
<p>By Zaynab Mohamed – Political Analyst</p>



<p>After Prime Minister Thomas Thabane deployed the army on the streets of Maseru over the weekend, South African mediators were sent to ease the tensions.</p>



<p>Two-day talks between stakeholders were concluded, with Deputy Prime Minister Monyane Moleleki and South African mediator Jeff Radebe signing an agreement which stated that, among other things, the processes of Parliament must continue to ensure that Mr Thabane will leave office with “dignity, grace and security”.</p>



<p>Mr Radebe told journalists that the “timeline is immediate” for Mr Thabane’s exit.</p>



<p>Mr Thabane, however, does not agree. The 80-year-old prime minister fired back in an interview published in the Lesotho Times on Thursday, April 23, saying, “People that I don’t report to [are] setting the time for my departure, their own convenient time. They have no right to do so … I don’t understand what all this rush is about. I am not going to give in to their demands.”</p>



<p>When the army was deployed, there were rumours that Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli had been arrested. It later emerged that, although Mr Molibeli was not arrested, Mr Thabane did, in fact, order his arrest and that of two of his subordinates, but Lieutenant General Mojalefa Lesoela, the commander of the Lesotho Defence Force, refused to carry out this order.</p>



<p>Mr Thabane earlier (unsuccessfully) attempted to fire Mr Molibeli after he charged Mr Thabane with playing a part in the murder of his ex-wife Lipolelo Thabane.</p>



<p>The deal to form a new coalition government signed by the All Basotho Congress (ABC) and the Democratic Congress (DC) is now supported by enough MPs to guarantee the 61-seat threshold. Two of Mr Thabane’s current coalition partners, the Basotho National Party (BNP) and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL), support the ABC-DC coalition and so does a smaller opposition party, the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD).</p>



<p>Now that parliamentary proceedings can go ahead, steps towards the vote of no confidence are being taken.</p>



<p>The Senate will be sitting on Friday, April 24, to approve an amendment bill which advises King Letsie III to dissolve Parliament if Mr Thabane loses a vote of no confidence. Once approved by the Senate, the amendment bill will then have to be signed into law by King Letsie.</p>



<p>Then the lower house will sit for the vote of no confidence, which Mr Thabane looks certain to lose.</p>



<p>By deploying the army to restore order, Mr Thabane showed his willingness to resort to violence, but with General Lesoela refusing to carry out his orders, bloodshed was avoided this time.</p>



<p>With all odds against him – a murder case, a vote of no confidence, and a disobedient army boss – we would assume that Mr Thabane would have cut his losses by now.</p>



<p>However, he still stands firm, making us wonder what he still has planned for the mountain kingdom.</p>


Op-Ed: Thabane puzzled by “all this rush”


<p>By Gary van Staden, Head of Research, NKC African Economics</p>



<p>The third date since July by which Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane was supposed to reopen Parliament came and went this week with no indication that the embattled leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) is ready to face down a motion of no confidence, let alone implement the agreement brokered by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa some two months ago.</p>



<p>Mr
Thabane prorogued Parliament sine die (without stipulating when it would
reassemble) in June to avoid a no-confidence vote brought by his own party. The
three dates on which the legislature was meant to reopen – August 5, August 16,
and September 25 – have passed into the clouded history of the country with no
indication of when or even if Parliament will be reopened. </p>



<p>The
much-heralded July agreement signed by Mr Thabane, opposition parties, and NGOs
and labelled a major breakthrough has apparently joined several other
‘breakthrough’ agreements on the trash heap of Lesotho’s toxic politics. </p>



<p>The
thrust of the July Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was to give legislative
authority to a so-called National Legislative Reform Authority (NLRA) that
would co-ordinate the national reforms process in the kingdom. The reform
authority will be constituted in terms of an act of Parliament, which will
guide the country in effecting constitutional governance, security, and media
reforms. </p>



<p>Mr
Ramaphosa welcomed the signing as a “historic milestone that firmly set Lesotho
on the road to reform. The Basotho people can celebrate the convergence of
consensus that has led to this historic agreement and has built a strong
foundation for reforms to go ahead.” </p>



