South Africa Urges Britain to Probe Spy Allegations

SA urges UK to probe spy allegations

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 00:00

CAPE TOWN. — The South African government yesterday urged the British government to investigate allegations that British intelligence agents spied on South African delegates attending the 2009 Group
20 meeting.

This followed reports by the Guardian newspaper that documents leaked by former US spy Edward Snowden showed that South African, Russian and Turkish officials, among others, were targeted by British intelligence agents who used state of the art surveillance equipment to acquire retrieved documents, including briefings for South African delegates to G20 and G8 meetings.

The South African government has noted with concern various reports, Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.

“We do not yet have the full benefit of details reported on, but in principle we would condemn the abuse of privacy and basic human rights particularly if it emanates from those who claim to be democrats,” Monyela said.

“We have solid, strong and cordial relations with the United Kingdom and would call on their government to investigate this matter fully with a view to take strong and visible action against any perpetrators,” Monyela said.

— Xinhua.

Politburo to Finalize ZANU-PF Nominations

Politburo to finalise Zanu-PF nominations

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 00:00
Takunda Maodza Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

THE Zanu-PF National Elections Directorate yesterday scrutinised applications by aspiring candidates seeking to stand on the party’s ticket in the harmonised elections and is expected to present a reporton its findings to the Politburo today.

The Politburo is expected to approve the final list of candidates who will contest primary elections on Monday next week in preparation for the harmonised elections on July 31.

Zanu-PF national chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo confirmed the development in an interview with The Herald last night.

“We met for the whole day,” he said. “The provincial elections directorate led by their respective chairpersons presented applications for nominations from the provinces.

“The National Elections Directorate deliberated on each province’s submission.
“It was a very robust scrutiny of all the applications presented and in the end the National Elections Directorate concluded the discussions and we are now preparing our report for presentation to Politburo tomorrow (today) afternoon.”

Cde Khaya Moyo said the process went on well.

“We discussed even those who were disqualified,” he said.

“Some of them were accepted, while some were not accepted as they could not meet all the requirements as stipulated in the rules and regulations governing the conduct of primary elections.

“We have to present our report to Politburo tomorrow (today) and Politburo will bring finality to the exercise.”

Cde Khaya Moyo said as the Zanu-PF chairman, he was impressed by the applications.

“The submissions clearly demonstrate that the party is in good stead,” he said.

“There is thriving democracy in our revolutionary party.

“Given the sentiments expressed by the submissions from various provinces, it is quite evident that we are heading for a resounding win in the coming harmonised elections.

“We are poised for a thunderous win.”
Sitting and aspiring Zanu-PF legislators presented their curriculum vitaes and applications over the weekend at various districts across the country.

The applications were scrutinised by respective provinces before they were submitted to the national elections directorate chaired by Cde Khaya Moyo for further vetting.

Approval by Politburo of the aspiring candidates will pave way for the primary elections that would be held in one day on Monday across the country.

Miners Bypass Diamond Cutters in Zimbabwe

Miners bypass diamond cutters

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 00:00
Martin Kadzere Senior Business Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

A NUMBER of local diamond cutters and polishers have closed shop because they are not getting the gems from miners, a report by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Mines and Energy has said.

In terms of the diamond policy adopted by the Government last year, a quota of locally produced diamonds should be made available for beneficiation by local cutters and polishers. The main objective of the arrangement is to encourage a broader local participation in the sector.

But Government had been reluctant to ensure a portion of locally produced gems are reserved for the locals.

“In a meeting with the association of local cutters and polishers, the committee noted with concern that Government was not very supportive in developing this sector,” the parliamentary report said.

“This was evidenced by the vague policy by Government in terms of the quota and the quality of gems to be supplied to the local cutters and polishers. At the same time, some (diamond) local cutters and polishers lost their money to Government after paying licence fees without a corresponding duty of accessing the diamonds.

“The committee would like to implore Government to seriously consider the development of local cutters and polishers as this has the potential to create more wealth and employment for the economy. The country’s diamonds are being exported in raw form, creating more jobs and wealth for other countries. This is indeed a travesty of justice.”

