Imaverick 22 September 2011

YOUTH LEAGUE PROMISES MORE REVOLT BLACK BUSINESS COUNCIL VOLVO C30 POLESTAR LEE SWAN
beta
By PHILLIP DE WET
mayhem
schubert park
SA'S DAILY TABLET NEWSPAPER fOR PEOPLE WITH BRAINS AND MONEY THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2011
wednesday 22 september 2011
Index
schubert park mayhem
It happened overnIght
south afrIca
afrIca
World
busIness
lIfe, etc
sport
Index
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thursDAY 22 september 2011
Schubert park mayhem
Schubert Park mayhem South africa
thursDAY - 22 september 2011
Schubert Park eruPtS over Service
delivery, of a Sort
South Africa has few failed inner-city housing
projects, but Schubert Park makes up for that in
quality. It is a cesspit, a high-rise slum unft for
human habitation, a collection of buildings with
conditions worse than those in most squatter
camps. So, as peculiar as it is to have a service-
delivery protest in the heart of a modern,
bustling city, nobody was particularly surprised
when things went bad during a protest on
Wednesday. It may have been the worst so far,
but was neither the frst nor, probably, the last
time Schubert Park will see a mild riot.
Just as in townships elsewhere in the
province over the last two weeks, residents
of the more than 600 fats in three towers
The rocks and bottles and tear gas and rubber bullets came out again on Wednesday, again because of
a complaint involving electricity. Except this time it happened not in some distant township or squatter
camp, but right in the heart of South Africa's capital city. By PHILLIP DE WET.
Photo: Phillip de Wet for iMaverick.
(the fourth is an abandoned, burnt-out husk)
are angry because of electricity. Not because
they aren't connected to the grid, like in
Themb'elihle, or because they can't aford
the tarifs, like in Chiawelo and Tembisa, but
because their infrastructure is not maintained.
By Wednesday the lights had been out for eight
days, which also means no water because the
few surviving pumps don't run. So, just like
in many townships before, residents lost all
their frozen food to spoilage and had to let
their children study by the light of candles or
parafn lights. In a high-rise building, though,
Schubert Park mayhem South africa
a lack of lighting is even more inconvenient
than usual; navigating 21 foors of pitch-black
stairwells that are often flled with rubbish is
not for the faint of heart.
"They want us out of here and they think if
we don't have power we'll move," one resident
confdently declared. Conspiracy theories,
which are de rigueur at such protests, include
that the Tshwane municipality wants to
redevelop the land and that the army has
already been called in to prepare a plan for
cleaning out the buildings.
As usual, the truth is somewhat more
complex. Schubert Park sufers from occasional
fooding in its basement levels, where some
heavy-duty and water-averse transformers
are located. That is arguably the root cause
for the lack of electricity that and simple
incompetence from the various authorities
responsible for the upkeep of those transformers.
Whatever the reason, by 14:30 a large group
of residents had had enough, 14:30 being the
deadline by which they had been promised at
least a response and at best working lights.
Community leaders tried valiantly to keep
the protest civil, but the tyres had already
been prepared, the projectiles stockpiled and
positions selected. By mid-afternoon the battle
was on, with groups of men hurling rocks and
bottles onto three diferent street corners and
police responding with rubber bullets and
the occasional canister of tear gas. Though a
lone petrol bomb was used, live ammunition
was not. As much as it resembled the siege of
a fortress, it resembled every other service-
delivery protest SA has ever seen more. And
that includes its history and, possibly, future.
"Next time there won't just be one petrol
bomb," a resident told us. Schubert Park has
erupted into protest every so often over the last
eight years, but Wednesday's incident was the
worst yet, and everyone expects a signifcant
escalation the next time. Like in the townships,
people who live in Schubert Park have lost
just about all faith in the various levels of
government and their competence, but have
nowhere else to turn. Like in the townships,
the anger is directed at the government, but
the only available targets are passing motorists
and innocent tyres. The only diference is that
in Schubert Park the half-bricks tend to travel
further horizontally than they do vertically.
In another similarity, the majority of residents
we spoke to said they'd be happy to move to
equivalent or better housing as long as it was
nearby. "We can walk to the shops from here,
and to our jobs," one man told us. "We're settled
here. If you move us out of the city we'll starve."
Depending on whether the residents of an
erstwhile squatter camp win a case currently
before the Constitutional Court, that would
make authorities responsible for fnding decent
accommodation within the Pretoria CBD for
several thousand people before being allowed
to evict. At the same time, the city (which also
owns the complex) is responsible for the health
and safety of the residents, and Schubert Park is
far beyond repair.
Like in the townships, there is no easy
solution for Schubert Park, and every reason to
believe that there will be more protests, more
violent protests, and longer protests to come.
Schubert Park mayhem a day in PictureS
The trick, we learnt, is to light the tyres on fre inside the complex, away from prying eyes,
and make sure they are ablaze before rolling them out onto the street. iMaverick/Phillip de
Wet
By early afternoon the protesters were an hour overdue on a promised explanation of why
they had no electricity yet and the police few. That provided the conditions for things to spill
out into the streets. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
The layout of Schubert Park provides many convenient parapets from behind which rocks
and bottles can be hurled onto the street. Signifcant supplies of both had been put aside at
key points well before the protest turned ugly. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
Shortly before rush hour started, two major roads were already blocked with burning tyres
and the barricades were growing. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
The car in the background was a casualty of a previous incident. The burnt-out wreck,
loaded with some new combustible material and man-handled into the middle of the road,
made for both a good obstacle and a powerful statement. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
Only one petrol bomb ever came into play, but it was aimed with such precision that it drove
off the targeted police armour. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
By 5PM, you could confuse parts of the capital of South Africa with an active war zone.
iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
Police tried a number of tactics. A water cannon made for better cover than crowd control.
Rubber bullets acted as deterrent, but did little damage. Tear gas was somewhat more
effective. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
With smoke billowing from a fourth-foor apartment, police cleared part oft the affected
building, then escorted fremen to the fat, lugging extra ammunition all the way. None
turned out to be necessary during that foray. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
With smoke billowing from a fourth-foor apartment, police cleared part
oft the affected building, then escorted fremen to the fat, lugging extra
ammunition all the way. none turned out to be necessary during that foray.
imaverick/Phillip de Wet
Firemen found a burning mattress, set alight by a tear gas canister, the residents claimed,
thought that seemed unlikely. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
Firemen found a burning mattress, set alight by a tear gas canister, the residents
claimed, thought that seemed unlikely. imaverick/Phillip de Wet
Firemen found a burning mattress, set alight by a tear gas canister, the residents
claimed, thought that seemed unlikely. imaverick/Phillip de Wet
Much of Schubert Park is piled high with garbage, which smoulders ftfully and also
provides a wide range of handy projectiles. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
much of Schubert Park is piled high with garbage, which smoulders ftfully and also
provides a wide range of handy projectiles. imaverick/Phillip de Wet
Detained suspects await transport to a nearby police station. More than 50 people were
arrested; most will probably be facing charges of public violence. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
With very little light to work with, police fred nearly random salvos of rubber bullets at the
apartment blocks. Those throwing rocks and bottles simply moved higher up the buildings,
out of reach of the bullets and with a better reach of their own. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
During the course of the evening and early night, small teams of police entered the
buildings to extract families. Their fnal dash to safety was exactly that: a run, dodging
fying projectiles and with cover fre provided by police from two locations. iMaverick/Phillip
de Wet
de Wet
de Wet
By late night, things had calmed down suffciently for city workers to clear the surrounding
streets of debris. iMaverick/Phillip de Wet
It happeNeD OVerNIGht
briefs it happened overnight
thursdAY - 22 september 2011
Will Dalai Lama be allowed to attend Arch's 80? (Reuters)
politics
south africa
Deputy foreign minister
Marius Fransman denied there
is pressure from China to
refuse entry to the Dalai Lama
for Archbishop Desmond
Tutus birthday. Well know
the real story soon as deputy
president Kgalema Motlanthe
will visit China next week
where he will probably have
a clearer idea from Chinese
authorities.
The ANC could wind up
in the Supreme Court of
Appeal if it continues its bid
to rename the Mangosuthu
highway in Umlazi the ruling
party wants to name it after
Grifths Mxenge. The DA
said the entire road-naming
process was fawed and took
it to court in 2008, but lost. It
has appealed and a verdict is
expected in November. The
DA in the province may add
the Mangosuthu highway to its
list of road-naming grievances.
china
The government of China has
publicly condemned the USAs
F-16 fghter plan deal with
Taiwan, a territory it sees as its
own. Chinese deputy foreign
minister Zhang Zhijun called
it a, gravely mistaken signal
to pro-Taiwan independence
separatist forces and said, It
must be pointed out that this
wrongful course by the US
side will unavoidably damage
Sino-American relations and
co-operation and exchanges
in the military, security and
other felds. Although the
Chinese are upset, the US is
legally bound to assist Taiwan
in defending itself.
usa
Partisan squabbles, which
seem to dominate American
politics at the moment,
resurfaced when a bill to keep
the government temporarily
funded, expected to breeze
through the house of
representatives, failed by a
vote count of 230-195. Some
Republicans have objected to
principles and fgures which
were passed in the debt ceiling
agreement last month, and
their cause was aided by
Democrats who voted against
the bill because it removed
subsidies for fuel-efcient
cars. If this bill does not pass
congress the government could
be looking at a shutdown from
1 October. Yip - 9 days.
Republican presidential
candidate Mitt Romney has
continued to pressure his main
rival for the candidacy, Rick
Perry, on his Social Security
views before going into the
next Republican candidate
debate this evening. Romney
played his cards right as he
was speaking in Florida, a
state popular with retirees,
where one in fve people is
on the programme. Romney
also fayed Perry for wearing
Christianity on his sleeve; a
risky tactic bringing religion
into the debate, as Romney is
a Mormon, not a mainstream
religion in the USA, a factor
that didnt help him out when
his previous bid failed before
the last election.
brazil
President Dilma Roussef,
opening the United Nations
General Assembly, said that
the worlds current economic
crisis was too deep to be dealt
with by a few countries on
their own, and that developing
nations, who stand to lose
the most if top economies
crash, should have a say in
solutions as they are the
countries currently providing
international growth. Her
suggestions would include
eradicating exchange rate
manipulation by the USA
and China. She also repeated
Brazils stance of support for
the Palestine sovereignty vote.
Congress in Brazil defeated a
bill which would have brought
a tax on fnancial transactions
to pay for state healthcare. In
fact it wasnt just defeated, it
was stomped on, urinated on
and then thrown out the door:
the vote tally was 355-76.
zambia
The electoral commission
in Zambia has declared that
after a ffth of the votes were
counted, Michael Sata led
incumbent Rupiah Banda
265,843 votes to 192,966. There
is a good chance this number
could change, though.
business
usa
The US Federal Reserve,
the countrys central bank,
announced free heart attacks
for Republicans when it
released plans, in spite of
three board members voting
against, for a fresh stimulus
package, replacing $400
million short term treasury
bonds it owns with long-term
bonds and reinvesting payouts
from its mortgage-backed
securities; the idea is to keep
interest rates low. Analysts
dont expect these measures
to achieve much although
yields on 10-year bonds fell
nearly 2%; the markets barely
responded.
Mitt Romney (Reuters)
Bill Gates (Reuters)
Ratings agency Moodys has
cut the credit rating of the
USAs largest lender, Bank of
America from A2 to Baaa1
citing the reduced chance of
a government bailout. The
banks share price dropped
7.5% at the news to close at
$6.38.
Bill Gates remained at the top
of the US rich list for the 18th
year with a personal fortune
estimated at $59 billion, a $5
billion increase from last year.
He is followed by Warren
Bufet ($39 billion), Oracle
CEO Larry Ellison ($33 billion),
Charles and David Koch of
Koch Industries, Christy
Walton of the Walmart
family, George Soros (who
made his frst appearance on
the list), casino king Sheldon
Adelsonm, and Jim Walton and
Alice Walton (also Walmart).
zimbabwe
Old Mutual has reached
an agreement with the
Zimbabwean government
on compliance with laws
regarding majority stakes
in foreign companies being
sold to local black people,
according to indigenisation
minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
The frst phase of this will
result in 25% of its local
subsidiary being passed on to
pensioners, staf and a youth
development fund. Other
foreign frms trading in the
country must submit plans to
comply by Sunday.
greece
Greece has accelerated
austerity cuts, cutting swathes
of civil jobs (30,000 workers
have been put on labour
watch and 10,000 are on
partial pay), slashed 20% of
pensions for people who earn
more than 1,200 a month,
lowered the income tax
threshold to 5,000 a year. Id
wear a helmet to work if I was
the prime minister.
italy
Standard and Poors
downgraded the credit
ratings of seven Italian banks,
assigning negative outlooks.
This was expected as it is
unusual for banks to have a
better credit rating than their
government. S&P downgraded
Italys credit rating on Monday
sport
uK
Football: League Cup fxtures
last night went mostly
according to plan for the
favourites: Liverpool beat
Brighton 2-1 with Craig Ballamy
and Dirk Kuyt netting. Chelsea
were forced into a penalty
shootout against Fulham at
Stamford Bridge, but held on
to win it 4-3. Owen Hargreaves
made an injury-free debut for
Manchester City and scored a
cracker of a goal in the 2-0 win
against Birmingham City while
Everton beat West Brom 2-1.
spain
Football: Real Madrid and
Barcelona both stumbled to
draws in La Liga fxtures last
night. Real couldnt score at
Racing Satander who picked
up six bookings. Barcelona
scored twice against Valancia,
but also conceded an own
goal, and were in trouble until
Fabregas scored his teams
second in the 77th minute to
level at 2-2.
italy
Football: AC Milan are still
winless this season after being
forced to come back from a
goal down to split the points
during their home fxture
with Udinese. Fiorentina beat
Parma 3-0 with Jovetic scoring
twice, but Juventus were held
by Bologna. This means the
two major teams from Milan
currently occupy positions 14
and 17 in the table. Thank god
for fashion week, eh?
usa
An Italian newspaper has
alleged Lance Armstrong,
through a front company,
made payments to a doctor
who was banned for doping.
Its been a while since new
accusations against the Tour
de France legend so its nice to
know the spirit of the witch
hunt is still alive and well.
south africa
Bafana Bafana have dropped
four places in the Fifa rankings
and now sit in the 51st position,
and ninth on the continent
the teams lowest position this
year. This is a fall from the
May-high of 34th. Coach Pitso
Mosimane admitted the recent
loss against Niger didnt help
matters.
life
usa
Troy Davis, who was scheduled
to be executed at 01:00 SAST last
night was given a small reprieve
when a very late decision by
the Supreme Court delayed the
lethal injection proceedings. It is
important to clarify that this is
NOT a stay of execution, merely
a small period where the judges
will discuss and weigh up the
case. Since Davis conviction for
shooting a policeman in 1991,
fve of seven witnesses have
recanted their statements while
procedural failures have been
unearthed. The court was due to
make a statement at 03.30 SAST,
but did not.
Lance Armstrong (Reuters)
Its the end of the world as
REM fans know it as the rock
band, who gave so many
monotone singers the ability
to stay in tune, called it a day
on Wednesday after 31 years
and 15 albums. They released a
low-key message thanking fans
for their loyalty, but used an
analogy about knowing when
to leave a party to announce
their departure from the world
stage.
Japan
Seven people were killed
and fve went missing when
Typhoon Roke reached Japan
on Wednesday. Authorities
expect this toll to rise as
damage is assessed post-storm.
uK
In one of the great ironic
statements of all time, Julian
Assange has shat someone
out because they have
released an unauthorised
piece of documentation:
an autobiography on
the WikiLeaks founder.
