COSATU Media Monitor, 5 April 2012

“The strike and the collective bargaining process have failed the parties. The mine has no option but to withdraw from the negotiation process,” Modikwa spokeswoman Jongisa Klaas said in a statement.

“The dispute concerns wages and conditions of employment. At a meeting held on Tuesday the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) rejected the mine’s final offer,” Klaas said.

She said the mine withdrew its final offer after the NUM made demands it could not afford.

Striking employees could return to work on their existing conditions of service, Klaas said.

NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said 3500 workers were on strike.

He said the NUM agreed to the mine's 10 percent wage offer, but wanted management to narrow the wage gap for employees represented in the bargaining council.

Seshoka said the lowest paid employees in the bargaining council earned R3000 a month, while the highest paid earned R17,000.

The strike would continue until conditions of employment were addressed, he said.

The mine is situated just outside Burgersfort in Limpopo. - Sapa

1.2 NUM threatens to intensify strike as Modikwa withdraws offer

Natasha Odendaal, Mining Weekly, 4 April 2012

Modikwa platinum mine, a joint venture between African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), has withdrawn from negotiations with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

The mine said on Wednesday that the protracted collective bargaining process with NUM, spanning several months, had not produced any agreement.

“The strike and the collective bargaining process have failed the parties,” the mine said in a statement.

Production at the platinum mine, near Burgersfort, had ground to a halt three weeks ago when about 3 000 NUM members downed tools over wages and conditions of employment.

The union on Tuesday rejected the mine’s final offer and made demands Modikwa said it could not afford. This has forced the mine to retract its offer and extend an invitation for workers to return to work on their existing conditions of service.

NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka told Mining Weekly Online that the union intended to accelerate the strike and attempt to spread the industrial action to ARM’s Two Rivers platinum mine, near Steelpoort, in Mpumalanga, until demands were met.

Seshoka said NUM wanted to close the gap between higher and lower earners and that the offer of a 10%-across-the-board increase would fail to do so.

“The final offer is as much as the mine is able do. Any more than this offer would make the mine unsustainable and would lead to closure of the mine,” an ARM spokesperson told Mining Weekly Online.

NUM said that Modikwa initially offered wage increases of 9.5% for the A-band, 8.75% for the B-band and 8.5% for the C-band, while the workers demanded a 12% wage increase for all employees.

“There is no going back. Mine management must meet our demands or else the strike is on them,” regional secretary for the north-east region William Mabapa said in a statement shortly before the strike started.

Seshoka claimed the mine was losing R8.6-million a day in production, adding that should no suitable agreement be made, it seemed likely that “there would be no mine left”.

The mine confirmed that it was losing about 1 000 oz of platinum-group metals a day and that none of the striking workers had returned to work as yet.

ARM said that the mine’s management was keeping communication channels open, as well as consulting the relevant structures to map out a way forward.

1.3 ARM, NUM wage negotiations break down

Moneyweb, 4 April 2012

Diversified miner African Rainbow Minerals (ARI) is withdrawing from the wage negotiations with the National Union of Mineworkers, after the union rejected its offer.

According to ARM, the protracted collective bargaining process with the union, that spanned several months, failed to produce an agreement that would bring an end to the three-week protected strike at its Modikwa Platinum mine.

"The dispute concerns wages and conditions of employment. At a meeting held on Tuesday, April 3 2012, NUM rejected the Mine's final offer. The mine has thus withdrawn its final offer. NUM made other demands that the mine simply cannot afford," said the company.

The company also added that striking employees were at liberty to return to work, on their existing conditions of service.

1.4 Nehawu condemns Kruger lock out

Business Report, 4 April 2012

Trade union Nehawu condemned the Kruger National Park's lock-out procedure.

National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union national chairman Mike Shingange said the decision to lock-out striking workers was a contravention of the Labour Relations Act.

“Nehawu condemns the reckless and shoddy treatment of striking workers by the management of the Kruger National Park (KNP).”

Workers went on strike at the KNP over pay disparities and other labour issues. The strike started on February 3.

Shingange called on KNP management to reopen negotiations in order to resolve the issues.

He said it was unacceptable that the workers could be allowed to go on an indefinite strike in modern South Africa without any intervention from the employer.

“The employer has so far failed to prove to the workers that there is a will and a plan to resolve the strike on their side.”

SA National Parks spokesman Reynold Thakhuli said less that 90 workers were still on strike in the northern part of the park on Wednesday.

“The park is fully operational and the lock-out procedure is still implemented.”

He said most of the workers were back at work.

Striking workers were not allowed at KNP facilities until they had resumed their duties, he said. – Sapa

1.5 Fidentia trial resumes

The New Age, 5 April 2012

The trial of two men facing multi-million rand fraud charges involving the Fidentia Holdings group, continues in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Cape Town on Thursday.

Chartered accountant David Anthony Warren and company director Noel Cunningham were to have gone on trial in February, but the trial was delayed because Cunningham has advanced Parkinson's disease.

Defence attorney William Booth told the court Cunningham was seriously ill, and that he would make written representations to the Western Cape Directorate of Public Prosecutions, on Cunningham's behalf, for the withdrawal of the charge.

The State alleges Fidentia, represented by the company's then chief executive J Arthur Brown between 2005 and 2006, bought shares in the company Webworths for R160 million, when in fact Webworths was worth much less.

State prosecutor Max Orban alleges the transaction took place on the strength of alleged false financial statements prepared and audited by Warren. –Sapa

1.6 Labour bills lay new ground rules for strikes

Business Day, 5 April 2012

High levels of illegal strikes will be addressed through amendments to SA’s labour laws, according to the Department of Labour.

The first in a series of public briefings on the department’s labour law amendment bills — the Labour Relations Act Amendment Bill and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act Amendment Bill — began in Johannesburg yesterday.

Chief director of collective bargaining Thembinkosi Mkalipi told the briefings that trade unions would need to conduct ballots to ensure that the majority of members agreed on the need to strike. It was understood that unlawful acts, such as damage to property and violence, in support of industrial action, often occurred where only a minority supported the cause for the strike.

Unions would also have to abide by picketing rules or lose protection for their strike. If employers contravened picketing agreements, they would lose the right to employ temporary or "scab" labour while the strike lasted.

To address illegal strikes affecting essential services, the bill provided for an essential services committee to determine which services qualified as essential. It would also be responsible for the negotiation of minimum service level agreements.

"Our colleagues in labour want everyone to go on strike, but business want nobody to go on strike," Mr Mkalipi said.

Greater powers would be given to the labour minister when the bill was passed into law. The minister would determine the threshold level of representation of a union to improve workers’ access to union protection in sectors where this need was not fully realised.

The minister would also be empowered to set wage increases, as opposed to minimum wages, for vulnerable workers in certain sectors.

The amendments would also protect workers by tightening up the law around labour broking. Temporary work would be defined as work that lasted no more than six months, Mr Mkalipi said.

Dumisani Dakile, of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, said labour was "highly disappointed" that broking was not outlawed in the bills. "Slavery was far better than labour brokering," he said.

Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant submitted the bills to the Cabinet on March 14, and their submission to Parliament was approved the following week.

Mr Mkalipi said Parliament could put the bills up for further public hearings, but the department had conducted these in 2010 and would not make further changes.

1.7 Labour law amendments: Unintended consequences

Claire Bisseker, Financial Mail, 5 April 2012

Plans to change labour legislation seem short-sighted and business worries about limited consultation.

Government’s proposed labour law amendments to regulate labour broking may do the opposite of what is intended: they could increase the business of large brokers and cause the economy to shed jobs.

