guy on region, it's the worst storm to hit the country this year that has killed at least $53.00 people from co is expected to hit vietnam on saturday. with winds of more than 100 kilometers, a massive marine protections and has been created around a chain of islands in the atlantic ocean to protect endangered wildlife trust in the is a british overseas territory in the south atlantic ocean. it's known as the world's most remote human settlement, and it's home to tens of millions of animals including albatross, penguins, whales, and seals. it is good to have you with us. hello, adrian figure here in doha, the headlines and i was era. if the o.p.'s government says that faces into gray fired rockets at 2 cities in a neighboring region,

thousands continue to flee to saddam human rights commission is investigating reports of a massacre in the northern town of mike, i was a serious mohammed atta report stuff from in northern ethiopia, with the government reporting, made part of the to gray region. on friday, they are taking the fight on the capital of the mouth of the community. it is the final day for ethnic armenians to leave areas of nagorno-karabakh that will be handed over azerbaijan. some set fire to their homes as they left the 1st hand of medium controlled land to azerbaijan is expected to happen on sunday. the peace deal ended. 6 weeks of fighting. rival factions in libya have agreed to hold nationwide elections in december next year. it was

announced at the u.n. sponsored talks in tunis that aiming to appoint an interim government. and in a 30 year old cease fire has been brought to an end in the disputed territory of western sahara, a pro independence policy audio front. to clear the deal over after american troops launched an operation. u.s. president donald trump has admitted that he may not be leading the country's next administration, and he suffered another legal setback. a pennsylvania court threw out 5 republican lawsuits alleging voting irregularities. the president was speaking publicly for the 1st time since joe biden was named president elect rescue operations are underway in the northern philippines to severe flooding left by typhoon. it's the worst storm to hit the country this year. it's killed at least $53.00 people. and those are the headlines when you see him out of syria, the inside story. next,

a lot of the stories that we cover all highly complex. so it's very important that we make them as understandable as we can do as many people as possible no matter how much they know about a given crisis or issue, little bugs at the site in this area. the smell of these overpowering as al-jazeera correspondents. that's what we strive to do. one of the most powerful officials in south africa's ruling party, charged with corruption. critics say the case is politically motivated. the government insists it's part of the president's promise to root out graft. so will he be able to clean up the government? this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program, fraud and corruption. those are the charges facing the a.n.c.

secretary general. surely, who appeared in court on friday, the case centers around a scandal about 6 years ago, when he was the head of free state, millions of dollars allocated to remove its best. those from homes went missing. my guess too late denies any wrongdoing. he's the most senior a.n.c. official to face prosecution since the president took office. has promised to stamp out graft in the party and government. but he's accused of making this case personal because my chalet is an a.n.c. heavyweight and from a rival faction. it's the latest incident to expose divisions within the party. and it is enough for me to miller was at the courthouse and i'm fontaine. about 5 years ago, the governments of the free state province, which was run by then premier a smuggler, awarded a contract to a company to identify homes with moves made from as best, a sheeting, there's best as making people ill and was supposed to be removed and the rooms replaced, it appears that of the $50000000.00 paid for the work, just

a 10th of that was actually used to do the work. but none of the rules replaced. instead, millions of dollars was looted. it's alleged that instructions for payment to this company and its sub contractors came from the office of a smuggler. and that he may have talkative, close to a $1000000.00, is being tranche of fraud and corruption. he's released on bail and will again appear in court next year. and others may be the 1st time that the secretary general of the a.n.c. has been tried. but it's certainly not the 1st time. he's been linked to corruption scandals in this province. some people have come down to the streets, kids destroy them, some from the family mother. she charges against him. and i'm stunned. i have a side of him was far from my feet from the phone

from across our side of him was right beside the result of a few games. something that i had to cause further division within. i know ready to launch a good day and meet a party that spirity in crisis. for good, i'm alone put in fred, still read. all right, listen, reduce our panel in pretoria. somewhat though the fi caney, an independent, political, and policy analyst affiliated with the university of south africa. and in johannesburg, david lewis, executive director, director at corruption watch which encourages public participation in combating graft. welcome to you both, some of those. let me start with you. how powerful is ace my guess? surely, and how significant is it that a case has been brought against him?

