ANC News briefing 29 January
ANC Department of Information and Publicity
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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
FRIDAY 29 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
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@ LABOUR-PPWAWU
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
MORE THAN 400 WORKERS LOCKED OUT AT NATIONAL MAGAZINE PRINTERS
More than 400 members of the Paper, Print, Wood and Allied
Workers Union have been locked out at National Magazine Printers in
Cape Town after the union staged a go-slow following what it termed
futile wage negotiations.
The go-slow began on Wednesday afternoon, SABC Radio reported
on Thursday morning.
A spokesman for the management said they informed the workers
that the go-slow would be considered as industrial action and they
would be locked out at 8pm on Wednesday.
A spokesman for National Magazine Printers said it was business
as usual at the printing house.
@ ELECTIONS-DP
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
DP SWEEPS CAPE BYELECTION
The Democratic Party has trounced the National Party in a
municipal by-election at Kraaifontein in the Western Cape, in a
ward where it did not even bother to put up a candidate in the 1996
local government elections.
A delighted DP Western Cpe leadr Hennie Bester said on
Thursday morning that the victory, which follows the recent
defections of several "coloured" MPs from the New National Party in
the province to the DP, marked a sea change in voter pereceptions.
In the May 1996 polls, he said, the National Party won with
over a thousand votes, followed by an indepndent candidate, Deon
Basson, with 700.
In Wednesday's poll, DP candidate Fanie Jacobs swept to vistory
with 531 votes ahead of Basson, with 364, beating NNP candidate
Wilfred Hambly into third place with 250 votes. Freedom Front
candidate Wouter Minnie secured 121 votes.
Bester said about 4000 people were registered as voters in the
ward, which falls in the Oostenberg substructure of the Cape
Metropole, but that because more than a quarter of them had moved,
the effective number was closer to 3000. This meant a poll of about
35 percent in Wednesday's byelection.
Bester said the DP victory raised very serious questions about
the NNP's ability to mobilise politically "in any efficient way".
"There's either a sea change amongst voters or a collapse of
the NP's organisational capcity, or both," he said.
He said it was easy to say that defections by political office
bearers reflected a new mood in the province. "But if it's also
reflected at grass roots level it gets an entirely different
context.
"This is a point I've been making: there's a realignment in
poliitcs.
Voters move in behind those who they perceive can protect their
interests.
"I'm delighted. We had a sense we could possibly win it, but to
beat the NNP two to one and for them to land in third place is
truly astonishing."
@ ZIM-JOURNALISTS
HARARE Jan 28 Sapa-AFP
DOCTOR CONFIRMS JOURNALISTS TORTURED
A doctor has confirmed that two Zimbabwean journalists were
tortured after being detained over a reported coup plot against
President Robert Mugabe.
P.C.K. Chigwanda said in a report made available to AFP
Thursday that he had found physical evidence that both men had been
subjected to electric shocks and were beaten.
He examined the two journalists, Standard newspaper editor Mark
Chavunduka and reporter Ray Choto, at the request of their lawyers
when they were released from detention last week.
The doctor said there was "no doubt in my mind" that both men
were "severely tortured".
He said Choto told him he was handcuffed and shackled during
the torture by military police in an underground chamber.
He was shocked on his genitals and at other times the electric
wires were attached to the leg irons "so that the electricity would
pass through the whole body and make him shake."
During one torture session, which lasted from 2:15 p.m. on
January 19 until 5:00 a.m. the next morning, he was beaten
repeatedly about the head with fists and boots and with a plank on
the buttocks and soles of his feet.
Chavunduka was subjected to similar treatment, including
electric shocks, and both men also had their heads forced into bags
of water.
The torturers continually asked them to name their sources for
a report that 23 army officers had been arrested for inciting
others to topple Mugabe, mainly because of discontent over the
country's involvement in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Defence Minister Moven Mahachi denied the report.
Both men, who are now on bail, were charged with publishing
false news likely to cause public "alarm and despondency."
Lawyers acting for the two journalists are pressing for
contempt of court charges to be brought against Mahachi, whose
ministry initially defied a court order to free Chavunduka.
They are also preparing statements and medical reports to
present to the attorney-general for action to be taken against the
torturers.
Meanwhile, the government says it plans to introduce new
regulations to conrol independent media in the country.
Information ministry secretary Willard Chiwewe was quoted by
the state-controlled Herald newspaper as saying "information about
Zimbabwe is being manufactured and manipulated into lethal weapons
for our downfall."
He said the government planned "a national media policy to
create a regulatory framework for the registration and licensing of
the media."
Zimbabwe's government already controls all radio and television
and daily newspapers in the country, while the independent press
publishes a handful of weekly newspapers and monthly magazines.
@ OFFICIAL VISIT OF CHANCELLOR OF AUSTRIA
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE OFFICIAL VISIT TO THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA BY THE CHANCELLOR OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA, MR
VIKTOR KLIMA
The Austrian Chancellor, Mr Viktor Klima, accompanied by his wife
Sonja, will visit South Africa from 2-4 February 1999 at the
invitation of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki. The Chancellor's
delegation will include the Austrian Minister of Finance, Mr Rudolf
Edlinger, and a large delegation of senior Austrian government
officials, high-level businesspersons and members of the Austrian
media.
The visit will enjoy a strong economic focus and will also
afford both governments the opportunity to discuss and further
promote issues of bilateral and regional interest at the highest
level. Meetings have been scheduled with Deputy President Thabo
Mbeki, Minister Trevor Manuel and Minister Alec Erwin. The Austrian
delegation will also visit Robben Island and Saldanha Bay.
Chancellor Klima will pay a courtesy call on President Nelson
Mandela. Given Austria's leadership role in the European Union
(EU)
as mmediae past EU president and current member ofthe EU
Troika, and South Africa's position as President of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) and Chairman of the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM), discussions will also involve SADC/EU cooperation,
current negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the
political situation in the region. EU/SADC relations formed a
prominent part of Austria's EU Presidency which saw the holding of a
number of important Southern African regional conferences. These
included the conference on conflict prevention and the SADC/EU Joint
Ministerial Conference in Vienna in November 1998, co-hosted or
coordinated by the Austrian government.
Austria and South Africa enjoy excellent bilateral relations.
Since 1994 a number of important agreements such as the Avoidance of
Double Taxation Agreement and the Reciprocal Protection of
Investments Agreement have been successfully concluded. High-level
visits have included the visit by Deputy President Mbeki to Austria
in September 1995 and in October 1997 and the cnstructive meeting
between President Mandela and Chancellor Klima in Cardiff in June
1998, a visit by the Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister,
Mr Wolfgang Sch=FCssel, and a previous visit in 1995 by Chancellor
Klima in his then capacity of Minister for Public Economy and
Transport.
These visits have underscored the healthy nature of bilateral
relations between the two countries. Total bilateral trade amounted
to R680.5 million in 1997 with South African exports to Austria
contributing R234.1 million to that statistic.
Furthermore thousands of Austrian and South African tourists of
all walks of life annually confirm the popularity of each other's
respective country as tourism destinations - more than 25 000
Austrians visited South African shores last year. In the fields of
Arts and Culture a constant exchange and interaction between the two
countries have firmly established themselves with a number of South
African performing artists achieving prominence in Austria. Austrian
development assistance to South Africa has focussed on capacity and
institution building with particular emphasis on provincial and
local government.
The Austrian business community in South Africa forms a very
active and committed partner in the development of the country
especially in the mining industry where a number of large projects
can boast strong Austrian participation.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
28 JANUARY 1999
@ MANDELA-ARRIVE
BADEN BADEN, Germany Jan 28 Sapa
MANDELA ARRIVES IN GERMANY
President Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel arrived in
Baden Baden at 8.10am local time on Thursday morning at the start
of a whistle-stop tour to Germany.
Local dignitaries and a handful of journalists braved the cold
and rain to greet Mandela and his entourage at the airport.
The President, who wore a fur hat with ear flaps and a heavy
coat to ward off the cold, appeared in good spirits. He briefly
shook hands with members of the welcoming party, which was led by
Baden Baden's lord-mayor Dr Lang, before being whisked off to his
luxury hotel, a 30-minute drive from Baden Baden.
The town, which is famous for its thermal baths, is situated in
southern Germany's Black Forest district.
The main purpose of the visit is for Mandela to receive the
1998 German Media Award which is given to outstanding public
figures by the European media research insitute, Media Control.
Mandela will spend most of the day resting at his hotel.
In the late afternoon he is scheduled to meet German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroder at a luxury hotel in the town, prior to the award
ceremony.
The visit to Germany was shortened to one day in light of last
weekend's violence in Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal.
On Friday morning Mandela flies to Davos in Switzerland where
e will attend the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, along
with 39 other heads of state.
@ REGIONAL MEETING ON THE COMOROS
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON REGIONAL MEETING ON THE COMOROS
Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo called on all Comorans to recommit
themselves to finding a lasting solution to the problems facing the
archipelago. Minister Nzo made this appeal when he opened a regional
ministerial meeting on the Comoros in Pretoria today. The meeting is
being chaired by Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary General of the OAU,
and includes ministerial delegations from the Comoros, Madagascar,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles and South Africa.
Delegations from Algeria, Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, in their
capacity as the Troika of the OAU, are also participating.
The meeting has been convened at the request of the Prime
Minister of the Comoros, Mr Abbas Djoussuf, to discuss ways of
breaking the impasse created when the islands of Anjouan and Moheli
declared secession from the Comoran archipelego in 1997. The meeting
will examine ways of implementing recent OAU decisions to hold an
inter-island conference which will address the constitutional
concerns of the parties involved in the current dispute. The holding
of a donor conference to assist in alleviating the deteriorating
socio-economic situation on the islands will also be discussed.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
28 JANUARY 1999
@ RICHMOND-BODYGUARD
DURBAN Jan 28 Sapa
BODYGUARD TELLS OF NKABINDE'S ASSASSINATION
The bodyguard of slain United Democratic Movement national
secretary and KwaZulu-Natal provincial leader Sifiso Nkabinde is
being kept in hiding by the UDM to protect him until he can testify
about his former employer's killing, a Durban newspaper reported on
Thursday.
Simphiwe Dlamini, 27, was with Nkabinde when they came under
attack outside a supermarket in Richmond village in the midlands on
Saturday morning.
Nkabinde, who was shot several times, died of his wounds.
Dlamini's mother Lendele is still recovering from her wounds in
Pietermaritzburg's Medi City hospital.
Dlamini, who was shot in the ribs, a thigh and an arm was
discharged from hospital on Monday.
In an interview with The Mercury newspaper, Dlamini described
how he tried to shield Nkabinde from the hail of bullets. "Mr
Nkabinde was driving, I was seated next to him and my mother was in
the back...The shooting started and I saw bullets hitting Mr
Nkabinde. I covered him...I lay on top of him...I retaliated,
shooting at the attackers."
He shouted at Sandile Ngcobo, who was nearby, to assist and
they summoned a taxi to take Nkabinde to hospital in
Pietermaritzburg.
"I stayed with him all the way. I never thought he would die,"
Dlamini said.
He would not be drawn onwhether he was able to identify the
attackers.
Dlamini is a former member of the police VIP protection unit.
@ DRCONGO-UGANDA
KAMPALA Jan 28 Sapa-AFP
DR CONGO REBEL DELEGATION IN UGANDA
A delegation from the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD)
is in Kampala for a meeting with Uganda President Yoweri Museveni,
the state-owned New Vision newspaper reported Thursday.
The RCD, backed by Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi - although
Bujumbura denies its troops are in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) - has waged a six-month war in a bid to topple the
government of President Laurent Kabila, who is backed by troops
from Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
The arrival of the RCD delegation, which includes its
president, Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, followed the resignation of
Arthur Zahidi Ngoma as vice president of the RCD.
Ngoma said Tuesday that he would not continue serving as the
number two in the rebels' political wing, saying it had become
"isolated."
New Vision quoted unnamed sources as saying that Ngoma was
considering joining another rebel group, the Ugandan-backed
Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), which is led by businessman
Jean-Pierre Bemba, and which has been operating in the northeast of
the DRC.
Prior to the emergence of the MLC, Uganda had criticised the
RCD for failing to mobilise the population and create a broad-based
rebel movement to help popularise the rebellion.
@ PROGRAMME OF VICE PRESIDENT OF CHINA
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
OFFICIAL VISIT TO THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA BY THE VICE PRESIDENT
OF THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, MR HU JINTAO: 31 JANUARY - 4
FEBRUARY 1999
Media representatives interested in covering the following
events should please submit by fax (FAX NO: (012) 351 0260) full
names, contact numbers (mobile numbers if possible) and full
particulars about the media organisations they represent to the
Department of Foreign Affairs by Friday, 29 January 1999, no later
than 12:00:
1. Arrival at Cape Town International Airport
2. Meeting with Speaker at Cape Grace hotel
3. Meeting with Deputy President Mbeki at Tuynhuys
4. Official Dinner on 2 February hosted by Deputy President Mbeki
(Pool arrangement)
Media will be required to present their press cards in order to
gain access to the various venues. Media are kindly requested to
arrive at venues at least 30 minutes before, unless otherwise
indicated.
PROGRAMME:
Sunday, 31 January 1999
1820 Arrival: Cape Town International airport
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
Media to assemble in VIP room at the airport by 17:25 for bus to
tarmac
1900 Arrival at Cape Grace Hotel
1945 Meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly, Mrs F Ginwala at
Cape Grace Hotel
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY (hotel lobby, after meeting)
Monday, 1 February 1999
1100 Official opening of the Consulate-General of the
People's Republic of China in Cape Town
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
Contact: Mr Pan Qi
cell: 083 447 6639
Tuesday, 2 February 1999
1030 Bilateral meeting with Deputy President Mbeki and signing
ceremony
Venue: Cape Grace hotel
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
1930 Official dinner in honour of Vice President Hu
Jintao hosted by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki
Venue: Table Bay hotel
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY - POOL ARRANGEMENT
Wednesday, 3 February 1999
1030 Arrival at Sandton Hilton hotel
1045 Meeting with the Premier of Gauteng Province, Adv
SM Motshekga at Sandton Hilton hotel
AND
Official opening of the Chinese Consulate-General
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
Contact: Ms Ma Deyun
cell: 082 858 0033
1400 Visit to the Hector Peterson Memorial, Soweto
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
Contact: Ms Ma Deyun
cell: 082 858 0033
1930 Dinner in honour of Vice President Hu Jintao
hosted by the Africa-Asia society. Vice President
Hu Jintao to deliver an address.
