Global South African News Wrap 3 August 2012

Woman for the job Secrecy over Mbalula junket Boeremag treason tally grows Scramble for Independent Divisions could lead to ANCs demise: Sexwale President's class war Williams to become editor of The New Age Cosatu gives up on ban on labour brokers for now Mantashe talks tough Heads must roll ANC plans to publish list of minerals it deems strategic DA swaps the three Rs for the four Ts in its plan for improving education Billions in secret defence spending queried Minister warns of soaring health costs Nationalisation debate is over

1 August 2012 Financial Mail Page 6 Barney Mthombothi

Woman for the job

Almost two decades after SA was warmly welcomed into Africas embrace, the country still seems to be struggling to establish a proper view of or relationship with the continent. Weve yet to strike an appropriate understanding or rapport in our dealings with the rest of the continent. The advent of democracy in SA was universally hailed as the final chapter in Africa's liberation. It was the culmination of a struggle which most African countries had passionately enjoined, even as some of them oppressed their own people. The integration of SA, Africa's biggest economy, would not only enhance the prospects for peace on the continent, but increase its heft in fighting for an equitable share of the cake in international forums. But SA doesn't seem to know what it wants out of Africa, or what stance to adopt. Our Africa policy is something of a moving target. We've moved from a desire to craft Africa in our own image - democratic, human rights, free press, and so on - to be its spokesman? la Thabo Mbeki's African renaissance, and to being simply part of the mob in the form of Robert Mugabe and other plunderers. Perhaps the lack of consistency in our foreign policy is, as always, a reflection of internal dynamics. Views range from outright hostility to anything African to apologia or patronage at the other extreme. We're caught between exporting our values or internalising the rubbish that's been going on in certain parts of Africa. Our diplomats have to walk that tightrope. A case in point is Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's dogged fight for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission. Her elevation has induced pained apologies and the washing of hands in invisible waters from certain quarters. SA, we were told, had no right to put up a candidate because that would merely create enemies for us. It's all bollocks, of course. Since when has success ever been a bad thing? We're so accustomed to defeat or failure that we run for cover at the slightest appearance of success. There's more to cheer than to jeer in Dlamini-Zuma's election. It's a feather in SA's cap. She knows the continent and its main players like the back of her hand. She lived in exile, was the country's top diplomat and, as home affairs minister, stopped the rot in the worst-performing government department. The AU couldn't have chosen a more qualified person. She has the skill, the nous and temperament, and understands Africa with all its ramifications. Africa is often seen as a single entity, with one voice. It isn't. There are marked differences based on race, culture, religion and geography. It's probably the most diverse continent one can think of. Dlamini-Zuma's presence in Addis Ababa will also cure our hostility or agnosticism on matters African. She'll be the link that helps integrate SA into the African soul or milieu. The continent is important to this country and not only for sentimental reasons. It offers huge opportunities to grow our economy and create jobs. SA is already seen as a gateway to the rest of Africa; its companies are fanning across the continent, providing goods and services, creating jobs in those countries and making profits for shareholders back home. What we need is a policy that is well-considered and better co-ordinated. Otherwise China, India and even Brazil - partners in Brics - will continue to make huge inroads in what is ostensibly SA's backyard. Apart from stability, Africa needs to eschew the sanctimonious demagogues and ideologues whose only currency has, for far too long, been a toxic stew of greed, hatred and bloodymindedness. We need to put the continent back to work. It has the climate, the resources and

the people. But Africa is the biggest exporter of skills. Its elite can't stand the chaos, so they've been voting with their feet. It's time a skilled diplomat had a go at sorting out the mess. 3 August 2012 The New Age Warren Mabona

Secrecy over Mbalula junket

A veil of secrecy was yesterday drawn around Sports Minister Fikile Mbalulas UK junket for the Olympics Games, despite allegations that Mbalula accommodated expelled former ANCYL president Julius Malema at the five-star Corinthia Hotel in London at the expense of the state. Mbalula has denied footing Malemas bill. While probing the matter further to ascertain the size and costs of Mbalulas junket, The New Age was given the run around by his spokesperson, Paena Galane. Galane on Wednesday said from London that he would provide the information as soon as he got it from director-general Alec Moemi, but could not keep his promise. When contacted yesterday, he said he had just returned to the country and made the same promise, while declining to say whether Mbalula was also back home. I have just landed from London and I will give you the information when I get it from Moemi, Galane said. Contacted again later on, Galane said: Tomorrow we will have a media briefing to reveal everything and Im sure youll also get the information you want. The Corinthias tariff per night for a deluxe room is 571 pounds or R7 400. A top-end suite would set you back 1950 or R25250 a night. The sports department opened the Ekhaya Hospitality Centre in London aimed at making South Africans feel at home away from home during the games. The centre was opened on July 26 and it will be operational until August 12. Galane said the centre was an intergovernmental initiative but could not reveal the costs involved in opening and running it. Sumayya Khan, chief operations officer for the Department of Sport, referred all enquiries back to Galane, when asked about the costs of the junket. Winston Rabotapi, DA shadow minister for sport, accused the sports ministry of squandering taxpayers money by sending too many officials to London, whom he said were not even sporting participants. He said a group of people from Durban, who were taking part in various sporting codes, complained to the DA that they were left behind by the sports department. They told me that Mbalula informed them telephonically that the department could not take them to London, due to financial constraints. But many government officials went there, even though they were not taking part in any sporting codes. They should have sent sports participants to save the costs, Rabotapi said. Meanwhile, The New Age can also reveal that the chairperson of Parliaments portfolio committee on sport, Richard Mdakane, also went to the Olympic Games in an official capacity between July 25 and August 1 on a trip sponsored by SuperSport International.

