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ANC Daily News Briefing Friday 1 January 1999

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Jan 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM1/1/99

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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 1 JANUARY 1999

PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
publication or broadcast.

To unsubscribe from the ANC Daily News Briefing mailing list send a
message to 'list...@wn.apc.org'. In the body of your message put
'unsubscribe ancnews'.

@ MATRIC-MOTSHEKGA

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa

MOTSHEKGA CONGRATULATES MATRICULANTS

Gauteng premier Mathole Motshekga on Thursday congratulated all
the matric pupils who passed their examinations.

In a statement, Motshekga said they had played an important
role in inspiring those who still had to write their exams with the
necessary confidence that they too would succeed if they invested
their energies, discipline and commitment in their studies.

He also congratulated education MEC Mary Metcalfe and her
department for the 55,6 percent pass rate achieved this year, an
improvement of 4,1 percent on last year.

"Whilst the provincial government is delighted with the
improvement, we will not be fully satisfied until we...
progressively achieve the results that we know our youth and
country deserve," said Motshekga.

@ NEW YEAR MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA

Issued by: Office of the President

31 DECEMBER 1998

Good evening!
Ndiyanibulisa!
Lotjhani!
Ke a le dumedisa!
Thobela!
Ngiyanibingelela!
Ri perile!
Goeienaand!
Ndi madekwana!

The New Year will bring many changes.

They will depend on our working together to realise our dreams

Our nation is founded on the pledge to work together to end
poverty and inequality.

We can and must do it..

This past year has reminded us how much we can achieve if we
work together.

Our confidence grows out of the way in which South Africans from
every background and all walks of life have joined hands to deal
with the issues facing us.

Communities, local authorities and government have worked day by
day to bring the clean water, health-care, housing and electricity
that we all deserve.

Business-people, farmers, government, communities and the
security services have come together to forge a common approach to
safety, in a partnership that is starting to bear fruit.

Steadily but surely those who prey on innocent people will learn
that crime does not pay.

Our religious bodies and political organisations resolved in
the Morals Summit to work together to renew our society's morality,
to support efforts to combat crime and corruption.

Business, workers and community organisations joined government
at the Jobs Summit in taking joint responsibility for job-creation,
and therefore also for the attack on poverty.

By launching the Partnership Against Aids every sector of civil
society declared its commitment to help turn the tide against this
epidemic.

In all these ways the partnership of all sectors of our society
is being strengthened, combining the energies and resources of our
nation in the name of what unites us.

It is this spirit of shared responsibility, the spirit of
Masakhane, that should guide our efforts.

In this spirit too, we must be mindful in this festive season of
the need to drive with care, and to end violence in our families and
communities.

In this spirit of Masakhane let us march towards a better life.

However robust the coming election campaign, we must emerge
still more united.

Our task is to complete the reconstruction and development of
our society.

Together, let us work to build the peaceful, just and healthy
society of our dreams.

Together let us work with other nations for peace and happiness
across our continent and our globe.

I wish you all a happy and fulfilling New Year.

Gold bless South Africa!

@ SA2000 LAUNCHES DEFINITIVE SOUTH AFRICAN MILLENNIUM

WEBSITE

Issued by: SA2000 Promotions (Pty) Ltd

SA2000 LAUNCHES DEFINITIVE SOUTH AFRICAN MILLENNIUM WEBSITE

South Africa 2000 Promotions (Pty) Ltd, a company which has been
created with the express purpose of "promoting and organising events
and merchandising opportunities to celebrate the advent of the New
Millennium" is pleased to announce that it has created the
definitive South African Millennium Website.

While the site (whose address is www.sa2000.co.za) will feature
reports and bulletins on the activities which SA2000 itself will be
staging to celebrate the advent of the new Millennium (and
particularly details of its first two projects, namely the
Millennium Bells and the Millennium Message Book projects), SA2000
has prepared links to other Millennium related sites.

With regard to the Millennium Bells Project, details of the
route, places and persons visited and also details of the clubs and
schools who participate will be posted to the site.

More importantly, SA2000 invites other promoters of Millennium
related activities in South Africa to post their details on this
site thus extending its role as the "definitive" SA Millennium
website.

Other special features of the site include.

a) a shopping page where Millennium related merchandise can be
viewed and ordered;

b) a youth page - where issues of particular interest to the youth
will be posted from time to time.

The SA2000 website will also be used as a vehicle for vote lines
and other competitions which SA2000 will be launching in the New
Year.

The contact number for SA2000 Millennium Bells is:

083-228-4906.

@ MILLENNIUM MESSAGE BOOK TO BE LAUNCHED

Issued by: SA2000 Promotions (Pty) Ltd

MILLENNIUM MESSAGE BOOK TO BE LAUNCHED AT MOSSEL BAY

SA2000 Promotions are pleased to announce that at Mossel Bay on
New Year's Day they will commence collecting messages for inclusion
in the South African chapter of the Millennium Message Book, a
project which was launched from the Seychelles in November this year
during the Miss World 98 pageant.

The South African chapter of the Millennium Message Book will be
placed alongside similar collections of messages from people around
the World in a special time capsule which is to be erected in
Seychelles and sealed by the President of Seychelles just prior to
the advent of the New Millennium with instructions that the time
capsule may only be opened on or after 31 December 2099 (ie in one
hundred years time).

The Millennium Message Book gives South Africans an opportunity
to leave a legacy for the future - not only through the message
which they will place in the Millennium Message Book, but also
through the fund-raising element which will address the needs of
certain South Africans today.

Each subscriber of an entry in the Millennium Message Book will
receive a certificate evidencing this fact, and will in addition be
included in a draw for a journey to the Seychelles to attend the
Miss World 99 pageant.

International celebrities will be approached during 1999 to
leave their messages on specially prepared "celebrity" pages.

In addition SA2000 will be co-ordinating the publishing of
souvenir edition of the Millennium Message Book, containing a
selection of the "best" or "most interesting" messages that are
collected.

The primary beneficiary from the sales of entries in the South
African chapter of the Millennium message Book will be the READ
Educational Trust, whose mission is to:
"help people throughout South Africa to develop their reading,
writing, learning, information and communication skills so that they
can become independent life-long learners".

On an International basis, the Millennium Message Book Trust is
being established in Seychelles and its beneficiaries will be
organisations involved in ecological and educational issues.

Apart from their own sales force SA2000 has enlisted the
assistance of the Association of Round Tables of South Africa to act
as vendors of entries in the Millennium Message Book. Interested
individuals or organisations who would also like to become vendors
in South africa (or of the international chapters) can contact
SA2000 by visiting their website at www.sa2000.co.za and completing
the appropriate forms.

@ MATRIC-DP

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa

DP CONGRATULATES MATRICULANTS

The Democratic Party on Thursday congratulated all successful
matriculants, their parents and their schools for producing good
year-end results.

DP spokesman Douglas Gibson in a statement in Johannesburg also
welcomed the indication that the downward trend in the matric pass
rate in Gauteng, the Northern Cape and North-West over the past few
years had been halted and reversed.

However, he noted that the percentage of pupils who failed
remained appallingly high.

"South Africa's ranking at the bottom of international
comparisons of education performance - particularly in maths and
science - still stands and we must not be deluded into believing
that our matric results are at all acceptable in comparison to
successful industrialised nations," Gibson said.

The continuing failure of schools to produce acceptable results
could be attributed to the removal of some of the best talent in
the system through a voluntary retirement scheme.

