Index
index a week in pictures It happened overnight South Africa Africa WorlD Business LIFE, ETC Sport
monday – 19 september 2011
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a week in pictures
thursDAY – 15 september 2011
a week in pictures
colombia
Male lion Tyson receives dental treatment at a veterinary clinic in Medellin September 15, 2011. Tyson is a 20-year-old lion living at Santafe Zoo in Medellin. REUTERS/Albeiro Lopera
MONDAY – 19 september 2011
a week in pictures
argentina
A local rural worker stands near a carcass in a field covered with ash from Chile's PuyehueCordon Caulle volcano chain, which has been in a state of eruption since June 4, in the mountain resort of San Martin de Los Andes in Argentina's Patagonia region September 15, 2011. During recent weeks, the mortality of cattle and wild deer has increased with necropsies showing lesions in the respiratory and digestive tracts believed to come from consuming and inhaling ash, government agronomist Maria Rosa Contreras told local media. REUTERS/Patricio Contreras
MONDAY – 19 september 2011
a week in pictures
libya
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (2ndR) shake hands with people in the crowd in Benghazi September 15, 2011. President Sarkozy and prime minister Cameron travel to Libya, making stops in Tripoli and Benghazi, the first visit by foreign leaders since the toppling of the former regime. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
MONDAY – 19 september 2011
a week in pictures
us
Judge Simon Cowell jokingly holds the nose of judge Paula Abdul as they arrive for the world premiere of the television series "The X Factor" at the Arclight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California September 14, 2011. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
MONDAY – 19 september 2011
a week in pictures
yemen
An anti-government protester shouts slogans during a rally to demand the ouster of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa September 15, 2011. The writing on the face writing reads: "Syria" REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
MONDAY – 19 september 2011
a week in pictures
US
Models perform outside the Lincoln Center, the venue for New York Fashion Week September 14, 2011. REUTERS/Kena Betancur
MONDAY – 19 september 2011
a week in pictures
libya
Anti-Gaddafi fighters advance south-west of Sirte, one of Muammar Gaddafi's last remaining strongholds September 15, 2011. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
MONDAY – 19 september 2011
a week in pictures
palestine
Palestinian children play outside a shop in Jenin refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Jenin September 15, 2011. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Wednesday "no retreat" from plans to seek full U.N. membership for a Palestinian state next week, despite a last minute diplomatic push from the United States and European Union to dissuade him. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
MONDAY – 19 september 2011
IT HAPPENED OVERNIGHT
thursDAY – 15 september 2011
it happened overnight
briefs
Dominique Strauss-Kahn (Reuters)
Politics Germany Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) alliance is set to lose a state election in Berlin according to preliminary results. Her coalition partner, the Free Democrats (FDP), fell below the percentage of the vote to gives them a seat in the city’s legislature. In spite of this, the CDU increased its share of the vote from 21.3% to 23%. Speculation is that the FDP may turn on its pro-European stance, a key political point for Merkel, in order to resuscitate itself. UK Business secretary Vince Cable will force British companies
to publish more details about their executive pay to fix a “disconnect” between what executives take home and the fortunes of their companies. This follows Liberal Democrat plans against ruling out taxes on the wealthiest Britons, a sticking point in its governing alliance with the Conservatives. It will be interesting to see if this actually materialises or whether the Lib Dems are merely posturing to revive the collapse of their party’s poll ratings since joining government. Libya Unsurprisingly, Libya’s new leadership body, the transitional national council, failed to set up a cabinet on
Sunday to lead the interim government until elections can be set up. Some factions claim the country needs to be “liberated” before this can happen, while others disagree on appointments. The rebel government’s former cabinet was dissolved last month. France In his first interview since he was not prosecuted under a charge of rape in New York, Dominique Strauss-Kahn told France’s TF1 station that although his encounter with Nafissatou Diallo did not involve violence, it was still a moral failing on his part. Strauss-Kahn also repeated his denial against attempted rape accusations from French writer Tristane Banon and said he will be
fridAY - 16 september 2011
it happened overnight
briefs Yemen Twenty-six protestors were killed in the capital city of Sanaa as government forces opened fire on tens of thousands of protestors. Protests have resumed after a long stand-off with the government, particularly as President Ali Abdullah Saleh, currently still in Saudi Arabia recovering from an attack on his presidential compound in June, keeps delaying reforms.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Reuters)
taking legal action against her. The case continues in France. Nigeria The state security service in Nigeria has offered a $160,000 reward for any information about the attack in the United Nations headquarters in Lagos in August, for which terrorist group Boko Haram claimed responsibility. A government statement said the attack was masterminded by a man named Mamman Nur, and the reward would be given to anyone who had details which could lead to his capture. Israel A last-ditch effort to sway Palestine from seeking statehood at a United Nations meeting began in New York on Sunday, attended by the usual negating representatives: the USA, Russia, the European
Union and the UK. This is contrary to a statement from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Friday in which he confirmed that he would seek to obtain full UN membership. The US confirmed it will veto such a resolution. Turkey Deputy prime minister Besir Atalay told state-run news agency Anatolian that Turkey would freeze diplomatic relations with the European Union if the biannual rotating presidency of the body was given to southern (Greek) Cyprus in July 2012 as scheduled. Turkey is currently unhappier with the Cypriot government, which it doesn’t recognise, than usual as it is in negotiations with Israel to harvest natural gas off its coastline, a territory to which Turkey lays claim.
Business Senegal The Senegalese government has successfully borrowed $560 million from a range of banks to finance a new airport outside its capital, Dakar. This is in an effort to reduce traffic at its current air traffic centre and to boost Dakar as a regional hub. South African Airways used to stop at Dakar on its Johannesburg-New York City route, but ceased this in May.
Sport UK Football: Manchester United beat Chelsea 3-1 (Smalling 8, Nani 37, Rooney 45; Torres 46) and top the table in dominating fixture at Old Trafford. While the score line correctly reflects that United were the better team, Chelsea still had 21 shots
fridAY - 16 september 2011
it happened overnight
briefs
at goal, including a Torres miss at an open net with seven minutes remaining. In other British football news, the Old Firm Derby ended in a 4-2 win for Rangers at Ibrox which sent them four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League. Sunderland dominated Stoke City 4-0 and Tottenham Hotspur hammered Liverpool by the same margin with Emmanuel Adebayor netting twice on his home debut. Manchester City dropped two points at Fulham who fought back to secure a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage. Italy Football: Champions AC Milan were beaten 3-1 away at Napoli, failing to take advantage of the 0-0 draw between Roma and Inter on Saturday, as Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick while Juventus carried on their good start to the season with a 1-0 win at Siena.
Manchester United beats Chelsea (Reuters)
Palmgren from the Durban Warriors. This comes as AmaZulu haven’t won in 16 games and a 1-0 loss to Swallows on Saturday seemingly sealed Mnqithi’s fate.
France Football: Olympique Lyon beat Marseilles 2-0 in a tabletopping win at home while new big spenders Paris Saint Germain earned a draw at Evian Thonon Gaillar. The permutations put Lyon at the top of the table with Marseilles and Toulouse a point back
International Tennis: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have both complained about the international tennis schedule after winning David Cup ties this last weekend – five days after the US Open. Murray complained about the mandatory events outside the Masters Series and Grand Slams and said he may not play in the Davis Cup next year as a result. Nadal has refused to rule out strike action unless the schedule is revised.
South Africa Football: AmaZulu announced Manqoba Mnqithi has been replaced as coach by Roger
USA Golf: Justin Rose played an absolute Hail Mary of a final round as he squandered a
five-shot lead before missing four out of five fairways and five out of seven greens on the back nine and still winning the BMW Championship by a shot over John Senden. On the 17th Rose holed a 35-foot birdie chip, which earned him a two-shot lead and an evenpar round of 71. Spain Football: Ten-man Real Madrid were stunned by Levante who conceded seven bookings themselves, but netted via the boot of Arouna Kone. Barcelona, which nailed eight against Osasuna on Saturday, would have looked on with glee. Netherlands Cycling: Robert Geskink of Team Rabobank will miss the Giro di Lombardia and the rest of the cycling season
fridAY - 16 september 2011
it happened overnight
briefs
Mad Men wins The Best Drama Serries at Emmys (Reuters)
after he crashed on Sunday and fractured his leg. He will have surgery on Monday at a hospital in Doetinchem.
Life USA “Mad Men” won the Emmy for Best Drama Series while Juliana Margulies won Best Actress in a Drama Series for “The Good Wife” and Kyle Chandler took the male equivalent for his role in “Friday Night Lights”. “Modern Family” cleaned up in the comedies, winning Best Comedy Series, Best Supporting Actress (Julie
Bowen), Best Supporting Actor (Ty Burrell), Best Director (Michael Spiller) and Writing (Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman). The Best Actor and Actress in a Comedy awards went to Jim Parsons in “The Big Bang Theory” and Melissa McCarthy for “Mike & Molly”. Alec Baldwin pulled out of the Emmys after a joke about the Rupert Murdoch phonehacking scandal was edited out of a video segment, which was meant to open the show. The broadcaster of the Emmys is Fox. Fox has reshot Baldwin’s script with Leonard Nimoy. Deadline reports that Baldwin walked out not because his joke was cut, but because it
would affect continuity in the scripting (right…) and Fox said the joke was pulled because it didn’t want to be seen making light of phone-hacking (right…). India A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck northern India and Nepal on Sunday, killing 19 people, including three people in Kathmandu who were crushed when a wall at the British embassy fell on them. Two buildings collapsed in the northern Indian state of Sikkim and six people died, but this toll has since risen. Rescue efforts have been hampered by landslides, compounded by recent flooding.
fridAY - 16 september 2011
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SOUTH AFRICA
thursDAY – 15 september 2011
south africa
briefs
Malema disciplinary postponed, again The ANC has postponed the disciplinary hearing of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema to 6 October. The hearing has been postponed at least three times so far. The latest postponement is due to the unavailability of the parties, according to Sunday’s statement by the chair of the disciplinary committee, Derek Hanekom. Malema is expected to call further witnesses when the hearing resumes in October, with final arguments to be presented on 8 October.
Campaigner: Arms deal commission should be independent Terry Crawford-Browne, the man who has been campaigning to have a new investigation instituted into the multi-billion rand arms deal, has vowed to take the matter back to court if the recently announced commission of inquiry is not independent. Meanwhile,
State security minister Siyabonga Cwele (Reuters)
the Sunday Times reported that President Zuma has approached former Constitutional Court Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo to head up the commission of inquiry.
Hawks investigation nabs senior Durban policemen The Sunday Tribune reported that Hawks investigator Johan Booysens and his team have received threats from a syndicate under investigation for a R60 million fraud scheme over police travel and accommodation. The investigation centres around senior police officers who it is said colluded with Durban policeman Thosan Pillay to inflate travel and accommodation quotes by as much as 400%, according to the report. The state on
Friday opposed Colonel Navin Madhoe’s bail application at the commercial crimes court, naming him as part of the syndicate within the South African Police Service. Madhoe had attempted to bribe Booysens with R1.4 million in exchange for spoiling evidence in the case against him.
Spygate allegations grow to involve Zuma The Democratic Alliance’s parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said in a statement on Sunday that the party would ask the inspector general of intelligence, Faith Radebe, to investigate President Zuma’s possible involvement in the abuse of state security apparatus. Trollip was responding to a Mail & Guardian report that alleged
mondAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
briefs ConCourt justices refuse to hear Hlophe misconduct case
that state security minister Siyabonga Cwele had told Gibson Njenje, head of the State Security Agency’s domestic branch, to spy on ANC politicians opposed to Zuma.
South African to head Gates Foundation health programme Trevor Mundel, a South African Wits University graduate, has been named as the head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s global health programme. Mundel is currently the head of development for Novartis Pharma in Switzerland. In a statement on Sunday, Wits University hailed the appointment as evidence that South African universities can still produce global leaders, despite the challenges faced by the country’s education system.
Court to rule on NUM interdict over unilateral 7% Eskom wage increase The Labour Court is to rule on Monday on an urgent application brought by the National Union of Mineworks to prevent Eskom from unilaterally implementing a 7% wage increase. The union marched to Eskom on Saturday in protest, and said in a statement on Sunday that it will not budge from its demands which include a 13% wage increase.
General Bheki Cele (Reuters)
Cele: SAPS leases based on genuine need Speaking at a South African National Editors’ Forum event in Cape Town on Friday, police commissioner General Bheki Cele denied any wrongdoing in the police building leases which received a damning review from the Public Protector. He said that the police’s requirement for new buildings in Pretoria and Durban were based on genuine need and denied having had any relationship with businessman Roux Shabangu prior to his being appointed SAPS landlord in Pretoria by the Department of Public Works.
According to a Sunday Independent report, three Constitutional Court judges have refused to hear the case of misconduct against Western Cape Judge John Hlophe. The report cited Hlophe’s lawyer, Barnabas Xulu, who said that he is attempting to find out who the three judges were. Hlophe had applied to have the case against him, relating to judicial interference in Zuma’s corruption trial, heard by acting Constitutional Court judges as all the current judges had been involved directly in his case.
