Duduzane Zuma pens open letter to Pravin Gordhan
By admin Posted in Featured News Posted on August 29, 2017
By BO Staff Writer
President Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane Zuma, wrote an explosive open letter to the former minister of finance, Pravin Gordhan. Read the full letter below:
Pravin Gordhan – How do you sleep at night?
Mr Gordhan, you were Finance Minister of this country for over six of the last eight years, yet take no responsibility for this country’s economic performance in that time. It is always somebody else’s fault.
While you were in charge at Treasury, starting in 2009, the South Africa economy flatlined, unemployment rose from 21% to 27% and national debt increased from 31% to a record 51%. These are the facts and history will judge you on them.
You have used various state bodies such as the FIC and the Reserve Bank to try and destroy me and my business colleagues with no proof of misconduct. Yet you accuse us of state capture.
You had no shame in wasting taxpayers’ money on your recent legal action, which everybody knew was a waste of time and taxpayers’ money – and which you lost. If you had any conscience you would pay those costs back personally, but you never will.
It has long been rumoured that you own shares in various large South African companies, especially financial services, an area where you have consistently blocked a state bank and more competition. Yet you made no public disclosure of your holdings or noted the potential for conflicts of interest with your decision-making.
All of my bank accounts have been closed by your “friends” in the banking industry. Likely with your support. Anybody can see that you are in bed with them, rather than on the side of hard-working South African citizens.
Let us deal with some key facts that the media has published but chooses largely to ignore:
The Competition Commission charges monopoly businesses regularly in this country. Nothing ever happens to them. Instead they become part of “Save SA”.
The banks are charged with currency rigging and instead get immunity if they help the investigation.
ABSA still owes billions of Rand in interest from its previous corruption
British American Tobacco is involved in a spying scandal in South Africa
African Bank was declared bankrupt, people’s money was eaten. Then shareholders with government money restart the same bank and all debts are forgiven.
Construction companies are found guilty of billions of Rand of fraud at the FIFA World Cup – their bank accounts remain open.
The Integrated Financial Management System scandal occurred on your watch
You released your Chief Procurement Officer Kenneth Brown and arranged a job for him at Standard Bank as Public Sector Head.
Why are their bank accounts still open? Why are you not calling for inquiries and prosecutions? Yet you ignore all of this and persecute me and my business partners. However:
There were no conclusive findings in the state capture report.
A Hawks investigation against me and Gupta family came up with no wrong doing
The ANC invited all whistle blowers to report against me and my business colleagues – which came up with nothing
And still you say we are corrupt – and others are clean.
You are a conspiracy theorist who failed as a Minister of this great country. You grandstand in Parliament and embarrass this country. Do you not think that the people of this country can see what you are doing?
People are innocent until proven guilty. I challenge you – take me to Court if you think you have a case.
Also, you never, ever, want to acknowledge this, but the Gupta family and I have consistently welcomed a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into all state capture.
I, and the Gupta family, pledged 15 months ago to exit our South African investments to make sure the jobs of our fellow South Africans are protected. It has taken a while, but we have done it. You criticise this sale, as you don’t care about jobs for ordinary people, and if it doesn’t fit you and your political agenda.
How do you sleep at night? Does putting over 7,500 South Africans out of work even bother you?
You even criticised the new Mining Charter, which was created for the benefit of ordinary South Africans. You will always protect your friends in big business over the ordinary man.
The youth of this country that is desperate for hope and a chance to succeed, will eventually see you exposed for what you are.
I am selling my shares to be able to focus my time on clearing my name. At this point I would advise you to refrain from further public statements which could affect the current sales and my reputation. I reserve my rights to pursue legal action for the harm you are causing.
Yours sincerely
Labels: ABSA, DUDUZANE ZUMA, JACOB ZUMA, NEW WORLD ORDER, PRAVIN GORDHAN
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COMMENT - Oligarchy and globalisation are a problem all over the world, and in few places is it older than South Africa. South Africa and Botswana's diamonds were 90-95% of all the diamonds traded in the world in the 20th century, courtesy of De Beers only. President Zuma of South Africa on oligarchy - MrK
(BLACK OPINION SA) President Jacob Zuma explains white monopoly capital and Western imperialist interference in Africa
By admin Posted in Featured Politics
Posted on November 14, 2017
By BO Staff Writer
South African President, Jacob Zuma sat down with progressive 24 hour news channel, ANN7, to discuss his tenure and views on state matters. In the interview, Zuma said be doesn’t understand why people are still arguing about white monopoly capital, saying that it is a sad reality we cannot ignore. The president also touched on Western imperialism’s longing to maintain political anf economic control in Africa.
On white monopoly capital:
“In so far as white monopoly capital, I think the issue to me is very simple. If
you have a history of South Africa where the majority was deprived of everything – and this is what people don’t like us to say, but it’s a fact, it’s not a manufactured story. We are not mad. We are telling the truth.
This is what, as a freedom fighter, we fought for. We are not saying something we don’t know. They took everything.
The political power, which we now have, and the economic power, the land, everything.
When we say there is a monopoly, let us take the mines.
Companies which dominate in the mines are not many. [Companies] who really are benefiting are very few.
Whether you go to gold, diamonds, platinum, manganese or whatever, you will find the same companies in charge. That means they are dominating. That means
they are monopolizing the economy. They are therefore monopolies. And, they are not black. The companies are not black.
You’ve got companies today that are basically white. They start from the biggest commodities to the broom. Their names are written there. They are monopolizing every space of the economy, it’s a fact. I don’t know why they shouldn’t be called by what they practise. I don’t know why there is a debate in fact, because there is a monopoly capital and in South Africa it is white. In all other countries there are monopolies, it doesn’t have colour as such. But here, because of our history, it does have a colour, it is white.
If you look at the land, stretches of land which was land that belonged to the majority, that was changed. It is now the minority which dominates. And that’s why we are saying these are monopolies. It’s not an insult it’s just explaining the position of the economy. Who is owning bigger, Who is poor.”
On Western imperialist interference:
“Yes, there are some foreign countries who look at some leaders in Africa as their enemy and I’m one of those. It is an accepted thing, or a known thing that if they want to undermine a country, they use the citizens of those countries. In other words, they buy them, they recruit them, they use them to undertake their own. They would also want to choose the people to lead the country who might agree to their policies or people they might actually control. That is a general thing in Africa, it’s not a secret.
Former colonial countries want to influence former colonies in one form or the other, for their own interest. You know for quite a few decades there used to be coup d’état’s in Africa and they were engineered by people from outside. In other words to change governments so that they put people who will support them. I don’t think South Africa will be immune from such a thing. It’s a reality. Leaving aside what I know, or what we know, just as a general kind of practise that has plagued Africa for a long time.
At times, even the issue of elections, how people influence elections in one form or the other, how those people have preference in terms of individuals. That’s what happens. I don’t think you could say South Africa is not affected by that. I think in South Africa what has been a difficulty to many of them is that the ANC has been too strong. It’s an old organisation. In fact some of them have been wishing for the ANC to disappear. But the ANC has been very strong. I think they have been trying every method to weaken the ANC. To create disagreements. To create friction within the ANC. To influence factions etc. There are forces which are always there trying to influence confusion and misleading people so that they can have things in their own way. So that they can be satisfied that they are in control. That one is a reality we cannot ru away from.”
Labels: ANC, APARTHEID, JACOB ZUMA, MONOPOLIES, OLIGARCHIES
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COMMENT - The ANC is finally moving on landreform. Samadoda Fikeni: “
The pressure was already there, but it had an urban orientation or twist to it, whereas in Zimbabwe it was with the farmers and the government was involved. “So we should dispel the myth that people were waiting for some law somewhere to distribute land,” he said."