Gibson also saidthecontiuing failure to deal with lack of
discipline amongst both teachers and pupils and the administrative
chaos which pervaded many areas of the country also contributed.

@ HERBALISTS' COUNCIL CLAIMS BREAKTHROUGH

Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)

Herbalists'council claims breakthrough

Patrick Burnett

GRAHAMSTOWN (ECN) - The establishment of a statuary council to
regulate the practice of traditional medical practitioners during
1998 was a major breakthrough for indigenous health practices.
This was said by general secretary of the Interim Coordinating
Committee (ICC) for Traditional Medical Practitioners Mr Lizwi Nduku
in a New Year message.

Nduku said the ICC had facilitated a process which had consolidated
unity among traditional medical practitioners at a national level
involving all provinces of South Africa.

Nduku said the committee's support for the government struggle
against HIV/Aids demonstrated its commitment to a healthy nation.
He emphasised the contribution of the committe in bringing an end to
witchcraft violence and all forms of crime and violence in the
country.

He said this had been confirmed through the signing of the
Thohoyandou Declaration on the ending of witchcraft violence in
September.

Nduku said during 1998 a professional code for medical practitioners
had been adopted, as well as the implementation of an examination
process for all practitioners.

He said the first pilot projects on the promotion of indigenous
knowledge systems and the promotion of the use of natural resources
had also begun.

A single national register for all practitioners had also been
instituted. - ECN Thurs 31/12/98

@ MANDELA

PRETORIA Dec 31 Sapa

THE SPIRIT OF MASAKHANE SHOULD GUIDE 1999: MANDELA

The spirit of Masakhane, or shared responsibility, should guide
the nation's efforts for the New Year, President Nelson Mandela
said in his New Year's speech.

In a statement from his office on Thursday, he said South
Africa was founded on the pledge to work together to end poverty
and inequality. The new year would bring changes and the task of
South Africans was to complete the reconstruction and development
of their society, he said.

Mandela said 1998 was a reminder of how much could be achieved
by working together. South Africans from all backgrounds and walks
of life had joined hands to deal with issues, he said.

In the past year communities, local authorities and government
had worked day by day to help provide clean water, health-care,
housing and electricity.

"Business-people, farmers, government, communities and the
security services have come together to forge a common approach to
safety in a partnership that is starting to bear fruit."

Those who prey on innocent people would steadily learn that
crime did not pay, Mandela said.

Religous bodies and political organisations resolved in the
Morals Summit to work together in renewing society's morality. They
also resolved to support efforts to combat crime and corruption.

Business, workers and community organisations joined the
government at the Job Summit in taking joint responsibility for
job-creation, and therefore also for the attack on poverty.

Mandela noted that by the launch of the Partnership Against
Aids, every sector of civil society declared its commitment to help
turn the tide against the pandemic.

"In all these ways the partnership of all sectors of our
society is being strengthened, combining the energies and resources
of our nation in the name of what unites us."

South Africans should work together to build a peaceful, just
and healthy society. The spirit of Masakhane should be used to end
violence in families and communities, and to march towards a better
life, he said.

Mandela wished all South Africans a happy and fulfilling 1999.

@ LABOUR-AMPLATS

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa

AMPLATS STRIKE GOES INTO NINTH DAY

The strike over pay by more than 8000 members of the National
Union of Mineworkers at Anglo American Platinum Corporation
operations in Northern Province and North-West entered its ninth
day on Thursday.

Talks aimed at ending the dispute broke down late on Wednesday.

Representatives of Amplats and Num agreed to suspend
negotiations until Monday, when they would again meet with an
independent mediator.

Amplats has offered the strikers an eight percent pay rise from
January 1, with a six percent increase backdated to July 1.

Num has said its members want the eight percent increment
backdated to July 1.

Amplats spokesman Steve Calladine on Wednesday said the strike
at the four platinum mines and a smelter at Rustenburg had not yet
had a material effect on production.

He added: Contrary to statements made by the Num on TV and
radio, Amplats has not reneged on any undertakings given to the Num
or the mediator."

@ MATRIC-NP

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa

IMPROVEMENT IN MATRIC RESULTS POSSIBLE TURNING POINT: NP

The New National Party on Thursday said the improvement of 4,1
percent in this year's Gauteng matric results could signal a
possible turning point for education.

Spokeswoman Juli Kilian in a statement said education MEC Mary
Metcalfe and her department deserved credit for the improvement in
the management of this year's matric examinations.

"A steep and difficult road remains ahead, however, before a
permanent improvement in the academic standards at all levels in
Gauteng schools will be realised.

"That remains an absolute prerequisite before the matric pass
rate and percentage of matric exemptions can improve significantly
and on a sustainable basis," Kilian said.

She congratulated all schools and individual learners in the
province that excelled, particularly the principals and teaching
staff of the top scoring township schools that proved that
discipline, hard work and dedication could overcome all obstacles
and remained the only way to success.

@ MATRIC-MOLEFE

MAFIKENG Dec 31 Sapa

MOLEFE WELCOMES NORTH WEST MATRIC RESULTS

North-West premier Popo Molefe on Thursday welcomed the four
percent increase in the provincial 1998 matric pass rate, saying
this reflected a clear indication of the positive effects of
transformation in education.

He congratulated provincial educators, pupils, parents, the
governing bodies and education MEC Zacharia Tolo on the improvement
of the results.

"The provincial government will call on its policy and planning
experts to design a comprehensive and integrated approach to
consolidate this improvement and to consistently improve until our
results and standards reach levels that could be considered
excellent," Molefe said.

He said his government looked forward with great optimism to
1999, adding it believed that the building of a better society had
begun.

"We believe that the process of building this society has
captured the imagination of the masses of our people."

@ ZAMBIA-ELECTION

LUSAKA Dec 31 Sapa-AFP

ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT'S PARTY TAKES EARLY LEAD IN LOCAL ELECTIONS

Zambia's ruling party was in the lead on Thursday after
municipal polls marked by voter apathy but seen as a test of
President Frederick Chiluba's popularity, according to preliminary
results.

Chiluba's Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) won 29 out
of the 30 seats in the capital in elections on Wednesday, while
ex-president Kenneth Kaunda's main opposition United National
Independent Party (UNIP) secured only one Lusaka seat, according to
ballots counted by the morning.

Initial results from the northern Copperbelt region and the
Southern region indicated the ruling party was heading for an
overwhelming victory, according to press reports.

The MMD scooped up all 25 seats in northern town of Kitwe,
while in the country's second largest city, Ndola, it won 23 of the
25 seats.

In the southern provincial capital of Livingstone, the MMD won
nine of 14 seats, with two being taken by UNIP and three going to
independent candidates.

Wednesday's polls, the second at local government level since
Chiluba came to power in 1991, have been presented at a litmus test
of the popularity that he and his party enjoy in this southern
African nation.

However, they were characterised by a low voter turn-out, with
one polling station reporting just 30 votes out of a registered
electorate of 400.

Three opposition parties, the National Citizens Coalition led
by Nevers Mumba, the newly formed United Party for National
Development of Anderson Mazoka and the Zambia Democratic Congress
of Dean Mungomba, lost in all the districts where results have so
far been announced.

The Zambian Independent Monitoring Team (ZIMT),a
non-governmental organisation which monitored the polls, expressed
disappointment at the low voter turnout in most polling stations.

