South Africa at a crossroad

Counting is ongoing in the National Assembly of South Africa to elect an interim president to succeed beleaguered Thabo Mbeki. Kgalema Motlanthe, deputy leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is widely tipped to win. The meeting convened at 11am to elect a third democratic president.Just before the proceeding started, ANC MPs were singing and jubilating ready for a landmark and historical event in the history of the movement. Chief Justice Pius Langa began the whole process by reminding the Members of Parliament about the rules applicable to the process and then proceeding to take nominations for presidential candidates.As it was expected, the ANC’s Ben Turok rose up to nominate Kgalema Motlanthe as a candidate, a move seconded by another ANC MP. The DA – Democratic Alliance – was also not to be left behind, when their parliamentary leader Sandra Botha proceeded to nominate the party’s chairperson, Joe Seremane as a candidate.Albeit a futile but democratic exercise, the DA managed to delay the proceeding for at least 30 minutes. Chief Justice Langa stated that since there were two nominees, members of parliament would now have to go for a secret ballot to vote for their preferred candidate. He went on to assure the house that the printing of ballots is likely to take at least 30 minutes.For the moment, the Minister of Communications, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri remains the acting president of the country, as it was decided during Mbeki’s last cabinet meeting on Wednesday.Mbeki announced his resignation on Sunday over claims of political interference in a corruption case against Zuma. He denies the allegations but said he was stepping down in the interests of party unity, as the ANC leadership said it was recalling him.

Corruption: Africa’s movers and shakers

Corruption has significantly improved in Nigeria and Mauritius over the last year, according to the Transparency International`s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The southern African country ranked 41 out of 180 countries with a score of 5.5 out of 10. Nigeria (2.7) jumped from 180 to 121.The CPI measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. The 2008 CPI scores 180 countries (the same number as the 2007 CPI) on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).According to the report released on Tuesday in Berlin, Botswana leads the league table of top 10 least corrupt African countries at the 36th position with a score of 5.8. Mauritius closely followed then Cape Verde at 47th spot with a mark of 5.1. Africa’s fourth went to South Africa at the 54th slot with a score of 4.9, Seychelles gained 55th and bagged 4.8 and then Namibia landed at the 61st position after scoring 4.5.Others are Tunisia (62) with a score of 4.4, Ghana ranked 67 and scored 3.9, Swaziland (72) and attained 3.6 followed by Burkina Faso at 80th position after it obtained a mark of 3.5.However, Somalia (180), Sudan (173), Chad (173), Guinea (173) topped the top 10 corrupt countries on the continent scoring 1.6 each but Somalia which managed only 1.0. Equatorial Guinea (171) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (171) followed them with a score of 1.7 each. On top of them was ailing Zimbabwe, which is lying at the 166th position and scored 1.8. The remaining medals for the other three corrupt countries went to Gambia (158), Angola (158) and Guinea-Bissau (158) after all three scored 1.9 each.On the global scene, Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2. Bringing up the rear is Somalia at 1.0, slightly trailing Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti at 1.4, according to TI website. The global anti-corruption watchdog said while score changes in the Index are not rapid, statistically significant changes are evident in certain countries from the high to the low end of the CPI. Looking at source surveys included in both the 2007 and 2008 Index, significant declines can be seen in the scores of Bulgaria, Burundi, Maldives, Norway and the United Kingdom. Similarly, statistically significant improvements over the last year can be identified in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.

Zimbabwe: Cows used as school fees

School fees are now being paid in cows or fuel coupons in parts of Zimbabwe as its currency continues to wobble. Residents in Bulawayo, the second city of the southern African country object to the new directive and are calling on the government to intervene, the BBC reported.The report said parents without fuel coupons have been asked to deliver 700 litres of fuel. However, a teacher at Petra High School said it was cash-strapped parents who originally wanted to pay in kind. Banks only allow people to withdraw a maximum of 1,000 new Zimbabwe dollars a day. “If you are paying school fees of 100,000 dollars, that means I will be going to the bank for the next five months to withdraw 1,000 dollars until I reach the requirement amount for fees,” said one parent, Babongile Simanga.Petra High School was not available for comment but two teachers confirmed that if parents failed to raise enough cash, they could pay in whatever they have, including livestock. The report added that it is not clear how many parents have handed over animals, but the practice is said to have been going on for some time.”It’s not only Petra High School that is doing that,” said Dumisa Tshabalala of Magwegwe township, who has two children at Embakwe High School in the neighbouring province of Matabeleland South. “Many schools these days are doing it and we should blame the government not schools.” Cows are the usual method of payment because of their higher value, though poor people in rural areas have also used goats. Another teacher at Petra High said the decision to ask parents to improvise was taken at a meeting with the school development association. Most of the parents who attended are said to have agreed because of the cash shortages, but some are now complaining and calling for teachers to be dismissed.One problem is how to determine the market value of the animal, since cattle sales have ceased amid Zimbabwe’s economic crisis. Themba Sithole, an official for the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, criticised schools demanding fees in the form of livestock or fuel coupons. “The question here is who is benefiting from this practice. Is it the school or individual teachers or heads?” he asked. But Eunice Sandi, a former Zanu-PF senator for the Bulilima constituency, said schools should not come under fire. “We must not blame schools when they ask us as parents to find ways of beating the cash crisis,” she said.Meanwhile, teachers are demanding that the government pay them US$1,200 a month – or about Z$48,000. Currently teachers earn Z$1,200, which is about $US35 on the local parallel market.