Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

New members of an advisory council on National Orders met President Thabo Mbeki today, after which Frank Chikane, the director-general in the presidency who is also the Chancellor of National Orders, briefed the media on the significance of South Africa's awards for extraordinary individuals.

Anyone can nominate an individual for a national order, said Reverend Chikane, with the nomination forms being available at post offices, among other places, throughout the country.

"Nobody's nomination is thrown away," he said, adding that the full list of nominations is given to the advisory council, which then recommends individuals to the chancellor of national orders, who in turn advises the president.

The president has the final say on which extraordinary South Africans or foreigners receive South Africa's highest, constitutional recognition of outstanding achievement, Reverend Chikane said.

Of the six national orders, the Order of Mapungubwe is the highest. Reverend Chikane said that as far as he knew, the only person to have received its class one version, the Platinum Order of Mapungubwe, is former president Nelson Mandela.

The Order of Mapungubwe is named after the Mapungubwe kingdom that existed in the northern corner of South Africa a millennium ago.

The kingdom had a sophisticated state system and developed agriculture as well as a mining and metallurgy industry and traded with countries as far afield as China, gaining a reputation for "excellence of human thought" and ingenuity.

It was an advanced civilization, the existence of which was known about since the 1930s but was kept secret by academics at the University of Pretoria, said Reverend Chikane.

It was likely kept secret under instruction of the colonial and apartheid governments to facilitate the perpetuation of colonial subjugation of Africans by rulers who subscribed, in South Africa especially, to the pernicious lunacy of a white supremacist dogma.

The other classes of the Order of Mapungubwe are traditionally presented extraordinary individuals such as Nobel Prize laureates, ground-breaking scientists and even promising younger achievers, said Reverend Chikane.

The second Order is that of the Baobab, presented to South African citizens for distinguished service and service beyond the call of duty in the fields of business and the economy, science, medicine and technological innovation and community service.

This honour is also bestowed on those not necessarily with a public profile, said Reverend Chikane.

Then there is the Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo, for foreign national who engaged in active expressions of solidarity and support for South Africa, with the order constituting an essential pillar of international and multilateral relations.

The fourth order, the Order of Luthuli, is awarded to South Africans who have made a meaningful contribution to the struggle for democracy, human rights, nation-building, justice and peace, and conflict resolution.

And then there is the Order of Ikhamanga, named after the Strelitzia flower, which is presented to men and women who carry South African aloft in the fields of creativity, including the arts, culture, music, journalism and sport.

The sixth and last of the orders is the Mendi Decoration for Bravery, presented to individuals for outstanding acts of courage.

The advisory council, which has no specific term but which changes from "time to time", said Reverend Chikane, now comprises the following 12 individuals:

Mary Burton, a longstanding activist with the Black Sash organisation and former commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the veteran actor John Kani; Ahmed Kathrada, a Rivonia trialist who spent many years on Robben island as a prisoner with Nelson Mandela; Ruth Mompati, another struggle stalwart and former exile and former ambassador.

Other individuals serving on the Advisory Council include academics, clergy, government and military officials: former state herald Fred Brownell; Sophie de Bruyn, of the Gauteng legislature; Dr Yvonne Muthien, an executive with Coca-Cola South Africa, Lieutenant-General Gilbert Ramano, retired from SANDF, Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana; Mendi Msimang, treasurer-general of the African National Congress; Professor Brian Figaji a former vice-chancellor of Peninsula Technikon, now called the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

Two opposition parties reacted angrily on Monday to reported remarks by a military judge that he finds official correspondence in Afrikaans "disgusting".

The Freedom Front Plus said it would submit a complaint over the matter to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb).

The Democratic Alliance said the remarks should not be allowed to pass, and urged Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota to intervene.

The offending statement was made by military judge Lieutenant Colonel Mbulelo Mandela on January 18 last year during a trial in Cape Town.

In his findings, Mandela reportedly said: "... I must say it on record that to me it is disgusting that at this time and age we still find official correspondence or official communication in Afrikaans... ", because English was the official communication language of the SANDF.

On Monday, FF Plus spokesman Pieter Groenewald questioned Mandela's impartiality.

"He not only insults Afrikaans, but also infringes upon the Constitutional rights of the accused. If he has such a disdain for Afrikaans, how would he be able to make an objective decision on the issue at hand?"

Groenewald said the FF Plus would submit a complaint to the HRC and Pansalb, and would question Lekota in Parliament about steps against the judge.

DA spokeswoman Desiree van der Walt said Mandela's comments should not be allowed to pass without some form of ministerial sanction.

"I have today written to the Minister of Defence to look into the matter," she said.

The DA believed the judge should not be allowed to get away with insulting one of South Africa's eleven official languages.

To do so was, in effect, an insult to the Constitution which stipulated that "the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate these languages".

"This issue is about more than protecting the Afrikaans language; it is about protecting the Constitutional right of South African citizens to use their own language to defend themselves in a court of law," she said.

The removal of firewood from protected areas was against its policy, the SA National Defence Force said on Thursday.

"It is against Department of Defence policy to remove firewood from protected areas and we're investigating the allegations," spokesman Lt Colonel Louis Kirstein said.

The investigation follows allegations that soldiers removed as much as 15 tons of firewood from the Madimbo corridor in northern Limpopo, on the Zimbabwe border, for a Christmas braai.

Kirstein said part of the investigation would be into the amount of wood allegedly removed.

