Cosatu,+SACP,+ANCYL+reject+third+term,+B+Day+and+Star




 * Business Day, 31 January 2006**

=Cosatu, SACP reject third-term proposals=


 * Vukani Mde, Political Correspondent**

THE African National Congress (ANC) Youth League yesterday poured cold water on a proposal to amend SA’s constitution and allow President Thabo Mbeki to serve a third term, becoming the latest body to dismiss the proposal by the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco).

Sanco, which is part of the ruling alliance with the ANC, South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), proposed at the weekend that SA should review its term limits for presidents to allow Mbeki to stand for the presidency in 2009, when his second and last term of office is due to expire.

Sanco president Mlungisi Hlongwane, a staunch Mbeki supporter, was quoted by a Sunday newspaper as saying that term limits were “denying the country the opportunity to sustain developmental programmes that had been started”.

Sanco would table a discussion document calling for a constitutional amendment ending term limits before the meeting of the ruling alliance secretariat today, he said. But the proposal has drawn fire from even the ruling alliance.

Cosatu and the SACP were first to shoot down the Sanco proposal, indicating their intention to oppose it if it was tabled before today’s meeting.

ANC Youth League president Fikile Mbalula was harsher yesterday, and dismissed the proposal as “Mlungisi Hlongwane’s idea”. SA had to lead by example as a constitutional democracy and could not tinker with its constitution, he said.

Hlongwane’s proposal has also landed him in hot water with his own organisation.

The KwaZulu-Natal branch of Sanco denied yesterday that it was party to a decision to support an Mbeki third term.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/national.aspx?ID=BD4A146537**



=ANCYL slams 'anarchists' over and Mbeki extension=


 * Sanco says proposal for a third term is 'meant to keep good people in office and is not aimed at president'**


 * The Star, Johannesburg, January 31, 2006**


 * By Moshoeshoe Monare & Sapa**

After a brief festive season respite, the ANC succession squabble has erupted again, with its youth league calling for the constitution to be defended against "the anarchists" who seek a third term for President Thabo Mbeki.

The ANC Youth League attacked the party's alliance partner, the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco), which has called for Mbeki to stay on as president when his term ends in 2009, even though the constitution allows for a president to serve only two terms.

ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula said yesterday: "It is difficult to understand whether this is anarchy or a real issue (that warrants) a debate.

"When we engage with (Sanco), we will restate our principled position that we are a constitutional state and this constitution was not imposed on us - it is our own product and we believe in it and will defend it."

He was supported by the league's secretary-general, Sihle Zikalala, who said South Africa should lead the continent by example in ensuring that the "constitution remains important in defending our democracy".

Mbalula said Sanco appeared to be divided on the issue. But Sanco president Mlungisi Hlongwane defended the proposal, saying it was aimed at retaining good people in office and was not specifically aimed at retaining Mbeki in the hot seat.

"It is important to underline that we are talking about an institution, not an individual. We may require the expertise of a president and we may want his term extended.

"It is coincidental that we proposed these constitutional amendments to be discussed while Thabo Mbeki is president. We value the contribution he has made and it is within our school of thought that we feel our constitution is likely to deny us one of the best brains we have."

The proposal was contained in a Sanco submission to the African Peer Review Mechanism and was being presented to the organisation's members during roadshows, he said.

Hlongwane said people should not be oversensitive about the subject of a third term and that there were laws to prevent presidential abuse of power.

Rwanda had just adopted its own constitution, which allowed for two presidential terms of seven years, he said.

"Ten years is too short," added Hlongwane.

Mbeki is on record as saying he does not favour a constitutional amendment to allow a third term.

Meanwhile the ANCYL also criticised Intelligence Inspector-General Zolile Ngcakani for a "lack of impartiality" in his investigation into the so-called hoax e-mails that saw the succession battle spilling into the state's intelligence and cyberspace terrain.

Ngcakani is probing the origin of the e-mails, purported to have been written by Mbeki's supporters to discredit beleaguered ex-deputy president Jacob Zuma, ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe and others.

Mbalula said Ngcakani had already concluded that the e-mails were a hoax and that he was "in the pocket" of Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, instead of accounting to parliament. The league has asked Motlanthe to ask the ANC to probe the matter.

"We are not saying, and we have never said, these e-mails are a hoax. Those who have said they are a hoax have said it because of what is at their disposal â€¦

"What those e-mails suggest â€¦ is that there are people who are meeting at night and during the day and plotting serious activities (to destabilise) the country and the ANC. So they must be taken seriously and investigated," said Mbalula.

Imtiaz Fazel, the chief executive in Ngcakani's office, dismissed the ANCYL's claims. "Our findings are substantiated by evidence and balance. We set a very high burden of proof for the conclusion we reach."

He said the probe would be concluded before the end of next month. moshoeshoe.monare@inl.co.za


 * From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArticleId=3089257**

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