Thursday, January 15, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.
Making headlines:
Lawyers for African National Congress President, Jacob Zuma, said yesterday that they plan to approach the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein for an appeal. This week's Supreme Court of Appeal ruling is expected to revive Zuma's corruption prosecution, as the charges against him have been reinstated.
Zuma's attorney Michael Hulley explained that his legal team had decided to bring an application for leave to appeal the SCA's ruling.
Earlier this week, the SCA upheld a National Prosecuting Authority application to appeal a Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling. Judge Chris Nicholson's ruling last year had freed the ANC's Presidential candidate from the lengthy prosecution that the NPA had been working on.
Zuma's supporters maintain that the corruption charges are part of a political conspiracy against him.

In African news, US Assistant Secretary of State, Mark Kimmitt, said at a recent United Nations meeting, that he is confident of a turnaround in the problem of piracy in African waters this year.
A newly formed Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, held its first meeting at the UN this week. The group will focus on how to suppress the practice of piracy. Kimmit said that the group will work not only on the military aspect of disrupting piracy, but also the judicial, financial and industry aspects.
Twenty-four nations met to discuss the problem and coordinate efforts, including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. The British and US representatives of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and the International Maritime Organisation also attended.
The Contact Group stated that piracy is a symptom of a wider lack of security and rule of law in Somalia, and continues to constitute a threat to regional stability.

Back home, the South African Department of Health has stated that the outbreak of cholera in South Africa cannot be blamed on the Zimbabwe epidemic.
Department spokesperson Fidel Radebe said that there were areas in South Africa with a history of the disease, long before the outbreak in Zimbabwe.
Radebe said that it is inciting violence to blame Zimbabweans for the outbreak in South Africa, when the country has a history of cholera in areas where a lack of proper sanitation and supply of clean water is a problem.
South Africa has recorded a death toll of 15, with about 2 000 people affected by the disease since November last year.

Also making headlines:
In Somalia, a power vacuum takes hold as Ethiopian peacekeeping troops leave Mogadishu.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki says he will not accept a nomination for Parliament.
And, the South African Minister of Finance calls for budget tips.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories, visit polity.org.za.