It blamed the country's electoral commission for confusion in
the distribution of polling materials, some which were delivered to
the wrong places.

"There was an increasing number of ghost voter cards in most of
the polling stations. This trend could have been exploited by some
political parties," ZIMT election monitor, Mwenya Mukula, told the
state-owned Zambia Daily from the western Mongu district.

@ TRAFFIC

PRETORIA Dec 31 Sapa

681 PEOPLE DIE ON SA ROADS

The Arrive Alive campaign on Thursday urged motorists to drive
carefully this weekend in view of predicted heavy rains and
increased traffic volumes, saying 681 people had died on South
African roads since December 1.

It said in a statement in Pretoria that traffic volumes on the
country's highways over the weekend were expected to be up to five
times higher than usual.

Traffic on the N1 from Cape Town to Colesburg was expected to
peak at Beaufort West at 6pm on Saturday, with more than 1400
vehicles per hour - five times the normal volume.

The N1 from Colesburg to Johannesburg should see more than 1500
vehicles per hour at Bloemfontein at about 3pm on Saturday, a
traffic volume 90 percent higher than usual.

Nearly 2300 vehicles an hour were expected at Warmbaths on the
N1 from Pietersburg to Pretoria at 4pm on Sunday. Traffic volumes
on this stretch of road would exceed 40 percent the normal rate on
Saturday, and 80 percent on Sunday, Arrive Alive said.

Traffic volumes on the N3 from Durban to Johannesburg were
expected to reach double the normal rate at noon on Sunday, and a
20 percent increase was expected on the N4 from Nelspruit to
Pretoria.

Arrive Alive said more than 400 road blocks and 1000 speed
check points were being planned over the period December 31 to
January 3. Of these, more than 150 roadblocks would be held on New
Year's eve.

It also warned motorists to drive carefully in view of
forecasts of heavy rain in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the north-eastern
Free State and the western and northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal on
Thursday.

"Drivers must decrease speed, increase following distances, and
switch on their headlights.

"If they do not wish to carry on driving because of adverse
weather conditions, they must pull off the road completely and
switch on their hazard lights."

Arrive Alive wished revellers a happy new year.

"Have a fantastic party tonight, but don't drink and drive or
walk. If you have a few drinks, sleep over or let a sober friend
take you home."

Of the total number of road deaths reported by noon on
Thursday, 136 were in KwaZulu-Natal, 106 in the Western Cape, 95 in
Gauteng, 82 in the Eastern Cape, 70 in the Free State, 67 in
Mpumalanga, 54 in the Northern Province, 46 in North-West and 25 in
the Northern Cape.

Those killed included 223 pedestrians, 223 drivers, and 235
passengers, Arrive Alive said.

@ HEALTH DEPARTMENT PROGRAMME

Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)

Health Department programme to pamper conscripted doctors

Patrick Burnett

GRAHAMSTOWN (ECN) - Recruiting and retaining doctors in the
Eastern Cape in order to solve a critical shortage will be at the
centre of compulsory community service for medical graduates.
This is the aim of a structured, region-based community service
programme drawn up by the Department of Health in the northern
region of the Eastern Cape.

Compulsory community service for medical graduates begins tomorrow
when some of the 116 graduates arrive in the Eastern Cape to start
work.

East Cape Health MEC Trudy Thomas will be at Cecilia Makiwawe
hospital in Mdantsane on today (subs: New Years Day) to welcome 41
graduates beginning their community service in Region C.
A departmental guideline given to ECN shows that the northern region
programme hopes to encourage doctors to remain in the Eastern Cape
on completion of their service.

Community service coordinator in the northern region Dr John Small
said: "What we are trying to do is think about it as a way to serve
the community and use them where the needs are great.

"It is also a way for the doctors to grow in a way that makes them
better doctors."

The programme also aims to utilise community service doctors (CSDs)
within the health system where the need is greatest and to equip
them to provide quality care by providing suitable training and
support.

The structure of the programme will see doctors spending six months
in a district hospital and six months at Frontier Hospital in
Queenstown.

At Frontier Hospital they will have a choice of serving in two
departments out of pediatrics, family medicine, or obstetrics and
gynaecology.

Strict criteria have also been set for hospitals in order to
participate in the community services programme and community
services facilitators (CSF) coordinators will be charged with
developing the capacity of hospitals.

In order to qualify for community service, hospitals will need a
significant in-patient component, suitable accommodation for
graduates, a capable and caring community services facilitator,
email facilities, participation in monthly feedback and meetings,
and be able to demonstrate a capacity to teach and maintain a set of
standard care guidelines.

Specific training mechanisms will also be set in place for the
doctors.

These will include a set of standard care guidelines which will be
implemented by facilitators in participating hospitals and
supervised patient care.

Regional monthly half-day sessions will be held which will cover
article reviews, skills development, group-based research and data
collection and patient presentations.

Training sponsored by the provincial government will also be made
available,as well as patient management guidelines.

A full support mechanism programme will be implemented whereby
community servers will be supported by the programme facilitator at
each hospital.

The regional coordinator will also make regular visits to hospitals
and be present at monthly meetings.

@ MATRIC-FF

PRETORIA Dec 31 Sapa

MATRIC RESULTS UNACCEPTABLE: FF

The latest matric results, although an improvement on recent
years, remained unacceptable, the Freedom Front said on Thursday.

"The situation is untenable - about 45 percent of matrics are
still failing," spokesman Kallie Kriel said in a statement in
Pretoria.

The FF blamed the situation on the African National Congress'
refusal to allow pupils to be education in their mother tongue, as
well as the absence of a culture of learning as a result of the
ANC's former "Liberation before Education" policy.

It congratulated those who passed, but said their achievements
would be dampened by a lack of job opportunities. Only about seven
out of every 100 school leavers find work in the formal sector.

"The FF sympathises with school leavers who will find it even
more difficult to get jobs due to the ANC's policy of affirmative
action."

Youngsters entering the labour market could not afford to give
up and should become entrepreneurs in order to survive, Kriel said.

@ MONETARY-SA By Lemese Gilbert

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa-INet-Bridge

MONEY MKT RATES STEADY DESPITE LOWER TB, REPO RATE

South African money market rates were
steady today despite a lower Treasury Bill (TB) and repo rate.

The weekly Treasury Bill (TB) auction saw the 3-month rate
decline to 16.78% from 17.03% and the 6-month rate to 15.72% from
16.01%.

The repo rate continued its downward trend sliding to 19.320%
from Wednesday's 19.328%.

At the beginning of December the repo rate had been 19.697%.

The money market shortage has already started easing and this
should bode well for a cut in lending rates.

The commercial banks last announced a 50 basis point cut in
their prime rate to 23% on Dec 2, after the repo rate had dropped
to 19.488% from 19.697% on Dec 1.

One dealer said: "The money market is very quiet today as we
all prepare to leave early, however we should see more demand
next week and possibly also another interest rate cut."

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) once again matched the
estimated daily money market liquidity of 6.3 billion rand today.
The estimated daily liquidity requirement peaked at 10.4 billion
rand on Dec 21.

Notes and coins had been expected to rise to about 28 billion
rand over the Christmas period. They peaked at 27.743 billion
rand on Dec 22 compared with last year's peak of 26.207 billion
rand on Dec 23.

The SARB indicated notes and coins in circulation 649 million
rand lower at 26.348 billion rand on Wednesday from 26.997 bil-
lion rand on Tuesday.

The commercial banks quoted 3-month NCDs steady at
18.55/17.95%.