Parliamentary spokesperson Luzuko Jacobs told The New Age that Parliament did not fund any MPs trip to London. 3 August 2012 The New Age Sapa

Boeremag treason tally grows

Judgment in the treason trial of a group of Afrikaner right-wingers is expected to continue in the High Court in Pretoria on Friday. The conviction of two former SA National Defence Force majors and a Free State salesman on Thursday brought to nine the number of accused convicted of treason. Judge Eben Jordaan ruled that Jacques Olivier, Pieter van Deventer and Fritz Naude had all been part of a right-wing plan to violently overthrow the government. The trial was postponed early after Vorster's advocate objected to judgment continuing in his absence. Vorster was not in court on Thursday after apparently drinking pills which upset his stomach. The 20 men have been charged with treason, murder, attempted murder, and alternative charges including sabotage, terrorism, manufacturing explosives and the illegal possession of firearms. The trial has not been without controversies, the prophecies of prophet Siener van Rensburg at various meetings were discussed in detail by Du Plessis where he said that older prophecies of the prophet had come true, therefore it was justifiable to believe his prediction regarding the coup. During the reading of the judgment against Rooikoos du Plessis, Boeremag members among his co-accused were reading a car magazine through 3D glasses. Judge Eben Jordaan found Du Plessis guilty of treason, and Adriaan van Wyks testimonies thus far as false. The judgment began last Monday and was expected to take up to three weeks. 3 August 2012 Business Day Page 1 Paul Vecchiatto

Scramble for Independent

Several consortiums and companies are bidding to buy Independent News & Media SA, the publisher of The Star, The Cape Times and other titles Several consortiums and companies some claiming to have the support of the African National Congress are bidding to buy Independent News & Media SA, the publisher of The Star, The Cape Times and other titles, from its heavily indebted Irish parent.

The sale of the assets comes as Independent News & Media is faced with paying a corporate bond of R4.2bn by 2014. The Dublin-based group is expected to issue a statement soon about talks with potential bidders. Its chairman, telecoms billionaire Dennis OBrien, is reported to be in South Africa. The company did not respond to questions yesterday. Former Independent News & Media chairman Tony OReilly bought the papers in 1994 with the blessing of former president Nelson Mandela. Some of the groups bidding now are using ANC national treasurer Mathews Phosa as a reference to elicit support. But Mr Phosa yesterday denied he was involved in, or supported, any bid. "I am not involved. Everyone out there knows that Groovin Nchabaleng and Iqbal Surve (chairman of Sekunjalo ) are looking into this thing. I dont want to be the conduit of any information, but I am not bidding." Mr Phosa said he was in favour of Independent News & Media SA returning to local ownership. "I dont see why we have to continue to be puppets of foreign owners," he said. A Sekunjalo spokesman would neither confirm nor deny its involvement yesterday. Mr Nchabaleng, who is being advised by international banking group HSBC, was part of Koni Medias bid to buy a chunk of media house Avusa in 2007. Former president Thabo Mbeki s adviser, Titus Mofolo, was also involved in the failed bid. Mr Nchabaleng and Mr Mofolo could not be reached yesterday. A consortium with the backing of Ethos Private Equity is tipped to include Caxton Publishing, which may be interested in buying free-sheet titles. Ethos spokeswoman Chelsea Wilkinson said: "We can neither confirm, nor deny, nor comment on any transaction until a public announcement has been made." The Gupta family, publishers of The New Age newspaper, who have strong ties with ANC heavyweights including President Jacob Zuma , were tipped as possible owners, too. Despite repeated attempts yesterday, the family did not respond to requests for comment. TuwaniGumani, secretary-general of the Media Workers Association of South Africa and a trustee of a workers trust at Independent News & Media established to buy 10%-25% of it, said the talk of political involvement made it urgent for staff to get a direct stake. Mr Gumani said the trust was still being registered, but about 80% of Gauteng staff supported the idea and talks would be held with colleagues in Cape Town and Durban. The trust had informed management of its aims, but had received no formal reply. Avoir Research media analyst Richard Tessendorf said any successful buyer would have to invest heavily in the company to reverse years of cost-cutting, especially of editorial staff. "Numbers such as R1.5bn for the company seem a bit low to me, especially when one compares them to its listed peers such as Avusa and Caxton." 1 August 2012 Cape Times Page 5 Aziz Hartley

Divisions could lead to ANCs demise: Sexwale

UNITY in the ANC is paramount, irrespective of who is elected to lead the party later this year, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has said.