Undictated / March 8, 2016
ANC warned: Put land reform on top of agenda – or face consequences from voters
By Naledi Shange, News24
Johannesburg –
The ANC must implement its land reform policies quickly or they will be overtaken by opposition parties. This was the stern warning given to the ruling party by political analyst Somadoda Fikeni, of the University of South Africa, as he reminded the ANC of their promise to implement radical economic transformation.
Supporters of South Africa's ruling ANC party cheer as South Africa's President and party leader Jacob Zuma (not seen) arrives for the launch of the party's election manifesto at the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit, January 11, 2014.
REUTERS/Ihsaan Haffejee (SOUTH AFRICA - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS)
File photo: Supporters of South Africa’s ruling ANC party cheer as South
Africa’s President and party leader Jacob Zuma (not seen) arrives for the launch of the party’s election manifesto at the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit, January 11, 2014. REUTERS/Ihsaan Haffejee
“If the ruling party doesn’t move fast, in a self-automated process, these things will happen; other contesting political parties will amplify them even if they are not in government in a manner that they simply take the same programmes and hone them and articulate them in the simplest form, in the crudest form, so that everybody will simply say ‘here is the message’,” Fikeni said.
“So there is a sense of urgency in the point of government.”
He was speaking at a round-table discussion held at the ANC’s Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg.
Read also: Anthea Jeffery: Creeping land nationalisation no poverty solution
Revolution in danger
The meeting was attended by Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti, ANC political education sub-committee chairperson Nathi Mthethwa, and former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, in his capacity of head of the ANC’s political school.
Mthethwa echoed Fikeni’s sentiments.
“If we do not do what we say we should do… indeed our revolution will be in danger,” he said. Nkwinti said one of the things that had caused delays in the implementation of land claims and redistribution was the burden of proof that lay with the land claimants.
“We have to look at the law itself. Does it fairly represent the acquisition of the law of that land?”
He said this would be resolved through new laws that would balance the scales against both – those who currently occupy the land and those who claim to have previously owned it.
Read also: House of Parly passes ‘no consent’ Land Reform – ANC lags targeted repatriation
Sensitive issue
Nkwinti admitted that there had been delays in the process of land reform, saying government had also made some mistakes, but that they were working to fix this.
He described the issue of land as a “sensitive one”.
Fikeni stressed that the issue of land grabs in South Africa was nothing new. He claimed that, while many feared that South Africa would be like Zimbabwe if it agreed to land grabs, South Africa had seen land grabs in the early 1990s, before Zimbabwe.
“The pressure was already there, but it had an urban orientation or twist to it, whereas in Zimbabwe it was with the farmers and the government was involved.
“So we should dispel the myth that people were waiting for some law somewhere to distribute land,” he said – News24
Source: http://www.news24.com/Elections/News/revolution-in-danger-if-anc-doesnt-implement-land-reform-soon-20160307
Alec Hogg Alec Hogg March 8, 2016 | ANC, Apartheid, expropriation, featured, Gugile Nkwinti, Jacob Zuma, Kgalema Motlanthe, land reform, Nathi Mthethwa, Nelson Mandela, Slider, Somadoda Fikeni, South Africa, University of South Africa, Zimbabwe
COMMENT FROM MRK: This is the preface Biznews insisted on adding in to this article. It is clear that the writer fears losing control of the narrative on landreform, and therefore tries to insert his own opinion to redirect it. It does not matter that land was stolen on the basis of race, or 'who is more South African', which is clearly where he wants to derail the discussion to. The fact is that right up to the end of Apartheid, African and non-White people were thrown off their land. Even more important is that 90% of the population is locked out of owning land in 87% of the country. Saying that 13% of the land that is in State, not Traditional, hands is 'vast' and therefore there is no problem is sanctimonious, deceptive, and an example of ostrich politics that ultimately led to the Fast Track landredistribution program in Zimbabwe. Which was far less violent or 'chaotic' than was portrayed in the media. Nor did it redistribute land to 'friends and cronies of Mugabe', it redistributed land to hundreds of thousands of families, not just a few thousand well connected individuals. This is what the editor/writer Alec Hogg felt he needed to add:
DNA tests prove human beings are 99.9% identical. So I’m in RW Johnson’s camp when he says there is no such thing as race. Differences which exist between members of our species stem from environment and culture – not from how we are wired. Yet those who would profit from it, persist in highlighting race as a differentiator, which is just sad. “Land reform” has become another convenient political football. With heightened hypocrisy, too. Massive tracts of un-utilised lands controlled by traditional leaders are not up for “reform”. But, like Zimbabwe, all white farms are, even if they happened to have legally acquired and paid for decades before. The self-righteous justification is that at somewhere in the past, ancestors of today’s farmers “stole” the land from the ancestors of others. And that date of the theft keeps shifting. President Jacob Zuma says the infamous 1913 Lands Act can no longer be used as the starting point. Because, he argued this week, very little land changed hands after it – so he simply backdates it to some undetermined date in the 1800s.
South Africa’s first national census was done in 1904 at which time the country’s entire population was 5.2m (of whom just over a million were whites – 21.6%). As there are now ten times more of us (whites – 8.8%), it’s hard to conceptualise this huge country with so few people. Back then the vast plains were occupied by wild animals which migrated freely. Very little land was “owned” much less farmed in the modern sense. There has been ample time since the dawn of SA’s democracy to highlight where abuses occurred. Yet politicians and those they listen to persist in pounding a hypocritical land distribution drum which only serves to feed fear and greed. What a pity they use this as a tool to highlight the 0.1% where people differ. Rather than following the example of the iconic Nelson Mandela who focused on the 99.9% to forge a nation. – Alec Hogg
Labels: ANC, GUGILE NKWINTI, JACOB ZUMA, LAND REFORM, SAMADODA FIKENI
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(EYE WITNESS NEWS SA) ‘1913 cut-off date for land claims should be pushed back’
Jacob Zuma says while the majority of people were formally dispossessed, greater losses were suffered.
President Jacob Zuma in response to the debate on the State of the Nation Address, National Assembly, Cape Town. Picture: GCIS.
Gaye Davis | about 19 hours ago
JOHANNESBURG - President Jacob Zuma says he believes the 1913 cut-off date for land claims should be pushed back.
Zuma was addressing the National House of Traditional Leaders’ annual sitting in Parliament earlier today. He told the gathering that while the majority of the country’s people were formally dispossessed by the 1913 Land Act, greater losses were suffered during the 1800s.
“I believe as a son of a black man, being black, that we need to shift that cut-off date. But you need to find a reasonable way of addressing the issue within the Constitution.”
He says lack of access to land is the basis for the poverty, unemployment and inequality endured by mostly black people today.
President Zuma has also criticised land reform legislation that his own party brought to Parliament and that he signed into law.
Deviating from his prepared text, Zuma addressed the country’s traditional leaders directly.
“The very law that we have today to claim is lopsided against the black people. It’s very difficult for you to prove that this land belonged to your ancestors and very easy for the landowner to say you can’t have the land. That’s how the law is.”
Zuma signed the restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act into law in 2014.
He says he believes the 1913 cut-off date for land claims should be made earlier, saying the bulk of the dispossession of the black majority took place in the 19th century.
His speech will be debated by traditional leaders in Gauteng on 22 March.
