African press review 11 June 2013

Piglets in South Africa, the International Criminal Court's Fatou Bensouda and a spat between Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete - all in today's African press....

"Rand’s fall sinks hopes of reprieve for currency," reads the main headline in this morning's South African paper, BusinessDay.

Hopes of a possible reprieve for the rand were dashed on Monday after the currency fell to within 4c of the four-year low reached at the end of last month.

The South African currency fell to R10.24/$ and R15.77/£ yesterday as weaker than expected Chinese industrial data released at the weekend saw global commodity currencies come under renewed pressure.

Another eye-catching BusinessDay headline reads "Piglets meant to pay off at polls, says ANC".

The ruling African National Congress has decried the hand-out of piglets in the Eastern Cape, by an organisation headed by Democratic Alliance member Nosimo Balindlela, as desperate vote-buying by a party that has nothing tangible to offer.

As looming elections raise the temperature of political activities around the country, the ANC in the Eastern Cape on Monday accused the DA of "swine politics" and "piggy-backing" for distributing the piglets.

The involvement of Ms Balindlela, a former ANC Eastern Cape premier and a former Congress of the People opposition member, in piglet distribution is further evidence of "a failure of the Democratic Alliance to present clear and people-centred policies ahead of the 2014 general elections", the ANC said in a statement.

Two dozen pigs are involved, and they were distributed to three villages.

Also in South Africa, a report that a significant number of employers will not be hiring more staff in the coming quarter, supporting fears for muted employment growth this year, according to a survey released on Monday.

Companies are struggling with cost increases and weak economic growth.

An employment outlook survey by the Manpower Group shows that 81% of 750 employers surveyed in South Africa did not intend to change the number of their employees in the quarter ending September. About 8% expect to take on workers, while 9% foresee job cuts. Unemployment in South Africa reached 25% in the first quarter, indicating that 4.6 million people are unable to find work.

An opinion piece in BusinessDay looks at the problems facing two prominent African women: African Union chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

Its an unusual piece because female global leadership is a rare phenomenon and African female leadership at the global level is rarer still.

The article is critical of the African Union at its recent summit, where the official communiqué called for an end to the ICC’s indictments of recently-elected Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto.

As things stand, both the AU and the ICC are likely to emerge from the Kenyan indictment saga weakened.

A related story is making front page news in Kenya.

According to the Nairobi-based Standard, the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has opposed the application by President Uhuru Kenyatta to have his trial postponed to January 2014.

Urging trial judges to reject the application, Bensouda said it would, if allowed, impede justice and the interests of victims and witnesses.

The debate at The Hague-based court comes at a time when victims of the 2007/08 post-election violence have raised concerns about Uhuru’s application, terming the move as one meant to give him sufficient time to engineer a political and diplomatic campaign to stop his trial, in light of the ongoing moves orchestrated through multiple channels.

Bensouda told the judges that the application by President Uhuru does not give satisfactory reasoning to warrant the adjournment of the trial for such a lengthy period. The trial is due to open on 9 July.

Meanwhile, sister-paper The Daily Nation reports that the Kenyan Attorney General, Githu Muigai, on Monday denied that the administration of President Uhuru Kenyatta was blocking the work of International Criminal Court investigators.

Muigai told the court that the prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, was “peddling unsupported claims based on paranoia, misunderstandings or false conclusions” in her complaint to the court that the government was frustrating her work of collecting evidence and conducting investigations within Kenya.

The big story in regional paper The East African has Rwandan president Paul Kagame hitting back at his Tanzanian counterpart, Jakaya Kikwete, in a row over calls for Rwanda to negotiate with rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.

Earlier this month, Kikwete suggested that Kagame should consider direct talks with members of the FDLR.

Now the Rwandan leader has described the comments as "ignorant and utter nonsense".

Kikwete, who was speaking at a meeting of Heads of State from the Great Lakes Region in Addis Ababa, also urged Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to talk to the Allied Democratic Forces and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda, as well as asking DR Congo’s President Joseph Kabila to talk to the M23 rebels and other forces that have established havens in eastern Congo.