SA’s largest labour broker, Adcorp, which has a 12% share of the market, says it expects to gain 336500 temporary worker contracts — almost quadrupling its current size — if the Labour Relations Amendment (LRA) Bill is adopted in its current form. But it warns that, as hundreds of small agencies go under, the labour broking industry as a whole could shed about 60% of its administrative workforce (a loss of around 12000 jobs) .

In addition, it expects the broader economy to shed about 1,2m jobs over the coming decade as employers seek to evade the additional cost burden associated with employing temporary workers (temps) under the proposed new laws.

The LRA Bill and the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill have been approved by cabinet and referred to parliament by labour minister Mildred Oliphant, though extensive areas of disagreement remain between the parties that constitute the National Economic Development & Labour Council (Nedlac) after a year of frustrating negotiations.

Business is disappointed that cabinet approved the amendments without waiting for the final Nedlac report or conducting a second regulatory impact assessment on the bills.

The government-commissioned regulatory impact assessment of the original bills found that they could jeopardise 2,13m jobs if implemented in their initial form .

Despite vociferous protest from trade union federation Cosatu, a member of the governing tri partite alliance, the bills no longer attempt to ban labour broking. Instead they seek to regulate all forms of atypical employment, including fixed-term contracts, temporary employment services workers and part-time employees . This is a labour force of about 3,9m people. Of these, about 1m are employed through labour brokers.

The key proposal is that nobody earning under R172000/year (gross) may be employed as a temp for longer than six months unless they are performing genuinely temporary work. Justifiable conditions under which the term of a contract may be fixed include when work is seasonal or for a specific project of limited and defined duration; when a student or recent graduate is employed to be trained or gain work experience; or when someone is being engaged for a trial period .

The provision causing the most controversy is the equal-treatment clause. It holds that when a low- earning employee is on a fixed-term contract for more than six months, he or she must be treated no less favourably (in terms of salary, benefits, training and room for advancement) than a permanent employee performing similar work. That is, unless there is a difference in their seniority, experience or length of service, merit, or the quality or quantity of work performed.

Given that the average age of a permanent worker in SA is 43, compared with 26 among temps, and that most temps have little more than a matric certificate and no skills, the equality clause shouldn’t spell the death of temporary employment.

In fact, the bills appear to contain sufficient legal wiggle room to allow the big labour brokers and corporates to continue operating much as before, aside from the increase in paperwork.

Interestingly, employers do not appear to be using labour brokers in order to pay temporary workers lower wages, according to Prof Haroon Bhorat of the University of Cape Town, one of the consultants who performed the initial regulatory impact assessment.

Rather, Bhorat has found that employers appear to be paying the same cash wage, but are incurring savings in non wage costs such as those that arise from not having to run their own in-house human resources departments.

Because of this, anything that raises the compliance burden or labour relations risk of hiring temps is likely to push employers straight into the arms of labour brokers to manage these contracts on their behalf. This is certainly what Adcorp foresees. There are at present 2,9m in- house temps employed directly by corporates in SA. Adcorp says it expects to attract about 7% of these (203000 temps) if the bills are passed as they are.

On the other hand, Adcorp reveals that about 8% of its temps (6080 workers) are employed on contracts exceeding six months on a basis that may be hard to justify under the proposed labour law amendments. They will probably be forced to go permanent or, more likely, be shed if the bills become law.

“The problem,” says Adcorp labour economist Loane Sharp, “is that government has naively assumed that temporary and permanent workers are substitutable, that they can replace one another without affecting the function of the business. ”

In reality, permanent workers mostly work Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, whereas temps are employed at night or over weekends, especially in the retail sector, where they make up 43% of all employees. This is largely so that employers can avoid paying expensive overtime rates to permanent employees, or because the latter don’t want to work at these times or their union agreements prevent them from doing so.

This means that if the legislation causes a firm to reduce its temporary workforce it may not automatically increase the permanent workforce; it may rather scale back on production and/or raise the price of the end good or service to the consumer.

The bottom line is that certain provisions will raise the administrative and compliance burden on business es and reduce their competitiveness. This comes at a time when the economy is failing to grow fast enough to dent SA’s 23,9% unemployment rate.

The bills contain other provisions that will limit employers’ ability to adapt to changing market conditions. For instance, section 187 of the LRA Bill will make it an automatically unfair dismissal if an employee refuses to accept a change in working conditions due to an employer’s changing operational requirements. Further, s ection 189A provides for the time period for facilitation prior to retrenchment to be extended beyond the current 60 days.

The bills also give minority trade unions greater power to organise, and the minister of labour the power to prescribe minimum increases in actual rates of pay.

“The proposed amendments go way beyond preventing abusive practices, and actually interfere with the flexibility of daily business operations and practices, which is an important factor in making business more competitive,” says Business Unity SA in a statement.

It considers the two bills to be “hostile to employment” and “hugely onerous and punitive” to employers. It warns that they will push up the cost of employment and pose considerable risks to further job creation, business and the economy.

John Botha, chief operating officer of the Confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector , says that if government doesn’t submit the bills to an independent impact assessment, it is likely to face the withdrawal of business from the Nedlac process and protracted legal and constitutional challenges.

This means that the parliamentary hearings are bound to be tense affairs, with Cosatu likely to be very vocal in its objection to the bills for not going far enough while business argues that they go too far.

The final test must be whether they promote or retard job creation. If the latter, they will amount to nothing less than an act of self-sabotage on the SA economy.

1.8 Ahead of the red tape

Larry Claasen, Financial Mail, 5 April 2012

Employment agency Workforce is not fazed by the proposed changes presented in the Basic Conditions of Employment and Labour Relations Amendment Bills.

CEO Lawrence Diamond says the real danger lies in whether government will adopt the trade unions’ proposal of banning labour broking — the sourcing of temporary employees for other businesses.

This has not happened yet, and the new legislation will only tighten up regulations on labour brokers.

The new rules will add some red tape to the industry, but Diamond on the whole welcomes the change as it “probably represents more opportunity than risk”. He sees the more onerous laws forcing out some of his company’s smaller competitors, increasing the likelihood of consolidation in the market. (See page 37.)

Consequential market change is only the cherry on the top. Diamond says over the past three years the group has transformed itself from largely a temporary employment sourcing business for blue- collar employees to a business that can take over a company’s entire human resource function. Workforce can now for instance manage payroll, health benefits and training.

The move into other areas has boosted its earnings but even its traditional temporary employment business performed well, Diamond says. There was a marked increase in demand for temporary employees in the retail and wholesale sector, and permanent placements for senior managers and artisans.

Revenue rose 17% to R1,34bn for the financial year to December, with profit before tax up 40,7% to R25,8m and EPS increasing from 6,8c to 10,4c .

Though the group has performed well, its cash levels are worrying. Cash on hand fell from R47,4m to R15,9m in the period under review. Diamond says the cash situation is a priority.

The share does seem cheap at a 34% discount to its tangible net asset value, but poor cash generation, low return on equity of 9,5% (compared to the industry average of 13,5%) and uncertainty surrounding the use of labour brokers are worrying factors.

1.9 Municipality ordered to pay officials

Frank Maponya, Sowetan, 5 April 2012

The Molemole municipality in Limpopo has been ordered to reinstate two senior officials who were "unfairly" dismissed from the institution.

The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration in Limpopo has also ordered the municipality to pay the equivalent of 12 months' salary to the two, calculated at their salary of R700,000 each as at the time of their dismissal. Payments to the two should have been made by March 30.

According to an arbitration award, Samuel Raselaya and Ernest Mokganya had been pushed out of the municipality "indirectly".

Raselaya was employed as manager for community services and Mokganya was the senior manager for local economic development.