Canongate, his publisher, said
they would release the frst
draft of his book since he had
not returned the advance
given to him. Assange said,
Canongate are not about
freedom of information
they are about old-fashioned
opportunism and duplicity. Hi
pot, Im the kettle
mexico
Two Mexicans were freed on
Wednesday after being held
under terrorism charges for
spreading news of an attack
on a school in Veracruz, which
spread mass panic as parents
went to save their children.
The pair could have faced up
to 30 years in chooky.
REM call it a day (Reuters)
SOuth aFrIca
briefs south africa
Patricia de Lille (Reuters)
reports: LoLLy Jacksons
Lawyer kiLLed
According to an Eyewitness
News report, murdered Teasers
owner Lolly Jacksons lawyer,
Ian Jordaan, has been kid-
napped and killed. Jordaan did
not return home from work
after a Tuesday night meeting
with clients and his body was
reportedly found in a burnt-out
car in Krugersdorp on Wednes-
day, the report said. The re-
port said Jordaan was made to
transfer R1.8 million of Jack-
sons money into an account
before he was killed. Police say
however that they have noth-
ing on their records and are un-
able to confrm the reports.
civiL society protests
against human trafficking
Civil society organisations held
a protest on Tuesday outside
Parliament against human
trafcking. They called for the
fnalisation and implementa-
tion of the bill on the trafck-
ing of people, which has stalled
in Parliament. One protestor,
wearing makeup of bruises and
cuts, and holding a sign say-
ing, This could be your daugh-
ter, said that many women
are trafcked across borders
and forced into prostitution by
strip-club owners.
driver accused of
dragging woman under
taxi wiLL have to wait on
baiL appLication
The bail application of Ma-
tome Thamage, the taxi driver
charged with attempted mur-
der for allegedly dragging a
woman for about 500 metres
under his taxi in Lonehill, has
been postponed to 30 Septem-
ber. Magistrate Vincent Pienaar
postponed the case as he want-
ed a statement from the com-
plainant, Kim McCusker, or her
doctor. Thamages lawyer ar-
gued that he hit McCusker be-
cause he was focused on fee-
ing her fanc, who is alleged to
have been assaulting him at the
time. McCuskers fanc, Lou-
rens Grobelar, is out on R5,000
bail in the assault case Tham-
age brought against him.
schubert park residents
cLash with poLice
Protests broke out in the
Schubert Park fats in Preto-
ria on Tuesday with residents
throwing bricks and bottles at
passers-by, as well as parked
and stationary cars in the
street. Police fred rubber bul-
lets to restore order. The 100
or so residents were protesting
the lack of water and electric-
ity in the fats, and threatened
to set fre to the infamous
block of high-rise apartments.
This is not the frst time resi-
briefs south africa
Speed limits to 100km/h? (Reuters)
dents who have in the past
been threatened with eviction
mounted violent protests
against the on-going utilities
supply problem in the fats.
draft idp for cape town
unveiLed
Cape Town mayor Patricia de
Lille on Wednesday revealed
the citys draft integrated de-
velopment plan for the next
fve years. The plan, like the
previous one, will focus on
housing and the provision of
basic services, however de Lille
said that innovating building
methods were needed to speed
up the delivery of housing. The
plan will focus on creating jobs
through the expanded public
works programme.
satawu: reducing speed
Limit wiLL not make
roads safer
The South African Transport
and Allied Workers Union said
in a statement on Tuesday that
transport minister Sibusiso Nde-
beles idea to reduce the speed
limit would not make roads
safer. Other bodies such as the
Automobile Association also
backed Satawus call, adding
that a longer-term South Africa-
specifc solution was needed.
Western Cape transport minister
Rob Carlisle said that the real
problem in South Africa is that
no one sticks to the speed limit,
whether it is 100 or 120kph.
over r500,000 raised for
rheedendaL bus accident
victims
The Rheedendal Bus Tragedy
Fund, set up for the survi-
vors and families of victims
of the bus accident outside
Knysna, has received more
than R554,000 in donations.
The fund was established by
the local Herald newspaper,
which has set up a commit-
tee to decide how to use the
money for the benefit of the
affected families.
preLiminary caa report
into tzaneen airpLane
crash
A preliminary report by the
Civil Aviation Authority into
the twin airplane crash in
Tzaneen has not shed fur-
ther light into the cause of the
crash. According to the report,
one of the planes hit the trees
before crashing into the moun-
tain. The two Albatross planes,
carrying 13 passengers, crashed
into the Mamotswiri peak
mountain on their return fight
to the Rand Airport after an
airshow in Tzaneen.
daLai Lama visa stiLL in
processing
Deputy minister of interna-
tional relations and coopera-
tion Marius Fransman told a
media briefng on Wednesday
that the Dalai Lamas visa ap-
plication to South Africa is still
being processed. He added that
no pressure is being put on
South Africa in the matter and
His Holiness will be advised
in due course on the applica-
tion. The Dalai Lama put in
his visa application in August
after he was invited to Arch-
bishop Emeritus Desmond
Tutus birthday.
report: poor teacher
performance to bLame for
dismaL schooL resuLts
The Centre for Develop-
ment and Enterprise released
a report on Wednesday that
blamed the poor performance
of South Africas schooling sys-
tem on the quality of teachers
available. The report said that
teachers were badly trained
and managed, and that possi-
bly most were underperform-
ing. The country needs more
15,000 more teachers to keep
up with the annual demand,
according to the report.
ANCYL south AfriCA
thursday - 22 september 2011
As MANtAshe wArNs
of iMpLosioNs,
Youth LeAgue pLANs
revoLt iN oCtober
ANCYL south AfriCA
The ANC Youth League must have known that ANC secretary-
general Gwede Mantashe expressed concerns about their
confrontational and aggressive posture against the ANC
during the ruling partys national executive committee meeting
last Friday and Saturday.
On Sunday the Leagues own national working committee,
which met for the frst time since the hearings against its leader
Julius Malema began, decided they would have this big march
on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 October (now did you seriously
think the youth would sacrifce their weekend? Plus weekdays
will cause maximum disruption to those with unhealthy
employed tendencies).
This will be well after the end of the hearings of Malema and
fellow leaders (scheduled for 6 to 8 October) and by then, the
League is sure to know whether they still have leaders to lead
the protest march or not.
Either way, theyll almost certainly be angry either about
the expulsion of their leaders, or the trials and tribulations
theyve had to endure for seemingly no apparent reason.
Whether the ANCs leaders are scared, well not know right
now, as neither of the spokesmen Jackson Mthembu or Keith
Khoza answered their phones on Wednesday afternoon.
From the same young people who grandly claim
to have infuenced the revolts that overturned
the Egyptian government and others, come
plans of mass action on fnancial institutions
as well as the countrys Presidency. CARIEN
DU PLESSIS reports on the ANC Youth Leagues
plans for 27 and 28 October
Photo: REUTERS
ANCYL south AfriCA
The action will start with mass action
and protests at the Chamber of Mines in
Marshalltown, in the Johannesburg CBD, to
demand Nationalisation of Mines and equal
share in the countrys mineral resources (sic).
After that, the League will lead mass
action to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
in Sandton to demand equal share in the
countrys wealth, faster transformation of
the economy and most importantly, jobs for
the unemployed youth. Its unclear whether
the youngsters would walk the 10-odd km
to Sandton, or drive there, and whether they
would raid any fridges for cheese frst.
After that, well move to the Union Buildings
for a night vigil (which might or might not
be sponsored by Heineken, as this was the
drink of choice for some party youngsters
during their overnight rally for Malema before
his hearing started), which will culminate
in the handing over of a memorandum to
the Executive (that is President Jacob Zuma,
whose face was on some of the T-shirts that
went up in fames after the Luthuli House night
vigil) demanding free education, immediate
abolishment of labour brokers, jobs for youth,
better housing and sanitation for informal
settlement dwellers and access to water.
In their statement the League said it is high
time that we mobilise all South Africas youth
and progressive forces to demand jobs and equal
share of South Africas wealth as well as the less
glamorous basics, like free quality education,
proper houses and sanitation, electricity and
water.
Between now and then, the Leagues people
will spend the time theyre not in ANC hearings
to meet fraternal organisations to persuade
them to join this mass action. These will include
unemployed youth, underprivileged students,
under-employed youth (no, were not talking
politicians, but waiters, petrol attendants, farm
workers, receptionists), squatter camp dwellers,
communities afected by service delivery
protests, landless people and people without
water and electricity.
All in all, this could be a very explosive
mix and the action would be concentrated
in Johannesburg (none in provinces), and
presumably after that in Pretoria; the Union
Buildings would be a bit like on Cairos Tahrir
Square, we imagine.
In February the Leagues then-deputy
president Andile Lungisa (he is now a mere
member of the organisations national
executive committee) said the National Youth
Development Agencys (of which he is chairman
and which employs an awful lot of Youth League
people) youth festival in December helped to
free Egypt and played a role in the Tunisian
revolts and the separation of South Sudan.
... the League will
lead mass action to the
Johannesburg stock
exchange in sandton
to demand equal share
in the countrys wealth,
faster transformation of
the economy and most
importantly, jobs for the
unemployed youth.
ANCYL south AfriCA
He said many of the delegates which
attended the youth festival were at the
forefront of the Egyptian revolt.
Im not saying we started the protests, but
before the festival there were no protests in
Egypt, he said at the time.
Mantashe, in his organisational report
presented to the ANCs national executive
committee over the weekend, warned of an
imminent implosion in the ANC and said
internal divisions were greater now than before
the partys 2007 Polokwane conference (and
at the time we all thought that the removal of
former ANC president Thabo Mbeki was all the
party needed to heal).
Kingmakers and bookmakers can only
survive when the NEC is divided. Politics of
blackmail get stronger when factions are growing
stronger than the organisational structures, he
said. (Of course this includes Malema and his
buddies, who have been demanding that sports
minister Fikile Mbalula replace Mantashe).
Mantashe also warned about the ANC Youth
Leagues confrontational and aggressive posture
against the ANC.
(This posture) can only systematically dent
the image of the ANC in the eyes of the society.
He said the Leagues personal attacks showed
narrow short-sightedness.
Recently, the League has also called for a
generational mix in the ANC, but this has
a down side. Mantashe, no longer a spring
chicken himself, warned against ageism. The
membership is visibly growing younger and is
perceived to be intolerant of the older members,
he warned.
reAd More:
1. Zumanomics: Politics by number in Daily Maverick
2. Youth League to party even as its world is ending in Daily
Maverick
3. Violence Inc: Luthuli House scenes a bitter taste of
Polokwane fruits Photo: Phillip de Wet for iMaverick
planet grootes black business council
reporter's notebook: black business
council's back to fight another day
To chair the BBC, its members recycled
Patrice Motsepe, one of the main movers
behind the Busa inception in the frst place.
On Wednesday, the BBC had its frst pukka
press conference. And everyone knows a press
conference is an attempt at getting infuence. To
make your own empire.
Right, lets start with what we dont know.
In this case, we dont know how the black in
Black Business Council is defned either. But
well move on because classifying people hasnt
ended well in South Africa in the past.
When you hear the phrase This is the BBC, one mostly thinks of London of empire fallen and
infuence that still reigns. But were also going to have to think of something else from now on as the
BBC also means the Black Business Council. Revived as part of the falling out between Business Unity
South Africa and some of the black organisations, the BBC sets sail in turbulent times.
By STEPHEN GROOTES.
Photo: Patrice Motsepe (REUTERS)
I have not spent much time with Motsepe,
but he gives the impression of someone who
knows his way around the media. You know,
like your average football club owner. Its always
nice to be in the hands of someone who knows
what hes doing. Which is presumably why
hes been asked to chair the BBC at this point.
He himself gives every impression of being
the reluctant leader, the general who led the
revolution, brought peace, and went of into the
black business council planet grootes
sunset back to his share portfolio. And then was
called back. According to him we shouldnt
give the impression of recycling past presidents
because it sends a message that we dont
have confdence in people. There is a political
comment in there somewhere. But anyway, that
reluctance does seem genuine.
When it comes to the formation of the BBC,
its an organisation of organisations. In other
words, the groups that belong to it, like Nafcoc
and Santaco, represent various companies that
are owned, we presume, by people defned
as black. And yes, the Black Management
Forum is one of them. Thats the one that is
not an organisation of organisations, but is
an organisation of black managers, many of
whom or so we believe are actually not
business people at all, but rather managers in
the public sector and that source of things not
very efcient, parastatals. So their membership
of a business organisation is, well, interesting.
Their managing director, Nomhle Nkumbi-
Ndopu took great ofence at a direct question
on this issue. She claims that fact about the
number of BMF members who work in the
public sector is wrong, and that many of its
members are actually in private business. But
she didnt give us an actual fgure. And besides,
she says, it has a broad network of branches in
universities for aspiring black managers. Right
then. Its for the students. Okay, we get it.
Talks are still planned between the BBC and
Busa. So there is a chance that the two may
reconcile, but we wouldnt put too much money
on it. It seems that things have gone too far, and
the recriminations have started to really hurt.
And its also a little early to really assess the
power and infuence of the BBC. Its still brand
just-out-of-the-box new, fnding its feet and
other similar metaphors. As it grows and gets
more sure-footed, it may have very real power,
so too would its reluctant founding leader.
For a start, Motsepe is clearly a capitalist
frst, and a politician second the opposite
of Tokyo Sexwale if you like. We know this
because he kept referring to how it would
take investment to grow the economy and to
create jobs. And crucial to that was that the
investor in London and New York must know
that their money is safe here. You wouldnt
catch anyone who has to face young Julius
saying that in public.
I asked him directly whether the BBCs
views on infation targeting and the jobs versus
decent work debate difered much from Busas.
It sounds simple, but its a loaded question. One
of the main reasons for the BMF walkout of
BUSA was the argument around labour broking.
Busa believes theres a place for it, as you
would expect business owners to do. The BMF
sounded more like a former director-general of
the labour ministry when it said that labour
broking goes against the soul of black business.
Motsepes answer was long, and takes a
while to decipher. The mains points are that
for a start, Motsepe is
clearly a capitalist frst,
and a politician second
the opposite of tokyo
sexwale if you like.
black business council planet grootes
we should be like in the US where they target
both infation and jobs. In other words, the
Reserve Bank should have a dual mandate,
rather than the single infation-targeting
mandate that it does now. Fair enough, hes not
the only person to say that. Then on the hugely
complex and difcult political issue around
jobs, well, its hard to know what he meant.
But we live in a global world and we must be
competitive. That sounds an awful lot like hes
on the jobs side of this debate.
Motsepe also comes across as one of those
who believe that growth is more important
than redistribution; he gives the impression
that he would vote for making the pie bigger
for everyone. He says the economy is going
to change dramatically in the next 30 years,
that black people must take a leaf out of the
Afrikaners book. In other words, we need more
businesses created and owned by black people.
As it would have been useless for Afrikaans
people to complain that the economy was
controlled by the English speakers in the 1950s,
so its useless for black people to complain that
business is controlled by white people now. And
he doesnt want those black-owned businesses
to be any kind of threat to white business, he
wants them to work together and to compete.
See, more capitalist than politician.
Time and time again Motsepe came back,
obliquely, to the issue of race. It was typifed
by this, We need every white father and every
black father, and every black woman and every
white woman, when they go to bed, to feel I have
a future in this country, my children will have
a future here, they will not be discriminated
against because they are the wrong colour.
Its rather simple, but hugely powerful stuf.
Especially if, like me, your sons hair looks
awfully blonde in the sun.
It seems unlikely at the moment that peace is
going to break out violently in the business arena.
But things can change. Its going to take a while for
the BBC to fnd a common policy position on the
big issues of the day. Hopefully, they will discover
that on economic and business issues, they dont
difer with Busa at all. If that happens, we could
fnd its almost more powerful as a pressure group
than Busa was previously, because it will have a sort
of political legitimacy. When it calls President Jacob
Zuma, it would be Patrice Motsepe on the line,
with a message from ANC voters who just happen
to be richer than the common man. This opposed
to an organisation that has really struggled to get
its own internal racial politics right, and still looks
uncomfortably white.
