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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
WEDNESDAY 6 JANUARY 1999
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
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@ DRCONGO-LOOT By Joseph Gouala
BRAZZAVILLE January 5 1998 Sapa-AFP
CONGOLESE CROWD MILITIA STALLS TO SNAP UP LOOTED GOODS
Members of the Congolese president's private army are doing
lucrative business selling looted property at a bootleg market they
have set up for the purpose in northern Brazzaville.
The men of President Denis Sassou Nguesso's "Cobra" militia
apparently felt they had nothing to fear, despite a stern warning
delivered by the president last week to looters.
A dizzying array of goods, including household appliances,
clothing, building materials and hi-fi equipment, were displayed on
the "stalls" on Saturday at the so-called "Kuwait" market in the
northern district of Ouenze.
The militiamen, in uniform and with their kalashnikov rifles
slung over their shoulders, were hard pressed to cope with the
thousands of people eager to snap up bargains at rock-bottom
prices.
Most of the "stalls" were manned by Cobras but Angolan
soldiers, identifiable from their uniforms, were also in evidence.
The Angolans mainly specialise in selling tinned foods and lengths
of cloth.
The Cobras mostly sell property stolen in the southern
districts of Bacongo and Makelekele during looting which followed
shelling and "mopping up operations" carried out between December
18 and 20 by the army against the "Ninja" militia of former prime
minister Bernard Kolelas.
The "Kuwait" market was set up 1997 by the Cobras, at that time
to sell off goods looted during the civil war which brought Sassou
Nguesso, the country's long-time military ruler, back to power.
Prices are very cheap and there is no lack of customers despite the
illicit nature of the sales.
"I have just bought a tin of peas from the Angolans for 500 CFA
francs (one dollar) whereas normally it would have cost me 2,000
CFA francs (4.0 dollars), a woman who gave her name as Adelaide
said.
On the fringe of the market were parked military vehicles or
vehicles "requisitioned" by the Cobras who were busy unloading
fresh supplies of goods looted in the Bacongo and Makelekele areas.
The southern parts of the Congolese capital are still
officially sealed off by the army but the roadblocks have begun
allowing some traffic through over the past few days.
Amid a deafening cacophony, scores of buyers were bargaining
for household appliances. "I came here to buy a deep freezer but I
can't even get near the vendor, there are too many people," said
Jean-Jacques, who works for the national electricity authority.
Not far from there, a 15-year old boy was offering forks and
spoons for sale. "It is my elder brother who asked me to sell the
things he had looted in Bacongo," said the boy called Bonaventure.
In another part of the market, a group of Cobras was selling
sheets of corrugated iron torn off roofs from houses in Makelekele.
Sitting on a dilapidated taxi, Jean-Paul, another Cobra, said
he was pleased to have made the most of the recent unrest. "We took
what we could down there because the southern districts were not
looted in 1997," he explained.
Cobras and clients appeared determined to ignore last
Thursday's New Year speech by Sassou Nguesso who ordered police and
security forces to recover property looted in Bacongo and
Makelekele and return it to the rightful owners.
The president also announced measures to restructure army,
police and para-military police forces to create a "genuinely
republican force... untainted by the culture of looting".
@ FEATURE-AIDS-MALAWI
LILONGWE, Malawi January 5 1998 Sapa-IPS
AIDS A MAJOR CHALLENGE TO DEVELOEPMENT IN MALAWI
The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the most
critical challenge to Malawi's development with at least 25 percent
of the urban workforce likely to die from the disease in the next
10 years, according to a new study.
Conducted by the Malawi government and the World Bank, the new
AIDS assessment study says the hardest hit sectors include
education and health, where the annual personnel death rate is now
three percent, six times higher than the predicted 0.5 percent.
Malawi, with a population of 12 million people, reported its
first AIDS case in 1985. By the end of 1997, nearly one million
Malawians had tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV), which causes AIDS.
According to the National AIDS Control Programme, two million
Malawians will test HIV-Positive by the year 2010.
The new assessment study says that Malawi's average life
expectancy, which was predicted to rise to 57 years in 2010, will
now drop to 44 years.
"The epidemic has now reached crisis proportions," says
Health Minister Harry Thomson. "Productivity and growth of the
labour force will fall, while health expenditure will increase".
The estimated financial cost of caring for AIDS patients until
they die is estimated between 200-900 US dollars, almost four times
the country's per capital income, and much higher than the per
capital health budget.
Health Minister Thomson says in the next 10 years, 70,000
children will be orphaned annually, while the annual number of
people with full-blown AIDS will reach 100,000. "The unfortunate
part is that the most affected young Malawian adults happen to be
the ones upon whom the development of this country depends," he
says.
The challenge of AIDS prevention in Malawi is to move beyond
awareness to behavioural change. Although Malawians begin sexual
activity at an early age, overall condom use, for example, remains
low.
In a 1996 survey by the country's Ministry of Economic Planning
and Development, only six percent of men and three percent of women
reported condom use for their most recent sexual encounter.
During the same survey, only 22 percent of women aged 15-19 and
37 percent of those aged 30-34 who had heard of AIDS knew at least
two ways of avoiding HIV transmission.
Malawi also only imports 18.7 million condoms annually, far
below that of other Southern African countries like Zimbabwe which
imports about 65 million condoms annually for public sector
distribution alone.
At a Consultative Group meeting in Lilongwe last month, donors
asked Malawi to incorporate the dimension of HIV/AIDS in all of its
development programmes.
"The urgency of the AIDS situation calls for greatly
strengthened political leadership and increased investment in
behaviour change interventions," said Barbara Kafka, World Bank
Country Director for Malawi.
Kafka added that the National AIDS secretariat, now under the
Ministry of Health, lacks an adequate operating budget and staff,
and might be better placed outside any particular ministry "so as
to better catalyse responses in all sectors, not only health".
The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is
helping Malawi to develop a five-year (1999-2004) National
Strategic Plan that will guide planning and implementation of
HIV/AIDS activities.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident
coordinator Terence Jones says the plan should be used to build
momentum and the context in which leaders at community, regional
and national level can discuss HIV prevention and mitigation of
impact.
"Unless these partnerships - the political support, the
funding, the goods and services, and the people - in other words
the resources, are adequately mobilised, our initiatives to stem
the epidemic will be hindered," Jones adds.
@ CHINA-ANGOLA
BEIJING, Jan 5, Sapa-AFP
CHINA CONDEMNS DOWNING OF UN PLANES IN ANGOLA
China on Tuesday condemned the downing of two UN aircraft in a
rebel stronghold Angola, which were believed to have left no
survivors.
"The Chinese government condemns the act of attacking (the
aircraft) of the UN observer team in Angola and expresses sympathy
to the relatives of the victims," foreign mininistry spokesman Zhu
Bangzao said.
Zhu told a bi-weekly news briefing that China called on
concerned parties to take measures to safeguard UN staff and
cooperate in investigation work.
The two UN aircraft reportedly were shot down last week after
taking off from central Huambo.
A total 14 people were on board the first C-130 transport
plane, which crashed just after takeoff on December 26, while eight
people were on the second flight, also a C-130, which came down on
Saturday.
Both flights were chartered by the UN peacekeeping mission in
Angola, and the passengers were either UN peacekeepers or local
employees with the mission.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard quoted witnesses as saying they
doubted there were any survivors.
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution
condemning the lack of effective action in determining the fate of
the passengers and crew of the doomed UN flights.
@ NAMIBIA-ZIM
WINDHOEK January 5 1998 Sapa-AFP
DR CONGO ALLIES MUGABE AND NUJOMA TO MEET IN NAMIBIA
Namibian President Sam Nujoma was due to interrupt his summer
holidays for a meeting with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on
Tuesday, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Mugabe was expected to fly into the Namibian west coast town of
Walvis Bay later Tuesday, and travel to the remote Skeleton Coast
resort of Terrace Bay where Nujoma is holidaying, the state radio
said.
Mugabe is expected to return to Harare later Tuesday.
Namibian and Zimbabwean troops are backing government forces
loyal to President Laurent Kabila against a Tutsi-led rebellion in
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Fighting is reported to have intensified in recent days, with
both countries' troops involved in a major government offensive in
the eastern DRC.
The rebels, backed by Rwanda and Uganda, have been been
fighting the Kinshasa regime since last August in a conflict that
has drawn in Angola and Chad on the government side, as well as
Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob insisted that Namibia was
"fighting for peace" in the region, The Namibian daily reported
Monday.
Speaking to municipal officials in the coastal town of
Swakopmund, Geingob said Namibia was concerned about the
possibility of future threats from the rebel UNITA movement in
neighbouring Angola, strengthened by DRC rebel support.
He also intimated that the ready availability of weapons in
Angola and DRC was fuelling the secessionist movement in Namibia's
Caprivi Strip.
The knock-on effect of an unchecked conflict in the DRC was a
lot more serious for Namibia than most people cared to think, the
newspaper cited Geingob as saying.
Geingob said Namibia was fighting also for reasons of "self
interest", according to the paper.
"Congo is a rich country. We would like to see future
cooperation. We are preparing international trade links in Africa,
because at the moment, inter-African trade is nearly zero," he
said.
@ LABOUR-AMPLATS
JOHANNESBURG January 5 1998 Sapa
STRIKING AMPLATS WORKERS EXPECTED BACK ON WEDNESDAY
The 8000 National Union of Mineworkers members on strike at
Anglo American Platinum Corporation's operations in the North West
and Northern provinces for the past two weeks were expected back at
work on Wednesday, Amplats said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Steve Calladine said the wage dispute between the
company and the NUM had been resolved, culminating in the agreement
signd between Amplats and the NUM on Monday night.
He said the NUM would spend most of Tuesday reporting back to
its members on the agreement and advising its members to go back to
work.
Neither Calladine nor the union would disclose the contents of
the agreement - with the NUM saying it would do so only after
consulting its membership.
Following Monday's talks between management and the union,
private mediator John Brand said the parties believed the agreement
met their respective needs and interests and would ensure
industrial peace and productivity.
The dispute has centred on the date for an eight percent
increase that management offered workers. Amplats wanted that to be
January 1 this year while NUM demanded that it be backdated to July
last year.
@ EDUC-WCAPE
CAPE TOWN January 5 1998 Sapa
WESTERN CAPE MATRICS IMPROVE ON 1997
Western Cape matriculants achieved a pass rate of 79,2 percent
last year, up 2,9 percent from 1997, the provincial education
department announced in Cape Town on Tuesday.
The Western Cape leads provinces that have announced their
results so far. Kwazulu-Natal will release results on Wednesday.
Students there achieved a pass rate of 54 percent in 1997 and
Western Cape matriculants are expected to finish top of the class.
@ ZIM-SA
HARARE, JAN 5, SAPA-AFP
SA DEFENDS ROLE IN DR CONGO PEACE PROCESS
South Africa on Tuesday defended its role in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) peace process and rejected suggestions that
it was trying to slow it down.
Zimbabwe's government-controlled Herald newspaper last week
accused South Africa of causing the postponement of a regional
summit planned for Lusaka in December by insisting that DRC rebel
leaders should be included in any negotiations.
South Africa's High Commission said in a letter to the Herald
that Pretoria does indeed believe the rebels should take part in
ceasefire talks if there is to be any chance of ending the
conflict.
But, the letter said, South Africa remains totally committed to
assisting all international efforts aimed at bringing about peace.
The crux of the dispute is that Zimbabwe backs DRC President
Laurent Kabila's line that the rebellion is simply a creation of
Uganda and Rwanda and that it therefore does not deserve a place at
the negotiating table.
South Africa, on the other hand, says no ceasefire can succeed
if the rebels are excluded.
"Since the outbreak of the conflict in the DRC in August 1998,
the South African government has taken a consistent and clear
position, based on its belief that only all-inclusive negotiations
involving all parties to the conflict can ensure lasting peace in
the DRC," the letter said.
It points out that "due to President Kabila's refusal to
negotiate directly with rebel forces", peace talks have in the past
"necessitated separate discussions with representatives of these
forces.
"The South African government maintains that there is clearly
both an external and an internal dimension to the conflict. In its
opinion the rebel forces are an important element which cannot be
excluded from a ceasefire if an end to the hostilities is to be
ensured."
The letter denied the Herald's accusations that this amounted
to "elevating rebels to heads of state" or "undermining the
sovereignty of the DRC government."
It said South Africa remained convinced that the outcome of the
Pretoria summit of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) on August 23 provided the framework for a negotiated
solution to the conflict.
That summit called for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of all
foreign forces and "negotiations among all inhabitants of the DRC
aimed at reestablishing a democratic government in the country,"
the letter said.
The conflict in the DRC has caused tension between Zimbabwe and
South Africa since it first erupted in early August last year.
Zimbabwe has sent thousands of troops to the DRC in support of
Kabila - a move initally opposed by South African President Nelson
Mandela but later accepted as a legitimate operation under the
auspices of SADC.
@ BRITAIN-MUGABE
HARARE, Jan 5, Sapa-AFP
ZIMBABWE'S MUGABE HITS BACK AT BRITAIN OVER CRITICISM
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has hit back at Britain
after receiving a cold reception during a recent visit to London,
where some newspapers described him as a tyrant and suggested he
should be arrested for human rights abuses.
Mgabe was quoted by government-controlled media Tuesday as
saying that the British were at the forefront of human rights
abuses in Zimbabwe during a century of colonialism - when the
country was called Rhodesia - but were now masquerading as
champions of democracy.
"Goodness me," said Mugabe. "What do the British actually think
they are doing - building good relations between ourselves or
destroying them?"
He said Britain had "oppressed us for a whole century. We were
put in prison. Others were killed, and it was all in the name of
British colonialism."