Zuma’s trip to UN assembly with two wives causing headache City Press reported that President Zuma will be taking two of his wives to New York to attend the UN General Assembly this week. According to a report citing insider accounts of events, Zuma’s fiancée Bongi NgemaZuma was to accompany the president, but Thobeka Madiba, the president’s third wife, made her own arrangements to also travel to New York. The situation is apparently causing a diplomatic, logistic and security-arrangements nightmare.
mondAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
soweto
Death and service delivery in Soweto On Friday a man died a (presumably) lonely death on the outskirts of Soweto, seemingly electrocuted by one of many illegal wires tapping electricity for use by a squatter camp. He won't be the last either, one way or another, not even if the lessons in his death are heeded. By PHILLIP DE WET. About halfway between Chiawelo (where residents are demanding cheaper electricity and using illegal bridging connections to get it) and Themb'elihle (where residents are demanding formal grid connections and have used illegal connections in the interim) lay the body of a man, hidden from sight by beds of reeds and slowly sinking into the marshy ground. He was found that way, seemingly untouched but stone dead, just a hands-reach
away from a naked electrical cable running centimetres above the soil. All may not be as it seems. Neighbours describe in lurid detail a love triangle in which the dead man found himself, and variously speculate that his death may have been suicide or something more sinister, with a plausible explanation provided to throw police off the Photo: Phillip de Wet for iMaverick.
monDAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
scent. Whatever the official finding in the end, some will never believe this death to have been accidental. But if he did not stumble and land with his hand on just the wrong spot, it is simply tragedy delayed. Others will almost certainly die in this place. In the squatter camp a couple of hundred metres away, TV antennas perch on roofs, sharing space with overhead power cables that feed into shacks. Trace those power cables back for a kilometre and a half, and you go through an area of marsh, past the dead man, over a broad, running stream, up a hill and end up at a gaping hole in a streetlight pole where an access hatch used to be. Along the way you'll see any number of exposed stretches of wire, open splits and joins and only very occasional (and failed)
soweto
attempts to either bury the wire or insulate it. Even in full sunlight and knowing their exact location, these open wires can be almost impossible to follow through the grass, as they cross footpaths used by locals and their children. In the dark you'd stand no chance whatsoever. And the times at which they are not carrying current – such as when they are disconnected by police recovering a body – are few and far between. "Come back tonight," one local told us. "These people go away, maybe 10 minutes, then we'll have power again." Many echoed that sentiment throughout the morning: power is a basic necessity, there is no other way of obtaining it, so somebody will tap into the grid as it runs past the settlement. Then, as is the case in many other communities, he who runs the
Photo: Phillip de Wet for iMaverick.
monDAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
soweto
Photo: Phillip de Wet for iMaverick.
cable and maintains it may sell electricity on to neighbours. This isn't a charity state, after all. Mothers in particular will admit that yes, the festoon of wires may be dangerous, but point out that the number of shack fires rapidly dwindle when there are fewer paraffin stoves in use. Fathers are more likely to talk about opportunity. "I don't want my kids to live here," one says. "When they have light they can study at night and get smart so they can leave. I want to be able to pay to buy that for them, but I don't have a connection so I can't get the power. I have to steal it." It is a set of arguments you can hear in scores of communities that do not yet have formal power connections. Like many of them, this camp is utterly unsuited for development; some shacks will be flooded by the nearby stream this summer and there are no roads big enough to admit emergency vehicles, just for starters. But people live here, and have lived here for a long
time, and anticipate being here for some time, and are determined to make the best of their situation while they are. In Chiawelo, meanwhile, just a stream and a railway track away, residents are gearing up for what they say will be a long series of marches and protest actions. Chiawelo has a formal power supply for each house, but residents say they can no longer afford the high rates. So they wage a never-ending battle, using bridging connections to bypass prepaid electricity metres, which are removed, then replaced, then made redundant when the entire area's supply is switched off, until street protests sees it restored. The pattern is familiar and escalation slow, but there is no resolution in sight. Nor are there coverings for the holes residents cut into supposedly tamper-proof distribution boxes, making them as dangerous for curious children playing in the street as the open wires running through the veld just down the road.
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south africa
UN/US
Zuma & co take on New York Domestic discord aside, when he gets to New York City, President Zuma carries the interests of the nation and the continent on his shoulders at the United Nations General Assembly. He is due to discuss progress on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which South Africa is not faring very well on. Also on the agenda is the global financial and economic crisis – the most immediate impact on South Africa has been in employment – and climate change. South Africa is hosting a little shindig on climate change in Durban in November and it would help if the powers that be pitch up to talk about how we intend to stop the world from going up in smoke. Zuma will also discuss reform of international institutions which includes the UN itself – the UN has seemingly lost track of its original mandate to be a forum for the prevention of war and the maintenance of peace. Of course promoting the African agenda is central to South African foreign policy – we’ll sort out our own messes, thank you very much. The situation in the Middle East is a major issue at the UN General Assemby this year and we’re with the Palestinians on this one. When he addresses the General Assembly on Wednesday, Zuma will chastise the US, Nato and anybody else that has been meddling in other nations’ affairs with a speech titled, “The role of mediation in the settlement of disputes by peaceful means”. When he’s done flaying the world for their meddling ways, he’ll move on to Wall Street where he will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. President Zuma will also be using the sidelines of the General Assembly to join the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council. The AU meeting will seek to knock out kinks in the response to the Libyan war and hopefully emerge with “a united African position”. Once his work in New York is done, the President will leave for Houston, Texas where he is due to be awarded an honorary degree by the Texas Southern University.
Before he touched down in New York City, President Jacob Zuma had already grabbed the headlines for travelling with two “spouses”. As protocol advisers scurry to prevent a diplomatic gaffe, the President does have more important business in the Big Apple than choosing which of his wives to take along to dinner with the Obamas. KHADIJA PATEL discovers what else Msholozi will be getting up to on his trip to the land of the free and fair.
Read more:
1. South Africa: President Zuma Departs for United Nations General Assembly in All Africa 2. Zuma heading to UN general assembly in iOL News 3. Zuma takes 2 'wives' to US in News24
monDAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
WikiLeaks wants information to be free, but getting Assange to talk is costly There were rumours at the Pacai conference that Julian Assange was set to participate in a panel via video link-up, but his exorbitant speaking fee of 10,000 euros meant this was never going to happen. By THERESA MALLINSON.
Photo: REUTERS
wikileaks
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, currently under “mansion arrest” at Ellingham Hall, was approached by the organisers of the Pan-African Conference on Access to Information to speak at the event via video link-up. If you didn't guess from its name, Pacai, a sister conference to Highway Africa, is host to about 220 journalists, lawyers, media activists, and government ministers from around Africa, and the world, discussing and debating issues around access to information. Assange was asked to participate in a panel on Sunday afternoon titled “Exemptions and Secrecy in the WikiLeaks Era”. Professor Guy Berger told iMaverick: “His agent in Ireland said that for appearances, their starting point to negotiate is €10,000.” That would be more than R100,000. None of the other speakers at the not-for-profit conference – including UN representatives, government officials, and people who have been fighting for access to information and a free media since Assange was in nappies – were paid speaking fees. Like both President Jacob Zuma and former US president Jimmy Carter, Assange could easily have taped a short video message to be broadcast at the event, which means he wouldn't even have had the hassle of engaging in a live-streaming conversation. This wasn't just any old conference, but a forum for debate about the very issues that Assange claims to trumpet. It's a pity he seems to care about his bank balance more than his principles. Considering that WikiLeaks is now auctioning Assange's personal effects on eBay in a desperate attempt to raise funds, we'd hazard a guess that not many organisations are coughing up that €10,000 virtual appearance fee.
monDAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
secrecy bill
Secrecy bill: to be or not to be – we’re about to find out The highly controversial Protection of Information Bill could be placed on ice on Tuesday when it is tabled in the National Assembly, following a dramatic last-minute about-turn by ruling party leaders, indicating that pressure by groups like the Right2Know campaign, which marched against the bill this weekend, and more significantly, the ANC’s ally Cosatu, has paid off. By OSIAME MOLEFE and CARIEN DU PLESSIS. Whether it is fair to parallel the ANC-led government’s apparent zeal for secrecy and its critical view of the media to that of the apartheid-era government’s became moot on Saturday as a crowd of over 1,500 people took part in the Right2Know campaign’s march against the so-dubbed “secrecy bill”. Singing
liberation struggle songs, the crowd marched from the historic District Six area to the foot of the Louis Botha statue outside Parliament. And the ANC might just have been listening. In a rare move, the ruling party has called its Photo: Osiame Molefe for iMaverick
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south africa
At its meeting in Pretoria over the weekend, the committee apparently decided that the bill should, after all, not be passed this week, but debated just a wee bit further within the alliance structures. MPs into Parliament on a Monday afternoon for an hour-long caucus about the bill, after which a press conference is scheduled. This indicates that a big announcement could be in the offing, something members of the party’s national executive committee confirmed (but they didn’t want to go on the record or talk much about it before MPs are officially informed). At its meeting in Pretoria over the weekend, the committee apparently decided that the bill should, after all, not be passed this week, but debated just a wee bit further within the alliance structures. This move is likely to be aimed at appeasing Cosatu, which has supported this weekend’s march and indicated that it would support a constitutional challenge to the bill if need be. The ANC, which is being torn apart by internal battles in the run-up to its elective conference in December next year, apparently needs all
secrecy bill
the goodwill it can get, and it’s willing to go to some length to get it. One ANC insider, who wasn’t privy to this weekend’s decision, said a much quicker way would be to pass the bill through the houses of Parliament and then for Zuma to refer it back due to constitutional concerns. But perhaps the ANC didn’t want to risk a possibly divisive vote in the National Assembly, or didn’t want to risk alienating Cosatu further. Still, a move to reverse the passing of the bill would be contrary to the party’s dogged determination to date to see it passed. The bill has come a long way since it was first introduced. According to the Right2Know campaign, it still fails the freedom test in few major ways. For one, it lacks an independent review mechanism for classified information. As it stands, appeals for declassification are heard only by the minister of state security who classified the information in the first place. Another significant issue is that the bill does not protect those who disclose classified information in the public interest. Despite arguments to the contrary, ANC MP Lewellyn Landers insisted during the parliamentary committee debates on the bill that the public interest defence is a thinly veiled attempt to allow journalists to publish classified information. He said journalists, like everyone else, should apply to the minister to declassify information if they felt publishing it would be for the public good. Constitutional law professor Pierre de Vos told the Daily Maverick that the debate over the public interest defence is not a rational argument because the protection afforded by the public interest defence extends
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south africa
beyond journalists and protects ordinary whistleblowers. He said, “It has become an emotional argument because people feel the media is exposing some of the things they do and criticising them too harshly. And that is why the majority party doesn’t want it”. The effect of the current bill on whistleblowers is still so severe that it may not stand up to constitutional challenge, according to de Vos. At an academics on freedom seminar at earlier in the week, UCT vice-chancellor Dr Max Price and head of philosophy Professor David Benatar suggested that the problem may lie in the possible misinterpretation of public interest as something in which the
secrecy bill
public is interested – which could be anything. But de Vos and Murray Hunter, Right2Know coordinator, suggest that the ANC understand fully what a public interest defence means and are refusing to include it in the bill to silence the media at a cost to the ordinary citizen. Former minister intelligence services Ronnie Kasrils also spoke outside Parliament on Saturday and expressed the same view. He said, “This all-embracing secrecy bill is not about the real secrecies that must be defended. It is to (protect) those silly leaders who have eggs on their face, who have been exposed by media for doing foolish and embarrassing things.”
Photo: Jonathan Shapiro, Nic Dawes, Sindiwe Magona, Mondli Makhanya and Ronnie Kasrils (Osiame Molefe for iMaverick)
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south africa
secrecy bill
Photo: Osiame Molefe for iMaverick.
Activist Zackie Achmat urged Saturday’s crowd to break any law that is unjust. He and Kasrils likened the Right2Know campaign to the many campaigns against apartheid-era secrecy. This accusation – of being like the pigs in Orwell’s Animal farm, whether an overstatement or not and coming from two anti-apartheid activists – should strike a nerve for those within the ANC who fought against the very thing they are now accused of becoming. But Animal Farm tells us that this may be of no use. The pigs who dared speak out against the changes within their ranks were driven out, silenced and executed. Eventually no one could tell the pigs from the oppressive humans.
The diversity of the group – religious leaders, civil society organisations, members of the media, artists, writers, community organisations, students – underlined how broad a cross-section of the population believe they will be affected by the bill. But not all who attended were welcome. The Democratic Alliance, including Premier Helen Zille and Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille, attended the march in large numbers wearing their party’s blue t-shirts. DA federal chairperson Wilmot James tweeted during the march that Achmat had called him a “thug” for showing up to the march in a DA t-shirt. And during the speeches outside Parliament,
monDAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
secrecy bill
Activist Zackie Achmat urged Saturday’s crowd to break any law that is unjust. He and Kasrils likened the Right2Know campaign to the many campaigns against apartheid-era secrecy. This accusation – of being like the pigs in Orwell’s Animal farm, whether an overstatement or not and coming from two antiapartheid activists – should strike a nerve for those within the ANC who fought against the very thing they are now accused of becoming.
several speakers warned against making the fight for access to information a politically aligned campaign. Mathilda Groepe, coordinator of the Blikkiesdorp anti-eviction campaign, said that the issues over access to information are not just with the ANC. She said that even where the DA governs, communities like hers still struggle for access to information on, for example, the antiland invasion unit’s eviction processes, charges brought against those who have been arrested in protests, housing lists and municipalities’ plans for providing basic services to their area. Warning against the danger the bill presents to her community, she said, “You know people have been killed while being in (police) custody. Now if this bill is going to be passed, you won’t be able to ask what happened because they will tell you it is classified”.
