You know that I am no great fan of the policies of Pres. Mbeki (SA) or Pres. Obasanjo (Nigeria). However, politics is not a popularity contest, and when you see that parties are taking a positive position on vital issues, they must be supported and upheld. In the ongoing pressure being applied to these two presidents to attack the ZANU government and further involve Zimbabwe in the neocolonial scheme of things, both presidents, who are members of the Commonweath's "troika" have so far resisted. This resistance must be encouraged.
But on the down side, the ANC government has again caved into imperialist pressure and watered down their proposal for transfer of greater economic control of the mining industry to the indigenous population, see the following reuter's article: "S.Africa releases public mine scorecard By Sue Thomas CAPE TOWN, Feb 18 (Reuters) - South Africa on Tuesday released its long-awaited mining scorecard to monitor the industry's progress in boosting black participation in a sector long dominated by whites. The scorecard was distributed at a mining conference ahead of its scheduled Wednesday release time. It sets out targets for implementing the final draft of a new mining charter agreed to last October by the government, mining companies and labour. "It has been finished and we have signed off on the scorecard," Minerals Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told an African mining conference in Cape Town. The three-page document includes 10 target points with blocks containing 'yes' or 'no' which have to be ticked by firms to say whether they have reached five-year or 10-year targets. The targets include human resource development, employment, equity, procurements and ownership and joint ventures -- echoing the requirements of the mining charter. The cover page of the scorecard says it is designed to "facilitate the application of the (mining) charter...for the conversion of all the old order rights into new rights." It adds that the minister will take into account the entire scorecard when making her decision whether or not mining companies have met their targets or not. Almost nine years after the end of apartheid, South Africa's economy remains largely controlled by its white minority, but government policies aim to give the black majority a bigger role. South Africa is the world's biggest producer of gold and platinum and a major miner of coal and base metals. ASSETS IN BLACK HANDS The charter says 15 percent of local mine assets must be in black hands within five years and 26 percent in 10 years. A leaked first draft in July scared investors with its calls for majority black ownership in the industry within 10 years. At one stage, investor jitters helped to wipe out almost a fifth of the value of country's biggest firm Anglo American (AGLJ.J) (AAL.L). The final draft soothed the market's fears, but concern lingers over the scorecard, which will monitor industry progress in making changes and set targets. "The production of a scorecard continues to hold uncertainty for the rest of the world," Gerard Holden, global head of mining at Barclays Capital, told the mining conference. Government officials have said the scorecard simply translated the principles of the charter into an easy to understand administrative process. "It is not another charter...it is a very simple administrative means through which each mine will give us an indication of the progress they are making," Mlambo-Ngcuka said. After the scorecard, the last major outstanding issue for a revamped mining industry is the Money Bill, which will contain the royalty system that mining companies will have to follow. Mlambo-Ngcuka said Finance Minister Trevor Manuel would announce the details of the Money Bill on February 26, when he presents his budget for the year ahead. But she added that the industry had nothing to fear. "Our royalty system is competitive to any other royalty system in the world. It will not give an additional burden to the industry," she said. 02/18/03 12:06 ET" At the same time Nigeria continues to allow international capital to dominate its economy through control of its petroleum industry and now industrial actions (strikes and similar activities) are increasing significantly. See for example this AP article: "Nigeria Tries to Contain Oil Worker Strike By DULUE MBACHU .c The Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Nigeria started sending replacement workers to its oil-export terminals Monday, trying to stave off a shutdown of crude exports in a strike by a powerful oil workers union. The 2-day-old strike over pay and working conditions comes as the threat of war against Iraq and a prolonged strike in Venezuela have pushed oil prices near two-year highs. Nigeria is the world's sixth-largest exporter of crude oil and half of its exports go to the United States. Oil exports account for more than 80 percent of government revenue. The Department of Petroleum Resources said Monday that managers would fill in for striking workers and vowed that the oil would continue to flow. ``We have sent out management staff to the various terminals, depots and jetties to handle the jobs left by the strikers. There'll be no disruption of services as far as the management is concerned,'' said Belema Osibodu, an agency spokeswoman. The strike was launched Saturday by union employees of the Department of Petroleum Resources, a key government unit overseeing operations of oil multinationals including ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, Royal Dutch/Shell and TotalFinaElf. It is backed by the country's leading Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria. Strikers are demanding more than a year's worth of back pay, including unpaid overtime, expenses and travel allowances. They also want greater autonomy and better financing for the department, which they say is crippled by inefficient bureaucracy. Officials of Shell and TotalFinaElf in Nigeria said the action hadn't yet affected exports. Shell pumps nearly half of the country's exports. In London, benchmark Brent crude fell 52 cents Monday, hitting $31.98, after last week's two-year highs. U.S. markets were closed for Presidents' Day. In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, long lines of cars waiting for fuel formed at gas stations as the strike started to hit domestic fuel distribution. Fuel shortages also were reported in the capital, Abuja, and many other urban centers. Nigeria produces over 2 million barrels of oil a day, more than 95 percent of which is pumped by joint ventures between the government and major oil companies. 02/17/03 20:27 EST" South Africa and Nigeria, both of whom view themselves as major players in African affairs, and understandably, must find a way to grow out of their neocolonial mentality for the sake of us all. But the problem is not just with the governments of those countries. The situation in the rest of Africa, for example the conflicts and dislocation in the west (Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast...); the horn (Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the increasing US presence in Djibouti ), the north (tensions in Tunisia, Egypt, the problems involving Mauritania and Morocco), the great lakes region (the wars and other forms of violence, economic dislocation, social havoc impacting Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC ecetera), the ongoing problems in Angola the financial pressure brought to bear on states like Zambia and Kenya , drought and other problems confronting southern africa and states in the horn, floods in Mozambique and so on... all emphasize the shortsightness of the continued resistance to Pan-Africanism on the part of the majority of the African leadership. It would be useful if the regional organizations were to take seriously the commitment they made in the Abuja treaty, that is to be the springboard of continental unity and not agents of continued balkanization of our beloved continent.
