Polity - News this Week

South Africa

EKURHULENI - Candidates standing to represent the African National Congress (ANC) in the upcoming elections should take their election to Parliament or the legislature as a calling to serve, not as a job, party President Jacob Zuma says at the party's list conference. ANC candidates must be prepared to work tirelessly to deliver services to South Africans. Zuma adds that the past 15 years of ANC governance have proven that the party is capable of leading South Africa towards the realisation of a developmental state. Working together, he says, will ensure that the party "puts in place a governing platform that will advance the transformation of our country toward a better life for all". Working together will ensure that the ANC implements plans for its five priorities enshrined in the manifesto such as decent work, education, health, rural development and the fight against crime, Zuma explains. Party spokesperson Carl Niehaus says that the list is to be processed by the national list committee in line with ANC list guidelines, then referred to the organisation's NEC and later to the Independent Electoral Commission for approval.

JOHANNESBURG - Currency strategist John Cairns of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) says that rate cuts will not lift the rand. He explains that economic theory shows that higher rates help the local currency. In the present economic environment there is an assumption that markets will reward those countries targetting growth. But Cairns says that he has seen little evidence of this, as countries cutting rates have seen their currencies weakening. In contrast, Investment Solutions economist Chris Hart says that emerging market currencies will do better after rate cuts as foreign investors are attracted by growth prospects. Cairns says that while he agrees that slight rate cuts would not damage the rand, this is very different from saying that cuts will help the Rand. He adds that comments assuring South Africans that rate cuts will help the Rand, are dangerous. The currency strategist concludes the Reserve Bank needs to find a balance and cut rates without exposing the rand.

JOHANNESBURG - The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) both file court challenges against electoral regulations that bar South Africans working abroad from voting. The FF Plus files papers in the Pretoria High Court challenging the constitutionality of this provision in the Electoral Act. FF Plus leader Pieter Mulder says that there were political and not constitutional reasons behind the changes to the Act, which in 1994 allowed all South Africans abroad to vote. The DA files papers in the Cape High Court, also seeking to have the section declared unconstitutional. DA federal chairperson James Selfe argues that the denial of voting rights to South Africans is reminiscent of apartheid. In a letter to Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairwoman Brigalia Bam, former President F W De Klerk adds to the calls for voter equality by urging her to urgently reconsider the matter so that immediate steps can be taken to register South Africans living abroad in time for the election.

Africa & the World

MADRID - Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Bank, says that while global food prices have eased from their 2008 peaks, price volatility and the effects of the world financial crisis, provide little respite for the poor and developing nations. She says that more resources and attention are required to help the poor as high price volatility is expected to continue. She says that more needs to be done to ensure that those who are most vulnerable get the assistance they need. The World Bank plans to double its funding to poor countries hit hardest by the food crisis, with $700-million in the pipeline from an emergency food fund.

THE HAGUE - A Congolese militia leader is the first suspect to go on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in a test of the credibility of the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal. Thomas Lubanga, founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) in eastern Congo, is accused of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 to kill members of an opposing ethnic group during the 1998 to 2003 war. Lubanga is, however, not the ICC's most high-profile suspect. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo seeks the arrest of Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. The ICC has so far issued 12 arrest warrants for investigations in the Central African Republic, Sudan's western Darfur region, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

GENEVA - Former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General and current World Economic Forum (WEF) chairperson, Kofi Annan, says that the world's economic woes cannot be allowed to eclipse other key priorities, such as protecting people from climate change and feeding the hungry. He cites the recent fighting in Gaza and piracy off the coast of Somalia as a warning of the risk of letting simmering crises fester. Referring to estimates from humanitarian agencies that the global food crisis could push 100-million more people into hunger, Annan says that this problem is just as urgent as the economic crisis. While he agrees that the financial system needs to be put right, he thinks that the approach to the problem needs to be broadened. He adds that world leaders need to take care to ensure their discussions about fixing the economy also reflect basic concerns about jobs, nutrition, and health.