(Edited by Winnie Theletsane)
Labels: ANC, JACOB ZUMA, LAND REFORM
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(THE SOUTHAFRICAN SA) ANC promises six million jobs in election manifesto
By The South African.com
on 13 January, 2014 5:13 pm
Opposition parties have expressed doubt that the South African government will be able to fulfil its promises to create six million jobs, fight corruption and improve education, as detailed in the ANC’s election manifesto unveiled by Jacob Zuma on the weekend
President Jacob Zuma said the South African government will expand its public employment programme with an aim of creating six million job opportunities to all South Africans.
Presenting the African National Congress’s January Statement at the Mbombela Stadium, Mpumalanga, on Saturday, Zuma said with youth unemployment reaching alarming levels, the majority of the mooted jobs would be reserved for young people.
The statement was anchored on employment and economic development. The ANC also unveiled its manifesto ahead of this year’s elections.
The statement, which the ruling party presents at the beginning of every year, usually sets the tone for the President’s State of The Nation Address that outlines government’s service delivery progress, and a plan of programmes and priorities of government.
Addressing a packed stadium, Zuma said, “The ANC will expand our already significant public employment programme and we aim to provide six million work opportunities. The majority of these jobs will be reserved for young people. We are also increasing the number of training and skilling opportunities for young people throughout the state-owned enterprises and other government entities. Our infrastructure programme continues to generate massive numbers of sustainable jobs.”
He said the ANC saw the implementation of a national minimum wage as a key intervention of reducing inequalities.
Zuma claimed that employment was now higher than it has ever been and the SA economy had regained the one million jobs lost as a result of the 2008 global economic crisis.
However, DA National Spokesperson Mmusi Maimane disputed this. “The unemployment crisis is the single defining failure of President Zuma’s five years in office. The fact is, since he assumed the Presidency in 2009, more than 1.4 million more people have joined the ranks of the unemployed.”
Agang SA, whose leader Dr Mamphela Ramphele is visiting London next week, said the ANC’s election manifesto was a “predictable laundry list of promises” while it expected South Africans to conveniently forget past failures.
“Can the ruling party be so tone deaf to the disbelief and distrust citizens have towards it that it expects us to believe, without reason, that it will be able to meet these promises any better than it has in the past?” the party said.
Other key announcements that topped the ANC’s agenda for the next five years included:
* Improving education and training by making two years of pre-school education compulsory, eradicating adult illiteracy, bolstering teacher development, opening new universities and expanding the FET sector
* Implementing the National Health Insurance scheme beyond its pilot phase to improve the quality of health care while reducing the cost of medicine and treatment to promote access to the poor
* Providing housing opportunities to qualifying households in rural and urban areas for the next five years and connecting 1.6 million homes to the electricity grid over the next five years
* Clamping down on the current tender system. Zuma said regulations were being finalised that would prohibit public servants from doing business with the state. He said the ANC would institute internal procedures to deal with corruption.
* Zuma said the 1913 Land Act and the resultant dispossessions were directly related to the current problems of poverty, unemployment and inequality. He called on public representatives to finalise the legislation meant to speed up the expropriation of land in the public interest.
Zuma said government had made a lot of progress in the past five years to improve the lives of South Africans.
These included, among others:
* More than R1 trillion has been invested in national infrastructure projects, compared with R451 billion in the previous five years.
* The proportion of adults with access to banking services grew from 60% in 2009 to 75% in 2013.
* Nearly 500 informal settlements have been replaced with quality housing and basic services.
* The matric pass rate increased from 60.6% in 2009 to 78.2% in 2013.
* FET enrolments doubled from 545,566 in 2010 to 657,690 students in 2012.
* Loans and bursaries to poor students grew from 2.3 billion in 2008 to 8 billion in 2013.
* Over seven million learners are in no fee schools, up from five million in 2009.
* Teacher education has expanded-the number of new teacher graduates doubled from 6,000 in 2009 to 13,000 in 2012.
* Through the ‘prevention of mother to child transmission’ programme, the number of babies born HIV positive was reduced by 66% from 24,000 in 2008 to 8,200 in 2011.
* Average life expectancy increased by 4 more years to 60 years in 2012.
Labels: ANC, EMPLOYMENT, JACOB ZUMA, JOBS, UNEMPLOYMENT
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(CITY PRESS SA) Booing at FNB Stadium belongs exclusively to ANC – Julius Malema
Poloko Tau @City_Press #Mandela 11 December 2013 16:50
Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has taken to Twitter to defend his party against suggestions that its members were booing President Jacob Zuma at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service at the FNB Stadium yesterday.
In a reply to his followers who engaged him on Twitter earlier today, Malema said: “I’ve taken responsibility at all times for our action. The booing at FNB Stadium belongs exclusively to the ANC.”
He tweeted again: “We have seen people in ANC colours booing. Whatever you have against the EFF should not blind you please.”
His comments come in the wake of suggestions that EFF members had been responsible for booing Zuma. However, several media reports said Zuma was booed by a general crowd who were also making gestures suggesting a change or substitution when Zuma’s presence was acknowledged by ANC deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Sowetan newspaper reported that police had thrown out members of the rowdy crowd. City Press journalist Lesley Mofokeng saw a group of presumably EFF members in red T-shirts and signature red berets “disappear”. They were promptly replaced by mourners in civilian clothes.
Attempts to get hold of Malema, who said on Twitter yesterday that he was following the memorial proceedings on television, were unsuccessful.
He tweeted at about the same time Zuma was booed yesterday: “The writing is on the wall, the defiant spirit of Madiba continues to speak to us.”
Despite the EFF’s well-documented dislike of Zuma, party spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the party was not responsible for what had happened at the stadium claiming it was, in fact, “ANC members (who) were quoted in the media saying they will continue to boo” Zuma.
Ndlozi referred to several media reports which he said made it “clear that the booing (was) non-partisan”. He said any suggestions that EFF members booed Zuma was “scapegoating in the public arena”.
Meanwhile, Ndlozi said Malema was planning to attend Mandela’s funeral in the Eastern Cape on Sunday.
He said today the “commander-in-chief was expected to be in Qunu” for the funeral.
Labels: ANC, ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS, EFF, JACOB ZUMA, JULIUS MALEMA
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(NEWZIMBABWE, REUTERS) South Africans demand Zuma impeachment
01/12/2013 00:00:00
by Reuters
THOUSANDS of South Africans on Saturday called online for the impeachment of President Jacob Zuma, after a newspaper revealed a government document detailing the use of public funds for lavish upgrades to his private home.
The Mail and Guardian weekly said on Friday a provisional report by South Africa's top anti-corruption watchdog found Zuma had derived "substantial" personal gain from a $21 million "security upgrade" to his home, including a swimming pool and a cattle enclosure.
The leaked document by the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, entitled "Opulence on a Grand Scale", recommended that Zuma repay some of the public funds from the improvements to his compound at Nkandla in the hills of KwaZulu-Natal province.
The report of Madonsela's investigation sparked outrage on social media, with prominent campaigner Zackie Achmat setting up an online petition calling for Zuma's ouster that had garnered 8,200 supporters a little over 24 hours after the news broke.
The report will likely bolster a perception of widespread corruption under Zuma and could hurt him and his ruling African National Congress (ANC) in an election due in six months.
"Millions of public money used to benefit the president's private home whilst millions of our people do not have access to basic services such as water, electricity (and) decent schooling," wrote one petitioner, Yoliswa Dwane.
"This is corruption. It spits in the face of the poor and all people of this country."
South Africa's press also weighed in, with the Citizen newspaper splashing the headline "Impeach Zuma" on its front page.
Zuma's spokesman has declined to comment, while Madonsela's office has said the leak was "unethical and unlawful". The ANC has said it believes Zuma has done nothing wrong.