ANC members who wanted to pursue victory at the partys national conference in Mangaung in December should also consider what such a victory could cost a party watched closely by an electorate that should not be taken for granted, he said in giving a lecture on Nelson Mandela at UCT last night. The event was arranged by the ANC Youth League as part of the ANCs centenary celebrations. Sexwale lamented the divisions in the ANC. If left unattended, they could lead to the partys demise, he said. Nobody can explode the ANC from outside. It can only self-destruct. It can only implode. As the ANC goes to Mangaung, people are free to choose Jacob Zuma. Jacob Zuma and I are good friends. Jacob Zuma and I are comrades. We travelled the road to Polokwane together. The leadership of the ANC is a collective leadership. It does not matter who gets elected. It is for us to be together even if Jacob Zuma is elected. However, if people decide to put another leader in place it is still okay, Sexwale said, to applause from about 500 people at the meeting. Many in audience gave the substitution signal as Sexwale spoke. Sexwale praised Mandela for his leadership and courage characteristics he said should be emulated. Earlier, a group of ANC Youth League supporters who appeared to favour Zuma for a second term as ANC leader, interrupted speakers who were critical of Zuma, and were called to order. 1 August 2012 The Times S'Thembiso Msomi

President's class war

Is the writing really on the wall for beleaguered Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga? Judging by newspaper headlines over the past few days, pressure is mounting on President Jacob Zuma to sack the minister because of her department's scandalous handling of the Limpopo textbooks crisis. Speculation that Motshekga's days in charge of education are numbered has been given credence by the unusually tough stance on the issue adopted by the ANC's national executive committee after its four-day meeting this past week. Over the years, South Africans have become accustomed to the committee being overly protective of ministers whose departments are accused of maladministration. Much of the past decade, for instance, was dominated by the Health Department's controversial approach to HIV/Aids. We seldom heard from the national executive committee about Aids and, when it did speak, it did so in defence of the then minister of health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, and her boss, Thabo Mbeki. In those days, individual committee members would rather express their views in private than risk the wrath of party bosses.

Seemingly this is not the case with the post-Polokwane version of the committee. By all accounts, last week's lekgotla was brutally frank in its assessment of how Motshekga's department had failed Limpopo pupils who went without textbooks for seven months. "The [committee] acknowledged that this is a serious failure on the part of the government, and the Department of Basic Education in particular, at both national and provincial level. It is a failure to honour the right of every child to education, as enshrined in the constitution," said ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe on Monday. Damning words. But do they mean that Motshekga is on her way out? To most of us the answer would be an obvious "yes". How can the president justify keeping a minister who has "failed to honour" the constitutionally guaranteed "right of every child to education" in such an important position? Since coming to power, Zuma has repeatedly said education is a priority for his administration. So can he risk failure in this area by keeping Motshekga on the job? Since the textbooks saga first made the headlines, Zuma has insisted that heads would roll. He repeated as much yesterday through his spokesman, Mac Maharaj, who said: "We reiterate as well that the president directed that there should be consequences for anyone found responsible for any wrongdoing that led to the delays in the delivery of books." But does this mean Motshekga is going? Not necessarily. Zuma says he will wait for the findings of a presidential team headed by Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene before making a final decision. At the Monday press conference, Mantashe - who, as the ANC's third-most senior official, would be consulted by Zuma before a decision to fire the minister was taken - seemed unconvinced that Motshekga should go. "Sometimes there is a temptation of calling for the expulsion of XYZ even before you actually establish the facts. Let's get that report and take action on the basis of facts and a systematic report," Mantashe said. But Zuma will have more than just the report on his mind when deciding whether to get rid of Motshekga. Much is being made - and rightly so - of Motshekga's strategic importance to the president ahead of the ANC's national conference in Mangaung, at which Zuma is certain to stand for a second term as party leader. In the run-up to the 2007 national conference, Motshekga played a significant role in mobilising support for Zuma in Gauteng - a province that was under the control of a pro-Mbeki leadership. Now, Zuma needs Motshekga, who is also president of the ANC's Women's League, on his side if he is to be guaranteed the vote of female delegates at Mangaung. So far, Motshekga has been one of the most vocal supporters of Zuma ruling for a second term. It is this fact that might explain the ANC Youth League's insistence that she be axed even while it is silent about the roles in the disaster of Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale and the provincial government. Mathale, a friend of former ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, is regarded as an ally by the organisation.

