatu’s call for the lifestyle audits of top politicians and other public representatives. ANC general secretary Gwede Mantashe told a media briefing in Luthuli House yesterday that the ANC had postponed the alliance summit scheduled for April to June to allow for further discussions with Cosatu . The ANC has rejected Cosatu’s suggestion that a new body be formed to audit the lifestyles of public representatives against monthly earnings. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said there were ANC members “who had amassed a wealth in mysterious ways and attempted to divert attention from their lifestyle to the challenges of leadership in the ANC”. The ANC national executive committee said the South African Revenue Services was the correct institution to conduct lifestyle audits. Mantashe also chastised Vavi for announcing to the media that some members of the ANC were plotting to oust Zuma. “When such a serious allegation is aimed at the ANC the most honourable thing to do is to go to the ANC. One time there was an announcement of such a plot in the ANC and it was Cosatu who stood firm against it. To do the same thing a few years down the line is ironic.” Cosatu’s objection to Eskom’s tariff increase would also be discussed. |
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2.8 ANC's faith in Gordhan
'has grown' in fact
Business Report, 15 March 2010
The ANC's confidence in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had grown,
secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said yesterday, contradicting the ANC Youth
League, which said last week that it was losing faith in the minister, who it
claimed was not following party policy.
"Our confidence in the finance minister has grown... There are no
questions about Pravin being incompetent," Mantashe said following a
meeting of the party's national executive committee.
"Even if we talk of a cabinet reshuffle, we'll be surprised if he gets
reshuffled. He has taken us through a recession to growth of 3.2 percent in the
fourth quarter. That's good work," said Mantashe, who also praised his
national budget. - Reuters
2.9 Mandela's ex-wife denies criticising him in interview
BILL CORCORAN, Irish Times, 14 March 2010
NELSON MANDELA’S ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has denied harshly criticising the former South African president in an interview published by a British newspaper, saying the journalist who wrote the article was “a liar and a fraud”.
Last week the London Evening Standard ran an interview with Ms Mandela conducted by journalist Nadira Naipaul, in which the 73-year-old said her former husband had betrayed poor black South Africans.
“This name Mandela is an albatross around the necks of my family,” Ms Madikizela-Mandela allegedly said during the interview at her home in Soweto, near Johannesburg. “Mandela let us down. He agreed to a bad deal for the blacks. Economically we are still on the outside. The economy is very much ‘white’.
“I cannot forgive him for going to receive the Nobel [Peace Prize] with his jailer [former South African president FW] de Klerk. Hand in hand they went. Do you think de Klerk released him from the goodness of his heart?”
She allegedly went on to say Mandela was now a “corporate foundation” that was “wheeled out” when the African National Congress (ANC) wanted to use his persona to raise money.
However, on Saturday, after returning from a trip to the US, Ms Madikizela-Mandela responded to the contents of the article, insisting the author had made the whole thing up.
“Let me start by categorically stating that this is completely false,” she said, “I gave no interview of any kind to Ms Naipaul. It is therefore not necessary for me to respond to the far-fetched content of a fabricated interview.”
Ms Madikizela-Mandela, who is an ANC MP, said she had spoken to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who she allegedly called “a cretin” during the interview, and that she intended speaking with her former husband to set the record straight.
“I appreciate the fact that my organisation, the ANC, decided to hear my ‘side’ before making any judgments,” she said.
Despite Ms Madikizela-Mandela’s insistence Ms Naipaul had fabricated the interview, the London Evening Standard said it was standing by the journalist’s story.
“Nadira Naipaul is a distinguished journalist who visited Winnie Mandela at home and spoke to her at length about her experiences.
“Nadira and her husband, the writer Sir VS Naipaul, are photographed with Winnie Mandela, and this picture was printed with the article. We cannot understand Winnie Mandela’s denial of an event and conversation which clearly took place,” the paper said in a statement on Saturday.
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2.10 ANCWL lodges complaint with Zuma
By Mpumelelo Mkhabela and Sibusiso Ngalwa, IOL,
14 March 2010
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2.11 Malema and the R250m mining deal
Youth League leader emerges as a lobbyist in lucrative empowerment deal
By Buddy Naidu and Simpiwe Piliso, Sunday Times, 14 March 2010
Julius Malema - who has been driving a campaign to nationalise the country's mines - has emerged as a key lobbyist in the controversial sale of a major state-owned mining asset.
The Sunday Times can today reveal that the government stake in Limpopo-based ASA Metals, valued at R250-million, will be given to a host of politically connected individuals despite it being earmarked for the poor.
They include soccer boss Irvin Khoza and Kgomotso Motlanthe, the son of deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe.
Malema was also a founding director in a consortium that was registered for the bid, shortly after discussions about the broad-based BEE deal commenced in 2006. He was later forced out. See Page 2)
But the Sunday Times understands that he has since held several informal meetings with those involved in putting the deal together.
Malema first publicly raised the issue of the nationalisation of mines at a Black Management Forum meeting on October 9 last year - about a week before ASA Metals and the Limpopo Development Agency (Limdev) were scheduled to announce the successful bidder.
