Polity - The Week in Review
South Africa
PRETORIA - Suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Vusi Pikoli is given the axe despite the verdict of the Ginwala commission which says the government failed to show that Pikoli was unfit for office. President Kgalema Motlanthe says that he made the call with a clear conscience and that it was not a political decision. In explanation of his decision, Motlanthe says that Pikoli's professional competence was not in question, but that appreciation for, and sensitivity to, matters of national security had been lacking. This reasoning had not, however, been put forward as justification for the firing of Pikoli by the African National Congress (ANC) when the official inquiry was first launched. The President's announcement provokes a storm of reaction from opposition parties, with the Democratic Alliance suggesting he had failed the first real test of his presidency. United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa says that Pikoli is being punished for continuing with the prosecution of ANC President Jacob Zuma. Motlanthe's decision is to be further considered in Parliament.

JOHANNESBURG - Trade union Solidarity says that South Africa's unemployment rate could increase to around 25% in the first quarter of 2009. The union states that 32 companies are already retrenching 22 000 employees, and that this number could rise significantly. The number could be much higher, Solidarity explains, because it could not be sufficiently determined how many contract workers are in danger of losing their jobs. The largest group of contract workers, about 11 695, are employed in the mining industry, while a further 6 100 are employed in the vehicle manufacturing industry. Unemployment is reported to have risen from 23,1% to 23,2% in the third quarter of 2008, and the trade union expects it to rise to between 23,3% and 24% in the fourth quarter of this year. Solidarity director-general Dirk Hermann says that the crisis is here and will only grow.

JOHANNESBURG - Opposition parties react with outrage to President Kgalema Motlanthe's refusal to institute a commission of inquiry into the arms deal. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President FW de Klerk have written to Motlanthe requesting that he establish an independent commission to probe the arms deal. Their call receives support from various quarters, including the clergy, academics and politicians. Motlanthe says he does not see the need for a commission of inquiry as the country's law enforcement agencies are best suited to deal with the matter. Democratic Alliance spokesperson on the arms deal Eddie Trent, says that the President's decision is "inexplicable" as it follows on allegations in leading UK newspapers that as much as £40-million (about R604-million) was paid to a number of individuals in South Africa in order to help promote BAE's stake in the arms deal. Independent Democrats leader Patricia De Lille slammed the decision as yet another attempt to cover up corruption.

Africa & World
HARARE - The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that as many as 60 000 people in Zimbabwe could become infected with cholera in a worst-case scenario, if the epidemic gets out of control. The cholera outbreak is the worst recorded in Zimbabwe. The highly contagious disease is both preventable and treatable under normal circumstances, but Zimbabwe's health sector is in near collapse as a result of the country's economic crisis. The WHO is considering providing financial incentives for unpaid health workers in Zimbabwe to return to their jobs. Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says that Zimbabwe is in chaos, with at least three hospitals in Harare closed, due to a lack of personnel.

GENEVA - Ministers are not yet ready to meet to seek a breakthrough in the World Trade Organisation's (WTO's) Doha round of trade talks because of inflexibility on the part of trade powers. WTO director-general Pascal Lamy is seeking to narrow the gaps in negotiations between major players, and weighing the risks of calling a meeting this month. Brazil's WTO ambassador, Roberto Azevedo, says that Lamy has received "negative signals" from certain negotiators. This after Lamy agrees with 30 ambassadors to hold further talks for a week or so before deciding whether to call in ministers. The three issues emerging as the most sensitive, all involve core US interests, suggesting that the US is the most sceptical about the prospects for a deal. Only three weeks ago, leaders of the Group of 20 rich and emerging nations agreed in Washington to strive for an outline deal in the Doha round by the end of this year, to counter the financial crisis by boosting trade and warding off protectionism.

POZNAN - United Nations (UN) climate negotiators are seeking to break the deadlock on the launch of a new fund in 2009 to help poor nations adapt to changing climate conditions. The 189-nation talks are split between rich and poor nations about controlling planned payouts under the Adaptation Fund, which could grow to about $300-million a year by 2012 to help developing nations cope with global warming. Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, says ministers will have to resolve the deadlock among their senior negotiators. The economic recession is testing the willingness of many nations to launch costly new projects to fight climate change, or push ahead with ever deeper greenhouse gas cuts, as part of the deal to be agreed next year in Copenhagen.