Besides Mangaung-related considerations, Zuma's decision will also have to take into consideration Motshekga's overall track record since becoming the minister of basic education. Despite all the problems that continue to engulf education - especially where it concerns black children - there is a sense that, by and large, schools have improved under her tenure. Even the hard-to-please DA leader and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille sang her praises in June, stating: "She stands virtually alone in the wasteland of education's 'shell state', where many incompetent cadres masquerade as top officials with fancy titles but have little understanding of, and even less commitment to, the needs of education." But since then the crisis has escalated, putting more pressure on Zuma to act. However, I reckon that, in this case, Zuma will probably choose to keep Motshekga on.

1 August 2012 Business Day Page 3 Colleen Goko

Williams to become editor of The New Age

MOEGSIEN Williams, editor-in-chief of the Independent News & Media group which owns The Star, Cape Times and Sunday Independent, is quitting after 21 years to become editor of The New Age. The move comes at a time when the Independent G roup is up for sale, with speculation that the owners of The New Age the Gupta brothers a re among the potential buyers. Cyril Ramaphosas Shanduka Group and Iqbal Survs Sekunjalo Investment Holdings have also been mentioned as possible purchasers. Mr Williams will replace outgoing editor Ryland Fisher. "In Moegsien, we have found an able replacement for Ryland and someone who will build on his success," said Nazeem Howa, CEO of TNA Media, publishers of The New Age. Mr Williams will begin his duties on September 1, becoming the fourth editor of The New Age in two years. He previously edited the Cape Argus, the Cape Times and most recently The Star and the Saturday Star. "I have had an excellent time at Independent but I needed a change. The exciting thing about the New Age is that they work on a different business model and it will be a good challenge for me to work in that environment," he said. Media Workers Association of SA general secretary Tuwani Gumani said he could only speculate on why Mr Williams was moving. "There have been changes at the helm in the Independent Group and perhaps Mr Williams wanted a more stable situation. "We are not pleased with management for whittling down the asset base, not too long ago we had 5,000 workers or so and now we are down to 1,700. There has to be some level of complicity in the people at the helm," Mr Gumani said. "Decisions are taken to please Irish shareholders at the expense of the South African workforce and leadership in the group. But we dont know whether any of this had to do with Mr Williamss decision, it is just speculation," he said.

The other editors of The New Age were Vuyo Mvoko, who quit before the papers launch, and Henry Jeffreys, who was appointed in 2010 but quit a few months later. 1 August 2012 Business Day Page 1 Paul Vecchiatto

Cosatu gives up on ban on labour brokers for now

Trade union federation says ban on labour brokers remains its goal, and reminds African National Congress MPs of their agreement on changes to Labour Relations Amendment Bill THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) admitted it had lost the battle to have labour brokers banned, but reminded African National Congress (ANC) MPs in Parliament yesterday about its agreement with the party over changes to the Labour Relations Amendment Bill. In March Cosatu embarked on organised national protests against labour brokers and toll roads in Gauteng. This led to a meeting between the union federation and the ANC at the partys Luthuli House headquarters that reportedly resolved their differences. "In relation to labour broking we were not successful in getting agreement for a complete and full ban," Cosatu parliamentary officer PrakashneeGovender told Parliaments labour committee yesterday. The committee is conducting hearings on the Labour Relations Amendment Bill and the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill. Business bodies told MPs last week the draft legislation was a disincentive to investment and job creation as it made it hard for employers to hire temporary workers. Ms Govender firmly reminded the ANC MPs in the committee that agreements had been reached on three issues, besides labour broking. The first was to address contract issues between labour brokers and their clients, which would ensure that the employers would assume full responsibility for workers employed in positions not temporary in nature. There was agreement with the ANC to delete from the draft bills provisions affecting the right to strike and picket and those imposing a new form of probation on new workers, Ms Govender said. The ANC also agreed to have sections providing for the expansion of essential services redrafted. Ms Govender was adamant that Cosatus battle against labour broking was not over. "We have a national congress coming up, at which we will have to report to our members on our failure to ban labour brokers, but it remains an objective of Cosatu to see them banned," she said after making representations to the committee. Democratic Alliance MP Andricus van der Westhuizen expressed concern that the ANC and Cosatu had made a deal. "This deal was made after the National Economic Development and Labour Council had agreed to the amendments," he said. Ms Govender replied that Business Unity South Africa had also had a meeting with the ANC. "However, we were less sneaky about it," she said.