Diamond cutters and polishers pay a licence fee of US$50 000, that is renewed every year. This was also impeding the growth of the sector. The committee also noted with concern some of the diamond producers have plans to actively participate in the cutting and polishing industry.

“This creates a conflict of interest and has the potential to stifle the growth of local cutters and polishers,” said the report.

“The growth of the local cutters and polishers was also being impeded by exorbitant licence fees . . . and yet there was no guarantee of receiving a parcel or reimbursement if the parcel is not delivered.

As a result a number of local cutters and polishers had to fold their operations and yet they had invested heavily through the acquisition of machinery and training of personnel.”

Zimbabwe’s diamond production from Marange rose 8,7 million carats in 2011 to 12 million carats last year. This year, production is expected to further increase to 17 million carats, according to the report.

Globally, the industry is robust and has fully recovered from the 2008 recession. India’s cutting industry is currently the largest, with one million cutters, while China’s industry has grown from nil cutters 20 years ago to 60 000 cutters today and Botswana’s cutters increased over the past years from 300 to 3 000, according to the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

South Africa, though fairly mature, is in distress as cutters and polishers have dropped from 4 500 to less than 600.

The report has recommended that the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe should be encouraged to carry out a study on ways of developing the growth of the local cutting and polishing industry.

Government should also encourage local entrepreneurs to get involved and should deliberately put in place favourable conditions. Similarly, investment policies and fiscal regimes must be put in place to encourage foreign investments in joint ventures with local entrepreneurs in the cutting and polishing industry.

Ban appoints Irish major general to head up UN’s oldest peacekeeping mission

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment today of Major General Michel Finn, of Ireland, as head of Mission and Chief of Staff of the Jerusalem-based UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the first such operation the world body set up almost 60 years ago.

Gaddafi’s Son Accuses Libyan Rebels of Blatant Disregard for Law

Gaddafi son accuses Libya of blatant disregard for law over trial attempt

Lawyer condemns attempt to overturn international criminal court ruling that Tripoli would deny Saif al-Islam Gaddafi a fair trial

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 18 June 2013 15.02 EDT

A lawyer for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has accused the authorities in his country of showing a “blatant disregard” for the international criminal court (ICC) by announcing they will put him on trial in August.

In an urgent submission to the Hague-based court, the British lawyer John Jones asked appeal judges to reject Libya’s request to suspend an order that Tripoli surrender Gaddafi to the court.

Libyan officials are appealing against the international court’s right to try Muammar’s Gadaffi’s erstwhile heir apparent, saying he should face justice at home, but the international court says Tripoli cannot give him a fair trial.

Jones says Gadaffi could be executed in Libya before the appeal is completed if he is not handed over to the court.

“The possible implementation of the death penalty in domestic proceedings would also create a grievous and irremediable consequence for Mr Gaddafi, and completely undermine the ability of the appeals chamber to render a determination on the appeal,” Jones wrote.

Libyan prosecutors said on Monday that Gadaffi, along with the dictatorship-era spy chief, Abdullah al-Senoussi – who also is wanted by the ICC – the former premier al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi and the ex-spokesman Milad Daman, would be tried in August for crimes committed during Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule and the eight-month civil war that deposed him.

Jones said the announcement “could only be construed as blatant disregard” for Libya’s obligations to the court.

Gaddafi is being held by a militia in the Libyan town of Zintan.

With no national army or police in place since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, successive governments have been too weak either to secure his son’s imprisonment in the capital, Tripoli, or put pressure on his captors to hand him over to the government. Gaddafi is also being tried on separate charges of harming state security.

As Syria crisis roils Middle East, Ban says Israeli-Palestinian peace remains urgent priority

With spiralling violence in Syria stoking tension in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said “we must not lose sight of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” whose resolution was no less urgent.

Zimbabwe Government Files Poll Extension Bid

Govt files poll extension bid

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 00:00
Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

GOVERNMENT has filed an application to extend the July 31 deadline for holding harmonised elections in the wake of an appeal by the Sadc extraordinary summit in Maputo, Mozambique, last weekend.