<p>But
Mr Thabane had other ideas and at first suggested that Parliament be reopened
only to legislate the NLRA and then immediately prorogue again to avoid the
no-confidence vote; a suggestion even elements of his own party rejected. </p>



<p>He
has since looked for ways to avoid or defeat the no-confidence vote – including
this week’s extraordinary attempt to secure the support of his arch enemy,
Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) leader Mothetjoa Metsing. </p>



<p>With
the support of Mr Metsing and all 11 LCD Members of Parliament (MP), the prime
minister might just survive by a narrow margin of two votes. That is of course
assuming that all the MPs back Mr Thabane, all his coalition partners vote
against the motion, and all of Mr Metsing’s MPs comply. </p>



<p>That
seems a tall order, but Mr Thabane is that desperate. </p>



<p>Some
of Mr Metsing’s demands for his support – that Mr Thabane forms a government of
national unity and that former army commander Tlali Kamoli be released from
prison – are unpalatable to many MPs, so the initiative seems doomed.</p>



<p>Meanwhile,
a growing row between Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander Lieutenant General
Mojalefa Letsoela and Defence Minister Tefo Mapesela is straining
civilian-military relations to the increasing concern of civil society. The
army has been at the centre of Lesotho’s instability over the years, with its
critics accusing it of meddling in politics. </p>



<p>The
LDF commander claimed that unnamed political elements were trying to infiltrate
and destabilise the forces, but local media reported it was common knowledge
that the defence minister was the target. </p>



<p>Lt
Gen. Letsoela vowed never to allow “outsiders” to interfere with the army,
while Mr Mapesela has accused Lt Gen. Letsoela of “revolting against civilian
authority and taking major decisions without consultation.” Strained relations
between the military and civilian authority is probably the very last thing
Lesotho needs right now.</p>



<p>It
is clear that Mr Thabane regards his treaty and other agreement obligations as
secondary by some measure to his own political survival. While the
‘breakthrough’ agreements that could assist Lesotho find some measure of
stability sit on ice, the prime minister continues to break agreements to
reopen Parliament and spends most of his time looking for unlikely alliances to
save his political skin. </p>



<p>We
remain convinced that agreements that depend on Mr Thabane’s integrity and
compliance, including the July MoU, are doomed to fail. Unless Mr Ramaphosa, as
the Southern Africa Development Community facilitator in Lesotho, ends the
obsession with keeping Mr Thabane in power, nothing is going to change. </p>



<p>Agreements
that suit Mr Thabane and South Africa will not help Lesotho.</p>


Op-Ed: Lesotho’s Thabane keeps Parliament suspended to avoid vote

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<p>One of the great forgotten fronts of the budget story every year is small business. Every year the politicians say small businesses are the future when it comes to creating jobs, and they&#8217;re going to make life easier for them. So what do small businesses want? CNBC Africa&#8217;s Chris Bishop visited a small manufacturing company in Johannesburg that makes uniforms for hotels and game lodges across Southern Africa to speak to Issac Makunyane, CEO of Morento about their budget expectations.</p>


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<p>It wasn’t me, I am not to blame, ex-Steinhoff boss Markus Jooste told South African law makers who are trying to get to the bottom of the biggest corporate scandal in South Africa&#8217;s history that&#8217;s lost a lot of people a lot of money.</p>


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<p>Rwanda’s parliament tops in the world in female representation at over 60 per cent. This however is not a common case. Globally, less than one in four members of parliament are women. For more CNBC Africa is joined by Eva Barboni, Founder &amp; CEO of Atalanta, a social enterprise dedicated to increasing the number of women holding senior government positions worldwide and accelerating programs that tackle the root causes of gender inequality.</p>


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<p>Ogun State&#8217;s Governor, Ibikunle Amosun has presented a 345.4 billion naira budget to the state&#8217;s parliament. He joins CNBC Africa to review the state&#8217;s year and provide an outlook for the state in 2018.</p>


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<p>On Saturday tens of thousands of Zimbabweans marched to State House in Harare in one of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the country. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Ancillar Mangena was among the marchers and sent these sights.</p>


