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African press review 22 June 2016

Julius Malema yesterday criticised a police officer as "clueless" and then needed an armed police escort to save him from angry ruling party supporters. "Clueless" maybe, but not useless. And Uganda's new cabinet is sworn in with a mandate to get the country into the middle-income bracket over the next four years.

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There's good news and bad news in a story on the front page of the Johannesburg-based financial paper BusinessDay.

"South Africa is seen as beautiful to visit but no place to live," reads the headline and that just about sums it up.

The rainbow nation is rated highly worldwide for its beauty and its friendly citizens, according to a survey published yesterday.

The survey ranks 70 countries based on a broad range of factors including governance, business environment, friendliness and safety.

One of the key findings was that although South Africa continues to reap the goodwill and positive perceptions generated when it hosted the 2010 Soccer World Cup, foreigners are sceptical about security and levels of ethics and transparency.

South Africa was ranked 49th out of 70 countries. Sweden took top position in the overall ranking. It was also the country perceived to have the most progressive policies.

Among the top performers, Canada was rated the most beautiful country, while Italy was the most enjoyable. Sweden was perceived as offering the best lifestyle.

'Useless' police save Malema's skin

Also in this morning's BusinessDay, a report that opposition leader Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters yesterday told a police commander he was clueless, useless and should be fired.

Malema went to the Tembisa police station in an attempt to speed up an investigation into the murders of two Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members earlier this year, during the partyā€™s election campaign.

The station commander accused the opposition party members of marching to the police station without applying for a permit to do so.

Later Malema was met with hostility when he visited Sethokga hostel in Tembisa, where the two EFF members were killed.

Malema and a number of EFF members were refused entry to the hostelā€š which is believed to be an ANC stronghold.

Men armed with sticksā€š stones and pangasā€š some of them wearing ANC T-shirtsā€š blocked the hostel entrance chanting "Go awayā€š we donā€™t want you here".

Police encircled the EFF leader to protect him, firing warning shots.

Kenya tightens employment rules for foreigners

Regional paper the East African reports that charities and non-governmental organisations working in Kenya risk losing their licences if they fail to comply with new tough rules about employing foreigners.

The authorities say that, with some exceptions, foreigners should not be employed if there are Kenyans who can do the job.

In a statement the Ministry of Devolution announced that it will henceforth issue work permits to expatriates only in instances where Kenyans lack the requisite skills and qualifications to undertake such jobs.

Kenya has accused some organisations of flouting the law by employing expatriates without proper work permits.

The government further criticised NGOs over the large disparity between what foreigners and Kenyans earn.

Research by the NGOs Board suggests that expatriates earn four times the salary of locals for doing the same job with comparable skills and qualifications.

Ministerial corruption is finished in UgandaĀ 

The era of ministerial corruption in Uganda is over and that's official.

It's on the front page of this morning's Monitor. Speaking yesterday at the swearing-in of the country's newly appointed minsters, President Yoweri Museveni said he would not tolerate delays in decision-making, especially on questions of investment, nor would he allow corruption or conflict of interest.

The president said the new ministers have the task of transforming Uganda into a middle-income state by the year 2020.

Museveni also said that some members of the 81-member cabinet had been deliberately picked from the political opposition in order to ā€œmaximise political unityā€. The new cabinet includes members of the Federal Alliance, the Uganda People's Congress and the Democratic Party, all opposition groups.

No minister was named from Kissa Besigye's Movement for Democratic Change.

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