Xola Skosana, pastor of Way of Life Church in Khayelitsha, said that while the Right2Know campaign is commendable, the question still remains what we do with what we know. “We know so much already but very little action comes from ourselves. We know that there is a backlog of… houses in Cape Town. What are we doing about that? We know that there is continual separate development in this country. What are we doing about that?” He said that his community is fighting for justice and human dignity, and is tired of being caught up in the petty politics between the ANC and the DA.
Read more: 1. The Secrecy Bill Still Fails the Freedom Test, on NGOPulse.org
monDAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
arms deal
Zuma praised as Ngcobo tipped to investigate arms deal This week is likely to bring more clarity on what President Jacob Zuma’s arms deal inquiry will look like, but while we’re waiting for the fine print, some within the ANC are questioning the move. CARIEN DU PLESSIS reports. If the speculation is correct, retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo is set to be announced this week as the leader of an arms deal inquiry, announced last week by President Jacob Zuma. In a somewhat suspicious development,
the DA has heaped praise on Zuma for this appointment, which he is yet to make but on which he can still change his mind seeing that the DA is now on his side. After all, ANC Photo: REUTERS
monDAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
arms deal
Perhaps he’d forgotten the question marks cast over Justice Ngcobo’s ready acceptance just two months ago of Zuma’s call on him to serve for a second term (some say Justice Ngcobo should have pointed out to the President that the move could possibly elicit a Constitutional Court challenge – as it did).
spokesman Keith Khoza made it clear that pressure from the opposition had nothing to do with Zuma’s decision last Thursday to announce this commission. “Justice Sandile Ngcobo would be an ideal person to carry out this task of national importance. He is a highly respected jurist and his integrity is beyond question. During his time as Chief Justice, he showed he has the steady, decisive, intellectual and practical leadership that such a responsibility requires,” the DA’s David Maynier gushed in a statement on Sunday. Perhaps he’d forgotten the question marks cast over Justice Ngcobo’s ready acceptance just two months ago of Zuma’s call on him to serve for a second term (some say Justice Ngcobo should have pointed out to the President that the move could possibly elicit a Constitutional Court challenge – as it did). Whatever the case may be, if Zuma returns from his UN meeting in New York later this week to confirm Justice Ngcobo as the person heading the enquiry, and if the terms of
reference set for the commission are suitably rigorous, it would mean that the newlyappointed Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng would not have to preside over a court case – potentially embarrassing to the government if it’s forced to lay bare all its arms deal secrets – brought by retired banker and arms-deal campaigner, Terry Crawford-Browne. Crawford-Browne has for at least two years now been asking the courts to order Zuma to establish an independent commission of inquiry into South Africa’s controversial multi-billion rand arms deal, and the case was set down for 17 November in the Constitutional Court. Zuma announced the commission on the day he was supposed to have filed answering papers. Crawford-Browne has said he would only drop the case if the terms and conditions indicated that the commission wouldn’t be a whitewash. ANC leaders were, however, caught by surprise by Zuma’s announcement, which came a day before the party’s national executive committee (NEC) was due to meet in Pretoria. The same leaders had taken a decision
monDAY - 19 september 2011
south africa
arms deal
But a member of the party’s NEC said there was no real debate at the meeting on the matter. He said Zuma over the weekend explained his decision to the party’s top leaders, saying a proper investigation into the matter was “in the public interest” and, seeing that it arose from time to time, the party needed closure. about two years ago, around the time that the National Prosecuting Authority decided to withdraw corruption charges against Zuma related to the arms deal, that it would sweep the matter under the carpet and move on for the sake of party unity. But a member of the party’s NEC said there was no real debate at the meeting on the matter. He said Zuma over the weekend explained his decision to the party’s top leaders, saying a proper investigation into the matter was “in the public interest” and, seeing that it arose from time to time, the party needed closure. This follows new information coming to light in Europe about the arms deal, including a revelation by Swedish arms company Saab in June this year that a subsidiary was allegedly used by BAE to channel funds to former Defence Minister Joe Modise’s adviser, businessman Fana Hlongwane. Another skeleton threatened to fall out of the ANC’s cupboard on Sunday as the Sunday Times claimed to be in possession of a letter written by Sandi Majali, an ANC-aligned businessman who was found dead in his Sandton hotel room a day
after Christmas in 2010. The exact cause of his death is still a mystery. In the letter to the party, supposedly written by Majali weeks before his death, he expressed his frustration at being left out in the cold by the party, despite giving it millions of rands in donations. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has denied receiving such a letter, while ANC insiders said nothing in its audited books indicated that Majali had funded the party. Of course the leaders in charge now differ from the ones that were in charge when Majali allegedly made the payments, so if there were any dealings under the table, they can claim ignorance. This has prompted the DA to ask the Public Protector to re-open the Oilgate investigation – an issue the ANC has so far pursued with more or less the same lack of zeal as the arms deal investigation.
Read more: 1. Special report on the arms deal in Mail & Guardian 2. Special report on Oilgate in Mail & Guardian
monDAY - 19 september 2011
planet grootes
'the handbag incident'
Nkoane-Mashabane 'handbag incident': It's all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T Since the Mail and Guardian’s splash about international relations minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane’s handbag, there’s been a lot of ire. The usual suspects have vented their spleens. But her critics are also missing a major part of her story. By STEPHEN GROOTES. There is a lot to be angry about. The facts are simple, and seem to be undenied (so far) by the ministry. Nkoane-Mashabane was leaving Oslo and going to Bulgaria. Norwegian authorities wanted to scan her handbag as is normal practice. She refused. As a result she missed her flight, and then chartered a jet to take her there. Hence the extra cost of R235,000. Of course, it is complete bollocks that a hissy-fit by a servant of you and me should cost us nearly a quarter of a million rand.
In 2001 then foreign affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma flew into JFK in New York. It was just after 9/11 and the Americans were, well, twitchy about security. They had just unveiled these new-fangled scanners. DlaminiZuma took one look at this and said no ways. This lady was not for turning. It was intrusive, it was disrespectful, she thought. And she was the foreign minister of a country, for goodness Photo: Maite Nkoane-Mashabane. (REUTERS)
monDAY - 19 september 2011
planet grootes
'the handbag incident'
It’s not about the ANC, or its place in the struggle, or what it does now as a representative of our country. It is about the fact that for many of us respect is something we have always enjoyed. sake. Surely the officials could realise she wasn’t a risk. And it was an affront to her and to her country to be searched in this way. Eventually, a call was put in to Condoleezza Rice. She saw at once that this was not on, and told her officials that never again must a South African international relations minister be put through this. I don’t know Nkoane-Mashabane, and I’ve had very few dealings with Dlamini-Zuma. International relations is not my patch. So I can’t claim to speak for them, or have any deep insight into their feelings, histories or views on the world. But we are missing something by just jumping in to criticise. It’s this. Their history. It’s not about the ANC, or its place in the struggle, or what it does now as a representative of our country. It is about the fact that for many of us respect is something we have always enjoyed. For others, it’s something they’ve had to fight tooth and nail for, at great danger to their physical selves and their families. It’s something we’ve mostly forgotten by now. But under apartheid, a black woman was often not considered an adult. Under the law at the time, she couldn’t sign a legal document. In some cases, that meant she wouldn’t be legally competent to sign any parental forms for her
children. And in some awful cases, that happened more than we now remember, she would need a “guardian” to sign on her behalf. This often resulted in her male children signing for her. Can you imagine what that must have been like? The powerlessness, the helplessness at not being able to actually do anything that mattered. Of having to beg some oafish official to accept a child’s signature. And then can you think about finally getting past that. Of being able to know that your daughters will not suffer the same fate, because of the blood, sweat, toil and tears of you and your comrades. Of the feelings that must resonate in your chest at knowing those days are gone for good. And joy of joys, you’ve actually been a part of it, you have helped to make this achievement come about. And you are now able to be a party to transforming the country as well, to play an active role in government. And then, suddenly, while representing this transformed space that is South Africa, BANG, you’re back in 1979. Suddenly – you feel - there’s a person treating you like you’re less than human. And worse. They’re not just treating you like that. They’re treating you as a representative of your country and all you’ve achieved like that. My reaction, should I have come from that background, would be to so incandescently
monDAY - 19 september 2011
planet grootes
This is something very few of us nowadays can feel. I am a white male. I will never properly understand the true humiliation that must have flowed through a 40-yearold women watching their 18-year-old sons signing legal documents on their behalf.
angry, I would actually lose the power to speak. I would be so furious I would want to leave that space immediately. And then I would want to return to pound it into the ground. In 2001 then deputy president Jacob Zuma was searched using the same machinery his ex-wife had objected to. I understand he was not happy, and no doubt, neither were his officials. But he didn’t make the same fuss about it, for reasons I don’t know. But I can guess that while annoyed, it wouldn’t have mattered to him as much, because as a man, he had been given at least some respect during the bad old days. Not much, but some. At least he was a legal entity in his own right (and had been sent to prison on that basis). This is something very few of us nowadays can feel. I am a white male. I will never properly understand the true humiliation that must have flowed through a 40-year-old women watching their 18-year-old sons signing legal documents on their behalf. White women of that generation won’t understand it (Helen Zille) and neither will black women of a later generation (Lindiwe Mazibuko). Rice never went through
'the handbag incident'
the awfulness of apartheid, but clearly the issue resonated with her enough to understand part of the problem. I cannot claim to have any huge insight into Nkoane-Mashabane or Dlamini-Zuma. My life has been as different to theirs as it is possible to imagine. And I am furious that more than R200,000 has gone, never to be seen again. That’s money that should really have been used for something else. And we should criticise what’s happened here on that basis. But we also mustn’t forget our past. It will obviously determine how different people will react to different events. In many relationships, a man explaining a problem with a car will often sound hugely patronising to his wife. The wife will hear him being a pompous oaf. He will never understand how that can be. Because she feels lectured to, and he feels he’s just educating. And this is between two people who know, and presumably, love each other, and are usually from the same backgrounds. I’m all for criticising our public officials. Something you may already know about me. And Nkoane-Mashabane and Dlamini-Zuma may feel that I have no business in sticking my nose into theirs. They certainly don’t need protection from the likes of me. But I do think we need to understand the human being we are criticising. Because otherwise the perfectly natural reaction from Nkoane-Mashabane and Dlamini-Zuma will be to just cast their critics into the box marked “disrespectful” to be ignored. When really what we all want is a properly conducted discussion. With plenty of criticism. And respect. Grootes is an EWN reporter.
monDAY - 19 september 2011
AFRICA
thursDAY – 15 september 2011
africa
briefs
South Sudan delays joining East African bloc South Sudan’s entry into the East African Community trading bloc is reported to have snagged due to the new state’s worries over its economy. The chairman of the country’s parliamentary foreign affairs and international relations committee fears that cheaper products from neighbouring Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will flood the South Sudan market, which at this stage has no products to export. South Sudan is oil-rich but lacks the capacity to provide basic services and grow a manufacturing sector.
Task team to investigate US oil companies’ involvement in South Sudan The governments of the United States and South Sudan are looking into ways to allow American energy companies to get involved in the oil industry of the newly formed state, according to a Reuters report. A taskforce has been appointed to look into the matter. Prior to its separation from Sudan, the
South Sudan's Salva Kiir (Reuters)
south was covered under sanctions imposed due to human rights violations. South Sudan however lacks oil infrastructure and US companies would be competing with Eastern nations who already have a foothold in the market.
Meat boycott over rising prices in Sudan Sudan’s consumer protection society is attempting to organise a boycott of meat in protest against rising costs. According to Reuters, meat prices have increased by 41% from last year due to a soaring inflation rate. The society says it will spread its protest action to milk and lentils, which it says are also too expensive. Sudan’s government has been struggling to reform the
economy and stands accused of having under-invested in the agriculture and livestock industries during the time before the south declared independence.
Five Tunisians attempt to hang themselves in protest against joblessness According to media reports, five Tunisians tried to hang themselves outside the education ministry in the Kasserine region after failing to secure jobs as teachers. The five men had participated in a sit-in prior to the suicide attempt in protest against being overlooked for jobs, despite having qualifications. According to the Tunisian News Agency, the men were taken to hospital and were
mondAY - 19 september 2011
africa
briefs
execution if found guilty of executing the bombing, which killed 23 people.
Americans and a Briton detained in Mozambique
The fight for Bani Walid (Reuters)
visited by the region’s governor before they were released.
which remain in Gaddafi’s hands will fall soon.
NTC delays cabinet announcement as battle rages for Gaddafi holdouts
Trial of UN bombings in Nigeria begins
Libya’s National Transitional Council has delayed its announcement of a new government, reportedly due to last-minute haggling. Meanwhile its troops were forced to retreat from the town of Bani Walid after meeting with strong resistance from pro-Gaddafi troops. Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte also continues to resist their advances. The NTC continues to say though that the towns
Four Nigerian men, alleged to have executed the bombing of the UN headquarters in the country, were among a group of 19 suspected Boko Haram members whose criminal trials began last week. The other suspects are accused of carrying out attacks in the Borno state in the northeast of the country. Reuters reported that a spokesman for the government of Borno state said that the men on trial are just field operatives and that the leaders remain at large. The four suspects face
Four Americans and a Briton were detained momentarily in Mozambique for bringing ammunition and radio transmitters into the country without the necessary papers. The five apparently worked for a private military company, GreyStone, and planned to use the equipment to rescue a ship taken by pirates in the Indian Ocean, according to a police spokesman. Their equipment was seized and taken to the US embassy in Maputo and the five were released. They did not say which ship they planned to rescue.