Raselaya was later appointed acting municipal manager, while Mokg-anya was appointed acting technical services manager.

They were suspended in February last year after they were accused of tender fraud.

They were accused of paying over R2-million to Matebele-Dinare, a company awarded a tender for a road construction. Sowetan has reliably learnt that a council caucus had advised that investigations be conducted regarding the allegations.

The council later instructed that the two return to work after a resolution. But David Nkoana, the new municipal manager who was appointed in January last year, decided the two officials be given special leave, reportedly without a council resolution.

Nkoana further filled their positions without council's approval.

The two officials took the matter up with the CCMA and won their case. And the whole arbitration the municipality had embarked on, which was paid to a local lawyer, cost R72,000.

But Nkoana said they would not pay the money to Raselaya and Mokganya.

Reacting to the arbitration award yesterday, Nkoana said they would take it for review.

"The contracts of the two officials had expired, hence we want a review of the award," Nkoana said.

2. South Africa

2.1 Cosatu, Metrorail to address transport problems

Bizcommunity.com, 4 April 2012

Metrorail and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the Western Cape committed on Tuesday, 3 April 2012, to working together to solve the problems bedevilling public transport in the city.

This followed negotiations between the two parties last week, which saw a fare increase of 13% for monthly ticket holders, down from the 27% first announced by Metrorail.

The cost of weekly and daily tickets will still be increased by 21%.

With prices of electricity, fuel and other commodities rising sharply, the proposed fare increase would have had a "devastating effect" on workers, Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said yesterday.

Glitches in implementing the reduction caused disruptions when commuters were buying their tickets on Monday morning, but Metrorail has undertaken to refund those who paid more than they ought to have done for the tickets.

Metrorail has also given a further discount to monthly ticket holders, which will see them paying only 6% more for the next three months.

A special dispensation had also been agreed for senior citizens, students and the unemployed workers.

Mr Ehrenreich said the "landmark" agreement would mean there would be increased community involvement in reporting cable theft, which has caused repeated and severe disruptions to commuter rail transport as well as vandalism on trains.

"It has set the scene for a completely different public transport system," he said, adding that it was the first time Cosatu and Metrorail had reached such a "comprehensive" agreement.

"We are taking responsibility for the rail system as a whole, so that there is a comprehensive basket of measures that addresses all the problems," Mr Ehrenreich said.

"In addition to this we will be talking with Metrorail about how we can spread the peak times of travel so that it is not as crowded on the trains.

"Some workplaces will start half an hour or an hour later, so that everyone does not need to be on trains at the same time."

Still in dispute, however, is Metrorail's plan to consolidate ticket zones, which the federation believes will result in higher fares for its members in many areas.

The parties have agreed that this issue will be negotiated at the National Economic Development and Labour Council over the next three months.

2.2 Explain fare talks, Metrorail told

Quinton Mtyala, Cape Times, 5 April 2012

Transport and Public Works MEC Robin Carlisle has slammed Metrorail’s provincial management for negotiating with Cosatu and the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry over fare increases.

Carlisle said Metrorail had to explain why it had gone into negotiations with “unelected, non-government” bodies behind closed doors.

But Metrorail’s regional manager, Mthuthuzeli Swartz, said he had offered to meet Carlisle to discuss the fare increases, but was rebuffed.

Carlisle said instead of meeting with Cosatu and the chamber, Metrorail had to meet the City of Cape Town over proposed fare increases.

When he initially met Metrorail’s management, they had proposed an across-the-board 23 percent increase from April 1. “It is extremely worrying to contemplate what business model and financial plan Metrorail are working to that allows them to come up with a huge price hike, and then apparently slash it in half at the behest of Cosatu and the chamber.

But they made a complete mess of it,” said Carlisle of the technical bungle.

Swartz said running Metrorail was costly and ideally the shortfall would not have to be covered by commuters.

“We want to improve the level of service that we’re offering. The improvements that we want to effect have to be paid for,” said Swartz.

He said because Metrorail was running at a loss nationally and could not be further subsidised by the government, commuters had to make up the shortfall. “The service that people are getting has to be linked with the price we are paying (for goods and services),” said Swartz.

And despite the rumblings from Carlisle’s Dorp Street offices, Swartz said he was hopeful that he would see Metrorail’s point. “The MEC was well aware that an increasing reliance on the government subsidy was unsustainable and that Metrorail has managed to mitigate a fare increase through internal efficiencies and financial prudence.”

On Monday a technical glitch forced commuters to pay up to 50 percent more instead of the 13 percent increase for monthly tickets. Swartz said he had explained, in detail, to Carlisle the reasons for the increase and its rationale.

“It serves no purpose to further sow disinformation to commuters when we are correcting the incorrect fares and have publicly stated that we will fully refund all commuters for any overcharge on their monthly tickets,” said Swartz.

Carlisle said it would be worrying if Metrorail’s attitude to safety was similar to that which saw it bungle ticket prices. Metrorail had implemented proper access control to prevent fare evasion.

“If Metrorail were implementing proper access control (to prevent fare evasion), by securing stations and the rail network, there would be no need for fare hikes,” said Carlisle.

2.3 Broadside for Patel’s ‘competition meddling’

Amanda Visser, Business Day, 5 April 2012

In a rare public outburst, David Lewis, former chairman of the Competition Tribunal, severely criticised the government, especially Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, for using the competition authorities to leverage concessions out of international investors.

Mr Patel was an "activist, interventionist and micromanaging minister", Mr Lewis said yesterday at a workshop on the Walmart deal at the Wits Law School.

Walmart’s multibillion-rand acquisition of Massmart has been marred by controversy from the start, with three Cabinet ministers intervening and delaying processes originally set by the competition authorities.

Mr Lewis, now head of the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ Corruption Watch, said the handling of the Walmart transaction had not been an "edifying process" for SA.

He said it certainly had not strengthened the hand of the competition authorities, but rather had shoved them back into the apartheid years when deals were made behind closed doors in "smoked-filled rooms".

Saleem Mowzer, acting director-general of the Department of Economic Development, said Mr Lewis’s views were "flatly contradicted" by the facts and the emerging jurisprudence from the Competition Appeal Court.

"But for the government’s involvement, the (Walmart) transaction would have gone through without conditions, at the expense of the public interest," he said.

Mr Lewis said the hostile merger of Japanese firm Kansai Paints and SA’s Freeworld Coatings, in which he had been an adviser, illustrated how Mr Patel applied leverage to "extort" concessions that were not merger-specific. The same happened in the Walmart transaction.

In both cases, Mr Patel intervened in the proceedings, but first tried to negotiate a separate process that had been conducted independently from his own authorities’ processes. Mr Lewis expressed concern about this form of managing industrial policy.

He said it was akin to highwaymen who guarded the narrowest part of a gorge stopping passing coaches and extracting goods before allowing them through.

Such intervention made for bad law, bad competition law and bad industrial policy, he said. There was no clarity, no transparency and a lack of urgency.

"The most dangerous portent was the suggestion that if the parties wanted their merger to go through, they had to speak to the minister, who could leverage his position with the competition authorities to get it through expeditiously, or he could hold the proceedings until the parties reached an agreement with him," Mr Lewis said.

Heather Irvine, director at law firm Norton Rose, who represented Mr Patel and his Cabinet colleagues in their appeal against the Competition Commission’s passage of the Walmart deal, said it was unfair to say that Mr Patel had impinged on the independence of the competition authorities.

"There is no basis to suggest that his intervention was an abuse of the process. He certainly did not raise spurious issues, but legitimate and important issues in terms of public interest," Ms Irvine said. Issues raised at the Competition Appeal Court had led to the imposition of conditions.

