Monday, February 8, 2010
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.
Making headlines:
It was the intensity of the armed struggle, and not a decision by former President FW de Klerk, that led to Nelson Mandela's release 20 years ago, said President Jacob Zuma yesterday. Addressing an African National Congress (ANC) Boland region meeting in Paarl, Zuma said that he is likely to speak about what it took for Mandela to "come out of prison" in his State of the Nation address on February 11. Zuma said that today, in a time of peace, many people make claims about the release, even those who were on the opposite side of the liberation struggle. "Because the ANC succeeded, they also succeeded," he said. Zuma used yesterday's speech as an opportunity to appeal for unity in the troubled ANC in the Western Cape.

The idea of a global tax on banks to recapture bail-out costs gained ground at the weekend, boosted by the Obama administration's latest proposals, but there was no agreement on a specific design. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven rich nations called for closer study of a UK proposal for a bank levy to cover the cost of the bail-outs of 2008 and 2009 that ran to hundreds of billions of dollars. The ministers, meeting in a remote town in Canada's far north, said that any tax result must be internationally coordinated and avoid choking off world economic recovery. Talk of a bank tax has swirled around for months since governments stepped in with massive taxpayer aid to stabilise the financial system amid the worst capital market crisis since the 1930s, while the exact targets for taxation vary.

The African National Congress (ANC) does not discuss Presidential pardons with President Jacob Zuma, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said yesterday. The ANC tries to separate matters of Presidential prerogative from any ANC discussions so that we do not influence the President, he said. The comment follows a Rapport newspaper report that new legal grounds were considered for the release of Eugene de Kock and Schabir Shaik. An anonymous ANC source told the newspaper that "selective prosecution" would be cited as grounds for pardon. According to this principle, it is unfair that the individuals were convicted alone, even though they acted with accomplices. They should, therefore, be released. But Rapport said that the "selective prosecution" argument is weak, according to Constitutional law expert Professor Pierre de Vos. "It is completely true that there was selective prosecution," he said, "but that means the alleged accomplices also have to be prosecuted - not that everyone should be freed".
Also making headlines:
South African Reserve Bank deputy governor Xolile Guma says that the country is looking at whether it should maintain stimulus measures.
Anger grows in Côte d'Ivoire's rebel zones over the delay of elections.
South African President Jacob Zuma says that he regrets the pain caused by his extramarital affair while the Democratic Alliance says that he must repair the damage he has done to the fight against HIV/Aids.
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos says that a general election will be held in 2012.
And, the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation says that it should become a forum for consultation on global security.
That's a roundup of news making headlines today.