Four charged in Zanzibar ferry disaster The first officer, one of the ferry’s owners and a ports authority official appeared in court on Saturday and were charged with negligence in the death of 203 who drowned when the MV Spice Islander I ferry sank last week in
mondAY - 19 september 2011
africa
briefs
Egyptians will vote in November 2011 (Reuters)
Zanzibar. The ferry’s captain was charged in absentia and authorities could not confirm whether he was among those who perished. The prosecutor on the case said the ferry was overloaded and should not have been allowed to leave port.
Africa looks to China for energy infrastructure investments African countries continue to look to China as an infrastructure investor. Guinea has asked China Power Investment to build a 340 MW coal-fired power plant potentially in exchange for aluminium-ore mining rights, an aluminium refinery and a deep-water port. The power
plant is expected to solve Guinea’s frequent blackouts. Meanwhile China is set to loan Tanzania $1.1 billion for a gas pipeline to run from the country’s south to Dar es Salaam. The pipeline is part of the Tanzanian government’s attempt to switch from hydropower, which provides 55% of the country’s power but is unable to meet the demand.
Somali government bans aid workers from alShabaab areas Agencies providing humanitarian relief to famine-struck Somalia have been instructed not to allow their workers to enter areas controlled by radical Islamist
group al-Shabaab. Mogadishu’s mayor said that he would like to see Somalis in al-Shabaab areas fed, but did not what the lives of aid workers put in danger. Al-Shabaab has a history of detaining and attacking aid workers, and has at times opposed foreign aid agencies working in the region. The UN estimates that 750,000 Somalis face starvation and hundreds die daily as a result.
Egypt to go to the polls in November Egyptians will vote in the country’s first elections since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power for 30 years. The country’s election commission head was cited in reports as having said that on 21 November, the country will begin the vote for members of the lower house of Parliament. This will take place over three stages ending on 3 January, before voting for the upper house begins on 22 January. The ruling military council is yet to officially announce election dates, and a decree is expected from them on 26 September.
mondAY - 19 september 2011
africa
sadc
Madagascar peace deal: at last, a South African diplomatic victory Despite his Sunday afternoon being interrupted, Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesman Clayson Monyela sounded happy – relieved, even – to be talking about Madagascar. “It’s a major breakthrough which should be welcomed by all Africans,” he told iMaverick. “We think it provides a window of opportunity for that country to move forward and have an election that will produce a government that will be supported by everyone.” The major breakthrough he was referring to was the agreement signed in Antananarivo on Saturday, which paved the way for elections within a year and the return of all political exiles, including ousted president Marc Ravalomanana. This last issue had been the major sticking point, with current president Andre Rajoelina previously refusing to countenance the return of his archenemy. Its resolution is a significant breakthrough in discussions, and credit for that must go to the experienced SADC mediators and the concerted effort made by the regional body – an effort spearheaded by South Africa – to resolve the Madagascar crisis. Despite a criminal conviction for murder hanging over his head, stemming from his alleged treatment of opposition demonstrators during his rule, Ravalomana will likely return from his exile in South Africa within a few weeks, according to Monyela. “That issue is part of the package,” said Monyela. A good day at the office for South Africa’s diplomats, who’ve been working hard on the Madagascar issue for months; the signing of the final agreement was overseen by Dirco deputy minister Marius Fransman. Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane apparently wanted to be there, but couldn’t find a way to get her handbag through airport security.
It’s been a tough year for our diplomats who’ve weathered a storm of criticism over Cote D’Ivoire, Libya and most recently, the foreign minister’s costly refusal to scan her handbag at airport security. But finally some good news: after long months of tough negotiations, the squabbling factions of Madagascar signed a historic agreement which might just set the troubled island on the path to normality – and it was mostly our doing. By SIMON ALLISON
Read more: 1. Statement of the SADC Troika on Madagascar via AllAfrica 2. Madagascar leaders sign deal for elections on BBC News
monDAY - 19 september 2011
africa
EU/libya
EU boss defends Europe’s Libyan adventure José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, just couldn’t avoid talking about Libya. On Friday, at a Nelson Mandela Foundation-organised debate in their plush Johannesburg headquarters with FW de Klerk and Njabulo Ndebele on the role of the EU in Africa, Europe’s top diplomat valiantly tried to steer the conversation towards other topics – Europe’s commitment to democracy, the potential of Africa, increased trade between the continents, etc. – but no one seemed interested in anything except a justification of Europe’s role in and reasons for facilitating the revolution. Eventually, in response to a pointed question, he gave in, invoking a bit of emotion by raising the spectre of Srebrenica and his continent’s duty to prevent anything like that happening again, especially on its own doorstep. “On a sunny day, you can see Libya from Europe. It’s very close. And when Gaddafi started threatening to kill his own people, this created an indignation among Europeans.” Public opinion, in other words, is what forced Europe’s hand, the Nato bombing campaign had nothing whatsoever to do with oil or contracts. “I understand this can be construed in the context of other interventions, but we had a moral imperative…it’s false to say it was dictated by self-interest.” His strongly worded defence of Europe’s Libyan adventure didn’t sit well with the images of the almost gloating David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy on their victory tour of Tripoli - a scene Ndebele described as filling him with “unease”. What filled the audience with unease was Barroso’s mangled pronunciation of the former University of Cape Town vice-chancellor’s surname, as he slurred the middle syllables in a vague approximation. It was FW de Klerk, however, who made perhaps the most salient point of the occasion. “You’re worried about Africa,” he said to Barroso, “But we are also very worried about what is happening in Europe.” An intervention needed, perhaps?
José Manuel Barroso was in Johannesburg to talk about fun things like growth, development and prosperity in Africa. Instead, he was put on the spot about Europe’s role in Libya, and fellow panellist FW de Klerk made a few cheeky remarks about Europe’s own problems. By SIMON ALLISON.
Read more:
1. Presidents get the gloves off on Moneyweb.
monDAY - 19 september 2011
africa
nile
Egypt, Ethiopia look to bridge Nile’s troubled waters In Cairo and Addis Ababa, in badly decorated function rooms, negotiations are taking place - negotiations with potentially huge ramifications for Africa’s future. Unencumbered by the glare of publicity, Ethiopia and Egypt are discussing their most valuable resource and how to share it. No, it’s not oil or gold. We could all live without those. It’s water, something far more precious, and Ethiopia’s right to keep theirs to themselves. By SIMON ALLISON. It’s surprising it took this long, in truth. The waters of the Nile, the world’s longest river, run through nine countries. But by a strange quirk of colonial history, 90% of its water was pledged to the northern, upriver countries of Egypt and Sudan, both of whom rely almost exclusively on the river to feed and water their populations. The 1929 treaty dictating this went unchallenged for decades, the downriver countries lacking the political will or the financial means to claim the waters of the river for themselves. Sudan and Egypt benefitted as
the river irrigated their crops, filled their water tanks and, through huge hydroelectric dams, powered their homes. But such a bizarrely unequal situation couldn’t continue forever, and it was Ethiopia which started seriously agitating to use more of the Nile for itself earlier this year, unveiling ambitious plans for a huge hydroelectric dam, and recruiting support from other Nilotic countries to bolster themselves against Egypt’s Photo: REUTERS
monDAY - 19 september 2011
africa
Egypt doesn’t really have much of a choice but to be diplomatic. Basic geography, which has worked in their favour for so many centuries, is now working against them inevitable backlash. This support took the form of the Nile Cooperative Framework Agreement, in which a group of African states, fed up with the status quo, determined to renegotiate the terms of the treaty which dictates it. The agreement’s strength is in its numbers – it includes Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. The talks with Egypt are the initiative’s first real test. Although the Egyptians are saying the right things –“We have agreed to continue to work on the basis of a win-win solution for all countries in the Nile basin,” said interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf – they’re well aware that this is the most serious threat facing their country, more serious than relations with Israel or Turkey, or arguably even the supposedly upcoming elections: Egypt receives essentially no rainfall, relying entirely on the Nile for all its water needs. Egypt doesn’t really have much of a choice, but to be diplomatic. Basic geography, which has worked in its favour for so many centuries as it’s prospered from possession of the lush soil around
nile
the Nile Delta, is now working against it. If it wants to physically control its own water source, it’s going to have to invade all the way down to Tanzania; not a feasible option. So it must play nice, and think in terms of carrots rather than sticks; carrots such as trading deals, investment, or even aid, options which will all be on the negotiating table right now. Of course, everyone’s also aware that the Egyptian government of the moment is transitory; it’s just treading water until a new government is elected, which is when the serious negotiations will begin. For Ethiopia’s part, it must be careful not to overplay its hand. It’s looking to build three dams, one of which is a monster costing $4.8 billion. But it is consciously stressing the importance of mutual cooperation and benefit, striking a conciliatory tone and selling its water policies as in the best interests of everyone. This is not a selfless gesture, but comes from the astute calculations of a government which knows that it too is an upriver country, and is wary of any of the downriver countries unilaterally plugging the flowing waters for their own benefit. For now, there’s enough water to go around; just. But as populations expand and economies develop, the demands on the already hardworking waters of the Nile will increase exponentially, and what started out as a diplomatic ripple may well work itself into a havoc-causing wave that none of the Nilotic countries will be able to control.
Read more:
1. Egypt, Ethiopia to review impact of mega dam on Reuters Africa 2. Egypt must negotiate on Nile water in The Guardian
monDAY - 19 september 2011
WORLD
thursDAY – 15 september 2011
world
briefs
USA US and European officials were meeting in New York on Sunday in one last bid to try to bring Israel and Palestine back to the negotiation table before Palestine presses ahead with its UN bid for recognition. The absurd part is that Obama said 12 months ago that he hoped the UN would welcome Palestine as a member this year. So the US is opposing something they actually support. Palestine has rejected all offers so far, including a kind of “different but equal� status that would give them attributes of a state without statehood. The best the US can hope for at this stage is probably a delay.
IRAN For a while it seemed that the two American hikers jailed for spying in Iran might be immediately released. But there is a new hold-up now: rather implausibly, the only judge who can apparently sign the necessary paperwork is away
UK will miss climate change targets (Reuters)
on holiday. He will be back on Tuesday, whereupon he will presumably sign the papers, but Iran has not given any definite undertaking of when they can expect to be released.
POLAND Ministers and central bank governors from the 17 countries in the eurozone met this weekend to discuss the debt crisis in the region. But no new ground was broken, although it was agreed that fiscal consolidation was a key priority. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made an unprecedented appearance on the Friday, urging Germany to provide more fiscal stimulus, This didn’t go down particularly brilliantly, with several European ministers grumbling that America
lecturing them about debt was a bit rich, really.
UK The latest think-tank finding reveals that the UK is going to miss climate change targets that it is legally obliged to meet. The report, by Cambridge Econometrics, says that the government will miss the carbon targets it has set by progressively wider margins up to 2027. The irony of all this is that the ruling coalition government vowed to be the "greenest ever" when they took power. Environmental groups praised the decision to scrap plans for a third runway at Heathrow, but have been criticised for a failure to act on other fronts, including not implementing a greener taxation system.
mondAY - 19 september 2011
world
briefs
GW Bush revival (Reuters)
GREECE
GERMANY
USA
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has cancelled a scheduled visit to the US, amid rumours that the reason for the cancellation was Greece's imminent defaulting on their debt. The finance minister said that the gossip was "ridiculous", but with Greece spiralling into further economic trouble daily, the rumours are understandable. Greece has said it has cash for the next month, but thereafter is in trouble. Eurozone partners are, understandably, asking for more collateral before stumping up any more money.
German industrial giant Siemens has announced that it is renouncing nuclear energy in favour of gas and coal. Since the Fukushima disaster in March, there has been intense debate in Germany about the hazards of nuclear energy, and legislation has now been passed to phase out nuclear energy by 2022. It's a big deal because this makes Germany the first major power to turn its back on atomic energy. France may want to think about following suit, after its own nuclear mishap last week.
The Republicans currently running for the presidential nomination are enthusiastically reviving George W Bush's idea to partially privatise social security. The scheme came to nothing under Bush because of the relentless kicking it got by the Democrats, but now Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Rick Perry are all busily promulgating some version of it. Republicans like the idea of permitting people to opt out of social security payments and instead invest in some kind of alternative
mondAY - 19 september 2011
world
briefs
PAKISTAN
Angela Merkel (Reuters)
private scheme. Democrats say, however, that it will drain precious resources from the people who currently receive the funds.
SWEDEN Swedish police raided the administrative office of a mosque in Goteborg on Sunday. It is believed that the raid was connected to the arrest of three men on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The men were of Somali and Iraqi origin, and were suspected of plotting a terrorist attack centring around an arts centre located beneath the famous Alvsborg bridge.
YEMEN Ah, the Arab Spring. Just as one country seems to calm down, another erupts in violence. That's the current situation in Yemen, where clashes broke out this weekend between pro-government security forces and dissidents. The military attacked a peaceful sit-in near Sanaa University protesting against the government, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 200 more. President Saleh recently deputised his vice president to broker a power-transition deal, but this is seen as a meaningless gesture as Saleh has thus far refused to agree on terms.
