Polity - Week in Review

South Africa

MIDRAND - Despite the challenging global economic environment, the South African government does not see a reason to review the pace of infrastructure investment at this point. Deputy head of policy coordination and advisory services of the Presidency Alan Hirsch emphasises that the government is reluctant to cut back sharply, or even significantly at the moment. The State has plans to spend some R600-billion on infrastructure capacity building, in various sectors, from housing and electricity through Eskom, to transport through Transnet and the South African National Roads Agency, as well as the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa). Hirsch says that now is the time to invest so that the government is better able to respond to opportunities in the future. He notes that the government is compensating for a decline in private sector investment, and this investment is important, so as to keep economic activity at a reasonable level.
(see pic of Alan Hirsch)

JOHANNESBURG - African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Gwede Mantashe says that the ANC will launch its election manifesto in January in the Amathole region of the Eastern Cape, which he calls "the home of the ANC". The choice of area is interesting as this is where previous regional chairman Mluleki George was before he left to co-found the Congress of the People. Mantashe says, however, that the province was only chosen because it would be ANC president Jacob Zuma's last stop on a nine-province campaign. The ruling party's deadline for submissions from branches of names of candidates for Parliament and provincial government is December 15, in the middle of Cope's planned official launch in Bloemfontein. The contents of this list may contribute to who leaves the party to join Cope.
(see Gwede Mantashe pic)

JOHANNESBURG - According to a survey conducted by Plus 94 Research, the African National Congress (ANC) would get the votes of 74% of decided voters if South Africa was to vote now. The survey says that the ANC would get majorities of between 80% and 82% in the Northern and Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. It would get 54% in the Western Cape, 57% in Gauteng and 73% in the Free State. The report shows that of the decided voters, the ANC was the preferred party for 84% of blacks, 15% of whites, 50% of coloureds and 47% of Indians. The research was conducted between mid-October and mid-November. A total of 3500 face-to-face interviews were conducted in 3500 homes in all nine provinces. Twenty-nine percent of the sample was conducted in rural areas, 61 percent in urban areas.

JOHANNESBURG - African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema apologises for creating the impression that he was inciting violence with his "kill for Zuma" statements. ANCYL spokesman Floyd Shivambu says that people are uncomfortable with statements made by the organisation and that they are very sorry for it. Malema says that it was not the ANCYL's intention to incite violence and backs this up by saying that he and his fellow members would never do anything unconstitutional. While the ANC defends Malema, its president Jacob Zuma reports that he advised Malema to stop making controversial statements. Malema's statements are used as ammunition by ANC breakaway party, the Congress of the People, whose leader Terror Lekota has accused the youth leader of acting in an unconstitutional manner.

JOHANNESBURG - Ooba (formerly MortgageSA) says that interest rates need to be cut by 1% immediately to assist already overburdened consumers, kick start the stricken property market and restore consumer confidence. Stef Fourie, managing executive of property finance at ooba says that the country should follow the international lead and cut rates at the next monetary policy meeting in December. He states that high interest rates threaten to undermine South Africa's progress because of the onerous debt servicing burden. Fourie explains that globally the rate cycle has turned, and to keep rates high in the face of an international economic meltdown is not the right tack for South Africa.

Africa & World

NEW YORK - A blue chip panel reports that the Group of Eight major industrialized countries should be doubled to better tackle global challenges like climate change and economic stability. The panel, which includes European Union foreign policy chief Javier SolanaJ, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, argues that the G8 has become "outdated." They say that sustainable solutions cannot be achieved without the emerging powers at the negotiating table. The panel recommended adding Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt or Nigeria to create a Group of 16. Thomas Pickering, a former U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, says that some nations might resist seeing their own influence diluted but solving problems requires a broader range of actors.

GENEVA - The United Nations Security Council votes to impose sanctions on anyone contributing to violence and instability in Somalia. The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15-nation council, is a framework that does not identify individuals or entities to be sanctioned. That is to be decided later by a sanctions committee. The British-drafted resolution calls for asset freezes and travel bans for anyone engaging in or supporting violence in Somalia, including individuals or companies that violate a 1992 UN arms embargo against the country. It also targets anyone obstructing delivery of humanitarian assistance to Somalia, where hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. Britain's UN Ambassador John Sawers says that the prime goal of this measure is to stem the flow of arms into Somalia. The African Union's Jean Ping attributes the increase in piracy off the coast of Somalia to the chaos on land.
(see UN pic)