Democratic Alliance (DA) MPs yesterday elected Sandra Botha of Free State as leader of the opposition in Parliament in the hope that she will help new DA leader Helen Zille broaden the party’s support among blacks and the youth.
Describing herself as a team player who stands her ground, Botha indicated she would bring a new, less combative style to the National Assembly.
Botha beat Tertius Delport by 31 votes to 25, with one spoilt paper. The fact that both are Afrikaans counted in their favour as candidates as this was considered important to achieve diversity within the party leadership.
The vote was based less on ideological differences and background than on personality and the image of the party.
“There was a yearning within the caucus for a completely new face untouched by the past who could reach out to the DA’s new constituency,” said one DA MP.
Political researcher Jonathan Faull said Botha was probably elected not so much on her appeal to the DA’s targeted constituency as on being a better option than Delport, a former apartheid cabinet minister who would have been a stick with which the African National Congress could beat the DA.
Zille said at a media conference that the fact that the DA now had two women in its high-profile positions was not an issue with its supporters, who had indicated in a survey that gender was irrelevant in the choice of leader. The most important criterion was competence.
Former Gauteng leader Ian Davidson was elected unopposed as chief whip, and Mike Ellis unopposed as deputy. Wattie Watson was elected leader of the opposition in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), and Kraai van Niekerk re-elected chairman of the caucus, with Janet Semple and James Masango his deputies. National Assembly whips will be Sandy Kalyan, Willem Doman, Donald Lee and Paul Swart. Juanita Terblanche will be DA whip in the NCOP.
Active in the progressive anti-apartheid movement, Botha was deputy secretary-general of the National Women’s Coalition, deputy director of the Independent Electoral Commission in Free State and DA caucus leader in the NCOP.
She chaired the United Nations working group on rural women, and was chosen by National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete as first DA chairwoman of the National Assembly, a position she has now relinquished.

The General Assembly of the Africa Liberal Network
•    Notes with concern the rapidly deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe;
•    Further notes the ongoing and relentless oppression of opposition political party supporters and the independent media by the government;
•    Calls on the government of Zimbabwe to respect the right of assembly and to provide a space for the exercising of legitimate political rights;
•    Calls on the Southern African Development Community and the African Union to condemn the actions of the Zimbabwean government and to meaningfully contribute to finding a peaceful political resolution in the country.
Johannesburg, 4 May 2007

The General Assembly of the Africa Liberal Network
•    Congratulates the Honourable Tony Leon MP on his leadership of the Democratic Alliance and its predecessor party for thirteen years;
•    Notes that he has contributed to legitimising the role of opposition politics in South Africa;
•    Further notes that he has been a defender of the rights and freedoms of all South Africans;
•    Thanks him for his contribution to building links between African liberal parties;
And wishes him well in his future endeavours.
Johannesburg, 4 May 2007

Member parties present at the General Assembly of the Africa Liberal Network, held on 4 May, 2007 in Johannesburg,
•    Extend their well wishes to our sister party in the Seychelles, the SNP, in view of the forthcoming elections;
•    Believe that the SNP offers a good programme to protect the human rights of the people of the Seychelles, promote economic growth, safeguard the environment and ensure the well-being of all Seychellois;
•    Call upon the authorities to conduct free and fair elections and respect the will and wishes of the people of the Seychelles
Johannesburg, 4 May 2007

Both ALN member parties, ANADER and the Democratic Alliance have named their new leaders. Mr. Kumbu Kumbel was elected party leader of ANADER on the 25 th of March 2007, following the death of former leader Mr.Raphael KUMBU-KI-LUTETE. More recently, Cape Town Mayor Hellen Zille was named party leader of the Democratic Alliance during the party’s Federal Congress, held 5-6 May in Johannesburg. As Zille will also continue to serve as Cape Town Mayor, a new leader of the opposition in Parliament was elected on 24 May, in the person of Sandra Botha, an Afrikaans and a former activist in the Anti-Apartheid mouvement.