The nationalisation campaign, which has made international investors uneasy, is also believed to be a way of putting pressure on Sinosteel, one of the largest trading companies in China, to relinquish its majority shareholding in ASA Metals.
SinoSteel holds 60% of ASA Metals, while Limdev holds the balance.
SinoSteel management dismissed claims it was under pressure to sell its shares.
"We don't have that pressure. No one will force us to sell our shares," said Suwei Zhang, chief executive of ASA Metals.
An official announcement on the sale of 30% of ASA Metals, from Limdev's stake, is expected in three weeks.
However, it has been established that five consortiums and companies - from an initial short list of 43 - have been earmarked after being interviewed by the Limdev board a month ago.
The five will each get a 12.5% stake of the shares being sold.
The deal may seem minuscule, but SinoSteel is set to pump R3-billion into expansion plans over the next three years; this, according to Zhang, will increase the value of the mine "800 times".
ASA Metals' mining operation, the Dilokong Chrome Mine in Limpopo, already exports its chrome, which is used in the production of stainless steel, to China, Japan, Taiwan, Europe and the US.
The empowerment deal has been in the pipeline for more than three years but has been marred by political infighting, intimidation by politicians, and accusations that impoverished communities - the initial beneficiaries of the transaction - had been sidelined.
And several senior ANC politicians in Limpopo, where Malema wields major influence, believe that he launched the nationalisation campaign to draw attention away from the closely guarded mining empowerment deal.
One of the short-listed bidders, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, described the entire transaction as "rotten".
"You will be shocked to find out who else is involved (in this deal) ... I'm terrified just talking to you. I'm not only risking the deal but also putting my life at risk. These people mean business and are not prepared to lose this deal at whatever cost."
The Limpopo-based businessman, who has slammed the deal for its failure to include more disadvantaged communities, said members of the smaller consortiums had been coerced out of the bidding process even though they met all the necessary requirements.
He alleged that Khoza had used his political connections to "steal" a stake in the deal.
"(A)nd there are other politicians and their families involved, who have either signed up in their own personal capacity or used proxies," he said, describing the deal as "a joke".
The Sunday Times has established that the short-listed consortiums include Tunache Investment, led by Khoza and serial empowerment dealmaker Ronnie Ntuli; Rebone Mining Consortium; Kalapeng Mining Resources; Moribo Resources; and Dilokong Consortium. Buena Vista Trading, led by Kgomotso Isaac Motlanthe, features in one of the consortiums.
On Friday last week Moribo Resources was listed by the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office. But it was removed this week after the Sunday Times started inquiring about the company's directors.
The Limpopo businessman, meanwhile, said that some of the smaller consortiums that had failed to make the short list, or the final five, were considering reporting the transaction to the Public Protector.
Malema this week refused to speak to the Sunday Times. The youth league's spokesman, Floyd Shivambu, on Friday denied claims that Malema was benefiting, either directly or indirectly, from the deal or that he had lobbied on behalf of interested parties.
"It's not true ... I know that he's never interacted with any government development agency," he said.
Shivambu played down the league's vociferous comments on nationalisation, saying: "Currently there has been no decision taken on nationalisation."
He said it was an "unfortunate reality" that politically connected people and serial deal-makers were involved in the ASA Metals deal.
"We are calling for a policy decision to be taken by the ANC ... we are not interested in what is happening now. That, unfortunately, is current practice and current government policy."
Limdev's transaction advisers, SizweNtsaluba VSP, declined to discuss the deal or explain why the announcement of the successful bidders had been postponed twice.
"The process is not straightforward and there have been delays," said Aaron Mthimunye, one of the advisers.
Asked to provide a list of the companies that formed the Rebone Mining and Dilokong consortiums, Mthimunye said: "There is nothing I can do. I am governed by the confidentiality (agreement) I have signed with (Limdev)."
Limdev spokesman Leo Gama said he could not comment. "Once it is completed, our organisation will announce the winning companies and the public will know," he said.
Several attempts were made to get comment from Kgomotso Motlanthe and Irvin Khoza about how they had managed to clinch a slice of the deal.
Little is known about Motlanthe, other than that he is a shareholder in four companies.
Yesterday, Presidency spokesman Vusi Mona said: "Whatever deals he (Kgomotso) is involved in are his private matters. It is not for Presidency to know (about such) transactions."
2.12 Malema found guilty of hate speech |
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Sowetan, 15 March 2010 |
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The Johannesburg Equality Court on Monday found ANC Youth League president Julius Malema guilty of hate speech and harassment. “This court is satisfied that the utterances by the respondent... amounted to hate speech,” said magistrate Colleen Collis. “The uttered words constitute harassment as contemplated in the Equality Act.” Collis ordered Malema to make an unconditional public apology within two weeks and pay an amount of R50,000 to a centre for abused women within one month. Collis concluded her judgment with a word of wisdom to Malema. “Mr Malema, being a man of vast political influence, be wary of turning into a man that often speaks but never talks.” Sapa |
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