South Africa

POLOKWANE – Placing departments under administration created problems for people in Limpopo instead of helping them, the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in the province says. "As a result of the interference by national Cabinet, service delivery in Limpopo is literally paralysed," it says. "For the first time since 1994, we are experiencing problems." It claims that school nutrition programmes and transport are not being paid, medication in hospitals is not being procured, education bursaries have been frozen and various other service providers have not been paid. The national government placed five Limpopo departments under administration in December last year because of billions of rands in wasted spending, leaving the province bankrupt. Five departments – finance, basic education, health and social development, public works and higher education – were placed under national government's control. The remaining departments are operating under guidelines provided by national government. Briefing the media on Cabinet's initial findings into the province's financial crisis, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says that a forensic investigation into Limpopo's possible R2-billion shortfall will start this week. The ANCYL in the province said it was giving national Cabinet seven days to "rectify the situation".

JOHANNESBURG – Despite robust economic growth over the last decade, political instability remains an ongoing concern for continued growth on the African continent. These concerns were highlighted during a Frontier Advisory seminar, in Johannesburg, that examined the political outlook for the continent in 2012. Although it was generally acknowledged that it is difficult to predict what the year has in store for Africa, it is possible to identify the medium- to long-term trends that threaten political stability in a number of African countries, which is a direct indication of economic performance. These threats are highlighted by South African Institute of International Affairs director Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, who argues that there are a number of structural issues that need to be overcome before Africa can fully take advantage of the increasing foreign investment the continent is experiencing, driven particularly from China. Sidiropoulos explains that the first threat is derived from religious fundamentalism in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, stoking tensions between Muslims and Christians. This threat is particularly evident in southern Nigeria in the conflict between Southern Christians and the Islamist group Boko Haram. The second challenge is the threat of arms proliferation to the sub-Saharan countries in the aftermath of the Libyan revolution. Countries particularly at risk are Niger and the West African States, with the fear that these arms could end up in the hands of terrorists. On the socioeconomic front, the growing urbanisation of the youth translates into an increased politicisation of the population. Sidiropoulos argues that the growing youth bulge in many countries, if not managed correctly, will eventually reach a tipping point that would resemble events similar to those that occurred in countries affected by the Arab Spring. She notes that there are 200-million people on the African continent between the ages of 15 and 24. Of these, 60% are unemployed. Compounding this problem is the growing inequality and the increasing social deprivation on the continent.

JOHANNESBURG – The remaining leg of the Gautrain route, running between Rosebank and Park station in downtown Johannesburg, is, as a best-case scenario, expected to open in “March . . . early April”, says Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) CEO Jack van der Merwe. This is three to four months later than the forecast provided by the Gauteng government in July last year, when it said that the last stretch of the 80 km route would be in operation by the end of 2011. The Rosebank–Pretoria link of the R26.4-billion Gautrain project opened on August 2. However, Park station remains off limits following the more- than-expected water ingress in the tunnel connecting Rosebank and Park stations. A bus service was laid on to carry Gautrain passengers between Rosebank and Park stations. Van der Merwe says remedial work on the tunnel involved an iterative grouting process that required the Bombela consortium, which had won the contract to build and operate the Gautrain system, to inject grout into the tunnel floor a number of times. This was expected to reduce the permeability of the rock mass and, thus, reduce amount of the water entering the tunnel drains. “It is difficult to calculate how many times you have to return to do this,” notes Van der Merwe.

PRETORIA – Several government departments have come under fire in a report by Auditor-General Terrence Nombembe who has found a series of irregularities, poor financial controls and reporting by departments. Nombembe has released details of audit findings for the 2010/11 financial year and reveals that, while most government departments received unqualified reports, more needs to be done to improve supply chain practices and adherence to the Public Finance Management Act. There are significant concerns about the prevention and detection of wasteful expenditure in several departments, including the newly created Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities. “I cannot stress it enough. It’s clear that we still find that there are instances where financial reporting is not where we would want it to be and this is contributing immensely to departments not getting clean audits,” Nombembe says. He highlights the shortcomings in the manner in which contracts are managed, resulting in delays in payment, wastage and fruitless expenditure. Investigations were also conducted into the financial affairs of at least 23 departments and 48 public entities, with the report stating that the investigations are an indication of a risk that internal controls are not being adhered to.