Of course it could go the other way. Already
the BMF has had an unsettling infuence on
events, far bigger than its actual membership
should allow for. That is partly because of its
leader, Jimmy Manyi. Motsepe comes across as
a very diferent type of person. It should be fun
watching them fght for the soul of the black
business lobby.
Grootes is an EWN reporter.
Motsepe also comes
across as one of those
who believe that growth
is more important than
redistribution...
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jobs debate south africa
blood on the employment dance floor,
and no one to clean it up
According to the quarterly employment
statistics document released by Statistics South
Africa, for the period between April and June
2011, the increase in the number of jobs was a
whopping 0,1%.
The June 2011 Quarterly Employment
Statistics (QES) survey shows that the number of
people employed in the formal non-agricultural
sector of the South African economy increased
by about 7,000 persons (+0,1%) from March 2011
(an estimated 8,289,000 employees) to June 2011
(an estimated 8,296,000 employees), Stats SA
said in its Key Findings Report.
The year-on-year increase in employment
in the non-agricultural sector was 2% between
June 2010 and June 2011. In real terms, the
number of people employed in this sector went
up from 8,132,000 last year to 8,296,000 this
year. However, this increase merely measures the
The quarterly employment statistics released by Statistics South Africa suggest were in some serious
trouble. Before blame gets heaped onto the government (although the fve million jobs thing was a reach)
it is worth considering that hardly any country in the world is hiring new people in huge numbers these
days. By SIPHO HLONGWANE and PAUL BERKOWITZ
Photo: REUTERS
partial jobs recovery thats been underway since
early 2010. Were still some way from the peak
job fgures measured by the QES (8,512,000 jobs,
as recorded in late-2008, just before the global
recession started to bite).
The biggest contributors were the mining and
the quarrying industry, which took on 18,000
more people in the 12-month period.
Stats SAs survey consisted of
approximately 20,208 private and public
enterprises in the formal non-agricultural
sector of the SA economy.
The Quarterly Employments Statistics Survey
is the smaller of the two employment studies
published by Stats SA. The heftier Labour Force
Survey is the one that is followed more closely,
as it includes the agricultural sector, informal
jobs debate south africa
employment and the self-employed.
This follows on the reveal by the Adcorp
Employment Index in August that there had
been an annual job loss rate of 49,306 workers.
The public sector now accounts for all the
job creation in the economy for 2011 as a
whole, said Loane Sharp, an Adcorp labour
market analyst. In the month of August, while
overall employment declined, the government
expanded its workforce by 6.2%.
All these statistics continue to make a mockery
of the New Growth Path and its ambitious plan to
generate fve million jobs by 2020.
Economic development minister Ebrahim
Patel came out very strongly for the New
Growth Path earlier in the year (well, its
really his baby), a strong return to big-
government economics after years of Mbeki
laissez faire economics.
The fve million jobs by 2020 sound bite
was silly. It was based on a best-case scenario
where not only all stakeholders in South
Africa pulled together, but the world economy
started taking on a much better shape. We
appear to be much closer to a worst-case
scenario, with the US and European economies
barely treading water. US President Barack
Obamas biggest headache at the moment is
the rising unemployment and lack of jobs. The
quantitative easing measures taken by the
US Federal Reserve helped keep the economy
afoat, but didnt lead to more jobs.
The PIIGS countries in Europe are laying
people off faster than you can say necesito
un trabajo.
Everybody is screwed.
Its worrying that the workforce in the
public sector is expanding while the private
is shrinking. Dont forget that the former is
subsidised by the latter.
It also doesnt help that there seems to
be poor inter-ministerial cooperation on the
economic front. Patel is pulling in one direction,
his partners in trade and industry, transport
and labour dont seem to be keen to jump onto
that particular train. And somewhere in this
mess, national planning minister Trevor Manuel
is sitting quietly.
That doesnt mean that were headed to
hell by way of Greece, though. South Africa
did things right macro-economically under
Manuels tenure as fnance minister. After the
explosion of the public debt in the 90s, Manuel
managed to bring it down to manageable levels
by the time he vacated the fnance seat. The
defcit as a percentage of GDP went down from
5.1% of GDP in 1993/94 to 0.5% in 2005/06. In
that period, we also managed to service a lot of
our foreign debt. This freed up a lot of money
for other things for the country.
Were back to running budget defcits, but a
growing public sector is still largely sustainable
over the medium term. Its hardly a desirable
path to go down; further growth in public
sector employment will mean less money to
be spent on new schools and hospitals. And if
the hoped-for recovery in the private sector
doesnt take place, we could be hurtling
towards the toxic economies of the PIIGS a lot
faster than we think.
read more:
1. Key fndings: P0277 - Quarterly Employment Statistics, June
2011 in Politicsweb
2. Employment grows sluggishly by 0,1% in SA in Financial Mail
3. Quarterly employment statistics: SA still far off 2008 peak in
Daily Maverick
aFrIca
briefs africa
Fighting in Libya continues (Reuters)
fighting in Libya continues
as ntc to announce
cabinet within ten days
Libyas National Transitional
Council claimed on Wednes-
day that it had captured most
of Sabha, one of few towns
in the country still under
the control of ousted leader
Muammar Gaddaf. The anti-
Gaddaf fghters had earlier
made a hasty retreat from Bani
Walid after capturing parts of
the town. In Gaddafs home-
town, Sirte, fghters loyal to the
ousted leader continue to keep
NTC forces at bay. Meanwhile,
the NTC has said it will make
its much-delayed announce-
ment of a Cabinet in seven to
ten days.
MaLawi civiL society
organisations opt for
week-Long stay-away
The Malawi Stock Exchange
and businesses were closed on
Wednesday ahead of planned
anti-government protests in
the country. The government of
President Bingu wa Mutharika
had applied for an injunction
earlier this month to stop the
protects, however, that was
lifted on Tuesday by the high
court. Civil rights groups on
Wednesday opted for a stay-
away for the rest of the week
instead of street protests as
police threatened to crackdown
on demonstrators. In July, 20
protestors were killed in anti-
government protests and last
month at an agricultural fair,
Mutharika threatened war
on protestors.
tensions fLare between
LocaLs and african
Migrants on itaLian isLand
Lamperdusa, an Italian island
midway between Sicily and
North Africa, has been the en-
try point into Europe for boat-
loads of mostly male Tunisian
and Libyan migrants. Since the
uprisings in Tunisia and Libya
earlier this year, migrants have
been coming in larger numbers
to the island. Tensions erupted
on Tuesday when around 1,200
migrants, who were scheduled to
be deported, set fre to a holding
centre on the island in protest.
The migrants were then moved
to a sports feld where clashes
with island residents broke out
after residents threw stones.
Largest internaL
depLoyMent of MiLitary in
nigeria since civiL war
According to Nigerias Daily
Trust newspaper, the countrys
military has been deployed
in large numbers to maintain
internal security in at least
ten states around the country.
The newspapers source said
that this is the largest internal
deployment since the coun-
trys civil war in 1967. Nige-
rias southeast faces a spate of
kidnapping; the oil-rich Niger
Delta has been the source of
fghting for decades and the
north of the country faces sec-
tarian violence. Islamist sect
Boko Haram responsible
for the recent bombing on
the UN buildings in Abuja
has also necessitated addi-
tional deployments.
briefs africa
President of the Central African Republic Francois Bozize (Reuters)
pirates on africas west
coast adapt
after crackdown
Following a crackdown by the
navy and coast guard, Nigerian
pirates have been pushed fur-
ther out to sea, according to a
Reuters report. The fall in pi-
racy of the Nigerian coast has
seen an increase in piracy of
the coast of Benin in the Gulf
of Guinea, the report said cit-
ing the International Maritime
Bureau. The pirates move into
deeper waters mirrors those of
Somali pirates, and threatens
shipping routes of the African
west coast. Benin has in recent
months requested internation-
al assistance to boost its patrols
against piracy.
kenyan aid-coMpany
driver kidnapped
A driver for aid group Care
Kenya has been hijacked and
kidnapped at the Kenya-Somali
border, according to a BBC re-
port. The Kenyan man was or-
dered by gunpoint to the back
of the car he was driving. Three
men then climbed in and drove
of with him, according to the
report. The kidnapping hap-
pened near Dadaab, a refugee
camp where more than 1,000
people turn up daily according
to a UN report.
ZiMbabwe facebook
sedition case disMissed
The case against Vikas Ma-
vhudzi, a Zimbabwean man on
trial for subversion for posting
a message on Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangarais Facebook
wall, has been dismissed after
prosecutors failed to retrieve
the message from the service.
The message is alleged to
have called for Zimbabwe to
emulate the Egypt-style up-
rising against dictators. Ma-
vhudzi had spent a month
in jail before being released
on 31 March.
thirty kiLLed as rivaL
groups in centraL african
repubLic cLash over
diaMonds
The UN ofce in the Central
African Republic has called
for an immediate ceasefre
between groups fghting for
control of diamond mines in
the town of Bria. According to
Africa Report, 30 people have
died over the past week due to
the fghting between the Union
of Democratic Forces for Unity
and Convention of Patriots for
Justice and Peace, both domi-
nated by rival ethnic groups.
guinea sets parLiaMentary
poLL date despite
controversy
Guineas electoral commission
as set 29 December as the date
for the countrys parliamentary
elections after failing to reach
an agreement with the main
opposition group. Opposition
leader, Cellou Diallo, narrowly
lost last years presidential elec-
tion to President Alpha Cond.
Diallo had vowed to stop the
parliamentary vote from taking
place saying Cond would rig
it. The election commissioner,
Lonsny Camara, was found
guilty of ballot tampering in the
2010 presidential election but,
much to Diallos consternation,
has not been replaced.
africa economy
The WesT seT To
shafT african
economies, again
read more:
1. Africa can weather crisis, but risks loom: AfDB, on Reuters Africa
2. Europe, US woes may pinch Sub-Saharan Africa growth, on
Reuters Africa
Africas economies have put up with
a lot from the West: colonialism, neo-
colonialism, trade barriers, resource
extraction, structural adjustment the
list goes on. And just as were overcoming
all these obstacles, showing solid macro-
economic growth and a healthy response
to the international fnancial crisis, it
looks like the West might screw us over
again, this time by mismanaging its own
economies. By SIMON ALLISON.
Reports released this week by the
International Monetary Fund and the
African Development Bank were en-
couraging about the state of Africas
economies. The IMF predicted con-
tinued GDP growth for sub-Saharan
Africa of 5.2% this year, and 5.8%
in 2012, with low-income countries
growing even faster. The AfDB com-
mented on the resilience of African
economies, which have weathered the
international economic crisis remark-
ably well, although this is probably
less about their inherent strength and
more about their lack of involvement
in the international economy to begin with.
But Africas not immune from whats happening in
the rest of the world, and the continents fnance min-
isters will be watching what happens in Greece very
nervously indeed. A faltering US or European recovery
could undermine prospects for exports, remittances,
ofcial aid and private capital fows, said IMF boss Rob-
ert Zoellick. The chief economist of the AfDB, Mthuli
Ncube, was similarly concerned, warning that if the
Greek crisis develops into another recession, Africa will
be hit with a downturn in trade, falling commodity pric-
es and difculties acquiring credit and foreign aid.
But Ncube maintained that Africa was still the place
for smart investors who want high returns. Theres
enough cushion to do well even under the current cir-
cumstances... 25% [returns], that's really the minimum
you're getting in Africa. Just look at the returns for mo-
bile telephone companies, he said.
Photo: REUTERS
sadc africa
consistency in south africas foreign-
policy application may be its undoing
Deputy Minister of International Relations
and Cooperation Marius Fransman urged
members of the media to get the word out of the
South Africa-led SADC-brokered Madagascar
diplomatic victory, which looks set to end the
crisis in the country following the coup in
March 2009. His plea is understandable as such
diplomatic victories for South Africa and African
regional bodies have been few and far between.
South Africas foreign policy has been remarkably consistent in calling for negotiated settlements,
despite the continued accusations that it is all over the place. The recent SADC diplomatic victory in
Madagascar may be a vindication of this position, but focusing on ideology rather than the reality on the
ground can bring problems when it (maybe) comes to implementation. By OSIAME MOLEFE.
Photo: Madagascar's Rajoelina (REUTERS)
We are asking you to get into the public
domain issues around the position on
Madagascar in particular because we do believe
it is a serious concern on stability or instability,
and its not as if the process is over. It is now
time for the implementation, Fransman said
on Tuesday at a Department of International
Relations media briefng.
sadc africa
The Madagascar roadmap like the failed
African Union roadmaps for Libya and Ivory
Coast (and Zimbabwe) is a peaceful negotiated
settlement modelled in the style of South
Africas landmark transition from apartheid to
democracy. It calls for an all-inclusive process
of transition to free and fair elections and the
unconditional return of all political exiles. It
may yet fop should the implementation falter,
but for now SADC is taking a victory lap.
Various permutations of this negotiated-
settlement model have formed the basis
for South African foreign policy wherever
there has been a leadership squabble on the
continent. This unwavering position, says David
Zounmenou, senior researcher at the Institute
of Security Studies, may be what thwarts in
South Africas approach to foreign policy on the
continent. It is driven by an ideological position
and not the reality on the ground.
The other signifcant player in the
Madagascar situation France has, on the
other hand, varied its position according to
circumstances. In the Ivory Coast leadership
battle between Alassane Ouattara and Laurent
Gbagbo, for example, France recognised
Ouattara as the winner of the presidential
run-of and did not support the AUs proposed
negotiated settlement. In Madagascar, however,
France congratulated all stakeholders for
their determination and sense of compromise.
The EU has echoed Frances sentiments in
deferring to the authority of SADC and said
in a statement: The European Union remains
available to give political and fnancial support
for the transition process (in Madagascar) should
the SADC and the African Union so request.
In both situations, a legitimate leader
Ouattara in Ivory Coast and Marc
Ravalomanana in Madagascar was denied
their place as head of state, thus subverting
the will of the people. So, taking a broad view,
the situation on the ground that afects the
variability of Frances foreign policy position,
arguably, could have more to do with the scale
French interests rather than peace, stability and
the rule of law. France had a horse in the Ivory
Coast race and not so much in Madagascar.
Fransman said on Tuesday that the South
Africa-led AU solution in Libya and by
extrapolation, solutions elsewhere on the
continent was not an easy process. South
Africa moves from the premise of our own
reconciliation process when we had to look the
oppressor in the eye and engage the oppressor.
Many found it very difcult to do, but it is only
when it is difcult to do it that true leadership
will come forward, he said. And given South
Africas abundance of Nobel peace prize
laureates, Fransman could just have a point.
Various permutations
of this negotiated-
settlement model have
formed the basis for south
african foreign policy
wherever there has been
a leadership squabble on
the continent.
africa darfur
darfur rebels force
Khartoum to fight
on two fronts
read more:
1. Darfur rebel leader returns home from Libya, spoiling for a fght on the
Daily Maverick
2. Sudan forces clash with Darfur rebels: Army on Reuters Africa
3. Sudan vows to continue military campaign in Blue Nile in the Sudan
Tribune
iMaverick reported last week on the
return of rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim
to Darfur and his promise to escalate
hostilities with Khartoum. Reports of new
clashes indicate hes making good on his
threat already. By SIMON ALLISON.
weeks been bolstered by the return
of its leader Khalil Ibrahim from
exile in Libya, who brought with
him caseloads of Gaddafs gold and
weapons and promised to renew the
fght against the Khartoum govern-
ment, which has been accused of
committing genocide against Dar-
furis of African extraction.
The Sudanese army claims to
have come of better in the recent
clashes near the borders with Chad
and Libya and says it has seized a
truck loaded with fuel, weapons
and ammunition looted from Libya.