MEDIA OPPORTUNITY
Contact: Mr Martin Davis (Director)
tel: 011 - 339 8127
cell: 083 459 8880
Enquiries: Adri Cronje 082 889 0071
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
28 JANUARY 1999
@ EU POURS MILLIONS INTO POOREST PROVINCE
Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)
GRAHAMSTOWN (ECN) - The tiny Eastern Cape town of Cala will be a
hive of activtiy today (Subs:Thurs) when Pretoria-based Ambassador
Michael Laidler, Head of Delegation for the European Commission in
South Africa opens the new Cala School built with overseas funding.
Also in attendance will be Minister of Education Dr Sibusiso
Bengu. The Ambassador will also visit a water project at Cofimvaba
as well as a Policing Project at Whittlesea, near Queenstown.
Since 1994 the European Programme for Reconstruction and
Development (EPRD) has funded 56 schools in the Eastern Cape. An
amount of R4.2bn has committed to development projects in South
Africa of which R1.2 billion went to the Eastern Cape.
"This is in addition to individual bilateral contributions from
each of the 15-member states." The programme is run under by the
15-member European Union, which is South Africa's largest foreign
donor. The focus areas of the EPRD are basic social services:
health, education, water, sanitation and housing.
Funding is also allocated to private sector development,
regional cooperation, democratisation processes and good governance.
The European Union was formed in 1952 and the original six states of
the European Economic Community (EEC) were Belgium, France, Germany,
Iataly, Luxemborg and the Netherlands.
In 1973 the EEC was joined by Denmark, Ireland and the United
Kingdom followed by Greece in 1981. Spain and Portugal joined the
EEC in 1986 and the last three members, Austria, Finland and Sweden
in 1995.
@ CRIME-SPOORNET
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
SPOORNET PASSENGER OPENS ASSAULT CASE AGAINST GUARDS
A case of assault was opened on Thursday against three Spoornet
security guards after a passenger said he was kicked and beaten on
a train, East Rand police said.
The assault of Abdul Mogale allegedly took place in a train
between Thembisa and Germiston on Thursday morning.
Mogale told Sapa he was sitting in the third-class section when
people came running from the first-class carriages.
"I was sitting down when they approached me asking for a
ticket," said Mogale.
The guards allegedly told him to pay a R10 fine for boarding
first class with a third class ticket.
Mogale told them that he was never in first class.
"One of them grabbed me by my belt and scrotum and they started
beating me I was handcuffed and they continued beating and kicking
me," said Mogale.
He said the three guards took him to the first-class section
where Mogale called the police from his cellular phone.
He was taken to the Germiston police station where he opened an
assault case against the three guards.
@ CONGO-VIOLENCE
POINTE NOIRE, Congo, Jan 28, Sapa-AFP
MISSING EUROPEANS TURN UP AMONG REFUGEES IN CONGO TOWN
Two Europeans and another churchman who went missing in
southern Congo have turned up in Pointe Noire with 600 people who
fled clashes in the Dolisie region, missionary sources said
Thursday.
A train brought displaced people, along with priests from
France and Switzerland and a missionary of undisclosed nationality,
to the port city along the key rail link between the Atlantic coast
and the capital Brazzaville, sources said.
The three Roman Catholic missionaries went missing during heavy
fighting on Monday and Tuesday between pro-government forces and
rebel militias for control of Dolisie, Congo's third largest town,
which lies on the railway some 300 kilometres (200 miles) west of
Brazzaville.
It was not immediately clear how the three, who went missing
from their residence in Dolisie on Monday night, had reached the
train which was waiting at Mvouti, about 30 kilometres (20 miles),
west of Dolisie. Local Congolese refugees from the fighting walked
down the line to board it.
Source said the train was escorted to Pointe Noire by about 50
armed paramilitary police.
The railway has been a target of militias who backed president
Pascal Lissouba before he was ousted from power in October 1997,
after a five-month civil war, by former military ruler General
Denis Sassou Nguesso.
Sassou Nguesso's armed forces, backed by Angolan troops, have
for the past five months been pitted against Lissouba loyalists and
the militia force set up by ousted prime minister Bernard Kolelas.
In December, heavy fighting broke out in the Brazzaville
region, with clashes in the hills to the southwest of the capital
and fighting in parts of the city itself.
Seven other European nationals, employees of a forestry company
operating to the north of Dolisie, were still missing on Thursday
morning, sources said.
An employee of the Socobois company on Wednesday told AFP that
those who had disappeared were five French people, a Dane and a
German. Details were, however, sketchy.
@ FRANCE-DUMAS
PARIS, Jan 28, Sapa-AFP
ELF BRIBED ALL POLITICAL PARTIES: DUMAS' EX-MISTRESS
France's oil giant Elf-Aquitaine, implicated in a corruption
scandal involving ex-foreign minister Roland Dumas, bribed all
political parties in its bid to win contracts worldwide, Dumas'
former mistress alleged Thursday.
"Elf financed everyone," Christine Deviers-Joncour said in an
interview with the wide-circulation daily Le Parisien. "They all
pocketed."
She said Alfred Sirven, a former powerful Elf executive wanted
in a vast probe on the abuse of corporate assets by the oil
conglomerate, once boasted to her of being an expert at delivering
cash-filled briefcases to politicians whom he despised.
"Sirven used to say he had enough ammunition to blow up the
state 20 times over," Deviers-Joncour said.
Among those implicated, she said, are a former Socialist prime
minister, a former right-wing minister and the Paris City Hall.
"Sirven once stopped by my apartment and opened the trunk of
his car which was filled with 500-franc (100-dollars) notes hidden
under a checkered blanket," Deviers-Joncour, hired by Sirven to
work at Elf, told the daily. "That day, he was making his rounds."
Catherine Durand, a spokeswoman at Elf, declined to comment on
the article Thursday saying only that Deviers-Joncour's allegations
involve something that happened in the past.
"We leave her to take responsibility for her comments," Durand
said.
Sirven, number two to former Elf-Aquitaine boss Loik Le
Floch-Prigent between 1989 and 1993, has been on the run since
early 1977, when a warrant for his arrest was delivered.
Another warrant was issued this month in 177 countries.
The failure to locate him had led to reports he might be dead
and to a multitude of alleged sightings in places as far away as
South Africa and South America.
Deviers-Joncour, 52, was paid 11 million dollars in commissions
by Elf to help convince Dumas, while he was foreign minister, to
drop his opposition to a 2.5 billion dollar sale of six warships to
Taiwan by defence and electronics firm, Thomson.
Though Dumas, 76, who as head of the Constitutional Council is
France's fifth-ranking official in the state hierarchy, never
changed his mind, the sale went ahead.
He and Deviers-Joncour have been under investigation for more
than a year and face charges of abuse of corporate assets in
connection with the hefty commissions she pocketed.
Both deny any wrongdoing and Dumas has rejected mounting calls
for his resignation.
@ MUTUAL-COSATU
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
COSATU CONCERNED OVER OLD MUTUAL'S PROPOSED LONDON LISTING
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said today
it was concerned about the proposed London listing of Old Mutual
and regretted that the life assurance giant had announced its
intention without a further meeting with the congress.
In a statement issued in Johannesburg Thursday, Cosatu
president John Gomomo said:
"Cosatu has noted the statements on demutualisation and listing
of Old Mutual issued by the Finance Minister and Old Mutual
respectively.
"Cosatu has been in discussion with Old Mutual for some months
now, dealing with issues of transformation of the company, the
future role of policyholders and shareholders, investment in the
South African economy and other issues.
"We were able to develop a common approach in these areas.
"While we were satisfied with their plans to safeguard
shareholders' and policyholders' money, we were still concerned
about their intention to list in London."
Gomono added:"We were unable to hold further meetings in
December and January and we are planning to meet with Old Mutual in
early February. We find it regrettable that Old Mutual would
announce their intention to list in London before this meeting has
taken place."
It said it agreed with the view expressed by the Minister of
Finance that it was not government policy to allow South Africa
companies to have primary listings on foreign stock markets.
Gomono concluded:"Old Mutual and ourselves have agreed to
continue discussions on these matters. In these discussions we will
see to what extent their approach to the listings complies with the
conditions outlined by the minister. In the meantime we will be
studying further both statements and will issue a full response in
due course.
"Our detailed response will also outline our proposal to
current policyholders with regard to the voting."
@ ZIM-DRCONGO
HARARE Jan 28 Sapa-AFP
CHILUBA MEETS MUGABE ON DRCONGO
Zambian President Frederick Chiluba arrived in Zimbabwe on
Thursday for talks with President Robert Mugabe on the conflict in
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the state news agency
reported.
Chiluba will consult Mugabe on the agreement for a ceasefire
reached at a mini-summit on the DRC held in Namibia last week, the
agency said.
Those talks involved Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola, which back
DRC President Laurent Kabila, and Uganda and Rwanda, which support
rebels trying to topple him.
The Zambian president has been trying to arrange a regional
summit of all parties involved in the conflict for a formal
ceasefire agreement since early December, but without success.
@ AUSTRIA-VISIT
PRETORIA Jan 28 Sapa
AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR TO VISIT SA
Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima will arrive in South Africa on
February 2 for a high-level three-day visit which will focus mainly
on trade between the two countries, the Department of Foreign
Affairs said on Thursday.
Talks during the visit will focus on co-operation between the
European Union and the Southern African Development Community as
well as the current Free Trade Agreement negotiations between the
EU and South Africa.
Until December last year, Austria held the presidency of the
EU. South Africa currently holds the presidency of SADC.
Klima, who will be accompanied by wife Sonja and a large
delegation of senior government officials and business people, will
meet Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, Trade Minister Alec Erwin and
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.
The Austrian delegation includes Finance Minister Rudolf
Edlinger.
The chancellor will pay a courtesy call on President Nelson
Mandela.
Austria and South Africa enjoyed excellent relations and since
1994 a number of important agreements on double taxation and
investment protection had been signed between them, the department
said.
Total bilateral trade amounted to R680,5 million in 1997 with
South African exports to Austria contributing R234,1 million to
that figure. More than 25000 Austrians visited South Africa in
1998.
The Austrian business community is very active in South Africa,
particularly in the mining industry, the department said.
@ SUNSAT
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California Jan 28 Sapa-AP
ENGINE PROBLEMS DELAY FIRST SATELLITES BUILT BY SOUTH AFRICA
AND DENMARK LAUNCHED
An engine problem has forced officials to delay indefinitely
the launch of the first satellites built by South Africa and
Denmark that were to ride along with a U.S. Air Force research
satellite.
Details of the problem were not immediately released. The
launch, which has suffered repeated delays because of weather
conditions, was scheduled early Thursday.
"We're apparently experiencing an engine shutdown, very
unusual," said John Demko, a spokesman for NASA at the base. "It
definitely won't be fixed tonight."
He was "absolutely unsure" of when the launch would be
rescheduled. Demko could not give details on the engine problem.
The launch of the two-stage Boeing Delta II rocket has been
delayed several times because of high upper level winds. The
weather seemed to be cooperating Thursday, but not the rocket.
South Africa's university-built Sunsat will be used for remote
sensing and amateur radio communication while Denmark's Orsted
spacecraft will precisely map Earth's magnetic field.
The primary payload is NASA's 3-ton Advanced Research and
Global Observation Satellite, dubbed Argos.
@ FRENCH/SA MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING IS SIGNED
Issued by: French Embassy
FRENCH-SOUTH AFRICAN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON CAPACITY
BUILDING SIGNED BY MINISTER VALLI MOOSA AND TRISTAN D'ALBIS, FRENCH
AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH AFRICA.
The Minister of Provincial Affairs and Constitutional
Development, Mr Valli Moosa and the French Ambassador, Mr. Tristan
d'Albis, launched on Wednesday 27 January the INCA/FRENCH FUND and
signed a Memorandum of Understanding focusin on capacity building
programmes.
Mr. Valli Moosa said he was "particularly encouraged by the
objectives of the MOU which clearly articulate the need to target
the disadvantaged communities in South Africa. This objective is in
line with the spirit of the RDP". The Minister of Provincial Affairs
and Constitutional Development underlin "the need for capacity
building and technical support for its Department in assisting the
Municipalities to become global players in the next centuary. He
thanked the French Government "for extending its assistance to those
who need it the most, the disadvantaged communities".
The French Ambassador, for his part, stressed that this
"Memorandum Of Understanding between the two governments covers the
financing of basic infrastructure for previously disadvantaged
communities, the development of capacity-building programmes for
municipalities, the promotion of economic co-operation through
feasibility studies in the field of urban transport, water
management and social housing, and lastly the facilitation of links
between French and South African local Authorities". Mr d'Albis
concluded that the document signed" will give more impulse and
dynamic to our projects through a better co-ordinating French and
South African initiatives, both public and private, towards
upgrading the everyday-life of previously disadvantaged communities,
thus leading to a strong and healthy democracy in South Africa."
More information:
Agence Francaise de Developpement
Anne Odic
Tel 011 784 09 56
French Embassy
Yves Lo-Pinto
Tel 012 429 7017
@ MUNICIPAL-FF
BLOEMFONTEIN Jan 28 Sapa
NNP WINS BLOEMFONTEIN MUNICIPAL BY-ELECTION, BUT FF CLOSES GAP
Although the Freedom Front lost to the New National Party in
the municipal by-election in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, the party's
improved showing signified a growing trend away from the NP, FF
chairman Dr Pieter Mulder said in a statement on Thursday.