The Herald newspaper said that during his tour of Europe in
December, Mugabe was "well received in France and Italy.
"But when the presidential entourage passed through London,
newspapers there called Comrade Mugabe all sorts of names including
'tyrant, dictator, despot and even Pinochet', among others."
Some British papers had suggested that Mugabe should be
arrested in the same way as former Chilean dictator Augusto
Pinochet, who was detained during a visit to Britain in October.
Mugabe said there were no longer detention camps in Zimbabwe,
as there were during white-minority rule, which ended in 1980 after
a bloody guerrilla war.
He pointed out that even former prime Minister Ian Smith, who
led the whites in that war, remained free and was protected by the
laws of the country.
Referring to Zimbabwe's land reform programme - one of the
issues which has caused friction between the two countries recently
- Mugabe said he was determined to go ahead with plans to take
land
from whites to give to blacks.
"Those British lords who have their 'Little Englands' and are
absentee landlords will lose their 'Little Englands'," he said.
@ MALAWI-CORRUPTION
BLANTYRE January 5 1998 Sapa-AFP
ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR SACKED MALAWIAN MINISTER
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a sacked Malawian
cabinet minister, Abdul Pillane, allegedly embroiled in a
corruption scandal, the opposition Daily Times reported Tuesday.
The paper said Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau had outlined
Pillane's corrupt practices in a charge sheet handed to the
country's director of public prosecution.
Kamudoni Nyasulu, the public prosecution director, said he
would begin proceedings concerning Pillane soon after the
Anti-Corruption Bureau finished its investigations.
It could not be immediately established when the warrant for
the former works and supplies minister was issued.
According to the newspaper, Pillane, who was fired on Saturday
by President Bakili Muluzi to pave the way for investigations into
his conduct, allegedly awarded government contracts to dubious
contractors and received unspecified amounts as kick-backs.
Muluzi himself gave no reason for firing Pillane.
He is the first cabinet minister to be fired and investigated
by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, set up by Muluzi in 1994 to rid the
impoverished southern frican nation of rampant corruption.
@ SWAZI-PROJECTS
MBABANE January 5 1998 Sapa
SWAZI GOVERNMENT COMMITS R50 MILLION FOR RURAL MICRO-PROJECTS
The Swaziland government has set aside R50 million for hundreds
of micro projects in rural areas in 1999.
The European Union allocated the funds to the government. The
projects will go to roads, water, clinics, school classrooms or
teachers' houses, at the request of local communities.
Communities must provide the labour and undertake to sustain
the projects once they are completed.
Under a separate programme, the EU is also funding the building
and upgrading of several dams in drought-prone areas of the eastern
and southern Lowveld.
@ MOZ-SA
KOMATIPOORT January 5 1998 Sapa
RECORD NUMBERS FLOCK TO MOZAMBIQUE
Almost 250,000 people entered Mozambique at the Lebombo border
post near Komatipoort last month, African Eye News Service reported
on Tuesday.
Regional director of Home Affairs in Mpumalanga Thabo Khunyeli
said a record number of 249936 people crossed the border in
December - over 50,000 people more than in December 1997.
Khunyeli said many African tourists were attracted by
Mozambique's beaches, but a large number of the border crossers
were illegal Mozambican immigrants returning home for the holidays.
Border police spokesman Captain Hansie Wessels said no
incidents were reported at the border despite massive queues - of
up to four kilometres - during peak days.
Wessels confirmed no more tourists were turned back by
Mozambican border authorities in the last two weeks of December
after 100 South Africans were found holding fake visas at the start
of the holidays. The tourists had apparently bought the fake visas
and visa stamps at the Mozambican consulate in Johannesburg.
A total of 54618 visitors entered Swaziland at the Jeppes Reef
border post in December - 10061 fewer than in December 1997.
Northern Province border officials said 180287 travellers
crossed into Zimbabwe at the Beit Bridge border post last month.
@ DRCONGO-UN-REFUGEES
GENEVA, Jan 5, Sapa-AFP
FIGHTING IN DRCONGO SPARKS NEW REFUGEE EXODUS
Continued fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo has
sparked a new exodus of refugees to neighbouring countries, the UN
High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday.
Since Saturday, some 5,000 "terrified" Congolese refugees have
fled Zongo in northwestern DRC and entered the Central African
Republic (CAR), UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said.
"The refugees said they fled after gunfire erupted in and
around the town of Zongo and they feared it was about to fall in
rebel hands," he said.
Kinshasa has used the CAR capital Bangui, across the river from
Zongo, as a stepping stone to reinforce its forces inside the DRC
in its ongoing conflict with the rebels, who are supported by
Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.
"UNHCR staff in Bangui could clearly hear the sound of gunfire
coming from the other side of the river," Janowski said.
In Uganda, there have been almost 3,000 new arrivals, mainly of
women and children, according to the UNHCR.
In the last few months, some 18,000 Congolese refugees have
poured into Tanzania, 6,000 into CAR and about the same number to
Uganda due to the fighting between rebels and government troops,
which are backed by Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Chad.
@ MAFIKENG-DEFECT
MAFIKENG January 5 1998 Sapa
ANC MAFIKENG MAYOR SHIFTS TO PAC
The African National Congress mayor of Mafikeng, Calvin
Shuping, on Tuesday said he had left the ANC to join the Pan
Africanist Congress.
"The ANC... has lost direction. It has lost touch with the
grassroots and completely neglected the very people who put it in
power," he said.
"They, the ANC, do not practise what they preach. The ANC does
not represent the aspirations of the African people."
He accused the party of failing to fight crime, corruption,
poverty, civil anarchy, landlessness and socio-economic inequality.
Nepotism and corruption in the North West province had caused
disillusionment in ANC local branches.
He said most ANC leaders were more concerned with personal gain
than national development, and this had caused the withdrawal of
many businesses from Mafikeng.
"This is no longer a home for my politics and I therefore quit
for a political home where I can make a contribution for African
people - the real disadvantaged and still suffering masses of our
communities."
The PAC's policies and programmes were aimed at the development
of the lowest economic strata, and were relevant to the aspirations
of the majority of South Africans, he said.
@ EDUC-NPROV
JOHANNESBURG January 5 1998 Sapa
35 PERCENT MATRIC PASS RATE REPORTED IN NORTHERN PROVINCE
Just 35 percent of Northern Province pupils who wrote matric
last year passed, Network Radio News reported on Tuesday.
The full list of the province's matric results will be
published in Wednesday's newspapers.
Despite the poor pass rate, four students got seven
distinctions each.
They are Thea Roeland of Pietersburg High, who is the
province's top matriculant, Johannes Serfontein of Ellisras, Wilma
Minnaar of Tzaneen and Joseph Febin of Phalaborwa.
Mbilwi Secondary School in Thohoyandou was the province's top
school - all of its matric pupils passed.
@ ANGOLA-UN
LUANDA Dec 5 Sapa-AFP
UN ENVOY HOLDS TALKS WITH ANGOLAN GOVT OVER OBSERVER MISSION
UN Security Coordinator Benon Sevan held talks Tuesday with
Angolan government officials in a bid to set up a rescue mission to
the crash sites of two UN-chartered planes allegedly shot down by
UNITA rebels.
Civil war has resumed in the southern African country, with
heavy fighting under way Tuesday on the central plateau and in
other regions, but Sevan told the press he sought a ceasefire,
notably close to the central city of Huambo where the two planes
went down.
The two Hercules C-130s chartered by the UN Observer Mission in
Angola (MONUA) were shot down, according to the government, on
December 26 and last Saturday near Huambo, some 600 kilometers (350
miles) southeast of Luanda.
The deputy minister for territorial administration, General
Higino Carneiro, on Tuesday said after meeting Sevan that the
regular army was unable to lay down its arms in the Huambo region.
"It's a combat zone," he told journalists. "I don't see how we
can cease fire."
The area has seen heavy fighting between government forces and
rebels of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola
(UNITA) who have remained loyal to traditional leader Jonas
Savimbi.
The Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) are attempting to seize control
of areas that the rebels should have handed over to the central
administration under peace accords signed in Lusaka in November
1994.
The army accused UNITA of shooting down the UN planes, but the
rebel movement has denied the charges.
Sevan, a UN under-secretary-general, met early Tuesday with
Minister of Territorial Administration Faustino Muteka and with
Carneiro and said that the talks were "good."
He added that the United Nations would pursue efforts to reach
the planes, stating that "we want to see with our own eyes."
The FAA has said the 14 people aboard the first plane - 10 UN
employees and four crew members - are alive and being held by the
rebels in their central strongholds of Andulo and Bailundo.
The fate of the eight who were aboard the second aircraft,
including four UN employees, was unknown.
The UN Security Council on Monday demanded that UNITA cooperate
"immediately and fully" in the search for possible survivors, along
with the Luanda government.
Luanda has already given security guarantees for a UN mission
to the zone, while the rebels have made no such gesture, on Monday
categorically denying any responsibility for the loss of the two
planes.
Observers said Sevan would have difficulty making contact with
the rebels, with whom the government broke off all dialogue in
early September.
Luanda recently refused to allow UN special envoy Issa Diallo
to go to rebel territory to renew contact with them.
Sevan also met Tuesday with Deputy Foreign Minister Sebastio
Isato and was to see members of the "troika" of observers of the
Angolan peace process - the former colonial power Portugal, plus
Russia and the United States.
A meeting is also planned Tuesday between Sevan and
representatives of humanitarian organisations working in Angola and
Defense Minister General Pedro Sebastio, MONUA officials said.
On Wednesday, Sevan is to have talks with the ambassadors of
Britain, France, Germany, China and Nigeria, they added.
It was unknown how long the UN official would stay, but
following his visit he is to report to UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan on the security situation for UN personnel and the future of
the UN observer mission here.
Senior UN official Hedi Annabi told the Security Council on
Monday that Sevan was greeted on his arrival in Luanda by
demonstrators saying "MONUA go home."
At least one delegation suggested during the closed-door
briefing of the Security Council that the 1,000-strong peacekeeping
mission should be withdrawn from Angola because of the renewed
hostilities, diplomats said.
@ ANGOLA-FIGHTING
LUANDA January 5 1998 Sapa-AFP
WIDESPREAD FIGHTING REPORTED BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND UNITA
Angolan government troops and UNITA rebels fought heavily on
Tuesday around the towns of Bie and Huambo in central Angola and in
northern Malanje, military and independent sources said.
A government official ruled out a ceasefire in the center,
though the Luanda authorities have given agreement in principle for
a UN mission to search for possible survivors from two cargo planes
downed near Huambo, allegedly by UNITA.
Rebels from the National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola (UNITA) on Tuesday shelled Malanje for several hours,
sources said.
In the city, which is located 380 kilometers (240 miles) east
of Luanda, bodies lay in the streets and a new wave of injured
people were treated at the local hospital, an independent source
there told AFP.
Its 400,000 residents, which include some 200,000 who fled
fighting in nearby villages, already came under rebel shelling that
killed some 10 people and injured as many, according to state press
reports Monday.
UNITA targeted the city's main access points, including
neighborhoods where many administrative buildings are located.
This led military experts here to believe the rebels may
surround the city, as they did to Kuito, central Angola, from
December 9 to January 1.
In central Angola, fighting was reported in sectors south and
east of Huambo, 600 kilometers (375 miles) from the capital.
The most intense combats took place near Vila Nova, known
locally as Tchikala-Tchilohanga, which the FAA retook from UNITA
less than a week ago.
The fighting, some 45 kilometers (30 miles) from Huambo, blocks
UN search and rescue teams from locating UN personnel and crew
members from the two chartered C-130 cargo planes that went down on
December 26 and January 2.
An Angolan deputy interior minister, General Higino Carneiro,
told the press the armed forces were not prepared to cease fighting
in Vila Nova.
"It's a zone of operations. I don't see how we can stop
fighting," he said.
In Bie, 700 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of Luanda, the
army said it had launched a full offensive in sectors near Kuito,
the provincial capital.
It claimed 15 rebels were killed Monday in Kakama, north of
Kuito, and said it had captured weapons and radio equipment.
The army also said it was in control of Cunhinga, Chitembo, and
Chinguar, which lie around Kuito.
Angola is in the midst of a new civil war since mid November,
when the AAF began an offensive against UNITA rebels, who it says
paralyzed a peace process begun November 20, 1994 with the Treaty
of Lusaka.
@ BLAIR-SA
PRETORIA January 5 1998 Sapa
LOCKERBIE AMONG ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED BY SA/BRITAIN
The 1988 bombing of an airliner over Lockerbie in Scotland,
trade, cultural ties, and defence matters will be some of the
issues to be discussed this week during the visit to South Africa
of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad told reporters in
Pretoria it was of great importance that the impasse on the
Lockerbie bombing be resolved as it was creating a climate
conducive to further terrorist acts.
A bomb exploded aboard a United States-bound Boeing 747 over
the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, killing 270
people including 11 on the ground.
Pahad said South Africa welcomed a recent agreement by Britain
and the US to hold the trial of the Libyan bombing suspects in The
Netherlands.
However, a number of issues remained outstanding.
"We hope to get a briefing by the Prime Minister on what they
perceive to be more outstanding problems so that we can, if
necessary, discuss this with the Libyan government.
"We will convey to them what the Libyans see as obstacles and I
am sure we will discuss what the British government sees as
obstacles to having the trial started."
Pahad said everything possible should be done to ensure that
the suspects were delivered to The Netherlands for trial as soon as
possible.
Essop Pahad, deputy minister in the office of Deputy President
Thabo Mbeki, said the UK/South Africa bilateral forum meeting, due
to take place on Thursday, would serve to strengthen ties between
the two countries.
An important aspect of the meeting would be the signing of a
declaration of intent on industrial co-operation, he said.
