S.A Rand Threatens Amidst Zuma’s Political Opposition

South Africa’s rand weakened against the dollar on Friday as investors turned focus to a political scandal that has jolted President Jacob Zuma’s government and a potential sovereign ratings downgrade.

Investors fear further political uncertainty could hasten a downgrade, with Fitch and Standard & Poor’s already rating the country just one step above junk status.

The Rand traded at 15.2400 per dollar dollar, 0.46 per cent weaker from Thursday’s New York close of 15.1700.

The currency had rallied more than 3 per cent to its strongest in more than a week on Thursday after the central bank hiked interest rates.

Analysts from Moody’s credit rating agency were due to complete their three-day visit to South Africa on Friday after putting its Baa2 rating on review, according to the Treasury.

“Factors to consider are any news on the political front, over the long weekend the ANC (African National Congress) is holding its NEC (National Executive Committee) Lekgotla and we await any news from Moody’s who are currently in South Africa,’’ Nedbank analysts said in a note.

The government has been jolted this week by suggestions that a wealthy family with close ties to Zuma may have been behind his decision to sack the country’s respected finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in December.

Zuma, who is due to hold a three-day meeting with top ANC officials from Friday, has denied being influenced by anyone in the appointment of cabinet ministers.

On the stock market, the benchmark Top-40 index was flat in early trade, sliding 0.02 per cent.

In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark instrument due in 2026 dipped by 3 basis points to 9.145 per cent.

(Reuters/NAN)

Terrorists group falling victims of its evil plans against the troops - Director Army Public Relations

This followed an earlier incident in which suspected Boko Haram terrorists ambushed fighting patrol elements of 25 Task Force Brigade. After clearing the ambush, the troops exploited further off Damboa road from Kumala.

During the pursuit, the troops traced the axis of withdrawal of the terrorists and discovered that the terrorist vehicle mounted with an Anti-Aircraft Gun tasted a bit of the Boko Haram terrorists’ evil intents as it ran into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) buried by them.

The vehicle was shredded into pieces by the IED while 2 of the Boko Haram terrorists died in the process. The troops recovered 1 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), 2 AK-47 Assault Rifles as well as one Boko Haram terrorists’ flag, 6 primed IEDs, Anti-Aircraft Gun links and rounds of ammunition. Other recoveries include 43 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) ammunition and a mobile telephone handset.

This incident of the terrorists group falling victims of its evil plans against the troops, the wrath of God has been aroused by the retributive justice against the devilish Boko Haram terrorists.
Thank you for your kind and usual cooperation.

National Human Rights Commission reaffirmed it’s commitment to work with INEC

Ahead of the court ordered re-run elections in Rivers State, the National Human Rights Commission has reaffirmed it’s commitment to work with the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC and other Security Agencies to ensure that perpetrators of violence and electoral offenses are prosecuted and punished.

In a statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the commission, Professor Bem Angwe, the commission warns political actors to play by the rules and avoid infringement of people’s right to freely elect leaders of their choice.

The statement adds that the commission will monitor the conduct of the elections on Saturday as part of efforts to ensure that the rights of voters in the state are respected.

Minister wants the sponsor of the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill to represent it to the Senate

Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development, Sen. Aisha Al-Hassan, on Thursday urged the sponsor of the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill to represent it to the Senate.

It was recalls that the Bill, sponsored by Senate Minority Whip, Biodun Olujimi, was thrown out by the Senate on Tuesday.

Al-Hassan spoke on the sidelines of the 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women at UN headquarters in New York.

"I received with mixed feelings, news of the rejection of the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill by the Nigerian Senate.

"The Bill would have addressed discriminatory practices against women, access to education, female entrepreneurship development, participation in governance, decision making and protection against violence.

"We had hoped that with its passage Nigeria would have made a significant leap in the advancement of women, in conformity with UN Conventions, and other related instruments on the rights and development of women.

"However, with due respect to religious and cultural sensitivities, we believe that the bill will be re-presented to the Senate, as soon as all contentious areas are addressed'', she said.