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<p>Entrepreneur and Strategy Consultant Marvin Sissey said the product boycott called by opposition coalition is a dangerous act against corporations and the Kenyan economy. He joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


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<p>The Deadlock over the allocation of leadership posts has forced Kenya’s parliament into an unscheduled three-week recess, lawmakers said on Wednesday, indicating a protracted political crisis could reverberate beyond the October election.</p>


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<p>OUTA released a compelling case document in an effort to convince Parliament and other organs of state, including the Constitutional Court if need be, to have Jacob Zuma removed as the President of South Africa.</p>


OUTA reveals compelling case document to unseat President Zuma

<p>It happened as many suspected it would. South Africa’s Constitutional Court <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-06-22-constitutional-court-delivering-ruling-on-motion-of-no-confidence-secret-ballot">ordered</a> that, despite the Constitution’s silence on the matter, the speaker of parliament has the constitutional power to prescribe that a vote on a motion of no confidence in the country’s president may take place by way of a secret ballot.</p>
<p>It also found that <a href="http://www.news24.com/Tags/People/baleka_mbete">Baleka Mbete</a>, the speaker of South Africa’s parliament, was mistaken when she decided earlier this year that she did not have this power. The court set aside her decision.</p>
<p>But the court didn’t go as far as the <a href="http://udm.org.za/">United Democratic Movement</a>, and other opposition parties that had challenged Mbete’s decision, had hoped. It would not force Mbete to order a secret ballot in the upcoming motion of no confidence in <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/jacob-gedleyihlekisa-zuma">President Jacob Zuma</a>. It felt that this would go against the separation of powers, by unduly prescribing to parliament how it should carry out its functions.</p>
<p>Accordingly, the court ordered Mbete to retake the decision on whether to allow the secret ballot. It emphasised that in doing so, she must act rationally. It ordered that she has to take account of all surrounding circumstances, including the possibility that MPs may feel intimidated by their political parties to vote in a particular way.</p>
<p>The court emphasised that parliament has a constitutional obligation to hold the executive to account. Members must therefore act in accordance with their constitutional obligations, their consciences and their oaths of office.</p>
<p>From a constitutional law perspective, the court’s stance is undoubtedly correct. As always, it has shown great respect for parliament’s power to guide its own processes. At the same time, the court has clarified the extent of the speaker’s discretion in a way that aims to ensure that she, and parliament as a whole, exercise their powers in a way that is consistent with their constitutional obligations.</p>
<p>What the opposition asked for was always going to be a long shot. Wanting a court to order the speaker to exercise a discretion that is legitimately hers alone, before she has even applied her mind to the question, would involve a real stretch of the separation of powers.</p>
<p>So, what will Mbete decide? And will her decision, if it was to go against a secret ballot, be challenged? More pertinently, ought it?</p>
<h2>Competing notions of accountability</h2>
<p>Many believe that a decision not to hold the vote secretly would simply be a thinly veiled attempt to shield Zuma from accountability. Such a decision would therefore, if not irrational and unconstitutional, at least be unconscionable. But, as the Constitutional Court acknowledged, there are different, and perhaps competing, notions of accountability at stake here.</p>
<p>On the one hand, the dominance of the African National Congress (ANC) in parliament and its own internal structures of political accountability have seemingly compromised the constitutionally designed accountability of the executive to parliament. An open ballot could only exacerbate this.</p>
<p>On the other hand, a secret ballot would sacrifice MPs’ accountability not only to their party peers, but also to the country’s citizens.</p>
<p>How can we be assured that an ANC politician who votes differently under a secret ballot than she would under an open one is doing so based on her conscience rather than on some other, less honourable whim? What is to stop a cynical group of <a href="https://www.da.org.za/">Democratic Alliance</a> (DA) opposition politicians from voting in favour of retaining Zuma because they believe that his continued scandal-prone presidency would better serve their chances in the 2019 election? Would it not make it more difficult for such politicians to subvert the public interest in these ways if the citizenry, and their fellow MPs, could see them?</p>
<p>Perhaps South Africa’s <a href="http://www.polity.org.za/article/the-reshuffle-junk-status-and-south-africa-in-crisis-2017-04-05">current political crisis</a> is so dire that these seemingly far-fetched hypotheticals don’t matter. Perhaps they represent bridges the country should cross sometime in the future.</p>
<p>But making rules (and rulings), especially for the naughty kid in class, is seldom wise.</p>
<p>South Africa is moving into an era in national politics where the ANC is <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-survey-data-shows-zuma-cost-the-anc-dearly-in-the-2016-election-75811?sr=2">not nearly as dominant</a>. This means that coalitions will be the order of the day. In this new era, one or two votes in a parliamentary motion may make all the difference. Will the country still think secret ballots were such a good idea?</p>
<h2>Danger of destabilisation</h2>
<p>Early in June DA mayor Michael Holenstein was <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-06-06-da-opposes-secret-ballot-on-a-motion-against-its-mayor">removed</a> by a motion of no confidence through a secret ballot in Mogale City, west of Johannesburg. Both the motion and the secret ballot were called for by ANC councillors. The ballot was granted by the ANC-affiliated speaker.</p>
<p>The DA and their coalition partners unsuccessfully opposed the secret ballot. As it happened, the secret ballot provided the opportunity for <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-06-08-coalition-governing-is-there-a-da-traitor-in-mogale-city/#.WUtuWeuGP4Y">one of their own</a> to betray the coalition and led to the motion being carried with 39 votes to 38.</p>
<p>Near-comical irony and intrigue aside, this saga illustrates all too vividly how the diminished accountability (to both electorate and party-political peers) afforded by a secret ballot opens motions of no confidence not only to a politics of conscience, but also potentially to one of backstabbing and pettiness.</p>
<p>On top of this, governance in Mogale City is said to be <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-06-09-00-mogale-citys-secret-ballot-spat-is-parliament-in-reverse">suffering</a> as a result of the successful motion. There are fears that service delivery is being paralysed and that the destabilised, hung council may be put under administration.</p>
<p>The consequences of a motion of no confidence in the president will, of course, be far more destabilising. For one thing, <a href="https://www.acts.co.za/constitu/102_motions_of_no_confidence">Section 102</a> of the constitution requires the entire cabinet to resign alongside the president, should the motion pass. A member of parliament deciding how to vote on a motion of no confidence in Zuma is therefore also deciding whether to throw the entire national government into disarray, however temporarily.</p>
<p>This might well be preferable over another day of a patently compromised, Zuma-led government. But there is value in ensuring that such a hefty decision is made only after due deliberation, and is made openly and with courage of conviction. If such courage should prove to be lacking in the members of the majority party, should South Africans not be allowed to see this and to think, in turn, about the vote that in a constitutional democracy can and should matter far more: their own?</p>


