Friday, March 27, 2009
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.
Making headlines:
Former President Thabo Mbeki said yesterday that he has never interfered in the National Prosecuting Authority's case against former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
Mbeki's comments followed media reports alleging that Zuma's legal team had submitted evidence, in the form of taped telephone conversations between Mbeki and former Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy, indicating political interference by Mbeki in Zuma's corruption case.
Neither the NPA nor ANC president Zuma's lawyer would expand on reports that the tape recordings had been submitted as part of Zuma's bid to have the charges against him dropped.
Both said that the details of the representations made on Zuma's behalf were confidential.

In African news, a United Nations and African Union mediator says that the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, may have compromised the quest for peace in Darfur.
The official called on the UN Security Council to heed the concerns of the AU, which has urged the Council to use its power to suspend the ICC's proceedings against Bashir.
He said that his task of bringing together Sudan's government and Darfur rebel groups for talks, was "currently blocked by the intransigent positions of the warring parties" following the ICC's arrest warrant.
The call to defer charges against Bashir is backed by China and Russia, but western States holding vetoes in the Council have rejected the plea for now.

In news of South Africa's foreign affairs, political analyst Judith February says that the government's refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa for the deferred peace conference, highlights the need for regulation of political party funding.
The government has conceded that it did not want to harm bilateral relations with major investor China by allowing the Tibetan spiritual leader into the country. February, an analyst for the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, says that this makes it reasonable to question whether the African National Congress has received funding from the Chinese for its election campaign.
With no regulation of private funding to political parties, February said that this constitutes a major gap in South Africa's anti-corruption apparatus.

Also making headlines:
French President Nicolas Sarkozy calls on the Democratic Republic of Congo and its former foes to work together to utilise the natural resources of the region.
Political analyst Steven Friedman says that political parties' defection tactics may backfire and repel voters.
And, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille insists that Jacob Zuma must be prosecuted.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.