Polity - News this week

South Africa

PRETORIA - The African National Congress (ANC) says it has established a task team to support athlete Caster Semenya and her family. The team will be led by ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and will include ANC national executive council members Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, says spokesperson Jackson Mthembu. "It is the ANC's view that Semenya has been victimised and subjected to unnecessary public scrutiny, thus denying her her rights, thereby undermining her dignity," he says. Semenya won the 800m in a record time of 1:55.45 in Berlin on August 19. However, the significant improvement in her time, her masculine physique and deep voice drew her gender into question. Last month, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ordered gender tests on 18-year-old Semenya, but has refused to comment on reports that these showed the athlete has no ovaries or uterus, but internal testes that produce testosterone.

JOHANNESBURG - Former top cop Jackie Selebi, at the start of his graft trial, accuses two ex-chief prosecutors of fabricating evidence against him and fraternising with criminals. Selebi pleads not guilty on all charges. His lawyer, Jaap Cilliers, argues Selebi's defence in court, stating: "The prosecution against him . . . is with ulterior motive. The [National Prosecuting Authority Directorate of Special Operations] approached people with criminal activities, offering indemnities . . . [on charges of] murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, racketeering, fraud, theft, defeating the ends of justice . . . in exchange for false statements against the accused." He says Selebi wanted the now-defunct Scorpions to be dissolved and incorporated into the South African Police Service, partly because the DSO had acted beyond its mandate in foreign matters. He fingers ex-chief prosecutors Bulelani Ngcuka and Vusi Pikoli - the latter was this year axed from his position - for involvement in unlawful activities. Cilliers says Ngcuka approached ex-Hyundai boss and mining businessperson Billy Rautenbach's lawyers, offering to drop charges against him. "Ngcuka was involved in the illegal gathering of intelligence in the Rautenbach investigation without permission to do so," Cilliers says. Cilliers claims Pikoli's wife received "gratification" from slain mining magnate Brett Kebble in the form of "shares in a public company and other entities". Selebi has asked the crime directorate to investigate the matter.

Africa & the world

WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is evolving into a "central clearing house" that will help manage the global economy and ensure major economies coordinate policies to avoid crises, the head of its policy steering committee says. Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who chairs the International Monetary and Financial Committee, says that IMF member countries agree that the fund's role needs to be altered to reflect new realities. Some even see the IMF developing into something like a global central bank, but Boutros-Ghali quickly dismisses that suggestion, saying: "That is too strong a word. The IMF will have the role of a central clearing house for information, for liquidity, for coordination," he says. "All of this has to happen in a central location and the IMF is the natural
candidate for it." Just a year ago, the IMF was battling to explain its relevance in a world that
often turned a deaf ear to its economic policy advice, but the global financial crisis has forced hard-hit countries to turn to it for financial help.

LAGOS - African Finance Ministers call for their countries to have a voice in the Group of 20 nations to ensure the body considers their long-term development needs. Pledging to show fiscal prudence in the wake of the global financial crisis, they say they need more help from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to help shore up battered budgets, make the necessary investments and replenish foreign currency reserves. The African States, hard-hit as the crisis knocked down commodity prices and wiped out foreign investment, stress they have mobilised their domestic resources, and are looking to broaden income streams and boost revenue collection. Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy, says it is particularly eager to have a say in the G20 club of emerging and developed economies.