October 08, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela says decision makers must submit to scrutiny.

President of African Court asks African governments to allow their people to access the court

And, African National Congress Youth League lambasts Reverend Frank Chikane.

Without respect for the rule of law, the public protector's office cannot be a meaningful buffer between government and the people.

So believes Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, who was speaking at the fifth annual Desmond Tutu International Peace lecture at the University of the Western Cape yesterday.

Referring to the State, the powers of her office, as well as access to justice and accountability, Madonsela added that the country needed a situation where decision-makers fully submitted to constitutional supremacy.

She said South Africa needed decision-makers to accept scrutiny by any structure, regardless of hierarchy. 

Madonsela said ultimately horizontal accountability was needed, meaning the person you report to was not senior to you.

Madonsela said peace would continue to elude the country if goals such as social justice, human solidarity and accountability were not achieved.

The President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (or AFCHPR) has urged all African countries to ratify the court’s protocol and give citizens and non-government organisations (or NGOs) direct access to the court.

Justice Augustino Ramadhani told the Pan African Parliament in Midrand this week that only seven countries had made the necessary declarations to allow their people and NGOs to seek redress from the court.

To date, of the African Union’s 54 member states ,47 had not made this declaration while 25 states had not ratified the court’s protocol.

South Africa had ratified the court’s protocol but it had not made the declaration permitting individuals and NGOs to access the court.

The seven states which had made the declaration are Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The African National Congress Youth League (or ANCYL) added it’s voice to mounting criticism leveled against veteran party leader Reverend Frank Chikane.

Chikane made public comments about “renewal” of the ANC, ahead of the national general council (or NGC) which starts tomorrow.

Criticizing Chikane, the ANCYL said while it welcomed robust debates within the structures of the ANC it was disappointed by the populist posturing by Reverend Chikane.

Chikane said he hoped his document containing proposals for the renewal of the ANC would be placed on the agenda of the NGC.

The reverend’s comments immediately drew rebuke from ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe, who accused Chikane of “leaking” his document to the media.

Also making headlines:

The South African Communist Party leadership in KwaZulu-Natal has come to the defence of its provincial secretary Themba Mthembu saying views he expressed were that of the alliance and not his personal views.

The Supreme Court of Appeal was expected to rule yesterday morning whether SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng's appeal against an earlier court judgment suspending him was valid.

And, thousands of people marched through the Johannesburg city centre in support of the Congress of South African Trade Unions call for a nationwide and multi-sector strike.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today