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Daily podcast – April 24, 2013.

24th April 2013

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April 24, 2013.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Schalk Burger.
Making headlines:

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula accuses opposition parties of parties of seeking to score political points from the death of South African soldiers in the Central African Republic.

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Corruption Watch says it’s not currently investigating labour unions.

And, a compromise is expected soon on the Western Sahara, allowing a UN mission extension.

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Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Tuesday accused opposition parties of seeking to score political points from the death of South African soldiers in the Central African Republic (or CAR).

The minister accused opposition parties of distorting the truth about why South African National Defence Force (or SANDF) troops were deployed to that country, and accused the media of helping to distort the facts.

Mapisa-Nqakula insisted the deployment was above board and done in terms of a memorandum of understanding with the government of Bangui. She said the only reason additional troops were sent to the CAR was to protect military trainers and assets.

Mapisa-Nqakula said the United Nations expressed shock after Democratic Alliance MP David Maynier wrote to one of its representatives. Maynier asked if Mapisa-Nqakula had lied when she stated the UN had asked South Africa to maintain its military presence in the CAR after the security situation in that country deteriorated. She said this was a desperate attempt at finding something to embarrass the South African government and its respected standing in the UN.

 

Anti-graft organisation Corruption Watch (or CW) said on Tuesday, that no labour union is currently being investigated. CW’s response follows a news report in which Congress of South African Trade Unions (or Cosatu) president Sidumo Dlamini claimed the organisation was interfering in union matters.

Dlamini was quoted as saying he believed this meddling was deliberate and that CW was involving itself in Cosatu's internal struggles, as it appeared to be focusing on politically driven cases.

However, CW said it handled all complaints equally, regardless of who was involved. It said that of 1 500 cases of corruption it received from the public in 2012, only 13 implicated unions.

The organization also said that a newspaper report that stated that CW was investigating leaders of at least four Cosatu affiliates for alleged corruption related to their union members' investment money was "simply wrong".

CW said executive director David Lewis clarified the matter raised by the report.

 

Diplomats said on Tuesday that the US had dropped demands for human rights observers in Western Sahara, paving the way for a compromise that would allow the UN mission in the disputed territory to extend its mandate for another year.

A US-drafted resolution that proposed allowing UN peacekeepers to monitor human rights abuses had angered Morocco, and taken its traditional protector France by surprise.

French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Philippe Lalliot said that there would be a resolution very soon for a new mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. However, he declined to comment on the details of the resolution, which was due to be voted on April 25.

While allegations of abuse have decreased since a 1975-1991 war, rights groups like Amnesty International accuse Morocco of continuing to use excessive force against demonstrators and activists and repressing political freedom, among other abuses. Morocco and France, its former colonial ruler, have resisted the idea of peacekeepers reporting on rights abuses in Western Sahara, with Paris a longtime supporter of Rabat due to historical ties and business relations.

 

Also making headlines: 

Ethiopia says it is preparing to pull its troops out of Somalia.

The amended Protection of State Information Bill looks set to be debated by the National Assembly on Thursday.

And, advisory firm Grant Thornton’s International Business Report 2013 reveals that that nearly 80% of South African business executives plan to finance organisational growth over the next three years through retained earnings.

 

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.

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