South Africa

CAPE TOWN - The Stop Zuma campaign was responsible for denying the African National Congress (ANC) a two-thirds majority in the recent elections, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille in her weekly newsletter. The campaign was launched in response to what Zille termed the extent of the ANC's plans to change the Constitution and entrench its powers. These intentions were clear from a draft Constitutional amendment that showed that the ANC wanted to reduce municipalities to administrative arms of central government, she says. Some analysts say that the ANC will not change the Constitution because it has not done so in the past, but this ignores the fact that a Constitutional amendment appeared in the Government Gazette in the same week that the Stop Zuma campaign was launched. Zille describes the DA's achievement of 16,66% in the past elections as a "historic result".

HIGH HOPES AS MPS GATHER - The South African Parliament was abuzz as newly elected members began to arrive for the first sitting. South Africa's fourth Parliament is likely to be more robust than the last, thanks to a reinforced opposition presence. The official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, takes up 67 seats in the National Assembly, while the fledgling Congress of the People (Cope) takes 30 seats - the same number as those lost by the ANC in the recent election. Opposition Members of Parliament say that Cope's entry into Parliament should mark a change from the Mbeki era, when debates were a battle between the ruling party and the DA, with the outcome mostly a foregone conclusion.

Africa & the world

ANTANANARIVO - Saudi investors have pledged $2-billion for Madagascar's tourism, communications and energy sectors, the island's government says, in a sign that some financiers are not shying away from the new President's administration. A political crisis since early this year has dealt a hefty blow to the Indian Ocean island's $390-million-a-year holiday industry and the roughly $8-billion-a-year economy. Some investors are concerned that Africa's youngest incumbent President, Andry Rajoelina, will revise existing contracts if economic circumstances become more favourable. A delegation from the Union of Saudi Investors visited Madagascar to explore opportunities at a time when recent deadly protests and a slew of political arrests have fuelled fears the island could slide back into turmoil. Several donors - including the US and Norway - have frozen non-emergency assistance, straining the treasury accounts.

MOGADISHU - Somalia's hard-line opposition leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, says that he will not meet the nation's President, and vows to continue fighting the government. President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has said that he would welcome negotiations with Aweys. The opposition leader, however, rebuffed the overture, saying that Sharif is more interested in pleasing the international community than in working for the Somali people. Analysts say Aweys, who is on the US terrorism list for alleged links to al-Qaeda, is an influential figure for many of the insurgents fighting Sharif's government. Aweys has condemned the killing of Islamist officials in Mogadishu and other parts of the country.

DOHA - Chad and Sudan have agreed to halt violence against each other and refrain from using force to resolve their conflicts, say Qatari and Africa officials at reconciliation talks in Doha. The two oil-producing countries will work on implementing past agreements, says Ahmad al-Mahmood, Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Chad and Sudan resumed shaky diplomatic ties in November after a halt in May. Khartoum has accused Chadian President Idriss Deby of involvement in an attack on the Sudanese capital by Darfur rebels on May 11, 2008. Both African countries have long accused each other of supporting insurgent groups and rebel attacks inside their territories. Sudan's Minister for International Cooperation, Al-Tijani Saleh Fidail, says that the two African countries are not at war, but have border troubles. Past agreements collapsed because they did not have a way of implementing them on the ground, he says. Chad's Foreign Affairs Minister, Moussa Faki Mahmat, says the only solution to the ongoing conflict is to find a mechanism to monitor the situation in both countries.