The new unrest in Darfur comes as the Sudanese
government is ramping up its rhetoric on the contested
oil-rich Blue Nile state of South Kordofan, which is sup-
posed to have its own referendum to choose if it wants
to join South Sudan or remain part of the north. Sudans
vice president Ali Osman Taha was in the province this
weekend: We will cut of every hand that wants to ex-
tract it from the entity of larger Sudan and it will remain
part of Sudans Islamic afliation with all its strength,
vigorous discourse and history, he said, leaving little
room for argument.
Khartoum has been accused by international organ-
isations and human rights groups of launching a brutal
aerial campaign in parts of South Kordofan to intimi-
date potential opposition. Some analysts are concerned
this is the prelude to the kind of violence perpetrated in
Darfur.
Photo: REUTERS
Details are sketchy, as details always
are when they come out of Darfur, and
they took a little while to emerge. But
reports indicate clashes erupted on
Tuesday between the Sudanese govern-
ment and one of the major Darfur rebel
groups, the Justice and Equality Move-
ment. JEM has in the last couple of
us drones africa
americas drones descend on africa:
be afraid, be very afraid
The Obama administration is assembling
a constellation of secret drone bases for
counterterrorism operations in the Horn of
Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of a
newly aggressive campaign to attack al-Qaeda
afliates in Somalia and Yemen, US ofcials
said, reports the Washington Post. The paper
goes on to outline how the US is establishing
drone bases in Ethiopia and the Arabian
Peninsula and reactivating a base in the
Seychelles to complement existing facilities in
Djibouti, creating a ring of drone bases around
the region.
This new initiative to put unmanned,
heavily-armed drones in the sky is aimed
According to the Washington Post, the USA is about to set up a constellation of secret air bases around
the Horn of Africa, designed to ensure that American unmanned drone bombers can hit anywhere in the
region, at any time. The move is aimed at the growing threat posed by al-Shabaab in Somalia, but if past
drone offensives are anything to go by, therell be plenty of collateral damage. By SIMON ALLISON.
Photo: REUTERS
squarely at al-Shabaab in Somalia and al-
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Its a troubling
development for a region thats endured more
than its fair share of violence and instability,
but a strong indication that the United States
perhaps slightly bored after disengaging
from Iraq and preparing for withdrawal from
Afghanistan is focusing its attention on the
threats posed by the militant Islamist groups,
otherwise known as terrorist organisations.
The United States has used drones with
increasing frequency over the last few years, in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Yemen,
us drones africa
but most prevalently in Pakistan. Theyre a
usual sight in the badlands of the Pakistans
Northwest Frontier province; the automated
predators go after al-Qaeda or Taliban suspects,
dropping their precision-guided munitions
from a vast height at the touch of a button
from some uniformed controller sitting
comfortable in a military base somewhere in
Nevada. They dont always hit the intended
target. According to Pakistani newspaper The
News, 270 such attacks have been carried out
on Pakistan soil since 2005, a massive aerial
bombardment campaign condoned by no UN
resolution. Its hard to measure their exact
impact because of the frequency of the attacks
and their clandestine nature, with estimates
of the bodycount ranging from hundreds to
thousands. But most analysts are agreed that
a signifcant percentage of these deaths are
civilians. The Pakistani Ministry of Human
Rights is in the process of reporting the issue
to the UN, and describes the drone attacks
as increasingly resembling extra-judicial
killings. The UN itself has been critical of
their deployment, saying they undermine
international human rights, and cause
hundreds of civilian casualties.
But drones make good sense from a military
perspective, allowing the US to launch bombing
raids on targets in absolute safety; the most
severe possible injury their personnel can
sustain is a stubbed toe in the control room.
Interestingly, the unmanned bombers dont
fall under the auspices of the US Air Force but
rather are controlled by the Central Intelligence
Agency. This makes sense given that drones are
completely useless without good intelligence
of where exactly potential targets are, but
also means the drone program is shrouded in
secrecy and almost completely unaccountable.
While US bases in the Seychelles and Djibouti
are nothing knew, a base in Ethiopia has the
potential to severely disrupt the politics of the
Horn of Africa. An Ethiopian base would allow
the US to attack not only Somalia but also
surrounding countries such as Sudan and Chad,
while at the same time legitimising the oppressive
government of Meles Zenawi.
Its early days yet, of course; the bases havent
been built yet, and the drones arent fying. But
when they do, theyll change the way that war
is waged in Africa, and be a potent extension
of US military power into the heart of the
continent. And theyll kill, the guilty and the
innocent alike. Humans fnd it hard enough to
discriminate between the two; for machines, its
impossible.
drones make good sense from
a military perspective, allowing
the us to launch bombing
raids on targets in absolute
safety; the most severe
possible injury their personnel
can sustain is a stubbed toe in
the control room
read more:
1. US assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian
peninsula, offcials say in the Washington Post
2. As drone war ramps up, so does criticism of it on Global Post
WOrLD
briefs world
Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal (Reuters)
GerMANY
Angela Merkel has the weight
of the eurozone on her shoul-
ders at the moment. The Ger-
man Chancellor was scram-
bling to perform damage
control after Germany's econ-
omy minister said this week-
end that Greece would likely
default on its debts. Merkel
said that she had no reason
to believe that Greece was not
getting its public fnances on
track. There has been concern
over the possibility that Greece
might have to leave the euro,
which would be a bit of an eco-
nomic melodrachma.
AfGHANisTAN
The Taliban is at it again, at-
tacking the US embassy and
NATO HQ in Kabul on Tues-
day. The insurgents took over
a nearby building and fred
rockets into the compounds in
Kabul's diplomatic quarter. It is
understood that the militants
were wearing suicide-bomb
vests. As of Wednesday morn-
ing the death tally was up to
12, including 2 civilians, four
policemen and six insurgents
as troops fought back; the at-
tackers were holed up in a
multi-storey building from
where gunshots could be
heard late on. Hillary Clin-
ton said that the US would
do everything they could to
combat those responsible
for the "cowardly attack".
irAN
The two American hikers ar-
rested in Iran two years ago
for straying across the border
without permission have been
granted bail. Shane Bauer and
Josh Fattal, both of whom
were convicted on suspicion
of spying for the US, will pay
$500,000 each in order to be re-
leased, possibly in the next few
days. Iranian President Ahma-
dinejad said the bail ofer was a
"humanitarian gesture", which
is very kind after having kept
them rotting in prison for two
years for no reason.
UsA
President Obama continues
his roadshow to sell his jobs
bill to the American people, on
Tuesday visiting Ohio. He is on
a mission to convince Congress
to pass his $447 billion Ameri-
can Jobs Act. In Ohio he's
expected to especially stress
his proposals for modernis-
ing public schools, on which
he's prepared to spend $25
billion. After Ohio he will
trundle on to North Carolina
on Wednesday.
eGYPT
Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Erdogan met with Egyptian
leaders on Tuesday to strength-
en strategic ties and, let's not
kid, have a good bitch about
Israel. Until recently, relations
between Turkey and Egypt were
quite cool, while relations be-
tween Israel and the two coun-
tries were reasonably warm.
The Arab Spring and Palestine's
upcoming UN bid for state-
hood have served to change the
landscape though, in addition
to the Egyptian public's anger
with Israel over recent attacks
on security forces. It's suggested
that Erdogan's anti-Israel rheto-
ric may serve to whip up anti-
Israel sentiment in Egypt even
further.
briefs world
Pope Benedict XVI (Reuters)
UsA
Two US senators have asked
President Obama to sell 66
fghter jets to Taiwan, despite
the fact that this sale would
anger China. The senators, John
Cornyn and Robert Menendez,
say that under the 1979 Taiwan
Relations Act, Washington is
obliged to sell them the planes
in order to ensure that Taiwan
can defend itself. The precedent
here is that the US sold Taiwan
$6.4 billion worth of arms in
2010, which similarly displeased
China. China's major beef with
it all is that they see Taiwan as
part of its territory. Taiwan, un-
fortunately, doesnt agree.
AUsTrAliA
Obama's going Down Under.
The White House has con-
frmed that the US President
will visit Australia for the frst
time in November. He was
meant to visit twice before, but
both times a Washington crisis
had scuppered his travel plans.
His visit is set to mark the 60th
anniversary of the ANZUS de-
fence alliance between the two
countries. The White House
described Australia as "one
of the United States' clos-
est allies", which seems like
an obvious attempt to make
them feel special.
YeMeN
It looks like Yemeni President
Ali Saleh may fnally be on
his way out. The Yemeni state
news agency has reported
that he has authorised his vice
president to sign a power tran-
sition pact with the opposition.
The opposition warned against
counting any chickens, but the
decree "irrevocably" empowers
Vice President Hadi to sign on
Saleh's behalf. Saleh can't sign it
himself because he is recuperat-
ing in Saudi Arabia after being
wounded in a bomb attack, one
of many expressions of frustra-
tion with his 33-year rule.
HollANd
A group of victims of abuse by
Catholic priests has asked the
International Criminal Court to
charge the Pope and top Vati-
can ofcials with crimes against
humanity. The group, the Sur-
vivors Network of those Abused
by Priests (SNAP), has fled over
20,000 pages of documents with
the court in The Hague. Neither
Benedict XVI nor the Vatican
spokesman has commented yet,
and the International Criminal
Court has not yet answered the
question of whether they have ju-
risdiction to prosecute the Pope.
world palestine statehood
obama: palestinians
deserve a state but
not now
read more:
1. Obama, at U.N., Explains Rationale for Opposing Palestinian Statehood
Bid in The New York Times
2. Obama to U.N.: Stay out of Palestinian state talks in USA Today
3. Europe's diluted solution to Palestinian aspirations in BBC News
In his address to the UN General
Assembly on Wednesday, US President
Barack Obama emphasised Americas
unshakeable commitment to Israels
security, pouring cold water on the
Palestinian bid to be recognised as a
state. By KHADIJA PATEL
week. Obama urged the Palestinians to commit instead to
direct negotiations with Israel. In order to avoid an Ameri-
can veto of the Palestinian statehood bid in the Security
Council, the Americans are reportedly pursuing a plan to
delay the vote by placing it under review. The review could
take months, or even years, thus rescuing the Americans
from the pitfalls of a veto in the Security Council.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was photo-
graphed with his head in his hands and his shoulders
slumped in disappointment as he listened to Obama
speak, perhaps realising that his eforts had indeed met
an impermeable wall. After Obamas speech, a senior
Palestinian ofcial, Nabil Shaath, told reporters that the
Palestinians would not back down from their bid, despite
Obamas entreaties. "We will cordially and respectfully tell
him no," he said. The Palestinians, however, will now give
the Security Council "some time" to mull the statehood
claim before they take it to the UN General Assembly.
"Any delay will be part of the procedure," Shaath said,
warning however that if there was an "undue delay," the
Palestinians would turn to the General Assembly and
abandon the procedures of the Security Council. By turn-
ing to the General Assembly, the Palestinians will seek
status as a non-member observer state in the United Na-
tions, allowing them to join the International Criminal
Court and sign other international treaties. When he took
the podium, French President Nicholas Sarkozy called on
Palestinians to refrain from pursuing unilateral action. He
called instead for the General Assembly to grant the Pal-
estinians observer status regardless, and then proceed
to negotiations to iron out the more contentious issues of
borders and security.
Obama told the United Nations that
there was no substitute for Israeli-Pal-
estinian negotiations. He deemed the
Palestinian bid for statehood a short
cut and stressed, "Peace is hard." Obama
admitted that Palestinians do indeed
deserve their own statehood but add-
ed that statehood could not be earned
through the vote scheduled later this
world seismology
scientists face jail
for not predicting
earthquake
read more:
1. Scientists in the dock, in the Economist
2. Scientists who failed to predict deadly Italian earthquake that killed 300
go on trial, in the Daily Mail
Tuesday saw the frst day of the court
case in which six Italian scientists will
stand trial for failing to predict the 2009
LAquila earthquake with suffcient
accuracy. Their prosecution has attracted
outrage from the scientifc community for
its potential to set a legal precedent. By
REBECCA DAVIS.
Theyre calling it science on trial,
but the efects of the court case will
extend beyond symbolism if the six
scientists are found guilty. The charge
they face is one of manslaughter, and
theyre looking at up to 15 years in jail.
And then theyll still have to deal with
the civil case being brought against
them by plaintifs including the
LAquila council, which is asking for
damages of 50 million.
Make no mistake: the 2009 LAquila
earthquake was a devastating tragedy
for the Italian city. It caused structural
damage amounting to 4 billion, killed 309 people, and
left 40,000 homeless. Now those parties hardest hit are
casting around for a target for their anger, and have
settled on the six scientists and one government ofcial
who made up the Serious Risks Commission, tasked
with assessing the potential risks of an earthquake. The
panel is accused by the prosecution of having provided
an approximate, generic and inefective assessment of
seismic activity risks.
The scientists defence is that there is simply no
way to accurately predict earthquakes, even in an area
known for seismic activity. The scientifc community
has rallied to support them, with the American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science writing an open
letter to Italys president last year, warning that if the
precedent was set, it would likely have a hugely inhibit-
ing efect on scientifc research and publication.
The trial has been adjourned, so well have to wait
until October to see whether science will triumph over
retribution.
Photo: REUTERS
syria world
Thursday - 22 sepTember 2011
The end is nigh for syrias assad
and The Middle easT as we know iT
We never wanted things to arrive at this point,
but unfortunately, the Syrian administration
has forced us to take such a decision, Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is
reported to have said. Syrian President Bashar
Al Assad has been left with just one friend
in the region Iran. The US knows better
than to goad Iran into a fght, but in Syria
the beginnings of a war loaded with Iranian
interests is ready to erupt.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by the state-run Anatolia news agency on
Wednesday saying he was no longer in contact with Syria's leadership. Following Erdogans tte--
tte with US President Barack Obama, Turkey is now also considering slapping sanctions against its
neighbour and one-time friend. By KHADIJA PATEL
Photo: Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Syria's President
Bashar al-Assad share a laugh during al-Assad's arrival at Bodrum Airport in
the southwestern Turkish resort of Bodrum August 5, 2008. REUTERS
Turkey is Syrias neighbour and an important
trade partner, and Erdogan has enjoyed a
close friendship with Assad. When Syrian
security forces turned their guns against anti-
government protesters, it was left to Turkey to
work hard to search for a diplomatic solution to
the crisis. The Turkish foreign minister visited
syria world
Dmascus, imploring Assad to lay down his
weapons, engage in open and honest dialogue
with the opposition and speed up democratic
reforms. Despite numerous assurances from
Assad that he would indeed end the violence
and begin to reform the Syrian government,
reports of violence have continued unabated.
Assad insists he is battling an armed
insurrection, and while Turkey has conceded
that security forces are indeed coming under
fre, Assad has continued the brutal crackdown
against anti-government demonstrations. On
Wednesday the UN announced that the death
toll now exceeds 2,700. This fgure translates to
an addition of 100 in just one week. For its part,
the Syrian government refutes these fgures.
According to the Syrian government, it is the
security forces that have sustained the greatest
casualties. Turkish government ofcials,
playing mediator between Assad and horrifed
Western governments, have been forced to
abandon Assad. In the Turkish view, Assad has
lost any claim to credibility.
US President Barack Obama has called
repeatedly for Assad to step down in the last
two months. So far, Assad has defed Obama,
clinging onto power and according to reports,
shooting his way through Syria to keep him
there. For now, Assad appears to have won the
diplomatic tussle through sheer tenacity, but
the US is now certain that Assad is on his way
out of power. Assad now has very few friends
to call on for help.
In addition to Turkey, Saudi Arabia has
also parted ways with Assad. The European
Union has also imposed sanctions against
Syria, leaving Assad in the onerous position
of having to look for a new customer for 90%
of his oil exports. Syria has been backed into
a dark, lonely diplomatic corner.