The spreads on the 6-month NCD rates were unchanged at
18.30/17.70%.

The 9-month NCD rates were also stable at 18.20/17.60%, while
the 12-month rates were lower at 18.15/17.50% from 18.15/17.55%.

The 3-month Bankers' Acceptance rate were unchanged at
17.85/17.65%.

@ NEWYEAR-UDM

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE AND PLACE SA FIRST: UDM

The challenge facing South Africans in the new year was to make
the right choice when casting their vote during the 1999 general
election, the Gauteng United Democratic Movement said on Thursday.

Provincial UDM leader Lulama Mshumpela said in the party's New
Year message casting this vote, the citizenry should consider
putting South Africa's interest first.

"(And) to overcome this challenge, the key factor is not who or
what are you, but to be a simple and humble South African and put
South Africanism first," he said in a statement.

@ MATRIC-BRIGADE

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa

IFP YOUTHS LAUD YOUTH FOR INCREASE IN MATRIC PASS RATE

The 4,1 percent increase in the matric pass rate in Gauteng
this year showed progress in development by the youth, which
augured well for the country's democracy, IFP youth brigade
provincial secretary Carter Ndlovu said on Thursday.

Ndlovu urged the youth to continue focusing their efforts
towards growth and development in all spheres of life. He also
encouraged them to participate in the general election next year,
saying South Africa's democracy would be a sham without their
participation.

@ ANGOLA-UN

LUANDA Dec 31 Sapa-AP

UN BEGINS EVACUATING STAFF FROM BESIEGED ANGOLAN CITY

The United Nations has started evacuating its staff from
Huambo, Angola's second largest city, after a rebel artillery
barrage that killed at least eight people and wounded at least 20
civilians.

A diplomat, speaking Thursday on condition of anonymity,
declined to say how many U.N. staff were in the central highland
city where fighting between the army and UNITA rebels has escalated
in recent days.

The International Red Cross said 20 wounded civilians were
admitted to the Huambo hospital after Wednesday's hour-long
bombardment by UNITA's long-range artillery.

A private radio station, Luanda Antena Comercial, said 12
people died in the barrage. Another private station, Radio Eclesia,
said eight people were killed.

A U.N.-chartered cargo plane crashed near Huambo on Saturday
with eight U.N. peacekeepers and six others on board. The cause of
the crash, as the plane passed over the war zone, is not yet known.

The United Nations Observer Mission, in Angola to oversee
implementation of the country's collapsed 1994 peace accord, still
has not received guarantees of safe passage from the warring
factions to send a rescue team to the crash site, U.N. spokesman
Hamadoun Toure said.

Huambo lies about 300 miles (480 kilometers) southeast of the
capital, Luanda.

Before the civil war resumed on Dec. 4, Huambo had a population
of about 300,000, but tens of thousands of refugees fleeing
fighting in the countryside have converged on the city in recent
weeks.

Francoise Zambelini, a spokeswoman for the IRC in Luanda, said
fighting in the countryside around the government-held city made it
impossible to fly aid into Huambo.

"The situation is still very tense in Huambo and the
surrounding area," Zambelini said by telephone.

The IRC has five staff members in Huambo but has no plans to
evacuate them, she said.

There are between 20 and 30 international aid agency workers in
Huambo in addition to U.N. staff members, according to the United
Nations.

With the resumption of the civil war, the United Nations is
faced with the decision of whether to pull out some 1,000 troops in
its observer mission when its mandate expires on Jan. 15.

U.N. diplomats say Secretary-General Kofi Annan may recommend
that the Security Council withdraw the U.N. mission rather than
renew the mandate.

The U.N. Security Council has blamed UNITA, a Portuguese
acronym for the National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola, for the return to war.

UNITA refused to yield control of areas under its control and
maintained a hidden army, according to the United Nations. The
fighting renewed when government troops tried to take the
strongholds by force and were beaten back.

Earlier this week, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos
ruled out talks with UNITA on ending the fighting, and said rebel
leader Jonas Savimbi was a liar for not complying with the 1994
peace pact.

The country has been ravaged by conflict since gaining
independence from Portugal in 1975. A 1991 peace deal collapsed the
following year when UNITA rejected its defeat in the country's
first democratic elections.

@ MATRIC-LD-DP

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa

DP IN GAUTENG WELCOMES IMPROVEMENT IN MATRIC PASS RATE

The Democratic Party in Gauteng on Thursday welcomed the
improvement in the province's matric pass rate, but said there was
no room for complacency.

The DP's Gauteng education spokesman, Brian Goodall, said the
pass rate off 55,6 percent, an improvment of 4, 1 percent on last
year, was still far from satisfactory.

"To continue the improvement in 1999 the DP recommends that the
Gauteng education department focuses on two aspects... firstly
textbooks should be available in schools from the beginning of the
school year, and secondly a stable working environment should be
created for teachers," Goodall said.

Teachers were still uncertain as to their positions and this
did not create a conducive learning environment, he said.

"If this is done the DP believes that in 1999 the education
department should be able to raise the pass rate to 60 percent."

@ CRIME-ATHLONE

CAPE TOWN Jan 31 Sapa

OWNER OF ATHLONE BATTERY AND TYRE CENTRE SHOT DEAD IN ROBBERY

The owner of an Athlone battery and tyre centre on the Cape
Flats was shot dead on Thursday. The murderers stole tyres,
batteries, radios and the owner's vehicles.

Police spokesman Captain Leon Grundling said two masked men
entered the battery and tyre centre at about 10am. They ordered the
owner and an employee to lie down on the floor of the office.

More robbers entered the office and ordered a third employee to
tie the hands of the two men on the ground. He was then ordered to
lie down next to them.

The robbers loaded tyres, batteries and radios into the owner's
panelvan. They also took a computer and a gun.

Grundling said two of the robbers then re-entered the office
and told the employees to look away. They heard three shots.

The men fled in the panelvan, the owner's Mercedes Benz and a
white Peugeot.

The men found their employer dead. He had been shot in the back
of the head.

@ MATRIC-PAC

DURBAN Dec 31 Sapa

MATRIC RESULTS IN RURAL AREAS AND TOWNSHIPS UNSATISFACTORY: PAC

The Pan Africanist Congress in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday said
matric results in schools in rural areas and townships were still
unsatisfactory.

In a statement the PAC said with regard to overall results in
Gauteng and the Northern Cape that the pass rate achieved was not a
true reflection of pupils' performance.

What was needed was a geographical breakdown of results in the
provinces, the PAC said. If this was done it would probably emerge
that results among pupils in rural areas and townships were not
satisfactory, the statement said.

"Whatever failure rate we get, it must be identified as the
government's failure to better our education system."

@ ANGOLA-SA

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa-AFP

DIAMOND INDUSTRY ACCUSED OF FINANCING UNITA REBEL WAR EFFORT

The diamond industry has been identified by the British-based
Global Watch as a huge financier of the war effort by Angolan rebel
movement UNITA, public SABC radio said Thursday.

It said Global Watch has accused South African diamond giant De
Beers of being the main culprit in buying diamonds from the
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

De Beers spokesman Tom Tweedy denied the charges, saying the
company is conducting joint ventures with the Angolan government.

"De Beers has stuck rigidly both to the letter and spirit of
the UN embargo on Angolan diamonds which do not carry a government
certificate," Tweedy said.