Other matters on the agenda included European Union/South
African trade negotiations, and the Commonwealth conference due to
take place in November this year.
He announced that Britain's Queen Elizabeth would attend the
conference and pay an official state visit to South Africa at the
same time.
Pahad said Britain was South Africa's largest investor, and
welcomed an announcement by Blair that Britain would invest R40
billion in the country.
Negotiations were still underway between Britain and South
Africa's ministries of trade and industry, defence and finance on
how the money would be invested.
The two countries were also expected to discuss the recent US
and UK bombings of Iraq.
Aziz Pahad said South Africa supported a United Nations
resolution that Iraq dismantle its weapons of mass destruction, but
disagreed with the bombings.
"Our own information convinces us that the bombing does not
solve the problem and does not serve the objectives of destruction
of the Iraqi weapons of destruction, and neither does it serve the
stated objective of removing Saddam (Hussein)."
The conflicts in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo
were also on the agenda.
Pahad said South Africa would brief Blair on African efforts to
end the conflicts and seek international support for the
continent's initiatives.
"We will seek to see how we can work bilaterally and through
multilateral structures. We hope that this discussion will enable
us to exchange ideas on what we can do to help stop the tragedy
from going any further."
Essop Pahad said there was no real concern for Blair's safety
following threats from two Muslim groups that he would be hounded
everywhere he went during his visit to Cape Town.
"We are quite happy that our security agencies are quite
capable to deal with the matter," he said.
@ KENYA-CHINA
NAIROBI, Jan 5, Sapa-AFP
CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT KENYA, SIGN GRANT AGREEMENT
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan will sign a five million
yuan (600,000 dollar) grant to Kenya during a visit to this east
African nation on Wednesday and Thursday, the Kenyan foreign
ministry announced Tuesday.
Tang will hold talks with his Kenyan counterpart, Bonaya
Godana, and will pay a courtesy call on President Daniel arap Moi
at the state house in Nakuru, 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of
Nairobi.
The Chinese embassy here says that Beijing's aid is never
attached with conditions.
"China will spare no effort to support brotherly African
countries, including Kenya, on their road to economic independence
as we did previously in Africa's political independence," the
embassy said in a briefing paper on the visit.
Trade between the two countries is expanding rapidly, the
embassy said, standing at 133 million dollars in 1997 compared with
69 million dollars in 1994.
China has provided economic assistance to Kenya totalling more
than 471 million yuan (at 57 million dollars), and more than 20
major Chinese companies have branches in Kenya, working on 90
contracts, the embassy said.
Moi visited China in 1980, 1988 and 1994, and President Jiang
Zemin visited Kenya in 1996.
The Chinese foreign minister is also visiting Egypt, Uganda,
Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the official China Daily reported Monday.
It is Tang's second African mission after calling on five West
African nations in June soon after his appointment.
Tang was following the lead of his predecessors in choosing
Africa for his first foreign visit of the year, the daily said.
"China will not neglect its ties with Africa while it improves
its relations with world powers," said Liu Guijin, the head of the
African division of the foriegn affairs department.
The visit would give "new impetus" to the development of
Sino-African relations and bilateral cooperation, he said.
Sino-African trade was worth around five billion dollars in the
first 11 months of last year, according to official figures.
After leaving Africa, Tang will make an official visit to Paris
on January 15 and 16.
Africa has emerged as one of the major battlefields in the
incessant tug-of-war between Taiwan and China since their
separation in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
Twenty-seven countries recognize Taiwan which Beijing regards
as a breakaway province.
@ DP AND NP TEAR INTO TEACHERS
BISHO (ECN) - New National Party (NNP) chief whip Billy Nel
yesterday lashed out at teachers at former black
schools in the Eastern Cape which recorded shocking results and said
they should be fired immediately. Nel was reacting to the
preliminary Eastern Cape matric results which showed that some black
schools scored a zero pass rate -- while former white schools fared
well. At least 14 formerly black high schools throughout the
province produced no successful candidates, and dozens had pass
rates as low as eight percent. Frustrated education officials and
teacher unions blamed the lack of resources, poor study skills and
inadequate preparation by teachers and their pupils. But Nel said
that although the lack of resources could be one of the reasons, it
was not "the main reason for the bad performance".
Nel said the main reason was poor teacher discipline. "It's got
to do with how effectively the teachers teach." "It's now time for
the Education Department to get rid of useless teachers in the
system. We've been promised that there would be a performance audit
on teachers and schools. The exam result is a true result of how
good or bad the teaching institution is." Nel said there were too
many teachers in previously disadvantaged areas who should not be
teachers. "The Department of Education has a responsibility to get
rid of the teachers who do not perform.
They should be fired immediately." Provincial DP leader Eddie
Trent said the explanation for the reported "non-performance" could
be found in the "serious lack of political administrative and
education leadership that has become the hallmark of the Eastern
Cape Education Department". Trent said the problem went far deeper
than under-budgeting, lack of resources and well-known historical
backlogs. He said other provinces such as Mpumalanga inherited a
similar situation, but had shown remarkable improvement. "Bearing in
mind that the Eastern Cape has a relatively favorable
educator-learner ratio and that our education budget was increased
by almost R1bn last year, it is unbelievable that some black schools
have shown a marked deterioration in their results." Trent said the
fact that the department had three different MECs and four permanent
secretaries during the past four and a half years had helped to
disrupted the system.
"This has resulted in unstable political and top management,
unable to give consistent direction and strong leadership." Trent
said the lack of educational leadership and discipline at school
level had also resulted in a "disgraceful waste" of available
resources. He said: "Poor levels of assistance and administrative
backup to schools, from some regional and district offices have been
allowed to persist without any attempt to enforce accountability."
He said the Education Department also "displayed total disregard for
financial control". "Unless, and until the department attends to
basics, we can never expect acceptable matriculation results." - ECN
Tues 05/01/98
@ MOZ-ILLEGAL
MAPUTO January 5 1998 Sapa-AFP
SOUTH AFRICA DEPORTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS INTO MOZAMBIQUE
Mozambique on Tuesday accused neighbouring South Africa of
regularly dumping any illegal African immigrants into their
country.
"The South Africans continue to deport into our country
individuals of various African nationalities," Simao Jonasse,
police commander in the border town of Ressano Garcia, charged.
Jonasse said hundreds of deportees, including Mozambicans, are
sent to Mozambique in large groups by train on a weekly basis
together with their Mozambican counterparts.
Many of the deportees show signs of serious physical
aggression, the officer said.
The police officer said many are picked up from South African
streets, workplaces, mainly white-run farms and shops and are not
given time to collect their belongings.
Analysts are of the opinion that illegal immigrants picked up
by police in South Africa claim to come from Mozambique from where
they can easily cross back after deportation.
@ MATRIC-NP
JOHANNESBURG January 5 1998 Sapa
MATRIC RESULT IMPROVEMENT CAUSE FOR SCEPTISM: NNP
The New National Party on Tuesday suggested that the
improvement in this year's matric results was the result of
politically motivated manipulation.
NNP education spokeswoman Tertia King said the improvement
recorded in all five provinces in which results were known was
cause for scepticism.
"There is a growing perception that the results have been
manipulated in view of the upcoming election, particularly when one
recalls the crisis with the textbooks and reports of low morale
among teachers during the past year."
King said the results in Mpumalanga were particularly
surprising.
"The improvement of 21 percent is simply too dramatic to be
legitimate. Even the statistics do not tally. This province's
results were second lowest last year."
King said the Department of Education owed South Africa an
explanation as to how the province made such a dramatic improvement
in one year.
"Education standards should under no circumstances be
manipulated to serve the political interests of one party. The
future of our youth and our country is far too precious to allow
this to happen."
@ CRIME-FESTIVE
MIDDELBURG January 5 1998 Sapa
1644 SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN MPUMALANGA OVER FESTIVE SEASON
Police in Mpumalanga arrested 1644 suspects and confiscated 121
stolen vehicles worth more than R3,6 million during the festive
season, African Eye News Service reported on Tuesday.
Provincial police commissioner Moses Khanyile and provincial
army commanding officer Major-General Derrick Mgwebi said in a
joint statement the arrests were made during combined anti-crime
operations in the province's border regions.
At least 57 of the stolen vehicles were recovered on
Mpumalanga's borders with Swaziland and Mozambique. The rest were
recovered while being smuggled to the borders.
Police and army roadblocks also recovered 71 illegal firearms
during December. Forty-two taxi drivers were fined for driving
without valid permits. Seventy dagga plants were destroyed.
@ BLAST-PAGAD
CAPE TOWN January 5 1998 Sapa
PAGAD DEMONIZED BY POLICE: PARKER
The police were conducting a smear campaign against People
Against Gangsterism and Drugs and its members, and were demonising
the organisation because they feared its political potential, Pagad
chief co-ordinator Abdus Salaam Ebrahim said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a media conference in Crawford, Ebrahim said Pagad
would not stand as a political party in the forthcoming election,
but its voter potential could be something to be reckoned with in
the future.
He denied Pagad involvement in any of the bombings on the Cape
Flats and the Waterfront, and said it was Pagad's aim to put
maximum pressure on the state and the police to act decisively
against crime, drugs and violence.
Pagad legal advisor Cassiem Parker said instead of demonising
the organisation, police and those critical of Pagad should
substantiate their allegations.
He said Pagad would continue to operate within the law and had
lodged a Cape High Court application which would be heard in
February on the organisations right to hold marches.
Asked whether Pagad did not find it strange that attacks had
followed on drug dealers' houses soon after they had been warned by
Pagad, Parker said all Pagad did was to point out the house to the
police and government.
"If the community at large, or even a third force attacks the
houses afterwards, it has nothing to do with Pagad."
He said the police had the manpower and resources to act
against gangsters and druglords, "but as soon as there is an act of
violene the police only look at Pagad. They are looking at the
wrong people".
@ CRIME-WELFARE
EAST LONDON January 5 1998 Sapa
LADY FRERE SOCIAL SECURITY OFFICE ROBBED OF CHEQUES
The Lady Frere social security office discovered on Monday that
it had been robbed of about 3000 welfare cheques worth R1,5 million
over the New Year holidays, a department spokesman said on Tuesday.
Department spokesman Mamkeli Ngam said the burglars entered the
building and the strongroom by cutting through locks.
Ngam said the department stopped payment on the cheques and
urged shopkeepers not to cash any social security cheques without
positive identification.
The average amount of the cheques was R500.
The theft would not affect welfare payments.
Captain Miennie Olivier of Queenstown said the offices were
burgled between Thursday and Monday morning.
@ ZAMBIA-POLL
LUSAKA January 5 1998 Sapa-AP
ZAMBIA PROVINCIAL POLLS ATTRACTS LESS THAN 10PC OF VOTERS
Provincial polls billed as a test of the government's
popularity attracted less than 10 percent of eligible voters, the
main independent election monitoring group said Tuesday.
The Foundation for Democratic Process said because of voter
apathy it was unable to declare the results of polling Dec. 30,
contested by 16 political parties, a true reflection of the will of
the population.
Foundation president Alfred Chanda said the organization
declined also to declare whether the elections were free and fair.
The organization didn't want to make "sweeping statements"
about the contest for 1,275 provincial government seats mostly won
by President Frederick Chiluba's ruling party, he said.
In results announced by Tuesday, Chiluba's Movement for
Multiparty Democracy captured 880 seats, while the main opposition
party led by former President Kenneth Kaunda took 190 local council
seats.
More results were still expected from remote areas.
More than 400 independent candidates fought the elections, with
only a handful winning seats.
Chanda said Zambia has about 4.7 million eligible voters but
only 2.4 million registered their names to cast ballots in the
provincial elections.
Voter turnout was about 30 percent of the 2.4 million people
named of voters' registers.
That meant "ultimately, we are saying that less than 10
percent eligible voters in Zambia participated in voting. This is a
seriou menace to democracy," Chanda told reporters in Lusaka.
The new opposition United Party for National Development so far
won 23 seats and the Agenda for Zambia party won 11, election
officials said.
Kaunda has alleged election fraud in the polling but was quoted
in the independent Post newspaper Tuesday saying he will reveal
more details later when investigations by his party officials have
been completed.
Kaunda's United National Independence Party boycotted
parliamentary elections in 1996 after he was barred from running
for president by a constitutional amemdment passed by ruling party
lawmakers.
Kaunda led the nation to independence from Britain in 1964 and
ruled an autocratic one-party state for 27 years until his ouster
in the first democratic elections in 1991.
The next parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled
for 2001.
@ COURT-SPEEDING
ESCOURT, KwaZulu-Natal January 5 1998 Sapa
TAXI DRIVER SENT TO JAIL FOR SPEEDING
A taxi driver was given a one-year prison sentence on Tuesday
after he was caught driving a minibus carrying 10 adults and five
children at a speed of 162km/h on the N3 highway near Escourt,
KwaZulu-Natal.
Logan Maistry, spokesman for KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic
Inspectorate, said the convict, SS Ziquba, was arrested on Monday
and appeared in the Escourt Magistrate's Court on Tuesday were he
was found guilty and sentenced.
In addition to the prison term, he was fined R1300 and his
driving licence was suspended for 18 months.
Maistry said the KwaZulu-Natal traffic department welcomed the
sentence, and hoped other magistrates would follow suit to deter
drivers from speeding.
@ MUSLIM-FILMS
CAPE TOWN January 5 1998 Sapa
MUSLIM SENSITIVITIES RAISED OVER "TERRORIST FILMS"
Two cinema theatre companies and M-Net are now taking
cognisance of Muslim sensitivities over films which portray them as
terrorists.
The action-thriller "The Siege", which is on circuit, is one
such film which has been slammed as "anti-Islam propaganda" by the
Pretoria-based Media Review Network, a select group of
representatives of various Muslim organisations.
