Politics

Racism: South Africa groans again!

Published

6 years ago

June 19, 2018

Maverick opposition politician, Julius Malema, has reawakened claims of racism against the black majority population in South Africa. This time, however, voices have been raised from within the black community challenging the propriety of his claims.

A KwaZulu-Natal minority rights group is looking to open a third case against EFF leader, Malema, for claiming that the majority of Indians are racist.

Malema was speaking at his party’s Youth Day commemorations in Klerksdorp in the North West Province recently.

“(The) majority of Indians hate Africans, (the) majority of Indians are racist, and we must never be scared to say that they are racist.

“I’m not saying all Indians, I’m saying the majority of them,” he said.

Daleep Lutchman, chairperson of the South African Minority Rights Equality Movement (Samrem) said they would meet to decide what charges to press against Malema for “going back to the apartheid system of classifying people by race”.

In his speech, Malema said there was a hierarchy in apartheid. “We were not oppressed the same. Our oppression was worse than the oppression of the Indians,” he said, suggesting South Africans of Indian descent be given a lower BEE score.

Malema also said while Indians did not create inequalities, they looked down on Africans.

“When you speak against them, they organise some Indian mob to attack us and expect us to keep quiet until we speak about that reality, they will never change.”

Malema hit out at Indians for identifying more with white people, saying this explained why they voted for the DA.
“If there are Indians who are going to catch feelings about this statement, it is your own baby”

However, Lutchman believes Indians also suffered under apartheid as the land given to them was not arable.
“We fished instead and sold the fish back to the white man. Indians grew their own wealth and worked hard using their own initiative, not handouts.”

Samrem had two cases pending against Malema, both relating to his utterances at the EFF’s fourth anniversary celebrations in Durban a year ago. “He made very divisive statements about Indians mono- polising the economy, underpaying workers and being worse than Afrikaners,” said Lutchman.

The organisation locked horns with Malema in 2011 after he referred to Indians as c***lies. He had met with them, apologised for his ignorance at the word being derogatory and Samrem dropped the charges.

“We thought he was sincere but he continued to make bold, sweeping statements about us with no evidence, proof or statistics. We could do the same but we don’t,” said Lutchman.

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Politics

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery set to get valid operating licence

Published

21 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Nigerian government has revealed that the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery will soon receive a full operating licence.

This was declared during the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s Stakeholders’ Consultation Forum on Midstream and Petroleum Host Community Development Trust Regulations in Abuja.

However, the federal government’s NMDPRA clarified that although it had given the $20 billion refinery a pre-commissioning license, the Dangote refinery would shortly receive a fully operational license.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari opened the Dangote refinery in May 2023. In April of this year, the plant began supplying automotive gas oil, sometimes known as diesel, to the domestic market. Premium Motor Spirit, or petrol, has not yet been released.

NMDPRA Chief Executive Farouk Ahmed assured industry participants and other stakeholders during his speech at the summit in Abuja on Tuesday that the refinery would receive a fully operational license from the authority very soon.

Ahmed noted that just three refineries now have legal licenses. Ogbugo Ukoha, Executive Director of distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, represented him.

“We have issued three refineries with three valid licences. We awarded to Dangote refinery even in their pre-commissioning and sooner than later they will have full commission and a valid licence also to operate,” he stated.

He added that more licenses are being processed for approximately 15 gas facilities nationwide, out of the total number. As per the NMDPRA chief, 1,199 downstream facilities have valid licenses, and over 176 operators are authorized to import gas.

According to the head of NMDPRA, over 176 operators have gas import permits, while 1,199 downstream facilities have valid licenses. As of 10 a.m. on April 30, 2024, NMDPRA had licensed 9,464 retail shops. He also stated that 130 depots and 69 coastal vessel licenses were in effect.

“In the gas processing facility within the midstream, there are about 15 of them with valid licences. And much is under processing. If you go to the downstream sector, in the gas state of the downstream, more than 1,199 facilities have NMDPRA valid licences.

“More than 176 operators hold gas import permits. In the liquid licensing side of the downstream, there are 130 depots with valid licences and coastal vessels of more than 69 valid licences as of today. And in the retail outlets, we have 9,464 licensed retail outlets as of 10 am today, April 30,” Ahmed stated.

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa, yet it frequently faces fuel shortages. It imports roughly 33 million litres of petroleum products per day and spent $23.3 billion last year. None of Nigeria’s publicly owned refineries has worked to capacity for years, despite several investments to revive them. The failure of both the previous and current governments has contributed to the high level of national anticipation surrounding the Dangote refinery.

Politics

African leaders want record World Bank financing to address climate change

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ahead of a World Bank conference scheduled for later this year, African leaders on Monday called for rich countries to commit to record contributions to a low-interest World Bank facility for developing nations.

The leaders stressed that most African countries depend on the fund to sponsor development and combat climate change.

At a meeting in Japan in December, donors will promise to give money to the International Development Association (IDA), a World Bank organization that gives loans with low-interest rates and long terms.

“We call on our partners to meet us at this historic moment of solidarity and respond effectively by increasing their IDA contributions… to at least $120 billion,” Kenya’s President William Ruto told a meeting of African leaders and the World Bank to discuss IDA funding.

African economies were facing a “deepening development and debt crisis that threatens our economic stability, and urgent climate emergencies that demand immediate and collective action for our planet’s survival,” Ruto said.

He talked about the terrible floods in Kenya and the serious drought in Southern African countries like Malawi. If donors promise the least amount that African leaders have asked for, it will be a new high.

The previous high was $93 billion, which was raised in 2021. IDA loans are given out every three years, and donors usually give their money at a world meeting before the loan is given out.

The World Bank said that IDA lends money to 75 poor countries around the world at low interest rates. More than half of these countries are in Africa. Governments use the money to improve access to healthcare and energy, put money into farms, and build important things like roads.

The president of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, promised to cut down on the “burdensome” rules that guide lending to countries under the IDA. This would make the process more efficient and get money to countries that need it more quickly.

“We believe a simpler and reimagined IDA can be deployed with more focus to make a meaningful impact,” he said.