Monday August 29, 2011

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Brad Dubbelman

Making headlines:

The ANC Youth League was planning tactics yesterday to support its leader Julius Malema, who has galvanised legions of poor black supporters, at a disciplinary hearing this week that could lead to his suspension. Malema and his spokesperson have been charged with "sowing divisions" in the ranks of the ANC and bringing the party into disrepute. Their hearing is expected to start tomorrow behind closed doors at ANC headquarters. Malema's call to nationalise mines and seize white-owned land has unnerved investors but struck a chord with poor blacks who also envision him as a future leader of Africa's biggest economy.

The African Union (AU) will not explicitly recognise Libya's National Transitional Council, diplomats said on Friday, in a setback for Libyan rebels who have already been recognised by more than 40 countries as the legitimate government. The AU's snub highlights the influence ousted Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had on the AU, given that he was one of the continental group's main bankrollers and had provided lavish sums to several African leaders. Instead, the AU called in a communique for an inclusive transitional government in the North African state that would involve officials from Gaddafi's side.

The cancer of corruption – appropriately referred to as a crime against the poor – is eating public resources at the speed of lightning, South Africa’s Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said on Friday. Addressing a conference of the Institute of Municipal Personnel Practitioners of Southern Africa, she said if the stories she had heard during the recent road show are proven to be true, "then as a nation we are in trouble". "We may have reached the tipping point after which trying to end corruption will be like trying to bring water up from the bottom of a waterfall." Anecdotal evidence suggested that the most serious crisis lay in the state procurement system.

Also making headlines:
Lawmakers will have a final try tomorrow at resolving a row over the lack of a defence for journalists and whistleblowers in the Protection of Information Bill, which threatens to trigger a court challenge of the legislation.
And, Libyan forces closed in on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's home town yesterday vowing to seize it by force if negotiations failed, and their leaders ruled out any talks with the deposed ruler.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today.