Ahead of its release last Friday, 20th Century Fox,
Ster-Kinekor Theatres and Nu Metro Theatres issued cautionary notes
to managers of all cinema complexes in the Cape Metropole, warning
them of possible problems in view of the volatile situation
prevailing in Cape Town.
On Monday night, about 300 moviegoers were evacuated from the
V&A Waterfront cinema complex because of a bomb scare. "The Siege"
is one of 11 films currently showing there.
The call was found to be a hoax but the bomb scare was one of
several at the Waterfront in the days after the car bombing outside
the Victoria Wharf, which houses the Nu Metro complex, on New
Year's Day.
Another Hollywood-inspired action-thriller which has raised the
ire of some members of the Muslim community is the 1996
action-thriller "Executive Decision".
Shortly before it was rescreened on M-Net on Monday night, the
continuity announcer warned that the film could be sensitive to
certain viewers, particularly Muslims who are portrayed in the film
as terrorists.
M-Net spokeswoman Trish Downing said in line with sensitivities
being expressed by members of the public, it was now M-Net policy
to give as much warning as possible to viewers about a film's
content so they could make an informed decision.
"This is not only on religious grounds but also for particular
groupings who could be offended by a film's content. Executive
Decision portrayed Palestinians as terrorists, who are by rote
Muslims," Downing said.
Michelle Hemphill, 20th Century Fox's South African
representative, said cautionary letters were sent to the managers
of cinema complexes in Cape Town in light of the volatile situation
prevailing in the city.
"With any film of a political nature we ask everyone to be
aware and to take care and to look out for anything suspicious.
Cape Town is a volatile city at this time and was particularly so
in 1998."
Hemphill maintained that "The Siege" was purely entertainment
and that the studio and the filmmakers had granted representatives
of Arab communities in the US unprecedented access to the script,
the filmmakers and to early screenings of the film, resulting in a
number of changes.
"We live in a democracy and we are a free society. If you don't
want to see the film, then don't see it. It is an individual's
right to see a film or not."
Ster-Kinekor pictures chief executive officer Jonathan Fox
said: "From our side we played it low-key. We sent out a note to
all cinemas, saying we were releasing the film and saying these are
the issues and these are the possible problems.
"If there are any problems we will remove the print from the
cinemas."
A spokesperson for Nu Metro said the cinema theatre company had
been cautioned by Ster-Kinekor, the distributors of "The Siege",
about screening the film.
A statement from 20th Century Fox's headquarters in Beverly
Hills, California, said: "This movie is not anti-Muslim or
anti-Arab, but rather it is anti-prejudice and shows the tragic
consequences of racism."
@ TSHWETE-ANC
JOHANNESBURG January 5 1998 Sapa
ANC BACKS TSHWETE ON TRANSFORMATION IN SPORT
The African National Congress on Tuesday supported Sports
Minister Steve Tshwete's transformation mission and said calls for
his resignation were indicative of the refusal by opposition
parties to be part of the building of a new South African nation.
Tshwete withdrew support for the national cricket team last
Friday - on the eve of the fourth Test against the West Indies -
saying it was not representative enough. His declaration caused a
flurry of indignation from the Freedom Front and the Democratic
Party.
"Patriotic South Africans who are all committed to the process
of fundamental transformation are now sick and tired of hearing the
same old boring songs from people who seem to be determined to take
this country back to the old days of racial oppression," ANC
spokesman Thabo Masebe said in a statement.
He said Tshwete had worked tirelessly for the unity of South
African sports administrations and for the country's readmission to
international sport, earning himself the nickname "Mr Fixit".
However, now that South Africa was competing internationally
again, there were people who resented Tshwete's involvement in
sports affairs.
Masebe said sport was not only about playing games.
"In the South African context, sport carries with it the pride
of the nation, unity and reconciliation. How then can it be left to
people who are only interested in results and ignore the broader
issue?
"Minister Tshwete is correct to raise concerns about the
current composition of the rugby and cricket national teams.
Indeed, it would be difficult for many South Africans to support
teams that do not truly represent the South African society."
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
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| Dept Information & Publicity |
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| Vlaeberg 8018 Fax: (+27 21) 262774 |
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Mibe...@aol.com
many times, but it does not work.
Answer to my request, please .....
Thanx
ANC Information
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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
SATURDAY 9 JANUARY 1999
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
publication or broadcast.
To unsubscribe from the ANC Daily News Briefing mailing list send a
message to 'list...@wn.apc.org'. In the body of your message put
'unsubscribe ancnews'.
@ CRIME-ATHLONE
CAPE TOWN January 8 1999 Sapa
ATHLONE BRANCH OF AMERICAN FRANCHISE BUSINESS PETROL-BOMBED
The Athlone branch of an American franchise business was
petrol-bombed in the early hours of Friday.
Western Cape police spokeswoman Superintendent Nina Kirsten
said the petrol bombs were thrown through the windows of a Kentucky
Fried Chicken outlet in Klipfontein Road at about 2am.
The attack, which caused damage estimated at R50000, happened
only hours after a demonstration outside the American embassy in
Cape Town in which eight members of Muslims Against Global
Oppression were arrested.
In August last year, a pipe-bomb exploded in the bar area of
the Planet Hollywood restaurant in the Waterfront, killing two
people and injuring several others.
The bombing was an apparent retaliatory attack after the United
States bombed Muslim targets in Sudan and Afghanistan, following
the bomb blasts at the American embassies in Kenia and Tanzania.
@ ANC JANUARY 8TH STATEMENT
Issued by: African National Congress
1999 - Year of Mass Mobilisation for the Renewal of the Democratic
Mandate Statement of the National Executive Committee of the ANC on
the 87th Anniversary of the African National Congress, 8 January
1999
Today, we mark the 87th Anniversary of the birth of the African
National Congress.
Since its birth, this organisation of the people of South Africa
has occupied the front trenches in the struggle for the total
emancipation of all the people of our country.
We observe our anniversary this year in special circumstances.
As we live through this year 1999, we will also be preparing to
usher in the last year of the twentieth century and the second
millennium.
Many in our country and the rest of the world have made
elaborate preparations to celebrate the Year 2000 as the beginning
of the new century and millennium - which adds to the expectations
which the passing of the seasons confers on this particular year,
during which we celebrate the 87th birthday of the movement of the
people.
During this same year, we will also be celebrating 5 years of
democratic rule for our country and people.
Having known centuries of oppression for the majority of the
people of our country, this will be a moment when we will truly have
to celebrate.
We will have to celebrate the fact, which many who did not
struggle for freedom will take for granted, that the victory of 1994
has not been reversed, despite everything that threatened that
historic success. This is an occasion during which we will have an
opportunity to pay tribute to all the people of our country,
regardless of race, colour, gender, social status, age or belief,
for the steps they took during the last 5 years to defend the
democratic gains the people earned through their sacrifices.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 1999
The conclusion of our first 5 years of freedom also means that,
during this historic year, l999, the people will have the
possibility to decide who shall govern our country at both
provincial and national levels during our second 5 years of
democratic rule.
Accordingly, one of the principal moments on our national agenda
this year, will be the holding of our second national and provincial
democratic elections.
There are other important events which will mark 1999 as a very
special year for all of us as South Africans, as well as millions of
others outside our own borders.
The Gold Heart of Africa, Johannesburg, will host the All-Africa
Games, which will bring to our shores the best athletes of our
Continent.
Through these Games, the youth of Africa will expose to
themselves, to their Continent and the world the spirit which lives
and burns in all our hearts, which says that we are united by the
fact that we are African and which demonstrates that, as these
Africans, we dare to reach for the skies.
Our teams, the Springboks and the Proteas, will also be
competing in the Rugby and Cricket World Cups. All of us must give
them the necessary support as they participate in these tournaments,
so that they emerge from these competitions as the World Champions.
I-Theku, Durban, our Window to the East, will host the meeting
of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth, their own variety
and togetherness confirming our own unity in diversity.
During this year, we will also bid a fond farewell to a great
son of our people, Nelson Mandela, as he retires from public life.
To state the matter more accurately, we will have occasion to
wish Madiba success as he continues to serve us and the peoples of
the world in capacities that are reserved for the African sages of
unending intellect and eternal passion.
Recalling earlier and painful times which helped to fashion our
modern times, we will also commemorate the 120th Anniversary of the
Battle of Isandlwana and the Centenary of the beginning of the
Anglo-Boer War.
These unforgettable events in the birth of the nation will pose
a challenge to all of us as to whether we shall commemorate our
history in order to re-ignite the conflicts of the past or whether
we shall commemorate our past in a manner that helps to build the
new.
As we begin the Year of the 87th Anniversary of the people's
movement, our tasks as a people are very clear!
Together we must celebrate 5 years of democratic rule! All of us
must exercise our democratic right to vote to decide who shall
govern our country until the year 2004!
We must, in our millions, welcome the youth of our Continent as
they demonstrate that we too are Olympians, as well as support our
national rugby and cricket teams!
We must open our hearts to the world leaders who will walk on
our soil, drawn from a Commonwealth of Nations which expects that we
will contribute something to the common good!
We must, together, observe our historic anniversaries, giving
them a meaning that enhances the legacy which Nelson Mandela leaves
us with, of a truly South African nation!
We must prepare for the end of the century and the millennium in
a manner which will ensure that when the new century dawns, it will
rise as an African century!
THE ANC LIVES!
In circumstances such as these, coinciding with our 87th
anniversary of dedication to the cause of the people, it is correct
to recollect the visionary words - glory was it to be alive, but to
be young was heavenly!
Accordingly, this we must say, that on its 87th anniversary:
* it is truly glorious that the ANC lives! * it is heavenly that the
ANC has the vitality of youth! * it is our fortune that the ANC
leads!
These words will have meaning only to the extent that your
movement, the ANC, remains loyal to what is most fundamental to its
character to serve the people of South Africa!
At our 50th National Conference in Mafikeng in December, 1997,
our outgoing President, Nelson Mandela, drew attention to certain
problems that had emerged within our organisation.
FIGHT CORRUPTION AND CAREERISM IN OUR RANKS
These related to the fact that certain elements had managed to
gain entry into the ANC who, in reality, should not be members of
this organisation which, for almost nine decades, has devoted itself
to the liberation of the people of South Africa.
This minority among our members are wolves in sheep's skins
whose purpose is not the betterment of the lives of the people.
Their objective is to prey on the people and on society, for
personal benefit.
We find these enemies of the people throughout the structures of
government, from the local to the national level. Some of them have
now made themselves available for nomination as ANC candidates for
the forthcoming provincial and national elections.
But this we must make clear, that your movement will take all
necessary steps to ensure that these fail to smuggle themselves into
the ranks of the genuine representatives of the people.
These are the elements, who have joined other rogues we
inherited from the previous administrations, who are responsible for
the corruption in the public service which your movement, the ANC,
is determined to uproot and fight with all the means at its
disposal. Others of these elements, both old and new members of our
system of public administration, are also involved in other crimes
against the people, including murder, robbery, theft, rape and
fraud.
On this important 87th year of the African National Congress, we
must make this one of our central tasks, to remove from our ranks
these rotten eggs which our society lays everyday.
We must rid ourselves of these elements so that they no longer
tarnish the image and reputation of hundreds of thousands of honest
members of the ANC who work everyday to advance the cause of all the
people of our country.
None of us should hesitate to expose and act against the enemies
of the people who have wormed themselves into the ranks of the
progressive movement, because we are afraid that this information
will be used by our opponents to attack us.
Nothing, whatsoever, should encourage anyone of us to hide or
tolerate corruption, crime and abuse of power, however important
those might be who are guilty of these offences.
GOOD CADRES FOR A STRONG ANC
We must also attend continuously to the task of ensuring that we
develop all our members so that they continue to be the pride of the
people as activists for the promotion of the interests of the masses
of our people, their defenders and servants.
This relates not only to the political morality and commitment
of our cadres and leaders but also their skill and capacity to
discharge their responsibilities at the places where they work,
especially as public representatives and members of the public
administration.
We need to ensure that our branches are truly in contact with
the communities in which they are based, becoming the locus of
popular mobilisation for reconstruction and development.
They must become lively and vibrant centres for political and
other information and education and the cultivation of all the
cultural, moral and other elements necessary for the renewal of our
communities. We emphasise the need for a strong ANC made up of
honest and dedicated cadres because this is the only political
instrument that the masses of our people have in their hands to
carry out the many and difficult tasks we have to discharge, to
ensure that we continue to meet our firm commitment to the provision
of a better life for all. No other formation exists in our country
can carry out this task.
Without a strong ANC dedicated to the service of the people by
word and deed, the ordinary masses of our people would have no
political organisation to advance their cause and protect their
interests.
Our country would be without the political instrument which must
take all of us through the process of national reconciliation and
transformation and promote our continuing integration within the
community of nations.
MOBILISE FOR THE ELECTIONS
Undoubtedly, the biggest political event in our country this
year will be the holding of our provincial and national elections.
It is vitally important that as many people as possible should
participate in these elections to choose the government they would
like to see taking our country into the new century and millennium.
We must all treat this as a national duty.
For this purpose, it is necessary that all potential voters
should be registered. In this regard, good progress has already been
made. However, millions of our people remain unregistered. It is
therefore critical that all structures and members of the ANC and
the rest of the democratic movement should go all out to mobilise
those who have not registered as voters, to register.
In this context, we must go all out to organise our youth in
particular to register and vote. We salute the initiative taken by
the National Youth Commission in this regard and call on all youth
organisations, in particular, including our own Youth League,
vigorously to join the campaign for the mobilisation of the youth.
We also call especially on the black professionals and
intellectuals themselves to use their influence in society to help
ensure that everybody discharges their democratic responsibility to
register and vote.