MsuthuMatshani, deputy chairman for labour broking at the Construction Engineering Association, told the committee that for every R100 paid by a client to a labour broker, 36% went to statutory deductions such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund, Skills Development Levy and Workmens Compensation. He said 5% was the industry standard administration charge for placing a worker, another 11%13% was for recruitment, selection and placement, and 10% was the labour brokers profit leaving the worker with about R30 from every R100 paid. Mr Matshani said labour brokers often had to carry the cost of paying their workers when their clients had not yet paid them for their services. "Even public sector companies will sometimes only pay two or three months after the work has been done," he said. Angela Dick, CEO of labour broker Transman, said brokers often had to carry the cost of ensuring workers got to work and home safely and on time. "My company has a fleet of 104 vehicles just for this purpose." 31 July 2012 The New Age Warren Mabona

Mantashe talks tough

In an attempt to clamp down on corruption, the ANC yesterday upped the ante, saying plans were in the pipeline to establish an Integrity Commission that would determine the suitability of the organisations members to hold public office. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the decision was part of the resolutions adopted at the governing partys national executive committee lekgotla held last weekend. He said the gathering also found the report on the Limpopo textbook debacle to be shocking. Whoever is found to be responsible for the failure of the delivery of textbooks will be dealt with, Mantashe said while addressing reporters in Johannesburg. He added that the lekgotla delved into issues of fraud and corruption, both within the public and the private sector. We observed that the challenge posed by corruption is serious and that a fight against corruption is integral to the realisation of our national priorities. As the ANC, we support the work of various anti-corruption task teams that have been established in many departments and agencies, Mantashe said. The ANC expects every one of its elected office bearers in all spheres of government to deliver service to the people without hesitation. And the party will not hesitate to take action against those who fail to perform. Mantashe added that the ANC meeting acknowledged that many problems in local government had to do with political tensions within the party and its alliance partners. He said the governing party was intervening decisively to ensure that no single member of the organisation used a public office as a tool to lobby for power, thus failing to deliver services. He said the gathering noted several improvements in the health sector. These included a reduction on the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

He said the ANC insisted that basic service delivery of water, housing and sanitation was not negotiable. According to Mantashe, the organisation would initiate dialogues on racism, ethnicity and patriarchy in order to promote social cohesion, thus reducing xenophobia and quelling discrimination based on sexual orientation. As the debate rages over the issue of language recognition, Mantashe said the lekgotla emphasised that one African language should be compulsory at schools, depending on the regions where the schools were situated. It is a comfortable thing to learn your mother tongue. In my own view, where Afrikaans is an indigenous language, it must be used as such. But when you are in the Vhembe district in Limpopo, you must speak Tshivenda and all the indigenous languages must get the same status, Mantashe said. He said the ANC also focused on five priority areas in which progress was noted. These included health, education, as well as science and technology. Mantashe said the NEC reaffirmed that education was a top priority that needed the focus of all South Africans. Other issues that featured extensively on the agenda of the three-day gathering, which ended on Sunday, included the acceleration of the Postbank licensing process and doubling efforts to increase youth employment.

31 July 2012 The Times Amukelani Chauke

'Heads must roll'

In an unprecedented move, the ANC has vowed to spare no "holy cows" in determining who is guilty of not delivering textbooks in Limpopo. In what appears to be a departure from President Jacob Zuma's apparent protection of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, the ANC said yesterday it would go so far as to institute criminal charges against the officials responsible. At a press briefing after a four-day national executive committee lekgotla, ANC secretarygeneral Gwede Mantashe urged Zuma to "push for the final report" from an interministerial team he appointed to investigate the textbook scandal. Mantashe spoke aggressively about finding the guilty people. The party appears determined to intervene directly in a government failure to deliver. The ruling party has never before interceded in the performance of a member in the government. However Mantashe was quick to state that the ANC's intention was not to micromanage government. "The NEC also considered the lack of delivery of books in Limpopo shocking and unacceptable, and believes that who ever is found to be responsible must face stern action that might include criminal charges." Flanked by NEC members Jesse Duarte and Mathole Motshekga - Angie Motshekga's husband - Mantashe tore into a crisis that Justice Minister Jeff Radebe has described as a national "shame".

