Opinion: ICJ supports the renewed notification from RSA gov. to stay within the ICC!

Certainly, there have been blowing a wind of dismay towards the International Criminal Court; the reasons are not subtle, but understandable by the men and woman fearing for their future. The ICC has for some reasons been finding lots of criminal activity and leaders misusing their powers to create crimes against humanity on the African continent. While the same ICC has not used their powers and laws on certain other questionable wars and legality behind the support of internal wars elsewhere. Therefore, the totalitarian and the lingering presidents that fear their respect and legacy, as they could be taken to court for their acts while being Presidents!

Well, here is a key piece of knowledge from the briefing written by the International Commission of Jurist (ICJ) that was dropped this March, in the same amount of days that the Republic of South Africa has released their Withdrawal of the Withdrawal from the ICC and the Rome Statute. Therefore, the ICC can be rest assured that the South African republic will not leave now.

ICJ Reasoning for problems with ICC:

While there are no doubt many serious situations that have so far escaped the Prosecutor’s purview, it is important to note that because the ICC functions within the jurisdictional limits of the Rome Statute, it cannot assume jurisdiction and commence investigations in respect of States that are not parties to the Rome Statute or nationals of such States. As noted above, in such situations, it is up to the Security Council, to decide whether to refer a situation to the Prosecutor, who will then decide whether to prosecute. The powers of the Security Council, including those concerning the use of the veto when referring situations to the ICC for investigation, also require reconsideration and reform. Efforts toward reconsideration and reform could be led by South Africa and other African States” (…) “The ICJ notes that most African States that are parties to the Rome Statute appear to remain committed to the Court. It is significant that the newly installed President of Gambia has decided to withdraw the notice of withdrawal that was issued by his predecessor” (ICJ, P: 8-9, 2017).

Recommendation of the ICJ:

“Honourable Parliamentarians should ensure that:

  1. The Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act Repeal Bill [B23-2016] should not be passed;
  2. South Africa should remain a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
  3. South Africa should engage, where appropriate with other African States, in actively pursuing appropriate reforms within the Assembly of State Parties, with a view to making the ICC more effective in advancing the objectives of international justice.
  4. South Africa should actively encourage other African states to put in place legislation required to empower domestic courts with the ability to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
  5. South Africa should continue to work constructively with civil society on the advancement of international criminal justice” (ICJ, P: 10, 2017).

Still it is good to see the ICJ support the Republic of South Africa will to stay within the Rome Statute and the ICC. Even as they did have questions towards the African leaders and States, as the ICC has not acted towards the United States or United Kingdom for their ill-will wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So the good news is that the Republic of South Africa still is a member of the ICC, but there is a will to leave there. That will not dwindle away, as the staunch controversy towards the ICC does not go away with a briefing like this or the ways the image of ICC is seen on the continent. That does not leave with the Gambian and South Africa now returning, or not leaving at all. This shows the problems that the leadership has with the court and their legal battles on the continent. That will not be diffused, even as this is good news for those who want to believe in International justice.

Still, there are enough issues that the ICC has to work-on and show less bias in the pursuit of criminal offenders to give the people on the continent faith in their judgement. Peace.

Reference:

International Commission Jurist (ICJ) – ‘South Africa should not withdraw from the International Criminal Court’ (March 2017)

South Africa: Withdrawal of Notification of Withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (07.03.2017)

Opinion: EFFs Malema to Mugabe – “time to say Goodbye”!

The Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) founder and former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) chairman Julius Malema is continuing to pound on the Presidency of Mugabe and his overstaying in power. It is from the same man that sought to learn from Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) Youth in 2010 to learn how to make Africa better. So with the lingering years in power and his loss of power inside the ruling party ANC have given way for Malema to address Zanu-PF and ANC differently, than in the past; in the recent year or so he has called Mugabe a lot and asked him to leave power. Still, as a foreigner Mugabe has asked who he really is, therefore the criticism hasn’t really broken the old man, who by some of his biggest supporters claims that he is in the bible.

Let’s see what Julius Malema said about Mugabe:

“The African Union (AU) need courageous leadership which will tell their own peers this is not right, you know like they did, like ECOWAS did. So we need more ECOWAS, we need SADC to say no to President Mugabe don’t you think it’s time to say Goodbye” (…) “We have a problem with him (Mugabe) wanting to stay until death. We believe there are so many young people who were inspired by him in his own country. If he inspires us here in South Africa, there must surely a lot of them who were inspired him in Zimbabwe who can take over from him and continue the legacy” (ZimbabweToday, 2017).

Well, if South African government and other nations inside the SADC community weren’t afraid for their own reign and their internal battles, than they would have interfered in republics and states that had big-men who wouldn’t leave in peace. The man who was a freedom fighter and got rid of oppressive minority government has himself become a repressive leader. So that the RSA politician to tell the President of Zimbabwe is a fresh breath of air, still it would be more possible if the South African government wasn’t it biggest ally. Even Thabo Mbeki as President didn’t give a hard enough nudge and put the ZANU-PF rigging machine into the dust. Instead he gave way and made it possible for Mugabe to linger.

