South Africa

JOHANNESBURG – The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) has again threatened legal action if a public interest defence clause is left out of the Protection of State Information Bill. Sanef says it is concerned over State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele's refusal to allow such a defence in the bill. "Such a clause will enable a journalist, whistle-blower, or citizen who disclosed classified information, if charged, to enter a defence plea of publication in the public interest," Sanef says. Last week, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe voiced appreciation for Sanef's view that it will be for the courts in every case to decide whether the public interest defence held. He suggests this created the basis for a "meeting point" on the issue, sparking hopes that such an amendment could be considered for the bill, Sanef says. Despite this, Cwele told the National Assembly that the African National Congress could not support such a defence. "He states that no other country had such a clause in similar legislation, quietly ignoring the fact that the United States and other countries have other mechanisms in their legislation to provide the protection sought." Sanef also took strong exception to Cwele's assertions that "foreign spies" are paying civil society groups to oppose the bill. "Sanef is one of the groups that oppose the bill and rejects the minister's claims as insulting and libellous." Sanef notes Cwele's admission that following sustained pressure by critics, many amendments had been made to the bill. These improvements had been based on well-thought out arguments and reasons. "Sanef not only rejects Cwele's wild allegations but calls on him to provide the proof to back them."

JOHANNESBURG – An application to compel an inquiry into the controversial arms deal was formally withdrawn in the Constitutional Court, with President Jacob Zuma and the government ordered to pay the costs. "The applicant is granted leave to withdraw," Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng says that of the bid by retired banker Terry Crawford-Browne, to force Zuma and the government to appoint an independent inquiry into the multi-billion rand deal. The order follows Zuma's announcement in September that he had decided to appoint a commission of inquiry into the deal, which has been dogged by allegations of corruption and bribery and has had political consequences. For Crawford-Browne, the order and the announcement of the inquiry is "the beginning of the beginning". "The president has conceded the need for a judicial inquiry. It's taken 12 years to get this far, from 1999," says Crawford-Browne. "It is a remarkable precedent that we have got there because the government has used every trick they can to brush it under the carpet," he adds. The order granted is that the president and the government pay the costs of two counsel for Crawford-Browne and the friend of the court – the South African Institute for Race Relations – for their services. They also had to pay costs encountered because of a postponement of the matter on May 5, and the costs of all interlocutory applications filed on record.

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa will set up clear rules to govern foreign direct investment, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says, after government drew criticism for its handling of Wal-Mart’s bid for local retailer Massmart. “Within the next year to 18 months, we should have a clear policy document in terms of inward investment,” he says. “[The framework] will clearly identify what industries we consider strategic industries. Where there are national interests, there will be clear, transparent and consistent rules, which we would expect investors to understand before they come to South Africa.” South Africa’s competition regulator in May approved Wal-Mart’s $2.4-billion acquisition of 51% of Massmart, a discount retailer with operations in Southern Africa. Three government departments have appealed that decision.

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s National Treasury issues a tender for a transaction adviser to help it establish a facility, currently termed a Renewable Energy Fund, that will channel international donor and commercial funding to support South Africa’s ambitious roll-out of renewables technologies. The request for proposals has been advertised by the department’s public–private partnership unit, which wants the successful bidder to offer advice on the structuring and implementation of the proposed fund. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is quoted as saying that R800-million has been set aside for the fund and government is currently seeking private partners to manage it. The successful advisory team will also be expected to provide advice, help formulate project documentation and liaise with international donors and commercial finance institutions. South Africa aims to install 17 800 MW of renewables capacity between 2011 and 2030, in line with its recently adopted Integrated Resource Plan for electricity. However, the authorities are concerned about the price implications, particularly given the relative electricity intensity of key economic sectors, such as mining and minerals processing.