We must also work with our traditional leaders, whom we respect
and who constitute an important part of our system of governance, to
reach out to the people they lead so that these, too, can be
encouraged to exercise the democratic rights.
As the organisation of the people, it is our responsibility to
ensure that these masses use the precious democratic rights they won
through struggle, to determine their own destiny.
It will similarly be critically important that, when the time
comes, again we mobilise these masses to go to the polls to vote, in
both urban and rural areas, involving both the old and the young and
drawing in everybody without regard to race, colour or gender.
Once again, only our movement, and no other political formation,
is capable of carrying out this national mobilisation.
We will do this work as confirmation of our commitment to a
democratic system which involves the masses of the people,
consistent with our confidence in these masses to continue to be
their own liberators.
Similarly, we must mobilise the masses to return the ANC to
power with an overwhelming majority so that we continue our work for
the genuine emancipation of all our people.
We welcome the decision of the IFP to commit itself to the noble
task of the rebuilding of our society so that it can, itself, make
its own contribution to the improvement of the lives of the millions
of our people in urban and rural areas who were disadvantaged by
colonialism and apartheid.
We will continue to work with the IFP in a common effort to
realise these goals.
POLITICAL OPPONENTS AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION
Our political opponents are approaching the forthcoming
elections as a battle-field on which they will wage a struggle with
the sole aim to defeat or weaken the democratic movement as a whole,
and specifically your organisation, the ANC.
Indeed, so determined are they to pursue their hopeless cause,
that they are competing for the title of "the most effective
opponent of the ANC".
Not surprisingly, none of them ever competed to earn the title,
through struggle, of "the most effective opponent of the criminal
apartheid system".
Even during those dark days of oppression, persecution and
torture for the majority of our people and millions beyond our
borders who were the victims of the apartheid campaign of aggression
and destabilisation, most of the champion opponents of the ANC of
today were already champion opponents of the ANC then.
The answer to the question - to what are the opposition parties
opposed is not difficult to answer. They are opposed to the
fundamental transformation of our country into a non-racial and
non-sexist democracy!
The leopard has not changed its spots. Even when it dyes these
spots in the colours of the movement, time soon wears out the false
colours, revealing that the leopard has not changed its spots.
These opponents of ours have spent long months behind closed
doors cooking a foul-smelling stew described as an alliance to stop
the ANC. They entertain the hope that they will serve this inedible
dish to the people at election time, necessarily dressed up as the
most appetising meal that anyone of us has ever tasted.
As part of their marketing, these champion opponents of the ANC
will tell all manner of stories suggesting that the problems which
our country continues to face are a fault of the democratic system
for whose birth you sacrificed everything in struggle.
In particular, they will seek to lay at the door of the ANC the
many disasters we inherited from the criminal system of apartheid,
such as poverty, unemployment, homelessness, rural neglect,
corruption and crime and the human resource disaster brought about
by the system of Bantu Education and job reservation.
They will seek to deny the progress that you yourselves know has
been made in all these areas and many others besides.
The architects, beneficiaries and agents of apartheid, who
created the problems which the government you elected in 1994
continues to struggle to overcome, will now come back to you, the
people, pretending that they are best placed to wipe out the
apartheid legacy which will take our country many years to overcome
and which they imposed on all of us.
We have a responsibility to the people and our country ourselves
not to be diverted by the manoeuvres of our opponents.
Counter-revolution in all kinds of guises continue attempts to
destabilise our country and threaten our revolution. Not even the
TRC hearings and investigations have been able to shed light on what
happened to the National Security Management System.
These attempts by counter-revolutionaries call on all of us to
be vigilant and to defend, not only the ANC, but all the gains of
our revolution.
We must, at all times, bear in mind the principle known to all
strategists - the enemy manoeuvres but it remains the enemy!
ELIMINATE POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION
There are some people in our country who are still committed to
the use of political violence to gain political power. The killings
that continue to take place in areas such as Richmond in
KwaZulu-Natal, reflect the existence of forces that are enemies of
democracy.
As far as these are concerned, we will not hesitate to use the
full force of the law to crush them once and for all.
This is a task we have pursued very successfully during the past
four years and which we commit ourselves to pursue with even greater
vigour in the years ahead.
In this regard, we also call on all contingents within the
criminal justice system themselves to act conscientiously in the
discharge of their own responsibility to give no quarter to those
who resort to intimidation, criminality and violence.
The people must be free to decide as they wish!
We must therefore work hard to ensure that the forthcoming
elections are truly free and fair by stopping anybody who tries to
intimidate the people and thus deny the people their democratic
right to exercise their right to choose freely.
RENEW THE DEMOCRATIC MANDATE
For us the forthcoming elections are first and foremost about
what you, the people of South Africa, want your country to be, you
whom your organisation, the ANC, is committed to continue to serve.
The forthcoming elections are about the vision you uphold and
the future you desire for your country, yourselves, your children
and your grandchildren.
You, yourselves, commanded your movement, the ANC, to fulfil a
difficult and challenging mandate, namely, to lead our country in
the struggle to create a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist,
peaceful and prosperous society.
When you issued this command, you knew that, after three hundred
years of colonial and apartheid rule, such a society could not be
created in a day, a month, or even five years.
Consequently, after four-and-a-half-years of democratic rule, we
must ask ourselves the question - how far have we moved towards the
realisation of the people's mandate!
ENTRENCH DISCIPLINE AND DEMOCRACY
All of us, both black and white, have gone through a few
exhilarating and exciting years learning how to live in and manage a
democratic society.
Some among us have dishonestly pretended that they have
ready-made answers for all the questions which this new experience
has thrown up. This was done by these in an attempt to occupy a
predominant position in the struggle to decide who shall determine
the nature and direction of the society we are trying to create.
It is clear that as we learnt how to live in a democratic
society, many among us began to mistake freedom for licence, and
democracy for anarchy.
Among these, some began to get wedded to the false notion that
democracy meant that they only had rights and no obligations. This
has included contempt for the law and disrespect for the
institutions of state established under and within the context of
our democratic constitution.
This has led to a permissive and free-for-all atmosphere in the
country which, in many instances, results in actions and activities
by some of us which, in reality, constitute a threat to the very
democracy which all of us have an obligation to consolidate and
entrench.
In the period ahead of us, we have no choice but to ensure that
we defeat the forces of anarchy which seek to corrupt our democratic
system by encouraging the emergence of a society without any
discipline - one that is characterised by the abuse of freedom in
the name of freedom.
This subversion of democracy is demonstrated everyday in many
ways. This includes:
* the seeming ease with which some among us commit murder;
* the rape and abuse of women and children;
* a very weak work ethic among some in both the public and the
private sector;
* corruption and illegal self-enrichment;
* the violence that has accompanied some strike actions during this
past year;
* the refusal by some to meet their public obligations such as
payment for public services they receive, paying their taxes, and so
on.
Accordingly, we must work to consolidate the broadest possible
unity of our people around the fundamental objectives we have to
achieve as a country and strengthen the capacity of the people to
speak out in defence of what they think is right.
We should then not allow ourselves to be diverted from the
pursuit of these goals by individuals who will argue that they have
a power of veto over what the people have decided are their best
interests. As a movement we will, in action, say - no to anarchy!,
and yes to a disciplined and democratic society!
BATHO PELE!
In the struggle to consolidate the democratic system, we will
also have to take decisive steps to ensure that the public
administration is, in reality, geared towards the objective of batho
pele - the people first! Nobody should be employed within the
public service who thinks that they occupy the positions they do
simply to make a living, without devotion to their duties and
without any commitment to serve the people they are employed to
serve.
The reality is that we will not be able to build a successful
democracy if do not have a public administration that is both
willing to and capable of serving the public.
The safety and security of the people depends to a large extent
on the law enforcement agencies doing their work with all necessary
diligence, professionalism and honesty.
We must therefore weed out from among these agencies all those
who do not measure up or refuse to measure up to these standards.
In this context, we salute the initiative taken by POPCRU to
appeal to its members to forsake their time-off during this past
festive season to be available for law-enforcement duties during
this period.
The most vulnerable in our society, the children, the aged, the
disabled, women and the unemployed depend greatly on this honest,
hard-working and professional public service.
When it fails them because of criminal misconduct, negligence
and gross insensitivity, they have virtually nowhere else to turn,
except into even deeper levels of despair.
This will be emphasised this year by the fact that we will be
observing the International Year of the Aged, during which we must
enhance the level of care and the degree of sensitivity towards the
mature citizens of our country.
We cannot describe ourselves as a people-centred society if we
allow this callous behaviour to continue, involving people who have
voluntary elected to enter an occupation whose very purpose is to
serve the people.
As we prepare to elect the government that will lead our country
into the next century, we must bear in mind that these are among the
principal tasks we face as a country in the continuing struggle to
consolidate the democratic system which we will defend with our
lives, if necessary.
END RACE AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION
It is also obvious that our country continues to be
distinguished by the racial divisions and gender discrimination we
inherited from the past. We will have to speed up the process
towards the elimination of this blight that is so visible in all
spheres of life in our country.
Among other things, all of us must unite in resolute opposition
to any suggestion that the national project of national
reconciliation consists in tolerance of the apartheid legacy of
racial and gender inequality, division and oppression.
All of us, regardless of our race and colour, must take into
account the actual reality that the perpetuation of this legacy
constitutes the greatest threat to the democratic order, for which
all of us paid such a high price to bring it into being.
Resolutely to tackle this legacy, will require a sustained
national effort in which those better placed will, even in their
selfish interest, have to sacrifice a little in order to help uplift
the millions who remain the black disadvantaged.
Together, we will have to expand all our existing programmes so
that we produce visible change in as short a period of time as
possible, without raising false hopes by setting targets that are
impossible to realise.
NEW PATRIOTISM
Accordingly, once more, we must put high among our objectives
the cultivation of the new patriotism of which we have spoken in the
past. Many of us still have to develop the healthy love for our own
country which bonds together most nations in the world. We also have
to break out of the prison of a dominant selfishness which makes it
impossible for us to do anything unless it results in private gain
for ourselves as individuals.
It is only when we address these questions that we will be able
to develop the new patriotism of which we have spoken and thus
generate the national impetus and momentum which will enable us,
acting together, to move decisively in our struggle to build a
non-racial and non-sexist society.
PURSUE THE RDP GOALS
Naturally, the tasks we set ourselves in the Reconstruction and
Development Programme (RDP) have not all been accomplished. We
therefore reaffirm our commitment to the RDP and the perspectives it
contains.
Accordingly, we must sustain and intensify the struggle against
poverty. This means that the new government that will be formed
after the elections later this year will have further to refine and
expedite the implementation of the existing anti-poverty programmes.
These range from welfare, through the provision of housing, water
and sanitation, electricity and health services to public works,
roads construction, telecommunications, land redistribution and
rural=20 development.
We must also intensify the struggle against HIV/AIDS to make
sure that we stop and reverse the spread of this epidemic which
threatens to decimate our society.
Similarly, we must continue to sharpen our focus on youth
development, the emancipation of women and the empowerment of the
disabled, to rescue these important sectors of our society from
oppression and despair, thus to fulfil objectives that are central
to the building of a truly democratic, caring and people-centred
society.
THE CULTURE OF LEARNING, TEACHING AND SERVICE
We would like to take this opportunity to salute the teachers,
pupils, parents and education authorities who have worked hard to
improve the culture of learning, teaching and service in our
schools, which has already resulted in better matriculation results.
We also congratulate all those who passed the examinations and wish
them well for the future.
As we begin the academic year in schools and higher levels of
education, we also call on everybody concerned not to respond in a
confrontational manner to any problems we may experience. The
government, itself, will be ready to engage all those concerned to
find the necessary and possible solutions.
The agreements that have been reached between the Government and
the teachers' unions on such matters as teacher deployment, as well
as the magnificent response of the teachers to the call to them to
help in the process of voter registration, show that none of the
challenges we face education cannot be solved through constructive
engagement among the stakeholders.
Before the present government is dissolved to make way for the
new one, the necessary work will have to be done thoroughly to
assess the progress we have achieved in these and other fields.
This will make it possible for the new government to move more
expeditiously to effect such improvements as may be necessary to
ensure even more effective implementation of the correct measures
which the Government has been pursuing to date.
DEVELOP THE ECONOMY AND CREATE JOBS
We will have to give particular focus to the question of adding
a new vibrancy to the economy, bearing in mind the state of the
world economy, from which we cannot insulate ourselves.
Among others, the issue of the unacceptably high interest rates
will have to be addressed.
At the same time, ongoing work affecting various sectors of the
economy will have to be completed, enabling us to take the necessary
measures to help generate further growth and development in these
sectors, again bearing in mind the state of the world economy.
Job creation is a particular element of focus in this ongoing
work. It therefore also incorporates the important issue of the
development of small, micro and medium business, an important
feature of which is the central issue of black economic empowerment.
We will also have to pay great attention to the implementation
of the decisions the country adopted at the Presidential Job Summit,
as part of the process of ensuring that we make better progress in
addressing the plight of the millions in our country who are
unemployed.
In this context, we must also respond positively to the call of
the Trade Unions for us to contribute a day's earnings to support
the projected training projects as well as the Business Initiative
which also aims at enabling the realisation of the objectives of the
Job Summit.
The Government itself will also have to attend to better
coordination of its programmes and better utilisation of existing
resources as part of its contribution to the accomplishment of these
objectives.
Similarly, we will also have to pursue other initiatives that
have been taken, which relate particularly to the question of youth
employment and development.
The offensive against poverty will therefore remain at the
centre of the work of the Government, addressed in a manner which
will ensure that we create new and sustainable job opportunities for
our people.
ENHANCE SAFETY AND SECURITY
Our drive to build a people-centred society also means that we
must implement additional measures radically to improve the safety
and security of all our people.
