African press review 7 February 2012

ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema and the debate of South Africa's mines, who still deals in so-called blood diamonds and questions over the appeals filed by the four Kenyans accused of post-election violence grab the headlines in the African media.

Mining is front-page news in this morning's South African BusinessDay.

Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general of the African National Congress, on Monday warned domestic and foreign investors to avoid what he called the "Malema-nisation" of the debate around the nationalisation of South Africa’s mines.

Sacked ANC Youth League leader, Julius Malema has repeatedly called for the nationalisation of mines and the seizure of land.

Last year, the ANC commissioned an independent panel of experts to report on nationalisation and how it had been implemented in other countries. A 600-page report will now be distributed to party members for discussion.

Lowered mining output in South Africa can be turned around through investment and employment, Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel said on Monday.

The minister says the five key issues are policy and regulation, appropriate taxes, boosted infrastructure, government/corporate partnerships and reduced carbon emissions.

On its inside pages, BusinessDay continues to rake over the ashes of the Malema affair.

In an opinion piece, Steven Friedman of the University of Johannesburg says the African National Congress appeals committee may have ended Julius Malema’s career, but not the turmoil in the ANC.

Since Malema is a symptom and the turmoil the problem, the weekend decision against Malema leaves the ANC in no better shape than before it disciplined Malema.

In principle, say Friedman, Malema still has options. Claims after the appeals committee announced its decision that he had immediately ceased to be president of the league because a suspended sentence had taken effect were inaccurate - the result of sloppy reporting compounded by an ANC spokesman who does not understand its rules - and were later rejected by the ANC.

The suspended sentence does not take effect until it is activated, and that hasn't happened yet.

So Malema still has his power base. His lawyers could persuade the national disciplinary committee, which must hear evidence in mitigation of sentence, that he deserves only a slap on the wrist.

If that fails, he could petition the ANC national executive committee or appeal to its national conference at the end of the year.

But that's not the crucial question, says Friedman. Malema did not create the scramble for positions, the use of office to gain wealth and the use of that money to buy office, which ANC documents bemoan - he is simply a tool of those who did. Whether he stays or goes, the politics with which he is associated will remain.

The government-owned Herald in Harare reports that there is no blood on Zimbabwe diamonds. Gems from the eastern Marangé fields cannot be classified as conflict gems, according to the newly-elected chairwoman of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, Gillian Milovanovic.

Marangé diamonds have brought stiff competition to the international market, causing prices to fall sharply, especially in India.

The Herald claims that the United States has unilaterally imposed sanctions on Mbada Diamonds and Marangé Resources, even though the Kimberley Process has granted both firms permission to sell their gems on the international market.

Milovanovic says Côte d'Ivoire is the only country still dealing in conflict diamonds.

The Post in Zambia has a front-page weather story. British Airways has cancelled its flights between Lusaka and London following adverse conditions in the southeast of England.

Flights scheduled to leave Lusaka on Sunday and yesterday were cancelled. Customers booked on the cancelled flights can choose to rebook on an alternative flight later in the week, free of charge, or claim a full refund, according to British Airways.

In Kenya, The Daily Nation reports that International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo wants the appeals filed by the four Kenyan post-election violence suspects dismissed because no legal grounds have been raised.

Moreno-Ocampo wants Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, suspended Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura, MP William Ruto and broadcaster Joshua Sang to go to full trial arguing that all significant issues can be determined at that stage.

The Nation also reports that US President Barack Obama’s grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama, sustained bruises during a road accident at Otonglo on the Kisumu-Busia highway at the weekend.

She was discharged after treatment for shock and bruising.