The Mail and Guardian said the improvements included a visitors' lounge, amphitheatre, cattle enclosure and swimming pool - referred to in documents as a "fire pool" on the grounds that it could double up as a water reservoir for firefighting.
The newspaper said Madonsela's report accused Zuma, a polygamous Zulu traditionalist whose five years in office have been littered with scandals over violating ethics codes by failing to protect state resources and misleading parliament.
Zuma told parliament last year all the buildings in the sprawling compound had been built "by ourselves as family and not by the government".
Labels: ANC, JACOB ZUMA
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Zuma red-faced after 'Africans backward' gaffe
22/10/2013 00:00:00
by Agencies
SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma was on Tuesday left red-faced following a public backlash at comments labelling nearby Malawi as backward.
While trying to convince motorists to accept a controversial plan to toll highways in and around Johannesburg, Zuma yesterday said South Africans need to stop thinking like "Africans in Africa, generally."
"We can’t think like Africans, in Africa, generally. We are in Johannesburg, this is Johannesburg. It's not some national road in Malawi," Zuma said during the ruling ANC party public forum last evening.
His comments went viral on social media, with the opposition party calling him to retract them.
Zuma’s office scrambled to correct the diplomatic gaffe today, saying media quoted him out of context.
"The remarks were made in the broader context of South Africa achieving more in the past 19 years of freedom and democracy," said his spokesman Mac Maharaj.
He said Zuma was trying to justify the sophisticated road system in the country's economic hub, saying the roads were better than those of other small towns.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance said "the president should rather take a leaf out of the books of other African economies that are actually growing faster than us."
South Africa's government has been struggling to enforce a controversial tolling system on roads between Johannesburg and Pretoria, amid strong public opposition.
Labels: GUY SCOTT, JACOB ZUMA, MAC MAHARAJ, NEOLIBERALISM, SOUTH AFRICA, TOLL ROADS
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Calls for Security Council reforms deserve support
By Editor
Fri 11 Oct. 2013, 14:00 CAT
Last year, presidents Michael Sata of Zambia and Jacob Zuma of South Africa went to the United Nations general assembly and demanded for Africa to have a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. We found their demand justifiable and deserving support.
This year again, the two African presidents have gone to the United Nations general assembly with the same demand but probably in different words.
Stressing the desire for Africa to have two member seats representations at the United Nations Security Council and two non-member seats, President Sata said:
"The United Nations boasts of an all-inclusive multi-lateralism process, but this is obviously lacking when it comes to the Security Council. The effectiveness of this organ should be manifested in its adaptation to the prevailing global realities of international peace and security and the legitimacy realised through an all-inclusive process."
Putting forward his demand this year, President Zuma said: "We cannot remain beholden indefinitely to the will of an unrepresentative minority on most important issues of international peace and security. There has been too much talk about the need for reform, with too little action. We would like to challenge the Assembly today: let us set ourselves the target to celebrate the 70th anniversary of United Nations in 2015 with a reformed, more inclusive, democratic and representative United Nations Security Council."
Like last year, we this year also support the demands of our two presidents and we strongly feel they are justified and deserve support.
But again, as we stated last year, this shouldn't be a substitute for renewing the United Nations system.
A package of measures is needed to renew the United Nations system. The issue of reforming the United Nations, its associated agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions - notably the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - should be placed firmly on the world agenda, even if there are very different interests and proposals in play.
We hope the North, and in particular the United States, will not be allowed to continue dictating what happens to the United Nations system in the name of efficiency and cost-cutting. We say this because what the world desperately needs are more effective and more democratic international institutions able to play their full part not only in peace-keeping but in managing and developing a more just world economy.
What is at stake is the very nature and direction of the United Nations if it is not to be emasculated, but rather strengthened. The role of the United Nations in the 21st century has to be different, changes are needed.
The United Nations was founded immediately after a terrible war against Nazism, in which unexpected alliances were formed among forces with disparate ideological tendencies, bent on fighting that terrible evil threatening humanity. That war claimed 50 million lives. Several of the main countries at war emerged victorious, and in conjunction with other less powerful nations, they founded this institution.
Actually, nearly all the African countries were colonies or semi-colonies, and the majority of countries who are United Nations members today were not independent either. Now, we are living in a completely new situation. We cannot really speak today of a United Nations system. We do not have a United Nations system. What we actually have is a system of domination over almost every country in the world by a small number of powerful nations, which under the aegis of the United States - the most powerful nation of all - decide everything on our planet.
With so much at stake, it is essential that developing countries, including African countries, now act as the protagonist to change the direction and content of the debate on United Nations reform. What the South was able to do in the 1960s and 1970s in terms of shaping the international debate, inspired in the first place by just very few countries, can and must be done again.
The South also has the proven capacity to exercise intellectual leadership and to provide new directions for the United Nations, both in terms of policies and institutions. Collectively, developing countries have the strength to counter the onslaught on the United Nations and to put forward their own proposals for wide-ranging reforms to strengthen the organisation, so that it becomes a genuinely multilateral and democratic body in the service of all.
The preoccupations of the peoples of the South also find an echo in the concerns of large numbers of people in the North. There are many other common interests between the South and the North and worldwide problems of mutual concern such as financial instability, unemployment and the increasing social disparities and tensions, environmental degradation, HIV and AIDS, drug addiction and narcotics trafficking, inner-city problems and growing delinquency and marginalisation.
Indeed, large sectors of the North's population can also claim that they too suffer from failed development in their own societies, which is also aggravated by the more rapid pace of globalisation.
By taking a clear stand and speaking out on these issues, the South is likely also to mobilise the interest and support of progressive and internationalist opinion in the North, which may in turn be able to exert greater pressure on North governments to take a more positive, forward-looking approach to the matter of United Nations reform.
As Kofi Annan, a former secretary general of the United Nations, once observed, "we all need an effective United Nations - one that reflects the world we live in today and can meet the challenges we will face tomorrow… we are in a new era, we need a new United Nations. Let's make it happen".
It is therefore our collective duty to struggle for the establishment of such a United Nations. And our demands for a better, more just United Nations should not begin and end with Africa getting a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
To achieve this, the unity of all South countries is absolutely necessary. The challenges that we face under the current setup of the United Nations are common to us all, regardless of political concepts, systems of government, philosophical convictions. The approach to these vital questions affecting us and the solutions we seek can and should be shared. We should also rise above the local controversies that sometimes turn us into enemies because of old disputes or intrigues, ambitions or the machinations of the North.
Generally speaking, what we see of the United Nations today are the product of the system of domination and colonial control that subjugated us for centuries. We should therefore struggle tenaciously to promote the closest possible unity among the South countries. We must not allow anybody or anything to divide us.
Reform of the United Nations and its associated agencies and institutions is a prerequisite for our countries' progress.
There is no possible substitute for this world organisation, which includes all states. We therefore need to struggle to increase the prestige, authority and role of the United Nations and its specialised agencies and institutions; to give them our solid support as a majority in the struggle for peace and security of all peoples, for a fair international order and for a solution to the tragic problem of underdevelopment that adversely affects the vast majority of countries.
The existence of such an organisation as the United Nations, with growing solidity, influence and power, is increasingly indispensable for the future of the world.
It is therefore very important that as we demand that Africa has a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, we should not lose sight of the fact that what is most needed and more important is a package of measures to renew the United Nations system. In a reformed United Nations, a permanent seat may not even be necessary because power within the United Nations may be shared and exercised in a totally different way.
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, MICHAEL SATA, SECURITY COUNCIL, UN
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(TALKZIMBABWE) Zuma congratulates Mugabe on his re-election
South African President Jacob Zuma congratulated President Robert Mugabe on his re-election, urging opposition groups Sunday to accept the results of “the successful harmonised elections.”