he's quite a powerful figure in the sense that he was elected to become the sole attorney general of the ruling party, which is akin to being and minister to and political c.e.o. of the ruling party. so to that extend years, the luck to toot to move around on full time basis, mobilizing at the same time used also very much linked to the former president, jacob zuma. we still agree by many things which are taking place within the a.n.c. and he believes he's also a victim, or all of you know, much of nations within the new a.n.c. leadership. a.n.c. is a deeply divided organisation almost equal ups. so the battle for the soul of the in c. will be afforded all over those. that's why i tend to have a sense of conspiracy whenever there is

a move. and it also represents the clash of perspectives because. 'd a smart arse, sure lawyer is the one person who presents himself as that we presenting the logic of your logic outside of the area and see who will implement there is a lucian's of the n.c. on the other side. president, several of them up was a promise to fight corruption and a renewal of the a.n.c. and grow the economy. david from your vantage point, what are the political ramifications of all of this? well, i think there are very profound, you know, the a.n.c. is at the core of our corruption problem and toll the division is in the n.t. a sorted out. and i don't hold out much hope for the 2 factions to continue living in the same party. but i'm told they are there this,

the factional fighting sorted out. we're not going to conquer corruption. and one of the reasons why the factional fight lost to, to the extent that they have, and why corrupt people feel so comfortable in the n c. is that the leaders have had to effectively been exempt from their attention of the law enforcement agencies. and the fact that you know, one of the 2 most powerful leaders in the n c. one of the 2 my senior leaders in the sea has now been arrested and charged suggests that we might be approaching the point of no return between these 2 factions. and what is going to be interesting to see is how the a.n.c. reacts in the short term to the arrest and prosecution of, of,

of the secretary general. because they're bound by a resolution to he is bound by read his resolution of the end, see it their last conference to step down from his position. but i somehow don't see that happening without huge pressure from the other side. and i'm not sure that they will have the courage to do that. some of those will this case against a smuggler, surely benefit president obama pose? will it make it easier for him to impose his will on such a divided ruling party? not immediately, the 1st thing we can expect is a perfect english and also is very strong in the mid term conference next year. so it is in that way. what i would use at the same time was

a month that is not to indict feeling in any of the criminal investigations of court option. and that it doesn't really care whether it is a person from use faction or person from another faction is involved as long as corruption is being fought. it might just be that there faction is facing, might be weakened by the law and prosecutions rather than in the battle of politics within the a.n.c. . so david, there are those who say that this case has nothing to do with corruption, that it's purely politically driven. what do you say? absolute nonsense. you know, obviously obviously there are, there are protests possible motives for politically driving this case. although i really don't believe that that rahm opposes doing that. you know,

they could've charged with several corruption cases. quite frankly. i mean he was very involved in the infamous stina dairy case and he's. 'd how do i say this? he has been mentioned in corruption issues for a very long time in the free state government, which he headed for a very long time. the tory asli in a corrupt government. and it's often been said about the free said government is that nothing happened in the free state without without a smug, prior knowledge and consent. so i don't believe that it has any validity whatsoever. the notion that this is purely politically driven and there's nothing to do with corruption, i believe is no credibility whatsoever. so my daughter, you know,

this case stems from a smoker shoelace alleged role in a 15 $1000000.00 contract to find and remove as best as from homes in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the free state province. could you tell us more about how that played out? one of the there was money assigned for the removal of stores because of concerns and not all good businessmen who is politically connected and most of those were removed. and this businessman has also confirmed in this under commission into the state. he donated part of the money in seed sold, gave some individuals and frozen some of the money. so that is the ground to this

