Business Day
*Secret SA oil report 'may deal blow to Zuma rivals'* /President's surprise action could compromise leading ANC figures/*Sibongakonke Shoba and Sam Mkokeli, Business Day, Johannesburg, 19 October 2011*
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma yesterday undertook to release the Donen commission of inquiry's five-year-old report into the Iraq Oil for Food Programme, a move that could tarnish his opponents and boost his chances for a second term as leader of the African National Congress (ANC).
The decision comes as the ANC's succession battle intensifies ahead of the party's elective conference in Mangaung next year. Some ANC leaders are campaigning for Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe --- who is named in the report --- to replace Mr Zuma.
Mr Motlanthe has not publicly associated himself with the campaign and is said to have withstood pressure to endorse Mr Zuma's bid for a second term or announce whether he was interested in the ANC presidency or not.
Among those named in the report are late businessman Sandile Majali, Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale, Mr Motlanthe, and Sandile Nogxina, a former mining director-general.
Former president Thabo Mbeki appointed a commission of inquiry in 2006 to investigate "alleged illicit activities of certain South African companies or individuals relating to the United Nations (UN) Oil for Food Programme in Iraq". SA needed to clear its image after a US investigation flagged local businesses' role in paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government.
Mr Mbeki was asked by the UN to commission the investigation to clear SA's name before it could take up a Security Council seat.
Mr Mbeki appointed Cape Town advocate Michael Donen SC as chairman. Adv Donen yesterday said he would be happy "if the recommendations were taken to heart and implemented" to prevent the recurrence of a similar scandal in the future.
Mr Zuma's undertaking to release the report by no later than December 7 came after the Cape Argus launched an urgent application in the Cape High Court for the release of the report. Sources in the Presidency --- who asked not to be named because they were not mandated to comment on the matter --- said Mr Zuma was advised by his legal team not to oppose the application and to make the report public.
The paper had previously asked the Presidency, using the Promotion of Access of Information Act, to release the report. That application was rejected by officials in the Presidency . Mr Zuma's predecessors --- Mr Mbeki and Mr Motlanthe --- also refused to release the report when asked to do so by opposition parties.
Its release is expected to reflect badly on Mr Motlanthe and Mr Sexwale. Mr Motlanthe got involved in the scandal because of his dealings with ANC benefactor Mr Majali, who died last year. The two leaders and former ANC treasurer Mendi Msimang travelled to Iraq when Mr Majali was bidding for oil allocations as part of the oil- for-food programme.
According to a Sunday Times report in 2009, the document revealed Mr Motlanthe was "privy to material information" about Mr Majali's oil deals.
Mr Majali was caught up in SA's Oilgate scandal in 2004, when he was accused of channelling money from PetroSA to the ANC through Imvume.
Mr Sexwale --- who was in business at the time --- was co-director of foreign company Mocoh, which was implicated in the scandal.
The commission relied on documents for evidence because an interdict stopped it from hearing oral evidence. That meant that people and companies affected, including Mr Motlanthe and Mr Sexwale, could not get a chance to defend themselves.
Mr Nogxina has been named for allegedly failing to appreciate properly that the South African government was duty-bound to prevent the payment of kickbacks for Iraqi oil. Mr Nogxina, as well as Mr Motlanthe's spokesman Thabo Masebe, declined to comment yesterday.
In what appears to be an attempt to manage political fallout from his decision, Mr Zuma's spokesman, Mac Maharaj, said the president was "aware of the potential misuse of the contents of the report".
"We wish to caution that the comments made in the report about individuals must not be elevated to findings of fact as these were interim and untried comments."
A government official says there is some tension between Mr Zuma and Mr Motlanthe over the ANC's succession. They are doing their best to manage the brewing succession battle and to appear to get along.
An insider close to Mr Motlanthe has said he has taken a decision not to campaign openly for Mr Zuma's position. However, he is understood to be available to take on Mr Zuma if nominated.
"He stated that his future will be decided in Mangaung. He is willing to accept any position ANC members elect him to," said the source.
Earlier this year Mr Motlanthe released a statement distancing himself from those campaigning to remove Mr Zuma, but he did not rule out the possibility of challenging the president. The ANC Youth League has been at the forefront of the campaign to elect Mr Motlanthe. Its campaign has received support in some provinces, including Limpopo, Gauteng, the Northern Cape and the North West. But these are not united and Mr Zuma seems to have the support of the biggest voting blocs in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.
*From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=156342* ** ** ** -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
<<inline: BusinessDay.gif>>
