South Africa

JOHANNESBURG – World economies are sliding as a result of eurozone debt problems and failure by European leaders to make the right decisions to resolve the crisis will have massive consequences for the global outlook, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says. Gordhan reiterates, during a debate recorded for the BBC World Service's Business Daily programme, that the rapid flow of capital in and out of emerging markets as investors fret over the crisis is having major disruptive effects on their economies and currencies. "What we are now having is the sinking developed world, which is pulling the rest of the world down, rather than managing the situation," Gordhan says. "So all of our economies are now sliding, whether we are in China, in Brazil, in India or wherever we might be, and that is going to have massive consequences in terms of the overall global outlook." Gordhan says South Africa hopes Europe, its largest trading partner, will increase its bail-out fund and reassure global markets about resolving the debt crisis. Africa's largest economy has cut its 2011 growth forecast to 3.1% from 3.4%, partly due to the crisis. "European leaders . . . don't seem to have the political capacity to both manage their own backyards on the one hand, and ensure that they don't damage the rest of the world on the other hand," Gordhan says. He urges that individual countries' interests should take a backseat to mutual global interests in discussions over the crisis, warning: "Otherwise we are forsaking all the wonderful opportunities we have to put billions of people on a better footing in terms of their lives and create a situation where we have a really depressing decade ahead of us."

JOHANNESBURG – In a blow to President Jacob Zuma, the appeal court ruled that his appointment of Menzi Simelane as head of the National Prosecuting Authority was invalid. The Justice Ministry says, however, that Simelane will not vacate the post he has occupied for the past two years pending a review of the ruling by the Constitutional Court. "Advocate Simelane does not immediately have to vacate his post until the Constitutional Court hears the matter and decides whether to confirm the ruling or not," Justice Ministry spokesperson Tlali Tlali says. This position is based on section 167 (5) of the Constitution, which gives the highest court the final say on whether a law or Act of the President is unconstitutional. A court ruling in this regard, therefore, has no force until it is confirmed by the Constitutional Court. But constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos describes the Supreme Court of Appeal's decision to strike down Simelane's appointment as "very sound in law" and unlikely to be overruled. "They [the Constitutional Court bench] might interpret the facts differently, but I would be shocked if on the legal points they came to a different conclusion." Fellow law expert Shadrack Gutto says the ruling creates an unprecedented situation and a painful one for Zuma because he cannot appeal against it. "Once the Constitutional Court has made its ruling, the President has to abide by that. He has nowhere to go." De Vos concurred: "They cannot appeal. It is the end of the road."

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has returned a long-awaited report with policy recommendations on the issue of mine nationalisation for redrafting to improve its presentation, a senior party official says. Investors are keen to know what the report will say as it could form the framework of future government mining policy in the world’s largest platinum producer. However, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe says party leaders want a document that is more accessible to rank and file members. “The first draft has been tabled. We’ve sent it back on the basis of style. The work is finished but the report is being redrafted and refiled,” he says. “Please write us a report that will be read by a member of the ANC, not a professor,” Mantashe said at a news conference after a three-day meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee. The report will be completed early in the new year and raised at a major ANC policy conference in June. It looks at how nationalisation or similar policies have been carried out in several other countries. Senior ANC politicians have frequently stressed that nationalisation is not government policy.

JOHANNESBURG – The South African government confirms the establishment of a body known as the National Nuclear Energy Executive Coordination Committee (NNEECC) to “lead, monitor, and ensure oversight” of the implementation of the country’s nuclear energy policy. However, the identities of those appointed to the committee have not yet been disclosed. The country is still weighing its options on a possible large-scale deployment of nuclear technologies in light of the recent nuclear accident in Japan. But the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity, which was released earlier in the year, has outlined that some 9 600 MW of nuclear capacity could be developed by 2030. Concerns have already been raised about the possible cost of the projects, with some reports referring to a price tag of over R1-trillion for the construction of three 3 200 MW reactors. However, these costs have been disputed by nuclear industry practitioners, as well as by Eskom, which is keen to participate with partners in the nuclear roll-out. Eskom CEO Brian Dames says the utility is continuing to conduct project development activities “across the portfolio of projects that are within the IRP”, including nuclear.

Africa & the world

KINSHASA – The UN led appeals for calm in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as vote-talliers pushed ahead with the count after elections marred by chaos, violence and fraud claims. Results of the presidential vote in the vast country are not expected until December 6, while the outcome of a parliamentary election with no fewer than 18 500 candidates will have to wait until mid-January. Election observers have signalled cases of attempted fraud, such as ballot-stuffing, shortages of voting materials and confusion over the electoral register, while violence linked to the poll has claimed at least eight lives. Unofficial vote tallies are being sold on the streets of the capital Kinshasa, while opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's party has upped the stakes by declaring he is due to win a poll, which President Joseph Kabila says will grant him a new mandate. Roger Meece, head of the 17 000-strong UN peacekeeping force, has issued a statement asking "all political leaders to urge their partisans to refrain from any violence or other acts that may disrupt the electoral process. "The special representative further calls on all political leaders and the general population to remain calm, await the pronouncement by the CENI [election commission] on the preliminary results of the elections and to address any grievances they may have through peaceful means," Meece says. Local media monitoring body Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel et de la Communication (CSAC) warned the media against publishing partial results before the official announcement. UN-backed Radio Okapi quotes CSAC president Jean Bosco Bahala that they will take action against journalists who report information that incites violence.

THE HAGUE – Former Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo will appear before the International Criminal Court next Monday, the first former head of State to be tried by the ICC since its inception in 2002, officials say. Gbagbo, 66, was flown from the Côte d’Ivoire to the Netherlands on Wednesday and transferred to a detention centre in The Hague. The ICC has charged Gbagbo with crimes against humanity, including murder and rape. About 3 000 people were killed and more than a million displaced in a four-month civil war in Côte d’Ivoire after Gbagbo refused to cede power to Alassane Ouattara in an election last year. At his first appearance before the court on Monday the judges will verify his identity and ensure he is properly informed of the charges against him, the ICC says.

HARARE – Southern African countries hardest hit by the HIV/Aids pandemic are likely to be most affected over the next three years as funding from one of the world’s biggest donors dries up, a coalition of AIDS activists say. The Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria called off its next funding round after failing to secure the minimum $13-billion needed to fund its programmes. The fund says it is cutting new grants for countries battling the diseases. The public–private fund is the single largest donor body for HIV funding and provides more than 70% of funds for life-saving antiretroviral drugs in developing nations. Southern African countries that rely heavily on Global Fund aid, including Swaziland, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, are expected to see increasing fatalities and infections as a result of funding shortfalls. Stockpiles of life-saving antiretroviral medication are also expected to drop. “It is a disaster for Zimbabwe as a country,” says Faizel Tezera, international medical charity Médecins Sans Frontierès head in Zimbabwe. “More than 86 000 people will be left without treatment and about 5 000 children will be affected,” Tezera says. Worldwide, an estimated 33-million people are living and infected with HIV, with close to two-thirds of that total found in sub-Saharan Africa.

TRIPOLI – The Islamist who commands one of Libya’s most powerful militias, Abdel Hakim Belhadj, says that he will back the interim national government despite his supporters being overlooked for top posts. But he will not commit to a date for the forces under his control to hand over their weapons to the government, a crucial test of whether Libya, after the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, can form a cohesive State. Some analysts have warned that caretaker Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib risks sparking a confrontation with Belhadj’s Islamists after he handed the Defence Minister’s post in the new government to the head of a rival militia.