President Mugabe romped to victory with over 60 percent of the vote, way above the 50 percent mark needed to avoid a runoff. Zanu-PF party also won a two thirds majority in Parliament, which is needed to amend the country’s laws.
A statement from South Africa’s Foreign Ministry said: “President Zuma urges all political parties in Zimbabwe to accept the outcome of the elections as election observers reported it to be an expression of the will of the people,” it said.
President Zuma’s stance is at odds with the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, all of whom have called into question Wednesday’s presidential and primary polls.
The Southern African Development Community (Sadc), African Union and Comesa have all endorsed the election saying it reflects the will of the people.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai got 34 percent of the vote.
President Mugabe will lead the nation for another five years.
Tsvangirai called the balloting “a fraudulent and a stolen election” and said he plans to mount a court challenge.
In his statement Sunday, President Zuma said all parties should accept the election’s results because “election observers reported it to be an expression of the will of the people.”
“We encourage the people of Zimbabwe to seize this opportunity to collectively contribute towards building their country driven by a common desire for peace, stability and prosperity,” said President Zuma in the statement.
He said South Africa was ready to continue its relations with Zimbabwe.
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), JACOB ZUMA, ROBERT MUGABE
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(TALKZIMBABWE) There’s a very, very good atmosphere in Zimbabwe: Zuma
This article was written by Our reporter on 30 July, at 06 : 34 AM
COMMENT - No vote rigging or violence, according to South African President Jacob Zuma, and US Ambassador Bruce Wharton.
South African President Jacob Zuma said a peaceful atmosphere for free and fair elections exists in Zimbabwe and called on the country to stage peaceful elections this week. President Zuma was speaking during a media briefing with South African-born Hollywood actress Charlize Theron about her work as a UNAIDS messenger for peace. UNAIDS is the joint UN programme on HIV/Aids.
“I think you will agree with me that in the last elections, by this time there were problems in Zimbabwe, with violence etc, and everybody was convinced the elections were on a very slippery kind of slope, but I can say today there has been a very, very, very good atmosphere,” he said. “The conditions for free and fair election exist and all parties are campaigning freely with no incidents.”
South Africa had been chosen by the regional Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to facilitate talks to help Zimbabweans towards free and fair elections.
Zimbabwe had produced a new Constitution and this has led to elections set down for Wednesday.
Parties had not been able to campaign everywhere before the last election, Zuma said. “This time I think they have.”
There was the “usual campaign politics”, where things were said on both sides of the political divide, but this should not be seen as unusual.
Zuma said that this time around there had not been any campaign violence.
He said Zimbabweans wanted peaceful elections this time “so that the winner will win without any measures that they can take to disadvantage others.”
He said Zimbabwe had done the best it could in the short time it had had to prepare.
“So we would say to the Zimbabweans, please have your elections in peace so that they can be declared free and fair, so that the Zimbabweans can then face the task of reconstructing Zimbabwe.
“So we wish them well. We wish all the parties well in their campaign,” he said.
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), JACOB ZUMA
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MnG SA, SAPA) ANC denies defending Zuma adviser's Zim
23 Jul 2013 18:08 Sapa
The ANC has refuted claims that it is protecting Jacob Zuma's international adviser Lindiwe Zulu after an apparent reprimand from the presidency.
"The ANC has noted the coverage that suggests that the ANC through its secretary general [Gwede Mantashe] has defended the international relations adviser to president [Jacob] Zuma, comrade [Lindiwe] Zulu, against a statement released by the presidency," spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said on Tuesday.
"This is not true."
Zulu reportedly said on Friday that there were difficulties ahead of the July 31 elections in Zimbabwe, following problems with early voting.
Thousands of Zimbabwean security forces could reportedly not make their mark in early voting with polling stations opening late, and lacking indelible ink, stamps, voter rolls, ballot papers and boxes.
"If things didn't go right in the special vote, those things need to be looked into by the time of elections on July 31," Zulu was quoted as saying.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe reacted by calling Zulu "a stupid, idiotic street woman", Agence France-Presse reported.
Mantashe defended Zulu
On Sunday the presidency said the statements made by members of Zuma's team dealing with Zimbabwe were "unfortunate".
Some newspaper reports suggested that Mantashe defended Zulu on Monday. He told reporters in Johannesburg she had been given the responsibility to deal with media and diplomats on Zimbabwe.
Mthembu said on Tuesday that Mantashe's response to a question on the statement from the presidency, was that Zulu was tasked with communication and diplomacy by the facilitation team on Zimbabwe.
He said Mantashe's response on the matter was: "While the ANC would not venture into this matter, my own understanding, from reading the presidency statement, was that misgivings arose from communication that was not cleared with the president."
Mthembu said Mantashe further stated that the Zimbabwean situation was a sensitive matter and any communication on that country should be treated accordingly.
"The ANC wants to put it on record that we respect and support the intervention of the presidency regarding the South African facilitation team ... to facilitate the Zimbabwe process towards free and fair elections," Mthembu said. – Sapa
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), ANC, JACKSON MTHEMBU, JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU
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(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) Rein in Zulu: Zuma told
Sunday, 21 July 2013 00:00
Stanford Chiwanga in Gwanda
President Mugabe has appealed to his South African counterpart, President Jacob Zuma, to rein in his international relations advisor, Ms Lindiwe Zulu, over the negative and misleading pronouncements she continues to make on Zimbabwe’s preparations for the July 31 harmonised elections.
Addressing over 20 000 Zanu-PF supporters at a star rally here yesterday, Cde Mugabe said Harare recognises President Zuma in his personal capacity as the Sadc-appointed facilitator.
He said Ms Zulu, who was last week quoted in some sections of the media as saying the preparations “are not looking good”, did not have any role and authority when it came to Zimbabwe.
The President lauded the African Union Peace and Security Council, which met in Ethiopia last Friday, for recognising the progress made in the march to the elections.
“And may I say that persistent negative voice from South Africa. . . could it please be stopped. I appeal to President Zuma to stop this woman of theirs from speaking on Zimbabwe.
“We were given one facilitator with one mouth and that is President Zuma himself; that’s the voice, the only voice we want to hear. Yesterday, it was President Thabo Mbeki who was facilitator and only his voice spoke, no other voice spoke.”
President Mugabe commended the AU Peace and Security Council for its position regarding the July 31 poll.
“We are happy that the Peace and Security Council which met yesterday in Addis Ababa said the election process is proceeding peacefully and they are encouraging us to continue like that.
“We thank Minister (Patrick) Chinamasa for informing them about the situation here, but there are NGOs, zvimbwasungata zvevasingadi kuti tibudirire, who had gone there to say, ‘Oh no, there is no money’. No, we are able to fund the process. We cannot fail to fund our election process. We may have difficulty in raising the money, but we will raise the money right up to the end.”
Cde Mugabe also urged Sadc to assist Zimbabwe to hold successful elections.
“As we go to elections, we expect our friends of Sadc, the African Union, to assist us in this process by encouraging us and where they are able to do so, materially, also helping us to fund the process.
“We do not expect Sadc countries to be raising lies about us and telling others that the situation in Zimbabwe is not peaceful; that the ground is not even. We are happy that most Sadc countries are encouraging us.”
Cde Mugabe also appealed to the people of Zimbabwe to desist from violence and instead embrace tolerance and peace during the election period.
“We expect you to correct the mistake of 2008 and to vote correctly. Let me assure you that we will try as much as possible to encourage our security forces to maintain peace.
You, yourselves, must not expect the police to impose that security on you.
