South Africa

PRETORIA – There is an ongoing conspiracy by "certain individuals" to unsettle the management of the South African Police Service, says acting national police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. He was addressing journalists in Pretoria West in response to allegations published in The Star newspaper relating to the mismanagement of the Secret Service Account. "I already know of a group of individuals that are planning things. I'm aware of that and I will take those matters to the relevant authorities," he says. "There are a lot of things that these people are doing just to discredit this management of the SAPS. It's a sad story for thousands of police officers that dedicate their lives every single day." The Star newspaper reported that Mkhwanazi allowed the use of R35-million from the Secret Service Account for the purchase of cars for other police units. According to the report, the allegations were contained in a report which would be handed to Parliament's joint standing committee on intelligence next week. "The SAPS management and the crime intelligence division in particular are highly disturbed by the reports reflected in some newspapers reporting untrue reports for reasons unknown to me," said Mkhwanazi. He said he was ready for any investigation into the allegations. "I would welcome the Public Protector, Parliament, the United Nations or anyone to investigate me. They are all welcome, I will put the cards on the table," he says. The Democratic Alliance has called on the Auditor General to investigate the allegations. DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard said it was suspicious that allegations of a direct contravention of the Secret Service Act had emerged after Mkhwanazi suspended former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa offers significant and serious long-term growth and development potential for foreign direct investment, despite the challenges that confronts the country at present. Speaking at the launch of consulting firm Oxford Business Group’s (OBG’s) ‘The Report: South Africa 2012’, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said that although South Africa had its own internal challenges, a number were caused by the uncertainty in the global economy. “However, the report articulates the clear message that South Africa is open for business,” he says. The publication, which was launched in Johannesburg, on Friday, provides wide-ranging coverage of the government’s efforts to boost growth across the industrial sector, particularly in manufacturing. It also considers the initiatives being put in place to improve energy infrastructure and secure steady power supplies as the country looks to tackle the challenge of rising demand. The report also highlights the mining sector as the biggest growth market, documenting the potential for expansion in new markets, particularly China, while exploring growth segments such as iron-ore. With job creation high on government’s agenda, the report also charts the drivers under way aimed at increasing industrial output. It also analyses the automotive and steel sectors, which it says are well positioned to spearhead further economic growth and attract investment. Meanwhile, the publication states that the country’s ambitious transport projects, lead by rail and port developments, will further enhance the infrastructure put in place for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It looks at the country’s plans to extend the reach of its tourism industry on the back of the football tournament, by attracting more visitors from Africa.

PRETORIA – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been described by a European envoy to Pretoria as walking a precarious path if it pursues policies shunning the West in favour of fellow Brics members India and China to fund its development. The ANC, which has ruled since apartheid ended in 1994, has sent mixed messages to Western powers about how welcome their capital is in Africa’s largest economy, with a top official recently saying that the West is dropping in importance. “Attack us – that is fine. It does not matter. But don’t say that in this economic period we do not need each other because that undermines the relationship,” argues the head of the European Union (EU) delegation to South Africa Roeland van de Geer. The EU is South Africa’s largest overall trading partner, with the bulk of South Africa’s exports to the 27-member bloc being manufactured goods. These provide more jobs at home than exports to its biggest single-country trading partner, China, most of whose imports are unprocessed minerals. Despite the ANC dispatching top officials with regularity as a sign of reassurance that European and US investors’ money is safe, it also sent powerful delegations to China to see how Beijing uses State-owned firms to guide its fast-growing economy. Further, ANC officials have shown their distrust of Western firms, for example by trying, unsuccessfully, to roll back approval for Wal-Mart’s $2.4-billion acquisition of retailer Massmart. Van De Geer urges South Africa to follow the model of other Brics powers, who rely heavily on trade with the West as well as boosting commerce among themselves.

PRETORIA – The High Court in Pretoria has received an application by nonprofit organisation Freedom Under Law (FUL) for an urgent interdict preventing Lt-Gen Richard Mdluli from serving on the police force. FUL has also applied for an interdict preventing Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa from moving Mdluli to a new position before a review of his reinstatement. Anti-apartheid activist and FUL member Mamphela Ramphele argues that former police commissioners Jackie Selebi and Bheki Cele were suspended by Mthethwa for “less serious criminal charges” than those Mdluli is facing. Further, she says a letter Mdluli wrote to President Jacob Zuma, Mthethwa and acting national police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in November, claiming there was a conspiracy against him, had generated distrust and instability in the police. Consequently, Mdluli says he is ill and cannot work, because his doctor has booked him off for stress and hypertension and told him he needs rest.

Africa & the world

LILONGWE – The African Union will move a July summit from Malawi if the country keeps up its efforts to block the attendance of Sudan's wanted president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, says Malawi's vice president. Malawi last month asked the African Union to prevent Bashir from taking part in the event, saying his visit would have "implications" for its aid-dependent economy. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court over charges he masterminded genocide and other atrocities during his country's Darfur conflict. As an ICC member state, Malawi is supposed to arrest him if he enters its territory – and the global court's chief prosecutor on Monday said countries that failed to detain him should have their aid cut. "The African Union has written us a letter informing us that if we don't allow al-Bashir to come to Malawi, then they will move the summit to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia," Vice President Khumbo Kachale told reporters. Kachale said the cabinet had decided it was happy not to host the conference, which was focused on boosting trade between African countries and originally scheduled for July 9-16 in Lilongwe. Malawi angered international donors, who have supplied about 40% of its budget funding, when it hosted Bashir last year when Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in April of a heart attack, ruled the country. African Union heads of state voted in 2009 not to cooperate with the ICC indictments, saying they would hamper efforts to end Sudan's multiple conflicts and criticising the court for unfairly targeting African countries. Bashir has since visited Kenya and Chad, both of them ICC members, as well as other countries – an embarrassment for the global court. The July summit would be particularly important for Sudan because the agenda included talks over its relations with South Sudan, which seceded last year under a 2005 peace deal, Sudan's foreign ministry has said. The two countries are at odds over a long list of issues, including the position of the border, oil payments, debt and the status of citizens in one another's territory.

CAIRO – The verdicts of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his sons, which saw him being handed a life imprisonment sentence, has left Egyptian prodemocracy campaigners displeased, saying the ruling, which acquitted Mubarak’s sons and senior police officials, is an injustice for the killing of protesters during the street revolt that ended his three-decade rule. Many took the verdicts as proof the Mubarak clan still holds sway as Egypt prepares for the vote on June 16 and 17, billed as the final stage of an army-led transition to democracy. “This was not a fair verdict and there is mass rejection of the judge’s ruling. Tahrir will fill up again with protesters. In Egypt, the only way you can get any justice is by protesting because all the institutions are still controlled by Mubarak figures,” says protestor Amr Magdy. The general prosecutor lodged an appeal against the acquittal of six senior police officials charged with killing protesters, and banned them from travelling, the prosecutor’s assistant said.

LAGOS – Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered an investigation into the cause of an aeroplane accident in which a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operated by privately owned carrier Dana Air crashed into the iron roof of an apartment block in the Lagos’ suburb of Agege, killing 153 passengers. Search and rescue teams found what they believe is the plane’s black box flight recorder and handed it over to police. The cause of the crash is still unknown. Among the dead was the spokesperson for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Levi Ajuonuma.