"The NEC acknowledged that this is a serious failure on the part of the government, the Department of Basic Education, in particular, at both national and provincial level," he said. His statement seemed to quash attempts by Motshekga to deny responsibility for the textbook scandal. She has repeatedly insisted that she has no role in the delivery of textbooks to schools. Last week, Zuma said Motshekga could not be held accountable because she sat in an office in Pretoria. But Mantashe said: "That final report should be the basis for any action to be taken, including action against any person found guilty of any misdemeanour. "There will be no holy cows in this regard, but the reality of the matter is that we don't want to come out and howl and say expel so and so; we think it is a little bit irresponsible of the organisations [calling for Motshekga's head], including our allies and our leagues," he said. Mantashe was referring to calls by trade union federation Cosatu and the ANC Youth League for Motshekga to quit or be fired. On Sunday, ObedBapela, a deputy minister in The Presidency, said public officials who know they have erred should admit their mistakes and vacate their positions. Mantashe said the weekend lekgotla decided to set up a new "inter-departmental" logistics team to monitor the delivery of textbooks. This is the fourth government team set up recently in this regard. Former Higher Education director-general Mary Metcalfe was appointed to investigate the Limpopo crisis following an agreement by advocacy group Section 27 and Motshekga's department, and has forwarded a critical report to Zuma. Yesterday, Section 27's Mark Heywood, on receipt of a report by the department on its strategy to help Limpopo pupils make up for lost study time, slammed Motshekga. "We are not happy about the report. The catch-up plan is far less than the court ordered and the agreement we had with the department. "The order stipulates that the plan should include extra tuition and support for teachers. Thus far, nothing has been done to assist the pupils. "The department is trying to downplay the importance of textbooks. It makes it sound like the children did not suffer that much and that is absolute rubbish," Heywood said. "We feel that the production of study guides is not enough and we will meet our legal team in a few days to decide whether to go back to court." The Limpopo government set up its own team before Zuma announced his inter-ministerial team, led by Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene. Mantashe said: "All the task teams that were set up to deal with the book debacle must reconcile their reports and the presidential task team must be the channel of reporting to The Presidency. "Having received the preliminary report, The Presidency has been asked to push for the final report." Mac Maharaj, spokesman for The Presidency, said Zuma had received a preliminary report. "He is studying the report and has urged the task team to continue and conclude its work without any further delay." Maharaj said Zuma would "pronounce on the report once the matter has been concluded".

Last week, public protector Thuli Madonsela announced that she was investigating the nondelivery of textbooks following complaints that several schools in Gauteng and the Free State had not received books. Madonsela said she was also investigating the burning of textbooks in Limpopo. Though the ANC has thrown resources at the embarrassing textbooks scandal, DA leader Helen Zille used the crisis to campaign for the 2014 national elections by announcing her party's plans for fixing the education crisis. Her proposals include new legislation that would restrict teachers' right to strike, the negotiation of textbook prices and the ordering of books direct from publishers to avoid delivery problems. Zille said the campaign, would help unlock job opportunities for young people. 31 July 2012 Business Day Page 3 Carol Paton

ANC plans to publish list of minerals it deems strategic

The African National Congress (ANC) is to publish a list of minerals it wants declared "strategic" probably in September, says secretary-generalGwedeMantashe. Strategic minerals would have conditions placed on their exploitation, exportation and sale. The ANC also wants to ensure that the state-owned mining company prioritises investments in strategic minerals, which it is envisaged it would do through joint ventures with the private sector in a kind of free-carry system. In a normal free-carry arrangement the state would usually acquire its share of the venture for free. In an interview after the ANCs mid-year lekgotla, Mr Mantashe provided some details on the partys resolution on the mining sector, which emerged from its policy conference last month. The ANC had agreed that there should be "strategic and not wholesale nationalisation" of mineral resources, he said. "In the resolution we talk of strategic nationalisation. What that means is the state taking an active interest in strategic minerals. Following our September national executive committee meeting, we will publish a list of minerals that we regard as strategic," he said. The definition of a "strategic mineral" is not completely clear as the ANC has not yet published the resolution from the conference. The partys research document on State Intervention into the Mining Sector (Sims) proposed that minerals that are considered a critical feedstock into the economy such as coal and iron ore should be designated strategic. Strategic minerals, according to the Sims document, should be supplied at "reasonable prices", implying a new regime of state price regulation over mineral resources. Mr Mantashe said the definition in the Sims document was "a starting point" and could be elaborated upon. The main aims of designating a mineral strategic would be to secure domestic supply (as with coal) and to encourage exploitation of new resources and beneficiation.

In joint ventures where the state-owned mining company secured a free-carry, these would be limited to unexploited reserves that the company has prospected. The percentage of the freecarry would depend on the structure of the deal. "There was some debate on whether we should set a percentage but we decided that should be done on the basis of evidence." The ANC policy also envisaged tying mining licence conditions to beneficiation. "For a foreign company it may become a condition that it has a beneficiation plant in SA." 31 July 2012 Business Day Page 3 BekezelaPhakathi