Mr Lewis said Mr Patel had appointed a team of experts to advise him on the effect of Walmart’s entrance in the economy.

"I am surprised that nobody demanded to see the report by the team of experts, and I ask myself if there ever was such a report."

Now a second round of three experts was about to be enrolled, by order of the Competition Appeal Court. They would have to compile yet another report on the transaction and present it to the court, Mr Lewis said.

It was clear that not "all the water had gone through the sewers" in the Walmart matter and it could well be that the US retail giant would be negotiating with the government until the "cows come home", Mr Lewis warned.

Tembinkosi Bonakele, deputy commissioner of the Competition Commission, told the workshop that SA did not have a manufacturing sector to defend in terms of competition law.

He said the Walmart transaction certainly helped SA to realise this fact, and political players needed to recognise that the country had to deal with the deficiencies in the manufacturing sector.

He said during the commission’s investigation of the R16bn takeover of Massmart, it found the retailer imported almost all of its merchandise, and only two brands were made locally.

2.4 Registering for e-tag ‘optional’

Musa Mohamed, Citizen, 4 April 2012

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has stated that motorists will not be obliged to buy e-tags in order to travel on Gauteng’s tolled roads.

“Sanral would like to clarify to road users that it is not compulsory for road users to buy an e-tag for Gauteng e-tolling.

Registering with an e-tag is optional” it said in a statement.

Previously, union federation Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) slammed the government over its apparent intention to enforce compliance with the controversial e-tolling system.

Cosatu insisted yesterday that it will not back off from opposing the multi-billion rand system, and vowed to take the issue to the streets if it becomes operational.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele is reportedly pursuing legislation that will allow Sanral to set up its own policing agency.

The proposed agency will reportedly have broad powers.

The minister has further come under fire for rushing the legislation regarding e-tolling, published on March 27 and for allowing only a limited time – April 16 – in which the public can voice their views on the legislation.

“We strongly object to these bully tactics, which are not only illegal and immoral, but meant to intimidate and force the public to comply with e-tolling,” Patrick Craven, the Cosatu spokesman said yesterday.

Craven added that the impression is created that it was a legal requirement for motorists to have the e-tags.

“These are merely threats to pressure people into acquiring the e-tags, while we continue to argue that people should not have them,” he said.

DA MPL in the Gauteng Legislature, Neil Campbell described the minister’s move as a measure to intimidate motorists.

“This legislation is an act of desperation to intimidate motorists into accepting this unjust tax,” Campbell said.

“It is appalling to create a police force merely to enforce unjust taxes,” he added.

2.5 Cosatu scores R24m from e-toll project

Farzana Rassool, ITWeb, 4 April 2012

Despite strongly contesting the controversial e-tolling system and the harsh impact it will have on motorists, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) has apparently benefited from the project, to the tune of R24 million.

Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow minister of transport Ian Ollis calls the federation's behaviour hypocritical. “Cosatu's disapproving public stance on e-tolling as being 'ill-conceived, corrupt, and too expensive for this country's poor' clearly does not apply to their investment arm.”

This comes less than a month after the union slammed the profits made by Austrian company Kapsch TrafficCom, which has a majority share in the Gauteng e-tolling consortium. It already made R1.2 billion in SA in one year and Cosatu said it was outraged at these figures.

Sole beneficiary

Ollis says the trade union federation reportedly made R24 million profit through investment in a construction company, which benefitted from the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), for which e-tolling was created.

Cosatu's investment arm, Kopano Ke Matla, reportedly holds a 3% stake in road construction company Raubex, and Raubex received R800 million from a project which forms part of the GFIP.

“As Kopane's 'sole beneficiary', Cosatu has thus made a significant profit from a road-infrastructure project that they have vehemently opposed on every possible platform. This is pure hypocrisy. While lamenting the impact of rising energy prices and transport prices on SA's poor, Cosatu have in actual fact been capitalising on their misery.”

Media reports today said Kopano CEO Marake Matjila resigned as non-executive chairman of Raubex on Tuesday to prevent a perceived conflict of interest.

Restoring credibility

Ollis adds that Kopano's primary objectives are to “pursue investment opportunities in a socially responsible manner” and to “select investment ventures that will directly contribute to the empowerment of workers and the communities in which they live”.

“It is not clear how the investment in Raubex reflected this mandate. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi claims he was unaware of the investment company's involvement in toll roads.”

The shadow minister says to restore its credibility in the e-tolling debate, Cosatu will have to resolve three key issues.

It will first have to assure SA's poor that it has, as Vavi claims, withdrawn its investment from Raubex. “Failure to do so will make a farce of their commitment to socially responsible investment.”

Ollis adds that, secondly, the litmus test for Cosatu's commitment to empowerment and social responsibility will lie in its decision on how to spend or re-invest its R24 million profit; and thirdly, Cosatu will not regain its credibility in the e-tolling dispute by withdrawing from public debate on the issue.

“They now have to prove that their principles have not been compromised by their tainted profits. Now is not the time to abandon South Africa's poor on this crucial issue.”

2.6 Cosatu man resigns from top post over R21 rebuild

Rahima Essop, Eye Witness News, 4 April 2012

Collin Matjila, the chairperson of construction company Raubex and the chief execuive of the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) investment arm, resigned from Raubex on Tuesday because of a perceived conflict of interest, the firm said.

Matjila tendered his resignation after it emerged that Cosatu's Kopano Ke Matla owned shares in Raubex, a company involved in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).

In a notice to shareholders Raubex said that Matjila thought it appropriate to stand down to prevent any perceived conflict of interest.

The board plans to appoint a new chairperson at a meeting in Centurion in May.

Raubex won a tender to build the R21 as part of the GFIP.

Motorists will have to pay toll fees to pay for construction.

Cosatu has been at the forefront of opposition against the implementation of tolling.

This week General-Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the trade union federation did not know the e-Toll system would fund the road construction project.

2.7 CEO of COSATU’s investment arm resigns from Raubex

Kim Cloete, Moneyweb, 4 April 2012

The CEO of COSATU’s investment arm, Marake Collin Matjila, has resigned as Chairperson of Raubex with immediate effect, days after a newspaper report revealed that Raubex was involved in building one of Gauteng’s toll roads.

The City Press report on Sunday exposed COSATU’s involvement with Raubex, despite its widespread campaign to boycott e-tolling.

“Given that Mr Matjila is the Chief Executive Officer of Kopano Ke Matla Investment Company, the investment arm of COSATU, and in order to prevent any perceived conflicts of interest in considering Raubex’s involvement with national roads privatization projects, he believes it is appropriate to stand down,” the Board of the Raubex Group, said in a statement.

City Press revealed that the trade union federation’s investment arm, Kopano Ke Matla, had shares in Raubex, which was involved in building the R21, which forms part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

Matjila has been the non-executive chairman of the Board since it was listed in 2007.

City Press had reported that Raubex had received R800 million for the project and that COSATU had made a profit of R24 million – a figure disputed by the Commercial and Financial Director of Raubex, Francois Diedrechsen.

“That’s not the profit we made on that contract…R800 million is nowhere close. That was the turnover we made on the contract for Raubex. COSATU made less than the R24 million quoted,” he told Moneyweb.

But he conceded that there had been a conflict of interest.

“Clearly there is a conflicted position on their side in terms of their view of privatisation of roads,” he told Moneyweb hours before Matjila’s resigned.

Questions are being asked as to how much COSATU may have known about the investment and Raubex’s involvment in the toll road.

Asked why COSATU had not picked up on the potential conflict of interest earlier, COSATU spokesperson, Patrick Craven, told Moneyweb it was not possible for COSATU “to check out every single investment”.

