Mangaung – praag.org

Police task force subdue hostage takers

The four Mangaung prison inmates who held a woman hostage were successfully overpowered by a special police task force, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega announced on Thursday.

The woman, an official of G4S which manages the Mangaung prison, was rescued just after 10pm on Wednesday when the task force entered the cell occupied by the hostage-takers and their victim.

“Ultimately, at 10.16 pm last night, a tactical assault on the area where the hostage-takers had barricaded themselves was conducted by members of the elite Special Task Force,” said Phiyega.

Police said no shots were fired during the operation and the hostage, who was held for 13 hours, did not sustain any injuries during the rescue operation.

“We can confirm that the hostage [situation] at Mangaung Correctional Centre has been concluded,” G4S Africa head Andy Baker said in a separate statement.

Local police said the woman was unharmed but was nevertheless referred to Rosepark Hospital for a medical check up and treatment.

“We are extremely pleased to report that our employee was not physically harmed… and is receiving care and counselling support,” Baker said.

Free State police spokesman Brigadier Billy Jones said the four inmates were arrested and would be charged with kidnapping and attempted murder of two G4S workers, who were injured earlier on Wednesday.

Jones said that after the woman was accosted and overpowered by the four inmates, they dragged her into one of the cells and locked themselves in.

In the process two male employees, who tried to rescue their colleague were stabbed in the arms and legs by the hostage-takers.

They were apparently armed with sharp objects, believed to be scissor parts.

Jones said the two prison officials were treated at the scene and were reported not to be in a serious condition.

The hostage-takers were serving time for rape, murder and robbery.

Phiyega said in the eventual rescue the task force members acted in accordance with their training and used minimum force to rescue the woman.

She thanked all police officers involved in the peaceful resolution of the hostage situation. – Sapa

Zuma victory is in the bag

President Jacob Zuma’s supporters should focus on life after Mangaung because his victory at the ANC national conference was “sealed”, Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini boldly claimed in Durban on Sunday.

“It is obvious that Zuma will win at Mangaung. This victory is now sealed. But some people are already plotting to make his life a living hell after Mangaung. And if you lower your guard, those people will be ahead of you.”

Dlamini said Cosatu had taken a decision to support Zuma as president, Kgalema Motlanthe as deputy president and Gwede Mantashe as secretary-general.

He admitted that Cosatu leaders had been asked to engage Motlanthe so that he should not contest against Zuma, but said “that matter may have to resolve itself politically”.

Addressing the provincial shop stewards’ council, Dlamini said members of the ANC and Cosatu should be “combat-ready” to defend Zuma and Cosatu unions after Mangaung.

“We are faced with a serious problem where we are under attack from all quarters… We understand that the battle ahead will be tough. The ANC needs to be on its toes.”

Dlamini said the attack on Cosatu affiliates such as the National Union of Mineworkers was part of a bigger plot by some organisations and individuals who wanted to destroy the ANC. “They realise that the ANC keeps on winning the elections, but they want to take over, so now they are trying to destroy the ANC by destroying Cosatu first.”

Dlamini applauded the ANC members who blocked DA leader Helen Zille’s visit to Nkandla.

He said some organisations like the Friends of the Youth League had exploited some genuine demands by the workers for their own gains.

Themba Mthembu, the provincial secretary of the SACP, agreed, saying there was an “antimajoritarian offensive” being waged by parties like the DA against the ANC-led government.

“This hate campaign seeks to undermine the majority rule and the privileges that should be reaped by the majority party.”

Also speaking at the gathering, Senzo Mkhize, a member of the provincial executive committee of the ANC, was also confident Zuma would win at Mangaung, saying that he would be the one delivering the January 8 statement next year. “We will come back from Mangaung with a Zuma moment.”

Mkhize was at pains to explain that the province was not backing Zuma because he was a Zulu.

He said there had been many achievements under the Zuma-led ANC and government and that these included improving relations with alliance partners and providing clear leadership on the issue of HIV/Aids.

At the weekend, the eThekwini region also nominated ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa with regional chairman Sibongiseni Dhlomo, saying the ANC was spoilt for choice as it had many capable leaders who could fill the post.