An independent Inquiry has begun into the bloody events of October 3, 2006, in Victoria when the leader of the opposition Seychelles National Party (SNP) and other party officials were beaten up in front of the National Assembly building.
The Inquiry, led by Irish Judge Michael Reilly, is now probing into the events of the day after considering the situation regarding access to public media by political parties, the issue which led to the incidents.
This part of the Inquiry is focusing on the actions of the police, in particular the anti-riot Special Support Unit (SSU), in the incidents.
The Inquiry has questioned a number of the SSU officers involved but the officers have on several occasions told the inquiry they did not see or did not remember critical details of the incidents. None of the police officers involved have admitted seeing any of the SNP leaders being hit.
Police officers have on several occasions changed their testimony, making statements to the Inquiry which were different from statements they had made to investigative officers in preparing for the Inquiry.
SNP officials had last week appeared before the Inquiry to give their account of the events of October 3, 2006.
On that day, a group of SNP officials and supporters gathered in front of the National Assembly building to sign a petition against an amendment to the Radio and Telecommunications Act which would bar a political party or religious organization as well as bodies affiliated to them from obtaining a radio broadcasting licence.
The SSU intervened to break up the gathering, using tear-gas, rubber bullets and batons. SNP leader Wavel Ramkalawan and another party official, Jean-François Ferrari, were beaten on the head with batons and both received several stitches for their wounds. Other party officials, including Members of the National Assembly, were also injured, along with several supporters.
SSU officers have told the Inquiry they were informed by their commanding officers from early in the morning of October 3, at around 7.00 am or 7.30 am, that there would be an illegal gathering by the SNP that day. Some said they were told then there would be a riot while others even said there was already a riot in progress.
The SSU officers were issued with full riot gear including shields, batons, tear-gas guns and canisters as well as firearms and ammunition. They were deployed first to the Central Police Station to await further instructions and then to the National Assembly building.
When they went there, SSU officers entered the building through a side door, crossed the entrance lobby and emerged through the front doors where the SNP had gathered. Their commanding officer on the scene addressed the gathering with a loud-hailer, telling them they were taking part in an illegal assembly and that they were to disperse.
But almost at the same time, Mr. Ramkalawan and Mr. Ferrari were dragged inside the building and beaten on the head. The Inquiry has established that they emerged from the building by the same door that the SSU had entered only one minute and 23 seconds after the officer had shouted through the loud-hailer.
The SSU officers questioned have said they did not see who dragged Mr. Ramkalawan or Mr. Ferrari inside or who hit them. One however said he was told by his superior officer to take Mr. Ferrari inside but let him go because he had received a cut on the arm, supposedly from a dagger. He told the court he had took no further part in the operation because of the wound but was shown a video in which he was seen walking around briskly later on with a loud-hailer and with no apparent sign of injury.
Police officers had spent all day following the events to film and take pictures. One officer submitted a video purporting to be of the events but later admitted that a part of the video, which he had repeatedly said was of the day, had been filmed one week later. Another said he had taken pictures all day but submitted only 19 pictures to the inquiry.
The Deputy Head of the Special Branch of the police told the Inquiry the only role of the Special Branch was to monitor the activities of political parties. He said the Special Branch was the eyes and ears of the Government. He said he collected information and gave it to his superior officer but did not know how the information was stored or used later.
Judge Reilly has had to repeat questions to the SSU officers several times over as witnesses did not answer the question or replied vaguely. He has repeatedly exhorted the SSU officers to tell the truth and to cooperate with the Inquiry. He has also repeatedly read to the witnesses statements from other officers, including their commanders, which contradicted their testimony before the Inquiry.
President James Michel appointed the independent Inquiry under international pressure after initially endorsing the actions of the police in dealing with the incidents. The Inquiry is being conducted by an Irish team which includes, besides the presiding officer, Judge Micheal Reilly, an assistant presiding officer, a lawyer and a team of three investigative officers led by a retired superintendent of the Irish police.

The bill on reorganising the country’s law courts that passed its first reading in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Friday seeks to outlaw all broadcasting of trials.
One article states “to safeguard the material truth and the legally protected interests and rights of those involved in cases, the production and public transmission of images and sound of trials is prohibited”.
This is a blanket ban on cameras and microphones in courtrooms.
Under the existing system, judges make their own minds up as to whether trials may be broadcast. Thus in the case of the six men charged with the murder of Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso, judge Augusto Paulino decided to allow live transmission of the entire trial, which lasted from November 2002 to January 2003. His decision was widely praised within Mozambique and abroad – although it scandalised more conservative sectors of the judiciary.
Other judges have been more restrictive – thus in 2004 judge Achirafo Abubakar only allowed the broadcast of the opening and closing sessions of the trial of the 17 people accused in the country’s largest bank fraud, involving the theft of the equivalent of 14 million US dollars from the Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM).
But the new bill takes away judges’ discretion in this matter, and ensures that never again will a Mozambican trial be broadcast. It is not only live broadcasts that are banned: taken literally, this is a prohibition on any filming or recording in courtrooms.
Even more ominous is another paragraph in the same article, which states that trials are public, except in cases where the court decides otherwise “to safeguard the dignity of persons and public order. or when there are other powerful reasons”.
This is extraordinarily vague language. No doubt the mention of “dignity” is intended to protect victims of rape or other sexual offences. But it is not specified, and any criminal could easily claim that holding a trial in public could prejudice his “dignity”.
The bill makes no attempt to define “other powerful reasons”. Thus any judge might declare that he has “powerful reasons” for holding a trial behind closed doors, and there is no mechanism whereby the public can appeal against that decision.
In informal discussions, some deputies of the ruling Frelimo Party admit that this article is badly worded. It is thus possible that, when the parliamentary committees rework the bill before the second reading (some time in early May), the article will be improved.
In a public meeting last week, Tomas Vieira Mario, the chairperson of the Mozambican chapter of the regional press freedom body MISA (Media Institute of Southern Africa), argued that a ban on broadcasting trials would be unconstitutional, since it violates the constitutionally enshrined right of citizens to information.
But Justice Minister Esperanca Machavela defended the ban, on the grounds of the presumption of innocence of accused persons, and the right of citizens to their “honor and good name”, which are also included in the Constitution. She also argued that broadcasting trials could be damaging and intimidating to witnesses.
There seems to be a bi-partisan agreement on limiting press coverage of trials. For at last week’s meeting, the most prominent jurist among opposition parliamentarians, Maximo Dias, lined up in support of Machavela’s position. He argued that broadcasting trials might affect what witnesses said in court.
During Friday’s debate on the bill in the Assembly, not a single deputy, either from Frelimo, or from the opposition, raised the issue.