particular issue. but as was mentioned by my colleague, there are several other cases we might need to it from within the province of 3 states and across the country up front to speak. you, david, how much outrage is there in south africa amongst the public when it comes to these allegations of corruption and the corruption cases? i think there's considerable outrage, you know, al, all model is to ask the public to, to furnish us with reports of corruption which they are doing great numbers. and we have a lot of contact with communities as well with very oppressed communities, very disadvantaged communities. and the best thing that is how that has got going for it is that the public have not accepted that corruption is something that they can do. nothing about, you know, insert some countries that is indeed so,

but not in south africa. and it's what i say it's out best. our best hope for tackling corruption is the fact that there is cause to newt outrage, as was exhibited recently when, when fans meant to provide protective personal equipment for doctors and nurses and other hospital personnel was looted. and the public were outraged, you know, i would have thought by now they would have gotten used to it, but they're not. and, and, and long may that continue some of the that what is the public sentiment right now when it comes to this case against a smoker? surely, how are people reacting in the country? the general, more doing the country is that they do not care which folkson is affected,

which politician, these are folks that they want some consequence money each moment they want accountability, they want people involved in corruption to be taken to task, especially now that they've yellow face they call ups of state owned companies, the deficits that we have as well as the cases that is the raising and the imposition of further levies on people to pay. now they are making the connection that if they look the other way, or if they leave things to adjust, if you or n.g.o.s, then they are going to pay the price. they are beginning to see things in that fail over some of the stupid companies that they have not seen before. they're taken for granted. it is where you are beginning to see the rise of citizenship. which other ways we have not seen in a long walk. david, have there been other officials arrested or properties seized in relation to this,

especially those from movable contract that in the news because of the case against as my guest, surely. yes. i think somebody wrote of might know this more accurately, but i think that 6 or 7 people were arrested several weeks ago, including the, the business man who owns the firm that was meant to actually remove their space to this. and number of other government officials. i'm not certain where the property has been seized already, but i think that it has been i seem to recollect in the case of the businessman about 35 luxury cars where seized but speaking to correction, david i'm, i think it has, i think the acid seizure and freezing of assets has preceded already and in fact, ace mags surely will appear in court,

i think on the 19th of february with those others who have already been charged some of those by and large. how does the public feel when it comes to the judicial system in south africa? do they have faith in it? they either strong faith in the judicial system because when the legislature was failing to account or to hold political leaders like the previous president to account, they were able to are raised with all creation and shows some degree of independence and of cause. when the executive itself was involved, they have shown an amazing level of independence of cause. we should not take it out that there is still a corner for further transformation of the do show itself. because others are making claims that because it is not transformed,

it tends to look into the public sector court option. but look the other way when you have multiple billions, such as the one of stone of weeds is a private part of sion which is the one including the construction companies that seem to assume some money through collusion during the world cup. so that in itself is still an issue that is being raised, and at times it's been working weaponized and politicized. david, do you believe this case will bolster people's faith in the judicial system? i mean, will there be a sense that perhaps a corner has been turned here that this is maybe a big step forward? i think it will. i mean, it's not the judicial system or the judiciary's reputation that is at stake here, and that needs bolstering its the prosecutorial authority, which was notoriously corrupted under the xoom regime. and that's why i think this

is not likely to be any interference in this case because you know, truly the whole walk of the, of the zuma administration was the extent to which the independence of the, of,, than n.p.a. the national prosecuting authority was eliminated. and if it boasters, if this case bolsters the credibility of anyone, it will be that of the national prosecuting authority. but what the national prosecuting authority has to show is not only independence in prosecuting this case, but also competence it prosecuting this case. and under both their independence and they competency was massively eroded and they are the ones who truly stand to lose or gain reputation. by this case, not so much the judiciary, some of the president around oppose a promise to tackle corruption. he has an anti-corruption agenda,

has he been doing that? has he been following through on his promises and if so, has he been effective? well, i do think that there were signs of frustration from the public. seeing that the wheels were turning very slow. and he seemed to have justified you still of prostituting boarded up our city, all of the investigations and also dealing, frankly speaking with doing that, i mean of political deployments in some of these entities which are or is crucial in any successful, you know, crime intelligence as well, as the general administration of justice, david, let me ask you since he was elected, what kind of steps has president obama opposed to taken to sideline supporters of former president zuma?