Dhlomo said, however, the region would be willing to be “influenced” on its list of preferred candidates.

This is an indication that the pro-Zuma supporters can still back Motlanthe for re-election as deputy president, only if he does not contest the position of president.

The region also nominated Zweli Mkhize for the position of treasurer-general, Mantashe for secretary-general, Jessie Duarte for deputy secretary-general and Baleka Mbete for national chairwoman.

Meanwhile, the provincial nominations conference of the ANC Youth League could not decide on its preferred leaders at a meeting on Saturday after a quorum could not be reached. – Daily News

ANCYL wants Motlanthe

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is the ANC Youth League’s choice for the position of ANC president, it said on Wednesday.

It would nominate him for this post at the African National Congress’s elective conference in Mangaung in December, ANCYL spokeswoman Khusela Sangoni-Khawe said in a statement.

“We are calling on all our structures and ANC branches… to ensure that our generational (sic) mission is fulfilled and that… tried, tested and competent comrades are elected.”

The ANCYL’s candidate for ANC secretary general was former ANCYL leader Fikile Mbalula, and for deputy president ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa or Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale. Sexwale could also be nominated as treasurer general.

The names of North West Premier Thandi Modise, Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile, and former ANC deputy secretary general Thenjiwe Mtitso were also put forward.

Sangoni-Khawe said: “Primarily, the kind of political leadership that we need is leadership that adheres to our political programme for economic freedom in our lifetime.”

The next leadership needed to take a firm stand on economic policy to realise the Freedom Charter.

“What scares any investor is not nationalisation of mines or expropriation of land without compensation, but an endless discussion on the aforementioned.”

A leader needed the ability to inspire people and reinforce confidence in the ANC and transformation.

In the run-up to the elective conference in December, the party needed to take a stand against political violence and intimidation, she said.

“The ANC must act decisively to ensure that all comrades are afforded an opportunity to voice, without fear or favour, their preferences on leadership without the spectre of victimisation and even death hanging over them.” – Sapa

Government is trying to silence me: Juju

Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema insisted on Wednesday that money-laundering charges against him were part of a plot to silence him.

“I am aware that senior government officials… have agitated law enforcement authorities to expedite my arrest and detain me as a means of trying to silence and disrupt the political activities I am involved in,” he said in a statement.

“Attempts to silence our political activities and involvement will never succeed because we carry a revolutionary obligation to speak on behalf of the oppressed and downtrodden masses.”

Malema said he would visit mineworkers in the North West on Thursday to pledge support for their wage protests.

“The struggle for economic freedom is in motion and no amount of suppression and intimidation will silence us,” he said.

“Attempts to banish us and isolate us from the ANC have never succeeded and… [will] never succeed.”

Malema was granted bail of R10,000 by the Polokwane Regional Court on Wednesday.

He was officially charged with money-laundering, for allegedly “receiving proceeds from unlawful activities”.

The affidavit he made in support of his application for bail was not read out in court. The case was postponed to November 30.

Malema said it was “conclusively irresponsible” for the State to issue a warrant of arrest and to take him to court, when it could not produce a docket to justify its charges.

“The rushing of the charging seems to be inspired by other considerations than justice,” he said.

“It is very strange that some political leaders, who are compromised and insisted that my arrest be expedited, are the ones who should respond to more than 700 charges of corruption, fraud and money-laundering.”

Earlier, Malema told supporters outside the court that they needed to make sure President Jacob Zuma was not re-elected at the ANC’s national conference in Mangaung at the end of the year.

“We must make sure Jacob Zuma does not become [remain] president of the ANC… Remove him as a president,” he said.

“Zuma has 700 charges against him. I only have one.”

In his statement, Malema said the “rule of law” could not be undermined by people with political power.

“All South Africans, including Jacob Zuma, should be equal before the law,” he said.

The ANC on Wednesday denied accusations that the charges brought against axed youth league leader Julius Malema were politically motivated.

“We reject this accusation with contempt, as it is misleading and seeking to undermine the rule of law and jurisprudence of the country,” spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.

“We want to appeal to our structures and to all South Africans to refrain from using inflammatory and unsubstantiated accusations against the ANC and the government agencies.”

