South Africa

PRETORIA – Thirteen Pretoria advocates who "mounted the steed of greed" and milked the Road Accident Fund will have to pay back more than R15.6-million of their ill-gotten gains, the High Court in Pretoria heard. Six of the advocates were struck off the roll. The case was also referred to the Law Society for further action against the attorneys complicit in the conduct of the advocates. Retired Judges Kees van Dijkhorst, Piet Combrinck and William de Villiers expressed "sorrow" about the case and say that it gave them no joy to sit in judgment on 13 senior members of the Pretoria Bar. The advocates accepted multiple cases on the same day (so-called double briefing) and charged a full day's fee for each case (overreaching), a practice that had become rife in Pretoria in 2009. "When counsel mount the steed of greed and attempt to clear the hurdle of their professional rules their fall inevitably dents the reputation of the profession, in this case the proud reputation of the Pretoria Bar. We write this judgment in sorrow and lament the loss of integrity, in the past the hallmark of the profession of advocates. We sit in judgment on 13 senior members of the Bar, among them two silks, who, by their action, have brought the good name of their profession into disrepute. The ruling follows an application by the General Council of the Bar to strike off all 13 advocates. The Pretoria Bar, however, asked the court to confirm sanctions already imposed on 12 of the advocates, including fines and suspensions.

JOHANNESBURG – Banking group Absa Capital, which has typically maintained a more optimistic view of South Africa's growth prospects than many other commentators, has not only lowered its growth forecast for 2011 and 2012, but is also now cautioning that the downside risks to it's current 'baseline' have increased materially. The bank’s macro and fixed-income research head Jeff Gable also indicates that, while the bank is not yet convinced of the need for additional stimulus to ward off the current growth threats, the country’s monetary and fiscal policymakers will likely be more responsive to the near-term threats to growth and employment than to the risks posed by higher inflation and the weaker rand. But he also does not expect the recent rand weakness to be sustained and is forecasting that the currency will end the year at around R7.45 to the US dollar. The Barclays Capital-affiliate now expects that South Africa will grow 3.1% in 2011, instead of its earlier forecast of 3.9%. It also trimmed its baseline outlook for 2012 to 3.4%, from 4.1%. Gable warns that the bank expected paltry third-quarter growth of 1.3%, owing partly to the industrial action that took place during the period.

HOUSTON – South Africa is open for business and is looking to explore opportunities in the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in the US, says President Jacob Zuma. Speaking at the South Africa-Houston Partnership Business lunch, in Texas, Zuma says South Africa is open to foreign direct investment as a means to drive economic growth as well as to improve competitiveness and to have access to foreign markets for exports. “With an improved business climate in Africa’s economies, we must explore opportunities for joint venture partnerships between private-sector entities on the continent and US private-sector companies, particularly American SMMEs,” says Zuma. The President saw opportunity in the US’s National Export Initiative (NEI), which has as one of its implementation measures technical and financial support to US SMMEs so that they are able to access international markets. “Partnerships at the level of emerging and small enterprises are the engine of economic growth in Africa,” he explains. Among the challenges faced by the African private sector is the size of African enterprises compared with global multinational companies – which can be overcome by genuine opportunities.

CAPE TOWN – Free housing for the poor has to have a cutoff date, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale says. The solution to South Africa’s backlog of 2.3-million houses is not in providing free homes, he says at the International Housing and Home Warranty Conference. He adds, however, that now is not the time to “cut off the poor”. “The solution will not come from free housing. There has to be a cut-off date for discussing that. But we can’t cut off the poor right now, particularly in the current national economic environment.” The answer to all housing problems lies in having a growing economy, where people have jobs and can access finance. “We can’t sustain what we are doing for a long time.” Sexwale says that South Africa, which has around 2 500 slums, faces added problems from its growing population of immigrants, from countries such as Nigeria and Zimbabwe. “We have natural population growth as well as growth because people are coming here.”

Africa & the world

SIRTE – Desperate civilians are fleeing the besieged Libyan coastal city of Sirte, where the battle to dislodge fighters loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi has caused heavy casualties, United Nations (UN) and other sources say. Interim government forces recaptured the airport in Sirte, where Gaddafi loyalists have been using sniper, rocket and artillery fire to fight off full-scale assaults and retain one of their last two main bastions. But the prolonged fight for Gaddafi's hometown raises mounting concern for civilians trapped inside the city of about 100 000 people, with each side accusing the other of endangering civilians. "They're shelling constantly. There's indiscriminate fire within individual neighbourhoods and from one area to another," Hassan, a resident who escaped the city, says Aid agencies say that a humanitarian disaster looms in Sirte, amid rising casualties and shrinking supplies of water, electricity and food. Libya's interim government has asked the UN for fuel for ambulances to evacuate its wounded fighters from Sirte, a UN source in Libya says. The UN is sending trucks of drinking water for the increasing flow of civilians crammed into vehicles on the road from Sirte, heading either towards Benghazi, to the east, or Misrata, to the west, he adds. But fighting around the city and continuing insecurity around Bani Walid, the other loyalist hold-out, are preventing the world body from deploying aid workers inside, he says.

HARARE – Government spending in Zimbabwe is a big concern, while disunity regarding black empowerment is discouraging investment, Finance Minister Tendai Biti says. Biti briefed the media ahead of the 2012 budget he will present to Parliament in mid-November. He says the government is on target to raise $2.7-billion in revenues but is struggling to put brakes on spending. "It is the expenditure side that is a nightmare. There is need for a paradigm shift, that . . . we have to live within our means," Biti says. The government is expected to run a budget deficit of $700-million this year. A July salary rise for State workers will require extra funding of $260-million. Government has spent $40-million on foreign travel by the end of August, at a time the government owed farmers $35-million for maize delivered to the State grain agency. Biti says the 2012 national budget will seek to grow the economy while creating jobs in a country where one in eight people are unemployed, but adds that the government is failing to contain spending. The Southern African country's economy rebounded in 2009, emerging from a decade of recession thanks to the formation of a unity government between rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

LUSAKA – New Zambian President Michael Sata tells Beijing that he welcomes Chinese companies investing in Africa’s biggest copper producer, but only if they obey the law, especially by employing more Zambian workers. In his first official appointment since being elected President, Sata met Chinese ambassador Zhou Yuxiao to dispel fears that sometimes-fierce anti-Chinese rhetoric while still in opposition will translate into a shift in investment policy. However, he also clarifies that Chinese companies that have, so far, ploughed more than $2-billion into developing the mining sector in the Southern African country will not be getting preferential treatment. “We welcome your investment but, as we welcome your investment, your investment should benefit Zambians and not the Chinese,” Sata says. “It is in law that all investors who are coming to Zambia should bring a limited number of expatriates whom they cannot find in Zambia. My party is concerned about the unlimited number of people your investors are bringing to Zambia.” Zhou did not specifically address the foreign workers issue, telling a news conference Chinese investment is predicated on “win-win cooperation”. Even though China is a major player in the former British colony, its presence is not universally appreciated.

TRIPOLI – The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) should continue operations in Libya as long as Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists are killing civilians, and the toppled leader could still destabilise the region, Libya’s de facto Prime Minister says. United Nations Security Council resolution 1973, passed in March, called for protection of civilians by all available means, leading Nato to launch a campaign of air strikes that played a major role in helping rebels overthrow Gaddafi in the oil-producing North African nation. The Nato actions have been strongly criticised by Russia, China and some developing countries, which have said they exceed the mandate provided by the resolution. But de facto Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril told a Security Council meeting on Libya that the “mission is far from accomplished” and that “the foundations of [resolution] 1973 continue to be valid”.