The FF polled 466 votes in ward 10 against the NNP's 623 votes,
but improved its voter support in the ward by 26 percent.
This proved, with reference to the NNP, that when a political
party began to show a downward trend in popularity, it was
difficult to stop the trend, Mulder said.
NNP Free State chairman Willem Odendaal said the FF had wasted
valuable money by campaigning in a ward normally dominated by NNP
supporters.
He said the money could have been put to better use when the
NNP and FF stood together in opposing the African National Congress
during the general elections.
@ ANGOLA-UN
LUANDA Jan 28 Sapa-AFP
ANGOLA REJECTS SUGGESTION OF SKELETON UN OBSERVER MISSIN
The Angolan government on Thursday rejected a suggestion by UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan that the United Nations retain a small
observer mission in the war-torn country.
"The government cannot accept the presence of United Nations
personnel in Angola," said Deputy Minister for Territorial
Administration Higino Carneiro.
"We have not yet replied to (Annan's) letter, but the response
will definitely be negative," Carneiro told parliament, while
clarifying that UN agencies would remain in the country.
Annan, in a recent report to the Security Council, concluded in
view of the resumption of civil war in the southern African country
that he was obliged to order the withdrawal of the UN observer
mission in Angola (MONUA), whose staff of some 1,000 includes 650
peacekeepers.
Nevertheless, Annan suggested that a small MONUA delegation
stay on.
UN special envoy to Angola Issa Diallo had recommended the
deployment of some UN troops to escort humanitarian aid convoys.
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos in December called for MONUA
to withdraw, saying its mission - to observe and verify
implementation of the peace accords - had failed.
@ ECONOMY-OLDMUTUAL
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
TOUGH YEAR AHEAD FOR SOUTH AFRICANS; OLD MUTUAL
South Africa seems set to have yet another tough year with the
effect of last year's external and domestic shocks expected to be a
strain on growth this year, Rian le Roux, head of economic research
at Old Mutual Asset Managers said on Thursday.
"Weak world growth and painfully high real interest rates
suggest little hope for economic growth this year."
He said global growth this year would be even weaker than last
year. "Weak export volumes and dull prices will squeeze local
commodity producers. Further, last year's interest rate shocks will
curtail consumer demand and fixed investment spending for a while
still, even if rates fall further in the first half of this year."
He said the 19 percent drop in car sales last year and the
sharp rise in forced company liquidations showed just how tough the
times were.
"On a more positive note, we expect neither a deep nor a
prolonged recession. Structurally, the economy is now far healthier
than at any stage over the past two decades. Moreover, cyclical
forces will kick in and lift growth."
While the real economy was expected to suffer this year,
financial market conditions ought to improve. Despite market risks
such as further emerging shocks and a vulnerable balance of
payments' position, interest rates could still fall much further
over the course of the year.
"The tendency world-wide for interest rates to fall, weak
private sector demand locally and limited inflationary pressures
here would make such a drop in rates possible. We expect prime rate
to return to 18 percent or below by year-end."
Le Roux predicted that balance of payment stresses would remain
for quite some time. He said imports remained stubbornly high while
exports were dropping in line with poor global growth conditions.
He said he expected the rand to end at around R6,50 to the US
dollar.
"Towards the end of this year, the positive effects on growth
of lower interest rates, the more competitive currency, healthier
global conditions, a slower pace of inventory run-down and Old
Mutual's demutualisation will be felt. We expect growth in the
region of 0,5 percent for the full year."
@ MACHEL-AWARD
BADEN BADEN, Germany Jan 28 Sapa
MACHEL TO BE AWARDED NORTH-SOUTH PRIZE
South Africa's first lady Graca Machel was on Thursday to
receive an award from the Council of Europe's North-South Centre in
recognition of the role she has played in protecting human rights
and democracy.
The 1998 North-South Prize was to be handed over at a ceremony
in Strasbourg, France, during the Council of Europe's parliamentary
session, and is scheduled for 1pm local time.
Machel and her husband, President Nelson Mandela, arrived early
on Thursday morning in the southern German town of Baden Baden,
where Mandela is to meet Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and receive
the 1998 German Media Prize later in the day.
Machel flew to Strasbourg by helicopter to attend the award
ceremony, while Mandela stayed behind in his hotel to rest.
The Council of Europe said in a statement the award was in
recognition of Machel's devotion to furthering education in
Mozambique and her work with children in the war-torn country.
The North-South Prize is awarded to two personalities each year
- one from the northern and one from the southern hemisphere.
The other recipient this year is Lloyd Axworthy, the Canadian
foreign affairs minister, who has played a central role in
achieving a ban on anti-personnel landmines.
In an acceptance speech prepared for delivery, Machel said the
award was a tribute to all those seeking to ensure that the world
acted to redress the plight of children.
Armed conflict had had a shocking impact on children. Two
million children had been killed and 4,5 million wounded in wars in
the last decade. An estimated 300,000 children under 16 had been
drafted as soldiers.
Children also suffered the violence of poverty, Machel said.
Malnutrition and preventable diseases killed 12 million
children each year, and over 70 million children were forced to
work.
Despite the focus on the plight of children, in many respects
their situation had worstened, Machel said.
"We cannot escape the contradiction between what, as an
international community, we have proclaimed ought to happen and the
preventable wrongs that happen in reality."
Machel praised the North-South Centre for the role it played in
highlighting children's issues.
Machel is due to return to Germany on Thursday afternoon, and
she and Mandela are scheduled to leave for Davos, Switzerland on
Friday morning.
@ ELECTIONS-NP
PRETORIA Jan 28 Sapa
DP KRAAIFONTEIN WIN NOT SIGNIFICANT, SAYS NP
The New National Party on Thursday brushed off the Democratic
Party's victory in a municipal by-election in Kraaifontein near
Cape Town, saying such polls did not reflect national voter trends.
"The New NP does not believe that municipal by-elections should
be regarded as a significant barometer of voter trends," said NNP
media director Juli Kilian after the DP's Fanie Jacobs secured the
seat, which forms part of the Oostenberg substructure.
DP Western Cape leader Hennie Bester boasted that the victory,
coming after the defection of several "coloured" MPs from the NNP
to the DP, marked "a sea change in voter perceptions".
In the May 1996 municipal elections, the DP had not even
bothered to put a candidate in the ward, which was won by the then
National Party with over a thousand votes. "There's a realignment
in politics," he said.
Kilian, however, responded: "If the DP regards these results
together with the unprincipled defections of disaffected public
representatives (as significant), they are set for another grave
disappointment at the polls in the general elections".
He said more votes were cast against the DP candidate than for
him.
Jacobs secured 531 votes, followed by independent candidate
Deon Basson with 364, the NNP's Wilfred Hambly with 250 and the
Freedom Front's Wouter Minnie with 121.
Kilian described DP leader Tony Leon's "crowing" about the
Kraaifontein win was "no more than ... a masterly crafted
disinformation strategy to create the impression that the DP was
expanding its support base".
@ ATTORNEYS-OMAR
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
STATE ATTORNEYS OFFICES TO BE TRANSFORMED
Justice Minister Dullah Omar on Thursday said the state
attorneys offices, which provide legal services to all government
departments, would be transformed and rationalised, Network Radio
News reported.
Speaking in Cape Town at the first conference of state
attorneys since their establishment 40 years ago, Omar said
transformation and rationalisation would be implemented as from
this year
He said it was unacceptable that some state attorneys acted
simply as go-betweens between state departments and private
advocates.
He suggested that state attorneys offices might also employ
state advocates to save the state the costs of hiring private
advocates.
He said hard working justice officials were disillusioned and
wanted to see change.
The distribution of state attorneys offices had been determined
by former apartheid policies and many areas had been neglected,
Omar said.
@ EDUC-EU
PORT ELIZABETH Jan 28 Sapa
EUROPEAN UNION TO FUND CONSTRUCTION OF 55 EASTERN CAPE SCHOOLS
The European Union is funding the construction of 55 schools in
the Eastern Cape, the EU announced on Thursday.
EU spokeswoman Carol-Anne Killian said EU Ambassador Michael
Laidler, head of delegation of the European Commission, and
Minister of Education Sibusiso Bengu opened one of the schools in
Cala on Thursday.
The funding forms part of the EU's education sectoral support
programme which has spent R1,12 billion on South Africa's education
sector since 1994.
"We are blessed to be the recipients of a building programme
such as this," Bengu said in the EU statement.
"In reality, 55 schools will educate generations of South
Africans well into the next millennium.
Laidler said: "The need for educational assistance in the
Eastern Cape is clear as it features as the poorest in terms of
education infrastructure."
@ ORGANISED-ACT
PRETORIA Jan 28 Sapa
ORGANISED CRIME ACT COMES INTO EFFECT
The Prevention of Organised Crime Act, which makes it illegal
for a person to belong to a criminal gang, came into effect on
Thursday.
The Department of Justice and the detective services in a joint
statement on Thursday said the Act emanated from the rapid growth
in organised crime and its threat to international security.
The Act was the result of the work of a task team set up by
Justice Minister Dullah Omar to investigate the feasibility of
legislative measures to enable police to effectively deal with
organised crime, money laundering and criminal gang activities.
The law creates offences relating to racketeering activities,
to prevent the infiltration and contamination of legitimate
organisations by organised criminals. It also makes it unlawful to
invest the proceeds derived from crime in any enterprise.
The law provides for the confiscation of the proceeds of
unlawful activities and it makes it unlawfulfor persons to
participarte in or become members of a criminal gang if their
objectives are to aid and abet any criminal activity.
It makes it unlawful to recruit someone to join a criminal
gang.
The Act also allows for the proceeds or the instruments of
offences to be confiscated and forfeited without a conviction being
a prerequisite.
It further places an obligation upon business organisations to
report suspicious transactions pertaining to the proceeds of crime
to police.
"The SAPS as well as the Department of Justice welcomes this
act and are optimistic that it will enhance the capacity of both
police and prosecutors in dealing with the issue of organised
crime.
"The Act will assist in confiscating the proceeds and
instrumentalities of crime, thus, enabling law enforcement
authorities to deprive criminals of their ill-gotten profits," the
statement said.
@ BOTSWANA-ECONOMY
GABORONE Jan 28 Sapa
RISING CREDIT AND INFLATION FORCE BOTSWANA TO RAISE BANK RATE
The Bank of Botswana on Thursday announced a 0,25 percent
increase in the bank rate to 12,75 percent.
The rate was last raised
in August last year, from 11,75 percent to 12,5 percent.
The bank attributed the latest increase to the growing demand
for credit in the economy, which was leading to increased
inflation.
"It was imperative to take measures to ensure price stability,"
it said.
Botswana's year on year inflation increased to
6,4 percent in December from 5,9 percent in October.
The bank has previously warned of higher inflation this year
largely due to increased government spending, as it battles to beat
rising unemployment.
@ KRIEGLER-COSATU
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
COSATU SADDENED BY KRIEGLER'S DEPARTURE
The Congress of SA Trade Unions on Thursday said it was
saddened by the resignation of Independent Electoral Commission
chairman Johan Kriegler.
"As a person who was involved in the planning of the elections
from the beginning, and also has a wealth of experience from the
1994 elections, we are saddened by his decision," Cosatu said in a
statement.
However, Cosatu was heartened that the rest of the
commissioners had decided to continue their work.
The Congress called on the government to appoint Judge
Kriegler's replacement as a matter of urgency.
"We feel it is critical that elections be held within the
timeframe outlined in the Constitution," Cosatu said.
@ CRIME-BOMB
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
MUFAMADI, FIVAZ, TO VISIT CAPE TOWN BOMB SCENE
Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi and National
Police Commissioner George Fivaz are to fly down to Cape Town in
the wake of Thursday's bomb blast at the Caledon Square police
station.
Mufamadi's spokesman Andre Martin said Fivaz had briefed the
Minister on the lunchtime explosion, in which 11 people were
injured.
Fivaz is to arrive in Cape Town on Thursday afternoon, and
Mufamadi on Friday morning.
Martin said Mufamadi would make a statement only once he had
visited the scene, but said the fact that he was flying down was an
indication of his concern.
Police have detained two suspects for questioning in connection
with the blast.
@ RICHMOND-SERVICE
RICHMOND Jan 28 Sapa
UDM SAYS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED TO DISRUPT NKABINDE'S
FUNERAL
The United Democratic Movement knew there were people who had
been deployed in Richmond to turn the funeral service of slain UDM
national secretary Sifiso Nkabinde into an embarrassment, UDM
KwaZulu-Natal deputy chairman Sifiso Bhengu said on Thursday.
Speaking at Nkabinde's memorial service, Bhengu said he had
received death threats and had moved his family to safety. He said
he received three anonymous call on Thursday morning and was
warned that he would not live to see Nkabinde's funeral service on
Sunday.
Bhengu said he had hired personal guards to look after him
round the clock.
He said he had arranged a meeting on Friday with officials from
the KwaZulu-Natal attorney-general's office and the police area
commissioner to discuss events surrounding Nkabinde's death in
Richmond last Saturday morning.
Bhengu reiterated the UDM's earlier position of being open to
dialogue, but not before the funeral as they were still mourning.
He appealed to the media to act responsibly and not to
speculate on Nkabinde's assassination, as that could lead to
further violence.
"We further dispute the rumour that he was killed by his
bodyguards or taxi operators," Bhengu said.
He claimed there were people who were intimidating people in
the area and forcing them to elect new leadership from other
provinces.
Locals did not trust the security forces, believing some were
members of the disbanded Umkhonto weSizwe - the former military
wing of the African National Congress.
He believed there would not be peace in the area until the
killers of Nkabinde were arrested.
"We want the killers to be arrested as they may strike back."
About 800 people who gathered for the memorial service, held at
a primary school in Magoda, dispersed peacefully afterwards.
Nkabinde's wife Nonhlanhla attended the service with her four
children.
Local UDM leadership attended but the national leaders Bantu
Holomisa and Roelf Meyer were absent.