Even after the signing of a peace accord in Côte d’Ivoire, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the West African country still has much work ahead of it, an official for the world body has said.
“I found a very tangible, very perceptible relaxation of the situation in the country,” Under-Secretary-General Hédi Annabi said in a UN radio interview on Monday at the end of a 12-day visit to the divided nation to evaluate the situation on the ground.
Referring to a peace deal struck by the sides in neighbouring Burkina Faso, he said there was a “very clear willingness on the part of Ivorian leaders to implement the Ouagadougou agreement and try to stick as much as possible to the timeline outlined in the Accord.”
The mission, known as UNOCI, “will continue to help our Ivorian friends in the implementation of the Accord.”
The agreement between President Gbagbo and Forces Nouvelles Secretary-General Guillaume Soro commits both sides to honouring all Security Council resolutions on the issue, including the need to abide by free, fair and transparent elections.
The Accord also tackles disarmament, reform and restructuring of the armed forces as well as the restoration of State authority throughout the country, which has been divided between north and south since 2002. National elections originally slated for last October have been postponed until this year.
Mr. Annabi said that everyone he met with, including President Laurent Gbagbo, stated that they wanted the mission to continue its work to help Ivorians realize the agreement.
The agreement calls for the dismantling of the so-called Zone of Confidence separating the Government-controlled south and rebel-held north, and will be replaced by a green line along which the UN will establish observation points.
As the Accord is fulfilled, Mr. Annabi said that the situation regarding the UN’s mission in the country will be re-evaluated, especially in regards to demobilization of militias.
“After the redeployment of the administration to the north of the country, we will analyze the residual areas we need to accomplish and, based on this analysis, we can envisage a lightening of our resources on the ground and a reduction in manpower,” he noted.
Of the voting scheduled to take place this October, Mr. Annabi stressed that the “organization and management of the elections falls on Ivorian institutions.”
The UN will ensure that they take place “under good conditions.” It will also confirm that the results “proclaimed by Ivorian institutions conform to international norms and that the process takes place under credible, free, democratic and transparent conditions as described in the Accord of Ouagadougou,” he said.
UNOCI has nearly 9,000 total uniformed personnel in the country, including 7,850 troops and almost 1,000 police with a mandate to monitor the cessation of hostilities and movements of armed groups, help in disarmament and dismantling of militias and contribute to the security of the operation of identifying the population and registering voters.

Live radio broadcasts of opposition rallies in the lead-up to presidential polls in 2009 led state regulators in the commercial city of Blantyre this week to bar all private radio stations in Malawi from airing live broadcasts without permission, according to local journalists and media reports. Officials accused unnamed stations of airing “hate messages” but offered no evidence.
All private radio and television broadcasting stations must seek advance permission from the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) before conducting live broadcasts, according to a statement released by the agency on Tuesday. The directive threatened violators with unspecified punishment. “Of late, MACRA has noted with great concern that hate messages are being broadcast by various broadcasting stations,” the statement said.
CPJ has not found any evidence to support the government’s allegations. MACRA spokeswoman Clara Mulonya would not identify any offensive messages, saying the government did not want to repeat them.
The government’s action effectively targeted three leading private stations, Capital Radio, Joy Radio, and Zodiac Broadcasting Station; they were the only stations to air live coverage of presidential campaign rallies for Bakili Muluzi, local journalists told CPJ. Muluzi, the country’s former president and the current owner of Joy Radio, is challenging his former protégé, the incumbent Bingu Wa Mutharika, in a heated campaign. The stations have denied all government allegations, they told CPJ.
“This ruling amounts to censorship and will distort coverage of the presidential election campaign,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “The authorities have produced no evidence to support their disturbing allegations that radio stations are broadcasting hate messages. MACRA must rescind this decision immediately.”
The National Media Institute of Southern Africa, a local media rights group, expects to challenge the ruling in court, Director Innocent Chitosi told CPJ. MACRA, whose members are presidential appointees, already faces a pending legal challenge from Joy Radio, which alleges that some agency members lack the qualifications required by Malawi’s 1998 Communications Act, according to local media reports.
It is not the first time MACRA has threatened private radio stations over critical news coverage. In 2003, it announced that community radio stations were not allowed to broadcast news, a move linked to critical live call-in programs, according to CPJ research. MACRA also threatened private MIJ FM and Capital Radio over political coverage.