It is a fresh one that an opposition leader from South Africa blasts Mugabe; it makes sense of the character and the will of Malema. Still, his former friendliness towards the Zanu-PF makes me wonder how real the will of change the man has. Since when he was an ANCYL leader he could learn from Zanu-PF Youth, now he wants the Mugabe administration and Zanu-PF to leave, as much as Malema wants President Zuma and the ANC to stop ruling as well. However, he will not as SADC to overthrow Jacob Zuma, as he asks them to act upon Mugabe.

Well, nobody explain the problem with Mugabe better than Mutsa Murenje:

“There is absolutely no justification for Mugabe or any other Zimbabwean to seek medical attention outside the country. We have enough resources to make our health services work for us. The millions spent by a single man (Mugabe) on foreign trips could be saved to fund areas that are lacking in our country. The best we can do is to find Mugabe a place in an old people’s home. That’s where he belongs instead of depriving us of the future we badly need” (…) “The Mugabe regime abuses State resources and international aid. Food is distributed on a partisan basis. Opposition parties need to be more visible and have a felt presence nationwide. We need to stay abreast on key issues affecting us. The role of the media on this cannot be overstated. Both the traditional and the social media have key roles to play in consolidating democracy” (Murenje, 2017).

So the Zimbabwean sees the issues themselves, the Malema paradigm is different from Murenje, both want Mugabe gone away and other to lead, Malema from South Africa wants the SADC together to bring Mugabe away from the throne, while Murenje wants social justice and freedom through political takeover. That is different ways, as the MDC-T and other parties are now questioned, as the other parties are also created on fallouts from the Zanu-PF instead of built on their own merit.

There are dozens of questions and needed strong civil society together with political will to bring the Mugabe era to an end. However, there are more who wish him gone as the #ThisFlag and other social activists that are detained for their will to question the power of Mugabe. The President and his rule of law, is that the justice is only for the given elite, the rest should be silent.

The time should have been up a long time ago, Julius Malema and others should address the man and show the illegitimate rule in Zimbabwe. True, Mugabe was once a hero, but now he is not. Peace.

Reference:

Murenje, Mutsa – ‘Of crocodilian leaders, passive citizens’ (08.03.2017) link:

https://www.newsday.co.zw/2017/03/08/crocodilian-leaders-passive-citizens/

ZimbabweToday – ‘Malema Urges African Leaders to Gather Courage And Tell #Zimbabwe President Mugabe To Go’ (08.03.2017) link:  http://zimbabwe-today.com/malema-urges-african-leaders-gather-courage-tell-zimbabwe-president-mugabe-go/

Zimbabwe’s Information Minister Dr. Chris Mushowe statement on South Africa’s EFF and DA (22.02.2017)

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Breaking News: Competition Commission reaches settlement with Citibank N.A. for colluding (20.02.2017)

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Today, the Competition Commission has filed with the Competition Tribunal, a settlement agreement reached with Citibank N.A. for being part of the forex trading cartel.

The Commission found that from at least 2007, Citibank N.A. and its competitors had a general agreement to collude on prices for bids, offers and bid-offer spreads for the spot trades in relation to currency trading involving US Dollar/Rand currency pair. Further, the Commission found that Citibank N.A. and its competitors manipulated the price of bids and offers through agreements to refrain from trading and creating fictitious bids and offers at particular times.

Citibank N.A. will pay an administrative penalty of R69 500 860 (Sixty Nine Million Five Hundred Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty Rands). This figure does not exceed 10% of Citibank N.A.’s annual turnover in the Republic of South Africa. Citibank N.A. undertook to cooperate with the Commission and avail witnesses to assist the prosecution of the other banks that colluded in this matter.

On 15 February 2017, the Competition Commission referred a collusion case to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution against Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan Chase & Co, JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A, Investec Ltd, Standard New York Securities Inc., HSBC Bank Plc, Standard Chartered Bank, Credit Suisse Group; Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd, Commerzbank AG; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Nomura International Plc., Macquarie Bank Limited, Citibank N.A., ABSA Bank Limited (ABSA), Barclays Capital Inc, Barclays Bank plc (Respondents).

“This settlement was done to encourage speedy settlement and full disclosure to strengthen the evidence for prosecution of the other banks,” said the Commissioner, Tembinkosi Bonakele.

Ends.

For more information or for media enquiries, please contact:
Sipho Ngwema, Head of Communications
012 394 3493/ 078 048 1213/ SiphoN@compcom.co.za

Black First Land First march to the South African Reserve Bank (19.02.2017)

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Public Protector’s preliminary report found that ABSA illegally benefited from apartheid cash injections from the South African Reserve Bank.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, February 19, 2017 – On Friday, the Black First Land First (BLF) movement marched to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) (APO.af/JsJaEi) to demand that the institution act on the Public Protector’s preliminary report which found that ABSA illegally benefited from apartheid cash injections from the SARB.

BLF joined the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) recently in a march to ABSA headquarters (APO.af/Y21xVq) to demand that #ABSAmustPay. The Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, found that ABSA should pay R3.2 billion.