"We don't know if 15 tons were removed. A 15 ton truck was seen in the area, but that doesn't mean 15 tons of wood were removed."

On Tuesday a game ranger in the area, Jack Greeff, said local residents members were outraged because they had often been "persecuted" by army personnel for gathering wood in the area.

He said the same person who had been known to arrest local people for gathering wood was involved in removing the wood.

The local people's cars, equipment and donkey carts had been confiscated if they were caught gathering wood.

Greeff said if 15 tons of firewood were indeed used for a braai, it was "immoral and illegal".

An SA National Defence Force submarine experienced a malfunction during training in Norwegian waters on Tuesday, the SANDF said.

Submarine S101 was conducting sea training in Norwegian waters with a German Navy team onboard in preparation for return to South Africa when a technical malfunction occurred, Rear Admiral Rusty Higgs said on Wednesday.

Nobody was injured and the S101 -- known by its serial number until it is named -- was travelling to Kiel in Germany for further information to be gathered.

"At this stage we do not have the picture yet... it's a little bit too early," Higgs told Sapa.

"We were told that there was a technical malfunction and in the spirit of the people's navy we are keeping people in the picture," he said.

It is not know whether the boat's mid-February voyage to South Africa will still take place.

The submarine -- one of three type 209 submarines commissioned from Germany -- was symbolically handed over to Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota in November and had been in training in the deep Norwegian waters.

The three boats replace the obsolete Daphne class submarines, the last of which was taken out of service in November 2003.

The company specialising in organising conferences for business executives International Quality & Productivity Center (IQPC) is to hold an event on the theme “Deploying Successful Support, Peacekeeping and Developmental Missions in Africa”, in Johannesburg from 28 to 30 March. The event is being held with support from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). The keynote opening address will be given by Ambassador Gertrude Mongela of Tanzania, President of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) and the keynote speech by Aziz Pahad, Deputy Minister, South African Department of Foreign Affairs. Major General B.N. Hlatswayo will then outline the perspective of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), followed by the South African Ambassador to the Great Lakes Region Kingsley Mamabolo who will speak about the disarmament experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Sybert Lienbenberg of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Cedric de Coning of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and Monica Juma from SaferAfrica will then speak successively. They will be followed by Mike Pryer, Assistant Commissioner of the South African Police Services (SAPS) on his force’s experience in DRC and Jakkie Cilliers from ISS will give his expert opinion on the role of the African Union (AU) in preventing conflict. Afterwards, on 31 March, four workshops will examine the various methods and technologies used to keep the peace in Africa. The Canadian servicemen Bernd Horn and Brent Beardley will defend their country’s approach, Doug Brooks (International Peace Operation Association) will insist on the role of civilians and the private sector.

EN JUIN 1999, Jacob Zuma devenait vice-président de la République sud-africaine. En octobre 2005, il était inculpé de fraude et de corruption. Mais c'est pour se défendre contre d'autres allégations, de viol et d'agression sexuelles, qu'il se présentera au Tribunal le 11 février prochain. La chute est vertigineuse. Jamais un héros anti-apartheid de cette trempe n'avait connu une telle dégringolade. Jacob Zuma, 63 ans, n'est pas n'importe qui. Cet autodidacte, emprisonné pendant dix ans à Robben Island, l'île prison où fut également incarcéré Nelson Mandela, est l'ancien chef des services secrets de l'ANC. Il a joué un rôle clé au sein de la lutte clandestine contre le régime d'apartheid. Sans lui, personne n'aurait ramené la paix au Kwazulu-Natal, écartelé dans les années 80 entre l'ANC et le parti zoulou Inkhata de Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

Fidèle parmi les fidèles, Zuma avait ensuite soutenu Mbeki dans la course à la succession de Nelson Mandela contre le très populaire leader syndical Cyril Ramaphosa. Pour le récompenser, il avait été choisi vice-président. Et voilà que Zuma, l'homme du peuple, l'orateur presque trop charmeur, est inculpé de viol. «Je souhaite clairement indiquer que je suis innocent», déclarait-il en novembre lors de sa comparution devant le tribunal correctionnel de Johannesburg. Une jeune femme de 31 ans, amie de la famille, l'accuse d' «agression sexuelle». Pot de vin L'accusation aurait pu être étouffée si l'homme n'était pas déjà au banc des accusés pour une affaire tout aussi scabreuse. Le numéro 2 de l'ANC est soupçonné d'avoir perçu 160 000 euros de son conseiller financier, Schabir Shaik. L'affaire, qui sera jugée le 31 juillet à Durban, implique une société française. L'influence politique de Zuma aurait bénéficié en 1998 à Thalès, une filiale de Thomson-CSF. Le géant français de l'électronique avait été choisi pour équiper des corvettes de l'armée sud-africaine. Deux ans plus tard, Thalès aurait accepté de verser un pot de vin annuel de 62 500 euros à Zuma. Le 31 juillet prochain à Durban, les deux filiales sud-africaines, Thint Holding et Thint, seront au banc des accusés aux côtés de Jacob Zuma.

The South African Navy (SAN) is engaged in a fleet renewal programme that will change the nature of the SAN from a Navy focussed on its own waters to one with real regional capability. Two major acquisition projects (patrol corvettes and submarines) are well in hand, together with the related SA Air Force acquisition of SUPER LYNX helicopters, and two further major projects (landing platforms and patrol vessels) are in their early stages. Assuming that the latter will be funded, the SAN will have totally renewed its fleet and reshaped its capabilities by 2020.