“You must always be aware that it is necessary to be peaceful and more so now as we go to elections. You should not be accused of using pressure on anyone or forcing anyone of wanting to fight anybody, no! Don’t use violence.
“Use your vote; let your vote (be) the force of your will. Your vote will do for you what anything else cannot do and that is to get the people you want to be in government and get those you don’t want to be in government out of government.
If you vote you will kick them out so use your vote to get them out not force.”
President Mugabe said the MDC formations opposed elections because they did not want to get out of Government.
“If I were to go right across the country and ask the people to raise their hands, those of them who still want the inclusive Government. . . I think you are all fed up; you want this creature to go.
“I, who has been the President of it, wanted it to go yesterday, the day before yesterday, the day before the day before yesterday. We would have had elections after 18 months but oh no, the others would say, ‘oh no we have not fixed this, there is still that’, giving reasons to stop the elections.
“Why? Because some people who have never been voted for, who were now Members of Parliament and others who were even more than that, Members of Parliament and ministers of Government feared that an election would mean the end of the enjoyment they were having.
“And also Tsvangirai and others wanted longer periods.
“They had never been in Parliament before, never been in Government before and it was their first time. Ah 18 months, no not enough, we must find excuses. Okay, we have done three years, oh not enough we are not ready yet.
“Three years, we are not ready yet, four years, we are not ready yet. The Constitution said Members of Parliament can only exist for five years; Parliament can only have a life of five years, no more. “That’s what our Constitution said and we had to obey the Constitution of the country. The five years ended on the 29th of June.” President Mugabe said he had proclaimed July 31 as the election day because he did not want to disobey the laws of the country.
“Our court said we must have a new Parliament by the end of July and the President must make a proclamation to that effect. So, I had to make the proclamation in compliance with the courts.
“Even the President must obey what the courts say and so I made the proclamation. The court did not say make the proclamation for July 31 to be the day of election; it said you must make a proclamation that elections are going to be held not later than July. I could have chosen July 1, July 10, July 15, but I thought to give ourselves more time I should choose the last day.
“So, I said let me choose July 31. If July had 32 or more days I would have gone for the last day to give ourselves more chance.
“But you know the MDC still says no I have rushed the country into an election. But we could not disobey. We cannot go without Parliament.
“We need Parliament; Government must have Parliament to make laws. The Executive must make programmes that are based on the laws that are made, to execute affairs.
“That’s why it’s called the Executive. Then of course our courts, the Judiciary that one remains. It is not given time; only the judges retire after some time. But the Judiciary goes on. It is not voted for. So, you can see the lawless nature of this group called the MDC; they want to govern without Parliament.”
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU, ROBERT MUGABE, SADC
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(NEWZIMBABWE, SAPA) SA: Zulu remarks ‘unfortunate and unauthorised’
21/07/2013 00:00:00
by SAPA
RECENT comments made by members of President Zuma's technical team on the situation in Zimbabwe were "unfortunate", President Jacob Zuma’s office said on Sunday.
"The Presidency has noted with great concern, recent unfortunate statements made on the situation in Zimbabwe," Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement.
Maharaj said the comments were attributed to a team member supporting Zuma in his role as a facilitator, with South Africa appointed by Southern African Development Community (SADC) to offer assistance to help Zimbabwe's political parties resolve their differences.
Zuma's team comprised of Mozambique high commissioner Charles Nqakula as its head, Maharaj, and Lindiwe Zulu, international relations advisor to the president.
The AFP news agency reported on Friday that Zulu had said there were challenges leading up to the July 31 elections in Zimbabwe, following problems with early voting.
Reportedly thousands of Zimbabwean security forces could not make their mark in early voting with polling stations opening late, and lacking indelible ink, stamps, voter rolls, ballot papers, and boxes.
"If things didn't go right in the special vote, those things need to be looked into by the time of elections on July 31," Zulu said.
Maharaj said the technical team supported Zuma in his role as facilitator, could not impose its views on Zimbabwe, nor make public pronouncements.
"Only President Zuma has the mandate to speak on Zimbabwe on behalf of SADC on facilitation issues," Maharaj said.
"A number of statements have been made during the facilitation process which have been unauthorised and which are regrettable and unfortunate. Some of the utterances have also been inaccurate."
The presidency said reports stating Zuma had telephoned Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to express his unhappiness about election preparations were incorrect.
"No such telephone call has been made," said Maharaj.
Zuma had also been alerted to "inappropriate postings" in social media on the situation in Zimbabwe.
"South Africa remains fully committed to the warm historical relations with the Republic of Zimbabwe and wishes the people of Zimbabwe well as they prepare for the elections," said Maharaj.
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU, MAC MAHARAJ, ROBERT MUGABE
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(TALKZIMBABWE) Zuma’s letter of apology to President Mugabe
This article was written by Our reporter on 21 July, at 20 : 53 PM
The Presidency has noted with great concern, recent unfortunate statements made on the situation in Zimbabwe, which have been attributed to a member of the technical team supporting the Facilitator, President Jacob Zuma.
South Africa was appointed by SADC to assist the Zimbabwean political parties to resolve their differences.
The Facilitator, President Jacob Zuma, appointed a three person facilitation team to provide technical support. The team comprises Mr Charles Nqakula, High Commissioner to Mozambique as the Head, Mr Mac Maharaj, Special Envoy and spokesperson to the President and Ms Lindiwe Zulu, International Relations Advisor to the President.
The technical team supports the Facilitator and cannot impose its views on Zimbabwe nor make public pronouncements. Only President Zuma has the mandate to speak on Zimbabwe on behalf of SADC on facilitation issues.
A number of statements have been made during the facilitation process which have been unauthorised and which are regrettable and unfortunate. Some of the utterances have also been inaccurate.
The Presidency wishes to correct in particular the reports this weekend that President Zuma telephoned President Robert Mugabe to express his unhappiness about preparations for the Zimbabwean elections. No such telephone call has been made. The report is incorrect.
President Zuma has also been alerted to inappropriate postings in the social media on the Zimbabwean situation.
South Africa remains fully committed to the warm historical relations with the Republic of Zimbabwe and wishes the people of Zimbabwe well as they prepare for the elections.
Enquiries: Mac Maharaj 0798793203/ macmaharaj@icloud.com
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
21 July, 2013
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU, ROBERT MUGABE, SADC
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(TALKZIMBABWE) Lindiwe Zulu jumped gun on Zimbabwe: SA Presidency
This article was written by Our reporter on 21 July, at 20 : 07 PM
Recent comments made by members of President Jacob Zuma’s technical team on the situation in Zimbabwe were “unfortunate”, the South African presidency said on Sunday.
This follows a call by President Mugabe on Friday to rein in President Zuma’s adviser Lindiwe Zulu to stop comments on Zimbabwe as she was not mandated to do so. Only President Zuma is mandated by Sadc to facilitate the process in Zimbabwe.
“The Presidency has noted with great concern, recent unfortunate statements made on the situation in Zimbabwe,” spokesperson Mac Maharaj said in a statement.
Maharaj said the comments were attributed to a team member supporting Zuma in his role as a facilitator, with South Africa appointed by Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to offer assistance to help Zimbabwe’s political parties resolve their differences.
Zuma’s team comprised of Mozambique high commissioner Charles Nqakula as its head, Maharaj, and Lindiwe Zulu, international relations advisor to the president.
The AFP news agency reported on Friday that Zulu had said there were challenges leading up to the 31 July elections in Zimbabwe, following problems with early voting.
Some Zimbabwean security forces could not vote in a Special Vote process in early voting as there were challenges dealing with challenges filed by the MDC parties over nominations for aspiring MPs.