It is a matter of common cause in the country that all of us are
subject to unacceptably high levels of crime. We must root out this
scourge, using all legal and constitutional resources available to
us.
In this regard, as a movement we commit ourselves to support and
participate in the process led by the religious leaders of our
country which began with the summoning of the Morals Summit last
year.
We remain convinced that one of the major challenges we have to
meet as an integral part of the reconstruction and development of
our country is the moral renewal of our society. Despite the refusal
by the white establishment to admit this, it is perfectly clear that
the long period of white colonial and apartheid domination of our
country, did enormous damage to the moral fibre of our society.
The predatory and anti-human values nurtured during this period
and imposed on society, lie at the base of much that is wrong in our
country today, including the high levels of crime.
Together with this offensive for the moral renewal of our
society, new steps will have to be taken to strengthen all elements
of our criminal justice system, involving the police, the
prosecution service, the court system, correctional services and the
rehabilitation of former prisoners.
In this regard, we welcome the establishment of the institution
of the National Director of Prosecutions, convinced that all
necessary measures should be taken to strengthen this Office.
We also welcome the steps that have been taken to transform the
judicial system by the appointment to senior positions of black
people and women. We are confident that these measures and yet
others that must still be taken, will assist in taking the judiciary
into the democratic era.
This will be contrary to the view among some of the members of
this judiciary who served the apartheid system, that the true mark
of their independence is to find against the Government and the ANC,
specifically, regardless of the detail of the particular case they
have to deal with.
We are also convinced that the Government will also have to
investigate further what new legislation to initiate to strengthen
the possibilities of the law enforcement agencies to discharge their
responsibilities to ensure the safety and security of the people.
We will also have to ensure that the National Crime Prevention
Strategy becomes more of a living reality than it has been up to
now. Areas such as the Western Cape and parts of the Transkei and
KwaZulu-Natal are still victims of gangsters and killers who, for
criminal purposes, carry out a campaign of terror against our
communities. It is necessary that the criminal justice system should
spare no effort in ensuring that this mayhem is brought to an end.
This must include the mobilisation of the masses of the people
themselves by ourselves and the rest of the popular and democratic
forces to ensure that these masses become combatants against crime,
actively cooperating with the law enforcement agencies, especially
the Police Service.
FIGHT CORRUPTION
At the same time, more stern and vigorous measures will have to
be taken to root out corruption within the criminal justice system.
If necessary, new legislation will have to be passed to address this
issue. Existing institutions will have to be strengthened or new
ones created, to ensure that we have the requisite capacity to deal
with the monster of corruption within the criminal justice system.
It will be necessary that the Government acts ruthlessly and
expeditiously against the many criminal elements who have entrenched
themselves within this system and who use their official positions
as defenders of the people to carry out crimes against the people.
As a movement, we will mobilise the masses of our people, and
especially the youth, to act vigorously in support of the campaign
against the criminals who have entrenched themselves in the very
belly of the very institutions which are supposed to fight crime.
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
During this year, we will also have to deal with the challenges
thrown up by the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Whatever its faults, we accept that the TRC has indeed made an
invaluable contribution to the twin objectives of unravelling the
truth about the past and further encouraging the process of
reconciliation among the forces that stood against one another in
the past as sworn enemies.
However, none of the elements of this work has been concluded.
We will have to continue to pay, particular attention to the
question of amnesty, so that we do not tear the country apart and
drive it back into conflict by seeking to exact retribution for
actions which belong to a past which cannot be undone.
A critical issue all of us will also have to address, as part of
the process of national reconciliation, will be the question of
reparations to and the restoration of the dignity of the victims of
the apartheid crime against humanity.
This, too, will require a national effort, beyond the mere
expectation that the Government must supply material resources to
provide specific benefits to particular individuals who were harmed
by acts of repression carried out by the apartheid regime.
The process of responding to the work of the TRC provides our
country with an unique opportunity to strengthen the sense of
national solidarity, confirm our oneness as a people and entrench
the understanding that all of us, both black and white, truly care
for one another and do indeed share a common destiny.
It would be an historic tragedy of immense dimensions and
incalculable consequences if we were to miss this opportunity to
promote and entrench these values, which are so fundamental to the
creation of the new South Africa.
THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE
As much as it is itself a new South Africa, our country will
only consolidate its character as a democratic, non-racial,
non-sexist, prosperous and peaceful country, if our Continent,
Africa, itself continues to pursue its own process of renewal.
As a movement, we therefore recommit ourselves to the struggle
for the victory of the African Renaissance.
Among other things, this requires that we link up with other
political forces on our Continent, together to decide on the steps
we should take to ensure that our common continental motherland
becomes a place of democracy, peace, prosperity and a better life
for the millions of our peoples.
In this regard, we look forward with great expectation to the
restoration of democracy in Nigeria this year. This is important
both for the people of that largest country on our Continent as well
as the Continent itself, given the contribution that democratic
Nigeria will make to the common project of Africa's renewal.
We are also convinced that during this year, the common effort
of the peoples of Africa, acting together with the people of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, will bring peace to this important
African country and set it on the road to democracy, reconstruction
and development. As a movement, we will also do whatever we can to
contribute to the termination of other violent conflicts that are
taking place on our continent, fully cognisant of the importance of
saving African lives and the creation of conditions of stability,
without which no development is possible.
We will pursue the goal of the African Renaissance driven by the
urgent need to restore the dignity of all the peoples of Africa as
peoples of great intellect, a rich culture and inspiring creativity,
who are entitled to freedom, human rights, a decent standard of
living and a healthy environment which can be enjoyed by all future
generations.
Through our efforts as Africans, we will begin to push back an
insult of many centuries according to which many across the world
despised the very colour black as the very epitome of backwardness
and barbarism. As a country, we will also have to discharge all our
other international obligations to contribute to the evolution of a
world community of peace, democracy, sustainable development and
prosperity for all.
TRIBUTE TO THE PATRIOTS
As we begin the Year of our 87th Anniversary, we also lower our
banners in memory of patriots who left us during this past year,
such as Dorothy Nyembe and those who died in Lesotho during the
struggle for peace and democracy in that country.
We also salute our members, the leaders and members of our
allied organisations as well as the democratic movement as a whole,
for the work they did during this past year which helped to take our
country forward along the road of reconstruction and development. In
particular, we would like to thank those of our members who had to
play the role of pathfinders as the first ever democratically
elected members of our country's legislatures and governments. We
are proud of their work and extend our best wishes to those who will
be directed to do other work, as we begin our second period of five
years of democratic government.
INTENSIFY THE STRUGGLE!
We call on all our members diligently and in a disciplined
manner to carry out the tasks contained in this Annual Message to
our Members and People, the January 8th Statement.
In particular we must mobilise the people as never before so
that, in their millions, they renew the mandate for the fundamental
transformation of our country, consistent with the goals spelt out
in our Programme for Reconstruction and Development.
We must also position ourselves so that we carry out all our
tasks directed at ensuring that we make further progress in
providing a better life for the people, against those who seek to
diminish the quality of life of the people through indiscipline in
the public service, corruption and crime.
Central to these, is the task of ensuring that the ANC is
re-elected with an overwhelming majority as a mandate for us to
continue our work of the fundamental transformation of our society
so that all can enjoy a better life.
We designate this, the Year of Mass Mobilisation for the Renewal
of the Democratic Mandate!
We extend our best wishes to all the people of our country for
a successful year of the Renewal of the Democratic Mandate.
Amandla ngawethu! Matla ke a rona! Matimbha ya hina!
@ FEATURE-EURO
HARARE January 8 1999 Sapa-IPS
EURO BRINGS GOOD AND BAD NEWS FOR AFRICA, ANALYSTS SAY
The launch of the euro this week brings both good and bad news
for the continent, African financial experts say, with most
cautioning that it is still too soon to predict the long-term
impact of the new currency.
"If the euro means that Europe is going to grow faster, that
would be good for African countries as it increases returns on
exports to that region," says Tony Hawkins, a financial expert in
Zimbabwe. About 20 percent of Zimbabwe's trade is with Europe.
Zimbabwean economist Edmore Tobaiwa echoes this view.
"Depending on which currency the euro is pegged to, Southern
African exports' returns into Europe will be higher. We hope the
Euro will be a relatively powerful and stable currency."
Another plus of the new currency says Beckie Masawi of Kingdom
Securities, a financial institution in Zimbabwe, is that the
standardised interest rates will make borrowing from the Economic
Monetary Union (EMU) Zone cheaper.
The Euroland standard interest rate is three percent, while
that of countries like Britain and the others that have refused to
adopt the Euro, is much higher.
"The EMU will create a deeper and more liquid capital market in
Europe, which will result in lower costs for countries that raise
Euro-denominated funds," Masawi told IPS.
"Because investment within the Euro area will be classified as
a domestic market, members of the EMU will want to diversify,"
explains Masawi. "In an attempt to diversify across countries, more
investments may be directed to emerging markets."
But Masawi also points out that while "a successful EMU will
raise productivity and growth, this could make the EMU more
attractive to investors, and this may reduce funds to emerging
markets."
"Also, developing local capital markets could be affected by
the borrowing within the EMU, because there is increased
competitiveness and a greater depth of financial markets," says
Masawi. "Africa could find it easier to borrow from the EMU than
from local markets. This would kill the development of the local
capital market."
Hawkins says that the new European currency may have a
different effect on each region in Africa. For example, he
explains, if the euro becomes stronger, as predicted, then
countries in Africa's CFA Zone may be in trouble.
A stronger euro will erode the competitiveness of the CFA
countries' exports to Europe, which accounts for more than 60
percent of their trade.
The CFA countries include Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal,
Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Guinea
Bissau, Congo Republic and Gabon.
The Euro took off slowly in the strong South African economy,
with banks not keen to deal until they are sure that settlement and
risk management systems are operating. Analysts say a clear
indication of the Euro will only be obtained next week.
Autrey Wilke of the Amalgated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) says
demand for the Euro as a unit of exchange remains low from the
import and export sectors, but it is expected to pick up with time.
The newly launched Euro may also receive a major boost if
African governments, most of which were for centuries colonialised
by and still pay allegiance to European countries, decide to
convert their trading and reserve currency into the euro.
"We cannot ignore the ex-colonial factor. There is that
tendency among African countries to always go the European way, and
this time, they might abandon the more dominant US dollar," says
Oduor Ogwe, a financial consultant based in Nairobi, Kenya.
For Africa, according to Ogwe, the euro comes at a time when
many African business people need to reduce the transaction costs
of exports caused by the inconvenience of exchange rates between
the US dollar and European currencies.
Nearly 60 percent of Africa's agricultural commodities are sold
to Europe.
Ogwe says trade pegged to the Euro will be much cheaper for
both African exporters and European importers, because exchange
costs will be reduced, making African imports into European markets
much cheaper.
Lilian Anyango, an economic consultant, says the new European
currency will not only provide the much needed competititon against
the monopoly enjoyed by the US dollar, but that travellers and
Kenyan business people will not need to bother with the
inconvenience of exchange rates of individual European countries.
"I don't care much if the rates are high or low, so long as it
is fixed and there is competititon," says Anyango.
The 11 Euroland countries account for about 22 percent of
Kenya's exports and 23 percent of Kenya's imports. Also, about 56
percent of the tourists to Kenya originate from the European Union,
37 percent of which are from Euroland.
Kenya's Central Bank Governor Micah Cheserem, however, this
week warned the business community against full-scale conversion
into the euro, before issues such as how financial markets will
receive the new currency, and whether the European Central Bank
responsible for the euro will implement appropriate monetary policy
applicable to all the 11 countries, are clear.
"Although the euro's success will be a catalyst for faster
monetary integration for us in the East African region, the Kenyan
business community should exercise caution until we obtain a
clearer picture on these issues," says Cheserem.
There are also fears that the euro may be overvalued against
major world currencies, making trade denominated in the euro too
expensive.
When the euro was launched Monday, share prices across Europe
soared as financial markets celebrated a successful first day of
trading for the single currency by indulging in a buying spree.
So far, financial analysts say the euro is likely to be a
favourite with the international investment community, even in
poorer countries like Zambia.
@ DRCONGO-REBELS-TALKS
BUKAVU, Congo January 8 1999 Sapa-AP
CONGOLESE REBEL LEADER CAUTIOUS ABOUT KABILA'S OFFER TO TALKS
A senior Congolese rebel leader on Friday welcomed President
Laurent Kabila's first offer to meet the rebels, but cautioned the
venue and agenda of such meeting will have to be negotiated.
Kabila on Thursday told students in the capital, Kinshasa that
he would be prepared to meet the rebel coalition of ethnic Tutsis,
disaffected Congolese soldiers and opposition politicians, if they
come to Kinshasa.
Since the rebels took up arms five months ago, Kabila has
refused to talk to them and instead demanded the withdrawal of
Rwandan and Ugandan troops who are fighting in support of the
insurgents.
Kabila is receiving military support from Angola, Zimbabwe,
Namibia and Chad.
"It is a good sign if he is showing willingness to talk,"
rebel leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba told The Associated Press. "It
means that he is recognizing that the rebellion does exist and
there is no way to solve the crisis unless we talk."
But Wamba cautioned that the venue and the agenda would have to
be negotiated.
"We have to link up and an exchange has to take place about
the talks and see where we can meet," he said. "We will discuss
when he contacts us. We would like to have some kind of contact,
directly or through intermediaries, to give the sense of
seriousness to the whole proposal."
"Receiving that kind of offer will not make us say yes or
no," Wamba said.
So far, Kabila has accused the rebels of being Rwanda's and
Uganda's puppets. Both countries, who helped Kabila oust former
dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in May 1997, say they are in Congo partly
to protect their western border from Hutu rebels responsible for a
1994 genocide in Rwanda.