"We have invested heavily in Angola and it's just ludicrous to
think that we would be damaging that investment. We in fact mine
and buy diamonds in Angola with the government of Angola."

SABC also said members of Belgium's diamond high council have
been buying diamonds from UNITA in violation of the UN embargo
against the rebel movement.

The radio reported that in its quarterly review, the council
says it bought diamonds from UNITA until June this year.

Angola was earlier this year plunged back into escalating civil
war between government troops and UNITA rebels.

Heavy fighting was reported this week in the major central town
of Huambo and the strategic town of Kuito, also in central Angola.

@ FIVAZ-SUCCESSOR

PRETORIA Dec 31 Sapa

NTSEBEZA WAS NOT APPROACHED TO TAKE OVER FROM FIVAZ

Truth and Reconciliation Commission chief investigator Dumisa
Ntsebeza on Thursday said he had not been approached to take over
from national police commissioner George Fivaz next year.

He described as flattering a newspaper report that he was a
contender for the post, but said: "I cannot see how it can happen."

Ntsebeza told Sapa he would take up the position of acting
judge in the Cape Town High Court on February 1 and remain in that
post until April. After that, he intended returning to his career
as a lawyer.

Asked what he would do if approached to take over from Fivaz,
Ntsebeza said: "I have always been willing to serve my country. But
I can only consider such a move if somebody asks me. Up to now, it
has never entered my mind."

A daily newspaper on Thursday quoted government sources as
saying that Fivaz' successor would be black and recruited from
outside police ranks.

It said Ntsebeza and former national intelligence co-ordinator
Moe Shaik were strong candidates for the post, adding Fivaz had
indicated that he planned to retire when his contract expires in
July.

The newspaper said Fivaz' three deputies, Morgan Chetty, John
Manuel and Zolisa Lavisa, were likely to be disgruntled if an
outsider took over, adding that senior officers at police
headquarters may consider resigning.

Fivaz' office described the report as pure speculation.

Spokesman Director Joseph Ngobeni said the matter had never
been discussed within police ranks, adding the decision lay in the
hands of the president.

Ngobeni could not say whether Fivaz would retire at the end of
his term in office in July next year, saying: "I don't know what
his intentions are."

Shaik could not be reached for comment.

@ ZIM-LAND

HARARE Dec 31 Sapa-AFP

ZIM HAS NO ILL INTENTIONS IN LAND REFORMS: MINISTER

Zimbabwe has no ill intentions in its move to obtain land from
whites for redistribution to landless blacks and was acting within
the law, Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said Thursday.

Mudenge held two hours of talks with foreign diplomats
accredited to Zimbabwe and representatives of donor countries.

He told them Zimbabwe stood by an agreement reached at a donor
conference in September.

"We remain committed to the resolution of the donor conference
... to act within the law of the land. There is no intention by the
government of Zimbabwe to act otherwise," Mudenge said.

At the donor conference, Zimbabwe agreed that only 118 farms
would be expropriated over an initial two years, with Britian and
the European Union helping in the compensation evaluation process.

Two months later the government issued notices of intention to
acquire 841 farms, leaving donors dismayed at the action.

Mudenge said the move was legal under Zimbabwe's laws.

"The (British) colonial regime in this country acquired and
grabbed land and they did it within the law as they understood it.
We can follow suit, (but) we don't want to do that. We intend to
act honourably," he said.

Mudenge said the government had acquired two million hectares
during the last 18 years. "We have been transparent, we have been
honest. There had been no bad faith on the part of the government,"
he said.

The government plans to acquire a further five million hectares
(12.5 million acres) of land from whites to resettle hundred of
thousands of black peasant families in overcrowded communal areas.

Whites, who make up less than one percent of the population,
occupy about 30 percent of the country's land.

@ ZIM-GOVERNOR

BULAWAYO Dec 31 Sapa

ZIMBABWEAN MINISTER DIES IN CAR CRASH

Zimbabwean governor and resident Minister of the Midlands
Province, Herbert Mahlaba on Wednesday night died in a car crash,
Ziana news agency reported on Thursday.

Police Sperintendent for Matabeleland North Province Eastwell
Changadeya said Mahlaba, 54, was travelling from Victoria Falls
with his wife, Faith.

His Mercedes Benz hit a donkey and lost control of the car
along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road. The car rammed into a
stationary heavy duty truck parked on the side of the road,
Changadeya said.

The accident happened at about 10pm at the 140km peg from
Bulawayo, near St Lukes hospital.

In the same car was his wife's sister, Ntombi Mavuso, and
Mahlaba's cousin, Leonard Muringi, who also died.

His wife and her brother, Lucky Mavuso, survived. By Thursday
afternoon they were still at St Luke's hospital in Lupane district,
but their condition could not be ascertained.

Mahlaba's body and those of Ntombi and Muringi were transferred
from St Luke's to Mpilo Hospital mortuary on Thursday morning. The
bodies would later be taken to the Midlands capital Gweru.

The Minister of Local Government and National Housing John
Nkomo and other officials went to Mpilo mortuary to view the
bodies.

Speaking before journalists and members of the Mahlaba family,
Nkomo said the country had lost a hard-working servant of the
people.

"I first worked with him when he was Deputy Minister for Labour
Manpower planning and social welfare and he proved to be a reliable
colleague.

He said Mahlaba's personal efforts had led to the success of
alleviating the problems of the 1992 drought period, and he had
served well as Governor.

Nkomo said Mahlaba had left a legend for many people.

@ COURT-HARDING

HARDING, KwaZulu-Natal Dec 31 Sapa

20 SUSPECTS IN HARDING MASSACRE REMANDED IN CUSTODY

Twenty suspects in the Christmas Eve massacre of six people in
Harding, KwaZulu-Natal were remanded in custody on Thursday.

The men have been charged with six counts of murder and one of
public violence.

A police spokesman in Harding said a handful of onlookers
gathered on the pavement outside when the suspects appeared briefly
in the Harding Magistrate's Court, but no incidents were reported.

Members of the Durban stability unit have been deployed in the
Michi area where the massacre occured to prevent a fresh outbreak
of violence. The unit would remain there until after the weekend.

The case was postponed to January 7.

Meanwhile, 17 suspects have been held at the Harding police
holding cells, while three juveniles have been sent to the Weza
police cells near Harding.

@ ANGOLA-PLANECRASH

PRETORIA Dec 31 Sapa

UN NOT YET GRANTED ACCESS TO CRASH SITE IN ANGOLA

United Nations officials had by Thursday afternoon not yet been
granted access to the site of Saturday's plane crash near Huambo
from the Angolan government or the rebel Unita movement.

UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said from Luanda rescuers were not
considering going into the area without this permission.

"We are the UN - we cannot violate international rules. This
is Angolan territory."

Toure said there had been no response yet from Angolan
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos or Unita leader Jonas Savimbi to
letters from UN secretary-general Kofi Annan requesting that
rescuers be allowed access to possible survivors of the crash.

Earlier in the week, Toure said there may be survivors on board
the aircraft. The wreck was spotted by UN officials on Tuesday and
appeared to be largely intact.

An SOS message received from the aircraft on Monday indicated a
possibility of survivors.

A Hercules C130 transport plane apparently went down in flames
east of Vila Nova, about 45km from Huambo, on Saturday.

It was transporting South African pilot John Wilkinson and
three crew members - a Bolivian, an Angolan and a Filipino.