With few friends to count on, Assads woes
are compounded by his own army. Syrian
armed forces are said to be exhausted by
the ongoing crackdown. It also remains to
be seen whether the entire army will indeed
remain loyal to Assad. The armys middle and
lower ranks are drawn from the countrys
Sunni majority which make up 75% of the
population. Should these forces begin to
defect and turn their guns instead on their
superiors in the army that are drawn from
the Alawite minority from which Assad hails,
Syria will be embroiled in a civil war. With it,
the entire region may dramatically implode.
Western governments have been cautious
in calling for Assads resignation, knowing
well that a disruption to the status quo in
Syria could have ramifcations for Israel,
assad insists he is battling an armed insurrection, and
while Turkey has conceded that security
forces are indeed coming under fre, assad has
continued the brutal crackdown against anti-
government demonstrations.
syria world
read More:
1. Why Russia is blocking international action against Syria in
The Christian Science Monitor
2. U.S. Is Quietly Getting Ready for Syria Without Assad in The
New York Times
3. Syrian unrest: The exiles keeping the uprising online in
BBC News Magazine
Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. Assad however has
proved tough to back. He is now faced with a
very real threat of UN sanctions.
The draft Security Council resolution against
Syria has been circulated for some time now
but Russia has so far stood in the way of its
implementation. Syrian activists in exile report
that in the restive regions of Syria, anger has
now turned towards Russia which is seen as an
impediment towards international intervention
in the countrys crisis. Like China, Russia
abstained from voting on Resolution 1976 that
opened up Libyan skies to foreign intervention.
But is Russia really a friend of Syria?
Russia and Syria are reported to boast trade
ties that are worth approximately $20 billion.
This is certainly no small change. Russia
has fnancial interests tied into the survival
of Assad. Russia will seek frst to secure its
interests, much like China does, but Russia is
also a staunch critic of Western meddling in the
domestic afairs of others.
On the same footing with Russia and
China is South Africa any Syrian related
action in the UN Security Council may face
a three-pronged opposition. South Africa,
however, has most recently demonstrated
a curious fckleness in its policies, and may
well be persuaded to take a frmer stance
against Assad. China and Russia may choose
to abstain from voting as they did on Libya,
but if sanctions against Assad are approved
by the UN, it may still be some time before its
efects are felt in the streets of Damascus. As
long as Assad can still count on Iran, he will
feel emboldened. Iran is widely believed to
be providing fnancial and material support
in recent months but even Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has increased
his calls on Syria to end the violence and
implement political reforms.
Early last month, Ahmedinejad is reported
to have said, Regional nations can assist
the Syrian people and government in the
implementation of essential reforms and
the resolution of their problems. A military
solution is never the right solution. Iran
seems to understand well the implications of a
war in Syria implications it may not have the
appetite for right now.
The draft security
Council resolution
against syria has
been circulated for
some time now but
russia has so far
stood in the way of
its implementation.
world norht korea
the camps where
north korean
dissidents go to die
read more:
1. Hell on earth', in the Daily Mail
For years rumours have circulated about
the existence of concentration camps in
North Korea camps that Kim Jong Il's
regime deny exist. But new Google Image
satellite pictures reveal beyond doubt that
the death camps are horrifyingly real. By
REBECCA DAVIS.
Stories about the camps have been
emerging for some time. In February
2004, The Observer ran a chilling ac-
count of Camp 22, North Korea's larg-
est concentration camp, home to an es-
timated 50,000 of the 200,000 or more
prisoners spread over at least 12 camps.
Among the terrible scenes at Camp
22, revealed by the former chief of
management at the camp, was the
existence of glass gas chambers where
whole families were enclosed and then
gassed to death while scientists took
notes of the efects. Other chemical
experiments the whistleblower reported included feed-
ing poisoned cabbages to female prisoners, who vomited
blood until they died. The same former manager claimed
that prison guards also stamped on the necks of babies
born in prison to kill them immediately.
The camps are said to hold political dissidents and
Christians, despised and feared by Kim Jong Il. The dicta-
tor reportedly believes that when a dissident is arrested,
three generations of their family must be detained too, in
order to prevent the contagion spreading.
North Korea has consistently denied the existence
of these camps. But the new satellite images have been
identifed by the South Korean Unifcation Ministry as
unmistakably confrming that the camps are a reality.
Similar pictures emerged a decade ago but were too blur-
ry for concrete identifcation. Amnesty International has
said that, comparing the two sets of images, it is clear the
camps are growing. A South Korean delegation arrived in
North Korea yesterday to discuss peace and human-rights
issues. It's assumed that the camps will be high on the
agenda.
Photo: Kim Jong Il
buSINeSS
briefs business
UBS CEO Oswald Gruebel (Reuters)
south AfricA
The JSE All Share Index ended
fat at 31,341. Goldfelds, the
continents second-largest pro-
ducer of bullion, gained 1.7%
after announcing it had made
the second payment on its op-
tion to buy 60% of an undevel-
oped Philippino mine. Imperial
Holdings fell 5.4% together with
Woolworths Holdings which
fell 5%, making up the biggest
losers in the days trading.
SABMiller has agreed to pay
AUD $5.10 per Fosters share,
in a takeover deal valuing the
Australian brewer at AUD
$9.9 billion, and making the
London-based South African
brewer the major player in the
Australian beer market. After
rejecting initial advances, the
bid by SABMiller went hostile
when they bypassed the board
of directors and pursued share-
holders directly. The initial of-
fer was AUD $4.90 per share.
uK
Several hundred South African
former miners have launched
court proceedings against An-
glo American in London, the
latest in a wave of lawsuits and
compensation claims over lung
disease. Law frm Leigh Day
& Co, which has fled similar
claims in South Africa, said on
Wednesday it had begun pro-
ceedings in the High Court on
behalf of more than 450 miners
who say they are sufering from
silicosis and silico-tuberculosis
lung diseases associated with
dust inhalation after working
in the company's gold mines,
which could now cost the in-
dustry billions in lawsuits.
Consumer confdence fell to a
four-month low in August as
British outlook for the econo-
my grew more pessimistic. An
index compiled by the Nation-
wide Building Society saw the
rating fall to 48, its lowest level
since April this year.
The CEO of UBS Oswald
Gruebel, ex-home to a Nigerian
rogue trader, is expected to
face pressure from the board of
directors and shareholders to
reduce risk and total exposure
in the investment bank. A not-
too-surprising reaction follow-
ing the discovery of $2.3 billion
unauthorised trading losses
last week.
us
Even as the US continues to of-
fer the lowest mortgage rates in
40 years, average Americans are
still unable to purchase their
own homes without family as-
sistance. Credit records for in-
dividuals have been tarnished
since the economic downturn
and despite the low interest
rates, conditions for bank-ap-
proved loans remain stringent.
Annual sales in the US are only
expected to reach fve million
this year, way of the seven mil-
lion peak of 2005.
briefs business
HP CEO Leo Apotheker (Reuters)
HPs board are set to meet and
discuss the future of CEO Leo
Apotheker, after just 11 months
in the hot seat. Since joining
the PC manufacturer, sales tar-
gets have been cut three times
and the share price has fallen
47%.
Shares in Oracle rose the most
in a year after the software
maker reported earnings that
beat analysts estimates. Profts
surged on increased spending
on business database programs
and applications. CEO Larry
Ellison has spent $40 billion
on acquisitions since 2005 that
have since helped lift the com-
panys combined earnings.
PepsiCo, the maker of the cola
soft drink and snack foods, is
set to separate the two divi-
sions, and looks set to unlock
49% of value to shareholders.
PepsiCo is the worlds larg-
est manufacturer of snack
foods, and second largest
cola drink producer.
europe
Greek bonds fell for a third day
as the EU said ofcials would
have to return to Athens next
week after telephone negotia-
tions failed to produce a solu-
tion to the countrys debt crisis.
Conversely, yields on German
bonds dropped to record lows
as the prices surged on demand
for secure assets.
AsiA
The continued rally in bullion
has seen gold vaults struggling to
keep up demand for custodian
space as investors continue to
horde the metal. Demand for the
physical commodity has risen to
such an extent that one-year-old
vault services are already run-
ning out of space. Major banks
in the region, like Barclays and
Deutsche, are already planning
the erection of further facilities to
keep up with demand.
Anti-tobacco lobbyists are
struggling to make inroads in
a market that houses a third
of the worlds smokers. China,
with 320 million smokers, has
a culture of promoting tobacco
usage and even sponsoring
schools where children are
exposed to the concept of to-
bacco as an aspirational prod-
uct. A ban on smoking in pub-
lic spaces, introduced in May,
has seen little enforcement
and light penalties handed out
to those few that are actually
prosecuted. Each year around
one million Chinese people die
from smoking related illnesses.
business beer, inc.
sAbMiller finAlly
gets foothold in
AsiA-PAcific with
fosters PurchAse
reAd More:
1. SABMiller to buy Fosters after raising bid in Bloomberg
2. Fosters agrees to takeover bid from SABMiller in The Australian
After some last-minute drama and
posturing from the Fosters bigwigs,
SABMiller has fnally got its hands on
the Australian brewery, and with it a big
footprint not only on the continent, but the
Pacifc as well. Itll also serve as a nice
addition to SABMillers expanding Asia
presence. By SIPHO HLONGWANE
On 21 September 2011, SAB-
Miller fnally convinced share-
holders of the Fosters Group
brewing company to part with
their shares at A$5,40 (R43,57)
a pop.
In total, SABMiller will
shell out R79,9 billion once the
deal gains a 50% shareholder
majority by number, translat-
ing into a 75% control of stock.
The deal gives SABMiller at least half of Australias beer
market, according to Bloomberg.
The deal makes strategic and fnancial sense for
SAB, said Simon Hales, an analyst at Barclays Capital
in London said to Bloomberg. Itll be taken well even
though the headline ofer price is slightly more than we
would have hoped.
Fosters and SABMiller have had months of bickering
over what the Australian company was worth exactly.
SABMiller frst tried to negotiate with the Fosters man-
agement, who did whatever the Australian equivalent of
laughing one out of the building is, and told the bidders
to get lost. SABMiller then went to Defcon 3, and took
the matter to the shareholders with a A$4,90 per share
ofer.
That too was rebufed, before a deal was struck which
gave shareholders A$5,10 per share, plus 30 cents a share
as part of a previously announced capital return and a
13.25-cent fnal dividend. The previous ofer made no
mention of dividends.
Photo: REUTERS
business gambling
Online gambling cOmpany
Full TilT a Full pOnzi scheme
Read mORe:
1. Feds call Full Tilt Poker a massive
Ponzi scheme, in Forbes
2. Full Tilt Poker busted, in iAfrica
Online gambling has been illegal
in the US since 2006, but it
has continued under various
guises. Now the feds have
found a way to come down on
popular website Full Tilt Poker,
from a hundred miles away.
The sites owners have been
running it as a Ponzi scheme
and will face the wrath of a US
federal investigation. By SIPHO
HLONGWANE.
Online gambling site Fult Tilt Poker took $440 million
(R3.38 billion) of its customers money to pay big fees to its
board members, according to a US state attorney.
Full Tilt defrauded players by misrepresenting that their
funds on deposit in online gambling accounts were safe, se-
cure, and available for withdrawal at any time, said the US
Attorney for Southern Manhattan, Preet Bharara. In reality,
Full Tilt Poker did not maintain funds sufcient to repay all
players, and in addition, the company used player funds to
pay board members and other owners more than $440 mil-
lion since April 2007.
Board members include famous poker players (a bit of a
misnomer, that) Howard Lederer and Christopher Jesus
Ferguson.
In April, Bharara fled a forfeiture and civil-money-laun-
dering complaint against Full Tilt. It has now been amended
to include a fraud charge against board members Lederer,
Ferguson, Rafael Furst and Full Tilt CEO Ray Bitar. who did
not maintain enough cash in the company reserves to pay
back clients.
Online gambling has been illegal in the US since 2006,
though it continues under diferent guises.
business mining
miners injured
in West rand
accident
read more:
1. Several miners hurt at DRD Golds Blyvoor mine, in
Reuters Africa
2. DRDGold confrms fve injured at Blyvoor, in BusinessLive
A small earth tremor deep underground near
Carletonville injured fve miners in the Blyvoor
mine. This is the same mine that owners are
trying to offoad onto a Chinese investor. By SIPHO
HLONGWANE.
On Tuesday at around midday, a small seis-
mic activity occurred some 2.7 kilometres
underground near Carletonville, west of Jo-
hannesburg. The 3.4-magnitude earth tremor
resulted in the injury of fve miners, who
were rushed to hospital via helicopter.
The incident occurred in No. 5 Shaft of the
Blyvoor mine. That is about all we know about
it so far. DRDGold, the company with a major-
ity stake in Blyvoor, didnt say how the miners
concerned got injured.
The National Union of Mineworkers con-
frmed that fve miners had been rushed to
hospital following the incident.
In June, DRDGold announced that it would
suspend fnancial assistance to Blyvoor in lieu
of business-rescue proceedings in order to sell
the mine. Blyvoor had been sufering from
falling production and escalating cost.
The CEO of DRDGold, Neil Pretorius, told
Reuters that he had unsuccessfully approached
several Chinese investors in hopes of unload-
ing the company's 74% stake in Blyvoor.
Out of the 12 companies I saw in China,
most said 'no' because of the high perceived
political risk and secondly also the high costs
of mining gold in South Africa, Pretorius said.
China's resource-focused investment push
into Africa has not tapped gold producers very
much but a Chinese consortium has taken
steps to take a majority stake in Australia and
South Africa-listed Gold One International,
Moneyweb said.
South AfricAn monetAry policy buSineSS
to cut or not to cut, thAt iS the
reServe bAnkS queStion
The Reserve Banks Monetary Policy Committee
is holding its bimonthly meeting this week.
These meetings usually stretch over two days
and culminate in a press statement from
the Reserve Bank governor. The governor
will typically hold court for about an hour,
summarising the macroeconomic outlook
for the country, the forecast risks to growth,
infation and the exchange rate, and then
deliver the money shot (pardon the pun) to the
throng of fnancial journalists in attendance:
what decision the MPC has taken on the
repurchase (repo) rate.
The Reserve Banks Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is meeting this week to decide whether to keep
interest rates steady or cut them in the face of a worsening economic outlook. PAUL BERKOWITZ looks
at the arguments for and against a rate cut and decides that, ultimately, it doesnt really matter what the
MPC does if the country as a whole isnt prepared to face up to much bigger problems.
Photo: REUTERS
The Banks repo rate is the rate at which the
Bank lends money to the commercial banks,
and it afects the cost of credit for the entire
economy. The commercial banks will fx their
prime rates at 350 basis points (3.5 percentage
points) above the repo rate, which in turn
will infuence the bond rate on property, the
overdraft rate on credit cards, the interest paid
on deposits and so on. Everyone with debt
to pay of (i.e. most South African adults) or
some form of interest income (too few South
Africans) has a vested interest in the MPCs
decision.
The repo rate is currently at its lowest level
in decades. Most of the talking heads in fnance,
until recently, had predicted that the repo rate
would be left unchanged for a few more months
before rising in response to higher consumer
infation. However, in the past few weeks the
global economy has gone into meltdown faster
than Nonhle Themas Twitter feed, prompting
speculation that another rate cut could be in
the ofng.
World-renowned economist Dr Nouriel
Roubini is claiming that a second global
recession is already here and the evidence of
this is pretty irrefutable. The economies of
the US and much of Europe are struggling
under decades-high unemployment, poor
growth and few prospects on the horizon. The
South African economy has barely recouped
the output losses sustained during the 2008
recession and it has defnitely not created
enough new jobs to compensate for those lost
during 2008 and 2009.
What should the Reserve Bank do? In my
opinion, thats the wrong question to ask. The
right question is: what *can* the Reserve Bank
do? The answer to that question is precious
little.