Summit urged the inclusive-Government to approach the court to ask for time beyond July 31.

Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday filed the application on behalf of the inclusive Government.

He said President Mugabe has much respect for the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe’s judgment and had already complied with it by fixing the election date for July 31.

Minister Chinamasa said pressure from MDC formations and other political parties in Zimbabwe culminated in Sadc urging Government to seek an extension of the poll date.

Mr Jealousy Mawarire of the Centre for Elections and Democracy (who obtained the order for the July 31 deadline), Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, MDC leader Professor Welshman Ncube and the Attorney-General were cited as respondents in the application.

Minister Chinamasa said he was specifically directed by the Sadc summit to make an urgent application for the extension of the election date.

“During the proceedings at the said summit, I, in particular, was directed to make an urgent application before this Honourable Court (Constitutional Court) to seek a postponement of the date for the harmonised general election from July 31 2013 to August 14 2013,” he said.

“In view of the above and in my capacity as the minister responsible for the administration of the Electoral Act, I pray for an order for the extension of the elections to the 14th of August 2013.”

The relevant part of the communiqué directing Zimbabwe to seek extension of the election date reads: “Summit acknowledged the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe on the election date and agreed on the need for the Government of Zimbabwe to engage the Constitutional Court to seek more time beyond the July 31, 2013 deadline for holding the election.”

Minister Chinamasa emphasised that the application was filed despite the fact that President Mugabe had complied with the court order.

“I reiterate that His Excellency, the President, Cde RG Mugabe, is respectful of the ruling by this Honourable Court that the rule of law should be restored as regards the electoral process and thus has fully complied with the order of this court in terms of the law without any legal difficulties or impediments,” he said.

“It is only the development referred to above, initiated by the second and fourth respondents (PM Tsvangirai and Prof Ncube) precipitating a directive of the extraordinary summit of Sadc held in Maputo on June 15 2013.

“In compliance with the order of this Honourable Court, His Excellency the President promulgated the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures Amendment of Electoral Act) Regulations 2013, which align the Electoral Act with the new Constitution. The regulations were published in the Gazette on the 12th of June 2013 . . .”

The President fixed July 31 as the elections date, with the Nomination Court sitting on June 28 in a proclamation issued on June 13 in terms of Statutory Instrument 86/2013.

Minister Chinamasa said PM Tsvangirai and Prof Ncube had some misgivings about the order of the Constitutional Court and lobbied Sadc, inviting the regional body to intervene and set aside the court order.

“Unilaterally, second respondent (PM Tsvangirai) sought an extension to the 31st of October 2013, while fourth respondent (Prof Ncube) suggested an extension to the 9th of September 2013,” said Minister Chinamasa. They both latter changed their positions with the second respondent suggesting the 12th of August and the fourth respondent suggesting the 14th of August 2013.

That, according to Minister Chinamasa, invited Sadc intervention and Government got a directive to seek extension of the Constitutional Court’s deadline of July 31.

Sadc, however, acknowledged that it was up to the Constitutional Court to extend or throw out the application and whatever decision the Court made was to bind all the parties.

African Union 10-member Observer Team Arrives in Zimbabwe

AU 10-member observer team arrives

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 00:00
Michael Chideme Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

A 10-member African Union (AU) pre-observer team arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday to assess the political situation ahead of harmonised elections set for July 31.

AU political officer Mr Idrissa Kamara is leading the team that includes Ms Joyce Pitso, Ms Chirambo Kondwani, Mr Gilbert Khadiagala, all of South Africa; Mr Job Akuni, Mr Crispy Praise Kaheru and Ms Hope-Mary Nsagi of Uganda; Mrs Maraetile Polaki of Lesotho; Mr Emmanuel Abegunde of Nigeria and South Sudanese national Mr Remember Miamingi.

Ms Chirambo is co-ordinating the team.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission deputy chairperson Mrs Joyce Kazembe said nine members of the team would remain in the country to observe the whole electoral process, while one would return to the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mrs Kazembe said the electoral body would accredit the AU team tomorrow.