well he certainly he certainly how design poff, you know, there are, you know, there are a range of policy measures that have been taken. you know, for example, the new, clear, the xoom is a desire to build a whole bunch of nuclear power plants in south africa has been taken off the agenda . and that has to be a very big payday for the wazoo man. and the, and the go up to it. but, you know, in tackling corruption, i think he's, he's parted company with zuma and he has his riled zoom that in appointing. a generally competent and oddest people to be there on the boards and in the executive suites of our state owned enterprises. to putting competent and

independent people in charge of the prosecuting authority and most of the important policing agency, he set up a special unit of the national prosecuting authority, who whose remit is, is focused on state capture cases emanating from the state capture area of the area of the xoom administration. so he's done, he's done a fair amount. you know, as i said, as i think i might have said earlier that he's been a far more impressive and resolute leader of the state. then he has been leader of, the a.n.c. and i think, you know, the simple reason for that is that i think the public supports him in great numbers, but in the, in the end see support it for him on the one hand and that magnus, surely. zuma faction, on the other hand, is very, very, equally divided. in fact,

it might even, the small majority may even risk with zoom. david, you know, how worried are officials now in south africa? i mean, do you believe that we're going to be seeing more corruption cases being brought against more officials going forward? yeah, you know, you know, it, you know, if the mug shoot izumo faction they call it's very easily, very early and succeed in doing what would be targeting a major opposition, namely the n.p.a. and the hawks who are the principal investigating body. then then we'll see, we'll see considerable conflict so much in august,

president rama post said that a.n.c. officials must take leave from their positions if they are charged with corruption and that they must resign if they are convicted. has that policy been applied at all thus far? it has been up for members who are in that region. yes. but so far, the national level with roman and cases it has never been up late. and it looks like now this even though we treat from it because they're saying their lawyers because of the legal challenges of police in some way, it during the year ational trial. and that in itself, we wouldn't expect these markets to lower the so good joe di genova, to step aside and years. so it might say that you will not step on site at this particular moment. so the sim to retreat from that except for those that have been

exercised on more locals. it has applied to people somewhat sort of lower on the, on the totem pole, who have been removed or persuaded to step out. but it has not applied to people of any seniority, whatsoever. there is that the moment a sitting a p.c. who was previously and assume that the minister of intelligence or state security has been charged with bribery while he was a parliamentarian and very serious bribery. and he remains in parliament and he's not, he's not nearly as big a deal as surely, although quite, you know, quite high profile and thoughtful. and if he can't be, if he can't be removed from his position, i can't see how they get to do to run up to make sure they're all right. we've run

out of times, we're going to have to leave it there. thanks so much to all our guests david lewis, and so my daughter for caney and thank you too for watching. you can see the program again any time by visiting our website, al-jazeera dot com. and for further discussion, go to our facebook page. that's facebook dot com, forward slash a.j. inside story. you can also join the conversation on twitter. our handle is at a.j. inside story from him, how much of rome and a whole team here. i found out the health of humanity is at stake. a global pandemic requires a global response. w.h.o. is the guardian of global health. delivering life saving tools, supplies, and training to help the world's most found people uniting across borders to speed up the development of test treatments and effects in working with scientists and

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headlines in the midst of a pandemic. let's start with some of the on the ground realities of fact in the news coverage. what's the lay of the land challenging assumptions and the official night vilifying post on out is the right. thousands. continue to flee, fighting it. ethiopia, an investigation is set to take place and a mass killings in the to great region. hello, i'm adrian for the get. this is al jazeera live from doha, also coming up ethnic armenians leave parts of the goto kind of back in droves. before it's handed over to as a bike shop. the rocket launches

a military operation of the western sahara. and to get near 30 year old cease fire whatever.