An unmanned military drone from the US army became the site of a battle between Pakistan soldiers and Taliban fighters on Saturday night after the aircraft crashed. The Taliban has claimed credit for shooting it down, but Pakistani intelligence officials say it may have been brought down by technical problems. The debris from the crash was instantly seized by the Taliban, but the Pakistani army wanted it too, causing a fight in which three Taliban militants were killed. It's unclear whether Pakistan succeeded in getting their hands on the debris in the end.
GERMANY Sunday was a bad day for Angela Merkel. The German Chancellor's Conservative party lost a regional election in Berlin on Sunday, making it her sixth defeat in seven elections. The centre-left Social Democrats took 29.5% of the vote, with Merkel's CDU managing only 23.5%. It's bad timing for Merkel because she's gearing up for a critical vote on eurozone measures that's coming up before Parliament at the end of September. Still, she is safe until the next federal elections in 2013.
mondAY - 19 september 2011
world
‘Buffett Rule’ won’t make ‘em drool Remember Warren Buffett's op-ed for The New York Times where he begged Congress to tax him more? Well, it looks like it might happen: on Monday Obama will call for a new minimum tax rate for the rich. By REBECCA DAVIS.
Photo: REUTERS
US
America's wealthiest citizens may be cursing Warren Buffett if this pans out. White House insiders have told the NYT Obama will propose the "Buffett Rule" this week, which calls for a new minimum tax rate for people making more than $1 million a year. In mid-August, Warren Buffett wrote a piece complaining about the unfairness of the current American income tax system. He pointed out that his income was derived entirely from investments rather than employment - and that gains from investments are taxed much lower than employment revenue in the US. At the time, the argument from Republicans – including the speaker of the house, John Boehner – was that taxing high earners more would damage investment. But Buffett dismissed this, saying that he had yet to see anyone "shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gains". And it appears Obama is sold. The major aim of the “Buffett Rule” is to ensure that the superrich end up paying the same percentage in tax on their earnings as the regular Joe or Jane. This is based on Buffett’s claims that, taken overall, the rich pay a lower tax rate. It’s an assertion that has been disputed by economists who say that many of the rich make more of their money from wages than investment. Last Thursday Boehner repeated his belief that such a tax increase is “not a viable option”. But defenders of Obama’s proposal point out that will affect only 0.3% of taxpayers – in real terms, less than 450,000 people – who can easily afford it.
Read more: 1. Obama Tax Plan Would Ask More of Millionaires, in the New York Times
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
saudi arabia
Saudi Prince Alwaleed refutes Ibiza rape complaint He’s known as “the Arabian Warren Buffett” and Forbes estimates his fortune to be a cool US$19.6 billion, making him the 26th richest person in the world and also the richest Saudi Arabian on the planet. A nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, he is a member of the royal family without significant political clout but he has not been deterred from expressing the need for Saudi Arabia to adopt political reforms. He has also been a vocal advocate for women’s rights. KHADIJA PATEL finds out more about a rape complaint filed against the Saudi prince in Spain. A Spanish-German model, known only as “Soraya”, has alleged that she was drugged and subsequently taken to a luxury yacht moored off the coast of the island of Ibiza in Spain where she was then sexually assaulted by Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal. The incident is said to have occurred on 13 August 2008 and an initial complaint filed in an Ibiza court in 2010 was Photo: REUTERS
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
saudi arabia
The wife of the prince, Amira alTaweel, has also come out fighting for him, saying she was with him in France when the alleged crime took place. thrown out due to insufficient evidence. The case has now been reopened after a successful appeal by Soraya's lawyers at a provincial court. A spokeswoman for Prince Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Company has contended that the prince had never been informed of the 2008 court case, or that it was eventually shelved. The wife of the prince, Amira alTaweel, has also come out fighting for him, saying she was with him in France when the alleged crime took place. "Hundreds of witnesses can confirm that we were in Cannes, just as there are dozens of proofs that we were not in Ibiza in 2008," she said. Aides of the prince further claim he has not visited the Spanish island in ten years. Soraya, who was 20 at the time of the alleged attack, told police she had begun to feel nauseous in the VIP zone of a local night club, where she believes her drink was spiked with
a tranquilizer. She had been taken there by a man claiming to be a chauffeur for "an Arab prince" who was visiting the island. According to court documents cited by the BBC, Soraya sent the chauffeur an SMS text message at 05:12, saying: "I haven't drunk much but I think there was something in my drink". Soraya says she then came round some hours later on board the luxury yacht Turama to find a man on top of her. She later identified the man as Prince Alwaleed bin Talal using YouTube. Forensic reports from a medical examination the following day revealed traces of a sedative and semen, but no physical injuries. On Sunday, the Kingdom Holding Company released what it termed “detailed, comprehensive records providing clear and unmistakable proof that HRH Prince Alwaleed was not in Spain in August of 2008 and had no connection whatsoever with alleged events to which he has been erroneously linked in recent press reports”. The documents reveal in painstaking detail the activities of the prince during the time of the alleged attack and insist that the prince may well have been impersonated. But Spanish prosecutors argue that only a DNA sample could exonerate him.
Read more: 1. Handling of Saudi prince's Spain court case challenged in BBC News 2. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's wife denies Spain rape allegations in The Times of India: 3. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud in Forbes 4. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Questions Saudi Ban On Women Driving in Huffington Post
monDAY - 19 september 2011
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world
india
Lessons for South Africa from India’s own fight for the right to know South Africa’s access to information movement remains largely a campaign by media and civic organisations for media and civic organisations. It has yet to mobilise mass support, but India’s right to know movement could offer good insight on how to change that. By MANDY DE WAAL India’s Rajasthan is often referred to as “the land of kings”, but for minimum wage workers living in remote rural villages in the state in the early 1990’s, life had become a misery. Government workers were not getting their daily minimum wages because, officials told them, state records showed that the workers hadn’t put in a full day. When asked if they
could see government records, the workers were told they were secret. This denial of access to information eventually seeded a nationwide campaign for the right to information which changed India’s access to information laws, and which contains Photo: REUTERS
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
india
But the real victory came when a national access to information act was legislated in 2005. A driving force behind the process was activist organisations that engaged India’s marginalised to show them exactly how access to information could change their lives. critical lessons for activists, journalists and civil society in South Africa currently fighting against local secrecy laws. “What the workers in Rajasthan showed the whole of India is that unless people have the right to access government information, they cannot access other basic rights,” says Anjali Bhardwaj, a director at Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), a New Delhi based citizen’s vigilance organisation that champions open access to information in India. Bhardwaj was in South Africa to share experiences of how India’s access to information movement was initiated in remote villages and city slums with delegates at the Campaign for an African Platform on Access to Information (link to http://windhoekplus20.org) held in Cape Town this past weekend. “Slowly this demand for a right to information spread to other parts of the country, and people from different walks of life like academia, journalists, and lawyers joined the movement,” says Bhardwaj. Activists started working with the villagers, and by 1996 a national campaign was established by a broad alliance under the name the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI). “A draft access to information bill was proposed by the NCPRI and the campaign demanded that
the government pass a right to information law.” The draft bill gathered momentum, and some nine Indian states passed right to information laws. But the real victory came when a national access to information act was legislated in 2005. A driving force behind the process was activist organisations that engaged India’s marginalised to show them exactly how access to information could change their lives. “In Delhi, Satark Nagrik Sangathan works in several slum settlements where local government had passed a right to information act, and in this area people came up to us and told us they weren’t getting subsidised food grants,” says Bhardwaj. In India, food subsidies are distributed through “ration shops” governed by storekeepers who manage and distribute these vital supplies. “Our organisation helped people file right-to-information applications so that they could access the records of their local ration shops.” Stock registers and sale registers of ration stores were obtained and simple equations showed that food subsidy shops were selling rations on the black market. “This was the first time these people in Delhi had proof of corruption and pilferage,” says Bhardwaj. With information in hand, citizens of Delhi reliant on food subsidies filed mass complaints
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
Photo: Anjali Bhardwaj, a director at Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS)
to India’s government and demanded public hearings that resulted in several ration shops being shut down and disciplinary action being taken against corrupt officials. “As a result, people in these slums started getting their ration supplies on time and realised that the right to information wasn’t just helping them access information, but was also helping them get the entitlements that were taken away from them due to corruption,” says Bhardwaj. She says making access to information relevant to people is what drove the momentum to put pressure on government to effect a national law protecting people’s right to know.
india
India’s national access to information law is very wide and has few stringently defined exemptions. The law provides for an independent appeals mechanism as well as for penalties to be imposed on officials who violate the act. It provides for proactive disclosure of information by the government on issues like subsidy programmes, the basis for policy making, as well as the roles and responsibilities that government officials should be held to account for. “The law has been used extensively by citizens across the country, especially by the marginalised to hold the government accountable. The act has been used by people to access information on social security schemes, health, education, food security and the many other issues that affect their daily life,” Bhardwaj says. Her group also offers people accessible tools to track local government performance. “SNS pioneered a report card initiative for government officials because people in the Delhi slums told us that once their representatives had been elected, there was no way of knowing what they did, and election promises were never fulfilled.” The report cards offer a snapshot view of the performance of key government officials, particularly those responsible for spending development funds in local areas. “In one constituency where water shortages were a big problem, people examined the report card and realised their member of the legislative assembly had spent close to 60% of his local area development funds on constructing fountains in parks,” says Bhardwaj. People had been asking the official for seven
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
india
“People took the report card to him and questioned him on why he spent his local area development funds on constructing fountains, rather than providing drinking water. They told this official that they would not vote for him in the forthcoming elections if he didn’t address their drinking water problems using the funds at his disposal.”
years to install water pumps in their slums, but always the local government man said there was no money. Now the people know why money remained an issue. “People took the report card to him and questioned him on why he spent his local area development funds on constructing fountains, rather than providing drinking water. They told this official that they would not vote for him in the forthcoming elections if he didn’t address their drinking water problems using the funds at his disposal.” The result was that the water pumps arrived rather rapidly and the government man was even on hand to inaugurate them prior to the next elections. The profound lesson India offers South Africans facing the looming threat of a secrecy bill that fails many freedom tests is one of relevance. “A very important thing is that common citizens feel extremely empowered because for the first time, they know are
informed about what the government is doing and can meaningfully participate in governance,” says Bhardwaj. India’s access to information movement shows people don’t want information for the sake of having information and don’t mobilise for lofty liberal freedom ideals. People fight for information rights when these rights become relevant – when they matter to people’s experience of life, and they begin to realise that the right government information can change lives for the better.
Read more: 1. A tale of two movements in The Times of India 2. Anna Hazare: anti-corruption activist's arrest sparks protests across India in The Guardian 3. In India, deadly backlash against freedom of information activists in The Christian Science Monitor
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
yemen/libya
Analysis: The AU in Libya and the GCC in Yemen, a tale of two negotiations As politicians assure the world that a diplomatic resolution to the political impasse in Yemen is just days away, fighting broke out in a northern district of the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Sunday, the latest breach of an uneasy ceasefire between tribesmen opposed to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and troops loyal to him. Even though guns have been drawn in Yemen, a diplomatic solution continues to be pursued, unlike in Libya where the AU’s efforts continue to be spurned. Of course Yemen is not nearly as lucrative a prize as Libya, but the AU could learn a thing or two from the GCC in diplomatic interventions. By KHADIJA PATEL. On Saturday, a senior member of Yemen’s ruling party told Reuters that a deal to gently extricate stubbornly incumbent Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power could be ready for signing with opposition parties within 15 days. The deal in question here is of
course the much trumped up proposal from the Gulf Co-Operation Council (GCC), which Photo: Anti-government protesters react after police fired tear gas at them during clashes in Sanaa September 18, 2011. At least 20 protesters were killed in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Sunday, when security forces opened fire on one of the biggest demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh in recent months, a Reuters witness said. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
yemen/libya Under the initial GCC-negotiated plan, Saleh would hand power to his vice president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi one month after signing the agreement with the opposition. Hadi would then appoint a unity government tasked with organising elections within two months in which members of Saleh’s ruling party would occupy half of the posts, the opposition 40% and the remaining 10% would be allotted to parties unaffiliated with the government or its opponents.
barters Saleh’s resignation for immunity from prosecution for himself and his close relatives. Under the initial GCC-negotiated plan, Saleh would hand power to his vice president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi one month after signing the agreement with the opposition. Hadi would then appoint a unity government tasked with organising elections within two months in which members of Saleh’s ruling party would occupy half of the posts, the opposition 40% and the remaining 10% would be allotted to parties unaffiliated with the government or its opponents. So far, Saleh has committed to signing the agreement on three separate occasions and then dramatically backing out at the very last minute. At the height of tensions in the country in June this year, Saleh was severely injured in a bomb attack on a mosque in the presidential palace in Sanaa. He was rushed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for treatment and has been convalescing there since, while his deputy acts as president in his absence. When news of Saleh’s flight to Riyadh first broke, jubilant crowds celebrated what they thought was the end of his reign. Saleh however has proved defiant and vowed over and over
again to return to Yemen as the county’s rightful president. In his absence, Hadi had the rule of the roost but his powers over the country were ceremonial. Even from a bed in Riyadh, nobody doubted that Saleh remained the president of the country. As Saleh’s convalescence dragged on and Hadi faced the realities of strife in the capital, Sanaa, government sources cited by reputable Yemeni journalists claim Hadi had been growing increasingly frustrated over the lack of willingness of the regime to negotiate with the opposition. Hadi knew well that situation in Yemen was in danger of further agitation. As the tentative ceasefire held between tribesmen opposed Saleh and troops loyal to him showed increasing signs of snapping into a full scale civil war last week, Saleh appeared to relent by giving Hadi the authority to sign the Gulf transition plan on his behalf. After eight months of protests against Saleh, economic collapse, interspersed with armed clashes and increasing numbers of Somali refugees arriving at the coast, Yemen is in turmoil. It has become increasingly apparent that Saleh has lost any vestige of credibility as a ruler. He has even incited an
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
Although the GCC’s mediation in Yemen is markedly similar to the African Union’s (AU) mediation in Libya, the GCC’s efforts has curried more international favour than the AU’s roadmap for the resolution of the Libyan war.