“Theoretically we could, but it would take an awful lot of work, and ironically it could be controversial.” He said this could be seen as interfering.

But not everyone’s convinced.

“As Kopano CEO Collin Matjila is also the non-executive chairperson of Raubex one would expect the COSATU leadership to have been aware of Raubex’s key projects.

If not they are obviously not particularly committed to holding Kopano to its mandate of socially responsible investment,” said the Democratic Alliance spokesperson for Transport, Ian Ollis.

Craven claims that Kopano Ke Matla bought shares in the company when e-tolling was not on the horizon.

“It’s stretching a point that we should have planned ahead and that this could potentially become a political issue. Government insists it announced the tolls a few years ago, but nobody thought it was a serious issue. It only became so with the question over e-tolling,” said Craven.

He said the situation would be different had it been in 2012. “Clearly, if today, a company were to put in a bid that was related to the collection of e-tolls, we would try to stop that.”

COSATU recently called on the government to “scrap this outrageous project of e-tolling once and for all.”

The City Press article suggested that COSATU general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, was shocked when he heard about the union’s involvement and said he was unaware of the company’s involvement in toll roads.

Raubex, which has been in operation since 1974 and employs 6000 people, has always been involved in building private roads.

“We build all roads. Where toll roads need to be built, we tender on them. It’s not that we are only investors in toll roads, but we have pitched on them and we have built them. We will continue to pitch on concessions,” said Diedrechsen.

Diedrechsen said COSATU had bought shares in Raubex about seven years ago.

Raubex lost out during the bidding for the second phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project as well as the N1/N2 Winelands toll road in the Western Cape which has recently been put on ice.

Diedrechsen said he was waiting to hear from Kopana on whether it planned to disinvest from the company. Meanwhile, it plans to appoint a new Chairperson during its May 2012 meeting.

The revelations come at a particularly sensitive time for COSATU. A few weeks ago, it slammed the extensive profits made by Austrian company, Kapsch TrafficCom from its contract to build and operate the e-tolling system in Gauteng.

Ollis says COSATU will not regain their credibility by withdrawing from public debate on the issue.

“They now have to prove that their principles have not been compromised by their tainted profits.”

2.8 Cosatu tells tall tales on e-tolling

Wiseman Khuzwayo, Business Report, 5 April 2012

The resignation of Collin Matjila, the chief executive of Cosatu’s investment arm, Kopano Ke Matla, as the non-executive chairman of Raubex, has exposed the labour federation’s deception in claiming it had no knowledge of the e-tolls.

Kopano is a 3 percent shareholder in Raubex, the construction company that won a tender to build the R800 million R21 as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

However, Cosatu recently championed a vociferous and widespread protest objecting to paying the tolls, opposing the government’s insistence that tolling will proceed.

Matjila resigned from Raubex on Tuesday, saying he believed it was appropriate to stand down to prevent any perceived conflict of interest, considering the company’s involvement in projects to privatise national roads.

Last week, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said Matjila had informed the federation of the possible conflict of interest only when he was contacted last week.

But it seems Cosatu is engaged in double speak when it says it did not know that Kopano was involved in e-tolling projects. The SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) advertised for tenders for the upgrading and/or construction of national roads in and around Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni as early as August 2008.

The advert clearly stated: “The improved road network will be tolled using Open Road Tolling (free flow tolling without any physical lane separation or hindrance). It is envisaged that tolling of the first phase of 185kms, using 42 toll points (gantries) and generating in excess of 2 million tolling point passages per day, will commence in the last quarter of 2010, followed by future phases thereafter, as determined by Sanral.”

The advert said Sanral was inviting applications from suitable qualified and experienced applicants – companies, joint ventures, consortiums or partnerships – that met the prequalification requirements and evaluation criteria to prequalify for one or more of the packages as defined in the preqalification documentation.

Prequalified applicants would be invited and permitted to participate in the tender process that would follow the prequalification process.

The advert said a compulsory clarification meeting would be held on August 28, 2008 at 10am at Sanral’s corporate offices in Pretoria. Non-attendance at the meeting would disqualify the applicant.

The advert was also posted on tollinfo.wordpress.com.

Yesterday, Solly Phetoe, the Cosatu North West secretary, issued a statement in which he said the labour federation in the province was disturbed by the poor journalism seen in City Press on the issue of Kopano and Raubex regarding the construction of the R21.

He said Cosatu wanted to put into correct perspective for all the people of South Africa, that when the infrastructure in Gauteng and other World Cup hosting towns was improved, it was said that the funding for such projects would come from the World Cup Benefit Fund, and that nothing was said about the tolling of the roads.

“Cosatu wants to also highlight that the SABC has reported that in the documents that Raubex received for tendering, there is nothing said about the tolling of the roads, information which City Press has chosen to ignore.

“In our view, this is bad journalism, as journalists must find all facts before going to print and not just print one side,” Phetoe said.

3. ANC & Alliance

3.1 Nehawu lauds ANC stand on discipline

IOL, 5 April 2012

Trade union Nehawu on Wednesday congratulated the ANC's top officials for speaking out against ill-discipline in the organisation.

“The African National Congress and government must at all times provide political and moral leadership to our society,” National Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) spokesman Sizwe Pamla said in a statement.

“In this regard, they must act against sleaze and inept leadership across all structures of our movement and government.”

This followed an ANC press briefing on Tuesday at which top officials said the party was united.

Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa, national chairwoman Baleka Mbete, secretary general Gwede Mantashe and deputy secretary general Thandi Modise addressed the media in Joburg as a collective.

Pamla said it was about time ANC Youth League president Julius Malema's disciplinary process was also brought to a closure.

“The leadership now needs to focus on resolving the triple crisis of unemployment, poverty and inequality,” he said.

The ANC's national disciplinary committee of appeal announced on Tuesday that Malema's appeal hearing against his expulsion from the party would take place on April 12. – Sapa

3.2 ANCYL backs Juju; analysts say it's over

Deon de Lange, Craig Dodds and Michael Mpofu, INL, 5 April 2012

Defiant ANC Youth League (ANCYL) members meet on Thursday to draw up a battle plan to defend their suspended leader, but some analysts have already declared Julius Malema politically dead and buried.

A member of the ANCYL’s national executive committee, Thabo Kupe, confirmed that they would hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to chart the way forward after the ANC’s national disciplinary committee suspended Malema with immediate effect on Wednesday.

Early indications suggest that the league is not going to give up without a fight. North West chairman Papiki Baboile said the province would “never retreat or surrender” in its support for Malema.

His counterpart in the Northern Cape, Shadrac Tlhoale, also put his head on the block, saying: “We are not going to quit because of fear of being expelled. We are not shaken. We are not afraid.”

Other provincial youth leaders declined to comment.

Professor Steven Friedman, director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Rhodes and Joburg universities, said Malema had “no political future” following his latest suspension.

Friedman said recent events had created the impression that Zuma was “not in control of the situation”, but the latest move was an indication that he was now laying down the law.

Keith Gottschalk, a political analyst at the University of the Western Cape, said Malema was “clearly on the way down”.

“The way Malema addressed meetings over the past few weeks, where he basically repeated the things that led to him facing disciplinary charges in the first place, rather than apologising, was obviously the last straw (for the party leadership),” he said.

Asked whether Malema’s backers in the ANC could rehabilitate him, Gottschalk wondered whether anyone would actually want to.

“I was very surprised that (ANC treasurer) Mathews Phosa and (ANC deputy president) Kgalema Motlanthe agreed to speak with (Malema) recently, but I doubt this will happen again.”

He suggested that candidates planning to contest leadership positions at the party’s December conference were now likely to view Malema as politically toxic – and were likely to avoid him.