Africa & the world

ABUJA – Nigeria has discovered a huge discrepancy in the amount of the motor fuel it subsidises and what people actually consume, a legislative committee says, supporting the idea that a government scheme to make petrol cheaper is wasteful and corrupt. President Goodluck Jonathan's government abruptly removed the subsidy on January 1, but strikes and protests by trade unions and civil society forced him to reinstate some of it, although the pump price was increased by 50%. "What we have here is that 59-million litres were discharged by vessels, but the daily consumption locally was 35-million litres," Farouk Lawan, chairperson of a House of Representatives committee probing subsidies, says. The comments are likely to further stoke the debate over the fuel subsidy, which economists say benefits wealthy fuel importers and smugglers more than ordinary Nigerians. "There is a gap of 24-million litres per day being funded by Nigerians as subsidy that was not utilised by them. This of course amounts to overpayment; or in other words, sharp practices," the legislator says. Critics of the subsidy say fuel importers overcharge for fuel in corrupt accounting procedures and that much of the fuel bought for local consumption is anyway shipped over the border to Cameroon and Benin, where it can be sold for a huge profit by smugglers. Both views seem to be supported by Lawan's findings.

KAMPALA – Ugandan police fire teargas and hold opposition leader Kizza Besigye and several allies in a police cell to stop them leading an antigovernment protest the police say will stoke chaos. Besigye has been meeting a number of senior opposition figures in an upmarket suburb of the capital, Kampala, ahead of a rally to demonstrate against corruption and economic hardships. Armed police intercepted the group on the highway as they headed towards the city centre. A protracted standoff ended when the police fired a single teargas cannister before bundling the politicians into vans. The protest failed to go ahead. "We're holding Besigye and others as a preventive measure because there was a likelihood of a breach of peace and chaos," deputy police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba says. "We'll hold until we're sure there is no more threat." Besigye, who served as Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's doctor during the bush war that propelled him to power and later as a Minister in his government before the pair fell out, says that he would quit as head of his party to devote more time to planning protests. Veteran leader Museveni cracked down hard on a wave of protests against surging prices last year. Besigye was arrested several times last year during violent clashes between the security forces and his supporters. In one of the protests, he was pepper-sprayed in the eyes and badly manhandled, and had to go to hospital in neighbouring Kenya.

NAIROBI – Kenya’s High Court has ruled that the next Presidential and Parliamentary elections should be held in March 2013 rather than this August as set out in the new Constitution, stoking voter unease over the polling schedule. These will be the first polls since a disputed vote in December 2007 that led to violence in which more than 1 220 people were killed. The International Criminal Court is trying to find out who was responsible for the post-election fighting. “We are [aware] that our findings may be unpopular with a section of Kenyans who have preconceived notions about the elections,” said Justice Isaac Lenaola, one of three judges who made the ruling. “But we hasten to remind Kenyans that our undertaking is not to . . . [appease] popular opinion,” he says. The government had proposed delaying the vote by four months to December because of logistical problems, a move that prompted petitions to the court to make a ruling on the date. The court decided that the current Parliament should be allowed to serve its full five-year term, which ends on January 14, 2013, and that the elections should be held 60 days later.

TRIPOLI – Twelve moderate Islamist parties in Libya have rejected a proposed election law because it encourages voting along tribal lines and gives undue advantage to the wealthy, they say. The draft law, published by the National Transitional Council on January 2, will set the rules of a vote for the national assembly in June. The body will be charged with writing a Constitution and forming a second caretaker government. “The proposed electoral system does not lead to true representation of all sectors of society; instead, it would produce a representation overwhelmed by tribal consideration and the influence of the rich,” the Forum of National Parties says.