“If things didn’t go right in the special vote, those things need to be looked into by the time of elections on July 31,” Zulu said.
Maharaj said the technical team supported Zuma in his role as facilitator, could not impose its views on Zimbabwe, nor make public pronouncements. “Only President Zuma has the mandate to speak on Zimbabwe on behalf of SADC on facilitation issues,” Maharaj said.
“A number of statements have been made during the facilitation process which have been unauthorised and which are regrettable and unfortunate. Some of the utterances have also been inaccurate.”
The presidency said reports stating Zuma had telephoned Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to express his unhappiness about election preparations were incorrect. “No such telephone call has been made,” said Maharaj.
Zuma had also been alerted to “inappropriate postings” in social media on the situation in Zimbabwe. “South Africa remains fully committed to the warm historical relations with the Republic of Zimbabwe and wishes the people of Zimbabwe well as they prepare for the elections,” said Maharaj.
Labels: ANC, JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU, MAC MAHARAJ, SADC
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(NEWZIMBABWE, AFP) SA calls mini SADC summit on Zim
19/07/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter I Agencies
SOUTH Africa is on Saturday set host a mini-summit of SADC leaders ahead of Zimbabwe’s July 31 elections, to review and assess
worrying reports from the ground, a key adviser to President Jacob Zuma has said.
COMMENT - 'Worrying reports from the ground' - that is what those bought and paid for NGOs are about. This is why the foreign funding of NGOs is an assault on national sovereignty. - MrK
The presidents of Mozambique, Tanzania and Namibia will join Zuma, Sadc’s facilitator, during the choppy build-up to the presidential and parliamentary polls, at the meeting in Pretoria, Lindiwe Zulu said.
The announcement reflects mounting concern in the region about the risk of further political disorder in Zimbabwe, a fertile and resource-rich country which has declined steadily over the past 15 years. Millions of its citizens have migrated abroad, mostly as economic refugees to South Africa.
"The heads of state will go through the reports already coming in from the ground, from political parties and the Sadc election observers who started arriving this week," Zulu said. "Complaints are being made … but it’s difficult to assess them without a meeting."
Zulu was speaking after a one-day summit in Pretoria between South Africa and the European Union (EU).
Early this week Zulu revealed that President Zuma had phoned President Robert Mugabe to express his concern over preparations for the elections.
"We are concerned because things on the ground are not looking good," said Zulu.
The remarks drew fire from Zanu PF officials with politburo member and former information minister Jonathan Moyo dismissing Zulu as an MDC-T sympathiser.
“MDC-T sympathisers and supporters in President Zuma’s facilitation team are now coming out of their closets to openly show their support for the MDC-T by foolishly claiming that the situation on the ground is not looking good,” said Moyo.
“Fortunately for us, the elections are being held in terms of the rule of law. Observers on the ground who have been in the country since the processes started are better placed to make rational and sensible comments about the situation on the ground than Lindiwe Zulu.”
Moyo said Zulu’s remarks showed that President Zuma’s facilitation team had “effectively disqualified itself as an impartial” mediator.
“If that is true (what Zulu reportedly said) then they risk being permanently ignored and irrelevant. If they keep playing games then irrelevance shall come sooner than they imagine. It is undiplomatic for communication between heads of States to be peddled in the newspapers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, confirmed that if Sadc gave the elections a clean bill of health and all parties accepted the outcome, the EU would lift its remaining sanctions on Mugabe and key members of his Zanu (PF).
"If the elections are indeed peaceful, transparent and credible we look forward to a full normalisation of relations with Zimbabwe," Van Rompuy said.
Mugabe, 89, and in power with Zanu (PF) since independence in 1980, has banned observers from Europe and the US.
If this is an objective report, why do they mention the age of President Mugabe? But not the age of everyone else? - MrK
Sadc and African Union observers will be the world’s eyes on the elections. The opposition MDC parties and civil rights activists in Zimbabwe have voiced concern that the elections will not be free and fair.
Those worried about the conduct of the elections have argued that the reform needed for the elections to be free and fair had not taken place. The reforms they had called for included changes to the electoral commission and the state media.
Further, they had wanted guarantees that the security forces would conduct themselves in a non-partisan and professional manner during the elections.
The reforms the opposition and rights activists have been clamouring for were part of the power-sharing agreement in place since 2009.
So far, there have been no signs of the extreme anti-MDC violence witnessed in the 2008 polls. But organisational problems and allegations of an inflated voters’ roll marred special voting by the security forces last weekend.
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU, ROBERT MUGABE, SADC
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Mugabe tells Zuma to silence spiky aide
Losing patience ... South Africa's Jacob Zuma with President Robert Mugabe
21/07/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has told South African counterpart Jacob Zuma to gag his outspoken subordinate Lindiwe Zulu who has continued to irritate the Zanu PF hierarchy publicly expressing concern about preparations this month’s polls.
Mugabe told a televised star rally in Gwanda, Matabeleland South province that poll preparations were in fact proceeding smoothly and called on his peers in both SADC and the African Union to stop pandering to the whims of the hostile West.
“As we go to elections we expect our friends of SADC, the African Union to assist us in this process by encouraging us and where they are able to do so, then materially also help us to fund the process,” Mugabe said.
“We do not expect SADC countries to be raising lies about us and telling others that the situation in Zimbabwe is not peaceful, that the ground is not even.”
Mugabe said not all countries in the region had problems with the manner in which his administration was managing the run-up to the July 31 harmonised elections.
The Zanu PF leader further shot down claims by Finance Minister Tendai Biti that the country was too broke to run the watershed election.
“We are happy that most SADC countries are encouraging us,” Mugabe said in his customarily long addresses, which went on for nearly two hours.
“We are happy also that the Peace and Security Council which met yesterday in Addis Ababa … to look at our election process, we are happy that they say the election process is proceeding peacefully and they are encouraging us to continue like that.
“We sent (Justice Minister Patrick) Chinamasa to inform them or about the situation here but there are NGOs zvimbasungata zvevasingade kuti tibudirire who had gone there to say ‘oh no, there is no money’! No! We are able to fund the process.
“We cannot fail to fund our election process. We may have difficulty in raising the money but we will raise the money right up to the end.”
Mugabe then turned on to Lindiwe Zulu, President Zuma’s international relations advisor and member of South African leader’s backroom facilitation staff.
“And may l say that persistent negative voice from South Africa, could it please be stopped and l appeal to President Zuma to stop this woman of theirs on speaking on Zimbabwe," he said.
"There is a facilitator, we were given a facilitator with one mouth and that is President Zuma himself. That is the only voice we want to hear.
“Yesterday it was (former) President Thabo Mbeki who was facilitator and only his voice spoke. No other voice spoke. I don’t want to go far today.”
Since Mugabe's acerbic comments about her some two weeks ago, Zulu has continued to make public comments on the situation in Zimbabwe, seemingly unnerved by the veteran leader’s apparent rancour towards her.
Speaking during the launch of his election campaign and manifesto in Harare a fortnight ago, Mugabe spitted venom, describing Zulu as “an idiotic street woman”.
But Mugabe’s opponents in MDC have praised Zulu’s conduct which they find helpful in stalling Mugabe’s bid to rig the vote.
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU, ROBERT MUGABE, SADC
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(NEWZIMBABWE, AFP) Zuma’s aide ramps up Zim vote pressure
19/07/2013 00:00:00
by AFP
SOUTH Africa's chief envoy on Zimbabwe's political crisis conceded on Friday there were challenges in the run-up to key polls, a day before regional mediators meet to discuss the vote. Yet the African Union said free and fair elections, due at the end of the month, are possible.