The passengers, mostly members of the UN mission in Angola,
included three Angolans, an Egyptian, a Camerounian, a Zambian, a
Namibian, an Australian and two Russians.

Toure said the UN was withdrawing about non-essential staff
from Huambo on Thursday after heavy fighting was reported in the
area. Reports say at least eight people have been killed and 20
civilians injured.

The people being withdrawn from Huambo comprised only about one
third of UN staff deployed there, and peacekeepers would remain,
Toure said.

He added a media statement would be issued on Friday.

Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Adri Cronje said Wilkinson's son
Hilton left for Angola on Wednesday.

He wished to go along should a rescue team be allowed access to
the crash site, she said.

@ FIVAZ-LD-SUCCESSOR

PRETORIA Dec 31 Sapa

NTSEBEZA, SHAIK NOT APPROACHED TO TAKE OVER FROM FIVAZ

Truth and Reconciliation Commission chief investigator Dumisa
Ntsebeza and Foreign Affairs official Moe Shaik on Thursday said
they had not been approached to take over from national police
commissioner George Fivaz next year.

Dumisa described as flattering a newspaper report that he was a
contender for the post, but said: "I cannot see how it can happen".

Shaik said he heard of the possible job offer for the first
time when he read about it on Thursday.

"I am very humbled that somewhere there is someone who
considers me capable of doing this job," he said from Cape Town.

Shaik described himself as a political animal, saying: "If I am
told to do something, I will do it. I am deployable."

Shaik, who had just returned to South Africa after a stint as
Consul-General to Germany, was previously the deputy intelligence
co-ordinator of the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee.

A daily newspaper on Thursday quoted government sources as
saying that Fivaz' successor would be black and recruited from
outside police ranks.

It said Fivaz had indicated he planned to retire when his
contract expires in July, and named Ntsebeza and Shaik as strong
candidates for the post.

The newspaper said Fivaz's three deputies, Morgan Chetty, John
Manuel and Zolisa Lavisa, were likely to be disgruntled if an
outsider took over, adding that senior officers at police
headquarters may consider resigning.

Fivaz's office described the report as pure speculation.

Spokesman Director Joseph Ngobeni said the matter had never
been discussed within police ranks. The decision was in the hands
of the president, he said.

Ngobeni could not say wether Fivaz would retire at the end of
his term in office in July next year, saying: "I don't know what
his intentions are".

@ MILLENNIUM-BELLS

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa

MILLENNIUM BELLS TO COMMENCE JOURNEY FROM MOSSEL BAY

Millennium Bells will at the stroke of the New Year begin a
journey around South Africa to raise interest in the new millennium
at the end of next year.

The journey would start from a cross left at Mossel Bay in the
Eastern Cape by Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Dias in 1487,
SA2000 said in a statement on Thursday.

Lawyer Graeme Fraser and his family will carry the bells from
the cross to outside the historic museum in Mossel Bay.

On Friday at 10am the bells will be given to athletes from the
Mossel Bay Harriers, reaching their final destination in Cape Town
on December 31 next year.

"While the planned route for the journey will take the
Millennium Bells to towns and cities across the country, the
initial portion of the journey will focus on the South-Eastern
Cape," said the statement.

The bells will reach George on January 2, Knysna on January 3,
Plettenberg Bay on January 4, Humansdorp on January 5, and Port
Elizabeth between January 6 and 9.

Residents of towns and villages along he rote are urged to
greet the bells by ringing their own bells.

A limited edition of 2000 replicas of the SA2000 Millennium
Bells will be sold during 1999. Proceeds will be donated to the
Sunshine Centre Association, an organisation committed to the
development of children with intellectual disabilities and
development delays through partnerships with families and
communities.

@ MILLENNIUM-LD-BELLS

JOHANNESBURG Dec 31 Sapa-AP

SAFRICAN LAWYER TAKES SABBATICAL TO HAWK MILLENNIUM BELLS

Graeme Fraser, 43, put his law practice into mothballs, packed
his five children and wife in the car and on Thursday was to kick
off a potentially lucrative millennium project.

At midnight, the family planned to launch a yearlong journey
with a set of four bells through nearly 300 small towns and
villages in South Africa.

Fraser said the project - that also involves runners from local
athletic clubs and schools - offered a welcome break from 16 years
practicing entertainment and corporate law.

"It was a once in a lifetime opportunity," Fraser said in a
telephone interview.

With the backing of South African film producer Anant Singh,
Fraser also plans to sell 2,000 replicas of the bells. One third of
the sale price - 750 rand (dlrs 125) a piece - will benefit the
Sunshine Center Association, a charity organization for mentally
handicapped children.

If all the bells are sold, Fraser would have 1 million rand
(dlrs 166,000) to cover expenses and compensate for loss of income,
he said.

But Fraser said money was hardly his motive.

"In the smaller towns of South Africa, outside the main
centers, there won't be much opportunity for people to be actively
involved in a millennium-related activity," Fraser said. "The
whole concept of the bell is to involve as many people in South
Africa in the millennium as we can."

At midnight Thursday, the Fraser family will run with the bells
from a cross in Mossel Bay on the southern coast marking the place
where Bartolomeu Dias, the Portuguese explorer, landed in 1487.

They'll deliver the bells to the Mossel Bay Museum, where the
local tourism board will hold a special send off on New Years Day
for the project, Fraser said.

"We expect to be welcomed by the ringing of bells at every
stop," Fraser said. "Bells have always been associated with happy
and joyous occasions. Most small towns in South Africa have bells
at schools or churches."

The first leg will be a 50 kilometer (31 mile) jog by Mossel
Bay's local athletic club to the coastal city of George.

The final leg next December will be on South Africa's luxury
Blue Train from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Fraser has started a promotions company called SA2000 that he
hopes will manage other millennium projects.

"For 10 years, I've been thinking about this millennium
project," Fraser said.

His children, however, will return to school after the southern
hemisphere's summer holiday ends in mid January, he said.

@ ANGOLA-LD-UN

LUANDA Dec 31 Sapa-AP

U.N. BEGINS EVACUATING STAFF FROM BESIEGED ANGOLAN CITY

The United Nations has started evacuating its staff from
Huambo, Angola's second-largest city, after a rebel artillery
barrage that killed at least eight people and wounded at least 20
civilians.

The International Red Cross said 20 wounded civilians were
admitted to the Huambo hospital after Wednesday's hour-long
bombardment by UNITA's long-range artillery.

A private radio station, Luanda Antena Comercial, said 12
people died in the barrage. Another private station, Radio Eclesia,
said eight people were killed.

Before the civil war resumed on Dec. 4, Huambo had a population
of about 300,000, but tens of thousands of refugees fleeing
fighting in the countryside have converged on the city in recent
weeks and reportedly are living in makeshift conditions.

Huambo lies about 480 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of the
capital, Landa. Fighting also has focused on the nearby city of
Kuito.

A U.N.-chartered cargo plane crashed near Huambo on Saturday
with eight U.N. peacekeepers and six others on board. The cause of
the crash, as the plane passed over the war zone, is not known.

UNITA Secretary-general Paulo Lukamba Gato said he had received
no request from the United Nations to allow the deployment of a
rescue team.

"There's a low-intensity war all over the country and a
high-intensity war around Huambo and Kuito. But there'll be a
crescendo in the next few days," Gato said in a telephone
interview from Bailundo, UNITA's central highland base. He declined
to elaborate.

Gato complained that the U.N. envoy to Angola, Issa Diallo, had
failed in his task of bringing the two sides together because he
had not held direct talks with UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi for
months.