The AU announced the deployment through a letter to Government earlier this month.

“The Commission of African Union presents its compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe and has the honour to inform the latter that the chairperson of the African Union Commission has decided to deploy nine long-term observers to Zimbabwe to monitor the upcoming general elections tentatively scheduled for 31st July 2013,” reads part of the letter.

The arrival of the observers was further testimony of the AU’s endorsement of the date for the harmonised polls coming as it did just a day after the continental bloc stressed that only Zimbabweans can resolve any contestation over their election date as it was not proper for anyone else to second-guess the country’s courts.

Addressing a Press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, African Union Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the only question should be whether the polls are free and fair.

“The courts have said the elections must take place. And so do we listen to the courts? Or do we not listen to the courts?

“I thought a lot of you have always been talking to us about the rule of law and respect for the Judiciary,” Reuters quoted Dr Dlamini-Zuma as saying.

“So I don’t know. The Zimbabweans must sort it out, whether they listen to the Judiciary and go with what the Judiciary has said, or whether they ignore it.”

The Constitutional Court ruled, with a crushing majority of seven judges assenting to two dissenting, that harmonised elections be held by July 31 in the wake of an application by Mr Jealousy Mawarire of the Centre for Elections and Democracy who wanted the court to compel President Mugabe to proclaim the election date before the expiry of the life of the Seventh Parliament.

Detroit Battle Looms Between Bondholders and Retirees

June 17, 2013

In Embattled Detroit, No Talk of Sharing Pain

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH and STEVEN YACCINO
New York Times

When New York City threatened to declare bankruptcy in 1975, the idea so terrified everyone that it forced the city, its workers and its recalcitrant bankers to sit down and find ways to share the pain.

Now another large city, Detroit, appears to be on the brink of filing for bankruptcy, but there is little talk of sharing the pain. Instead, the fiscal crisis in Michigan is setting up as a gigantic clash between bondholders and city retirees.

The city’s proposals, which could give some bondholders as little as 10 cents on the dollar, are making some creditors think they would be better off in bankruptcy. They see the specter of a federal judge imposing involuntary losses as less ominous than it was for New York.

“The haircut is so severe,” said Matt Fabian, a managing director of Municipal Market Advisors, “I think it’s scaring them into bankruptcy, rather than away from bankruptcy.”

But city retirees, facing the prospect of sharply reduced benefits whether in bankruptcy or under Detroit’s restructuring proposal, think they stand squarely on the moral high ground because despite the poverty of many current and retired members, they have already offered big concessions.

“It’s not the employees that are costing the city money,” said Edward L. McNeil, an official with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees who is leading a coalition of 33 unions that will be affected by any restructuring of Detroit’s debts, which total roughly $17 billion. Just last year, he said, those unions offered concessions that could have saved the city hundreds of millions of dollars a year. But Detroit “botched the implementation,” he said.

And Michael VanOverbeke, interim general counsel for the general workers’ retirement plan, said bondholders were investors hoping for returns, who should expect “a certain amount of risk.”

“Planning for retirement and working for employers was not an investment into the market,” he added. “These are people who are on a fixed income at this point in their life. They can’t go back to work and start all over again.” He said it was unthinkable to cut retirees’ pensions outside of bankruptcy.

A bankruptcy in Detroit would have no precedent, despite an unusual flurry of municipal bankruptcies after the financial crisis. Rhode Island hurriedly passed a law giving municipal bondhholders priority over other creditors, including retirees, just before the small city of Central Falls filed for bankruptcy. That helped Central Falls resolve its bankruptcy quickly, but no one thinks Michigan could pass such a law. In Jefferson County, Ala., a large majority of the financial trouble grew out of debt issued to rebuild a sewer system, not pensions or other employee benefits. The rights of public workers and bondholders are in conflict in the bankruptcy of Stockton, Calif., but that case is not yet far enough along to be of any guidance to Detroit.