Thousands of security forces could not
draw their mark in chaotic early voting three weeks before the 31 July elections to end a four-year unity government.
"The process has got challenges, we can't deny that because we've seen what info has been coming out during the special vote," said Lindiwe Zulu, who heads the mediation process after deadly polls in 2008.
During early voting on Sunday and Monday polling stations opened late and many lacked indelible ink, stamps, voter rolls and ballot papers and boxes.
"If things didn't go right in the special vote, those things need to be looked into by the time of elections on 31 July," Zulu told AFP.
But the African Union after its Peace and Security Council meeting on Friday said it was possible to have fair elections.
"According to our observers on the ground we believe that it is possible to have free and fair elections in Zimbabwe," said Aisha Abdullahi, AU commissioner for political affairs on Zimbabwe.
"But we cannot guarantee that it will be the most perfect or optimum of situations," he said after an AU peace and security council meeting.
"The environment in Zimbabwe so far reassures us that the conditions are good for the election to be held on 31 July," he said.
MDC-T leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said this week's "disorganised" early vote showed the country's election commission was not up to the task.
With the vote due in less than two weeks, the country is still trying to raise the $132m budget required to fund it.
"We are doing everything we can to make sure that we have the sufficient resources to fund the elections," Finance Minister Tendai Biti told journalists in Harare.
"I am very positive that we will get the money," admitting that "we do not have the resources at the present moment".
Biti had previously declared that the country had no money to fund the crucial elections, and launching an international appeal for finance.
In April, the cash-strapped country withdrew its funding appeal to the United Nations.
Early this year the government had to borrow money from local firms to pay for the referendum on a new constitution.
"We are getting no joy from diamond monies. Over $400m have been sold of diamonds just in the first quarter of the year, [but] nothing has come to treasury," said Biti.
Leaders of regional mediator the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will meet in South Africa on Saturday to discuss the upcoming elections.
The 15-member block brokered the power-sharing deal between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in 2009, a year after around 200 opposition members were killed in election-related violence.
But there is no love lost between Mugabe and the SADC at the moment.
He threatened to leave the bloc if it meddled in Zimbabwean affairs and scolded South Africa's top diplomat "stupid and idiotic" in an election rally earlier July.
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU, ROBERT MUGABE, SADC
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(TALKZIMBABWE) Rein in Lindiwe Zulu, Mugabe tells Zuma
This article was written by Our reporter on 21 July, at 16 : 30 PM
PRESIDENT Mugabe has appealed to his South African counterpart, President Jacob Zuma, to rein in his international relations advisor, Lindiwe Zulu (pictured), over the negative and misleading pronouncements she continues to make on Zimbabwe’s preparations for the July 31 harmonised elections.
Addressing over 20,000 Zanu-PF supporters at a Zanu-PF star rally in Gwanda yesterday, President Mugabe said Harare recognises President Zuma in his personal capacity as the Sadc-appointed facilitator.
He said Lindiwe Zulu, who was last week quoted in some sections of the media as saying the preparations “are not looking good”, did not have any role and authority when it came to Zimbabwe.
The President lauded the African Union Peace and Security Council, which met in Ethiopia last Friday, for recognizing the progress made in the progress to the elections.
“And may I say that persistent negative voice from South Africa … could it please be stopped. I appeal to President Zuma to stop this woman of theirs from speaking on Zimbabwe.
“We were given one facilitator with one mouth and that is President Zuma himself; that’s the voice, the only voice we want to hear.
“Yesterday, it was President Thabo Mbeki who was facilitator and only his voice spoke, no other voice spoke.”
President Mugabe commended the AU Peace and Security Council for its position regarding the July 31 poll.
“We are happy that the Peace and Security Council which met yesterday in Addis Ababa said the election process is proceeding peacefully and they are encouraging us to continue like that.
“We thank Minister (Patrick) Chinamasa for informing them about the situation here, but there are NGOs, zvimbwasungata zvevasingadi kuti tibudirire, who had gone there to say, ‘Oh no, there is no money’. No, we are able to fund the process.
“We cannot fail to fund our election process. We may have difficulty in raising the money, but we will raise the money right up to the end.”
President Mugabe also urged Sadc to assist Zimbabwe to hold successful elections.
“As we go to elections, we expect our friends of Sadc, the African Union, to assist us in this process by encouraging us and where they are able to do so, materially, also helping us to fund the process.
“We do not expect Sadc countries to be raising lies about us and telling others that the situation in Zimbabwe is not peaceful; that the ground is not even. We are happy that most Sadc countries are encouraging us.”
Mugabe also appealed to the people of Zimbabwe to desist from violence and instead embrace tolerance and peace during the election period.
“We expect you to correct the mistake of 2008 and to vote correctly. Let me assure you that we will try as much as possible to encourage our security forces to maintain peace.
You, yourselves, must not expect the police to impose that security on you.
“You must always be aware that it is necessary to be peaceful and more so now as we go to elections. You should not be accused of using pressure on anyone or forcing anyone of wanting to fight anybody, no! Don’t use violence.
“Use your vote; let your vote (be) the force of your will. Your vote will do for you what anything else cannot do and that is to get the people you want to be in government and get those you don’t want to be in government out of government.
If you vote you will kick them out so use your vote to get them out not force.”
President Mugabe said the MDC formations opposed elections because they did not want to get out of Government.
“If I were to go right across the country and ask the people to raise their hands, those of them who still want the inclusive Government … I think you are all fed up; you want this creature to go.
“I, who has been the President of it, wanted it to go yesterday, the day before yesterday, the day before the day before yesterday. We would have had elections after 18 months but oh no, the others would say, ‘oh no we have not fixed this, there is still that’, giving reasons to stop the elections.
“Why? Because some people who have never been voted for, who were now Members of Parliament and others who were even more than that, Members of Parliament and ministers of Government feared that an election would mean the end of the enjoyment they were having.
“And also Tsvangirai and others wanted longer periods.
“They had never been in Parliament before, never been in Government before and it was their first time. Ah 18 months, no not enough, we must find excuses. Okay, we have done three years, oh not enough we are not ready yet.
“Three years, we are not ready yet, four years, we are not ready yet. The Constitution said Members of Parliament can only exist for five years; Parliament can only have a life of five years, no more.
“That’s what our Constitution said and we had to obey the Constitution of the country. The five years ended on the 29th of June.”
President Mugabe said he had proclaimed July 31 as the election day because he did not want to disobey the laws of the country.
“Our court said we must have a new Parliament by the end of July and the President must make a proclamation to that effect. So, I had to make the proclamation in compliance with the courts.
“Even the President must obey what the courts say and so I made the proclamation. The court did not say make the proclamation for July 31 to be the day of election; it said you must make a proclamation that elections are going to be held not later than July. I could have chosen July 1, July 10, July 15, but I thought to give ourselves more time I should choose the last day.
“So, I said let me choose July 31. If July had 32 or more days I would have gone for the last day to give ourselves more chance.
“But you know the MDC still says no I have rushed the country into an election. But we could not disobey. We cannot go without Parliament.
“We need Parliament; Government must have Parliament to make laws. The Executive must make programmes that are based on the laws that are made, to execute affairs.
“That’s why it’s called the Executive. Then of course our courts, the Judiciary that one remains. It is not given time; only the judges retire after some time. But the Judiciary goes on. It is not voted for. So, you can see the lawless nature of this group called the MDC; they want to govern without Parliament.”
Sunday Mail-TZG
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), JACOB ZUMA, LINDIWE ZULU, ROBERT MUGABE, SADC
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