E-tolling still scheduled to begin on Monday




E-tolling Strikers

The ANC and Cosatu will ask the government to delay the Gauteng's e-tolling system by a month, they said in a joint statement on Thursday. The Congress of SA Trade Unions and African National Congress said they reached an agreement to this effect in a meeting earlier in the day. "The leadership has collectively agreed to postpone the implementation of the e-toll collection system by a month," they said in a statement. "This will give the task team more time to explore alternative funding mechanisms." E-tolling is still scheduled to begin in Gauteng on Monday. Earlier, Treasury lawyer Jeremy Gauntlett told the High Court that if an interdict preventing e-tolling was granted, it could be in effect for the rest of the year.  "If the interdict is granted, in all legal reality, it must stand until the end of litigation, which would not be set to end any time soon... maybe until the end of the year," Gauntlett said.

The delay would give it time to assess the success of resistance to e-tolling, and any future legal action. Other mass action planned for Monday, including a highway blockade in Johannesburg, would go ahead, Vavi said, Speaking after a special meeting of Cosatu's executive, Vavi said the blockade of four tollgates at Middelburg and Nkomazi, in Mpumulanga, would form part of the mass action on Monday. In the North West, a demonstration was being planned at Swartruggens plaza. On Tuesday, a march would take place from the May Day rally at Good Hope Centre to the Cape Chamber of Commerce. Maybe it is time for the government to give Cosatu what they need, because they can not just continue with the strike for the whole year, while the government is watching and doing nothing about it. The government must take an action or come up with a solution to stop the strike, because this might affect the economy of South Africa.   http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/E-tolling-still-scheduled-to-begin-Monday-20120426. 

 

Mugabe Speaks Peace





President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe

As Zimbabwe prepared for a possible presidential election in spring 2012, Robert Mugabe remained in office in a tenuous power-sharing government with his longtime rival, Morgan Tsvangirai. Harare, President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday urged Zimbabweans to shun violence ahead of elections he insists be held this year, in his first public appearance since a new wave of worry about his health. "We are going to elections and troubles have already started. This is happening not only parties versus parties but within parties as well," he said in an hour-long speech at Harare's biggest stadium. "All our political leaders should encourage their supporters to promote the spirit of peace and tranquillity through social dialogue," he said.  The speech to mark Zimbabwe's 32nd anniversary of independence from Britain was the first public appearance by 88-year-old Mugabe since he returned from Singapore last week. That trip sparked new worries about his health, amid reports that he has advanced prostate cancer. Mugabe has repeatedly brushed off concerns about his health. http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/Mugabe-calls-for-violence-free-election-20120418

Would this peace that he is talking about bring difference in Zimbabwe or it will make things worse?  The old Mugabe should just focus on his health because his only left with a short period of time to live.  People of Zimbabwe need freedom to survive, because they have been in pain for so many years. Enough is Enough.

Mugabe Heaith Fears Revive Succession Headache

President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe returned home from Singapore Thursday after a trip that fuelled rumours the 88-year-old was seriously ill, intensifying concerns about who would succeed him. Mugabe has made frequent visits to Singapore in recent years, amid reports that the veteran leader is suffering from prostate cancer that has already spread through his body. He appeared healthy as he walked off his charter plane in Harare accompanied by his wife Grace, joking with Vice President Joice Mujuru and military chiefs who welcomed him home. "The man is fit as a fiddle," Information Minister Webster Shamu told reporters. "Why do we to wish somebody bad, why do we spread rumours, why do we lie about our head of state?"  Mugabe and other top officials have repeatedly denied the cancer reports, which gained widespread currency following a leaked 2008 US diplomatic cable in which Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono confirmed the health story to the then US ambassador. The latest health scare was sparked by a single report on a news website run by Zimbabwean exiles which said the leader of the ZANU-PF party was fighting for his life in a Singapore hospital. Officially, the government says he travelled to the city-state to arrange post-graduate studies for his daughter Bona. The speed that the story spread around the globe underscored the deep-seated concerns about what would happen in the event of the sudden death of the man who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. Who would not wish Mugabe to die after what he did to his country? The man has to accept that his time is over and give others a chance, he can not rule the country for the rest of his life.  the question is who would be the next president of Zimbabwe?  Would Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai take over after so many years of struggle?

http://www.starafrica.com/en/news/detail-news/view/mugabe-health-fears-revive-succession-he-227403.html

Julius Malema suspended from role as head of ANC Youth League

 



Julius Malema former Youth League President

 

Julius Malema, the controversial youth leader of South Africa's ruling ANC, has been temporarily removed from his role and barred from attending party meetings.  The move escalates the public infighting at South Africa's most powerful party, punishing Mr Malema days after he had called President Jacob Zuma's government a "dictatorship". "The temporary and immediate suspension of comrade Malema will come into effect on Wednesday, 4 April," an ANC disciplinary panel said in a statement. The African National Congress had already expelled Mr MalemaANC rallies and attend meetings. If Mr Malema loses his appeal, he will be definitively expelled from the party. He is scheduled to have an appeal hearing next week. Mr Malema, a skilled public speaker and a populist whose calls for the nationalisation of mines in the resource-rich country have unnerved investors, has stepped up his criticism of Mr Zuma. He also advocates seizing white-owned farmland as part of his vision for Africa's biggest economy.

If Mr Malema is definitively expelled, Mr Zuma would have a clear path to win a second term as ANC leader in party elections later this year. The leader of the ANC is virtually assured of victory in presidential elections in 2014 given the party's dominance in South African politics.

At 31, Mr Malema is considered too young to directly challenge Mr Zuma for leadership but his populist strength makes him a party power broker.  Mr Malema was originally found guilty of sowing divisions in the ANC and hurting the party's reputation by calling for the overthrow of the elected government of neighbouring Botswana.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/9186139/Julius-Malema-suspended-from-role-as-head-of-ANC-Youth-League.html