armed insurrection against his rule. But an armed intervention into Yemen would prove disingenuous. It would serve only to strengthen the nascent threat of al-Qaeda in the south of the country – a region already pummelled by US drone strikes. The GCC’s plan for a resolution to the crisis thus continues to be promoted as much by the United States as it is by Yemen’s neighbours. Although the GCC’s mediation in Yemen is markedly similar to the African Union’s (AU) mediation in Libya, the GCC’s efforts has curried more international favour than the AU’s roadmap for the resolution of the Libyan war. In Libya, Nato and the Arab League trumped the AU, cautiously welcoming its efforts but in its search for a real resolution, pointedly ignored the AU. Conversely in Yemen, the GCC proposal, although unpopular on the Yemeni streets, has continued to enjoy international backing. All regional bodies are equal but some are certainly more equal than others.
yemen/libya
In Libya, the AU couched its mediation in the protection of the Libyan people. The roadmap consists of five elements: the protection of civilians and the cessation of hostilities; humanitarian assistance to affected populations, including both Libyans and foreign migrant workers particularly those from Africa; the initiation of political dialogue between the Libyan parties in order to reach an agreement on the practicalities of ending the crisis; the establishment and management of an inclusive transitional period and finally, the adoption and implementation of political reforms necessary to meet the aspirations of the Libyan people. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi famously accepted the terms of the African Union proposal but the National Transitional Council (NTC) refused to gather around a negotiation table before the Colonel resigned from the presidency. So too in Yemen, opposition activists vociferously rejected the GCC proposal because it assured Saleh, his family and close aides immunity from prosecution, and like the AU’s proposal regarding Gaddafi, it did not demand that Saleh step down immediately. Saleh would be given a grace period of 30 days after signing the agreement to say his adieus to the Yemeni presidency. Saleh has blamed a lack of clarity on the “mechanism of transfer” for his reticence on the agreement, and the new revised proposal would see Saleh immediately transfer his power to vice president Hadi. Hadi, as de facto president of the country, will have three months, as opposed to one, to formerly step down as leader of the country. Once he tenders his resignation, a new coalition government would be then formed under Hadi’s leadership. This
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
yemen/libya
The proposal even in its revised form holds marked similarities to the AU’s proposal to Libya. How then has the GCC been able to enact a semblance of authority on the outcome of the situation?
interim government would lead Yemen through a two-year transition period, allowing it to bring changes to the Constitution. The proposal also makes provision for a restructuring of the military, which so far is essentially under the control of Saleh’s sons and nephews. The proposal even in its revised form holds marked similarities to the AU’s proposal to Libya. How then has the GCC been able to enact a semblance of authority on the outcome of the situation? In Yemen, the vested international interests understood well that it was powerless to influence the outcome of the conflict without the support of regional powers. In the form of the GCC, facilitated through Saudi Arabia, the US has been able to push its agenda in Yemen. When protests in Yemen first broke out, the Obama administration stood by Saleh and carefully refrained from directly criticising him in public. Even as Saleh’s forces fired on peaceful demonstrators, the Americans stood by their man. Saleh was foremost a strategic ally in fighting the Yemeni tentacles of al-Qaeda, but as the protests continued, the American
position was forced to adapt. Saleh was clearly losing his grip on power and the US was in danger of being caught on the wrong side of history. Without publicly pressuring Saleh to step down, the US through Saudi Arabia, began to seek an exit for Saleh. In July, while Saleh received treatment for his injuries at a Riyadh hospital, he was visited by John Brennan, US President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser. Brennan urged Saleh “to fulfil expeditiously his pledge to sign the GCC-brokered agreement for peaceful and constitutional political transition in Yemen. The United States believes that a transition in Yemen should begin immediately so that the Yemeni people can realise their aspirations". Despite scepticism of any diplomatic wrangling actually achieving a sustainable solution in Yemen, it appears the Yemeni government and opposition are soon to conclude talks on preparing for a new government and signing the deal. Negotiations between Yemenis themselves are of course crucial but the most significant development in the past week did not occur
monDAY - 19 september 2011
world
A civil war in Yemen would prove a colossal headache for Saudi Arabia. As well as an influx of unwanted refugees into Saudi Arabia, Yemen at war would prove ideal conditions for al-Qaeda to thrive in the region. between Saleh loyalists and opposition politicians. Last Wednesday, a member of the Saudi royal family and the former head of Saudi Arabian intelligence and ex-ambassador to Washington, Turki al-Faisal, sounded a warning to the United States that American opposition to the Palestinian statehood bid would end the ''special relationship'' between Saudi Arabia and the US, and further, would make the US ''toxic'' in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia, the Prince said, would be forced to adopt "a far more independent and assertive foreign policy", threatening that it could break with US policy on Iraq, Afghanistan and more ominously for the immediate future, Yemen. Unlike the African Union, the GCC has been able to use American interests as leverage in its mediation in Yemen. The GCC, and specifically Saudi Arabia, has been able to display real influence in events in Yemen. Last Thursday when street fights between pro-Saleh forces and opposition tribesmen were at their
yemen/libya
fiercest in recent times, it took a diplomatic intervention from Saudi Arabia to persuade both sides to cease hostilities. Saudi Arabia has of course vested interests in Yemen as well. A civil war in Yemen would prove a colossal headache for Saudi Arabia. As well as an influx of unwanted refugees into Saudi Arabia, Yemen at war would prove ideal conditions for alQaeda to thrive in the region. While the AU has pronounced its fears that the north African wing of al-Qaeda was being fed new weapons, the AU has failed to make the prospect of terrorism a keystone of its proposals in Libya. The failure then of the AU’s negotiations in Libya rests in its inability to leverage international interests in its proposals. Perhaps the AU has just not wisened up to the realities of the diplomatic game yet, and is also stymied by a lack of decisive leadership in its diplomatic interventions. Sure, President Zuma was embraced by Brother Leader but South Africa is unlikely to be able to end a street fight in Libya. Perhaps if South Africa stood to lose more in the Libyan war, the AU efforts would be driven more fiercely. Or perhaps, the AU’s efforts should have been steered not by South Africa, but Algeria which did not enjoy the same cordiality with Gaddafi as South Africa did, but has already felt the effects of the war being waged next-door..
Read more: 1. Saudi Threatens U.S. Over Palestinian Statehood Veto in Time 2. Analysis: Like South Africa, Algeria dances an awkward dance on Libya in The Daily Maverick 3. Yemen forces open fire on protesters, 12 killed in The Washington Post:
monDAY - 19 september 2011
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BUSINESS
thursDAY – 15 september 2011
business
briefs
Eurozone meeting (Reuters)
South Africa
UK
The JSE All Share Index ended up 0.2% on Friday, closing at 31,051. Gold producer Harmony climbed 4.1% as HSBC analysts raised the rating of the share to “overweight”. Aquarius Platinum, the fourth-largest platinum producer in the world, rose 6% for the week, also on the back of positive analyst re-ratings. Metmar, the metals and chemical trader, fell 6.8%, with agricultural product producer Omnia falling 5.5%.
The FTSE 100 Index added 0.6% to close at 5,368 as UK stocks gained for a fourth day. European officials met in Poland to discuss options of expanding the bailout fund for the eurozone, prompting further confidence in equity markets. Barclays gained 3.4% to record its biggest weekly gain since February 2010. Media company BskyB fell 1.6%. Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS said the loss from
unauthorised trading amounted to $2.3 billion, more than initial reports claimed. The losses came from proprietary positions on S&P 500, Dax and EuroStoxx index futures. Trader Kweku Adoboli was arrested in connection with the losses. A committee, comprising of Swiss and UK regulators, has been set up to investigate the losses. According to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, European banks are “grossly under-capitalised” with the
mondAY - 19 september 2011
business
briefs
than half its value since the beginning of the year, with the 5% owner’s value dropping from $1.9 billion to just $600 million.
Gordon Brown (Reuters)
debt crisis more serious than in 2008. Brown said that when the meltdown first occurred, governments were bailing out banks where as now governments find themselves in financial trouble. Blackstone Group LP, the world’s largest buyout company, agreed to buy City Inn Ltd, for £600 million. City Inn operates the Mint Hotels chain that will be incorporated into the Hilton Hotel network already owned by Blackstone.
US A rule governing limits on proprietary trading on US banks may be extended to overseas firms. Regulators will issue a proposal next month to carry out provisions of the Volcker Rule that will clarify trading limits on offshore
trading positions. Hedge funds in the US cut their estimates on forecasts for commodity prices, as they expected the European debt crisis to affect food, fuel and metals demand. President Obama looks set to implement Warren Buffet’s suggested tax measures by imposing a levy on citizens earning more than $1 million. The tax will be part of a greater plan to be presented by the President, aiming to cut $1.5 trillion from the US long-term deficit. Blackberry maker, Research in Motion Ltd, has seen their largest shareholders, and cochief executive officers lose their billionaire status as the share price continues to plummet. RIM has shed more
Seven more states joined the lawsuit party aiming to prevent the T-Mobile acquisition by AT&T. The attorney generals believed the $39 billion deal would hurt competition and result in higher prices for consumers.
Europe Siemens, the continent’s largest engineering company, will stop building nuclear power plants after Germany’s decision to phase out atomic energy. Siemens was responsible for building some of the largest nuclear power stations in the latter part of the last century, but has now moved towards embracing renewable energy such as wind turbines and solar power. Iceland will remove capital controls by 2013 instead of 2015, as initially planned. The move comes as the government brokered a deal with opposition parties in Parliament.
mondAY - 19 september 2011
business
‘Flying taxi’ dream makes uneventful maiden flight When Santaco announced it would launch an airline, the news was met with disbelief and mockery. On Friday, Santaco Airlines took its maiden flight, which was uneventful. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.
SANTACO
“This is a historic day for the taxi industry. We are not rewriting history, we are part of the history of South Africa,” the secretary general of the South African National Taxi Council, Philip Taaibosch said at Lanseria Airport, when the taxi council launched its “proof of concept” for its new budget airline on 16 September. Santaco flew journalists from Lanseria to Bhisho, in Eastern Cap, on the first flight – and the only glitch was a slight delay due to a ticketing issue. SA Flyer magazine editor Guy Leitch told EyeWitness News he was impressed by the airline’s launch. He called the business model “sound”, and said he had not expected Santaco to be as resource-rich as it had turned out to be. Santaco is leasing the plane and crew from Air Cargo, and will cater for large-income individuals who travel to Eastern Cape from Johannesburg or Cape Town. It said it will innovate to provide solutions to problems specific to its target market, like unusual luggage (goats?) and a lack of Internet access. In a previous interview with iMaverick, Nkululeko Buthelezi, business development officer at Santaco, said the airline was just the start of Santaco’s grand plans to revolutionise travel in South Africa.
Read more: 1. Taxi association to boldly go where others are afraid to travel in Mail & Guardian 2. Santaco airlines described as impressive in EyeWitness News 3. Santaco’s high-flying dreams only start with an airline in Daily Maverick
monDAY - 19 september 2011
business
Future gets blacker for RIM Wall Street analysts are either begging Research In Motion’s two CEOs to step down or telling buyers to pull out of the company stock. RIM’s shares tanked after it posted worse-than-expected quarterly results. Retailers are starting to slash prices on RIM’s offerings, signalling a restructuring which will put BlackBerry firmly in the dreaded niche zone. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.
rim
Research in Motion shares dropped like a rock on Friday after the company announced income before tax had halved quarter-on-quarter to $414 million (R3.06 billion). The makers of BlackBerry promised that everything would be hunky-dory in the last quarter of the year, but investors aren’t buying it. “Of the 53 analysts who cover the Waterloo, Ontario-based company, 11 rate the stock a buy and 17 are urging their clients to sell. The largest group, 25, has opted for a waitand-see approach with a hold rating on RIM,” said the Montreal Gazette. Goldman Sachs estimates that RIM’s global markets share has fallen from 16% to 9% in just one year. The company has now experienced three straight quarters of falling revenue and market share since the heights of February 2011. The blame is being placed on the company’s management, especially the two founders, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. According to CNet, several retailers of consumer electronic goods have begun marking down the BlackBerry Playbook (the company’s response to the much costlier Apple iPad) in anticipation of either lessening demand, or the company’s inability to make desirable high-end tablets and cellular phones. That’s probably even worse news for RIM than Friday’s Wall Street freefall.