Africa & the world

MBABANE – Swaziland's King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch, is personally funding a bailout of his government in a manoeuvre to acquire control of the local arm of mobile phone firm MTN and SwaziBank at knock-down prices, dissidents say. The emergency loan may ease an immediate public funding crisis. But Mswati's broader plan could inflame public anger against the British-educated monarch, who has at least a dozen wives and a personal fortune estimated at $200-million. The impoverished southern African nation's appointed government, which has been shut out by commercial banks and the IMF and World Bank, admitted that civil servants will be paid late this month because it has run out of money. However, the Times of Swaziland said it is on the verge of securing a loan from two "entities" to the tune of 1.4-billion emalengeni - equivalent to around three months of civil service pay. The paper did not give details, but Lucky Lukhele of the Swaziland Solidarity Network, an exile group based in Johannesburg, says that Mswati is the original source of the loan. The funds are being channelled via the local unit of financial services group African Alliance, Lukhele says, and the government is using state-owned SwaziBank and its stake in the local unit of MTN, Africa's biggest mobile operator, as collateral. SwaziBank has been valued at around $125-million, while MTN Swaziland is seen as a cash-cow on account of monopoly rights that have allowed it to impose call charges significantly higher than neighbouring South Africa.

KHARTOUM – Cash-strapped Sudan plans to expand food exports to help compensate for the loss of oil revenues, a government minister says. The African country is fighting a severe economic crisis with spiralling inflation and a scarcity of dollars which has triggered small protests in the capital Khartoum. Sudan lost most of its oil production, the main source of state revenues, when its former civil war foe South Sudan became independent in July under a 2005 peace agreement. To find new revenues the government plans to increase exports of meat, livestock, fish and animal hides next year, Animal Resources and Fishery Minister Faisal Ibrahim says, according to state news agency SUNA. Sudan has made $219.5-million from livestock exports so far in 2011, he says. Livestock exports will rise next year to 3.24-million animals in addition to 42 t of meat. Fish exports will rise to more than 58 t, he adds, without giving a comparison. Analysts say that boosting food exports might increase revenues but could also fuel inflation as meat prices have sharply gone up this year. Some traders blame exports for high prices. In September, a consumer protection agency called for a boycott to buy meat for three days to protest against food rising inflation. Since then meat prices have eased slightly. Developing the agricultural sector is one of the country's priorities apart from boosting exports of gold and other minerals. Experts say the pace of economic diversification has been slow due to corruption, mismanagement and US trade sanctions.

CAIRO – Egyptians are facing a blizzard of posters and TV adverts seeking their votes in the first free Parliamentary election in decades but some campaigners are turning to tricks like tearing down rival posters in a race where every vote counts. The vote offers Egyptians the first real chance to choose who represents them. During Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule, intimidation, ballot stuffing and graft ensured landslide wins for his ruling party. No one expects a return to that kind of routine rigging but, with everything to play for, the gloves have come off before staggered voting starts on November 28. Party agents are defacing campaign posters, disrupting rallies with verbal attacks on their rivals and distributing bogus flyers ridiculing opponents. Liberal parties accuse the well-funded Muslim Brotherhood of spreading more than its usual largesse to win votes. Many expect it to form one of the biggest blocs in Parliament although analysts question whether it can secure a majority. The group, respected for its record of charitable work, has been handing out meat to prospective voters. In one village, the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party is offering half-price medicines and sponsored a football match, newspaper al-Dostour reports. Its rivals rail against what they see as thinly veiled vote-buying by the Brotherhood, employing the kind of tactics Mubarak’s party candidates were once derided for using.

WASHINGTON – A sharp slowdown in world growth will increase the risk of recession in poorer countries, whose budgets have barely recovered from the last economic slump just two years ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says. A report by the IMF says that there are “severe downside risks” to the global economic outlook and that the impact of another global slowdown on the poor could be even larger should world food prices rise again. The fund has warned that advanced economies could tip back into recession unless their policymakers acted with greater urgency to agree on policies to boost growth. The predicament for poor countries is that their national budgets have not yet fully recovered from the 2009 global financial and food-price crises, and governments have little space for manoeuvring.