@ EU PRAISED FOR HELPING REHUMANISE SA
Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)
GRAHAMSTOWN (ECN) - Social development programmes by the
private sector, foreign governments and other institutions were
helping education face the challenge of "rehumanising" SA.
This was said by Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu yesterday.
(subs:Thurs)
Bengu was speaking at the launch of a R60m European Union
School Building programme in Cala in Lady Frere.
He said the EU donation was "more than a financial figure" and
represented 55 schools and 396 classrooms. It would therefore
serve the education interests "of generations to come".
Bengu said since 1994 education had been characterised by
enabling legislation straddling curriculum issues; school funding
and attendance; governance and the assessment of the rights of
learners and educators.
However, he said the government had been "hamstrung by the
limited skills base which was a lingering legacy of apartheid". A
shortage of money was also a "continuing obstacle".
Bengu said: "Just as vast sums of money were used to equip our
people with inferior education, huge sums were also needed to undo
the damage apartheid education inflicted on this nation."
He said physical infrastructure needed to be rebuilt in tandem
with the rebuilding of human resources.
As teacher salaries consumed up to 90 percent of some provincial
education budgets, physical infrastructure was still a problem.
Bengu said between 1995 and 1998 the European Union had committed
R1.2bn to education projects in South Africa.
The launch was also attended by EU ambassador Michael Laidler,
Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile and Education MEC
Professor Shepherd Mayatula.
@ BOMB-REAX
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
PUBLIC MUST REMAIN CALM AND STAY ALERT, SAYS WILEY AFTER BLAST
Western Cape community safety MEC Mark Wiley on Thursday called
on the public of Cape Town to remain calm but on the alert, after
11 people were injured in a bomb blast in front of the city's
central police station.
Speaking at the scene of the blast, he called on the public to
report anything suspicious to the police. He made a special plea to
the media to report responsibly and not to create hysteria.
He said the media should leave the police alone so that they
could work in the privacy they needed to bring the culprits to
book.
He expressed his sympathy with those injured and said it was
always sad when innocent people became the victims of other
people's battles.
Commissioner Ganief Daniels, Western Cape head of Operation
Good Hope, the police initiative against urban terrorism which was
launched on Monday, said the operation was up and running and ready
to combat the security threat to the Western Cape.
"We are busy with a couple of things, but I can't talk about it
now. We will keep the public and the media informed as soon as we
make a breakthrough," he said.
Director Leonard Knipe, head of the serious violent crime unit,
confirmed that two men had been apprehended at the scene and were
being held for questioning.
"They will be questioned before a decision will be made on
whether they will be charged."
He also called on the media to give the police "space to
breathe" so that they could solve outstanding cases of urban
terrorism.
@ CRIME-BOMB-NP
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
BLAST A DIRECT CHALLENGE TO POLICE: VAN SCHALKWYK
The bombing of the Caledon Square police station in Cape Town
was a direct challenge to law enforcement authorities, New National
Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Thursday.
Speaking to Sapa from the scene of the bomb blast, which
injured 11 people when a device exploded in a plastic rubbish bin
outside the building, he said unless it was met with decisive
action by the authorities such incidents would continue and
increase in frequency.
"This is a direct challenge to law enforcement authorities; it
is a calculated move, a challenge.
"It must be met with decisive action or it will continue and
increase.
"The police must be empowered to combat this; structures must
be upgraded.
"We will push for increased funding (for the police) in the
February 17 Budget," he said.
Van Schalkwyk was at a meeting in Cape Town with Western Cape
Safety and Security MEC Mark Wiley when the blast occured.
The men visited the scene accompanied by former British Home
Secretary Michael Howard, who is in the country as a guest of the
NNP and to advise on the party's "No Mercy for Criminals" campaign.
@ CRIME-BOMB-DP
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
DP QUERIES POLICE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
Thursday's bomb at Cape Town's Caledon Square police station
gave rise to the question as to what was wrong with the
intelligence services available to the South African Police
Services, the Democratic Party said.
Dozens of pipe-bomb attacks had occurred in Cape Town and still
the police had no information to enable them to counter the
attacks, DP safety and security spokesman Douglas Gibson said in a
statement.
"Surely the time has come for heads to roll. We should start by
firing the people responsible for police intelligence. If they
cannot produce the goods, why bother to have them?"
The bomb illustrated the total disregard criminals ad
terrorists had for the law in South Africa, Gibson said.
@ REGISTER-PAYCO
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
PAYCO CALLS YOUTH TO REGISTER
The Pan Africanist Youth Congress (PAYCO) on Thursday called on
the youth to register for the forthcoming election.
The second round of voter registration throughout the country
begins on Friday.
"Young people should dare not lose this opportunity to use this
particular tool. Many of our expectations have not been fulfilled
and that does not call for apathy, but to use this tool that we
have in a more meaningful way", PAYCO said in a statement.
@ COURT-LEKOELEA
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
BAFANA BAFANA STAR OFF THE HOOK
Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates midfielder Steve Lokoelea
will not be charged with reckless or negligent driving, the
controlling prosecutor at the Booysens Magistrate's Court said on
Thursday.
However, Lekoelea would have to pay a R300 admission of guilt
fine for driving without a licence.
Lekoelea was pulled off the road during a routine patrol along
the N1 in Johannesburg on January 16 for alleged reckless driving
and released the same day on R5000 bail.
The soccer player, sporting an earing in the shape of a dollar
sign, grinned when informed he had until March 1 to pay the
admission of guilt fine.
Surrounded by supporters, Lekoelea told journalists that
everything had been sorted out in the prosecutor's office and that
there would be no blot on his record.
It was alleged that Lekoelea had been following the car in
front too closely and that he had changed lanes too frequently.
@ DISARM-UN
GENEVA Jan 28 Sapa-AFP
SOUTH AFRICA URGES NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT BE TACKLED AT GENEVA
South Africa, backed by Brazil and several other developing
countries, on Thursday again urged the Conference on Disarmament to
tackle the thorny matter of nuclear disarmament.
The issue, which has created rifts between the five recognized
nuclear powers and the non-aligned bloc, has paralysed progress for
the past two years at the conference, which is the only
multilateral forum negotiating disarmament.
Pretoria proposed on January 19, when the 61-member conference
began its first of three annual sessions, the establishment of a
commmittee to explore ways to achieve nuclear disarmament
progressively.
The proposal met with strong resistance from the big five -
the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China - and some
other western countries, although Mexico, Brazil and some other
developing countries have strongly backed the initiative.
South Africa's representative Peter Goosen argued that failure
to achieve consensus for a committee was harmful.
"I fear that the intransigence of those delegations who
continue to refuse to recognise the legitimate concerns of other
states, while insisting that we should respect and show
understanding for theirs, is likely to exacerbate and not improve
the situation," Goosen said.
"The nuclear disarmament issue and the concerns that revolve
around it cannot be brushed under the carpet and forgotten," he
said.
Western diplomats believe South Africa's proposal has little
chance of succeeding in the face of heavy opposition from the
nuclear powers, and they worry it will again be used to block any
work at the conference.
India, Pakistan, Egypt and other non-aligned countries had
argued for the past two years that they would only start real
negotiations on a treaty to ban production of fissile material for
nuclear use if the five nuclear powers agreed to negotiate on
nuclear disarmament.
With the softening of positions, an agreement in principle was
reached at the end of 1997 to start negotiations on a
fissile-material cut off treaty (FMCT).
India and Pakistan dropped their resistance to FMCT talks after
the two conducted nuclear tests last spring. The explosions, which
threatened to unleash a nuclear arms race in South Asia, brought
global condemnation.
Diplomats say that there could be progress on the FMCT during
the session underway which ends March 26, when the current US
president Robert Grey steps down as conference president next
month.
@ CRIME-SATOUR
PRETORIA Jan 27 Sapa
SATOUR WILL NOT TELL FOREIGN TOURISTS TO AVOID TROUBLE SPOTS
It would be irresponsible to tell foreign tourists they should
avoid certain trouble spots in the country, SA Tourism head Stewart
Lumka said on Thursday.
They should, instead, be advised to be as cautious as they
would be in any other country, he told reporters in Pretoria. If
tourists were more careful, many criminal attacks on visitors would
be avoided.
"As a tourism agency it would be irresponsible for us to tell
them they should not go to Cape Town because there are pipe bombs,
or that they should avoid the city centre of Johannesburg because
it is going down."
Lumka said no country was immune to crime or terrorism.
"What we do is to ask tourists to exercise the same level of
caution in South Africa they would in any other country. If they
subscribe to that philosophy ... we would avoid most of the
problems tourists find themselves in."
Lumka said tourism authorities, the police and the Justice
Department were joining forces to curb criminal attacks on
tourists, and to ensure that the culprits were brought to book.
He said a 0,5 percent drop in international arrivals at South
African airports in the first six months of last year, could
largely be ascribed to economic factors and the World Soccer Cup in
France.
Lumka, who recently took over as managing director of Satour,
said the agency 's name had been changed from the SA Tourism Board
to SA Tourism.
The change ushered in a new approach by Satour to focus on
marketing the country as a tourist destination.
In the new financial year, the agency would embark on a
three-year marketing campaign aligned to Deputy President Thabo
Mbeki's drive for the rebirth of the African continent.
Lumka said a total of R166 million had been set aside for the
tourism renaissance campaign. R16 million of the amount came from
Satour's R70 million operational budget in the new financial year,
and R150 million from government and business.
The agency's staff had been trimmed by about 40 percent, from
250 to 140.
Lumka said tourism represented 8,2 percent of the gross
domestic product by the end of September last year, with 737600
people employed in the industry (seven percent of all jobs in the
country).
Tourism contributed R24,2 billion to the country's foreign
exchange last year, he said.
@ MBEKI-WEBSITE
PRETORIA Jan 28 Sapa
MBEKI LAUNCHES NEW GOVERNMENT WEBSITE
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday launched the new
government website at the State Theatre in Pretoria.
"The website will ensure that the government will be accessible
to the people," Mbeki said.
"It is the responsibility of the government to communicate with
South Africa and the rest of the world on a continuous, accurate
basis."
The website called South Africa: Government Online, can be
found on http://.www.gov.za, and will be constantly updated by the
the Government Communication and Information System.
It includes information on President Nelson Mandela, Mbeki,
national, regional and local governments, speeches and press
releases, general information on South Africa.
People who connect to the website can also give feedback. "We
would like a response about the website, and people can also tell
us what they feel about the government," Mbeki said.
After Mbeki gave his speech, there was a live e-mail link up
with a community centre in Muden in KwaZulu-Natal, and a live video
linkup with the South African High Commission in London, which was
sponsored by Telkom.
Mbeki was congratulated on the website achievement.
"The world is always interested in what is happening in South
Africa, and they should be allowed to get an accurate picture. This
website will form part of the government's democratic open-door
policy," he said.
@ REGISTER-COUNCIL
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
COUNCIL THROWS ITS WEIGHT BEHIND VOTER REGISTRATION CAMPAIGN
The Cape Metropolitan Council has allocated R700,000 to assist
with the registration of voters for this year's general election.
A substantial portion of the council funding will be used to
help people who cannot afford the cost for the required photographs
for their new bar-coded ID books.
The council said photographers sponsored by the council would
take ID photographs of the first 40,000 applicants at Home Affairs
offices, free of charge from Thursday.
"We need to make it as easy as possible for voters to
register," said the council executive committee chairman, Pierre
Uys.
"As responsible local government we have an important support
role to play in dispelling any confusion that may exist in voter's
minds," he said.
@ REGISTER-MPUMA
NELSPRUIT Jan 28 Sapa
THOUSANDS OF IDs LIE UNCOLLECTED IN MPUMALANGA
Over 12000 potential Mpumalanga voters have still not fetched
their new bar-coded identity books from Home Affairs offices, just
one day before the second round of voter registration kicks off on
Friday.
Provincial Homes Affairs spokeswoman Susan Geyer on Thursday
said there was no backlog of unprocessed IDs in the province but
that increasing numbers of people were simply not bothering to
fetch their ID books after applying for them, African Eye News
Service reported.
"The largest number of uncollected books are in Nelspruit,
which isn't even the biggest town in the province. A lot of the ID
books are also returned to us by post because people give us
incorrect addresses," she said.
The number of uncollected IDs had dropped from 19112 at the
beginning of the week.
Geyer said the Department planned to deploy all its mobile
units to voter registration points in the province to process
temporary registration certificates, but stressed that this was
only to be viewed as an emergency last resort by potential voters.
The Independent Electoral Commission has designated 864
registration stations in Mpumalanga and will be deploying 4320
registration officers from Friday to Sunday evening.
A further 600 soldiers have been placed on standby in the
province and may be called in to assist with transport in deep
rural areas.
Mpumalanga electoral officer Steve Ngwenya said the province
had already registered 40 percent of the 1,7-million potential
voters and expected to register another 40 percent this weekend.
"Our training has been far better this time round and we've
also got all our equipment on time for dress rehearsals," he said.
@ TRUTH-IFP
HEARING-PINETOWN
WEEK-LONG TRC AMNESTY HEARING TO START IN PINETOWN
Eight members of the Inkatha Freedom Party will appear before
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee at a
week-long hearing in Pinetown near Durban starting on Monday next
week.
They are applying for amnesty for the killing of political
opponents in Kwa-Zulu Natal between 1989 and 1992, during the
height of political violence between the IFP and African National
Congress, TRC media director Mdu Lembede said on Thursday.
The hearing, which will continue until February 5, will be held
at Pinetown's Magistrate's Court in Chancery Lane, starting at 9am
daily.
The first applicant to testify, Vusi Thokozani Manqele, is
seeking amnesty for his involvement in the murder and attempted
murder of two married ANC supporters in KwaMakhutha in July 1991.
Manqele claimed the couple were indirectly involved in the
murders of his three sisters. He was convicted and sentenced to
eight years imprisonment for the attacks in 1992.
On Tuesday, Mbuzeni Nsindane and his brother Mzwandile Nsindane
will testify on the killing of Thabani Mgobhozi, 18, in October
1990 at Amahlongwa and two people, one a member of the then SA
Defence Force, a day later. They claimed they had hoped to drive
out ANC members from an IFP stronghold.