3.3 Malema’s lawyers say suspension violates his rights

Sam Mkokeli & Natasha Marrian, Business Day, 5 April 2012

Julius Malema’s lawyers are demanding the African National Congress (ANC ) disciplinary committee withdraw his suspension and are threatening to take the party to court.

The party’s national disciplinary committee announced yesterday that Mr Malema was summarily suspended from the ANC with immediate effect, after the youth league leader said President Jacob Zuma was a "dictator".

Mr Malema will not be allowed to perform any tasks related to his role as ANC Youth League president or as an ANC member. "Nor would he be allowed to address any ANC gathering or make any public statements on matters relating to the ANC," disciplinary committee chairman Derek Hanekom said.

Mr Malema’s lawyers wrote to Mr Hanekom’s committee yesterday, giving them until 2pm today to withdraw the suspension, arguing that its conditions went beyond the party’s powers. Mr Malema is not even allowed to speak about the ANC, according to the conditions of his suspension. His lawyers believed that was tantamount to a gag, which violated Mr Malema’s rights.

The ANC frowns upon its leaders who take the party to court, but Mr Malema may have nothing to lose.

If his suspension withstands the court challenge, it is likely to strengthen Mr Zuma’s bid for a second term as ANC president. There is growing support for the youth league’s bid to replace him with ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe . Mr Malema’s silencing could allow Mr Motlanthe to challenge Mr Zuma without his campaign being discredited by Mr Malema’s ill-discipline.

The suspension came a day after the party’s top six officials criticised the league for comments that caused division in the ANC.

The ANC’s other structures closed ranks after the announcement yesterday, voicing support and respect for ANC processes.

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee of appeals will next week hear argument against Mr Malema’s earlier expulsion from the ANC by its national disciplinary committee. By then, Mr Malema may face fresh charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute, relating to branding Mr Zuma a dictator.

The disciplinary committee decided to take action against the firebrand youth leader for his comments made during a public lecture at Wits University last week, when he said that under Mr Zuma’s leadership, democracy was morphing into dictatorship. The committee said it would inform Mr Malema of the charges and a date and venue for the hearing "in due course".

"In keeping with the principle and spirit of natural justice and to remove any semblance and perception of bias, the members of the national disciplinary committee who participated in this decision to institute disciplinary action against comrade Malema will … not participate or adjudicate in the pending disciplinary action against him," Mr Hanekom said yesterday.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said yesterday that the suspension proved that no one was "bigger" than the party’s constitution. He said the ANC "welcomed" and "respected" the decision.

The ANC Women’s League also welcomed the decision. Its president, Angie Motshekga, said Mr Malema "brought it upon himself" and the ANC had "no other option".

"A person who is appealing his suspension should at least show some remorse. It’s unheard of that an individual attacks the leadership of the ANC while facing disciplinary hearings," she said.

The league believed it was "bigger" than the ANC and action had to be taken to neutralise it as members’ comments and attacks on Mr Zuma were "quite hurtful to the organisation", Ms Motshekga said.

She said the ANC’s president was the face of the party and an attack on him was an attack on the party.

"If anything has to happen in consequence, let it be … you cannot not act, whatever the consequence," Ms Motshekga said.

"In every organisation, there are contradictions and tensions but we owe the organisation, which we volunteer to become a part of, at least some courtesy."

Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said yesterday that the federation respected the internal disciplinary processes of the ANC, as governed by the party’s constitution. "Cosatu must not interfere with that," he said.

The ANC’s Veterans League criticised the party for its handling of disciplinary matters. Its president, Sandi Sijake, said yesterday that Mr Malema’s suspension was linked to the party’s elective conference in December. He also took issue with the ANC taking disciplinary action against party stalwart Ben Turok, for his opposition to the Protection of State Information Bill.

"It seems that the current leaders of the ANC are against honest members," Mr Sijake said. He said the older generation of the ANC knew the difference between "protecting the ANC and protecting individuals … bent on destroying the ANC no matter the position such an individual occupies".

3.4 Malema to the ANC: Lift my suspension ... or else

Michelle Pietersen, Matuma Letsoalo & Charles Molele, Mail & Guardian, 5 April 2012

Embattled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has given the ANC an ultimatum to withdraw his suspension or face a challenge in court.

Malema's lawyers have written a letter to the party demanding that the ANC withdraw the "banning order" because it may be both unconstitutional and in violation of the ANC's constitution.

On Wednesday the ANC's national disciplinary committee chairperson Derek Hanekom summarily suspended Malema from the party for calling President Jacob Zuma a dictator.

The Mail & Guardian understands Malema's lawyers wrote to the ANC late on Wednesday after Malema consulted with them.

Malema's lawyers are demanding that the ANC withdraw the suspension on the grounds that it was in violation of rule 25. 2 of the ANC's constitution, which states that the party cannot use disciplinary processes to stifle debate and suppress views.

If the ANC refuses to withdraw his suspension, Malema intends instituting legal action against the party, including approaching the Constitutional Court.

On Friday, Malema lambasted Zuma's leadership style describing him as a dictator of the worst kind.

Reacting to the ANC's decision to suspend Malema, constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos criticised the ANC's decision to suspend Malema without following proper procedures.

"President Jacob Zuma is not a person who seems to take kindly to criticism ... [He] seems to have learnt well from the 'mistakes' of Thabo Mbeki and he is taking no chances with those who might oppose him. Cut off their heads before they can gather steam, seems to be his motto.

" ... An order purporting to ban Malema from making any public statements on any matter pertaining to the ANC infringes on Malema's right to freedom of expression. Our Bill of Rights can also bind private individuals, organisations and political parties and I am almost certain that when an organisation bans a member from making any statements about that organisation in public that organisation is in breach of the Bill of Rights," he said.

3.5 ANC silences Juju

Chandré Prince & Dominic Mahlangu, Times, 5 April 2012

Suspended ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has officially been gagged.

But his supporters will have none of it and are planning to intensify their campaigns to give him a public platform.

The Times has reliably learned that ANC Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambu and league secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa are next in the firing line.

The ANC's national disciplinary committee is said to be finalising its investigation into newspaper articles written by Shivambu, and into an interview he gave to Radio 702 in which he said that President Jacob Zuma was not the right person to lead the ANC and that he would not be re-elected as party leader in Mangaung in December.

Magaqa is being targeted for echoing Malema's utterances that Zuma is a dictator.

"The plan is to shut down all avenues for those intent on undermining the ANC. While our wheels move slowly, we are effective when we take decisions," said a senior ANC member last night.

Yesterday, the ANC's national disciplinary committee summarily clipped Malema' swings when it suspended him for labelling Zuma "a dictator" who "traumatises" the youth league.

Not only has Malema been ordered to shut up, he has also been suspended from other positions in the ANC, including in the national executive committee and the Limpopo provincial executive committee.

Derek Hanekom, the disciplinary committee's chairman, said committee members met on Monday to discuss Malema's utterances and decided that they constituted "a very serious violation" of the ANC's constitution and could bring the party into disrepute.

Addressing a gathering at the University of the Witwatersrand on Friday, Malema said: "It is under President Zuma that we have seen the youth of the ANC being traumatised, being expelled from their own home.

"It is under President Zuma that we have seen a critical voice being suppressed. We have seen under President Zuma democracy being replaced with dictatorship. We have seen an intolerance . people who become impatient with the youth . "

Malema's suspension has broader implications for the pretenders to Zuma's throne and might derail the league's campaign to get Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to take over the reins of the ANC after the Mangaung elective conference in December.

The suspension of the youth leader has triggered new plans to defy the ANC's leadership.

The youth league's national executive committee meets in Johannesburg today to plot the way forward.