The Hutu rebels have been using eastern Congo to stage attacks
inside Rwanda.
Uganda also says its rebel Allied Democratic Forces have been
using bases in eastern Congo from where they raid southwestern
Uganda.
Meanwhile, Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, the chief
African mediator on the Congolese war, held talks with Rwandan
officials in the capital, Kigali on Thursday ahead of another round
of cease-fire talks later this month.
Chiluba is traveling to Kampala, the Ugandan capital, on
Friday.
The Zambian president is hoping the foreign troops fighting in
Congo will sign a cease-fire, followed by the same agreement
between the rebels and Kabila.
@ ANC-ANNUAL
CAPE TOWN January 8 1999 Sapa
ANC WARNS ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE
African National Congress president Thabo Mbeki on Friday
called for the elimination of political violence and intimidation,
and said groups using it to gain political power would face the
full force of the law.
In the ANC's annual January 8 address prepared for delivery on
behalf of the party's national executive committee in Cape Town, he
said there were people in South Africa who were still committed to
the use of political violence to gain political power.
"The killings that continue to take place in areas such as
Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal reflect the existence of forces that are
enemies of democracy.
"As far as these are concerned, we will not hesitate to use the
full force of the law to crush them once and for all," Mbeki said.
"Our drive to build a people-centred society also means that we
must implement additional measures to radically improve the safety
and security of all our people."
It was a matter of common cause that all South Africans were
subject to unacceptably high levels of crime.
"We must root out this scourge, using all legal and
constitutional resources available to us.
"We are also convinced that the government will also have to
investigate further what new legislation to initiate to strengthen
the possibilities of the law enforcement agencies to discharge
their responsibilities to ensure the safety and security of the
people," he said.
Referring to the work done by the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, Mbeki said the commission made an invaluable
contribution to unravelling the truth about the past, and further
encouraging the process of reconciliation among the forces that
stood against one another in the past as sworn enemies.
However, none of the elements of this work had been concluded.
"We will have to continue to pay particular attention to the
question of amnesty, so that we do not tear the country apart and
drive it back into conflict by seeking to exact retribution for
actions which belong to a past which cannot be undone," he said.
Mbeki called on ANC members to fight corruption and "careerism"
within the party's ranks.
Certain elements had managed to gain entry into the ANC who, in
reality, should not be members of the organisation, he said.
"This minority among our members are wolves in sheep's skins
whose purpose is not the betterment of the lives of the people;
their objective is to prey on the people and on society for
personal benefit."
Such people were present throughout the structures of
government, from the local to the national level.
"Some of them have now made themselves available for nomination
as ANC candidates for the forthcoming provincial and national
elections.
"But this we must make clear - that your movement will take
all necessary steps to ensure that these fail to smuggle themselves
into the ranks of the genuine representatives of the people," he
said.
Referring to the upcoming election, Mbeki said that although
good progress had been made, there were still millions of people
who remained unregistered.
"It is vitally important that as many people as possible should
participate in these elections to choose the government they would
like to see taking our country into the new century and millennium;
we must all treat this as a national duty."
For this purpose it was necessary that all potential voters
should be registered.
"It is therefore critical that all structures and members of
the ANC, and the rest of the democratic movement, should go all out
to mobilise those who have not registered as voters, to register,"
he said.
@ ZAMBIA-VOTE
LUSAKA, January 8 1999 Sapa-AFP
RULING PARTY WINS ZAMBIA'S LOCAL ELECTIONS
Provisional results of Zambia's local government elections last
week showed Friday that President Frederick Chiluba's Movement for
Multiparty Democracy (MMD) won 66 percent of the 1,287 seats
contested.
The United National Independence Party (UNIP) led by former
president Kenneth Kaunda was second with 17 percent - 228 seats
against the MMD's 857 seats.
The newly-launched United Party for National Development,
headed by former Anglo-American executive Anderson Mazoka, took 28
seats, while the rest went to small parties which took a few seats
each, and independents.
Voting did not take place in 27 wards for various reasons,
including the late arrival of election materials.
Kaunda's party obtained its best results in its traditional
stronghold in eastern Zambia, where it took 108 seats against 44
for the MMD.
But the MMD trounced UNIP in the capital Lusaka, where it won
28 out of 30 seats, and on the Copperbelt region, the country's
economic and political hub, where it took 176 seats to UNIP's 13.
The voting was characterised by a low turnout, with independent
monitoring groups saying just 10 percent of eligible voters made
the trip to the polls.
The electoral commission declined to give figures for the
turnout.
The commission was also unable to give comparative figures from
the previous election in 1992, but analysts said the MMD had lost
some seats, mainly to independent candidates.
@ PULA-BOTSWANA
GABORONE January 8 1999 Sapa
PULA UNDERVALUED BY 24 PERCENT SUGGESTS REPORT
The Bank of Botswana has conceded that Botswana's pula is
undervalued, but questioned an analyst's report that the currency
is 24 percent lower against international currencies than it should
be. The bank has also indicated it is unlikely to change its policy
of linking the pula to the South African rand. It sells 90 percent
of its manufactured goods to South Africa and buys 80 percent of
everything it needs from that country. Local investment analysts
see this policy as one that turns away investors. "They shy away
from pula investments because of the rand-pula link and the
associated currency risk," says Botswana insurance fund manager
Alan Norrie, who manages the country's largest group of portfolio
investments excluding government funds. The bank largely discounts
this and takes the view that the policy encourages the direct
investors the country needs to help it battle rising unemployment.
During 1998, the pula lost 14.75 percent against sterling to
close at 0.13520. It was in a range 0.12560 to 0.15860. Against the
dollar it lost 13.56 percent, closing at 0.22440, ranging over the
year from 0.20970 to 0.25960. The pula did appreciate slightly
against the rand, closing 2.82 percent up at 1.31750 rands/pula,
but was held tighly reined from 1.28130 to 1.36020.
A report issued by Stockbrokers Botswana says the pula is 24
percent undervalued (as at end-1998). It attaches only low risk to
this, but warns that any weakness in the rand will feed through to
the pula. The report notes Botswana's high foreign reserves of six
billion dollars, 14 years of current account surpuls, with an
expected 7.7 percent for 1998 and an overall surplus of 12.9
percent of gross domestic profit in 1997. "The pula could well be
undervalued," central bank governor Baledzi Gaolathe said in a
Friday telephone interview. "What is important is whether the value
of the pula is at a level which makes Botswana competitive. That is
what we aim to do." He suggested the 24 percent figure was too
high, but offfered no alternative. "The policy is not fixed. The
rand will continue to be in the basket against which the pula is
valued, but we will continue to monitor the situation as we go,"
Gaolathe said.
@ LIST OF 87TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
Issued by: African National Congress
The African National Congress has organised several events in
celebration of its 87th Anniversary.
ANC President Thabo Mbeki will deliver the main address at the
main event, to be held at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town at 14h00
on Saturday 9 January 1999.
>From 10h00 several cultural events will take place. The crowd
will be entertained by among others, TKZee, Ringo, Prophets of da
City, and other acts.
A list of the celebrations taking place throughout the country
is available upon request from the numbers listed below.
For more info contact Donovan Cloete on (011) 330-7398
Issued by the ANC Department of Information and Publicity
P.O. Box 61884
Marshal
@ REGISTER-DISABLED
PRETORIA January 8 1999 Sapa
IEC ANNOUNCES SPECIAL REGISTRATION DRIVE FOR THE DISABLED
A special door-to-door voter registration drive for the
disabled and the aged would start on January 18, chief electoral
officer Mandla Mchunu said on Friday.
"We will be following strategies recommended by this group of
voters, as that is the best way to capture a bigger number of the
aged and the disabled," he told reporters in Pretoria.
The Independent Electoral Commission would also hold a second
round of registration throughout the country over the January 29 to
31 weekend.
Mchunu said stations would be open from 9am to 9pm on the first
two days and from 9am to 5pm on the Sunday.
About 9,5 million people registered in the first registration
round in November and December last year for the forthcoming
national and provincial elections.
About 40 percent of voters (563000) in informal urban
settlements had so far been registered, 36 percent (5,5 million) of
other urban residents, 37 percent (2,7 million) of voters in
informal rural settlements, and 28 percent (752000) of other rural
residents.
Only about 11 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 20
were on the voters' roll at this stage. About 56 percent of people
between 60 and 70 years old had registered.
Denying assertions of voter apathy, Mchunu said the total
registered in the first round proved that the process was on track.
"The number that we came up with surprised everybody."
The IEC wanted to register all of the remaining 15 million
voters, although it envisaged a third registration phase.
The final round would be what Mchunu described as a mopping-up
operation in areas the IEC had been unable to reach.
He said he believed the hitches that cropped up in the first
round of registration had been largely eliminated.
Public servants serving as registration officials would this
time be seconded to the IEC for a week, leaving ample time for them
to be trained properly.
Mchunu said the IEC hoped to use civil servants as registration
staff. The defence force would be called in only if there was no
other choice.
More than 72000 civil servants would be required to staff the
14500 registration centres.
Lists of all registration points and voting district maps would
be provided to the media, and would also be distributed throughout
the country.
Loudhailers would be used in some rural areas to tell voters
where they should register, Mchunu said.
@ DRCONGO-OPPOSITION
KINSHASA, January 8 1999 Sapa-AFP
DR CONGO OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR RAPID CEASEFIRE
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) opposition leader Etienne
Tshisekedi on Friday called for an immediate truce in the conflict
between rebel and government forces.
In a New Year's "message to the Congolese people," Tshisekedi
called for "a ceasefire (to be) imposed rapidly so that innocent
Congolese children may be spared."
Tshisekedi urged the "international community, through
appropriate bodies, to invest totally in a resolution to this
conflict, notably by asking the foreign countries involved to
withdraw all their troops from Congolese territory to allow the
children of this country to settle their differences themselves."
The rebellion, which broke out on August 2, is backed by
Rwanda, Uganda and, reportedly, Burundi, while the government side
has been reinforced by troops from Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and
Chad.
"These dramatic events which have seen hundreds of our
compatriots massacred in cold blood, and thousands of young
Congolese sent uselessly to death (result from) a problem tied to
bad governance and lack of democracy," Tshisekedi said.
"This problem can be settled peacefully between children of
this country around a table and through negotiation," he said.
Tshisekedi, who has not recognised the legitimacy of the
current regime, was a long-standing foe of President Laurent
Kabila's predecessor, the late Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko. He briefly
served as a prime minister during an aborted transition to
democracy in the former Zaire in the early 1990s.
The DRC government last June lifted an internal expulsion order
against Tshisekedi, who was arrested in Kinshasa in February and
sent to his home village in the central province of Eastern Kasai.
@ STATISTICS-AUDIT
JOHANNESBURG January 8 1999 Sapa
A-G'S REPORT OUT OF DATE: STATISTICS SA
An auditor-general's report released on Wednesday last week,
which criticicises the management of Statistics SA, was long out of
date, Statistics SA head Dr Mark Orkin said on Friday.
The audit report said Statistics SA used outdated figures when
calculating the consumer price index (CPI), which meant its figures
were inaccurate.
Statistics SA's failure to compile census results timeously
also resulted in labour survey results not being benchmarked in
time, and in incorrect information being published, the A-G said.
The A-G's report was on the situation in 1996, Orkin said.
"Since then Statistics SA's new management has undertaken and
achieved compliance with the IMF's (International Monetary Fund's)
rigorous special data dissemination standards, covering all key
economic indicators, including the CPI and GDP (gross domestic
product). We are the first developing country to have satisfied
these standards."
Orkin said since the A-G's investigation, the time taken to
produce the CPI had been halved to four weeks and data had been
improved.
"Some method could perhaps be found for allowing the public to
hear of important improvements in the considerable period involved
before the auditor-general's reports appear," Orkin said.
@ PARLIAMENT MEDIA BRIEFING
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
A Parliamentary Media Briefing Week will be held in Cape Town
from 8 - 12 February 1999. The venue is the Rain Forest Auditorium,
120 Plein Street, Cape Town. All media are invited to attend. A
schedule will be released during the first week of February 1999.
Contact person; Petra Wiese: (012) 314 2911 X 2452 or 082 565 8062.
Issued by: Government Communication and Information Services
8 January 1999
@ CRIME-NECKLACE
JOHANNESBURG January 8 1999 Sapa
POLICE TEAM TO INVESTIGATE IVORY PARK VIGILANTE NECKLACING
A team comprising six police officers has been appointed to
investigate the mob killing of two Mozambicans at Ivory Park
informal settlement in Midrand on Wednesday, North Rand police
said.
Superintendent Eugene Opperman on Friday said the head of the
North Rand criminal investigation services, Senior-Superintendent
Bernie Ntlemeza, appointed the team following the necklacing of the
two men.
Six Mozambicans were detained on Tuesday until the early hours
of Wednesday by a group of vigilantes in Goniwe section of Ivory
Park.
The men were severely beaten before two of them were necklaced
- burnt to death by having a tyre thrown over their neck, doused
with petrol, and set alight. Three were seriously injured, and one
escaped.
The Mozambicans were accused of rape, theft and terrorising
residents.
The bodies of the necklaced men were found in open ground and
were tied together with rope. The three injured men were taken to
hospital where one of them was treated and discharged.
Opperman on Friday said two of the men were still in a critical
condition in hospital after being severely assaulted and burnt.
The same team will also investigate allegations that the
vigilantes or street committee members were out of control and were
terrorising the residents and visitors to Goniwe section to the
extent that they were afraid to leave their homes.
Opperman said police had reached a sensitive stage in the
investigation and many of the possible witnesses were too afraid to
talk to police.