What would a rate cut achieve at this point?
It wouldnt create new jobs and investment,
because investment decisions are made over a
longer time horizon than a few months, or even
a couple of years. The past few months have
seen jobs and businesses destroyed, particularly
in the manufacturing sector. This destruction
is due to a number of factors which include: a
microeconomic framework that is hostile to
small businesses; weak local and global demand
for manufactured goods, and a gentlemens
agreement between big business and organised
labour to enforce wage increases that smaller
frms cannot aford to absorb.
Lower interest rates also wont do much
to spur consumer demand and domestic
consumption, which was the engine of growth
during the consumption-led boom of 2004-
2007. The rules have fundamentally changed
since then. The property market is in the toilet.
Households are busy paying of the debt they
accumulated during those years of plenty. The
commercial banks appear to be shell-shocked
by the bad debt cycle and dont want to lend a
prominent estate agent was lamenting this fact
on radio just this week, claiming that potential
borrowers arent being granted bonds even in
cases where theyre willing and able to secure a
30% deposit.
in the past few weeks the global economy has
gone into meltdown faster than nonhle themas
twitter feed, prompting speculation that another
rate cut could be in the offng.
reAd more:
1. A Comparison of Jibar Futures & Forward Rate Agreements
(FRAs), JSE publication
SourceS:
1. The repo rate over the last four years, Reserve Bank website
2. The rand-dollar exchange rate (30 days), x-rates.com
Ironically, just as there is little upside to
cutting rates, theres also little to lose. Fears
of infation are a bit overdone: CPI has ticked
higher in recent months but most of the
infationary pressures are supply-side related.
Higher administered prices, petrol prices
and food prices are the chief threats to the
infation target, and these arent afected by
lower interest rates. Theres also little evidence
at this stage of any second or third-round
pressures from higher fuel prices or wage
settlements.
Could lower interest rates lead to a weaker
rand and subsequent imported infation?
In theory, yes, but the rand has already lost
some 15% of its value in the past month as
foreign investors have sold of South African
assets and fed back to their home countries.
How much worse can it get at this point and
how conclusively could you link any further
weakness to a rate cut?
Since South Africa adopted the orthodox
monetary policy model of infation targeting
via a fxed, centralised interest rate, weve fallen
into the same trap of other countries. We have
expected too much from monetary policy and
weve downplayed the role of sensible fscal
and microeconomic reforms. Weve become
confused about the role of infation targeting
in achieving economic growth; weve pretended
that its a sufcient condition to achieve
growth when we should have known that its a
necessary, but not sufcient, condition.
So we repeat this media circus every two
months, reading the tea leaves of the forward
rate agreement curve and scouring the media
for scraps of economic data that might divine
in which direction interest rates are likely to
move. We place little ofce bets on the outcome
of the MPC meeting and we calculate how
much money we can save on the house and car
repayments every month if Ms Marcus delivers
an early Christmas present.
The MPC meetings have become a very
sophisticated bread-and-circuses exercise for
the economically literate. Unfortunately, just
like their lowbrow World Cup/Big Concerts
counterparts, we wake up the following
morning to the same economic and societal
problems weve been ignoring for so long.
the mpc meetings
have become a
very sophisticated
bread-and-
circuses
exercise for the
economically
literate.
google business
google+ opens up to an uncaring public
Google is famous for, among so many other
things, bringing a little whimsy into our
otherwise dreary existences with their logo
doodles. Some of them are quite good. The
one celebrating the 112th birthday of Argentine
novelist Jorge Luis Borges on 24 August was
arguably their best still one, and the video
doodle for Freddie Mercurys 65th birthday was
nothing short of spectacular.
Google does fun and interesting and likeable.
What they dont do is pointless, dowdy or just
plain annoying.
All the pejorative adjectives could be easily
appendaged to the front of the word Google+.
On 20 September, Google fnally opened up
the social network that it had only slowly rolled
out since its birth in June. The soft launch had
been so it could iron out any potential issues
before allowing the great unwashed in. Not that
there is anything wrong about that they took
their jolly time with opening up Gmail.
However, this is Google+, a wholly diferent
creature to the web-based email service.
If you went onto Googles front page yesterday, you would have seen what was undoubtedly the least
attractive doodle ever. The arrow pointing forlornly into the corner is the perfect metaphor for
everything that is wrong with Google+. By SIPHO HLONGWANE
When Google announced that it would be
launching another social network after Google
Wave and Google Buzz proved to be busts
the news was met mostly with cynicism. For a
company that revolutionised the web through
search, web email, maps, and other things
we now take for granted, it has proven to be
astonishingly rubbish at social networks.
MySpace, Facebook and Twitter were all
signifcant milestones in the evolution of social
networking. Nobody is sure what the next
thing is and the online world tends to hop onto
bandwagons only when it is ready. What Google
has consistently failed to do is to lead the feld
in social networking.
Admittedly, Google does not lack bravery. It
tried to combine instant messaging, email and
group chat in Google Wave, an idea that proved
to be ahead of even the company that designed
it. Google Wave was a big mess. There was
nothing really original about Google Wave, and
Google+ falls into the same trap.
Google simply took what worked for other
google business
products, and combined them into one social
network. The results havent been fattering
so far.
After the initial spike in the number of users,
the graph has fatlined. Google's new social
network had been seeing a jump in weekly
visits, rising from 200,000 the week ending
July 2 to 484,000 the following week and then
hitting a peak of 1.8 million the week ending
July 16, CNet saidon 1 September. Since then,
however, the weekly visits have been slowly but
steadily declining, according to the data. The
week ending August 20 saw a slight bump to
1.23 million from 1.19 million the prior week. But
then the numbers fell again last week, dropping
to 1.16 million.
Also, the amount of time each user was
spending per session on Google+ began tumbling
again. That is death for a social network.
The net result of this was a dramatic drop
in Google+ interest. Even Larry Page, the CEO
of Google, appeared to lose interest in his
companys newest creation.
Hence the silly arrow, pointing at the
Google+ tab in the corner of the Google toolbar
on Tuesday and Wednesday. This wasnt some
cool doodle they were trying to attract
everyones attention back to the social network.
The numbers will now rise. It will take a
couple of months to see if the Google+ johnny-
come-lately types will follow the trend set by
early adopters, and abandon the service only a
few weeks after signing up.
Which isnt to say that nobody will fnd
anything useful to do with Google+. It has
very clever collaboration tools like Hangouts,
which could be used for conference calls and
the like. Washington Post said of the improved
Hangouts service, Hangouts have also gotten
a few other extra useful features such as
screensharing, a sketchpad for doodling,
Google Docs support, and the ability to
name Hangouts.
Perhaps in response to Google+, Facebook
rolled out minor tweaks to its front page on
Wednesday, allowing users to create lists of
people, so that the only items popping up
from on a news feed are from selected people.
Which is something similar to what Google+
does with Circles.
In the meantime, we live in hope for the next
thing on Web 2.0 that will completely change
our worldview once again.
Which isnt to say
that nobody will fnd
anything useful to
do with google+.
it has very clever
collaboration tools like
Hangouts, which could
be used for conference
calls and the like.
read more:
1. Google+ social network opened to public in Wall Street Journal
2. Google+ launches new features in Washington Post
3. Google+: 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99... 100 in Google Blog
4. Google+ suddenly looks pretty busy for a ghost town in Wired
5. Google has another stab at Facebook on Daily Maverick
business facebook
facebook owns you now
Facebook has not yet given any indication
what Thursdays big reveal will consist of, but
TechCrunch has already blown the lid on it
The news that Facebook is to make a major announcement is usually greeted by its 500 million users
as if Moses was set to return to tell us about the 11th commandment he left off by mistake. Excitement
has consequently reached fever-pitch this week, with Facebook set to unveil something that will change
everything, forever, on Thursday. By REBECCA DAVIS.
Photo: REUTERS
thanks to secrets whispered by a reliable source
at Zuckerbergs company. Hold on to your seats,
facebook business
because you may not be quite ready for this:
Facebook is apparently going to introduce a set
of buttons to supplement the current Like.
Yes, that lonely little thumbs-up is to get a
group of buddies: Read, Listened, Watched,
and Want.
This is what will happen: the same old
activities will come up in your newsfeed. Say
your friend Andile Mngxitama posts a link to
the new Westlife music video on YouTube, for
instance. You take a listen, because you share
Andiles love for fresh-faced, Irish boy bands.
But where previously you were restricted in
your non-verbal response to the inadequate
Like, now you can prove your commitment
by showing the world proudly that you went
the extra mile: Listened. (Presumably theres
nothing to stop you lying about it, either, which
is handy if youre trying to get into Andiles
good books but cant bear giving 330 of your
dwindling minutes on this planet to Westlife.)
The same principle applies to Watched and
Read. Want will come at a later stage, and
will permit you to openly salivate over various
consumer goods in the hope that someone will
step in and buy them for you, or congratulate
you on your marvellous taste I ALSO
covet a Breitling watch!! Drink sometime?
Unfortunately its unlikely that youll be able to
apply Want to any of your Facebook friends,
which would be its most evidently useful
application. Then again, that function is already
covered by the Poke button.
The obvious frst response to this all is: why
cant they introduce a Hate button ahead of
the four newbies? The usefulness of a button
allowing users to express some emotional mode
other than the relentless positivity Facebook
forces upon us via the ubiquitous Like would
seem to far outstrip any other functionality.
The second thing on your mind may be: is
this all ultimately in aid of Facebook selling
shit to us? The answer to that is yes. The
masterplan for Zuckerbergs Reich is clearly for
Facebook to become the motherlode for all our
entertainment and communication needs. So
youll stream your movies through Facebook,
buy books and music through Facebook, email
through Facebook, order takeaways through
Facebook, and its only a matter of time before
youll be able to use some Skype-like technology
to phone through Facebook too.
In other words, Facebook is about to own
every single aspect of your lived experience
other than having sex and going to the toilet.
If that freaks you out, you may want to think
about deleting your account except, oh
wait, you cant. Not properly. You can send
it into dormancy, but it will still exist,
biding its time just below the surface, like
Azapo. Enjoy these last few days of relative
autonomy, humanoids.
The masterplan
for Zuckerbergs
Reich is clearly for
facebook to become
the motherlode for
all our entertainment
and communication
needs.
The New C-Class Coup.
The reason golfers love to drive.
Its easy to be modest about the New C-Class Coupes looks when its clearly irresistible.
Equally as irresistible is the driving experience it offers, thanks to its leading on-board
technology COMAND Online*, and its handling package tailored for supreme agility.
Plus, the ample boot space is yet a another reason youll be the envy of your four-ball.
www.mercedes-benz.co.za/c-coupe
125! years of innovation
* Limited launch offer.
Vehicle specifications may vary for the South African market.
LIFe, etc
briefs life, etc
Madiba the Best, again (Reuters)
life
UsA
Part-time linguist and full-time
contrarian Noam Chomsky has
never been one to hold back
on his opinions. And he's come
out fghting in his latest inter-
view with left-wing website De-
mocracy Now. Chomsky told
them: "Im not a great enthu-
siast for Obama, as you know,
from way back, but at least hes
somewhere in the real world".
As opposed to the Republican
candidates Chomsky accuses
Rick Perry of being "often in
outer space", and describes
the GOP candidates' views on
climate change as "utterly out-
landish". But tell us how you
really feel, Noam.
UsA
Let's hear it for grunge rockers
the Foo Fighters, who stuck it
to the homophobic bigots of
the Westboro Baptist Church
this weekend. The West-
boro Baptists are best known
for picketing the funerals of
(straight) American soldiers
with signs reading: "God hates
fags", since they believe that
US war casualties are a punish-
ment for a society that tolerates
homosexuality. They decided
to picket the Foo Fighters' con-
cert in Kansas on the grounds
that their music promotes for-
nication. When the band got
wind of this, they gave the pro-
testors a special performance
on the back of a fat-bed truck,
performing their song "Keep
it Clean (Hot Buns)", which
includes the lyrics "Think I' m
in the mood for some hot
man-muffins, mmmm". The
Westboro crazies report-
edly "seethed".
sA
Good news for Mandela, less
good news for Zuma. Madiba
was voted number one in an
assessment of perceptions of
the world's most visible lead-
ers. The Reputation Institute
asked 51,000 people in 25 dif-
ferent countries to rank public
fgures according to how much
they were liked, admired, re-
spected and trusted. Zuma
came 35th, trailing that well-
known thought-leader Ange-
lina Jolie by a full 13 places. He
shouldn't feel too bad, though:
a sign of what a load of un-
mitigated bollocks the poll was
is revealed by the fact that
tennis player Roger Federer
came second, well ahead of
the Dalai Lama (13th) and
the Pope (26th).
UsA
The world's shortest woman
has been crowned by the Guin-
ness Book of World Records.
She is Bridgette Jordan, 22, of
Chicago, who measures just
69cm. Jordan was born with
the rare condition of primor-
dial dwarfsm. She has scooped
another record: because her
younger brother Brad is only
98cm tall, the two have also
been named the "shortest liv-
ing siblings". Jordan better
enjoy the limelight while she
can in the cut-throat world
of size-based records, she may
not have long. Jyoti Amge of
India turns 18 in December,
whereupon she would take the
record, measuring 58cm.
POlAND
Former Polish PM Leszek
Miller may wake up to fnd
a horse's head at the bottom
of his bed, courtesy of Polish
feminists. In a TV interview,
Miller said that political par-
ties should avoid felding ugly
female candidates as "this is
something anachronistic and
briefs life, etc
Sarah Palin (Reuters)
will repel voters". Miller was
previously head of the left-
wing Democratic Left Alliance,
which ofcially has a pro-
women policy. It's the latest
piece of evidence that sexism is
alive and well in Polish politics.
In February a politician from
the governing Civic Platform
party was asked whether he ap-
proved of gay marriage and re-
plied: "You can forget about gay
men but I would gladly watch
lesbians". Classy.
UsA
Sarah Palin simply will not end
the speculation over whether
or not she will consider run-
ning for US president. She
doesn't have to ofcially de-
clare either way until the
end of the October, so in the
meantime she is busy stringing
along hopeful supporters and
the terrifed rest of us. Asked
in an interview whether she
might still run, she said "I'm
still considering the time fac-
tor". There probably isn't much
point: a survey this week found
that 72% of Republicans didn't
want her to stand for nomina-
tion. However, the same survey
also found that if Obama and
Palin went head-to-head over
the presidency, it swung for
Obama by only 49% compared
to 44%, which is either highly
concerning or reveals some
deeply fawed polling methods.
And speaking of women who
might or might not run for the
presidency of the USA, some-
one else they keep speculating
about is Hillary Clinton for
the 2016 presidential nomina-
tion. Hillary herself has frmly
denied rumours that she has
any intention whatsoever of
running, but it seems that Bill
might not have received the
same memo. When asked by
conservative website Newsmax
if Hillary would run, he refused
to deny it, merely saying "You'll
have to ask her" and "If she
wants to serve, I'll be happy".
Perhaps the Clintons no lon-
ger talk over the dinner table
post-Lewinsky.
sOUth AfricA
It is perhaps a reassuring sign
of the paucity of SA's celeb-
rity culture that people seem
awfully excited about the fact
that the winner of Masterchef
Australia is in town. Adam
Liaw is here for the Good Food
and Wine Show, and has been
kind enough to share his views
about our national cuisine.
Liaw thinks we eat a lot of meat
and he loves bobotie. Is some-
one writing this down? During
his visit Liaw has even received
the ultimate national honour.
No, not the Order of Mapun-
gubwe, you idiot: a profle on
Top Billing.
UsA
America's Transportation Secu-
rity Administration (TSA) has
been left red-faced (not literally,
that's just something journal-
ists say to describe a disgraceful
situation). An African-American
woman who had already passed
through airport security in At-
lanta was called back by TSA
ofcers who insisted on check-
ing her Afro for explosives. A
guard then insisted on patting
down her hair in a public area.