Some provinces have already "rubbished" the suspension, saying Malema remained their leader.

Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Northern Cape convened informal meetings yesterday to discuss how to "show them [the ANC]" that they are in for a serious fight.

Northern Cape youth league chairman Shadrac Tlhaole said members would not be dictated to by factions in the ruling party.

"Julius Malema is our president. He is our loudhailer and he cannot be put on mute. We will speak without fear."

Tlhaole said Malema would address the youth league's rally in De Aar, Northern Cape, on April 18.

"If the youth league is not happy about something and we are not given the platform to discuss our unhappiness, where else do we go? We're not a banana republic."

A Gauteng ANC Youth League leader said Malema's suspension "confirmed Zuma's dictatorial tendencies".

"This is a sign of a desperate man. This confirms our take that he is a dictator. We will not allow that to happen, not now with this current generation.

"If we allow him [Zuma] to succeed can you imagine what he will do to other structures of the ANC?

"The battle is not over, he can invoke all the rules in the constitution but he will not silence us," he said.

Another said: "We cannot continue to talk about our frustrations . the time has come for action."

Malema's suspension came just a day after the ANC's top six leaders mounted a united front in an attempt to assert their authority on the party, branding Malema's utterances alien to the ANC.

Hanekom said Malema would be served with the full details of the charge or charges to be preferred against him, and details of the disciplinary hearings, in due course.

The suspension is being viewed as a strategy to silence Malema as the ANC succession battle gains momentum.

The disciplinary committee has said Malema may not:

Exercise any duty in his capacity as an ANC member, president of the youth league and/or member of the provincial executive committee of the ANC in Limpopo;

Attend any meeting of the ANC or any of its structures, including the leagues, except for the purpose of availing himself of appeal hearings and the disciplinary proceedings to be instituted against him;

Address any meeting of the ANC or any of its structures, including the leagues, whether as an invited guest, in his capacity as president of the youth league and/or as a member of the ANC; and

Make any public statement on any matter pertaining to the ANC.

Hanekom, however, said that: "In keeping with the principle and spirit of natural justice, and to remove any semblance and perception of bias, the members of the NDC who participated in this decision to institute disciplinary action against Comrade Malema will recuse themselves and not participate or adjudicate in the pending disciplinary action against him."

4. International

4.1 Swaziland expects large protests

Nastasya Tay, EWN, 4 April 2012

Civil society groups in Swaziland on Wednesday said they expect large protests in that country in the coming weeks as public sector unions continue to picket in demand of better wages.

The Swaziland Solidarity Network said a planned mass strike action in the small kingdom next Tuesday will be joined by other workers, students and members of the April 12 Movement.

The network’s Lucky Lukhele said the demonstrations are more than just labour issues.

“The demands remain the same. The people of Swaziland want the king to unban political parties and release all political prisoners.”

He said there would also be a picket outside the Swazi Consulate in Johannesburg.

Swaziland has been rocked by a series of protests against the monarchy, which were met by a state crackdown.

Wealthy head of state King Mswati III has also come under fire for demanding cows from his impoverished subjects for his upcoming birthday celebrations.

King Swati assumed the throne when he was 18-years-old and he has 13 wives, each with their own palace.

In July 2010, Forbes Magazine estimated his net worth at $100 million.

5. Comment

5.1 ANC's fissures of men: Cracks widen beneath surface

Matuma Letsoalo, Charles Molele & Michelle Pietersen, Mail & Guardian, 5 April 2012

Embattled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema was summarily suspended from the ANC after the dramatic events at Luthuli House on Tuesday, during which the ANC's top six officials put on a desperate show of unity at a rare press conference organised to deal with the youth leader.

On the surface, Tuesday's ANC press conference was aimed at presenting a leadership in control.

But behind the scenes all hell broke loose when deputy secretary general Thandi Modise and treasurer Mathews Phosa confronted ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe and excoriated him for failing to inform them on time and for imposing the idea of a press briefing on them.

Also on Tuesday, there was pandemonium when, earlier in the day at Luthuli House, the ANC's military veterans demanded Malema's expulsion for disrespecting President Jacob Zuma and calling him a "dictator" at an ANC centenary lecture last week. It prompted the youth league's Sindiso Magaqa to defend Malema in a hastily arranged press conference in which he charged that the veterans were attention-seekers trying to impress their girlfriends.

Then, a day after the briefing, the chair of the ANC's national disciplinary committee, Derek Hanekom, revealed its decision to summarily suspend Malema from the ANC for calling Zuma a dictator. Malema is now prevented from participating in ANC meetings, including the national executive committee, national working committee and Limpopo provincial executive committee.

Although there was no official statement from the youth league at the time of going to press, a youth league national executive council member said there was nothing procedural in the move. "The suspension was the highest level of desperation we have seen from the ANC," said the leader.

Northern Cape behind Malema
Outspoken Northern Cape youth league chairperson Shadrack Tlhaole said that even though the ANC's national disciplinary committee had suspended Malema from the party, he remained president of the league and would be allowed to attend its programmes and meetings.

"He can't be charged and suspended through a press briefing," said Tlhaole. "We are still saying that the ANC leaders should have called the youth league and the military veterans to a meeting."

Tlhaole said Malema was scheduled to deliver a lecture at the De Aar community centre on April 18 and the suspension would not stop him from speaking to his supporters.

The Mail & Guardian has reliably learned that a war of words broke out between the ANC top brass hours before Tuesday's press conference. The rare media briefing was intended to dispel perceptions that the party was in crisis and that the ANC Youth League was running the show at Luthuli House.

Modise and Phosa were infuriated at being informed about the media briefing only shortly before the meeting of the top six, scheduled for 3pm on Tuesday. The media briefing was set for an hour later, at 4pm.

They confronted Mantashe and reprimanded him for failing to inform them on time and for forcing the press briefing on them.

There was also drama when disagreements ensued over the emotional tone of the initial media statements and Modise and Phosa threatened to boycott the intended briefing if it was not toned down. Mantashe obliged and the harsher parts of the media statement were taken out.

Modise and Phosa not happy
A Luthuli House insider, who asked not to be named, told the M&G on Wednesday that Modise and Phosa were unimpressed with Mantashe's apparent impetuous conduct.

"They questioned why he called the press briefing. They told him that it meant he and certain officials had met discreetly and hatched a plan to host a media briefing behind their backs," said the source.

"Mantashe pleaded with them to be part of the briefing in order to show unity, because there was an impression out there that the ANC was divided. The two officials were insisting that he should go alone. They were refusing to go [to the press briefing]."

Approached for comment, Mantashe could not be drawn into what transpired behind the scenes.

He pointed out that if some people were not happy at a particular stage of the meeting, it did not mean they were unhappy about the decision. "Unhappiness is a feeling," he said.

"If anybody is not happy, they should speak out; they should say that to you.

"If a person is unhappy at a particular time, it does not mean they do not agree with the decision. We went to the press conference and no one was dragged there."

Modise, Phosa and ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe are said to be unhappy about the way the disciplinary action against the youth league was instituted. They would prefer a political solution to the matter, whereas Zuma, Mantashe and ANC chairperson Baleka Mbete are bent on disciplining the Young Turks.

Youth league wants Motlanthe
The youth league has made it clear that it wants Motlanthe to replace Zuma at the party's elective conference in December. The league also wants Phosa to take over as deputy president and Modise to retain her position. It wants Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula and Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile to take over as secretary general and chairperson respectively.

The pro-Zuma lobby wants Zuma to retain his position as ANC president, with Higher Education Minister and SACP boss Blade Nzimande as deputy president, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa as secretary general and Public Enterprise Minister Malusi Gigaba as deputy secretary general.