Op-Ed: The dangers behind giving South African MPs the right to a secret ballot

<p><span class="articleLocation">JOHANNESBURG</span></p>
<p>The South African parliament will launch a court challenge against an anti-graft watchdog&#8217;s recommendation of constitutional changes to alter the mandate of the central bank, it said.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p>
<p>The legislative assembly joined the central bank and lender Barclays Africa in seeking a court review of Public Protector Busi Mkhwebane&#8217;s proposal to change the central bank&#8217;s primary mandate of maintaining currency and price stability to focus on economic growth.</p>
<p>&#8220;Parliament believes that the remedial action (mandate change), which is binding in terms of the law, usurps the powers of the institution under the Constitution,&#8221; it said in a statement posted on its website.</p>
<p>&#8220;Parliament will accordingly initiate a court application to have this remedial action set aside on the basis of its unconstitutionality.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mkhwebane made her proposal to a Pretoria news conference on Monday where she delivered her findings on an apartheid-era bailout of Barclays Africa Group. The lender has denied any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Her call threatens to further stain South Africa&#8217;s image as an investor-friendly emerging market, coming less than a week after mines minister Mosebenzi spooked investors by raising the minimum threshold for black ownership of mining companies to 30 percent from 26 percent.</p>
<p>The independence row over the South African Reserve Bank has also highlighted divisions within the tripartite alliance of the ruling African National Congress, the country&#8217;s biggest union, Cosatu, and the South African Communist Party.</p>
<p>Both the ANC and the communist party are opposed to constitutional changes aimed at altering the role of the central bank while Cosatu backed calls for amendments.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