DA swaps the three Rs for the four Ts in its plan for improving education
Democratic Alliance plan will focus on four Ts: time, training, textbooks and technology, The Democratic Alliance (DA) has come up with a plan to improve the quality of the countrys education system, if given the chance to govern, the party said yesterday. The plan will focus on four Ts: time, training, textbooks and technology, the party said. SAs education crisis has dominated headlines in recent weeks, and by putting proposals to improve the system, the DA hopes to score political points ahead of the 2014 general election. Announcing its plan, the DA said the poor state of the education system was excluding many young people from the mainstream economy. The DA launched its national jobs campaign at the weekend which, among other goals, seeks to create millions of jobs and to grow the economy by 8%. The opposition party argues that improving the quality of the education system would give young people the opportunities and skills they need to get a job. Speaking during a press briefing yesterday, DA leader Helen Zille said that teachers needed to spend more time teaching, adding that improving teacher training was imperative. The DA would also ensure that every pupil had access to a textbook for each subject they take and that technology could also be implemented to maximise outcomes, Ms Zille said. The party proposed a raft of changes particularly in basic education, saying "these policies would form the nucleus of our education policy if we were given the opportunity to govern". Some of the proposals the party put forward yesterday included the introduction of a scarce skills allowance for teachers as well as training workshops to improve the skills of teachers. "The scarce skills allowance would supplement the salaries of teachers who possess scarce subject knowledge or who produce excellent results in poor schools. "This will create a financial incentive for teachers to specialise in subjects such as maths and science," Ms Zille said. The incentive scheme would also encourage "talented" teachers to apply for positions in schools situated in economically disadvantaged areas.

The DA also proposed the introduction of a new teacher strike legislation that would see teachers right to strike subject to certain limitations. "It will include provisions requiring that terms and conditions be set through consultation and agreement between the government, the unions and school governing bodies before a strike may legally take place, that the rule of no work, no pay be strictly enforced", Ms Zille said. Education expert Prof Graeme Bloch said yesterday the solutions proposed by the opposition party "made sense", though there was a danger that education was being over-politicised. "The DA has a chance (in the Western Cape) to really show if it can improve results and make things better for the poor," Prof Bloch said. However, he criticised the DAs proposal to place limitations on teacher strikes. "In theory, better accountability and fewer strikes are a good thing, but in practice you have to provide the support that makes good teaching possible," he said. 31 July 2012 Cape Times Page 1 Louise Flanagan

Billions in secret defence spending queried

The military spends billions from a special account, but you wont be told what its buying. Last week Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan exempted three years of spending on the Special Defence Account (SDA) from part of the Public Finance Management Act, apparently to ensure the spending stays secret. The three years are 2010/11 to 2012/13 so its retrospective for two years and involves R13bn. The account is for buying weapons and equipment, and funding covert activities. The defence department would not comment, referring queries to the National Treasury, which said exemption was an accounting issue. Treasury spokesman Jabulani Sikhakhane said the introduction in 2010 of new accounting practices meant the SDA would have had to publish separate financial statements, but the activities of its funds are such that they cannot be disclosed. The exemption allows the Department of Defence time to find a more appropriate solution to the problem. The SDA is not a slush fund. Its funding is appropriated in the Appropriation Act and the SDA is accountable to Parliament for the use of the funds. In addition, the SDA is subject to audit by the Auditor-General, he said. The A-Gs office said reports on the account have not been tabled in Parliament for two years due to delays. The account was set up in terms of the Defence Special Account Act of 1974. The act is a leftover from the apartheid years and there has been talk of repealing it. The Department of Defences 2010/11 annual report said the account is to acquire, procure and develop armament and technology. The AG has described the account as expenditure and purchases incurred for special defence activities as approved by the ministers of finance and defence. Income is derived from interest received and proceeds from sale of armaments and money allocated from the vote of the Department of Defence annually, the A-G said.

Budget documents indicate how much money goes into the account, but give only broad indications of what its for. It includes but is not limited to the spending on the arms deal, the Strategic Defence Procurement Programme. Its not clear if the full amount is spent every year as the law allows unspent SDA funds to roll over each year. Defence budgets show that in the seven years from 2008/9 to 2014/15, more than R43bn was for the account. That includes nearly R19bn due to go in over the next three years. During 2012/13, Defence will put in R5.26bn, including R2.3bn for landward defence and R1.8bn for air defence. Transfers to the account are listed as acquisition and upgrading of main weapon systems and technology, except for R421m for executing defence intelligence activities. In 2008/09, at least 15 percent of the R8bn transferred to the account was for unspecified operating costs, about a third was for the arms deal, but nearly half was unspecified other procurement. MP David Maynier, the DAs defence spokesman, has serious reservations about the account. He said money was channelled through it for a wide variety of purposes, including capital acquisition projects that should not for the most part be kept secret. He said it was used to hide money from Parliament, with R1.3bn apparently warehoused in it despite the defence department pleading poverty. He said there was absolutely no accounting to parliament on how the money was spent. The only comfort is that the AuditorGeneral conducts an annual audit of the Special Defence Account. Maynier said the account should be scrapped or its scope narrowed. 31 July 2012 Business Report Page 1 Londiwe Buthelezi

Minister warns of soaring health costs

Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi wanted the Competition Commission to reverse its ruling and allow medical schemes to enter into price bargaining negotiations with the service providers because the absence of a bargaining forum was the route to spiralling health care costs in the country, he said yesterday. Speaking at the Board of Health Funders (BHF) of Southern Africa conference, Motsoaledi said pricing in private health care was abnormal and unacceptable. Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) wrote me a letter in 2010 saying minister you cant allow this, he said. Motsoaledi said because of the commissions 2004 ruling, which barred medical schemes from bargaining negotiations with service providers, pricing of health care had become the law of the jungle in South Africa. He said the vanishing of small schemes, almost halving the numbers between 2001 and this year, was largely a result of this ruling. Being in hospital now is like being in a supermarket but at least in a supermarket you are certain of prices. That ruling was a terrible ruling. It brought so much uncertainty, the minister said.

