For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Vusi Pikoli says he has no intentions of going back to the NPA; Mnangagwa calls on Zimbabweans to unite; And, Agri SA slams AfriForum for publishing inflammatory list of farms to be expropriated

 

Vusi Pikoli says he has no intentions of going back to the NPA

Former National Prosecuting Authority boss Vusi Pikoli has closed the door on speculation that he might be returning to the post.

Pikoli said he wished to thank all those who had confidence in him, but he has no intentions of going back to the NPA.

This follows yesterday’s Constitutional Court ruling that the appointment of Shaun Abrahams as NPA head was unconstitutional and invalid. When delivering his ruling in the apex court, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga said former president Jacob Zuma's decision to terminate Abrahams's predecessor Mxolisi Nxasana from the position as the National Director of Public Prosecutions was an abuse of power and that Abrahams was a beneficiary of that abuse.

Pikoli had been suspended from the position in 2007 by then president Thabo Mbeki. It was alleged that the decision stemmed from Pikoli's pursuit of then police commissioner Jackie Selebi.

Pikoli was eventually fired in 2009 by former president Kgalema Motlanthe.

 

Mnangagwa calls on Zimbabweans to unite

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called on the troubled country to unite and “put the election period behind us and embrace the future” in his first public address since winning disputed elections.

Mnangagwa was to have been inaugurated Sunday but the swearing-in ceremony was postponed because of the legal challenge to the election results lodged by the main opposition MDC party at the Constitutional Court.

 

And, Agri SA slams AfriForum for publishing inflammatory list of farms to be expropriated

Agri SA, a federation of agricultural organisations, yesterday questioned the status and content of the list of farms leaked by AfriForum said to be earmarked for expropriation without compensation, saying that the list has led to panic amongst landowners. 

Over the weekend, AfriForum published a list of 195 properties allegedly identified for expropriation without compensation on its website. 

The ANC recently announced that the party had drawn up a list of 139 farms to be expropriated without compensation by the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development.

Agri SA president Dan Kriek said that they were in the process of establishing the legitimacy of the list of farms.

Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane denied the existence of such a list, saying that it would be "highly irresponsible, unfair and unprocedural".

Nkoana-Mashabane added that, under the current legislative framework, the minister could issue notices of expropriation with an offer for payment of just and equitable compensation.

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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