South Africa

PRETORIA - President Jacob Zuma has extended the mandate of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, the Presidency says. The commission's mandate, meant to have lapsed on October 31, will now run on until January 31, 2010. "The commission has yet to finalise its findings and determinations on the first phase of its work, which entails the investigation into the determination of Paramountcies and Paramount Chiefs," says spokesperson Vincent Magwenya. He adds that a Bill on the amendments to chapter six of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003, is currently before Parliament. The commission was appointed by former President Thabo Mbeki in 2003 to investigate the disputes of traditional leaders. Some of them wanted their status to be elevated to that of king. Commission CE Mpho Mokake at the time said the commission had dealt with paramount chiefs' positions and that many applications for senior traditional leaders' positions were still outstanding.

CAPE TOWN - Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille must take responsibility for the City of Cape Town's financial mismanagement of the bus rapid-transit (BRT) system, the African National Congress (ANC) says. "We are appalled and find Zille's flimsy excuse of shifting responsibility to the former executive director of the City of Cape Town's Department of Transport, claiming civil servants denied her information, unacceptable," the party says. Zille, who is the Premier of the Western Cape, must take responsibility for the escalation of the costs involved in the public transport system from R1,3-billion to R4,1-billion, it says. "As next year's FIFA World Cup is dependent on, among others, an efficient transport system in the country, we cannot allow a deliberate derailment of the BRT [system] in Cape Town when similar projects are on course elsewhere in the country." Zille, in response, welcomes her role in the project being "put under a very powerful microscope", saying she is happy to be held accountable on the findings of an objective evaluation. Zille attributes the price increases to factors "beyond the control of individuals", such as a hike in the cost of commodities. "Although cost escalations are a serious problem, they are not the core issue here: the problem is that we were not made aware of the extent of the cost escalations till a very long time after some managers became aware of them," she says.

Africa & the world

KINSHASA - The United Nations (UN) will suspend operational support for certain Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army units it believes to have deliberately killed more than 60 civilians this year, the UN peacekeeping chief says. The UN has backed Joseph Kabila's forces in operations against Rwandan rebels despite mounting complaints by human rights groups and others about abuses by soldiers and the high number of civilians caught up in the offensives. "According to our information, these civilians were clearly targeted in attacks by certain units of the [army]," UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy says of the killings of at least 62 civilians between May and September in eastern Congo, where the army units were fighting Rwandan rebels. "We have decided that [the UN's peacekeeping mission], Monuc, will immediately suspend its logistical and operational support to the army units implicated in these killings," Le Roy, who has been touring the region, says. The killings took place around the village of Lukweti, around 80 km north-west of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

JUBA - Sudanese began registering last week for the country's first multiparty elections in 24 years, but opposition parties have threatened to boycott the April poll unless democratic reforms are implemented. US envoy Scott Gration, on his first visit since Washington unveiled a new policy of engagement with Sudan last month, says time is running out and urges Sudan's political parties to resolve their differences ahead of the key vote. Opposition parties and Sudan junior government partner, the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement, threaten to boycott the election unless new laws ensuring democratic transformation are passed, including reforming the powerful intelligence services. "We need to get some solutions," Gration says in Juba, south Sudan. "We urge you to register to vote, to express your will, to do this in peace and for peace."