'ANC not in the diamond business'

No Fear No Favour No False statements please..........

28-MAR-2013 | SAPA

The ANC is not in the diamond business and does not know why South African troops were sent to the Central African Republic (CAR), the party said.

"We are not in the business of business; we are in business of politics, and our business of politics has been done in South Africa," spokesman Jackson Mthembu said.

"We are not in the business of diamonds, we are in the business of politics."

Mthembu was responding to an article in the Mail & Guardian, according to which the South African military's involvement in the CAR had been entwined with ANC-linked deals.

It reported that Didier Pereira, a special adviser to ousted CAR president Francois Bozize, partnered with "ANC hard man" Joshua Nxumalo and the ANC's funding arm, Chancellor House, to secure a diamond export monopoly from in the CAR.

In 2006 Pereira signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the CAR mining ministry. It was intended to create a public-private partnership, Inala Centrafrique. A South African company, Serengeti Group, which was majority-owned by Nxumalo, had a 65 percent stake in it.

Inala's attempts to control diamond mining in the CAR failed by March 2008, the M&G said.

Mthembu said the ANC was not a signatory to the MOU.

"This matter started in 2006... To my knowledge, the ANC is not a signatory," he said.

"Secondly the ANC has no interest in the CAR... We don't know what was uploaded in the MOU. The ANC cannot comment on why troops were deployed to the CAR, only government can comment on that."

He said the MOU was signed long before Jacob Zuma became president.

"That was under comrade Thabo Mbeki's time. We think people who can explain why our troops were there [in the CAR] is our government and the SA National Defence Force."

Mthembu said the ANC did not get involved in government matters.

"We don't interfere on issues of government. As the ANC we have no business interests. It is very disingenuous for the ANC's name to be dragged [into this]."

Last weekend, 13 SANDF soldiers were killed and 27 wounded in the CAR during an attack by rebels.

Bozize came to power in 2003 when he toppled his predecessor, Ange-Felix Patasse, in a coup.

Sowetan news

Deploy soldiers only when asked to do so: Cosatu

26-MAR-2013 | KATLEGO MOENG

SOUTH Africa should deploy soldiers only when asked to do so by the African Union (AU) instead of making bilateral agreements to make the continent as a whole responsible for the safety and support of troops, said Cosatu.

The union was reacting to the death of 13 soldiers, and the injury of 27 others, after Seleka rebels attacked their base in the Central African Republic's capital Bangui on Saturday. One soldier is still unaccounted for.

"Cosatu demands that the SANDF leadership do everything possible to protect the safety of the remaining soldiers and withdraw them at the earliest opportunity, especially now that President (Francois) Bozize, the leader they were supposed to be defending, has fled the scene, and the rebels have taken control of the capital city," spokesman Patrick Craven said.

"The federation has always argued that South Africa should be willing to send military forces to defend democratically elected governments and their sovereignty and protect human rights, or on the other hand to oppose imperialist interventions or foreign invaders, or free people from dictatorships.

"South Africa must also only deploy troops when asked to do so by the AU, so that the AU as a whole can take responsibility in such cases," Craven said.

He said an investigation should be launched to determine the SANDF's role in the CAR rebellion, adding that SANDF soldiers should be careful not to get "sucked into internal civil wars or factional battles".

The ANC also expressed sadness at the killings and conveyed its condolences to the families of the deceased.

"To us these soldiers were true sons of the continent who were willing to give up their lives in the interest of ensuring peace in the continent.

"Their selfless commitment has left an indelible mark in the relations between South Africa and the Central African Republic," ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said.

He called on the AU and other world bodies to be resolute in rejecting "the forceful removal of the government of the Central African Republic".

Sowetan News

COMMENTS BY SONNY 

The ANC must now realise that not all South Africans or the rest of the world is illiterate.

THEIR COMMUNIST RHETORIC AND PROPAGANDA IS NOT ACCEPTED BY ALL!

Most people can and do think for themselves.

We know of the Zuma and Mandela investments/interests in most of the African countries.

GADDAFI ALSO THOUGHT HE WAS KING OF AFRICA UNTIL HIS DEMISE.

Our troops were rendering VIP protection to a despot in the CAR when they were massacred!

Jackson Mthembu is walking a tight rope at the moment.

Mthembu must not open himself up to double dealings.