BLF said they wanted the SARB to take seriously and act on findings of the CIEX report, which investigated money stolen during the late stages of institutionalised apartheid. The report found that R26 billion could be immediately recoverable.

The aim of the march was to also implore the SARB to punish corrupt banks, ABSA, Standard Bank and Investec, which the Competition Commission found (APO.af/VsZ1A9) had manipulated and fixed the rand/dollar price.

South Africa National Treasury statement on Competition Commission finding on the Banks (16.02.2017)

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The South African Banks under review for having price-fixed their currency exchange in secret inside deals!

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In the nation under President Jacob Zuma and African National Congress (ANC) there been done some shady dealings between government and private industry, this has been happening over years. Now the Financial Market and Banks have internally been agreeing on values and exchange rates on the South African Rands (ZAR), this is a luxury where the banks have set fixed prices and values. That in the end has given profits and sold the Rand on the open market. This in mind with the fixing and securing more profits for the banks as they we’re trading the currency on the open market. Also, to foreign investors and currency traders that try to make a profit on exchange and selling currency back again at a later date.

So this sort of financial manipulation has made sure for the 17 banks that have made agreements between the banks and communication that most likely paid more for the rand or more used more dollars for getting the South African currency. As proven with the statements of the Competition Commission and the South African Reserve Bank, however, the trial and the review will continue to shed light on the possible internal-trade in the financial business of the Republic.

The opening of review of Forex exchange of the Rand:

“The Competition Commission has today referred a collusion case to the Tribunal for prosecution against Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Limited, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan Chase & Co, JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A, Investec Ltd, Standard New York Securities Inc., HSBC Bank Plc, Standard Chartered Bank, Credit Suisse Group; Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd, Commerzbank AG; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Nomura International Plc., Macquarie Bank Limited, ABSA Bank Limited (ABSA), Barclays Capital Inc, Barclays Bank plc (Respondents). The Commission has been investigating a case of price fixing and market allocation in the trading of foreign currency pairs involving the Rand since April 2015. It has now referred the case to the Tribunal for prosecution. The Commission found that from at least 2007, the respondents had a general agreement to collude on prices for bids, offers and bid-offer spreads for the spot trades in relation to currency trading involving US Dollar / Rand currency pair. Further, the Commission found that the respondents manipulated the price of bids and offers through agreements to refrain from trading and creating fictitious bids and offers at particular times. Traders of the respondents primarily used trading platforms such as the Reuters currency trading platform to carry out their collusive activities. They also used Bloomberg instant messaging system (chatroom), telephone conversation and had meetings to coordinate their bilateral and multilateral collusive trading activities. They assisted each other to reach the desired prices by coordinating trading times. They reached agreements to refrain from trading, taking turns in transacting and by either pulling or holding trading activities on the Reuters currency trading platform. They also created fictitious bids and offers, distorting demand and supply in order to achieve their profit motives” (CompCom, 2017).

South African Reserve Bank statement:

“The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has noted today’s announcement by the Competition Commission South Africa (Competition Commission) that it has completed its investigation initiated in April 2015 and has referred to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution a case of price fixing and market allocation in the trading of foreign currency pairs involving the South African Rand (ZAR)” (…) “The rand is a globally traded currency. Some 30.0% of daily turnover in the ZAR takes place in South Africa, and turnover with non-residents accounts for 57.5% of domestic turnover. Figures published by the Bank for International Settlements indicate that for the month of April 2016, the daily average worldwide turnover in the foreign exchange market involving the ZAR was approximately USD49.0 billion. This represented 1% of total turnover in the international foreign exchange markets” (…) “The SARB sees the allegations in a serious light. The SARB will allow the legal processes now initiated to run their course, and will continue to monitor developments closely to inform any action that we may need to embark upon in accordance with our mandate and jurisdiction” (SARB, 2017).

So we can now wait and see what the efforts and effects. If this can hit the currency and its value, if this has been a fix to juice it up or even put in a bubble where the banks has earned profits on illegitimate transactions as the communications between the banks has set standards of the prices and expenses, so the costumers and businesses has overpaid for the currency in trading. This proves that the greed and coins goes together. The banks of South Africa ceased an opportunity and grasped it.

We have to see when the Competition Commission of South Africa releases their report and their conclusions as the review and the findings of colluding will be put in court. However, the world gets to see the internal trading and agreements between the banks to fix the prices of currency, especially the value of the South African Rand (ZAR). Therefore the release of information on how they fixed it and how they speculated on it, will show how banks did this. Trust this, the report and the papers on this financial transactions and agreements will be juicy and show the inner-works of the banks. That is knowledge that the Republic of South Africa deserves, as these people and professionals are the ones making sure the monies are used and taken care off. Peace.

Reference:

South African Reserve Bank – ‘SA Reserve Bank Notes Competition Commission Decision’ (15.02.2017) link: https://www.resbank.co.za/Lists/News%20and%20Publications/Attachments/7681/SARB%20statement%20on%20Competition%20Commission%20announcement.pdf

The Competition Commission South Africa (CompCom) – ‘Breaking News: Competition Commission prosecutes banks (currency traders) for collusion’ (15.02.2017)