South Africa

PRETORIA - The acquisition of a R4-million residence for National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele is "thought to have been above board", his office says. "On the appointment of General Cele, the need for an official residence emerged but the Department of Public Works did not have any, but was able to facilitate the acquisition of a house which would be occupied by the national commissioner," Cele's spokesperson, Nonkululeko Mbatha says. "The acquisition of the residence is thought to have been above board and was done through Supply Chain Management Division." She was responding to a Sunday Times article stating that government spent R4,2-million buying and furnishing a home for Cele in the upmarket Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof. The house cost R3-million with transfer costs, and the police spent R1,2-million on luxury furnishings, including a home gym, which is still under construction, the publication says. Mbatha describes the article as "slander" and says that Cele has nothing to sign that pertains to the house, and that all inventory was procured through a division belonging to the State.

JOHANNESBURG - Businessperson and son of President Jacob Zuma, Duduzane Zuma, has defended his involvement in black economic-empowerment (BEE) deals and has vowed to give away 70% of his stake in an ArcelorMittal SA (AMSA) deal. "I am very pleased to announce that I have decided to forgo 70% of my proposed allocation and spread it among other South Africans, who are needy and disadvantaged like I once was," Duduzane Zuma says, adding that his close business allies, the Gupta family, have also agreed to give away 70% of their own allocation in the AMSA deal. Duduzane Zuma says that he will set up a broad-based share scheme for disadvantaged South Africans to distribute shares in the controversial AMSA deal. He adds that his Mabengela Empowerment Trust is worth over R1-billion. A share will go to widows and widowers, orphans and dependants of police who have died in the line of duty since April 27, 1994. Another will go to a bursary fund for underprivileged students studying at universities.

JOHANNESBURG - The debate and decisions on the nationalisation of mines should not be based on an ideological emotional feeling, African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Gwede Mantashe says. "The ANC, as a governing party, cannot pretend that we are a resistance movement in the running of the country and the economy . . . we must run the economy successfully," says Mantashe at the ANC provincial general council meeting in Gauteng. ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has continuously emphasised that the nationalisation of mines is ANC policy, which the Youth League wants to become government policy. Mantashe says that there should be a way to ensure that important policy debates like nationalisation of mines are not reduced to lobbying instruments. "Our success in the organisational leadership renewal will alleviate our policy debate from being a new formality and lobbying instrument to genuine concerns to realise an objective of national democratic revolution," he adds. Mantashe says that the argument is not about being against nationalisation but about making the right decisions.

JOHANNESBURG - The debate on the African National Congress' (ANC's) proposed Media Appeals Tribunal has benefited the media, deputy press ombud Johan Retief says. "The only good thing about the Media Appeals Tribunal, is that the ANC is forcing the press to get its house in order," says Retief at a colloquium on press freedom at the University of Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg. He adds that the current press ombud system, of which he is a part, could be improved. Retief accused some newspapers of behaving in a way that undermined the work of the press ombud, though he did not name examples. "Some newspapers don't cooperate . . . some newspapers score behind their own goal post," he says. "Those newspapers must know they are playing into the hands of those behind the Media Appeals Tribunal effort." Retief also decries the lack of knowledge of the press code among journalists. He and press ombud Joe Thloloe had visited several newsrooms in the past months and found that some journalists were not familiar with the code. "To our utmost disgust, we found that most journalists did not know about the press code and had not read it. With the exception of editors, about 2% to 5% had read about it." Despite his reservations about journalists and their knowledge of the press code, Retief lays into the proposed tribunal and asked who would lead it. "From my side, the Media Appeals Tribunal is a no-no. "If it became a statutory body and appoints [former Constitutional Court justice] Albie Sachs, we will be very happy. But who will be his successor?" asks Retief. He dismisses accusations that the press ombud, because it comprises former journalists, is biased towards the profession. "That is rubbish. This myth is not supported by the facts."

LONDON - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has tried to attract UK businesses to invest in South Africa, particularly in the troubled mining sector. "We value our relationships with international investors, especially in the critical sector of mining, which continues to be the backbone of the South African economy," he says to business leaders in London, during his two-day visit. "Our opportunities for mutual partnerships are almost limitless, considering [the] abundant resources we have beneath and above our soil. Let us make the best of it together," he says in a statement issued by the Presidency. This comes amid fierce debate about the nationalisation of mines. On Monday, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told a gathering that South Africa was in crisis, and that a new growth path was needed to rescue the country from a "dysfunctional" economy. He suggested that government tax the "super rich" and play a more "aggressive role" in the economy. Vavi was speaking at the launch of the trade union federation's New Growth Path document. The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has repeatedly called for the nationalisation of mines, and the topic is due to be discussed at the ANC's national general council next week. Motlanthe, meanwhile, says that the South African government is committed to an efficient and transparent environment that has "good prospects for mining investment". He notes that economic growth is constrained by delayed infrastructure investments but says clearing out backlogs will raise productivity and competitiveness.

Africa & the world

KAMPALA - Uganda's ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party backs President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, as its candidate for next year's Presidential election. Already one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, Museveni has been elected unopposed in front of more than 15 000 party members to face off against retired Colonel Kizza Besigye, already nominated by a coalition of opposition parties. "His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni has been passed unopposed as party chairman and our flagbearer for the 2011 Presidential elections and, so, he remains our chairman and our candidate," says Felicitus Magomu, chairperson of the NRM electoral commission. Museveni rose to power in 1986 when his National Resistance Army insurgents seized power from a short-lived military junta. He embraced a no-party model of democracy meant to eliminate the sectarianism that plagued postcolonial Ugandan politics, while foreign donors praised his prudent and liberal economic management.

NEW YORK - World leaders will stick to promises to slash global poverty by 2015 at a United Nations (UN) summit in New York, next week, but budget cutbacks in rich nations will keep them from setting ambitious new goals. Ten years after more than 150 leaders signed off on the UN Millennium Development Goals, their successors will gather on September 20 and 22 to take stock of the targets, which aim to drastically reduce poverty and hunger worldwide by 2015. A new World Bank study shows that one of the major goals - halving global poverty by 2015 - is likely to be met. Much of the progress reflects rising wealth in emerging China and India, but that prosperity has reached little of Africa, where 38% of the population is likely to live below the poverty line in 2015. There has been far less progress toward meeting the goals of reducing hunger and malnutrition, improving gender equality, access to health care and education, tackling climate change and helping mothers and their newborns, the report says. With the global economic recovery still fragile and rich nations cutting aid budgets to help reduce their debt, questions have arisen over whether the goals are realistic. In a Reuters interview, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon defends the draft UN declaration for global action to meet the poverty goals after aid agencies say it lacks specifics. "You need to be realistic," he says. "This outcome document is the maximum and best we could expect at this time . . . . We need to always base our policies and priorities by considering the realities on the ground," he adds.