South Africa

JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) warns ANC leaders not to defy the league's policy positions. "Anybody who has taken a position and has defined himself as [being] against the ANC Youth League ... such an individual runs the risk of losing the support of the Youth League," its president, Julius Malema, says. The league has traditionally helped ANC members get into positions of power within the party. The ANCYL will try to drum up support, among ANC structures and the alliance, for its stance on nationalising mines in the run-up to the ANC's national general council in September, and its national conference in 2012. It is proposing the establishment of a State mining company to control the country's mineral resources. The league will hold talks with the sector to garner support and invite input on its proposal. Malema says it has already discussed the proposal with Anglo Platinum's CEO - who agreed to look at the document.

CAPE TOWN - The much-awaited report on the leaking of spy tapes to President Jacob Zuma's lawyer will not be seen by Parliament's oversight intelligence committee for weeks to come, the Democratic Alliance (DA) says. DA Member of Parliament Theo Coetzee, a member of Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI), says media reports that the document compiled by former inspector-general of intelligence Zolile Ngcakani will be discussed at a sitting in Pretoria are wrong. "There was a big misunderstanding. That report is in Cape Town and it has not been opened yet," Coetzee says. He adds that JSCI chairperson Cecil Burgess received it on December 30, but said the committee needed to be briefed on it by Ngcakani. He says the report will also have to be discussed with the incoming inspector-general of intelligence, whose appointment has yet to be confirmed by Parliament, something only likely to happen after the Budget is tabled on February 17. Ngcakani's report is expected to examine how secret recordings of phone conversations between former Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy and former national prosecutions chief Bulelani Ngcuka came into the hands of Zuma's lawyer, Michael Hulley.

CAPE TOWN - Leaders of opposition political parties will gather in Cape Town in March to talk about forming a united front in next year's municipal elections, the Independent Democrats (ID) says. A one-day conference organised by the ID for March 20 follows months of exploratory talks with the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Congress of the People (Cope) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) about taking on the African National Congress together in the polls. DA leader Helen Zille and UDM leader Bantu Holomisa have both confirmed that they will attend, while Cope has yet to commit. "I will be there. I have been talking to [ID leader] Patricia de Lille about this for a long time," Zille said, but refused to comment on recent progress on what the parties have termed a realignment of opposition politics. She says that there are divergent views on what form closer cooperation should take, and suggests that Cope is internally divided on the issue. Cope general secretary Charlotte Lobe says that the party will discuss its position on cooperation talks at its strategic planning conference.

Africa & the World

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama urges Sudan to cooperate in efforts to stabilise the country or Washington will conclude that engagement is not working and seek "additional pressure" on Khartoum. Obama, answering questions submitted through YouTube, says that the US, the United Nations and other countries are working to broker a series of agreements to stabilise the country and allow refugees to return to their homes. "We continue to put pressure on the Sudanese government. If they are not cooperative in these efforts, then it is going to be appropriate for us to conclude that engagement doesn't work, and we're going to have to apply additional pressure on Sudan in order to achieve our objectives," Obama says.