Private hospitals were charging up to R18 000 for five-minute procedures such as womb cleaning that could be performed even by a medical student. Up to R30 000 was charged for perianal abscess treatment by some hospitals. People think Im exaggerating when I mention these prices but Im certain of them because it happened to a high ranking official of the WHO and she wrote me a letter and I saw the invoice, he said. Because medical schemes were struggling to bear this cost, they set medical aid tariffs and paid not even half the price of hospital invoices in some cases, leaving the patient to pay the rest. An invoice presented by the minister showed a total of R19 100.03 charged by a hospital to a patient and the medical scheme paid just more than R5 000, leaving the balance to the patient to pay. Then what is the use of having a medical aid if you have to pay that much? But Im not able to blame a medical scheme for that because I understand where they are coming from. Motsoaledi said uncontrolled commercialisation of health care was happening in both the private and public health care sectors in the form of tendercare in the public and pricing in the private. The National Health Insurance (NHI) was the governments response to address this and challenges of imbalance and access to quality health care, he said. With the NHI, he said, the aim was that nothing must be left for patients to pay out of their pockets. Most of the population cannot use private hospitals. The fragmentation in the countrys health care system between the public and private sector was resulting in more money being spent with less health outcomes. All countries in the developed world are chasing the mandatory pre-payment system, which is (the) NHI in South Africa. Our health care system is even more commercialised than (the) US. BHF chief executive Humphrey Zokufa said the environment that the medical schemes found themselves in had become very adverse and was preventing them from doing what they were supposed to do in terms of the Medical Schemes Act. The BHF represents 95 percent of the medical schemes in South Africa, except Discovery. BHF chairman Clarence Mini said the costs had spiralled further since the court ruling last year that schemes had to pay for prescribed minimum benefits in full. He said medical schemes were finding it difficult to bear the cost. 31 July 2012 Business Report Page 20 Donwald Pressly

Nationalisation debate is over

The ANC has provided the assurance that the nationalisation debate is off the table, but the National Executive Committee (NEC) remains committed to implementing a system of reference pricing to provide fixed prices for goods and commodities and targeting a certain percentage of strategic resources for beneficiation. This emerged from an NEC lekgotla big meeting held after the recent policy conference to fine-tune policy positions, particularly on economic policy matters. Bloomberg reported ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe as saying the party planned to finalise a list of so-called strategic minerals by next month. The government would set aside a certain percentage of the strategic resources for local beneficiation, he said.

The government also wished to work with manufacturers and suppliers, thus cutting out middlemen and the attendant costs. It would also develop its construction capacity to reduce dependence on tenders. This tended to breed corruption, Mantashe argued. This is in line with the SACPs arguments that tenderpreuneurism or jobs for pals can be eradicated by allowing all spheres of the government including local government to carry out the job of providing services themselves. The secretary-generals remarks also coincide with arguments recently put to the parliamentary energy and cooperative governance committees by the SA Local Government Association. Mthobeli Kolisa, the associations infrastructure director, argued that foreign direct investment in infrastructure particularly the electricity distribution component should be prescribed. Dennis Dykes, the Nedbank Group chief economist, expressed concern that the government would be taking a more direct role in the economy in general. The consequence of a price and incomes policy had been proved at least in the Soviet experience to end up controlling prices but not ending supply shortages. People theoretically have access to reasonably (and fixed) priced goods but often dont get access to the goods, he said. The lekgotlas indication that it supported the National Planning Commissions 30-year plan which tended to be more liberal in sentiment than recent economic policy documents released by the ANC was welcome, Dykes said. But he added that this document should be guiding the ANC in a much more active way. The NEC expressed support for the work of the National Planning Commission. The NEC agreed that the National Development Plan thus far is on the right track towards taking the country forward. The NEC committed itself to continue engaging with the plan. It said the commission was working hard to develop the national vision that the nation can converge around. Noting that the ANC would be investigating implementing reference pricing, Dawie Roodt, Efficient Groups chief economist, said this was a centrally-controlled system which ensured that prices are the same everywhere that is important to the Left ideology. That means the cost of bread and eggs, for example, was uniform. They would probably start with basic goods, Roodt said. With regard to prescribing a percentage of strategic resources for use for beneficiation domestically, Roodt said this was a silly idea. For example, the Chinese may be better at adding value at iron ore an example of what could be one of the strategic resources earmarked but we may be better at added value of our maize production.