"The United Nations can't even stop the government's war
machine. But we'll do that, that's our problem," Gato said.

With the resumption of the civil war, the United Nations is
faced with the decision of whether to pull out some 1,000 troops in
its observer mission when its mandate expires on Jan. 15.

The U.N. Security Council has blamed UNITA, a Portuguese
acronym for the National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola, for the return to war.

Earlier this week, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos
ruled out talks with UNITA on ending the fighting, and said Savimbi
was a liar for faking compliance with the 1994 peace pact.

@ ZAMBIA-LD-ELECTION

LUSAKA Dec 31 Sapa-AFP

ZAMBIA'S RULING PARTY LEADS LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS

Zambia's ruling party appeared to be headed for an overwhelming
victory Thursday after municipal polls marked by voter apathy,
according to preliminary results.

President Frederick Chiluba's Movement for Multi-party
Democracy (MMD) won 29 out of the 30 seats in the capital Lusaka
followed Wednesday's elections.

The lone opposition seat going to ex-president Kenneth Kaunda's
United National Independent Party (UNIP).

In the northern town of Kitwe the MMD took all 25 seats, while
in Zambia's second largest city Ndola it won 23 of the 25 seats.

In the southern provincial capital of Livingstone, the MMD won
nine of 14 seats, with two being taken by UNIP and three going to
independents.

Director of elections Joel Sikazwe told AFP that he could not
give figures for the total voter turnout, as results from only
one-third of the 1,275 seats had reached his office.

He said final results were not likely to be available until
Sunday or Monday.

But they were characterised by a low voter turn-out, with one
polling station reporting just 30 votes out of a registered
electorate of 400.

Three opposition parties - the National Citizens Coalition led
by Nevers Mumba, the newly formed United Party for National
Development of Anderson Mazoka and the Zambia Democratic Congress
of Dean Mungomba - lost in all the districts where results have so
far been announced.

A UPND official, Clementina Chikwenda, said her party was not
discouraged by the fact that the MMD appeared poised for a
landslide victory.

She said the MMD had the time and resources to mount a major
campaign, while her party had only been established two weeks ago.

University of Zambia political analyst Patrick Mwewa agreed
that the vote could not be seen as a true test of the new party but
said other opposition parties "have certainly done badly."

The Zambian Independent Monitoring Team, a non-governmental
organisation which monitored the polls, expressed disappointment at
the low voter turnout in most polling stations.

@ SA-BLAIR

PRETORIA Dec 31 Sapa

MBEKI INVITES TONY BLAIR TO SA; BOTH TO CO-CHAIR UK/SA FORUM

British Prime Minister Tony Blair would visit South Africa from
January 6 to 9 at the invitation of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki,
the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

Blair would be accompanied by his wife, Cherie, and a number of
policy advisers, the department said in a statement in Pretoria.

Blair and Mbeki will co-chair the second meeting of the United
Kingdom/South Africa Bilateral Forum in Pretoria on January 7.

The department said the first meeting of the UK/South Africa
Bilateral Forum took place when Mbeki visited London in November
1997.

At this meeting the United Kingdom and South Africa reaffirmed
their close and wide-ranging links, and agreed to meet annually to
discuss matters of mutual interest.

During the upcoming meeting Blair, who would be visiting both
Gauteng and the Western Cape, would also meet President Nelson
Mandela.

"This visit will further broaden the partnership between South
Africa and the United Kingdom," said the department. "The United
Kingdom remains South Africa's strongest trade and investment
partner."

Total trade between the two countries during 1997 amounted to
R31,8 billion. For the first 10 months of 1998 the figure amounted
to R21,4 billion. United Kingdom companies had invested nearly R10
billion in South Africa since the 1994 general election.

@ ANGOLA-UN

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 31, Sapa-AFP

UN SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING ON ANGOLA

The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Thursday to
ask Angola's UNITA rebel movement to give a rescue team access to a
site where a UN plane went down.

The 15-member council was to adopt a resolution with that
request after appeals from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan went
unanswered.

A Hercules C-130 chartered by the UN World Food Program crashed
in flames Saturday with 14 people on board in a combat zone in the
center of Angola.

According to the UN Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), some of
the passengers may still be alive.

The wreckage was located Tuesday eight kilometers (five miles)
southwest of Villa Nova, near one of the strongholds of the
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

Heavy fighting late this year between UNITA fighters - led by
Jonas Savimbi - and government forces has rekindled a long-running
civil war in the country.

MONUA said Wednesday that UN special envoy to Angola Issa
Diallo had asked both sides to allow rescue workers in by road.

But the Portugese news agency LUSA on Tuesday said UNITA
Secretary General Paulo Lukamba Gato denied being contacted by
MONUA.

The emergency meeting of the Security Council was called by the
United States, Portugal and Russia, the troika in charge of
monitoring the beleaguered Lusaka peace accords of November 1994,
diplomats said.

@ ANGOLA-LD-PLANECRASH

LUANDA Dec 31 Sapa-AP

ANGOLA OFFERS TO COOPERATE IN REACHING UN PLANE CRASH SITE

The Angolan government has offered the United Nations its full
cooperation in trying to reach the site of a downed U.N.-chartered
plane to determine the fate of the 14 people on board, a U.N.
spokesman said Thursday.

The government announced its decision Thursday after repeated
appeals from the United Nations following last Saturday's crash
near the central highland city of Huambo, according to spokesman
Hamadoun Toure.

He declined to give further details.

Toure said there was no response yet from the UNITA rebel
group, engaged in fighting with the government's army in that area
since early this month.

UNITA Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba Gato said he had received
no request from the United Nations to allow the deployment of a
rescue team.

The rescue attempt and the renewed fighting were expected to be
discussed at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council
Thursday in New York.

The cause of the crash, which occurred as the C-130 transport
plane passed over a war zone, was not known.

Huambo lies about 480 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of the
capital, Luanda. Fighting also has focused on the nearby city of
Kuito.

The United Nations has started evacuating its staff from
Huambo, Angola's second-largest city, after a rebel artillery
barrage that killed at least eight people and wounded at least 20
civilians.

The International Red Cross said 20 wounded civilians were
admitted to the Huambo hospital after Wednesday's hour-long
bombardment by UNITA's long-range artillery.

A private radio station, Luanda Antena Comercial, said 12
people died in the barrage. Another private station, Radio Eclesia,
said eight people were killed.

With the resumption of the civil war, the United Nations is
faced with the decision of whether to pull out some 1,000 troops in
its observer mission when its mandate expires on Feb. 26.

Gato complained that the U.N. envoy to Angola, Issa Diallo, had
failed in his task of bringing the two sides together because he
had not held direct talks with UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi for
months.

"The United Nations can't even stop the government's war
machine. But we'll do that, that's our problem," Gato said.

The U.N. Security Council has blamed UNITA, a Portuguese
acronym for the National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola, for the return to war.

UNITA refused to cede the areas it controlled and maintained a
hidden army, according to the United Nations. The fighting renewed
when government troops tried to take the strongholds by force and
were beaten back.

Earlier this week, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos
ruled out talks with UNITA on ending the fighting, and said Savimbi
was a liar for faking compliance with the 1994 peace pact.

@ ECONOMY-NEWYEAR

WASHINGTON Sapa-AP

ECONOMISTS PREDICT A SLOWDOWN - AGAIN - FOR THE NEW YEAR

It may be a new year but the economic forecast for 1999 has an
old familiar ring.