The minister assured Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development will always do its best to promote the protection of Nigerian women against violence and all forms of abuses.

She said Nigeria cannot afford to neglect women who constituted half of its population, and that there would be no meaningful development without the involvement of women.

"We will continue to urge the Nigerian Senate to reconsider its position to ensure a speedy passage of the Bill,'' she said.

She said in Nigeria, women represented 49 per cent of the population, yet they occupied less than six per cent of parliamentary seats at the national level.

These indicators, she said, negated International, regional and national benchmarks of at least 30 per cent representation for affirmative action.

Al-Hassan said with seven women out of 109 Senators and 14 out of the 360 Representatives; women in Nigerian 8th Parliament were clearly outnumbered by their male counterparts.

Nationwide, she said, in both Federal and State Legislatures, ``there are less than 100 women out of the over one thousand four hundred men in parliament.

"Nigeria is yet to be part of the African revolution although it is the largest economy and the most populous black nation.

"The low representation of women in parliament has been attributed to cultural, traditional, religious, and financial factors because politics is capital intensive.

Others are violence and inhibiting gender roles and capacity in internal party democracies.

The minister also said there was urgent need to fast track modalities for increased representation of women in parliament and other decision-making organs. 

(NAN)

South African teenager on holiday in Mozambique may have found part of a wing from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

Liam Lotter with a piece of debris he found in southern Mozambique Photo: AP

On December 30, Liam Lotter was strolling on a beach in southern Mozambique, near the resort town of Xai Xai, when he spotted a grey piece of debris washed up on the sand, he recalled.

It had rivet holes along the edge and the number 676EB stamped on it, convincing him he had found a piece of an aircraft. So he dragged the piece back to his family's holiday home.

"It was so waterlogged at that time, it was quite heavy. I struggled to pick it up," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

The curved piece of debris is about 3.3 feet (one metre) long, and about half that length wide, his father Casper Lotter said.

His parents dismissed it as a "piece of rubbish" that was probably debris from a boat, with his uncle making fun of him for dragging it around, but the 18-year-old insisted on bringing it back to South Africa to research the fragment.

"He was adamant he wanted to bring it home because it had a number on it," said Casper Lotter, adding that his son is not an aviation enthusiast but was simply drawn to the piece of debris.

"It just grabbed him for some weird reason," the father said.

Back home in Wartburg in KwaZulu-Natal province, the piece was stored with the family's angling gear and almost forgotten as Lotter focused on his final year in secondary school. His mother even tried to throw it out, he said.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 jet vanished with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

It was only when Lotter read about another piece of possible debris from the missing airliner also found in Mozambique, about 186 miles from where he had made his discovery, that he resumed his probe.

"I was very shocked – Mozambique, similar colour, similar area," the teen said of the piece discovered by an American man. "He described it similarly to what I'm looking at right now."

Last week, Lotter's mother Candace contacted Australian aviation authorities and they said the number on the part indicates it may belong to a Boeing 777, according to Casper Lotter. Australian authorities contacted South African counterparts to have the part examined by experts.

The honeycomb structure indicates it is either the leading edge of a wing, or a horizontal stabiliser

"We have arranged for collection of the part, which will be sent to Australia as they are the ones appointed by Malaysia to identify parts found," Kabelo Ledwaba, spokesman South African Civil Aviation Authority, wrote in a text message to the AP.

Last month, Blaine Gibson, a Seattle lawyer and part-time adventurer, found what could be a piece of tail section from the missing Malaysian airlines flight. The piece Gibson found had "NO STEP" written on it.

The 58-year-old's search for the missing jet has taken him to beaches in the Maldives, Mauritius, Cambodia, Burma and the French island of Reunion, he told The Associated Press. Gibson also travelled to Malaysia to attend a commemorative ceremony held on Sunday by the families of passengers on board the airliner.

The South African teenager hopes his find will help the grieving families, and inspire others who may have found fragments of the missing plane to hand them over to authorities.

He said he would be pleased "just for them to know that we're finding evidence, finding out how it happened, where it happened, just to give them some closure".