On Thursday Solomon Khanyile will appear before the committee,
to apply for amnesty for the murders in 1989 of three pople in
Umlazi, who he claimed were United Democratic Front members.
Khanyile has also applied for amnesty for the attempted murders
of ten people, arson and malicious damage to property.
He was given three death sentences, later commuted to life
sentences.
Wanda Mdletshe will testify on Thursday for the killing of ANC
member Khelhla Ntshingila in Driefontein in March 1992. He is
currently serving a twelve year prison term for the killing.
@ KRIEGLER-NNP
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
NNP DEMANDS TO SEE MBEKI-KRIEGLER CORRESPONDENCE
The New National Party on Thursday demanded that all
correspondence between Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and Independent
Electoral Commission chairman Judge Johann Kriegler since the NNP
started its court action on the bar-coded ID and related issues
last month, be made available to it.
This followed a request by the NNP on Wednesday that a copy of
Kriegler's resignation letter be made available to its legal
representatives.
Kriegler announced this week that he was resigning as IEC
chairman with effect from February 1.
"Information we have received now makes it necessary to insist
on the revelation of all correspondence between Mr Mbeki and Judge
Kriegler since the New NP's application was lodged at the Cape High
Court," the party's media director, Juli Kilian, said in a
statement on Thursday.
The NNP's lawyers sent a letter to this effect to the State
Attorney on Thursday, stating that unless the requested
correspondence was forwarded to them by 4pm on Friday, they had
been instructed by the NNP to proceed with a court aplication to
obtain it.
The NNP's application against the government on the bar-coded
ID issue and alleged interference with the IEC's independence is to
be heard by a full bench of the Cape High Court on February 5.
@ REGISTER-MBEKI
PRETORIA Jan 28 Sapa
MBEKI URGES PEOPLE TO REGISTER
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday encouraged residents and
business owners of Marabastad in Pretoria to register for this year's
general elections.
He told the crowd, covered in African National Congress
stickers and hoisting African National Congress flags, that he was there
as the deputy president of South Africa, and would not tell them who
to vote for.
Mbeki, at Marabastad as part of his voter
registration drive, told his supporters that it was their duty to
inform their friends about the registration.
After Mbeki left, the ANC launched a project called Votani
Mawethu, aimed at assisting people to get photographs for their
bar-coded identity documents and temporary registration cards.
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told
reporters that the project would assist poor people to pay for the
photographs.
She said the second phase of the project would concentrate on
assisting the Home Affairs Department to distribute ID books.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said although the project would be run from ANC
offices, all people would be assisted.
@ EDUC-FREESTATE
BLOEMFONTEIN Jan 28 Sapa
NEW EDUCATION SYSTEM 'GIVES OPPORTUNITY TO MAXIMISE CHANCES'
The new education system gave children every opportunity to
maximise their chances, Free State premier Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said
at a function to honour the Free State's top matriculation achievers in
Bloemfontein on Thursday.
She encouraged those who had not succeeded to work hard for the
second round of examinations.
Although there had only been an overall improvement of 1,1 percent
in the pass rate in 1998, it was encouraging that there had been a
dramatic
improvement in some schools.
It had been demonstrated that with will
and collective effort it was possible to
unleash the full potential of the student population.
Matsepe-Casaburri said the top students had proved that the
maxim "I believe I can" was fact and not merely theory.
She noted that
of the top 10 students from the historically white and also from the
historically black schools seven in each group
had been female.
While farm schools were often disadvantaged, pass rates at several
such schools had been in excess of 75 percent.
She announced that 100 percent of stationery for this year had
already been received before the schools closed in 1998.
Schools had
already received 80 percent of textbooks. The final delivery would be
in mid-February and was due to late orders.
MEC for Education, Papi Kganare, said present-day youth grew up in
an intricate world of choices, good and bad.
The future of the nation
and the country lay in the hands of the youth. Part of their
responsibility
was to register as voters, if eligible,
and to encourage others to do so.
The role of the youth in a transforming society could not be
underestimated.
They could not live in a country where only a few made
choices.
They must initiate and participate in programmes that
fulfilled the reconstruction and development of South Africa.
@ BOMB-PATIENTS
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
FIVE PATIENTS IN HOSPITAL AFTER CITY BLAST
Eight people and not 11 as stated by police were hospitalised
after Thursday's bomb blast outside the Cape Town Central police
station.
They were admitted to the City Park Hospital in Cape Town and
three were discharged soon after treatment.
Police said a further three patients were admitted to Somerset
Hospital but a spokesman denied this and said the victims were
probably treated at the scene.
"No bomb blast patients were treated at Somerset," the
spokesman said.
Sister Vanessa McDonald of City Park Hospital said none of the
remaining five victims were critical. "They are all stable while
some were in only for observation."
She said City Park would give an update on the condition of the
remaining patients at a press conference at 9am on Friday.
@ NNP'S SAKKIE LOUW EXPLAINS FA DEFECTION
Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)
BISHO (ECN) - Former New National Party (NNP) MPL Sakkie Louw
who announced his defection to Louis Luyt's Federal Alliance (FA)
this week, yesterday (SUBS: Thurs) said South Africa was heading for
disaster.
He said it was a "pipe dream that the ANC could not be defeated"
before this "point of disaster was reached". In a press release
which gave his reasons for joining Luyt's alliance, Louw said South
Africa could no longer afford the "window-dressing approach" and
"inherent self destructiveness" of the present opposition parties.
"What South Africa desperately needs is undaunted and dynamic
leadership, a sense of purpose and a new alternative government," he
said. He said: "Dr Luyt has a proven and impeccable track record of
outstanding management skills and acumen. His successes as a
businessman and administrator are known to the world."
"We need this background in management and administration to
lead the new drive towards opposition to the ANC and establishing an
alternative government." He said the FA was committed to federalism,
had the necessary drive to enforce law and order and the skills to
implement proper state administration, management and productivity.
@ BOMB-REAX-2
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
LEADERS CONDEMN BOMB ATTACK
Western Cape premier Gerald Morkel on Thursday called on the
perpetrators of urban terrorism in the province to spell out what
they were trying to achieve.
In a statement reacting to the bomb blast earlier in the day at
the Caledon Square police station, Morkel, who is also New National
Party leader in the province, said: "I make a sincere appeal to the
perpetrators of this ongoing urban terrorism to spell out what they
are trying to achieve.
"As premier of this province, my door is always open to those
who wish to bring about a law-abiding society... people must talk
to avoid more persons ending up on a mortuary slab."
Morkel reiterated a call to central government to urgently
bring about appropriate anti-terrorist legislation.
Western Cape African National Congress leader Ebrahim Rasool
told Sapa the blast was consistent with other acts of terror over
the past two years.
The only difference was that the Caledon Square and other
recent bombings showed an increasing level of sophistication and
callousness.
"I have no doubt that today's bomb blast is a direct reply to
the consensus that we have achieved across the country - among all
political parties, all religious communities and the broad public
of the Western Cape - that Operation Good Hope must work.
"They are trying to scare and intimidate us... Our response
must be very forthright - that we must intensify our commitment to
make Operation Good Hope work."
Rasool was unwilling to speculate on who might be responsible
for Thursday's blast, but, in an apparent reference to Muslim
extremists, said: "I think we have a clear idea about who has
terrorised us for two years."
He said the ANC expressed its sympathy to the injured.
Western Cape Democratic Party leader Hennie Bester said the
bomb blast signalled a failure on the part of the police to contain
urban terrorist action.
"Furthermore, it also indicates that the intelligence network
of the security forces is failing dismally to root out elements
which are happy to cock a snook at the police force and all
peace-loving people."
Bester said a beefing up of the police service's intelligence
service was urgently needed.
The Federal Alliance demanded in a statement that the
government now act decisively to root out the perpetrators of
terrorism and political violence "once and for all".
"We canot allow South Africa to be made ungovernable with these
acts."
Cape Town Mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo described the bomb blast as
one of the most cowardly acts of terrorism in the city's history.
"These cowards are set on undermining law an order, and their
attack on the State through innocent citizens must be
wholeheartedly condemned," she said in a statement.
She urged the city's citizens to rise and unite in an attempt
to create a peaceful, harmonious and crime-free city.
@ BOMB-REAX-3
LEADERS CONDEMN BOMB ATTACK
Deputy chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Naledi
Pandor, called on people of the Western Cape to "vigorously reverse
the attempts to turn our wonderful city into a haven for the
enemies of peace and security".
She called on the police to bring the culprits to book, and
wished a speedy recovery to all those injured.
Western Cape Freedom Front leader Eleanor Lombard said her
party saw the blast as a direct attack on Operation Good Hope.
The choice of a police station as a target was a "provocative
gesture", showing the terrorists' contempt for the plan, she said.
Her party wished the police well with the tremendous challenge
to restore law and order in the Western Cape.
@ KRIEGLER-MBEKI
PRETORIA Jan 28 Sapa
BITTER CORRESPONDENCE WITH MBEKI PRECEDED KRIEGLER'S
RESIGNATION
Bitter correspondence between Judge Johann Kriegler and Deputy
President Thabo Mbeki preceded Kriegler's announcement of his
resignation as Independent Electoral Commission chairman on
Tuesday, according to letters made available to the media on
Thursday.
Mbeki's legal advisor Mojanku Gumbi released Kriegler's letter
of resignation, as well a written response by Mbeki in which he
disputed the judge's assertions, to reporters in Pretoria.
Gumbi said the government and Kriegler earlier in the week
agreed that the resignation should not be blown out of proportion.
"However, since his resignation we have seen that Judge
Kriegler has also conducted a number of interviews and has given
meat or deliberation to the statement he published on his
resignation," she said.
"As a result we contacted Judge Kriegler and said it was
important, in the interest of transparency, to make the public
aware of the correspondence exchanged between us and him."
Kriegler's letter, dated January 24, referred to a meeting
between the government and the commission on Friday last week.
"Friday's meeting was the culmination of a debilitating series
of jurisdictional skirmishes with government that started shortly
after the commissioners were appointed," he wrote.
He said the IEC had lost the power to compile a voters' roll
free of government hindrance.
Responding to Kriegler, Mbeki described this statement as
"dangerous in the extreme".
Kriegler said the meeting last Friday brought home to him once
and for all that his efforts had failed to resolve differences over
the role and function of the IEC.
"Had I anticipated the role to which the commission has now
been consigned, I would not have accepted nomination."
The principle at issue was the independence of the commission,
Kriegler said. Instead of receiving moral and material support to
perform its duties, the IEC's limited time and resources were
dissipated.
The IEC and chief electoral officer Mandla Mchunu had been
reduced to supplicants for staffing and funding.
"We have effectively lost the power and duty to plan and
execute the compilation of the voters' roll free of government let
or hindrance," Kriegler said.
There had also been what he described as an irretrievable loss
of the power to recruit, evaluate, select, train and deploy control
officers for the electoral process.
"The loss of manifest impartiality must follow," Kriegler said.
Kriegler said the Friday meeting had made it plain that he was the
one out of step. There was no need to put President Nelson Mandela and
the cabinet to the trouble of a meeting to restore harmony.
Kriegler added, "I must go, and must do so as unobtrusively as
possible."
He said he believed his departure would cause minimal disruption as
competent core staff were in place in the IEC. He also expressed the
wish that his resignation would cause President Nelson Mandela and Mbeki
the least possible bother.
In his response, Mbeki referred to a discussion he and Gumbi held
with Kriegler in December last year.
"As you will remember, you stated that notwithstanding the
disagreements... the constitutional and administrative independence of
the commission had not been compromised," Mbeki said.
"I do not know what has happened since that discussion which leads
you to the conclusion that 'the principle at issue here is the
independence of the commission'."
Mbeki said Kriegler's suggestion that he was the only one supporting
the independence of the IEC was most unfortunate. The assertion that the
IEC did not receive support to perform its duties was also unfounded.
In a meeting on January 11, Mbeki said, the chief electoral officer
explicitly stated that the IEC would not be faced with financial
shortages in the current financial year.
Mbeki added that he had told Mchunu he should approach the head of
State Expenditure should there be any problems with the budget for the
next financial year.
"Again, as you will remember, at the meeting on Friday we reiterated
the position of the government that the latter is committed to the view
that the IEC should discharge its duties well, and as an independent
commission."
On the use of public servants as registration officials, Mbeki said:
"As far back as October 1997, the commission recognised the need to use
the government infrastructure in the discharge of its functions."
Mbeki said a meeting between the cabinet and the IEC to discuss
differences would have given the IEC an opportunity to indicate which
elements of the government's conduct were a problem.
Questioning Kriegler's statement that it was not necessary to go to
the trouble of such a meeting, Mbeki said: "It would indeed be strange
to conclude that the best way to resolve the differences that may exist
is not to meet."
The government at no point interfered with the compilation of the
voters' roll, or ever signalled its intention to do so.
"The suggestion in your letter that the voters' roll compiled so far
was not done 'free of government let or hindrance' and therefore there
has been 'loss of manifest impartiality' is dangerous in the extreme,"
Mbeki said.
He reiterated that the government had given the IEC money to do its
work, and had helped to find volunteers inside and outside the public
service to act as registration officials.
"The reference you make to "an irretrievable loss of power" with
regard to these matters is entirely without substance and certainly
beyond perhaps my primitive comprehension."
Expressing his appreciation for the work Kriegler had done, Mbeki
concluded: "We had hoped that you would assist us in these processes by
bringing into play your considerable talents and personality. I suppose
we will have to do the best we can in the circumstances."
@ VASSEN-OMAR
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
OMAR 'NOT INVOLVED WITH VASSEN APPOINTMENT'
The conduct for which foreign affairs official Ramesh Vassen
was struck off the roll of attorneys took place long after his
legal partnership with Justice Minister Dullah Omar came to an end,
Omar said in a statement on Thursday.
