January 9, 2007

From Polity in Johannesburg, I’m Sheila Barradas

Our lead stories this week:

• The African National Congress will appoint an ad hoc committee to draw up a "detailed factual report" on the arms deal. The ad hoc committee will include party Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Matthews Phosa, Lindiwe Sisulu and Cyril Ramaphosa. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe says that the committee will enable the party’s National Executive Committee to understand the arms deal on a more informed basis.

• Taiwan cannot match China's reported $6-billion aid offer to Malawi, but hopes a legacy of goodwill can convince the African nation not to switch allegiance to its giant neighbour. China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring the island back under mainland rule, by force if necessary. The two sides use what has been called "chequebook diplomacy" to compete for allies among poor countries.

• United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon says that too few troops have been deployed in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, where the situation is fast deteriorating. The so-called hybrid force of African Union and UN troops replaces a struggling AU mission. The plan is for it ultimately to comprise 20 000 soldiers and 6 000 police, but only a little over one-third of those are so far in place.




Also making headlines:

• Hopes of a quick solution to Kenya's crisis, in which almost 500 people have died, recede, with government and opposition still divided on how to conduct negotiations.

• Prosecutors call their first witnesses to the stand in the delayed trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, charged with orchestrating atrocities in Sierra Leone. Taylor, once one of Africa's most feared warlords, faces charges of rape, murder, mutilation and recruitment of child soldiers at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

• The law enforcement official leading the investigation into corruption allegations against South Africa's police chief, Jackie Selebi, is arrested on graft charges.





Also available on the Polity website are a number of recommended reports and documents that provide for interesting reading, including:

• A report by the Global Campaign for Education which assigns a report card ranking on governments efforts to achieve education for all

• The report of the UN secretary-general on the UN mission in the Central African Republic and Chad and,

• The Crime Situation in South Africa Report which deals with national serious crime figures and ratios in South Africa

Also freely downloadable on the site are several new pieces of South African legislation and a collection of important addresses made by South African government leaders and other leading figures from around the African continent.