The African National Congress in Limpopo and the ANC Youth League have accused the ruling party of using the charges against Malema to fight political battles.

Mthembu said: “In relation to charges favoured against [Malema] we want to state it categorically that the ANC, its president comrade Jacob Zuma and its leadership have no role in the charges.”

Malema appeared in the Polokwane Regional Court on Wednesday.

He was charged with money-laundering and granted bail of R10,000. The case was postponed until November 30.

The ANC called on those who had evidence of the abuse of state powers and its agencies to submit evidence in court as part of the defence.

Mthembu said the ANC was confident that the court would do its job without political motivation.

“It is evident that anybody that suggests the abuse of state powers is trying to water down the implications inherent in the charges and prejudging the case before it has even started,” he said.

“Let’s allow the law to take its course, and presume everyone appearing before the courts innocent until proven guilty.” – Sapa

‘We won’t kill whites, just take their land without compensation’ – Julius Malema

According to the Daily Maverick, a Johannesburg website, expelled ANC Youth leader Julius Malema is still campaigning hard in his home province of Limpopo.

Greg Nicolson writes that Malema gave whites a lashing over their continued ownership of farmland. “We don’t owe them fuck,” Malema added, assumingly referring to expropriating land from white people without compensation. “We don’t want to kill you… not because we are scared (but) because we like peace.”

After the delegates at the ANC’s national policy conference returned to their respective provinces, Mondli Makhanya, editor-in-chief at Avusa, noted a change in the president Jacob Zuma’s demeanor.

“Defeat in the second transition debate was no small loss for the president. It was a very clear indicator of his precarious hold on power. That is why the president is mimicking Julius Malema and trying to occupy the militant space that the former youth league leader once occupied,” wrote Makhanya.

“And the more unsure he becomes of his sway in the ANC, the more populist he will sound. Julius Malema will have returned. Older, but not wiser.”

Zuma’s legacy is corruption and immoral leadership that lacks personal respect, said Malema last night. He called on the crowded hall to “save the ANC” from the “crisis” that would engulf the party if Zuma led until 2019.

Under Zuma the ANC will take less than 50% of the vote in 2014, said Malema. He referred to Zuma’s dictum that the ANC “would rule until Jesus came”, while the Democratic Alliance already governs the Western Cape. “This is an example of misleading leadership,” he said.

He gave the president a lesson in populist rhetoric. “You will never know what land is until you own it… There are no rich people without land. Land is everything. Land is the purpose the ANC was formed. It wasn’t for VIPs,” proclaimed Juju.

Malema was riding on the confidence that followed last week’s conference. Zuma was dealt a psychological blow when the title of the second transition document was rejected, supporters sung for Kgalema Motlanthe and ANC delegates reportedly came to blows over nationalisation.

But the expelled youth league radical didn’t stop at leadership or policy issues. He engaged in a personal tirade against Zuma and ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu.

Malema asked what right Zuma had to discipline the Youth League while it’s public knowledge that the president slept with a friend’s daughter. He suggested that when Zuma looked at the children of his friends, he didn’t see children, but different opportunities.

In front of the enthusiastic crowd, he said Zuma’s second transition document was rejected at the policy conference, but that he wouldn’t know, because he’s always sleeping.

Malema also launched an attack on Jackson Mthembu, the ANC’s spokesman. He referred to him as a drunk and his son as a drug addict. Mthembu has publicly spoken about his son’s addiction.

Why does Malema still get so much publicity if he is no longer a member of the ruling party? “So Julius had views, how did they get in the paper? Whether he is relevant or not, it appears the media decided that they want to make him relevant,” said political analyst Ebrahim Fakir on Tuesday.

Greg Nicolson of Daily Maverick is of the opinion that last night’s speech was “Julius… unchained. By expelling the ANCYL leader the party let him loose, took away any control it had over him. If he were suspended he would need to toe the line for five years. But his only hope of returning to the party is through helping to topple Zuma and hoping for a reprieve post-Mangaung.”

Manguang, outside Bloemfontein, will host the party’s major conference in December this year, with the leadership struggle heating up in the run-up to it.