TSA was unrepentant after the
fact saying "additional screening
may be required for clothing,
headwear or hair where prohib-
ited items could be hidden".
UsA
The world's smallest digital
camera has been released by
American company Hammacher
Schlemmer. The tiny device is
no larger than a fngertip, mea-
suring just over an inch. It works
perfectly fne, they reassure
the public, claiming its picture
quality is every bit as good as a
normal camera. It comes with a
wrist strap, which we suppose is
quite handy, but why on earth
would you want a mini-camera
unless you are working for MI5
or trying to take pervy pictures
of women undetected?
life, etc genetics
sperm bank to
redheads: no
thanks
read more:
1. Why is a sperm bank banning redheads? on Salon
Cryos International, the worlds largest sperm
bank, has announced that it will no longer be
accepting donations from redheads. The company
claims its because its looking for more diversity
among donors, but the subtext is clear: nobody
wants ginger sperm. By REBECCA DAVIS.
Heres the euphemistic phrasing that the banks
director used to explain the move to a Dan-
ish newspaper: I do not think you choose a
redhead, unless the partner for example, the
sterile male has red hair, or because the lone
woman has a preference for redheads. And
thats perhaps not so many, especially in the lat-
ter case.
Gingerism doesnt seem to be particularly
prevalent in South Africa or North America, but
in Europe attitudes towards redheaded people
or gingers, as the English often call them, with
two hard gs can amount to genuine discrimi-
nation. The Guardian posed the question two
years ago: Does gingerism remain the last ac-
ceptable prejudice?
As the article pointed out, gingerism has a
long history. In Germany in the 1400s, an es-
timated 45,000 redheads were put to death on
suspicion of being witches. The Ancient Egyp-
tians also had no love for them, burning them
alive, and a belief of the Ancient Greeks was
that ginger-haired people turned into vampires
after death.
Why do people hate gingers? Type that ques-
tion into Google UK and youll fnd more than
30 million stabs at a response. The short answer
is that nobody knows, although in England
specifcally some say it is linked to anti-Irish
sentiment (10% of the worlds redheads are
Irish). Others suggest it is simply because red
is the least common hair colour, and it's human
nature to mistrust the unknown. And redheads
are becoming something of an endangered spe-
cies: as it stands, only 2% of the worlds popula-
tion are red-haired currently. The sperm banks
policy wont help that.
The AfricAn womAn who wenT up The
norTh pole And cAme bAck A hero
Earlier this year, Lee Swan became the frst African woman to take part in the Polar Race, a mad dash
across islands and frozen sea to the Magnetic North Pole. She recounted the hardships and Hollywood
blockbuster-style fnish to SIPHO HLONGWANE.
norTh pole Trekking life, eTc
thursday- 22 september 2011
Lee Swan experienced cold conditions so
harsh that it made the distance seem easy.
Photo: Deloitte.
Lee Swan and team mate Rob Platt erect their tent on Arctic sea ice above a 4.5 km deep ocean. Photo: Deloitte.
We saw hundreds of polar bear tracks, Lee
Swan told me.
Sitting in the warmth of an air-conditioned
ofce in Woodmead, it was hard to imagine
what encountering one of natures most
fearsome predators in the frozen wastelands of
Arctic Canada must have been like.
The route to the Magnetic North Pole
crossed a polar bear migration route at one
point, where the chances of coming across the
largest terrestrial carnivore on earth was high.
At one point, they cross a gully through an
island, Swan said. So you have all these polar
bears funnelling into this one point, and we
cross the mouth of the gully.
They eventually did come across a bear. We
spotted it before it spotted us, she said. The
worst thing you can do is surprise the polar bear.
We spotted it about 400 metres away, our paths
about to cross. We stopped. Wed been trained
on polar bear behaviour. You can then tell from
a distance away whether the bear is hungry,
aggressive, male or female. Thats quite important.
At that time of year the female usually
have cubs. That means theyre naturally more
aggressive. The idea is to shoot the bear when
it is attacking you. The bear was inquisitive. It
came closer, stood up on the back of its legs and
began circling us in an arc at about 150 metres
away from us.
It was trying to fgure out what we were.
Youll appreciate that it had probably never seen
people before. After about an hour, it sort of
fgured out that we werent a threat and then
playfully went on its way, Swan says.
We had a pump action shotgun, she
assured me. Wed been trained to use it. The
idea is to only shoot the bear as a last resort,
when it is attacking you.
A 30-year-old manager for Sustainability and
Climate Change Consulting at Deloitte, Swan
trained for more than two years to participate
in the Polar Race, a sprint from Resolute Bay in
Canada, over the Queen Elizabeth Islands, to
the Magnetic North Pole, some 800 kilometres
in a north of north-west direction.
Originally planned as being part of her
business strategy and a way to be able to
talk to clients about climate change, Swans
participation in the Polar Race also raised funds
for the Leap Science and Maths School, an
education body for underprivileged children.
Training for the race had not been easy.
There was the fve and a half hours of gym
daily in South Africa, a fve-day stay in the
forests and mud of Wales, and just before all the
contestants few to Canada in April, a few days
spent learning the ropes of cross-country skiing
in Italy.
From the frst qualifying session you have,
"One step at a time" - Lee
pushes on through the harsh
Arctic wilderness. Photo:
Deloitte
theyre pushing your buttons, she said. They
want that if you crack, you do that before you
get out onto the ice. The race is for novices, so
there is no chance that any of us had done this
before. Quitting once youve started the race
is really not an option. They make sure that if
youre going to quit, you do it before you set of.
After all the training had happened (including
a week of acclimatising and even more training
in Resolute Bay before they set of), there were
only two teams left of three each left. A member
of Swans team, a former US Marine, dropped out
during training in Wales.
Of the two teams that were left, they were
the ones considered to be the weaker team.
Suddenly Swans team The Internationals, was
not in it to fnish, but had a real shot at winning
the race.
Still, the training wasnt preparation enough
for the below 40 degrees Celsius cold of the
Arctic. There is no way psychologically or
physically or emotionally that you can prepare
for the cold, Swan said.
It was a very lonely experience. Because of
the cold, you had the hoodie on, the masks and
the balaclavas, so you couldnt really see peoples
faces. Its very difcult to talk to each other.
Also, youre doing huge distances every
day. I think we averaged at the end about 48
kilometres per day. More than a marathon. We
were trying to cover the distance as quickly as
possible. We realised that the more we dilly-
dallied, the longer wed be on the ice, Swan said.
The cold is pretty much the hardship of the
race, beside pulling an 80 kilogram sled for
820 kilometres. It made the simplest of tasks
almost impossible to do. I once took of my
gloves to unzip my jacket and almost paid for
"With the hood up, the mask on and your balaclava pulled up your haunted by
the sound of your own breathing. The Arctic is a lonely lonely place" says Lee.
Photo: Deloitte.
The Internationals arrived at the Magnetic North Pole
at 05.02 am having covered 820km in brutally harsh
conditions, and Lee Swan becomes the frst African-
born woman to reach the Magnetic North Pole.
Photo: Deloitte
it, Swan said. Within 15 seconds, your hand
can completely freeze. We learned what bits
of sea ice to camp on and how to identify soft
ice so that we could plan our route around it in
advance. Youll be surprised, but there are many
diferent shades of white in the Arctic. The soft
ice has a slightly greyer colour.
The Polar Race is broken up into four stages:
the start in Resolute Bay, three check points on
the way and the fnish at the Magnetic North.
Each team plotted their own route between
check points. Often, it was a choice of either
going over an island, or taking a longer route
around it on the frozen ice.
The race is structured such that the times
between each check point are added up to
decide who the winner of the race is. The teams
wait for each other at the check points and the
race organisers fy in with extra supplies and
a doctor. After a rest, the teams set of again
after the doctor has okayed the contestants.
Often on the ice, the teams would cross each
others tracks.
Although The Internationals won the frst
stage, they were beaten in the next stage.
In the third stage, Swans team came across
ski tracks, and realised that they were behind.
They decided to abandon the time-consuming
task of navigation, and began following the
other teams tracks in hopes of catching up to
them. They soon realised that the other teams
ski tracks were steadily pointing away from the
direction of the Check Point Three GPS co-
ordinates. Clearly something was wrong. One
Life at Checkpoint 1 - lonely tents containing weary
bodies as racers wait for the race to re-start for leg 2.
Photo: Deloitte
of the two teams had punched in faulty co-
ordinates into their GPS devices.
Eventually Swans team decided to trust
themselves, and stopped following the other
teams tracks.
When they got to the check point, they
radioed to Resolute Bay to discover that the
other team had completely screwed up. They
had somehow got two digits on their GPS co-
ordinates mixed up, meaning that they were
some ten kilometres away from the place they
should have been at.
What it meant was that we had a twelve
hour lead at checkpoint three with one hundred
kilometres to go, Swan said. We knew we
were in the lead. When we set of, we would
have been happy to just fnish, but now we were
racing to win.
On the last day of the race, The
Internationals had 63 kilometres to go. On any
other day, they would have broken that leg of
the race into two, but decided to sprint to the
end, right through the night. That proved to be
the right call.
As they neared the Magnetic North Pole,
they noticed a black spot where they were
headed. As they neared, they realised it was
the other team. Incredibly, the other team had
managed to recover nine and a half hours of
time after the co-ordinate mishap, and had
arrived at the pole frst.
Their endurance proved futile. After 820
kilometres, 22 days of 16-hour racing, Swans
team barely won. Quite romantically, Swan
arrived at the end of the race on 27 April, South
Africas Freedom Day.
The other team were devastated, Swan said.
They had had the same strategy as we had to
push through the night on the last day. They had
done 65 kilometres on that last day, we did 63
kilometres. They thought that wed camped that
night. When we arrived at the pole, we couldnt
hear a peep from their tent. They had obviously
seen us from a distance and realised that wed
won the race, and just gone straight to bed.
As if that wasnt bad enough, the pilot tasked
with fetching them refused to land at the
makeshift airstrip the teams constructed, and
instead instructed them to ski 25 kilometres
to another airstrip that some scientists had
constructed earlier, which the pilot thought was
safer. Utterly fed up, three of the fastest skiers
were sent on a three-hour dash to hold the
plane up while the rest of the racers came up
behind with the sleds.
The plan worked except that when the slow
team was less than a kilometre away, the plane
took of with the two other skiers. They later
Proudly South African: Lee fies the South African fag at the Magnetic North
Pole alongside her furry teddy bear companion Felix, whom she carried to raise
funds for the LEAP Science and Maths School. Photo: Deloitte.
It was a chance to appreciate that we were in
a special place and would probably never come
back.
claimed that they hadnt seen the other team,
an event which soured the race.
Swan and the others had two wait a further
two days on the ice for a plane to fetch them.
The priority for plane time in the Arctic
is cargo frst, then scientists, then only
adventurers, she said. It took two days for the
plane to land. Eventually we got of the ice.
The time spent 25 kilometres away from
the Magnetic North Pole was the best time for
Swan. The pressures of racing had made us not
appreciate the place where we were, she said.
reAd more:
1. Lee Swan, frst African to feel pull of Magnetic North in Daily
Maverick
2. .The route of the Polar Race
Video:
1. Polar Race 2011 Arrival at Resolute Bay
2. Polar Race 2011 Mini Expedition First Day
Back to the normal life: Lee Swan returns from the Arctic to resume her role as
Manager on the Sustainability and Climate Change Consulting team at Deloitte.
She returns in the same year as South Africa plays host country to the UN Climate
Change Negotiations (COP17) in Durban (December 2011). Photo: Deloitte.
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for
volvo C30 polestar life, etC
volvo C30 polestar:
a hot hatCh with
designer appeal
On paper, this swift little Swede should be among the front-
runners in the performance hatchback segment. With 169kW of
power and 320Nm of torque, its got more urge than benchmark
mini missiles like the Golf GTI, while the power-to-weight ratio
of 119kW/ton trumps the GTI, too.
But its by no means the most powerful player in this hotly
contested category. That honour belongs to the Renault Mgane
RS, which has 184kW on tap, and boasts a power to weight ratio
of137kW/ton. Yes, its R18k more expensive, but its still well
below super hatches like the all-wheel drive Golf R and Audi S3,
or the Scirocco R, for that matter.
But the Swedes have an ace up their sleeve, and its called
Polestar. Polestar is a Swedish company that tunes and races
Volvos, and enjoys the blessing of the Volvo factory a bit
like the relationship between AMG and Mercedes, or Alpina
and BMW.
So, while this C30 T5 R-Design looks exactly like any normal
C30 T5 R-Design, its actually signifcantly more powerful,
Hot hatchbacks are like the trump cards of the
motor industry. All the major brands have a
contender in that segment, and while its not
nearly the biggest in volume terms, its all about
trumping the competition be it with the most
power, the quickest acceleration, the most
advanced tech, or the highest top speed. Volvos
contender in the hot hatch card game is the C30
T5 R-Design. By DEON SCHOEMAN

thanks to some clever tweaking of the
cars engine management system by the
Polestar boff ins.
Not that youd know by looking at the car:
the Polestar action all happens, discreetly,
under the bonnet. The 2,5-litre fve-cylinder
turbo engine remains as is the same block,
the same cylinder head, the same turbo.
The Polestar kit entails nothing more
invasive than remapping the engine
management system to optimise power and
torque. As a result, power increases by 8,9% to
184kW, while torque is up 15,8% to 350Nm.
The extra urge really ups the Polestar-
tweaked Volvos stakes in the trump card
game, propelling it well ahead of the GTI, and
equalling the Mgane RS in power output
terms. Its also right up there with the Golf R
and Audi S3, albeit without the beneft of all-
wheel drive.
Interestingly, Polestar claims that the extra
muscle is achieved without afecting the C30
T5s factory-rated fuel consumption or CO2
emissions levels. Were not sure how they
manage that, but Volvos claimed 8,7 litres/100
km on the combined cycle, was quite a bit
less than the 11,8 litres/100 km we saw during
testing.
Externally, there is nothing to alert one to
this Volvos special status. Theres not a badge, a
stripe or a logo to distinguish it from a standard
T5, adding an element of stealth appeal. Not
that the T5 R-Design is all that subtle to start
out with.
The standard body kit includes a deeper
front air dam, large air intakes, sill extensions,
a racy rear apron and a rather large rear wing.
These elements embellish a shape that is
controversial at best, and certainly polarises
opinion.
The front is angular and quite aggressive,
with big headlights framing a chunky grille.
In profle, the strong shoulder line dominates
proceedings, accentuating the Volvos muscular
haunches, and emphasising the unusual,
slanted rear hatch.
In a world of generic design, nothing else
looks quite like this and if anything, it endows
the C30 T5 with a distinctive and instantly
recognisable personality. But its design cues can
be just too unconventional for some.
That theme continues into the cabin, which
is very Volvo, and initially striking, thanks
to the two-tone treatment of the upholstery,
and the unusual rear seating arrangement: it
comprises two, individual seats, instead the
more usual split bench seat. But in reality,
theres more to disappoint than to please here.
The front bucket seats are comfortable and
supportive enough, but despite being height
adjustable, the seating position still feels too
high. The ergonomics are efcient enough, and
the controls and instruments are intuitive to
operate, but aside from Volvos much-vaunted
foating centre console, theres not much to save
it from blandness.
The boot remains the cabins Achilles heel.
Access is awkward, restricted by a complex boot
cover that does a good job as a security cover,
but gets in the way when loading larger objects.
In fact, the cover needs to be unclipped to
make the most of the space on ofer. Its not
exactly user friendly, and the surrounding
plastic trim is easily scratched when trying to
replace it.
But lets face it, practicality wont be too high
on the list of your typical C30 T5 Polestar buyer.