Read more:
Photo: RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis (REUTERS)
1. RIM sheds 20% of its value as investors lose patience in the Montreal Gazette 2. BlackBerry profits collapse in the Guardian 3. Research in Mire: BlackBerry finds itself on the rocks in Daily Maverick
monDAY - 19 september 2011
business
science
Science Exchange, a crowdsourcing solution for outsourcing lab experiments New “eBay” for scientists looks set to disrupt the research community for the better by affording greater access to elite, expensive university labs, and by connecting scientific collaborators across the globe. By MANDY DE WAAL. Earlier this year breast cancer research scientist, Elizabeth Iorns, was sitting around a kitchen table in Miami, Florida with Dan Knox and Ryan Abbott. Knox is an entrepreneur whose technological innovation solves big market imperfections, while Abbott develops software and web applications. The big “what if ” in the centre of that table was a focus on disruptive technologies
that could change the way lab experiments were outsourced. Research is expensive, not all scientists have access to the best labs and, although outsourcing in the scientific community is hardly new, the mechanisms that enable this are at best unwieldy. After completing her B.Sc with honours in biomedical science at the university of Auckland in New Zealand, Iorns became passionate
monDAY - 19 september 2011
business
Science Exchange is pretty simple and easy to use, and works much like an online marketplace that crowdsources bids for projects. about the field of breast cancer research, but realised this research was dependent on the use of facilities in the US and UK that were highly specialised and often inaccessible. “Core research facilities are in place at select top universities that invested in extremely expensive research equipment, but these facilities are usually only available to people who go to that university,” says Iorns speaking to iMaverick from the US. “Yes, they should be available to anyone but it is difficult to find out about facilities, to check their availability and to pay for the use of these labs. This makes doing research at universities outside of your own really difficult.” Iorns say the payment platforms between universities are cumbersome because institutional purchasing systems are often too onerous and inflexible. This adds to the drag of
science
trying to access laboratories that are geared for the likes of cancer or DNA research. In an epiphany that could have far reaching consequence, Iorns realised that a centralised “eBay of scientific research”, where researchers could easily pay for outsourced research at other universities, would be a boon. A marketplace for scientists that enables researchers to more readily connect with each other, and takes care of the headachy back end payment – what a time-saving win for researchers. And so the idea that created Science Exchange was born. “I came up with the idea of Science Research in April 2001 and got angel and VC funding for the project,” says Iorns. As Abott and Knox worked on the back end, Iorns began evangelising and eventually embarked on a mentoring programme to get researchers to start using the marketplace. Science Exchange is pretty simple and easy to use, and works much like an online marketplace that crowdsources bids for projects. “Researchers think of a project they would like to outsource and that requires expensive equipment or specialised expertise, like DNA sequencing,” says Iorns. “Then the scientists post details of their project at Science Exchange, and core facilities that have the available resources and the required equipment place bids for taking on this research work,” she says. Iorns believes the most immediate contribution Science Exchange will make is increasing the amount of research done for dollar spent. “You will have better research output because people buy expensive equipment that can be used fairly rarely, or may even need to do an experiment which would not
monDAY - 19 september 2011
business
science
“Science Exchange means that you don’t have to be at the top university in order to have access to the very best equipment, but enables researchers to share, collaborate and outsource regardless of where they are...”
make efficient use of the resources available. By matching research to skills and facilities, scientists would be able to save money and time by getting research done by the right people at the right facilities,” says Iorns. A major disruptor is the access Science Exchange enables scientists in more remote or undeveloped regions. “Science Exchange means that you don’t have to be at the top university in order to have access to the very best equipment, but enables researchers to share, collaborate and outsource regardless of where they are,” says Iorns. Another breakthrough delivered by the online research marketplace is widening opportunities for partnered research. To date, scientific collaboration has largely been limited by geography, academic networks or simply by who else a scientist is aware of in their field of research. This has meant that early career collaborations too often take place between university colleagues, rather than scientists matching up partnerships based on specific insights and expertise.
Although Science Exchange was only launched in August this year, already 2,500 scientists from across the world have signed up, and Iorns says that the growth curve is steep. “It is my hope that this ‘eBay of science’ will foster a future in which scientific research shifts to a more efficient system where everyone is a specialist, research transactions happen all the time, networking becomes very liquid and all this enables much greater collaboration,” says Iorns.
Read more:
1. An "Ebay For Science" Promises To Transform The Business Of Research in Fast Company 2. Don't have a lab? Now you can crowdsource your science in New Scientist 3. YC-Funded Science Exchange: A Central Marketplace For Core Research Facilities at TechCrunch
monDAY - 19 september 2011
business
microsoft
Windows 8:
Ballmer’s last chance to save Microsoft monDAY - 19 SEPTEMBER 2011
business
microsoft
If Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer fails to get the software giant on the gravy train of tablets and mobile devices, he can kiss MS’s slim chance of ever replicating its PC success farewell. It would be a good idea to hedge your bets on Microsoft anyway. By SIPHO HLONGWANE. Tech blog ReadWriteWeb recently compiled the list of the five worst CEOs in tech. Listed alongside the leaders of AOL, Nokia, Groupon and Hewlett Packard was Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer. “Just a few years ago, Microsoft seemed unbeatable,” ReadWriteWeb moaned. “It was the 800-pound gorilla, and it looked (to many) like the company would always be the dominant tech player. Fast forward to 2011, and Microsoft is looking quite vulnerable indeed. You can thank CEO Steve Ballmer for that. “While the company is in little danger of going broke, Microsoft is having a lot of trouble gaining traction outside its Windows and Office strongholds. The Xbox franchise is doing well, but the company has missed out big on phones and tablets. Bing isn't exactly displacing Google Search, either,” they wrote. The reason they included Ballmer in the list? In 2008, Microsoft made a massive bid for Yahoo. It put close to $50 billion in cash and shares on the table. This was part of Microsoft’s plan to arrest the rise and rise of Google, Yahoo’s competitor. The deal tanked. In hindsight, Yahoo was stupid not to sell, but it was Microsoft’s mea culpa too as Google would go on to create multiple problems for the erstwhile behemoth of tech. Photo: REUTERS
monDAY - 19 SEPTEMBER 2011
business
Then in May this year, Microsoft bought VOIP company Skype for $8,5 billion. The massively over-valued bid was partially explained by Google and Facebook’s interest in Skype at the time, and Microsoft would have had to put some serious money on the table to beat the other two companies, but the deal still had everyone scratching their heads in puzzlement. Especially considering that the financials of Skype weren’t exactly golden. “Last year, Skype had revenue of $860 million on which it posted an operating profit of $264 million. However, overall it made a small loss of $7 million, and had long-term debt of $686 million,” Wired said. Then there was the debacle that was Windows Vista. The operating system was released in January 2007, and was almost immediately panned by users and critics for a variety of issues. Vista was such a flop that Microsoft kept its predecessor Windows XP alive for much longer than it intended, and rushed its successor Windows 7 forward. Let’s not even mention that sick joke that was the Microsoft Zune. All of this happened on Ballmer’s watch as CEO. Fortunes haven’t been much better at Microsoft of late. After comprehensively losing the search war to Google, despite generous help from the courts, it has completely missed the tablet game. Its old PC software competitor Apple created the tablet market with the iPad in early 2010, and Google stepped in quickly with the Android operating system. There was nary a whimper from Microsoft. Currently, the iPad accounts for a lion-share of the tablet market, and the
microsoft
Android operating system runs on about 40% of the world’s smartphone devices. Microsoft has a forgettable presence in the smartphone space, thanks to its agreement to put Windows Mobile into Nokia mobile devices. That too wasn’t a smart move – Nokia’s market share of mobile is tanking rapidly. In response to all this, Microsoft has now started leaking out news and allowing sneak peeks of its upcoming tablet, which will run on Windows 8. At Microsoft's BUILD conference, attendees were given a peak at an early version of a tablet running on Windows. Windows 8 isn’t expected until sometime next year, and in the meantime, the upcoming Samsung Series 7700T tablet will run on Windows 7. Reviewers of the early Windows tablet place it in the business-machine end of the tablet market, making it a product in the mould of the BlackBerry Playbook rather than the iPad, which is more of a multimedia plaything. The reviewers at SlashGear believe Windows is trying to carve a new path with its tablet, rather than eat away at iPad’s market share, as so many other companies have unsuccessfully done. “Where other attempts at Windows reskins were in effect oversized shortcuts, Windows 8 now has a legitimately compelling – and distinctive – tablet front,” it said of the Windows beta tablet handed out at the BUILD conference. “The multitasking system, which blends Windows Phone’s app-switcher with a split pane dual-view, is something few rivals have attempted; the closest is probably webOS, with its cards view, though Windows 8 allows you to interact with both on-screen apps while preserving the double-vision. Intuitive gestures and a much-needed willingness to offer just a
monDAY - 19 SEPTEMBER 2011
business
microsoft
Good days: In 1998, Bill Gates (L) than Chairman and CEO of Microsoft and Steven Ballmer, who was named President of Microsoft July 21, talk to reporters in Redmond, Washington. Ballmer formerly was the executive vice president of sales and support of Microsoft. Ballmer's promotion is part of Gate's plan to broaden Microsoft's leadership.
few, important controls rather than overloading the display with every option possible keeps things straightforward.” Others have said the Intel chip that the Windows 8 machine will run will make it a compelling competitor in the tablet market. It had better. This is simply “it” for Steve Ballmer and Microsoft’s top executive team. They have had too many hits-and-misses in both innovation and acquisition, and risk becoming the next Research In Motion if they hope to coast on their PC success. As the makers of BlackBerry swiftly discovered, it doesn’t matter if you create and lead markets. You’re only as good
as your last innovation. Once you fail at that, someone else will come in and take the world in a completely different direction, rendering you irrelevant. Microsoft is a PC giant. The world is rapidly becoming that of tablets and increasingly sophisticated mobile devices. This is where Microsoft has to become a winner once again. Sadly for shareholders, Ballmer’s record doesn’t instil confidence that he can lead Microsoft to tablet victory.
Read more: 1. Windows 8 on Intel will be hard to beat in CNet News 2. Why the Windows 8 tablet market will dodge the iPad in SlashGear
monDAY - 19 SEPTEMBER 2011
LIFE, ETC
thursDAY – 15 september 2011
life, etc
briefs
Oktoberfest (Reuters)
USA Kara Kennedy, daughter of Senator Ted Kennedy, has died aged 51 from a heart attack after a gym session. She is the latest victim of what now appears to be a bona fide Kennedy family curse. It is a rare Kennedy who has survived into old age. JFK Junior died in a plane crash in 1999, Michael L Kennedy died in a skiing accident in 1998 and David Kennedy died of a drug overdose in 1984. Kara was a low-profile Kennedy, who worked as a filmmaker.
IRELAND Ireland is recalibrating its historically cosy relationship with the Vatican. The Catholic Church has for centuries
had a profound influence on every aspect of life in Ireland, but the recent revelations about priest sex scandals has rocked the nation's faith and obedience towards the institution. The Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny recently gave a speech in Parliament attacking the "dysfunction, disconnection and elitism" of the Vatican. It responded by immediately withdrawing its ambassador to Dublin, and has now released a 24-page response arguing that Kenny's claims are "unsubstantiated". Now the ball is back in Ireland's court.
SOUTH AFRICA Our own William Kentridge is making international headlines with his latest
multimedia installation at the Market Theatre. A two-week festival of the artist’s work, "Refuse the Hour", ended this weekend with "Dancing with Dada" – a piece which mixes dance, spoken word, live music and video. Something for everyone, in other words. William is, of course, the son of Sydney, the advocate who headed the inquiry into Steve Biko's death, so it's pretty much a dynasty of genius.
GERMANY As you read this, Munich is drunk. Oktoberfest has kicked off, with six million visitors expected to attend the boozy festival over the next three weeks. It's estimated that they will drink seven million litres of beer, but they had better be
mondAY - 19 september 2011
life, etc
briefs
Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips (Reuters)
prepared to stick their hands deep inside their pockets. The price of a litre tankard is at a record high, setting drinkers back a cool R95. Perhaps Angela Merkel can blame her defeat in this weekend’s election on the fact that voters were sozzled.
Organisation. The tender had been awarded to Siqamba Medical, who intended to buy the tiny rubbish condoms cheap cheap from China. Glad to see the government vetting their contracts so closely – it took a court application from a rival firm to block the deal.
aspect is that he doesn't speak German – he speaks fluent English. Now detectives are trying to figure out exactly what his background is, and have contacted the British Foreign Office for help if the boy is established to be English, as seems likely.
SOUTH AFRICA
UK
NEW ZEALAND
It's a proud day for South African masculinity. A court has blocked the government from buying 11 million Chinese condoms because they are too small. Okay, it wasn't just that they were too small – they were also made from the wrong material and not approved by the World Health
A strange case is unfolding in Germany. A 17-year-old boy appeared at Berlin's city hall about two weeks ago, claiming that he has been living with his father in the woods for the past five years. He said after the death of his father, he followed his compass north to the city. One mysterious
Further trouble for England's rugby captain Mike Tindall, who is having a rather torrid time of it in New Zealand. Tindall – who is now the Queen's grandson by marriage – has now been viewed by millions of people globally kissing and cuddling a mystery blonde woman in Queenstown.
mondAY - 19 september 2011
life, etc
briefs
Alexander Lebedev (Reuters)
A bouncer at the club where Tindall was drinking, uploaded the CCTV footage of his behaviour on to YouTube. The bouncer has now been arrested and charged with "accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes", which we think can safely be translated as "embarrassing the Queen's grandson".
RUSSIA Billionaire Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev owns two of the UK's biggest newspapers: the Evening Standard and the Independent. But he proved this weekend
that being manly is not the sole province of Vladimir Putin. In a TV debate on the global economy, he suddenly attacked fellow guest Sergei Polonsky, striking him so hard on the head that he fell off his chair. Lebedev claimed afterwards that he had to act because he thought Polonsky would attack him first. "I neutralised him", he wrote on his blog. It's never pretty when oligarchs fight.