At Tuesday's media briefing, Mantashe warned ANC members not to use the party's centenary celebrations to campaign for leadership positions ahead of the elective conference in Mangaung.

Despite Mantashe's plea, campaigning among ANC structures has intensified. ANC members have publicly worn T-shirts bearing the names of their favourite candidates and sang songs in their support.

Although nominations officially open in October, ANC members are expected to use provincial and regional conferences between now and June to lobby for their preferred candidates for the ANC's national executive posts.

The campaign for Zuma's re-election is expected to receive a major boost when his close ally, Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza, goes head to head with health MEC Clifford Mkasi and deputy chairperson Charles Makola for the position of ANC chair.

Zuma looking good
Although the youth league, Cosatu and the South Africa Communist Party have been pushing for Mabuza to step down, he enjoys support from the majority of ANC regions. In addition to Mpumalanga, Zuma is expecting support from his home province, KwaZulu-Natal, which is expected to bring 25% of voting delegates to the conference.

The anti-Zuma group expects support from the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Northern Cape, Gauteng, North West and the Western Cape. The Free State is divided, with Premier Ace Magashule supporting Zuma's re-election, whereas provincial secretary Sibongile Besani is supporting the call for leadership change.

5.2 'Parental control' hides ANC family's disfunctionality

Nic Dawes, Mail & Guardian, 5 April 2012

Think of it this way: Polokwane was the first of the ANC's post-liberation children to hit adolescence. It stayed out past curfew, raided the liquor cabinet and painted graffiti on the neighbour's wall. In the process, it established the elasticity of parental limits and softened up the disciplinary environment at home.

Mangaung is the second teenager in the family and it knows just how much it can get away with. Right now, it is in the back seat of a stolen car, chopping lines of cocaine with mom's Visa platinum card and filming a cellphone porn clip.

Polokwane nervously muttered coded imprecations about "two centres of power" and "abuse of state resources"; Mangaung calls the president a dictator in public lectures, buys provincial congress votes and battles for control of the spy agencies far more openly than its older sibling.

On Tuesday afternoon we were supposed to believe we were watching an intervention by the parents as the ANC's top six officials assembled at Luthuli House to insist that they were united in their commitment to discipline and would act firmly against "alien" behaviour.

The problem, Gwede Mantashe insisted, was not the Oedipal violence of a succession process that has engulfed the party and the state it so thoroughly controls. The ANC, apparently, does not have a succession process because it is not a royal family. In other words, the problem is not Mangaung, it is that bad seed he hangs around with. Julius Malema is a rotten influence, and the party must be quarantined against him.

On Wednesday morning the bad theatre of unity was backed up with a bit of action and the wild child was summarily suspended, a prelude no doubt to his final expulsion next week.

Of course, when the party leadership first moved formally to discipline Malema, plenty of people in the broader ANC family felt relieved that something was being done.

These relatives might have little sympathy for the paterfamilias from whose example, they tutted, the young man had learned his behaviour, but they value the institutional coherence of the ANC much more than they dislike its president, and they grasped at the prospect that order might return through Derek Hanekom's iPad -- the only tablet of party law left unbroken.

Of course, it did not work. The delinquent dad in the Union Buildings lacked the authority to assert personal control and so he had to trust an agonisingly slow, mock legal process. The kid started talking back, louder and louder, as he realised how little he had to lose.

Worse, he appeared to have some real adult enablers, in the form of indulgent uncle Mathews Phosa and proxy father Kgalema Motlanthe, who appeared on public platforms alongside him, lending moral support even as they murmured blandishments against open dissent.

It was at them -- and anyone who was thinking of following their example - that Tuesday's performance was really aimed.

Said Mantashe: "National officials are invited to address centenary celebrations organised by the ANC Youth League and find themselves in compromising situations of being implicated in statements where ANC leadership is denigrated and insulted. This, too, must stop."

The press conference was a ritual humiliation of Phosa in particular, who had to stand up and respond to questions about why, unlike Motlanthe, he had not been more strongly critical of Malema.

No one believed the top six were any more united after the press conference than they were before, but some of them may have been more frightened.

That does not mean discipline will now prevail. Walls were torn down at Polokwane and the thing that escaped has no truck with parents and their rules.

5.3 Crunch time for Zuma

S'Thembiso Msomi, Times, 4 April 2012

It was on his return from the first ever meeting of the ANC's officials - commonly known as the "top six" - when President Jacob Zuma apparently told some of his aides that he had been struck by how little his new team knew about each other.

This was in early January 2008, barely three weeks after the ruling party's Polokwane conference.

Those who were close to Zuma at the time say what struck him the most about his new team was that they had never met as a group before being elected to discuss what they saw as the future for the ANC.

As a result, each came with his or her own vision of what the post-Polokwane ANC would look like.

Many of them had made it into the top six as a result of fierce lobbying and horse-trading among the disparate groupings that came together ahead of Polokwane in order to unseat the then ANC president Thabo Mbeki.

Zuma, who had been Mbeki's ANC deputy for 10 years, was the rallying point of this campaign - with all the groupings in agreement that he was the only leader best positioned to stand against Mbeki and win.

Kgalema Motlanthe, elected as Zuma's deputy at the Polokwane conference, was the only other official who had served with Zuma in the previous top six.

The rest were new and had been voted in as part of the election slate agreed to by the broad anti-Mbeki coalition.

During the horse-trading that preceded the conference, the "Left" - made up of Cosatu and the SA Communist Party - had insisted on veteran trade unionist Gwede Mantashe as ANC secretary-general.

Cosatu and the SACP played crucial roles in Zuma's campaign and their preferred candidate had to be accommodated.

So did the ANC Youth League under its then president Fikile Mbalula. Although the league did not demand that any of its members serve in the top six, they did lobby for Mathews Phosa to be elected as the party's treasurer-general.

Zuma's supporters in KwaZulu-Natal initially wanted Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was at Foreign Affairs at the time, to become national chairman.

But Dlamini-Zuma turned them down in favour of an Mbeki slate in which she appeared as a candidate for the deputy presidency.

As a result, Zuma supporters opted for the then national assembly speaker Baleka Mbete - who had initially been a candidate for the deputy secretary-general's post.

With Mbete running for the national chairmanship, the youth league and the MK Military Veterans' Association - which was also vocal in its support for Zuma - pushed hard for Thandi Modise, who is now North West premier, to become Mantashe's deputy.

In all honesty, there was very little that ideologically united this top six, with the likes of Phosa being seen as too pro-business, while Mantashe was viewed by some of his comrades as too much of a Cosatu/SACP man.

As a result, throughout much of its five-year term in office, the top six has demonstrated little sense of common purpose.

In recent months, with the Mangaung conference approaching, as well as divisions about how to handle the ANC's problem child, Julius Malema, deepening, the levels of trust among the top six officials have been at their lowest.

Almost all of the top six members deny in public that they are divided, but the evidence is to the contrary.

Much of the internal crisis the ruling party finds itself embroiled in today is a result of this collective failing to give coherent and effective leadership to the ANC.

All of this should be food for thought for ANC members as they prepare for Mangaung and a number of provincial conferences scheduled to be held this year.

Election slates do not work in the long run. They may be useful for putting together a winning coalition ahead of the elections, but they eventually lead to an ineffective leadership collective that is beholden to competing factions.

Moreover, election slates tend to lead to the most talented and able leaders being left in the cold if they happen not to be in the good books of the dominant factions.

Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)

Congress of South African Trade Unions

P.O.Box 1019

Johannesburg

South Africa

Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24

Fax: +27 11 339-5080 / 6940

Mobile: +27 82 821 7456

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

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