South African parliament opposes calls to change central bank mandate

<p>South Africa&#8217;s top court, in a potential blow to President Jacob Zuma, ruled on Thursday that secret ballots may be held for motions of no confidence in parliament, but stopped short of ordering one.</p>
<p>A secret ballot is seen by Zuma&#8217;s critics as emboldening lawmakers from his own party to support his ouster by shielding them from pressure.</p>
<p>Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said in effect that whether a secret ballot actually takes places is up to the Speaker of parliament.</p>
<p>Zuma, who will be in parliament later on Thursday, has survived four no-confidence votes during his eight years in power thanks to loyal voting by African National Congress (ANC) lawmakers, who form a strong parliamentary majority.</p>
<p>But opposition parties believe a recent cabinet reshuffle that led to the dismissal of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan and a slew of credit rating downgrades have angered ANC MPs sufficiently to desert Zuma.</p>
<p>Speaker Baleka Mbete, a top ANC official, had said parliamentary rules did not allow for a secret ballot but the court disagreed.</p>
<p>In handing down a unanimous ruling by the full bench, Mogoeng said a vote in parliament should not be &#8220;a fear or money-inspired sham&#8221; and the Speaker should consider the interests of the country, rather than party, when deciding the nature of the vote.</p>
<p>&#8220;Crass dishonesty in the form of bribe-taking or other illegitimate methods of gaining undeserved majorities must not be discounted from the Speaker&#8217;s decision process,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When that happens in a motion of no-confidence, the outcome could betray the people&#8217;s interests.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a statement, the Speaker noted the court&#8217;s ruling that it was up to her.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Court has ruled that the Speaker of the National Assembly has the Constitutional power to determine if motions of no confidence should be conducted by way of a secret ballot or not,&#8221; her office said in a statement.</p>
<p>After the ruling, the rand pared its gains to 0.5 percent against the dollar from 1 percent earlier. The currency had firmed on hopes Mogoeng would order, rather than simply permit, a secret vote.</p>
<p>The ANC &#8212; once all-powerful as heir of South Africa&#8217;s anti-apartheid struggle &#8212; has lost popularity under Zuma, underscored by its worst electoral showing in over two decades of power in local elections last year.</p>
<p>One ANC lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that in a secret ballot they would vote for Zuma&#8217;s removal. &#8220;I would vote for him to go. He is ruining the country,&#8221; the legislator told Reuters.</p>
<p>Zuma&#8217;s administration has been best by scandals and criticized for failing to address serious economic problems.</p>
<p>South Africa has sunk into recession and had its credit rating downgraded to junk by two of the top three credit rating agencies. Unemployment is at a 14-year high of 27.7 percent.</p>
<p>SECRET BALLOT?</p>
<p>The main opposition Democratic Alliance party said Mbete now would have little choice but to call for a secret ballot.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a great day for democracy for South Africa. I think the speaker will be very hard pressed indeed to deny a secret ballot in this particular case,&#8221; said the party&#8217;s Federal Executive Chairperson James Selfe.</p>
<p>The ANC rallied behind Zuma, saying it will vote against the motion to remove the 75-year old leader. A successful vote of no-confidence would trigger the collapse of Zuma&#8217;s government.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have unqualified and unequivocal confidence in the ANC caucus not to vote in support of a motion to remove the president,&#8221; ANC&#8217;s parliamentary chief whip Jackson Mthembu said.</p>
<p>Zuma has suffered a string of judicial setbacks, but has held on to power with the backing of his party.</p>
<p>Zuma last month defeated mounting pressure against him within the ANC, surviving a no-confidence motion against him by several officials at a meeting of top members within the party.</p>
<p>Analysts said that there was no way the Speaker could be forced to call for a secret ballot vote against Zuma.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Wendell Roelf in Cape Town and Ed Cropley in Johannesburg; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)</p>


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