He also said he had "in no way" been involved in Vassen's
appointment to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
It was reported earlier that the department was investigating
the circumstances under which Vassen, who was recently made high
commissioner in Bombay, was appointed as a director in the
department just after the 1994 election.
It was reported that his name was scrapped from the roll a few
years ago after it was established that there was a shortfall in a
trust account.
Omar said Vassen had at one time been a partner with him in a
legal firm, but that during this partnership there had never been
any complaint of malpractice of any kind on Vassen's part.
Vassen subsequently practised on his own, and it appeared that
the conduct for which he was struck off the roll took place during
that period.
Democratic Party justice spokesman Douglas Gibson said the
department had very little to investigate, as the facts were quite
clear.
He said Vassen had been struck off the roll for various
transgressions, including the theft of R60,000 in trust money.
Three High Court and five Appeal Court judges had found he was
not a "fit and proper person" to be an attorney.
Despite the High Court judgment, confirmed on appeal, the
department of foreign affairs had persisted in promoting Vassen to
a senior diplomatic posting.
The DP called for the immediate revocation of Vassen's
appointment.
@ ZAMBIA-ANGOLA
LUSAKA Jan 28 Sapa-AP
ZAMBIA CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF CHARGES IT BACKS ANGOLAN
REBELS
The government on Thursday called on international
organizations to investigate allegations by Angola that Zambia is
backing Angolan rebels, and denied the charges.
The Zambian foreign ministry asked the United Nations and the
Organization of African Unity to send independent monitors,
according to a statement on Thursday.
The foreign ministry statement said that Angola is threatening
military action against Zambia, Rwanda, Togo and Burkina Faso for
allegedly arming UNITA.
Referring to threats from the Angolan government, the foreign
ministry said Angola said it would wage "a war without truce"
against Zambia and the other countries for collaborating with UNITA
leader Jonas Savimbi.
UNITA - a Portuguese acronym for the National Union for the
Total Independence of Angola - has been stepping up attacks on
government areas, violating a 1994 peace accord.
Zambia shares a large border with Angola.
During a visit to neighboring Zimbabwe on Thursday, Zambian
President Frederick Chiluba repeated past denials that Zambia is
supporting UNITA.
"All of us have condemned UNITA and we have no resources to
support war activities," Chiluba said.
The foreign ministry said it twice asked the top Angolan
diplomat in Lusaka for proof of the charges, but none was
forthcoming.
Angola's charges of Zambian links to UNITA have become an
obstacle for mediating another war, the civil war in Congo.
Angola, along with Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe, have sent troops
to back Congolese President Laurent Kabila aainst rebels supported
by Rwanda and Uganda.
A cease-fire has eluded six months of negotiations chaired by
Zambia's Chiluba. Earlier this month, Angola refused to attend the
most recent in a series of peace summits because it was to be held
in Zambia.
But Chiluba said Thursday he was optimistic a cease-fire would
be signed in Lusaka before the end of February. He was in Harare,
Zimbabwe, for talks with Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe aimed at
salvaging the Congolese peace negotiations.
"The process is moving much faster and committees on a
cease-fire and security are now functioning," he said.
Last year, the U.N. Security Council committee on sanctions
against UNITA cleared Zambia of charges it was supplying weapons to
UNITA rebels in exchange for diamonds.
But Angola insists Zambia has not done enough to police its
remote border to stop private arms dealers, some from South Africa,
reaching UNITA bases across the frontier.
@ MANDELA-SCHROEDER
BADEN BADEN, Germany Jan 28 Sapa
MANDELA, SCHROEDER MEET BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
President Nelson Mandela and German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder met bheind closed doors on Thursday afternoon, their
first meeting since Schroeder was elected to his post in October
last year.
The two leaders, together with Mandela's wife Graca Machel,
posed briefly for photographs before their meeting, but declined to
comment on the nature of their discussions.
"You can see how popular you are," Mandela said to Schroeder as
the dozens of photographers snapped away.
The meeting - at the luxury Brenners Park hotel in the centre
of Baden Baden - was officially billed as a courtesy call.
However officials expected Mandela to raise among other issues
the delay in the adoption of a free trade agreement between South
Africa and the European Union, of which Germany currently holds the
presidency.
The future of the South African-German binational commission
was also expected to be on the agenda. It was established in 1997
by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and former German Vice Chancellor
Klaus Kinkel to promote relations between the countries.
The relationship between the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised
countries and the Non-Aligned Movement, which Germany and South
Africa respectively chair, was also expected to have been
discussed.
Later on Thursday Mandela is to receive the 1998 German Media
Prize, awarded to outstanding public personalities.
Early on Friday morning he leaves for the Swiss ski resort of
Davos, where he is to attend the annual meeting of the World
Economic Forum.
@ OAU TROIKA MEETING ON THE SITUATION IN THE COMOROS
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
COMMUNIQUE
The Ministerial meeting of the countries of the Region and the
OAU Troika on the situation in the Comoros took place in Pretoria,
South Africa, on 28 January 1999. The meeting was chaired by
H.E.Dr.Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary General of the OAU.
Participating were the Foreign Ministers of South Africa,
Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles, the Minister in charge of
Cooperation of Algeria as well as the Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso
was represented by its Permanent Representative to the OAU.
The Delegation of the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros
was led by the Prime Minister, H.E.Mr.Abbas Djoussof and included
the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
The Ministers reviewed the prevailing situation in the Islamic
Federal Republic of the Comoros, particularly, developments in
Anjouan. At the end of their deliberations the Ministers:
1. Reiterated OAU's unflinching commitment to the unity and
territorial integrity of the Comoros and to securing a lasting
resolution of the crisis.
2. Expressed concern over the unfortunate developments that took
place in Anjouan from 5 to 13 December 1998 and which caused the
loss of lives, destruction of property and the displacement of the
population.
3. Expressed concern over the continuing state of insecurity in
Anjouan, the presence of armed militias and the current confusion
which prevails in the Island, in spite of the truce currently being
observed by the factions.
4. Agreed on the need for the urgent convening of the Comorian
inter-Island conference as the most appropriate forum to find a
peaceful solution to the crisis and to set up a new Institutional
framework for the country, which respects the unity and territorial
integrity of the Comoros and which takes into account the legitimate
aspirations of the Islands and all the people of the Comoros. It is
proposed that such a conference be convened in March, 1999 and on a
date to be announced by the OAU Secretary General after
consultations with all the Parties concerned and stakeholders.
5. Further agreed that the Comorian inter-Island conference
should be followed immediately by the convening in Mauritius of the
Round Table of donors on the Comoros, to address the socio-economic
problems of the Archipelago.
6. Decided that in order to adequately prepare for these
conferences, including in particular, the need to create a conducive
environment for fruitful negotiations, there is need to find
solutions to the insecurity currently prevailing in Anjouan. This
will pave the way for an effective and credible participation of the
representatives of the islands, especially Anjouan in the proposed
inter-island conference.
7. Decided, in pursuance of this objective, on the dispatch of
an assessment mission of Senior officials from South Africa,
Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania as well as the
OAU General Secretariat, to undertake an on-the-spot evaluation of
the prevailing situation on the ground and to engage the Government
of the Comoros and the Anjouanese as well as other parties
concerned, on what needs to be done to prepare for the Comorian
inter-island conference.
8. Recommended that in the event the security situation
continued to deteriorate in Anjouan, or the planned mission received
no cooperation from all concerned, the Leaders of the Region, should
consider the adoption of all possible security measures to deal with
the situation.
9. Agreed in the meantime, on the urgent need for the convening
of a meeting of Military and security officials from the Region, to
review the situation in all its ramifications and to make
appropriate recommendations to the Leaders of the Region. To this
end, they requested the Secretary General of the OAU to facilitate
the convening of such a meeting.
10. Expressed their appreciation to the Interim President of the
Republic and the Government of the Comoros for the encouraging steps
they have taken in order to establish the conditions conducive to a
peaceful solution to the crisis.
11. Appealed to the population of Anjouan and to their leaders
to exercise restraint and commit themselves to the establishment of
the necessary security and political conditions for the convening of
the Comorian Inter-Island Conference.
12. Appealed to the international community, particularly those
in a position to help, to support the efforts of the OAU and the
countries of the Region, which efforts are aimed at finding a
peaceful solution to the crisis to the Comoros and to refrain from
any action that can undermine these efforts.
The participants at the meeting expressed their appreciation to
the Government of South Africa for all the efforts made in its
capacity as Coordinator of the Regional efforts and for all the
excellent facilities placed at the disposal of the meeting.
Pretoria, 28 January 1999
Issued by The Department of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the OAU.
@ REGISTER-RIVALRY
KHAYELITSHA Jan 28 Sapa-AFP
BITTER RIVALRY AS ELECTIONEERING IN CAPE TOWN TOWNSHIP HOTS UP
While thousands of residents of this dusty township on the
outskirts of Cape Town prepared Thursday to register this weekend
as voters, others were battening down the hatches fearing bloody
warfare.
"We just don't know who is going to be (killed) next," said
Bubele Beja, Khayelitsha leader of the United Democratic Movement
(UDM).
Beja said he and other UDM leaders were living in fear since
the murder on Saturday of one of their colleagues, Vulindlela
Matiyase, who was gunned down in front of his house in a shantytown
adjoining Khayelitsha.
The next day, according to Beja, a UDM youth leader was shot
at, but managed to scare off his assailants.
Beja blamed the African National Congress (ANC) of President
Nelson Mandela for the attacks, which he claimed were linked to the
assassination early on Saturday of top UDM leader Sifiso Nkabinde
in the rural KwaZulu-Natal town of Richmond.
"The killing of Mr Matiyase was definitely political and linked
to the killing of Sifiso," he said, scoffing at claims that
Matiyase was killed because of his involvement in the sale of
housing sites.
He said ANC members had taken to the streets rejoicing after
the murders of both Matiyase and Nkabinde.
Richmond, which has long been the scene of bitter rivalry
between the UDM and ANC, was deeply rocked by the killing of
Nkabinde and a suspected revenge attack in which 11 ANC supporters
were massacred.
Police and security forces have flooded into the area ahead of
a number of funerals, including Nkabinde's, due this weekend.
Beja claimed ANC members in Khayeltisha had armed themselves
and were out to intimidate UDM supporters wishing to register for
South Africa's second democratic election later this year.
"They are using scare tactics," he said. "Our members are now
very cross. We won't just sit down and fold our arms."
Pressed to explain, Beja said UDM leaders would ensure all
party members were registered for the election and would ensure
that the ANC failed in its bid to wrest power in Western Cape from
the main opposition New National Party.
"We can win the province," he said outside his tiny home here,
boasting that in Khayelitsha alone, the UDM has 11,000 members.
Up the garbage-strewn road at the municipal buildings where
hundreds were queueing for the identity documents that will allow
them to register for the elections, the ANC's boast, however, was
even greater.
"We can count around 80,000 members in Khayelitsha," said local
ANC leader James Pikinini.
He rejected as an "outright lie" Beja's claim that the ANC was
targetting UDM members.
"Some of my friends are UDM members," Pikinini said. "We have
nothing against them. They are allowed to campaign here freely."
Pikinini's conciliatory tone was not matched by the mood of the
hundreds standing in the queue, all them holding ANC pamphlets
bearing the beaming face of the party's president, Thabo Mbeki,
South Africa's Deputy President.
Many scathingly claimed the UDM was "traitorous" because it is
led by Bantu Holomisa, a junior minister in the ANC government
until he was kicked out after a bitter leadership row.
For others, the UDM has become a scapegoat for all the ills of
the poverty-ravaged township; some even blamed the UDM for their
long waits for identity cards.
"The UDM is in charge of issuing ID books, which is why there
is such chaos," said one man angrily, perhaps unaware that the
process is actually handled by the overstretched Home Affairs
Department.
@ REGISTER-IEC
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
KRIEGLER'S RESIGNATION INTERESTED PEOPLE IN IEC: MCHUNU
The resignation of Independent Electoral Commission chairman
Judge Johann Kriegler had interested people in the commission and
the electoral process, IEC chief executive officer Mandla Mchunu
said on Thursday.
At a media briefing about the second round of voter
registration due to start on Friday, Mchunu was asked what impact
Kriegler's resignation would have on the registration process.
He said the news had not affected staff morale, more
particularly because Kriegler would participate in the registration
process this weekend.
Mchunu urged the estimated 15 million potential voters who have
not registered yet, to do so now.
He said he would be happy if at least half of the remaining
potential voters would register.
About 14500 voter registration stations were to open at 9am on
Friday.
Mchunu said problems experienced during the first round of
registration, like malfunctioning machines, the late or non-arrival
of election officials and the unavailability of election material,
had been resolved.
"We are ready for the registration process, and we are saying
just give us five minutes of your time in the interest of advancing
our democracy."
The IEC had distributed more than 680 large cluster maps
indicating registration points to major Metro Rail stations in
cities throughout the country.
The location of more than 2500 registration stations had also
been changed to bring them closer to large population
concentrations, Mchunu said.
According to him the preparedness and readiness of the more
than 72000 public servants as well as volouteers would also be
helpful to the registration process.
Meanwhile, the IEC statistics had revealed that 1362 people
over the age of 100 had registered for elections during the first
round in November.
"The capturing of data (for election purposes) have revealed
that there are so many senior citizens...who are over 100 years
old...in this country - something which can be forwarded to
Guinness Book of Records," said Mchunu.
@ NKABINDE-ELECTIONS
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
UDM CALLS FOR ELECTION PEACE ACCORD AFTER NKABINDE SLAYING
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) in Gauteng used a memorial
service on Thursday for its slain national secretary Sifiso
Nkabinde to call on political parties to sign a pre-election peace
pact.
"In order to have a violence-free election in this province I
call on all political parties to reach an accord condemning
violence," the UDM's Gauteng leader Lulama Mshumpela told about 200
supporters in the Johannesburg City Hall.
"Let us responsible political parties sit down and protect one
another.
"Political parties that do not want to climb on the blood of
innocent people will commit themselves to this (accord) but those
who rejoice when South Africans lose their lives will not,"
Mshumpela said.
