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We lcome to Creamer Media’s Polity. In this podcast, read by Shannon O’Donnell, we bring you a review of the past week’s activities on polity.

In this week’s breaking news:
- South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa says that he has “no interest” in becoming the country’s President;
- The leaders of France and Britain revive the possibility of sanctions against Khartoum; and
- Industrialised nations shy away from fixing stiff 2020 guidelines for greenhouse gas cuts.

PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION RACE

Following a report in the Sunday Times newspaper that one of the African National Congress’ Eastern Cape regions would nominate Cyril Ramaphosa for the Presidency, the South African businessman indicated that he is not seeking to succeed current President Thabo Mbeki.

“As I have said in the past, I have no interest in standing for this position,” said the former trade unionist, who was one of the ANC’s chief negotiators during the talks that led to South Africa’s peaceful democratic transition.

The ANC will hold a conference in December at which members will elect a new party leader who will most likely become South Africa’s next president.

While Mbeki is constitutionally barred from serving another term as the country’s leader, he has not ruled out running for another term as leader of the ANC.

Other names that have been raised in relation to the succession battle include former Deputy President Jacob Zuma, businessman-turned-politician Tokyo Sexwale, ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe, and government policy chief Joel Netshitenzhe.


SANCTIONS AGAINST KHARTOUM

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, writing in an editorial in The Times, in London, revived the threat of sanctions against Khartoum if progress is not made on a ceasefire in Darfur.

Further, the two leaders indicated that they will work to deploy, by the end of the year, a 26 000-strong United Nations-African Union force to replace a struggling AU mission which has failed to stem violence in western Sudan.

The leaders stated that that the deployment of a peacekeeping force and the threat of sanctions, together with a ceasefire and economic reconstruction, could bring a political solution to the region.

International experts estimate two hundred thousand people have died, and two-and-a-half-million have been driven from their homes to makeshift camps, in the four-and-a-half years since fighting started in Darfur.


2020 GUIDELINES FOR GREENHOUSE GAS CUTS

UN talks in Vienna on climate change ended with industrialised nations shying away from fixing stiff guidelines for greenhouse gas cuts in the post-Kyoto Protocol period.

The European Union and many developing nations, such as China and India, wanted future talks to be guided by a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by between 25% and 40% below 1990 levels, by 2020.

But Russia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland objected to setting the stringent range.

The talks, which were attended by 158 countries, formed part of a series of meetings planned over the next few years to stimulate negotiations on a global environmental agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

The Kyoto Protocol binds certain industrialised nations to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5% over 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.

Also, important documents added to Polity this week include:
- A report by the United Nations on the world’s least developed countries, outlining how these countries and their development partners can promote technological progress as part of their efforts to develop domestic productive capacities; and
- A report by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, highlighting how gun violence can be reduced through the UN process on small arms control.

Also freely downloadable from Polity are several new pieces of South African legislation, including the Draft National Space Agency Bill, the National Environment Laws Amendment Bill, and the National Environmental Management Amendment 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 round up of this week’s activities on Creamer Media’s polity.org.za. Polity – deepening democracy through access to information.

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