JOHANNESBURG: Battle lines were drawn on Monday for South Africa’s ANC as voting began to elect a new leader to succeed President Jacob Zuma as head of a party that has ruled since the end of apartheid but faced scandals and corruption allegations.
The vote is perhaps the most pivotal moment for the ANC since it launched black-majority rule under Nelson Mandela’s leadership 23 years ago. With scandal and graft accusations having tainted Zuma’s presidency, the party is deeply divided.
Whoever emerges at the helm of the African National Congress, a 105-year-old liberation movement that dominates Africa’s most industrialized economy, is likely to become the country’s next president after elections in 2019.
A total of 4,776 delegates began casting their ballots in the early hours of Monday, the ANC said, to select between Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zuma’s preferred candidate, his ex-wife and former cabinet minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Voting was still going on at 0400 GMT.
“Delegates are very exhausted,” an ANC source, who is a voting delegate, told Reuters. “I don’t know how they will run today’s sessions.”
Ramaphosa and Dlamini-Zuma were the only candidates nominated for the ANC leadership at a conference in Johannesburg on Sunday night.
In a boost to Ramaphosa, courts ruled that officials from some provinces seen as supporting Dlamini-Zuma had been elected illegally and were barred from the conference.
The rand currency gained after that news on Friday, extending its gains to more than 2 percent on Sunday. .
“The rand is stronger on the likelihood of Cyril Ramaphosa being elected ANC head,” said Brett Birkenstock, a director at Overberg Asset Management. “The markets favor Ramaphosa and expect him to improve the economy.”
The currency, which is expected to be volatile until the new ANC leader is announced, had trimmed most of its gains early on Monday to trade 0.13 percent firmer at 13.0725 to the dollar by 0416 GMT, off an earlier 3-1/2-month high of 12.7300.
A winner had been expected to be announced on Sunday, but long delays led to the vote being pushed back repeatedly. It was not clear when the outcome would be announced.
On Saturday, Zuma announced plans to raise subsidies for tertiary colleges and universities, a move analysts said was timed to appeal to the party’s more populist members allied to Dlamini-Zuma, the first woman nominated as an ANC presidential candidate.
Zuma has faced allegations of corruption since he became head of state in 2009 but has denied any wrongdoing.
Ramaphosa, a former trade union leader who became a businessman and is now one of the richest people in South Africa, has vowed to fight corruption and revitalize the economy, a message hailed by foreign investors.
Dlamini-Zuma pledged during her campaign to tackle the racial inequality that has persisted since the end of white-minority rule.
Ramaphosa drew the majority of nominations from party branches scattered across the country. But the complexity of the leadership race makes it uncertain he will win the final count.
“The race is extremely close,” said Susan Booysen, a political analyst at the University of Witwatersrand’s School of Governance in Johannesburg.
“Before today we said Dlamini-Zuma could emerge as a winner. Even if there is a strong lead in terms of branch nominations by the Ramaphosa camp, it’s not clear-cut.”
South Africa’s ANC votes to elect successor for party leader Zuma
South Africa’s ANC votes to elect successor for party leader Zuma
In Bangladesh’s mangrove forest, villagers brave tigers to collect rare honey
- Honey is gathered from wild bee colonies deep in the Sundarbans
- Producers made a debut at the biggest food fair in Jeddah this month
DHAKA: When the harvest begins, Mizanur Rahman gathers a few hundred men and sets out into the mangrove forest along the Bay of Bengal, where for months they climb trees to collect by hand a wild natural honey whose unique properties are only starting to attract global attention.
The honey is collected from wild bee colonies deep within the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove reserve spanning parts of India and southwestern Bangladesh.
“Honey collection from this forest is mostly done in the Bangladesh part,” Rahman said. “All plants, trees, and the overall environment of this forest are natural. There is no human touch.”
Sundarban honey comes from an ecosystem where trees grow and bloom naturally, without the use of fertilizers or pesticides. Its collectors, known as mawalis, begin work in March for about three and a half months.
Rahman estimates there are about 4,000 mawalis in the local community. To enter the forest, they require special passes from the forest department.
“It’s a very risky job for the people who enter the forest,” he told Arab News. “It’s the only honey in the world where collectors risk their lives in the den of the mighty Bengal tiger to gather it. Sometimes, they also face the danger of poisonous snake bites.”
During the season, his team reaches up to 1,200 members who together manage to collect about 400 tons of honey.
“One hundred small boats start sailing together, each carrying eight to 10 people,” Rahman said. “Despite the dangers, it is a matter of pride to be part of these challenging tasks.”
Collected from a humid environment, Sundarban honey is thinner than other types. Its greenish-amber shade comes from the nectar of mangrove flowers, and the taste is less sweet than most commercial honeys, with a subtle citrus-like tanginess. The scent is mild.
Being raw and unprocessed, the honey retains more enzymes, antioxidants, and pollen.
“Some people can feel acidity similar to orange juice,” Rahman said. “It has a unique taste. If someone tastes this honey once, she or he will definitely love to taste it again and again.”
Well known locally in Bangladesh and parts of eastern India, where it has been harvested and consumed for generations, Sundarban honey is only starting to gain attention in organic and specialty food markets.
Earlier this month, it debuted at AgroFood Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s leading international exhibition for the agriculture, food, and agritech industries.
The organic honey from the Sundarbans received an encouraging reception, according to Mohammed Saleh Uddin Bhuyan, chief category officer at Ghorer Bazar, one of the companies participating in the expo.
“We have been receiving good responses from the local buyers,” he said. “Saudi Arabia is a very promising market for us.”
Bangladeshi authorities recognize the honey’s export potential but also the fact that production still needs to be standardized to enter global markets.
Mahmudul Hasan, director of Bangladesh’s Export Promotion Bureau, told Arab News that there are plans to promote the organic practices behind the honey during future food fairs in the Gulf region.
“There is huge export potential for our mangrove honey in the Gulf countries, as Arab consumers are fond of honey. They just need to be assured of the quality in the production process,” he said.
“Our mangrove honey is undoubtedly an organic product. It has unique value, but the world is not very aware of it yet.”