With talks on labor issues scheduled for Thursday, municipal bond market participants say one of their main concerns is that the city’s proposal would flatten the traditional hierarchy of creditors, putting say, a retired librarian on par with an investor holding a general obligation bond. That does not square with the laws and conventions of the municipal bond market, where for decades small investors have been told that such bonds are among the safest investments and that for “general obligation” bonds cities could even be compelled to raise taxes, if that’s what it took to make good. The “full faith and credit” pledge was supposed to make such bonds stronger than the other main type of muni — revenue bonds, which promised to pay investors out of project revenue.

Public finance experts have warned that broad societal problems could follow a loss of faith in municipalities’ commitments to honor their pledges. In a major report on the state of the muni market last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission warned that communities would find it increasingly costly to raise money, throwing into question the time-honored practices of building and financing public works at the local level.

Detroit’s proposal shows how much things have changed since the days when the municipal bond market consisted of two types of debt and little else. The emergency manager, Kevyn D. Orr, issued a complicated list of debts with a wide range of gradations, with general obligation bonds now inferior to revenue bonds.

Mr. Orr classified Detroit’s general obligation bonds into two groups — secured and unsecured — with the secured ones backed by outside sources of money, like state aid or federal block grants. The unsecured bonds are those that rely only on Detroit’s “full faith and credit” pledge. As a practical matter, much of Detroit’s bond debt is insured, so bondholders will feel no immediate pain as the city moves forward with its planned defaults. But the bond insurers have the right to do battle in the bondholders’ place, and other market interests are likely to join them.

Mr. Fabian said bondholders knew perfectly well that Detroit was broke and could not raise taxes and fees enough to cover all its bonds, but were still shocked by the proposed treatment.

“It’s not that people just want to get more money out of Detroit,” he said. “It’s the violence that’s being done to the city’s capital structure. It creates a new paradigm for investing in Michigan bonds.”

In the past, he said, the ratings agencies included the various debt structures in their evaluations of municipal bonds. An “unlimited-tax general obligation bond,” for instance, might be rated one or two notches higher than a “limited tax” version of the same bond. Investors would look at the rating, know what they were getting and pay more for the safer debt.

“Michigan is saying all that will go out the window,” Mr. Fabian said. “In effect, they’re saying that structure only matters when you don’t need it” — when everything is normal and the debt is being repaid.

“And when you need to rely on those legal differences, then they don’t matter,” he added. “It’s distressing.”

Municipal market participants are also rattled by a big, sudden increase in Mr. Orr’s measurement of Detroit’s pension shortfall, which he is also classifying as unsecured, leaving workers and bondholders to compete for whatever pool of money is left over. As of June 30, 2011, the city’s most recent actuarial snapshot showed that its two big pension funds were in pretty good shape — short by just $644 million, because the city had issued securities called “certificates of participation” in 2005 and 2006, and put the proceeds into the pension funds.

But Mr. Orr’s report said that estimated shortfall had been “substantially understated” through aggressive assumptions and other distortions. After correcting those, the two funds’ shortfall was closer to $3.5 billion.

And as for those certificates of participation, issued to produce money for pensions, they turn out to be among Detroit’s shakiest debts. The city already skipped a payment due last Friday, and Mr. Orr said the city had found “certain issues related to the validity and/or enforceability” of the debt. His report did not specify what the issues were, but said further investigation might be warranted.

The report said that to some extent, the trustees who sit on Detroit’s pension boards had worsened the pension trouble by promising workers “ad hoc sweeteners” and diverting investment income to other uses. As state-appointed emergency manager, Mr. Orr has authority to remove pension trustees.

But Mr. VanOverbeke said the trustees were not going anywhere. In fact, they have already set aside $5 million for a legal challenge in case Mr. Orr puts them “in a position that they would not have the resources necessary” to protect the pensioners, Mr. VanOverbeke said.

“It wasn’t put aside to do battle,” he said. “They were set aside so that as fiduciaries they can make the appropriate decisions and take the necessary actions as it is deemed appropriate.”

The Zimbabwe Revolution Examined, Part II