"We will now make no further details about the investigations,
except for positive breakthroughs, public.
"We have reason to believe that not revealing too much will
best serve the public's interest," Opperman said.
Anyone with information on the killings or on violent
harassment of residents in Ivory Park can contact the head of the
special investigation group, Captain Lucky Mabule, at (011)
310-3704 or 310-3322.
@ JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER VISIT TO SA
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE VISIT OF THE FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN,
MR RYUTARO HASHIMOTO TO SOUTH AFRICA - 13 TO 16 JANUARY 1999
Mr Ryutaro Hashimoto, the former Prime Minister of Japan and
currently the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Keizo
Obuchi, will visit South Africa from 13 to 16 January 1999. One of
the focal points of the visit will be to conduct a follow-up meeting
with Deputy President Thabo Mbeki who previously met Mr Hashimoto
during his official visit to Japan in April 1998.
Minister Alfred Nzo will also meet Mr Hashimoto. During his
visit Mr Hashimoto will deliver a policy speech at the South African
Institute for International Affairs. He will also attend ceremonies
related to Japan's Overseas Development Assistance projects.
Furthermore, the first plenary session of the Japan - South Africa
Partnership Forum will also be held.
This visit will further strengthen the excellent bilateral
relations between South Africa and Japan and promote cooperation in
multilateral fora. Japan is South Africa's strongest trade and
investment partner in East Asia. During 1997 trade between the two
countries amounted to R19,3 billion. Japanese companies have
invested nearly R 1.7 billion in South Africa since the 1994
elections. Japan also granted South Africa the single largest
Overseas Development Assistance package at the time in 1994.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
8 JANUARY 1999
@ BLAIR-MUSLIM
CAPE TOWN January 8 1999 Sapa
THREE HURT DURING ILLEGAL PLACARD PROTEST AGAINST BLAIR
Three people were shot and two of them arrested during an
illegal placard protest on Cape Town's Grand Parade on Friday in
protest against the arrival of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Police told Sapa a protester was shot in the head and was
admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital. She was not seriously injured
and had been arrested.
An SABC journalist was shot in a leg with rubber bullets and
was also admitted to hospital.
Police arrested a People Against Gangsterism and Drugs member.
The man was admitted to Groote Schuur with a bullet wound in an
arm.
Police were shot at after they used two stungrenades to
disperse a crowd of about 70 Muslims who had gathered on the parade
after holding a placard demonstration at Cape Town International
Airport earlier in the day.
The airport and parade demonstration followed a protest when
Blair visited the Castle.
Police spokesman Superintendent Wicus Holtzhausen said the
gathering on the parade was illegal as permission had not been
obtained.
When the protesters failed to disperse, police fired two
stungrenades. Shots were fired at police from the crowd, and a
woman, believed to be one of the demonstrators, was hit in the
head.
Earlier in the day police blocked access roads to the airport
ahead of Blair's arrival from Pretoria.
Armoured vans were parked across the roads and all approaching
cars were stopped.
The Muslims protested against Blair's visit at the airport
because of the United Kingdom's support of military strikes against
Iraq.
About 30 men and women, some wearing Islamic scarves, waved
placards condemning Blair's visit. "Death to Blair" read one, while
another said: "Tony go home."
The airport demonstration remained peaceful.
By 5.45pm there was no sign of any protesters in the immediate
vicinity of Parliament where Blair addressed a group of
parliamentarians in the old assembly chamber at 5.30pm.
Streets in the area were sealed off and a highly visible police
presence was maintained, according to a political reporter.
@ ZIM-CONGO
HARARE January 8 1999 Sapa-AP
KABILA ALLIES CLAIM MORE GAINS IN CONGO FIGHTING
Zimbabwe said Friday that allied forces captured a third town
in eastern Congo and sank a large ferry used by Congolese rebels.
The government said in a statement that the town of Moba was
captured by Congolese President Laurent Kabila's southern African
military allies on Jan. 3.
It said the ferry used to carry reinforcements and supplies
across Lake Tanganyika was sunk in follow-up air raids.
Fighting continues around the town of Mpala against rebel
forces retreating from Moba, the statement said.
An allied offensive launched in eastern Congo in December had
now cut off most enemy supply routes "and their troops are now
ravaging for food from the locals," the statement said.
On Dec. 30, Zimbabwe said Congolese forces and their allies
captured the strategic towns of Fizi and Businga in an offensive
that began Dec. 25.
Zimbabwe has about 8,000 troops fighting in the 5-month-old
Congolese civil war alongside forces from Angola, Chad and Namibia.
Friday's statement said air attacks were also mounted against
the towns of Mikato and Loni and inflicted "heavy casualties" on
two battalions of invading forces from Rwanda and Uganda.
It gave no details of casualties on either side.
"The enemy troops were using boats and canoes previously
seized from the local population who live around the Congo river
and depend on them for their livelihood," Zimbabwe said.
There was no independent confirmation of the Zimbabwean claims.
Zimbabwe says it has lost 26 soldiers killed and 17 captured
since it entered the Congo war in August.
The Congolese rebels, backed by Rwanda and Uganda, are a
coalition of ethnic Tutsis, disaffected Congolese soldiers and
opposition politicians who took up arms Aug. 2 to topple Kabila.
A summit of regional leaders seeking a cease-fire agreement is
scheduled for the Zambian capital, Lusaka, later this month.
Three previous summits scheduled since November by Zambian
President Frederick Chiluba, the chief mediator, have been
postponed because Kabila has repeatedly refused to meet
face-to-face with rebel leaders and the rebels have refused to sign
a draft cease-fire without direct talks.
@ BLAIR-IRAQ
CAPE TOWN January 8 1999 Sapa
BLAIR DEFENDS ATTACK ON IRAQ
British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday defended the recent
military action taken by Britain and the United States against Iraq
in light of its consistant failure to co-operate with efforts by
the United Nations to ensure its weapons of mass destruction were
destroyed.
"If we had not confronted (Iraqi President) Saddam (Hussein)
when we did last month, we would have only had to do so at a later
stage, in circumstances much more dangerous for his neighbours and
the rest of the world," he said in an address to parliamentarians
in Cape Town.
Sometimes regional bodies or countries with a sense of global
responsibility had to take it upon themselves to ensure peace if
collective action could not be agreed upon or taken in time, Blair
said.
"People say you cannot be self-appointed guardians of what's
right or wrong. True, but when the international community agrees
on certain objectives and then fails to implement them, those who
can act must.
"We must be flexible in the way we tackle threats to peace, but
firm in our determination to do so."
Blair applauded South Africa's attempts to broker peace in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and pledged Britain's support in
resolving that conflict and those in Angola and Sierra Leone.
Blair was full of praise for Deputy President Thabo Mbeki,
describing him as "a man of acute intelligence and political
insights".
He pledged British support for Mbeki's vision of an African
renewal, saying Britain was renewing its bonds with the continent's
peoples and nations.
"We must forget the colonial past and look forward to a new
partnership for the future."
Blair said Britain was strengthening its diplomatic
representation in West Africa and giving priority to African issues
at the UN and in the European Union.
He reitterated his support for further debt relief for poor
countries and said markets should be opened up to goods from least
the developed countries.
"Countries pursuing sound macroeconomic policies should not
have their economies battered by the global capital markets, should
not have their development put back years just because of
international contagion," Blair said.
Such countries had the right to expect assistance, not least
from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to weather
financial instability.
However, this right came with responsibilities to follow
internationally agreed-upon rules.
"The lesson of the Asian crisis is that there must be greater
transparency in international and national financial operations,
better supervision and regulation of financial operators and better
co-operation between international institutions and national
regulators."
The bulk of Blair's address was devoted to his vision of a
"Third Way" which would combine economic dynamism with social
justice.
The driving force behind the Third Way was globalisation, from
which no coutry was immune, Blair said.
Key elements of the vision were a dynamic economy, a good
education system and a climate that favoured private enterprise.
@ ANC PROGRAMME
Issued by: African National Congress
PROGRAMME OF THE ANC's 87TH BIRTHDAY RALLY AT
ATHLONE STADIUM SATURDAY 9 JANUARY 1999, FROM 10H00.
FOR ANY MEDIA INQUIRIES CALL
GERT WITBOOI
TEL: (021) 696-7510
PAGER (021) 238333 CODE ANC14
AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE
87th ANNIVERSARY
09 JANUARY 1999
ATHLONE STADIUM
PROGRAMME
Compares : Shado Twala & Clarence Ford
10h00-13h00 Cultural Activities
MC - Smuts Ngonyama
13h40-13h50 Opening Prayer
13h50-13h55 National Anthem
13h55-14h10 Welcoming of Guests Ebrahim Rasool
Messages of support Smuts Ngonyama
Introduction of the President Mendi Msimang
14h10-15h00 President Thabo Mbeki Speaks
15h10-17h30 Cultural Events Continue
1999: THE YEAR OF MASS MOBILISATION FOR THE RENEWAL OF
THE DEMOCRATIC MANDATE!
FINAL PROGRAMME FOR THE CULTURAL EVENTS ON THE 87TH
BIRTHDAY OF THE ANC
09 January 1999 at Athlone Stadium, Cape Town
10h00 Abaqondisi Brothers
10h30 Women Unite
10h50 P.SS Choir
11h05 TransSky
11h45 Harmony Singers
12h05 Aids Message
12h10 Prophets of Da City
12h50 Jimmy Dludlu
13h45 Political Programme begin
13h45 Coons enter with President
13h00 Inter faith Prayer
14h00 Joint Choir singing the National Anthem
15h30 Abonwabisi Babantu
16h00 Ringo
17h00 T K Zee
18h00 Closure
For more information please do not hesitate to contact Alex on
082 5519 164 or Shiraz on 083 4800 382.
@ CLINIC-RAID
JOHANNESBURG January 8 1999 Sapa
PRETORIA CUT-PRICE CLINIC RAIDED BY MCC INSPECTORS
The Medicines Control Council on Thursday night raided a clinic
in Pretoria and found that nurses instead of doctors were
diagnosing and issuing medication to patients, SABC television news
reported on Friday night.
An MCC inspector said there were no nurses at the clinic who
had permission to diagnose and prescribe medication to patients.
Clinic officials were unrepentant, saying they were providing a
safe, efficient and inexpensive service, the SABC reported.
The "cut-price" clinic was apparently charging visiting
patients R45 no matter what their illness was.
Asked for comment, a patient said: "So what? We are getting
what we want."
An elderly woman expressed her satisfaction with the price she
was paying, adding that she was happy with the treatment as well.
The MCC inspectors said the clinic would be reported to other
medical councils.
@ BOTSWANA-DEFICIT
GABORONE January 8 1999 Sapa-AFP
BOTSWANA HEADING FOR FIRST BUDGET DEFICIT IN 16 YEARS
Diamond-rich Botswana is heading for its first budget deficit
in 16 years as global diamond sales have slumped and government
spending has increased, analysts said in newspaper reports Friday.
A nearly one billion pula (250 million dollar) deficit is due
to be announced by Finance and Development Planning Minister
Ponatshego Kedikilwe in his first budget speech due on February 8,
government analysts said.
The deficit is blamed on sluggish sales of diamonds, with
prices falling 28 percent globally last year, according to the
London Central Selling Organisation of diamond giant De Beers.
"The one billion pula budget deficit is not a big problem -
the government has got about 20 billion pula (five billion dollars)
deposits with the Bank of Botswana," said government adviser Keith
Jeoffries.
"But the main problem is government spending. Spending has been
rising very, very fast - about 20 percent a year.
"What is worrying is that spending is growing faster than the
rate at which the economy has been growing. This will lead to
growing inflation, which is presently at 6.4 percent."
Diamonds, first mined in this arid southern African country 28
years ago, represent about one-third of the gross domestic product
(GDP) and make up 80 percent of Botswana's trade.
@ BLAIR-JOURNALIST
JOHANNESBURG January 8 1999 Sapa
SABC JOURNALIST SHOT IN LEG DURING MUSLIM ANTI-BLAIR DEMOS
SABC journalist Lin Murray was shot and wounded during a
violent confrontation between police and Muslims demonstrating
against visiting British prime minister Tony Blair, SABC radio
reported on Friday.
The demonstrators gathered outside the Castle in Cape Town to
protest against Blair's visit and the recent Anglo-American bombing
of Iraq.
Shortly before Murray was shot, she reported that police had
fired stun grenades and birdshot at protestors who had ignored a
warning to disperse.
Murray was shot in the leg with birdshot. Another woman is also
reported to have been shot.
@ BLAIR-NNP
JOHANNESBURG January 8 1999 Sapa
NNP SUPPORTS "SIGNIFICANT" SPEECH BY BLAIR
The New National Party on Friday said it supported the view of
British Prime Minister Tony Blair that crime had to be countered
with tough measures and that security from crime was the most basic
demand that citizens of any country could make.
Commenting in a statement on Blair's speech to parliamentarians
in Cape Town, which he described as "significant", NNP executive
director Renier Schoeman said his party urged the government to
accept and understand the implications of Blair's linkage of the
issues of jobs and crime.
"Clearly foreign and local investment depends directly on
adequate anti-crime measures, which South Africa is sadly lacking,"
Schoeman said.
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| Prepared by: ANC Information Services |
| Dept Information & Publicity |
| PO Box 16469 Tel: (+27 21) 262740 |
| Vlaeberg 8018 Fax: (+27 21) 262774 |
| Cape Town Internet: in...@anc.org.za |
| South Africa CompuServe: 100014,344 |
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| ANC Dept Information & Publicity Tel: (+27 21) 262740 |
| PO Box 16469, Vlaeberg 8018 Fax: (+27 21) 262774 |
| Cape Town Internet: in...@anc.org.za |
| South Africa CompuServe: 100014,344 |
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