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Welc ome to Creamer Media’s Polity. In this podcast, read by Jonathan Faurie, and compiled with the assistance of Reuters, we bring you a review of the past week’s activities on Polity.

In this week’s breaking news:
- South African President Thabo Mbeki suspends the head of the country’s public prosecuting agency;
- The Congress of South African Trade Unions announces that it will back controversial politician Jacob Zuma to be the leader of the ruling African National Congress; and
- Angola moves a step closer to holding long-delayed national elections.


PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SUSPENSION

The South African government indicated on Monday that President Thabo Mbeki had suspended Vusi Pikoli, National Director of Public Prosecutions, owing to a breakdown in the working relationship between Pikoli and the country’s Minister of Justice Brigitte Mabandla.

The suspension, which was effective immediately, came amid a bitter turf war between the police and the Scorpions, an elite police unit that falls under the National Prosecuting Authority, that had escalated to Cabinet level and had soured relations with Mabandla. The move also followed allegations that the Scorpions had been overzealous in pursuing a corruption case against ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma, and had attempted to smear the presidential hopeful.

An inquiry will be instituted to investigate the functioning and role of the national directorate of public prosecutions. Recommendations will then be made to Mbeki.

COSATU TO BACK ZUMA

South Africa’s powerful trade union federation, Cosatu, announced last week that it would back controversial politician Jacob Zuma to be the leader of the ruling ANC.

While Cosatu cannot formally nominate people to lead the ANC, its support for Zuma and others for top party jobs is expected to heavily influence the outcome.

The decision could be a major blow to President Thabo Mbeki, who has said he will stand for a third term as ANC leader if asked.

The ANC is set to meet in December to name its next leader. The constitution prevents Mbeki from serving a third term as President of the country, but analysts say he hopes to remain leader of the ANC in a bid to retain influence after stepping down.

Mbeki is under fire from Cosatu and the South African Communist Party, part of a formal ruling alliance with the ANC, because of economic policies that they say favour big business and neglect the poor.

ANGOLAN ELECTIONS

Angola has moved a step closer to holding its long-delayed national elections with the completion of a widespread voter registration campaign in which almost eight-million Angolans were added to the voting lists for the parliamentary poll in 2008 and the presidential ballot in 2009.

The country’s government, however, led by the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, has failed to set a firm date for the two elections, which could renew fears that they may again be postponed.

Opposition parties and foreign observers have questioned whether the party in power since independence from Portugal in 1975 is willing to risk facing millions of voters who have benefited only marginally from Angola’s oil-fuelled economic boom.


That concludes the news portion of this week’s podcast.


Also available on the Polity website are a number of recommended reports and documents that provide for interesting reading. New to the site in the past week are:
- A report by the International Crisis Group on possible courses of action to tackle the situation in Zimbabwe; and
- A South African national education infrastructure assessment report.

Also freely downloadable on the site are several new pieces of South African legislation, including the National Gambling Amendment Bill and the Special Adjustments Appropriation Bill.

Finally, don’t forget that Polity’s Speeches page contains a collection of important addresses made by South African government leaders and other leading figures from around the African continent.

That’s a roundup of this week’s activities on Creamer Media’s polity.org.za.

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