Economists predict distinctly slower growth, somewhat faster
inflation, slightly higher unemployment and, at best, lackluster
stock-market gains.

"I like to call 1999 a 'bumpy soft landing,' " said economist
Nicholas Perna of Fleet Financial Group in Hartford, Connecticut.
"It will be a soft landing in the sense that it's a
better-than-even-money bet that we're going to avoid a recession
and bumpy in the sense that in some parts of the economy, namely
manufacturing, it's going to feel a lot like a recession."

Perna's scenario, widely shared by forecasters, bears a
striking resemblance to their expectations a year ago for 1998.
Instead, despite an as-predicted deterioration in the trade
deficit, the economy's growth remained nearly as robust as it was
in 1997, inflation stayed just as tame and unemployment edged
lower, not higher.

What happened? The answer, paradoxically, is: the global slump
that started in Asia in mid-1997, toppled the Russian economy last
summer and threatened Latin America.

"The U.S. economy turned out a lot stronger than expected,
mainly because the consumer actually benefited from the global
crisis," said economist David Jones of Aubrey G. Lanston and Co.
in New York.

As predicted, the trade deficit climbed toward a record in 1998
- probably of about dlrs 167 billion when the counting is done. And
falling export sales contributed to the loss of more than 200,000
factory jobs.

But, because skittish investors poured their money into
dollar-denominated investments, U.S. interest rates fell. With
mortgage rates around 30-year lows, sales of new and existing homes
hit records and many homeowners put money in their pockets by
refinancing.

Slumping world demand pushed oil prices to levels - adjusted
for inflation - rivaling the Depression's, giving consumers more
cash.

On top of that, the stock market by the end of the year was
again at record levels after a sharp sell-off in the late summer
and early fall.

Thus, American consumers - whose spending accounts for nearly
two-thirds of economic output - felt confident enough to spend
nearly all of their after-tax income.

It can't happen again, economists insist, because all the
pieces that fell into place can't possibly repeat themselves.
Sooner or later, consumers must start saving more and spending
less.

"1999 will be the toughest year for the economy since the
early part of the decade," said economist Mark Zandi of Regional
Financial Associates. "We can't repeat 1998 unless interest rates
fall another 2 percentage points and oil prices fall another dlrs 2
a barrel."

A consensus forecast for 1999 shows:

GROWTH: The economy should expand at a 2.2 percent annual rate,
down from 3.6 percent in 1998, according to the consensus of 50
economists surveyed by Blue Chip Economic Indicators.

INFLATION: Consumer prices should rise 2.2 percent, up from a
1.6 percent annual rate during the first 11 months of 1998.

UNEMPLOYMENT: The unemployment rate, at a 29-year low of 4.5
percent in 1998, should average 4.8 percent.

INTEREST RATES: Long-term mortgage rates should stick near 7
percent. Many believe something - a renewed bout of turmoil
overseas, perhaps in Brazil, or an unexpectedly sharp pullback in
the United States - will provoke the Federal Reserve to cut
short-term rates again next year after three quarter-point cuts
this fall. But, absent such a triggering event, both long- and
short-term rates may fluctuate within a narrow range for some time.

STOCK MARKET: The profit outlook is bleak. Businesses are
squeezed between their inability to raise prices in the face of
overseas competition and their need to pay higher wages to attract
and keep skilled employees. Analysts just don't think the Dow Jones
industrial average can shoot up 27 percent as it did in 1997, or
even repeat the 17 percent gain of 1998.

"One has to be nuts to predict the stock market, but it seems
to me there's a lot of vulnerability there," said economist
William Cheney of John Hancock Financial Services in Boston.

RECESSION RISK: There should be enough momentum, overall, to
carry the expansion into February 2000, making it the longest in
U.S. history, surpassing the 1961-69 expansion in longevity, if not
in vigor.

But 40 percent of the world's economies are in recession,
including Japan's, the second-largest. Declining oil prices, while
a boon to consumers, are hurting important U.S. trading partners,
such as Mexico. Other commodities - from hogs to corn - are falling
too, hurting farm states.

"We continue to be an island of solid growth, but the sea
around us is still threatening," said economist Robert Dederick of
Northern Trust Co. in Chicago.

@ ANGOLA-LD-UN

UNITED NATIONS Dec 31 Sapa-AFP

UN SECURITY COUNCIL VOTES ON ANGOLA

The UN Security Council unanimously voted a resolution Thursday
demanding Angola's UNITA rebel movement to give a rescue team
access to a site where a UN plane went down.

The 15-member council emergency vote came after appeals from UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan went unanswered.

A Hercules C-130 chartered by the UN World Food Program crashed
in flames Saturday with 14 people on board in a combat zone in the
center of Angola.

According to the UN Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), some of
the passengers may still be alive.

The Security Council threatened to "take action" against rebel
leader Jonas Savimbi if he did not allow rescue teams to search the
site by January 11. It did not specify what kind of actions.

The Council also called upon the Angolan government to
cooperate on the search.

The wreckage was located Tuesday eight kilometers (five miles)
southwest of Villa Nova, near one of the strongholds of the
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

Heavy fighting late this year between UNITA fighters - led by
Jonas Savimbi - and government forces has rekindled a long-running
civil war in the country.

MONUA said Wednesday that UN special envoy to Angola Issa
Diallo had asked both sides to allow rescue workers in by road.

But the Portugese news agency LUSA on Tuesday said UNITA
Secretary General Paulo Lukamba Gato denied being contacted by
MONUA.

@ ANGOLA-2ND-LD-UN

LUANDA, Angola Dec 31 Sapa-AP

ANGOLAN GOVERNMENT OFFERS TO COOPERATE IN REACHING SITE OF
DOWNED UN PLANE

He declined to give further details.

Toure said there was no response yet from the UNITA rebel
group, engaged in fighting with the government's army in that area
since early this month.

The offer of help came hours before the Security Council held
an emergency meeting in New York in which it passed a resolution
condemning inaction by both the Angolan government and the UNITA
rebel group in reaching the crash victims.

UNITA Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba Gato said he had received
no request from the United Nations to allow the deployment of a
rescue team.

@ TODAY IN HISTORY (Jan 6)

Highlights in Southern African history:

JAN 6:

1688 - The Dutch ship Rosenberg leaves for Cape Town with several
Hugeonots on board.

1704 - P Kalder performs first service of the Dutch Reformed
Church, in the Heerengracht (Adderley Stret), Cape Town.

1885 - Pondoland East is declared a British protectorate.

1896 - Rhodes resigns premiership of Cape Colony and is
succeeded by Sir J Gordon Sprigg.

1900 - The Boers and the British clash at Ladysmith with heavy
casualties on both sides.

1952 - Lt I W Parsonson, SA Air Force Cheetah pilot on duty in
the Korean War, is killed when his aircraft catches fire and
crashes after being struck by flak.

1989 - The cockpit voice-recorder of the SAA Helderberg which
crashed into the Indian Ocean off Mauritius is recovered from
the plane after 14 months of searching. It is hoped the
recorder, or "black box", will help in discovering why the
plane crashed with the loss of 159 lives.

1993 - South Africa wins its first international Test cricket
series in 22 years when the fourth Test against India ends in a
draw.

1995 - Housing minister Joe Slovo, national chairman of the
SACP and former chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, dies at
the age of 69.

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