What matters here is performance.
The standard C30 T5 is no slouch, and the
Polestar builds on that reputation. It feels
strong from the word go, and sustains that urge
all the way through the rev range. The biggest
problem here is getting the power down
despite standard traction control, spinning the
wheels of the mark is easy unless youre really
careful with the loud pedal.
Without Polestars assistance, the normal
C30 T5 gets from zero to 100 in 6,7 sec, and
is credited with a 240km/h top speed. The
Polestar kit clips about 0,2 sec of the sprint
time, while top speed improves by 5km/h or
so. Perhaps most importantly, the midrange
urge is even more incisive, benefting in-gear
acceleration and sharpening overall response.
Talking of which, the T5s sport suspension
is 10mm lower and 30% stifer than that of a
normal C30, while the steering is 10% quicker.
That contributes considerably to the Volvos
sporty driving experience.
It gets a bit jittery on bumpy roads, and
theres too much power-induced understeer,
compared to new-generation hot hatches like
the Renault Mgane. But the Volvo generally
feels swift, competent and entertaining.
The Volvo C30 T5 Polestar is not your
conventional hot hatch. Youll either love or
hate those designer looks, and the same goes
for the two-tone cabin. The Polestar kit turns
it into one of the most powerful performance
hatchbacks on the market, but the chassis cant
quite make the most of the extra urge on ofer.
Still, for less than R350,000, all in, the C30
T5 Polestar also adds strong value to its list
of attributes and that might be its ultimate
trump card.
VITAL STATS
Volvo C30 T5 Polestar
Engine In-line fve-cylinder, 2 521 cc, DOHC
Gearbox Six-speed manual
Power 184kW @ 5,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 1,500rpm
0-100 km/h 6,4sec
Top speed 245km/h (governed)
Fuel consumption 11,8/100km (tested)
CO2 emissions 203g/km
Retail price Approx. R348,000
SpOrt
briefs sport
Springboks (Reuters)
rugby
South Africa has squashed
suggestions that they would
ever purposefully lose matches
to manipulate results at the
World Cup. Following Austra-
lia's shock loss to Ireland last
weekend, the draw has thrown
up the possibility of a north
versus south fnal. And there
have been suggestions some
teams may try to avoid harder
paths to the fnal by losing
games. But that has gone down
like a lead balloon with teams,
particularly two-time World
Cup winners South Africa and
tournament favourites New
Zealand.
Tonga registered their frst
win at Rugby World Cup 2011
after seeing of Japan 31-18 in
Whangerai on Wednesday.
Having lost to New Zealand
and Canada, crowd favourites
Tonga fnally gave their fans
something to cheer about fol-
lowing a well-earned win over
an error-strewn Japanese out-
ft. The Brave Blossoms had
targeted this Pool A match as
one of two games they wanted
to win, but they were their
own worst enemies with ball in
hand.
Scotland hooker Ross Ford is
confdent his side will be at
their best when they face Ar-
gentina in a key Pool B clash
on Sunday. With England fa-
vourites to take top spot in the
pool, Scotland and Argentina
appear to be fghting it out for
the second qualifying berth.
The Scots have been under-
whelming in their opening two
encounters, in their victories
over Romania and Georgia.
Samoa are still sweating over
the availability of three in-
jured players for their Pool D
World Cup match against Fiji
this weekend. Goal-kicking
pivot Tusi Pisi (hamstring)
and fanker Taiasina Tuifu'a
(ribs) were hurt in the tourna-
ment opener against Namibia
a week ago, and were named in
Samoa's matchday 22 to play
Wales on Sunday but with-
drawn hours before the game.
Wing Sailosi Tagicakibau also
left the Wales match with a
tight hamstring.
football
French striker Nicolas Anelka
says he would like nothing
more than to stay at Chelsea
despite rumours he will be
moving on next summer. New
Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas
told reporters the striker had
indicated he wished to leave
the club when his contract
expires, but Anelka has denied
the claims, saying he is happy
at Stamford Bridge.
briefs sport
Sunderland's Steve Bruce (Reuters)
Fulham manager Martin Jol
is hoping a new deal can be
reached with Andy Johnson,
but admits he may be forced to
sell the striker in January. The
30-year-old, who has scored 19
goals in 91 appearances for the
club but has yet to get of the
mark this season, is in the fnal
year of his contract at Craven
Cottage.
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce
is delighted with his squad,
saying they are the best he's
worked with and are fghting
for places. The Black Cats man-
ager has made many changes to
the team since taking the helm
in June 2008, and although the
current squad has been incon-
sistent with their performanc-
es, he believes the players at his
disposal will soon be making
waves in the Premier League.
Gian Piero Gasperini has paid
the price for a disappoint-
ing start to the season after
the coach was sacked by In-
ter Milan on Wednesday. The
53-year-old took charge of
the Nerazzurri in June, but he
oversaw a bad run of results
during his three-month tenure,
starting with a 2-1 defeat to bit-
ter city rivals AC Milan in the
Super Cup.
golf
David Toms won the Payne
Stewart award on Tuesday,
presented to a golfer who has
shown commitment to charita-
ble activities. "For years, David
Toms has epitomised every-
thing that the Payne Stewart
Award represents," PGA Tour
commissioner Tim Finchem
said. "He's raised and given
away millions of dollars to kids
who are abandoned, under-
privileged and abused. He and
his foundation got involved in
the aftermath of Katrina.
International captain Greg Nor-
man will be looking at recent
form to help him decide who
will be his two Presidents Cup
wildcards come November. Af-
ter ten of the 12 places on his
team to take on the USA at Royal
Melbourne from 17-20 Novem-
ber were fnalised after the last
round of the BMW Champion-
ship on Sunday, Norman was
quick to point out that he would
not be focusing on nationality
when deciding who his remain-
ing two selections would be.
However, he said he would not
hesitate to pick more Aussies if
he felt that the home crowd edge
could prove decisive.
briefs sport
Simon Dyson (Reuters)
Simon Dyson's recent surge
up the World Golf Rankings
list has caught the attention
of Tiger Woods, the game's
most prolifc winner of mod-
ern times. The 14-time Ma-
jor champion has invited the
33-year-old York-born Dyson
to take part in his limited feld
Chevron World Challenge in
California in early December.
The 18-man feld comprises the
four Major winners, the top 11
available from the World Rank-
ings, the defending champion
and two wild cards which the
Tiger Woods Foundation gets
to select.
The European Tour is seeking
a new sponsor for the Scot-
tish Open after Barclays ended
their ten-year association with
the tournament. Barclays took
on the sponsorship of the
tournament in 2002 until this
year, when world number one
Luke Donald claimed the title
thanks to a closing 63 at the
competition's new home at
Castle Stuart, near Inverness.
The tournament will celebrate
its 30th anniversary in July next
year with the organisers hoping
to have a new sponsor on board
by then.
CriCket
England have been drawn in
the same group as India for
the 2012 ICC World Twenty20,
which will take place between
18 September and 7 October at
three venues in Sri Lanka. The
draw for the tournament took
place in Colombo on Wednes-
day, with 12 teams being placed
into four groups of three.
Shaun Marsh has thrown his
weight behind Western Aus-
tralia coach Mickey Arthur
as Australia look for a new
head coach in the wake of Tim
Nielsen's departure. Nielsen
confrmed on Tuesday that he
would not be reapplying for the
position, which has been re-
vised and expanded as part of
the recommendations made by
the Argus Report.
sport rwc
springboks vs namibia: preview
The defending champions will look to back up
their 49-3 dispatching of Fiji last Saturday
arguably one of the most clinical performances
of Rugby World Cup 2011 with another fawless
victory.
What worked against Fiji last week, when
South Africa played a more fuent passing game,
should also work against Namibia a team that
have conceded 12 tries in their two matches
thus far in the tournament.
South Africa have won their last nine RWC
The Springboks will be out to bank maximum points against Namibia when the two teams go head to
head at North Harbour Stadium on Thursday. By PlanetRugby.com
Photo: REUTERS
matches and are expected to equal their record
of 10, a run that started in 1995 and was ended
by Australia in 1999.
The Boks have only lost one of their RWC
pool matches against England 25-6 in 2003
and walloped the Welwitschias 105-13 in Cape
Town four years ago in their only encounter
with their African neighbours .
The comparison is stark. The Springboks are
two-time World Cup champions, while Namibia
rwc sport
have yet to win a single RWC match and have
been hammered 49-25 by Fiji and 49-12 by
Samoa at this tournament.
Be that as it may, Namibia skipper Jacques
Burger has fred a warning to the Boks, saying
his team won't roll over so easily. South Africa
may have hit triple-fgures the only time they
played, but the humble Namibians will have a
point to prove.
Many of them play in the Republic be it
club rugby or provincial rugby and plenty of
pride will be at stake. They are yet to log points
in the tournament and will view an honourable
defeat to the defending champions as a moral
victory.
"I really believe in my team and we can give
South Africa a good show," said Burger.
"You've got to believe you can compete
against them and you've got to believe you can
beat them even though the odds are against you
a lot of the time. You've got to be up for it every
time.
"We've got to keep the ball as much as
possible. A team like South Africa, if you give
them a lot of ball, they're going to score a lot of
points against you. That's just the way they play."
The Springboks show fve changes with Gio
Aplon and Bryan Habana on the wings, Francois
Hougaard at scrum-half with Fourie du Preez
on the bench, while fanker Willem Alberts
replaces Heinrich Brussow and prop CJ van der
Linde gets his frst start of the tournament at
tighthead.
Locks Victor Matfeld and Johann Muller,
centre Jean de Villiers and fy-half Butch James
were not considered for the match.
In making six changes to the team that lost
to Samoa, coach Johan Diergaardt named the
most experienced side Namibia have felded in
Test rugby, boasting a total of 264 caps.
Jacques Nieuwenhuis, who scored a
memorable try against Ireland at Rugby World
Cup 2007, has been recalled to number eight
and will be joined by Marius Visser, Bertus
O'Callaghan, Nico Esterhuyse and Tinus du
Plessis in the forwards, while Heine Bock comes
in on the left wing.
While the Springboks respect their
Namibian opponents, they also see Thursday's
Pool D World Cup match as a last opportunity
to fne-tune their game for more brutal battles.
"From our point of view, we realise that
(Namibia views this match as their fnal) and
we respect that in them," said South Africa
assistant coach Gary Gold.
"We know their coaches as well and we know
their coaching structures are very good at the
moment."
be that as it may, namibia skipper Jacques burger has
fred a warning to the boks, saying his team won't roll
over so easily. south africa may have hit triple-fgures
the only time they played, but the humble namibians
will have a point to prove.
rwc sport
Ones to watch:
For South Africa: If, as expected, the
Springboks cash in with the points, former IRB
Player of the Year Bryan Habana could become
the all-time Springbok record try-scorer, a
mark he currently shares with Joost van der
Westhuizen on 38 tries.
For Namibia: The centre pairing of Danie
van Wyk and Piet van Zyl have surprised and
impressed many who have seen them in action
at the World Cup. If theyre not scoring tries,
theyre creating them, and much of the same
will be required against the Boks.
Head to head: The Springbok forwards were
on top of their game against Fiji and should
they lay the same platform; it could become a
long day for the Namibians. But the Namibians
will look to give as good as they get and while
they may not carry the same experience of
technical expertise of their opponents, they will
certainly go down fghting.
Previous result:
2007: South Africa won 105-13 at Newlands
Prediction: No one is giving the 19th-ranked
Namibians a hope in stemming the surging
green and gold tide. Anything less than 50
points will be considered an average showing by
the Boks. South Africa to win big!
The teams:
South Africa: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 Gio Aplon, 13
Jaque Fourie, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana,
10 Morn Steyn , 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre
Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Willem Alberts, 5
Danie Rossouw, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der
Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthr Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle,
17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Francois Louw, 19
Heinrich Brssow, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Ruan
Pienaar, 22 Juan de Jongh.
Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Danie
Dames, 13 Danie van Wyk, 12 Piet van Zyl, 11
Heine Bock, 10 Theuns Kotze, 9 Eugene Jantjies,
8 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 7 Jacques Burger (c),
6 Tinus du Plessis, 5 Nico Esterhuyse, 4 Heinz
Koll, 3 Marius Visser, 2 Bertus O'Callaghan, 1
Johnnie Redelinghuys.
Replacements: 16 Hugo Horn, 17 Jane du Toit,
18 PJ van Lill, 19 Rohan Kitshof, 20 Ryan de la
Harpe, 21 Darryl de la Harpe, 22 Conrad Marais.
Date: Thursday, 22 September
Kick-of: 20:00 (08:00 GMT)
Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Albany
Weather forecast: Cloudy with a 20%
chance of rain, a high of 16C, dropping to 11C.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Bryce Lawrence (New
Zealand), Tim Hayes (Wales)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
the springbok
forwards were on top
of their game against
Fiji and should
they lay the same
platform; it could
become a long day
for the namibians.
sport formula 1
more Button-ferrari
rumours
Speculation linking Jenson Button with
a move to Ferrari is refusing to go away.
Both Ferrari and Button issued strong
denials in June that the Briton would
replace Felipe Massa at Maranello next
season. By PLANETF1.COM.
The McLaren driver laughed
of the claims saying: It's
hilarious because it's not
true. I don't know who put
that out there, but it wasn't
us and it wasn't Ferrari. I think it's just some col-
umn inches. Ferrari, meanwhile, described the
reports as just a load of twaddle.
The rumours, though, have resurfaced and
the 31-year-old Button is now being linked with
a move to the Italian marque for the 2013 season.
Button's current two-year deal with McLaren
runs out at the end of this season but the team
have an option on him for next year.
Although both parties have indicated that the
12-month extension will be taken up, there is a
sticking point over the length of a new contract
as McLaren want to tie Button down beyond 2012
while the former World Champion doesn't want
to sign a long-term deal. If Button gets his way
then it would leave the door open for him to join
Ferrari in 2013 as Massa's deal expires at the end
of next year.
According to Jornal da Tarde journalist Livio
Oricchio, Button is interested in Ferrari. And
Ferrari is interested in Button for the 2013 sea-
son. He adds that Button has the right profle of
a Ferrari driver and has the backing of (Fernan-
do) Alonso.
Photo: REUTERS
sport golf
Hugo Has mountain
to climb
Jean Hugo will hope to end another
prolifc season on the Vodacom Origins
of Golf series with a victory in the fnal
at the Legends Golf & Safari Resort this
week. He faces a course that is a beast in
every respect, but that is to his liking. By
PLANETGOLF.COM.
Hugo has already won twice in the series this year, in
Pretoria and Knysna. And in the other three events to
date, he's fnished third, ffth and 14th. His love of the
Origins of Golf series and the courses that host it is re-
fected in the six titles he's won since it teed of on the
Sunshine Tour in 2004.
A win on this magnifcent course in the shadow of the
Hangklip Mountain in the northern bush veld region of
Limpopo would earn him what some would consider a
rightful place in the history of the series as one of only
three players to have won three tournaments in one sea-
son.
Thomas Aiken and Brandon Pieters are the only other
three-time winners. As the fnal event of the six-tourna-
ment series, this week's feld features all but one of this
year's champions.
The feld at The Legends this week will face a stern
challenge on this par-72 layout, where each of the 18
holes was designed by an individual golfer, including Re-
tief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Sergio Garcia, and Justin
Rose.
It's billed as the longest par-72 golf course in the world
and will play to roughly 6,744 metres, but is able to be
stretched well beyond this with variable tee options.
The opening fve holes are all a massive challenge.
The frst is a par-fve that plays around 526 metres for
the professionals, followed by the roughly 418-metre,
par-four second and third holes, an 182-metre, par-three
fourth and a 448-metre, par-four ffth hole.
We call that 'The Stretch'. It's the toughest opening
fve holes of any course in the world, says golf director
David Riddle.
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