"I hope Sifiso's assassination will not be for nothing,"
Mshumpela said, paying tribute to the controversial politician who
was gunned down on Saturday outside a supermarket near his home in
Richmond, KwaZulu Natal.
"The government must now take action to stop this senseless
violence. If this does not bring government action, then people of
South Africa will have no choice but to remove this government from
power; not with a bullet but with the vote."
More
@ POLL-ELECTIONS
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
JOB CREATION AND CRIME STILL BIGGEST PROBLEMS FOR SA VOTERS:
POLL
Job creation and the high crime rate still remain the most
serious concerns among the South African electorate with the
majority criticising government for not doing enough on these
issues, according to the latest Opinion 99 poll released on
Thursday.
The poll, involving 3493 respondents, found that 75 percent of
South Africans cited job creation as the biggest problem with only
22 percent agreeing government was doing a good job to improve the
problem.
Sixty one percent felt crime was their biggest concern with
only 27 percent giving government positive ratings for their
handling of the problem.
According to the poll, concern over crime raised meteorically
since 1994 when only six percent felt it was a major problem. Three
years later the figure increased to 54 percent.
The survey was done jointly by market researchers Markinor, the
Institute for Democracy in South Africa and the SABC.
It was part of a series of polls released since November last
year to monitor attitudes towards elections, registrations and
voting.
The latest poll research was done between October and November
last year and focuses on identifying concerns which might influence
political choices in the coming elections.
According to the manager of Idasa's public opinion service, Dr
Bob Mattes, the issues which most concerned voters have remained
the same for the past three years.
All respondents, despite their differences in race, wealth,
class or gender, generally agreed on some major issues.
Other than job creation and crime - which were the top issues
- respondents also cited housing, education and the economy as
major areas of concern.
Just over 10 percent of respondents - mainly rural voters in
the Eastern Cape, the North West, the Northern Province and
Mpumalanga - also cited poverty, and a lack of water and
electricity as problems.
The poll further found that despite a great deal of attention
given to immigration, land reform, rates and taxes and corruption,
only a small percentage of respondents cited them as major
problems.
Regarding economic evaluations, the second poll to be released
in this regard, there was a slight increase in public optimism and
confidence over the performance of the economy since the last poll
in September last year when only 43 percent felt the country was
moving in the right direction.
The increase could be explained by the fact that the September
poll was conducted shortly after the negative economic trends in
July and August last year.
In the latest poll the figure increased to 48 percent.
The government, however, still received very negative
evaluations regarding its economic performance.
While only 37 percent approved of government's management of
the economy, it was an increase of 15 percent on the September
poll.
Only 23 percent approved of government performance in job
creation, but this was also an increase on the 12 percent on the
September poll.
Only 34 percent felt government did a good job in controlling
inflation while 62 percent were satisfied with government's
performance in encouraging international investment.
Previous Opinion 99 polls included polls on economic
evaluation, voter participation in the coming elections, and party
support and voters' intentions.
@ NKABINDE-ELECTIONS 2 last JHB
P2: UDM CALLS FOR ELECTION PEACE ACCORD AFTER NKABINDE SLAYING
Similar services were held in Pretoria and at Nkabinde's home
village of Magoda near Richmond.
Although Dutch Reformed Church minister Rev Dawid Venter closed
the meeting with a sermon, Thursday's meeting in Johannesburg
seemed at times more like a political rally than a memorial
service.
Guest speakers from the Inkatha Freedom Party and the Pan
Africanist Congress both attacked the government for not doing
enough to curb violent crime.
"We are here as a political party because if it (an
assassination) can happen to one political party it can happen to
another," Bonga Majola of the PAC told the audience.
UDM Gauteng spokesman Frikkie Botha said all parties in the
province, including the African National Congress, had been invited
to send a representative to the service. The ANC had not responded
to the faxed invitation, he said.
Despite the grave reason for their gathering, party supporters
were clearly in an election mood, dancing around the hall bedecked
with UDM banners while volunteers sold T-shirts and caps in the
foyer. Return train tickets to Nkabinde's funeral in Richmond were
also on sale at R100 each.
UDM officials assured supporters of safe passage to the
funeral, saying the party had secured police escorts that would
accompany their minibuses from Pietermaritzburg station to
Richmond.
@ ANC INTERVENES TO GET SCHOOLS' POWER RESTORED
Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)
GRAHAMSTOWN (ECN) - The restoration of municipal water and
electricty to eight Grahamstown schools on Monday was the result of
"direct intervention" by the local ANC.
In an interview with ECN, ANC zonal executive committee chairman Mr
Pierre Ranchhod (Subs:Ranchhod) said yesterday (Subs:Thurs) the
party had held urgent meetings with town clerk Mr Steven Cridland
and other major role-players to defuse the crisis.
The schools had services disconnected the previous week after
failing to pay R150 000 in electricity arreas and nearly R600 000 in
rates and service charges.
A number of schools were forced to shut their doors when the
services were cut-off.
After the meeting Cridland instructed municipal staff to restore
services to the schools.
Ranchhod said: "We have intervened on a previous occasion to deal
with the same problem - this was in October and both times we were
successful in pursuading the town clerk to restore services.
"We in the ANC do not want children to suffer for adult mistakes."
Ranchhod said the ANC "was deeply appreciative" of Cridland's
actions.
After meeting Cridland, Ranchhod said the ANC had called an
emergency meeting on Tuesday which was attended by the principals
and chairpersons of the governing bodies of the eight schools.
Also in attendance were local and regional Department of Education
officials as well as senior staff of the ANC.
He said the main aim of the meeting was to ensure the TLC received
the monies owed it and the situation did not arise again.
He said at the meeting assurances were obtained from Port
Elizabeth-based regional-director, Mr N Mgoduka that total services
arrears for all schools in the area - which amounted to R178 000 -
would be paid by February 1.
Of the R600 000 in outstanding rates and availability charges, the
department promised to "investigate" an amount of R358 000 owed for
service and availability charges.
The balance is owed by the Department of Public Works.
@ MANDELA-PROTEST
BADEN BADEN, Germany Jan 28 Sapa
MANDELA URGED TO HALT SALE OF ELEPHANTS TO GERMAN ZOOS
About 20 animal rights activists protested here on Thursday evening
shortly before a ceremony at which President Nelson Mandela was to
receive the German Media Award.
The activists, in elephant masks and striped suits, staged a low-key
protest against South Africa's decision to allow the export of
elephants to European zoos.
They chanted "No elephants for German zoos" and asked how Mandela
as a Nobel Prize winner could allow the ill-treatment of animals.
The two groups said in a statement issued earlier this week that
they were not protesting against Mandela receiving the award, but
against South Africa's reckless dealing in wild animals. It said of the
millions of elephants that existed 20 years ago, only 500,000 remained.
Recently the go-ahead was given for four elephants to be exported to
German zoos and three to Swiss zoos from South Africa.
The South African government has defended its policy on the export
of wild animals, saying that its elephant population is growing and that
a moratorium on culling and the exorbitant cost of relocating
elephants has forced it to consider alternative solutions.
A small police contingent ensured that the protesters were kept
behind a barricade about 50m from the enterance of the venue where
Mandela was to receive the award.
@ IEC READY FOR PHASE TWO OF VOTER REGISTRATION
Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)
BISHO (ECN) - The Provincial Electoral Office yesterday (SUBS:
Thurs) confirmed that all the arrangements for the start of the
second phase of registration today (SUBS: FRI) had been finalised.
In a press release, Provincial Electoral Officer Bongani Finca said
they were "cautiously optimistic" that this round would run better
than the December round.
He said it was ironic that the IEC had to persuade people to use
their right to vote so soon after going through a "bitter struggle"
for the right.
"During that struggle some of our heroes laid down their lives,
others served long periods of imprisonment and were tortured."
Finca said they had drawn lessons from the first registration phase
and had refined their plans.
"Our ultimate aim is to reach a position where we run a well
planned, properly managed and efficiently run registration and
election process."
He said the second round of registration relied heavily on the
quality of service which the volunteers would give.
During the December registration, only 1,4-million of the Eastern
Cape's estimated 3,8-million potential voters were registered.
"We hope to improve on this figure and to reach about a two-thirds
of the potential voters."
"On our side, we have made arrangements which will ensure that
people can get registered without much inconvenience."
He said they had adapted the scanners so they could be connected to
electric points where they exist.
This eliminated the need for constant charging of batteries.
Finca said the IEC had also spent a longer time training the
registration staff on the handling of the technology used for
registration.
The registration staff will comprise volunteers from the civil
service, civil society and a few members of the South African
National Defence Force (SANDF).
He said the IEC had received a sponsorship of some basic food for
the registration staff who will be working long hours, because "one
of the sore points" for staff in the December registration drive was
that IEC did not provide food.
However, he added food would make a very simple meal and was "far
below the quality of food we believe we must be providing".
Finca said: "We have done what we on our side had to do. It is up to
the members of the public to walk to the registration stations and
register."
@ ZIM-DRCONGO
HARARE Jan 28 Sapa-AFP
CHILUBA OPTIMISTIC OVER DRCONGO CEASEFIRE BY END OF FEBRUARY
Zambian President Frederick Chiluba said Thursday he was
optimistic a ceasefire agreement in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) would be clinched by the end of February, Zimbabwe's
state news agency reported.
Chiluba said after talks in Harare with Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe that "the process is moving much faster and
committees on the ceasefire and security are now functioning,"
Ziana reported, referring to bodies set up earlier this month
during peace talks in the Namibian capital Windhoek.
The Zambian president said he had briefed Mugabe on a new
timetable for talks leading to the signing of a ceasefire, but gave
no details.
Chiluba's enthusiasm is not shared by United Nations chief Kofi
Annan, it emerged Thursday.
Annan, speaking in Brussels, said he was "clearly disappointed
... that a ceasefire has not been signed" since players in the
conflict suggested at an African summit held in Paris last month
that they had agreed to a truce.
The UN secretary-general added that he hoped the belligerants
would sign an accord "sooner rather than later."
Chiluba has been trying to arrange a regional summit of all
parties involved in the conflict for a formal ceasefire agreement
since early December, but without success.
Chiluba and Mugabe are believed to have reviewed the agreement
for a ceasefire announced at Windhoek meeting last week.
That meeting involved Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola, which back
DRC President Laurent Kabila, and Uganda and Rwanda, which support
rebels trying to topple him.
It was not attended by Kabila or representatives of the rebels.
@ PROSECUTORS
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
NGCUKA BEEFS UP THE PROSECUTION SERVICE
National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka on
Thursday announced the appointment and promotion of 57 prosecutors
throughout the country.
Ngcuka said this was a move to boost the prosecution service,
which had been beset with problems related to heavy work loads and
under-staffing.
His office made it a priority in the last year to fill vacant
posts and keep open advancement prospects for working prosecutors,
he said.
Ngcuka said his office had also been pursuing a vigorous
affirmative action policy, and they were fairly happy with the
balance they had found.
"The legitimacy of the service depends on ensuring that black
people are fully represented at all levels of the service," he
said.
In addition, Ngcuka's office was looking at training for
prosecutors which would lead to better performances in court.
Ngcuka said he was proud of the work done by prosecutors in
circumstances that had affected the prosecution service's ability
to conduct cases vigorously and without delay.
"We are presently moulding a team of lawyers that will turn the
prosecution service into a dynamic, professional and efficient
machinery," Ngcuka said.
@ POLL-MANDELA
JOHANNESBURG Jan 28 Sapa
SUPPORT FOR MANDELA STILL STRONG AMONG VOTERS: POLL
President Nelson Mandela still enjoyed exceptionally strong
support among South Africans, with more than 80 percent saying he
was doing a good job as leader of the country, an Opinion 99 poll
released on Thursday found.
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki has shown a steady growth in
support since March last year and currently almost 70 percent of
voters approve of him.
The poll on government performance was done jointly by market
researchers Markinor, the Institute for Democracy in South Africa
and the SABC as part of ongoing research into election trends. It
was the second poll on government to be released.
Support for Mandela has increased by two percent since a
similar poll which was done in September last year. The poll,
conducted in November among 3493 respondents, showed support for
Mandela was at 81 percent.
The lowest support for Mandela was recorded in March 1998 when
it was at 74 percent with the highest support, 87 percent, recorded
in June 1996.
There has been a steady growth in support for Mbeki - from 64
percent in March 1998 to 69 percent in the latest poll which was
done in November last year.
The poll said while Mandela and Mbeki generally enjoyed strong
support, it was less true for the government as a whole. The
government, however, still enjoyed the suppport of 58 percent of
voters who felt it was doing a good job.
The poll said evaluations of specific government performances
in various areas differed sharply depending on the issue concerned,
but there was a significant upswing in public satisfaction between
the current poll and the poll done in September last year.
"Government receives strong approval ratings on issues of
economic redistribution and equality, welfare and development and
nation building.
"Public evaluations of government's performance on issues of
economic growth, law and order and good governance were a mixture
of extremely negative and some positive ratings," according to
Opinion 99.
On law and order only 27 percent of voters said the government
was doing a good job in controlling crime while 53 percent said
government had done well in ending political violence.
Only 37 percent said the government was performing well in
controlling official corruption with 47 percent agreeing it was
doing a good job in maintaining democratic transparency.
In the next two weeks, Opinion 99 polls on provincial profiles,
political intolerance and an update on ratings on political
candidates and leaders will be released.
@ ANGOLA-UN
LUANDA Jan 28 Sapa-AP
ANGOLAN GOVERNMENT WANTS U.N. PEACEKEEPING MISSION TO LEAVE
A senior official said Thursday that the government will not
allow the United Nations to keep its peace mission in Angola.
However Higino Carneiro, deputy minister for Territorial
Administration, said his government would allow U.N. aid operations
to continue.
"The government will not accept the continued presence of any
member of the United Nations observer mission in Angola," Carneiro
told the National Assembly, Angola's parliament.
