South Africa

ANCYL TO MEET OVER MALEMA – The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) will hold a national executive committee meeting soon to decide on the league’s future, reports the SABC. League deputy president Ronald Lamola says the ANCYL is not in crisis following the announcement of the expulsion of its president, Julius Malema, from the ANC. “The Youth League is not [in] a crisis and we are convinced that through political engagements and through processes within the ANC . . . we will be able to support the president of the Youth League, comrade Floyd [Shivambu], [and] comrade Sindiso Magaqa.” Spokesperson Shivambu and secretary-general Magaqa have also been suspended from the ruling party for three years and one year respectively. Malema was originally suspended for five years for sowing division in the party and for bringing it into disrepute. He was found to have done so by unfavourably comparing the leadership style of President Jacob Zuma to that of former president Thabo Mbeki, and for remarks on bringing about regime change in Botswana.

SANRAL RESPECTS E-TOLL JUDGMENT – The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) is still studying a ruling by the High Court in Pretoria which brought the Gauteng e-tolling project to a halt. “Sanral, together with the Department of Transport, has noted the judgment handed down by the North Gauteng [High] Court,” Sanral said in a statement. Judge Bill Prinsloo granted an urgent interdict, brought by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa), to stop the e-tolling system so that a full court review could be carried out to determine whether it should be scrapped. Prinsloo said, while he realised Sanral would suffer huge financial losses, the public would also suffer hardship if the controversial project went ahead. E-tolling was to have started on April 30 on 185 km of highway in Johannesburg and Tshwane. Sanral says it is an agency of the transport department and, as such, its mandate is to implement policy. It therefore took its lead from the department, with Department spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso saying he could not comment. Transport companies that would have been affected by the implementation of the e-tolls expressed relief at the judgment.

Africa & the world

SUDAN SAYS IT AGREES IN PRINCIPLE WITH AU PEACE ROADMAP – Sudan’s Foreign Ministry says it agrees “in principle” with a seven-point roadmap drafted by the African Union (AU) to end its festering conflict with neighbouring South Sudan. In a statement, it says Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti sent a letter voicing Khartoum’s tentative assent to African Union Commission chief Jean Ping. No details are given. The AU demands that Sudan and South Sudan resume talks within two weeks, warning both it will issue its own binding rulings if they fail to strike deals on a litany of disputes within three months. The AU has spearheaded mediation efforts between the two adversaries in the past with the backing of the United Nations, the US and other major powers. South Sudan committed to the AU roadmap last month, while Sudan has yet to give an official response. The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution that threatens Sudan and South Sudan with sanctions if the African neighbours fail to halt their conflict and resume negotiations within two weeks.

WORLD BANK ALSO AIDS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES – Outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick has given an impassioned defence of the institution he has run for five years and urges his successor to focus on developing countries as clients rather than aid recipients. Zoellick says it is in the economic and security interest of rich countries like the US to continue supporting the World Bank, which provides loans and other assistance to help poor countries tackle a wide array of problems. “We’re beyond a model of charity to poor people,” Zoellick said in remarks to the Inter-Action alliance of development groups. He argues World Bank programmes contribute to global stability and economic growth, which, in turn, benefits both US companies and the country as a whole. Zoellick will be succeeded by Korean-born American health expert Jim Yong Kim.