March 19 2005 at 01:41PM

The Rotterdam City Council has awarded President Thabo Mbeki with an Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Racism Award, the home affairs department said on Saturday.

The deputy minister of home affairs, Malusi Gigaba, would receive the award on his behalf at a ceremony in the Netherlands on Sunday.

Mbeki was the first recipient of the award, which is supposed to recognise "champions in the global campaign against racism", said departmental spokesperson Nkosana Sibuyi.

The ceremony forms part of a four-day meeting in Rotterdam marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

This day was declared by the United Nations National Assembly in 1966 following the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. - Sapa

March 21 2005 - In a lightning-fast reply to our inquiry from the City of Rotterdam's official Lucas Bolsius (email lmm.bolsius) today, it has now come to light that President Thabo Mbeki did NOT receive any anti-racism award from the City of Rotterdam as is being claimed by the President's office...

Mbeki did NOT get anti-racism award from City of Rotterdam -- instead local unelected, unofficial  'youth council' of school kids made unilateral ' decision ' during their local government studies... comment by Dutch/South African journalist Adriana Stuijt adrianastuijt  

It was widely -- and as it now turns out, incorrectly -- reported in the SA news media today that Mbeki had been granted such an award by the City of Rotterdam.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=6&art_id=qwB251

Lucas Bolsius of the City of Rotterdam writes us today: lmm.bolsius

"In a short reaction to your inquiry, I wish to advise that this (anti-racism) award was not granted by the City of Rotterdam. " This instead concerns an independent initiative of the (unelected, unofficial) youth council of our town - which had made this decision unilaterally." However, SA's controversial president Mbeki 's own office had not made any mention that the "award" had actually come from an unelected, unofficial little youth group which was studying local government - and youth councils are also all the vogue with the SA regime and they should thus have been completely informed as to the informal and experimental nature of such 'councils'. The office of the President instead claimed that the 'City of Rotterdam' had awarded Mbeki with the "anti-discrimination and anti-racism" award and that this was officially handed over in a formal ceremony to the President at his office by a Mbeki government official.It would in our view it would have been almost inconceivable that the elected city council of Rotterdam -- which also is one of the most liberal trading cities of the world -- would give this increasingly controversial African president such an award. It would reflect poorly on their international image.While the local children may not be as well-informed, the Rotterdam city council would undoubtedly have been fully aware of the fact that Mbeki himself is amassing an increasingly abysmal human rights record - shown in his public, ongoing support of loathsome dictators Mugabe and Aristide for instance, but more importantly, in his anti-Aids treatment policies.His regime's persistent denial of free Aids-blockers to millions of poor South African Aids victims is even being described as genocide by the internationally acclaimed, anti-Aids campaign group Treatment Action Campaign.  And Mbeki and his estimated 700-member ANC elite's lavish parties have also not escaped public scrutiny from abroad, and these events are described in detail in the Dutch news media especially when foreign-aid subjects are being debated... The question is: does Mbeki's office issues many other such false statements - and how frequently does the SA news media verify their accuracy? I am increasingly wondering how accurate South African news reports emanating from the presidency can really still can be -- and how much of this pap is just plain old Stalinist propaganda? 

Unverified Mbeki award story in Sa news media:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=6&art_id=qwB251 

Rotterdam human rights organisations' anti-discrimination day festivities including youth council activities:
http://www.united.non-profit.nl/pages/act05arw.htm

March 21 2005 - In a lightning-fast reply to our inquiry from the City of Rotterdam's official Lucas Bolsius (email lmm.bolsius) today, it has now come to light that President Thabo Mbeki did NOT receive any anti-racism award from the City of Rotterdam as is being claimed by the President's office...