Wednesday, March 3, 2010
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Lindsey Berry.
Making headlines:
South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Britain yesterday on a State visit, where he is expected to reassure investors that South African mines will not be nationalised and with a plea for sanctions on Zimbabwe to be lifted.
Zuma, a guest of Queen Elizabeth II, is also expected to promote the 2010 World Cup which starts in South Africa in June. He is accompanied by his third current wife, Thobeka Madiba.
Zuma's recent controversies have followed him to the UK as the press revisits his polygamy and his court escapades. The Guardian online portrayed Zuma as "exuberant" with a "colourful CV", and "shrewd", while describing his battle with rape and corruption charges. The right wing Daily Mail chose to headline its article: "Jacob Zuma is a sex-obsessed bigot with four wives and 35 children. So why is Britain fawning over this vile buffoon?" Not stopping there, the Mail said that it is "becoming evermore evident that South Africa is being turned into an organised kleptocracy".
Last year, Zuma won a damages claim against the UK Guardian for writing that he was guilty of rape, corruption and bribery when in fact he was acquitted of rape and the other charges were abandoned.

Voters in the West African nation of Togo head to the polls tomorrow to vote for a President in the latest test for democracy in a resource-exporting region blighted by coups and flawed elections.
Hundreds died in postelection violence following Togo's last Presidential poll in 2005. Voting this time comes just after the region has been shaken by a coup in Niger, street riots over the delayed Côte d'Ivoire polls and instability in Guinea.
Africa director for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems Almami Cyllah says that a smooth election in Togo would be an extremely positive development for the region as a whole.
Campaigning has so far been peaceful, with heightened local security and the deployment of regional military forces. But the politics have already been marred by opposition accusations that incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe has used the country's electoral commission to rig what would otherwise be a tight outcome in his favour. Gnassingbe says that it is important that the election unfolds calmly without violence.

Cabinet Ministers briefed the media yesterday on government's economic sectors and employment cluster programme, which is set to grow the economy and create jobs. Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor said that the cluster is in the process of developing a ‘Growth Plan' for consideration during the mid year Cabinet lekgotla, and that it had highlighted eight areas that would feature in the growth plan, including: the implementation of the Industrial Policy Action Plan, the execution of phase two of the Framework Response to the International Economic Crisis, and a renewed focus on science and innovation.
Rural Development and Land Affairs Minister and cluster chair Gugile Nkwinti added that a green paper detailing government's overhaul of the country's contentious land reform and land tenure policy and legislation is expected to be released by the end of May. Implementation of the policy will cost an estimated R75-billion on a "willing buyer, willing seller" basis. At the same briefing, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said that financially distressed companies that have received or are seeking State support, have to comply with stringent conditions, covering everything from executive bonuses to limiting job cuts. He added that government is on target to dispense up to R1-billion of funding for distressed firms through the State-owned Industrial Development Corporation.
Also making headlines:
Nigeria's powerful state governors pledge their support for Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.
Commissioners are appointed to head the provincial units of the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation, or the Hawks.
Former colonial power France calls on Niger's military junta to hold democratic elections as soon as possible.
And, Malawi and Zambia are set to win big infrastructure grants from the US in the next two years owing to steady improvements in governance.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.