Carneiro said the government received a letter from U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan requesting approval for a scaled-down
U.N. mission to remain in the country where a civil war resumed
last month, shattering a U.N.-brokered 1994 peace accord.
The government intends to refuse, Carneiro said.
In a report on Angola earlier this month, Annan recommended
pulling out the U.N. mission, but the Security Council supported
"a multidisciplinary presence" in Angola, presumably involving
political, military and humanitarian personnel. The council asked
Annan to consult the Angolan government and others.
At the United Nations, spokesman Fred Eckhard said those
consultations through the secretary-general's special
representative to Angola, Issa Diallo, were still under way.
"He will report back to the council on the outcome of these
consultations as soon as they are completed. So that means no
reaction today," he said.
@ ANGOLA-UNITA
CATUMBELA, Angola, Jan 28, Sapa-AFP
ANGOLAN GOVT FORCES CLAIM CAPTURE OF UNITA STRONGHOLD
Government forces in Angola claimed Thursday to have taken
control of Nharea, previously held by UNITA rebels, and said they
were marching on the southern rebel base town of Andulo.
"We took Nharea today and we are marching towards Andulo," army
spokesman General Jose Manuel said in the southern town of
Catumbela.
Andulo is located some 460 kilometers (285 miles) southeast of
Luanda.
The spokesman said that rebel plans to take power in Luanda had
"failed" and that government forces were continuing their
counter-offensives at several other fronts in the rekindled civil
war.
@ COMOROS-TALKS
PRETORIA, Jan 28, Sapa-AFP
OAU CALLS FOR INTER-ISLAND CONFERENCE IN COMOROS
Nine African countries will send advisors to the Comoros within
10 days to prepare for a peace conference in the strife-torn Indian
Ocean archipelago, OAU chief Salim Ahmed Salim said here Thursday.
The first task of the team, led by South Africa, will be to
evaluate the precarious security situation on the breakaway island
of Anjouan, Salim told a press conference here.
It would have to establish if the situation was calm enough to
convene an inter-island conference and if "credible" seccessionist
leaders could be found to take part, he said after a meeting of
African foreign ministers, also attended by Comoran Prime Minister
Abass Djoussof.
"We are operating on a dual track," the Salim said.
"The priority is to find a political solution to the crisis,
but they also have to review the security situation and see what
can be done."
Salim, who last year sent a team of African generals to the
Comoros to investigate the feasibility of military intervention,
indicated that sending troops to the islands was still a
possibility.
"In the event of deteriorating security situation we have
agreed that there is a need for the leaders of the region to meet
and to consider all possible options," he said.
Salim said the gathering here of foreign ministers from
Algeria, Burkino Fasso, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique,
South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe had agreed there was an urgent
need for African military officials to meet and consider their
options.
@ LABOUR-BEITBRIDGE
BEITBRIDGE Jan 28 Sapa
STRIKE AT BEIT BRIDGE ENDS
A strike by staff at the Beitbridge border post between South
Africa and Zimbabwe which caused a pile-up of hundreds of trucks
ended late on Thursday night.
SA Revenue Services spokesman Christo Henning said the strike
was resolved when an agreement was reached between Sars management
and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union.
Hennin said all of the 110 workers at the border post stopped
working for most of Thursday afternoon, causing pile-ups of several
kilometres on both sides of the border.
Not all of the striking workers were Nehawu members, but
according to Henning the others stopped working because of
intimidation. The strike was also not planned, and therefore
illegal, he said.
The workers downed tools because of dissatisfaction over
affirmative action and an alleged lack of progress in
transformation at the border post office.
The management agreed to resolve these issues and an agreement
was reached to end the strike.
Henning said at 4pm, when Nehawu members finally agreed to
return to work, about 100 trucks on both sides of the border were
waiting to cross.
"The trucks were moving through very slowly. Those who did not
cross by 9pm, would have to wait until Friday morning. We are aware
of the financial implications for the truck owners and we will
process these trucks first thing Friday morning," Henning said.
He said the border post would be 100 percent operational again.
@ BOMB-CIVIL
CAPE TOWN Jan 28 Sapa
BROTHERS TO SUE POLICE AFTER ARREST FOR CALEDON SQUARE BOMB
Two brothers in Islamic garb who were held for questioning
about the bomb explosion at the Cape Town central police station on
Thursday, and later released, intend suing police, their uncle
said.
The unnamed brothers had been shopping in the city for a
pilgrimage to Mecca, and were in the vicinity of the explosion,
their uncle, attorney Ebrahim Holt, told a Sapa correspondent.
He said his nephews were arrested for fleeing the scene of a
crime, and were held for questioning for 30 minutes before being
released.
Holt said his nephews were arrested because they were dressed
in Islamic garb.
He declined to name his nephews, but said they were on Thursday
night's flight to Mecca. He would obtain more details on their
return.
Holt said he would institute a civil claim against the SAPS on
their behalf.
@ MANDELA-AWARD
BADEN BADEN, Germany Jan 28 Sapa
MANDELA HONOURED BY GERMAN MEDIA
President Nelson Mandela on Thursday became the eighth
recipient of the prestigious German Media Prize, which is presented
to outstanding personalities in public life by the influential
European media research institute Media Control.
Mandela received the award at a ceremony in the southern German
town of Baden Baden on Thursday evening. Previous recipients
include King Hussein of Jordan, Boris Yeltsin, Yitzhak Rabin,
Francois Mitterand, Yasser Arafat and Helmut Kohl. The winner is
chosen by an independent board of leading media figures.
In his acceptance speech Mandela said history and circumstance
had given him the privilege of being part of an inspiring and
collective group of leaders and of a liberation movement that had
championed the cause of South Africa's people for more than eight
decades.
He dedicated the award to the millions of men and women in
South Africa who had "kept faith alive in the indestructibility of
the human spirit and the capacity of good to triumph over evil."
Mandela said South Africa's vision of the future was one where
there would be renewed dedication by world leaders to work towards
a 21st century of peace and reconciliation.
"Poverty and material inequality are enemies of lasting peace
and stability," Mandela said.
"We realise only too well that our struggle in South Africa is
not over. As long as our country is beset by the curse of poverty
and the concomitant ills of hunger, disease, joblessness, crime and
corruption, we will know that we have not completed the task of
freeing ourselves from the past."
Mandela said while South Africa's challenges remained enormous,
it had made great strides towards bringing change to the lives of
its people and delivering them basic amenities.
Mandela, who was given several standing ovations, complained
that his wife Graca Machel received more applause than he did.
Mandela was given a glowing tribute by Daimler-Chrysler chief
executive Jurgen Schrempp, who for 14 years worked in South Africa
as a manager of Mercedes Benz and is South Africa's honorary
consul-general in three German states.
Schrempp said he was convinced that the South African
authorities were aware of the problems of criminality and were
tackling it.
Schrempp was in turn honoured by Mandela with the Order of Good
Hope, South Africa's highest award for citizens of other countries,
in recognition of his contribution towards promoting the country
and the interest of its citizens.
Mandela joked that Shrempp had given him "a very beautiful
automobile" but it was not for that reason that he had been
honoured.
Last year Schrempp presented Mandela with a new Mercedes Benz,
to replace the one given to him by the company's staff after his
release from prison.
The Orlando-based Imlongo Kantu Choral Society was specially
flown to Germany from South Africa to sing at the event, which was
attended by a host of well-know German personalities, including
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, with whom Mandela held talks earlier
on Thursday evening.
After receiving the award Mandela was the guest of honour at a
private banquet in the town, attended by 100 of Germany's senior
media personalities and business people.
Early on Friday morning Mandela is scheduled to fly to Davos in
Switzerland to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic
Forum.
@ COURT-KRUGEL
PRETORIA Jan 28 Sapa
MURDER ACCUSED APPARENTLY STILL NIA AGENT, COURT HEARS
The former wife of a man arrested for the alleged murder of two
South Africans and a Namibian described in an affidavit handed to
the Pretoria Regional Court on Thursday how two of the men were
shot in cold blood before being robbed of a large sum of cash.
The court also heard that Schalk Krugel, who is applying for
bail, worked as a Military Intelligence agent, used to work for
Executive Outcomes and was still employed by the National
Intelligence Agency.
According to the preliminary charge sheet handed to the court,
Krugel is charged with conspiracy to murder Fanie Pelser of
Centurion, Andrew Sweetnam of Kimberley and Namibian citizen Jan
Malan, as well as stealing a total amount of R610,000 from them.
The three men disappeared without a trace in 1996 after
allegedly being lured first to Namibia and then to Angola. They
were allegedly last seen in the presence of Krugel and Tom
Saunders, who is still being sought by police.
The state alleges that the three were taken to Angola under the
guise of being able to buy diamond concessions from Unita generals
at a cheap price, where they were allegedly shot dead and buried in
shallow graves.
Krugel's former wife, Wilhelmina van Zyl, stated he told her in
November 1995 that he and Saunders planned to take two men to
Angola early in 1996 where they planned to defraud them of R250000.
He told her they were still planning on how they would get rid of
the two men.
"He said no-one would look for the men in Angola because it was
a war zone."
After returning from Angola, he told her how one of the men was
shot in the head and the other in the heart.
Van Zyl stated she had seen Krugel removing a bag with lots of
cash from the ceiling of his flat shortly after his return from
Angola.
Investigating officer Bertus Kruger testified several people
had warned him that his life was in danger since he started his
investigation.
He said he believed Krugel would flee. "With his contacts he
can disappear into the underworld within half an hour."
Kruger said he also feared for the life of state witnesses,
including Van Zyl, to whom Krugel allegedly confessed his role in
the murders.
Kruger said Krugel had in the past assaulted his former wife
and pointed a firearm at another witness.
He said there was evidence that Sweetnam and Pelser were seen
in Krugel's company before entering Angola, but that he returned
alone. Two witnesses who were with them in Angola had heard shots,
whereafter they were told by the accused "to leave Angola in a
hurry".
"I think he deliberately planned to take the men to Angola. He
knew they would take large amounts of cash with them and planned to
take their money and get rid of them. He did this purely for his
own gain," Kruger testified.
Military Intelligence legal officer Lieutenant Colonel Marius
Werner testified that MI first employed Krugel as a source and then
as an agent.
His handler tasked him to find Pelser after Pelser's parents
requested MI's help. MI never received any feedback from Krugel and
did not know he was a possible suspect in Pelser's disappearance,
Werner testified.
He said Krugel's services with MI was terminated in November
1996.
At that time Krugel was recruited as a source for the National
Intelligence Agency, NIA member Willem Botha said in a statement
handed to the court.
The bail application continues.
@ SA-TRAUMA
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 29, Sapa-AFP
SOUTH AFRICANS TRAUMATISED BY THE WAR
Conflicts in southern Africa have littered the region with
severely traumatised people, some of them suicidal, an
international conference on traumatic stress heard here this week.
South Africa, which created the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC) to deal with its apartheid past, was home to many
of those afflicted, experts who deal with people left traumatised
by war, conflict and crime, said.
"We would say most South Africans experience post traumatic
stress and repeated trauma," conference coordinator Sherbanu Sacoor
told AFP.
"We have had over the past 10 to 15 years been experiencing a
transition from political to criminal violence," explained Sacoor,
from the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
The TRC has revealed horror stories of the wide-ranging human
rights abuses committed on both sides of the fight against
apartheid.
These scars and the current high crime rate have shocked many
South Africans, who have become "hyper-vigilant" and sometimes
"numb," said Sacoor.
Despite the many conflicts in Africa, most research on trauma
is based on western models, psychologist Tina Sideris told the 150
trauma experts attending the conference.
"In 1996, close to half the countries in Africa were affected
by armed conflict," she said.
"The deaths that occured during that conflict accounted for
half the war related deaths world wide.
"And yet, there is very little literature on how Africa and
particularly African woman deal with trauma ... and survive in the
aftermath."
As part of research to understand the experience of trauma,
Sideris spent two years working with Mozambican women who fled to
South Africa to escape the war between the rebel RENAMO and ruling
FRELIMO forces.
The 16-year civil war in Mozambique, which ended in 1992,
created an "extended trauma," she said.
"People experienced multiple trauma - most people experienced
up to 16 or more traumatic events, including rape, sexual abuse,
combat situations, witnessing the murder of a friend, physical
mutilation ..."
About 80 percent of the women she worked with were abducted by
RENAMO rebels and taken to camps "where they spent up to three or
four years where they were continuously raped and used as sex
slaves."
The rapes traumatised whole communities, she said. "Men were
forced to be mattresses on which their wives were raped (and) were
rendered powerless and were a result traumatised.
"Women who bore the children of their captors were rejected by
their families and communities."
She said the ways in which rebels raped women "perverted social
norms," adding to the trauma.
"Women were raped by children - it was a common practise of
RENAMO to initiate 12-year-olds into raping women. Men were forced
to rape their wives and daughters; women who watched their husbands
being killed were taken in force to be wives of murderers."
Zimbabwean psychologist Shari Eppel said that pre- and
post-independence conflict left most people in the country's
southern Matabeleland province severely depressed, and some
suicidal.
Zimbabwe achieved independence in 1980 after a decade-long war
against Ian Smith's white minority government.
But the killings continued in Matabeleland, where government
agencies, including the notorious 5th Brigade established by
President Robert Mugabe, were ordered to root out the rival ZAPU
party, she said.
The little-acknowledged conflict, which ended in 1987, left
thousands of people traumatised, Eppel said.
"People still feel very under threat, they have never had an
apology ... they have no guarantee that this will not happen
again," Eppel said.
"There is a lack of understanding about why (post-independence
violence) happened, and there has never been any justice, in fact,
the person most responsible (Mugabe) still runs the country."
People are still "more depressed and apathetic than angry."
However, "If their voice remains unheard ... tragically, there
is a very real danger of ethnic violence in Zimbabwe in the not too
distant future."
Delegates at the conference expressed deep commitment to
helping the people of the world cope with the traumas that
politicians thrust on them.
But speakers also warned of the toll, the "secondary traumatic
stress," of helping people cope with and understand humanity's
crimes against humanity.
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