Monday, August 16, 2010

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.

Making headlines:

South Africa's largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which won 17% of the vote in the last year's national election, announced on Sunday that it will join with the small Independent Democrats (ID) party, which won under 1% of the vote. But analysts say that this merger is unlikely to pose a major challenge to the African National Congress (ANC) in the 2014 election. The ID is to be phased out as a separate organisation and its members will join the DA within the next four years.
Speaking at the announcement of the partnership, where she took DA membership, ID leader Patricia de Lille said that the alliance should be "seen as the first step in the important task of consolidating the opposition and offering voters a true alternative government." DA leader Helen Zille added that the alliance would invite other opposition parties to join, hoping to score the majority in the next vote, but analysts are doubtful.
Meanwhile, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said that the "swallowing" of the ID by the DA is not a threat to the ANC. "There can never be a true merger between forces that are unequal in political strength," he said.

United Nations (UN) humanitarian chief John Holmes has urged Sudanese authorities to allow humanitarian aid workers into a Darfur refugee camp that they have been prevented from entering for nearly two weeks.
Aid agencies have been barred from the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan's conflict-torn western Darfur region since August 2, owing to a standoff between international peacekeepers and Khartoum.
Holmes says that the organisation is "extremely concerned about the welfare of the IDPs at Kalma camp," to which deliveries of food and fuel for water pumps have not been possible.
The reason for the standoff is that Khartoum is demanding that UN-African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, known as Unamid, hand over six Darfuris accused by Khartoum of instigating clashes in South Darfur's Kalma camp in late July that killed at least five people. Unamid has refused to do so without seeing evidence of their crimes and guarantees that they will have a fair trial.

Outspoken African National Congress (ANC) Youth League leader Julius Malema has called for a change in leadership at the party's centenary conference in 2012 to ensure speedier economic reforms.
Speaking at the Youth League's Gauteng provincial conference on Saturday, Malema criticised current ANC leaders, singling out remarks made by officials during a March State visit to Britain as guests of Queen Elizabeth II, during which President Jacob Zuma said that nationalisation of South Africa's mines was not government policy.
"We need a fearless ANC, " he said, calling for a younger, more radical leadership.

Also making headlines:

The head of the commission planning south Sudan's upcoming vote on independence says that north-south divisions within the body are undermining preparations.
Madgascar's President Andry Rajoelina signs a deal with dozens of minor parties aimed at ending a protracted political crisis, but the pact was rejected by the country's main opposition leaders.
And, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe meets his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, who praised the two nations' "strong and deep friendship" and pledged to boost trade and investment and strengthen political ties.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.