ITALY Move over, Jacob Zuma. Our own president has nothing on the virility of Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who claims he slept with eight women on the evening of New Year's Eve 2008. He made the claim in a bugged phone chat with the businessman who recruited escort girls for his parties. On the call, Berlusconi boasts: "I had eight because I couldn't go any further. You can't do all of them". It is an Italian tradition that if you have sex on New Year's Eve, you'll be shagging merrily for the rest of the year. So 2009 must have been a big year for Silvio.
USA The Amish find themselves in a more and more tight spot, torn between the traditions of their community and the hostile demands of the modern world. Now eight Amish men have been jailed in Kentucky for refusing to attach orange safety triangles to their horsedrawn buggies. They said that the reflective triangles were a violation of their religion, which forbids the display of bright colours. They will only be in jail for three to ten days. One is tempted to say: Pick your battles, Amish.
mondAY - 19 september 2011
life, etc
Ethereal book sculptures delight Edinburgh Ever wanted to run away to Edinburgh and become a librarian? No? The exquisite, mysterious book sculptures that have been left at libraries and literary events around the city might just change your mind. By THERESA MALLINSON.
Photo: Chris Scott.
book sculptures
This writer must confess she's a little bit in love with the anonymous paper sculptor who's been placing their work at literary locations around Edinburgh. The intricate sculptures are exquisite, they were obviously created with great care and the messages that accompany them show a deep love of words and ideas. So far there are seven sculpture gifts, all crafted from the pages of different books: a “poetree” for the Scottish Poetry Library, a tribute to Ian Rankin's Exit Music for the National Library of Scotland, a sculpture of a cinema for the Filmhouse, a dragon for the Scottish Storytelling Centre, a tea-setting and a figure “lost in a good book” for the Edinburgh Literary Festival, and a magnifying glass atop a book for the Central Lending Library. But despite all these clues, no one has yet worked out just who the sculptor is. The message delivered with the dragon reads: “For @ scotstorycentre – A gift in support of libraries, books, works, ideas… Once upon a time there was a book and in the book was a nest and in the nest was an egg and in the egg was a dragon and in the dragon was a story…” There's a story that these sculptures are telling too, as some of the messages comment on the recent funding cuts experienced by libraries across the UK. The tag accompanying the last sculpture reads: “@Edinburgh_CC This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas… LIBRARIES ARE EXPENSIVE.” But the second “e” in “expensive” has been crossed out, and replaced with an “a” to make it read “expansive”. We hope the politicians take note of that one.
monDAY - 19 september 2011
life, etc
WWII German code machine up for auction Fans of cryptology and World War II memorabilia will want to start saving up. A rare “Enigma machine”, used by the Nazis to encrypt messages during World War II, will be auctioned by Christie's at the end of the month. By REBECCA DAVIS.
Photo: REUTERS
enigma
The Germans believed their machine generated code that was impossible to crack. The most sophisticated encryption devices of their time, the Enigma machines were used to translate a message into code and from there transmit it via Morse Code to another Enigma machine set to the same settings. The number of possible combinations it used to code and decode language amounted to 158 million million million. (Yes, that’s three millions, not a typo.) With 158 million million million possibilities, they could well have been justified in thinking the Enigma’s code would be impossible to crack. That’s what the Germans thought, anyway. But they didn’t count on the ingenuity of a bunch of code-breakers working out of Bletchley Park in England, led by genius mathematician Alan Turing. Turing developed a machine which could be used to decode the Enigma called the “bombe”, a refinement of an earlier Polish device called the “bomba”. While the code-breakers' story was an enormous success - it is said that their work hastened the end of World War II by a full two years - the story of Alan Turing is something of a tragedy. Turing was gay and ended up killing himself by eating a poisoned apple in 1954. In 2009 erstwhile British prime minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for Turing's post-war treatment. The last Enigma machine sold for £67, 250 at auction last year, and Christie's is hoping for a better price this time. Be prepared to empty the piggy-bank.
Read more: 1. Enigma machine to go under the hammer, on CNN
monDAY - 19 september 2011
life, etc
Julian Assange’s coffee - yours to buy on eBay A new low for Julian Assange, or a canny fundraising move by a heroic whistleblower organisation? However, you look at it, WikiLeaks has put a collection of Assange-related "memorabilia" on eBay. By REBECCA DAVIS.
Photo: REUTERS
assange
What do you get the person who has everything - and a creepy crush on Julian Assange - for Christmas? The answer to that ungoogleable question is finally here. On Friday WikiLeaks announced on Twitter it was holding the first of four fundraising auctions. "All items have been donated to WikiLeaks by Julian Assange or the guests to his 40th birthday party," they claimed, and that the money raised from the sales would be used "exclusively to support WikiLeaks' right to publish". They conclude their statement with a justification for the auction, saying that since 2010, WikiLeaks had been subjected to an "unlawful financial embargo by the Bank of America, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Western Union", which they claimed was blocking 90% to 95% of the donations they could otherwise be raking in. So what’s up for grabs? Well, there's a sachet of prison coffee Julian smuggled out, "signed and fingerprinted", reserve price £235 (about R2,700). If you think that's not quite enough Julian for your buck, you can snap up a signed photo of the great man for a mere £640 (about R7,500). Or how about the very computer they used to leak all the cables? You can buy that historic laptop for £6,000 (R71,000). Alternatively, get yourself a piece of history in the shape of the framed cable describing the USA's spying orders against the UN (also signed and fingerprinted by Julian, obviously). That one will set you back £2,100 (R25,000). You only have until 23 September to make your offer, but don’t panic. As of Monday, most of the items for sale had received 0 bids.
Read more: 1. WikiLeaks press release
monDAY - 19 september 2011
SPORT
thursDAY – 15 september 2011
sport
briefs
South Africa Kaizer Chiefs atoned for their MTN8 final loss to Orlando Pirates with a 2-1 win over their local rivals. The match played at FNB stadium saw Chiefs slot two first-half goals through Bernard Parker and Siphiwe Tshabalala. Ajax Cape Town defeated Mamelodi Sundowns in 3-2 thriller at Lucas Moripe stadium. Ajax denied the unbeaten Sundowns the opportunity to go back to top of the league after scoring ten minutes from time to equalise and then in injury time to seal the win. Seventeen points inside the first quarter saw the Blue Bulls claim a 28-20 win over Western Province. It was cut and thrust stuff in Pretoria with the two teams giving nothing away, particularly in the closing stages when the hunt for bonus points was on. Crucially, neither team was successful in getting the extra point. The Ford Pumas scored a try in the dying seconds of the game to secure their first win
Wales vs Samoa (Reuters)
of the season as they pulled off a surprise 34-31 victory over the GWK Griquas in their Absa Currie Cup match on Saturday. The Free State Cheetahs produced an exceptional allround performance to hammer the Sharks 53-32 in their Absa Currie Cup match in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Fine attacking play by the MTN Golden Lions saw them to a 43-23 win over the Platinum Leopards in their Absa Currie Cup match in Potchefstroom on Friday.
New Zealand Wales kept their World Cup quarter-final hopes alive after seeing off Samoa 17-10 at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton
on Sunday. Trailing by four points (6-10) at half-time, Wales dug deep to deny the Samoans victory, thanks to a try by wing Shane Williams 13 minutes from full-time, which proved to be the matchwinner. After major upsets in 1991 and 1999 against Samoa, it was Wales' first victory over their bogey team at a World Cup tournament. England manager Martin Johnson was unhappy with his "sloppy" side despite seeing them make it two wins out of two at the World Cup after a 41-10 victory over Georgia on Sunday. Victory left England top of Pool B and on course for the quarterfinals, however Johnson said they'd "go home early" if they didn't raise their game. France wing Vincent Clerc
mondAY - 19 september 2011
sport
briefs
Tottenham vs Liverpool (Reuters)
scored three tries to help see off a resurgent Canada outfit 46-19 in the wet McLean Park on Sunday. In difficult conditions that made handling of the ball difficult, France scrum-half Moran Parra landed 23 points from the boot to ensure Les Bleus were able to bank their second win of the tournament in Napier. Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara has indicated that he will retire from international rugby after the World Cup. An emotional O'Gara indicated that he had decided to hang up his Test boots in the aftermath of Saturday's shock 15-6 victory over Australia. "It's massive, this is it for us. I'm done with Ireland in a few weeks," said
the 34-year-old, who kicked two crucial penalties at Eden Park in his 113th Test. Fiji flanker Dominiko Waqaniburotu has been cited for making a tip tackle on Bok full-back Patrick Lambie during Saturday's Pool D match against South Africa. The Fijian team have been informed and the case will be heard by the Independent Judicial Officer Christopher Quinlan of England, a statement said. Australian-born lock Adam Byrnes will make his first Rugby World Cup start for Russia when the Bears meet Italy in a Pool C match Tuesday at Trafalgar Park.
Byrnes, whose mother was born in Russia and migrated to Australia as a child, will try to help Russia, playing in the World Cup for the first time, win its first match after an opening 13-6 loss to the United States.
UK Football Tottenham Hotspurs crushed Liverpool in the biggest win over their premiership rivals in 48 years. Luka Modric inspired Spurs to the 4-0 win over the visitors at White Heart Lane. Liverpool were down to nine men as they imploded in spectacular fashion, earning
mondAY - 19 september 2011
sport
briefs
Djokovic had not competed in Friday’s singles due to back problems after wining the US Open. Argentina will now play Spain the finals.
Andy Flower and Kevin Pietersen (Reuters)
the Merseyside team their second consecutive loss. Other results: Sunderland 4 - 0 Stoke Man United 3 -1 Chelsea Fulham 2 - 2 Man City Tottenham 4 - 0 Liverpool Aston Villa 1 - 1 Newcastle Bolton 1 - 2 Norwich Everton 3 - 1 Wigan Swansea 3 - 0 West Brom Wolves 0 - 3 QPR Cricket Andy Flower has countered Surrey's reports that Kevin Pietersen will not be in England's squad for their tour of India by insisting that the batsman will travel to the sub-continent for the five ODIs and one-off Twenty20 International. Pietersen, rested from the five one-dayers against Mahendra Dhoni's men in the United Kingdom this month, didn't play for Surrey in the weekend's Clydesdale Bank 40 final
triumph over Somerset, and it was suggested that the star right-hander was set for an extended break.
Tennis: Davis Cup Spain beat France 4-1 to progress to the Davis Cup final. After winning the opening singles rubbers on Friday, France fought back to win the doubles in emphatic fashion. But Rafael Nadal dispensed with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to seal the victory before David Ferrer beat Richard Gasquet in the dead rubber. Defending champions Serbia lost their semi-final encounter to Argentina 3-2 in a hard fought tie. Serbia needing Novak Djokovic to see off Juan Martin del Potro to keep the tie alive, instead saw the world number one retire midway through the second set.
South Africa were hindered by injuries as they went down 4-1 to Croatia in a Davis Cup promotion/relegation match. After Isak van der Merwe retired hurt on Friday, top ranked South African Kevin Anderson had to withdraw from the doubles, which South Africa lost in four sets to Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig. Anderson won the hosts only rubber in Friday’s first encounter. Australia and Switzerland will need to complete their playoff match on Monday, after bad light stopped play in the final set of the deciding rubber. Stanislas Wawrinka leads Lleyton Hewitt 5-3 in the fifth set, after Roger Federer brought Switzerland level with a four set victory over Bernard Tomic. Captain Leon Smith is hoping Andy Murray will commit to Great Britain's Davis Cup campaign after their secured promotion. Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins won Saturday's doubles rubber in Glasgow to give GB an unassailable 3-0 lead over Hungary after Murray and James Ward won their singles rubbers on Friday.
mondAY - 19 september 2011
sport
Alonso out to crash Vettel’s party Fernando Alonso is intent on wrecking Sebastian Vettel's chances of winning the World title in Singapore by at least finishing on the podium. BY PLANETF1.COM
Photo: REUTERS
formula one
With 112 points separating Alonso and Vettel in the Drivers' Championship there is almost no hope of the Ferrari driver putting an end to Vettel's quest for a second successive crown. But he can at least keep him at bay for another race weekend. If Alonso finishes on the podium in Singapore, it doesn't matter if Vettel even wins the grand prix because he cannot wrap up the title. However, should the Ferrari driver fail to achieve a top three finish, Vettel stands a good chance of clinching the Championship. Alonso, though, confident of a strong performance, is intent on preventing that from happening as he heads to Singapore, which he won in 2010 with Ferrari. "Our aim, when we arrive in Singapore, will be to win the race," said the Spaniard. "We will fight to get second place in the championship, which is better than fifth, and try to enjoy every Sunday, as we did in Monza where we qualified fourth, attacked aggressively at the first corner, fought in the race and then enjoyed the podium." And although a podium finish from the Spaniard will ultimately see the title race continue for another race, Alonso reckons the fact that he's second in the standings in what can only be described as a dismal season for Ferrari is proof that the Scuderia have what it takes to fight. "The World Championship is the main target every year because you race for the best team in the world. Next year we will start again preparing the winter and the season in the best way possible and fight for the World Championship. "This year we did not complete our expectations. We were not quick enough in some parts of the year, and we struggled a lot with the 2011 car.�
monDAY - 19 september 2011
OGILVY CAPE TOWN 42511