ANC Newsbriefing 6 Jan '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
THURSDAY 7 JANUARY 1999
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
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@ FIRE - GRAHAMSTOWN
Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)
GRAHAMSTOWN HILL STARTING TO LOOK LIKE DONGA-RIDDLED
GRAHAMSTOWN (ECN) - A big fire last October followed by heavy
rain has caused serious soil erosion on 80 hectares of hillside
bordering the N2 on the outskirts of Grahamstown.
Huge areas of Grahamstown's grass and fynbos-covered hills have
reappeared after the government successfully cleared them of
water-sucking alien trees and impenetrable bush in recent months.
However, the project's efforts above Waainek four kilometres
outside Grahamstown have gone horribly wrong when fire followed by
hard rain caused heavy and sudden erosion.
The area was cleared of Australian Port Jackson willow (Acacia
Longifolia) shortly before the fire last year by the
government-funded Albany Working for Water Project.
Now the project's Grahamstown-based rehabilitation teams are
assessing the degraded area with a view to intensive grass
re-seeding and spot planting of indigenous trees including
Crysanthemoidies and coral trees.
Other species removed by the project's tree-felling teams
included Acacia Mearnsii (Black Wattle) and Australian Eucalyptus
(gum trees).
The unsightly erosion on slopes that range from 45 degrees to a
gradient of one metre in five, have been compounded by old roadwork
excavations undertaken early in the 1980s when the N2 highway was
built to bypass Grahamstown's townships.
Project manager Mr Andrew Knipe said yesterday (Subs: Tues):
"We will send in rehabilitation teams as soon as a full
assessment of the damage area has been completed."
The water project's geo-hydrologist Mr Brett Edwards visited the
damaged area with ECN yesterday (subs: Tuesday) and it was clear
that a major rehabilitation operation was needed to restore the
area.
Mr Edwards said the cause of the fire which started behind the
Waainek sewerage treatment plant had not been established.
He said it had burned about 110 hectares when strong winds had
fanned it up the hillside.
In anticipation of soil erosion after the tree-cutting exercise
and clearing operations teams had taken steps to prevent topsoil
run-off by stacking felled trees in windrows across the contour
lines. "This would have prevented potential soil erosion but
unfortunately the fire burnt through the the log stacks and
destroyed them completely."
Mr Edwards said he conducted an assessment of the fire zone
immediately after it was brought under control.
"My conclusion was that action should be taken as soon as
possible to prevent further erosion.
"The soil was already badly degraded because of extensive
earthmoving activites when the bypass was constructed and this
caused the original infestation of alien species."
@ BLAST-INVESTIGATION
CAPE TOWN January 6 1998 Sapa
NO IMMINENT ARREST AFTER WATERFRONT BLASTS
Police have evaluated most of the information received from the
public after the Waterfront pipe bomb explosion last Friday, but
are not yet able to make a positive arrest.
Superintendent Wicus Holtzhausen on Wednesday said all
information, including a claim by a prisoner in the Western Cape
that he knew at least one man involved in the explosion at Planet
Hollywood restaurant last August, had been evaluated.
"We are unable to make a positive arrest on the information
received thus far. We do, however, call on the public to come
forward if they have information," Holtzhausen said.
Five people were slightly injured in Friday's pipe bomb blast,
and two people died and 26 were injured in the Planet Hollywood
explosion on August 25.
Police have confirmed that similar pipe bombs were used in both
blasts.
Pipe bombs were used in 14 atacks in the Western Cape last
year. They included an explosion in Bellville on August 6 in which
a street vendor was killed and a woman was seriously injured.
@ US-WEATHER
NEW YORK January 6 1998 Sapa-AP
RELENTLESS WINTER WEATHER HAS MUCH OF NATION UNDER THE GUN
Winter showed no mercy across much of the United States,
bringing a record cold reading of minus 37 degrees Fahrenheit (-38
degrees Celsius) to Illinois, more than a foot (0.3 meters) of new
snow to heavily blanketed upstate New York and rare frigid
conditions all the way south to the Gulf Coast.
The death toll from the icy weather that began in earnest over
the weekend climbed to 93, many having lost their lives in traffic
crashes caused by slick roads. Victims ranged as far south as
Tennessee.
A combination of snow buildup and biting cold air descending
from Canada pushed the mercury down to minus 37 degrees (-38 C) in
the northwestern Illinois town of Savanna, edging the state's old
record, set in 1930 and tied in 1996, by two degrees.
Chicago was 12 below zero (-24 C) along the lakefront and 27
below (-32) in the western suburbs. Springfield saw 21 below (-29
C), while Moline hit 26 below (-32 C).
Peoria saw temperatures of 19 below zero (-29 C), giving
Bradley University freshman and Zimbabwe native Thando Dzowa a
lesson in weathering Midwest winters.
"It's shocking," Dzowa said. "I thought (the snow) was
pretty until I stepped outside and almost froze."
Slick roads kept schools closed in many states, utility service
was down in spots and frozen plumbing was a serious problem across
a wide area.
Upstate New York, already lying under a thick accumulation of
snow, got no relief as a band of lake-fed snow that hit earlier in
the week returned to dump up to 16 more inches (41 cms) in West
Seneca and Lancaster.
Esther Sinicki, 69, was behind her snowblower for a third
straight day, but could barely keep up as the snow piled around her
at a rate of 2 inches (5 cms) an hour. A foot (0.3 meters) had
accumulated in her West Seneca driveway by early afternoon,
doubling her two-day total.
"We're paying for November and December," she said, referring
to the unusually mild months.
In southern states, residents unused to icy conditions
struggled to adjust.
Tennessee had single-digit (temperatures around -15 C) morning
lows, deaths of homeless men blamed on exposure were reported in
Nashville and Memphis. In South Carolina, utility crews went house
to house to restore power after a fierce weekend ice storm.
Near the Gulf Coast, the predawn temperature dropped to 18
degrees (-8 C) in Mobile, Alabama, breaking a 75-year-old record of
19 degrees (-7 C). The Alabama community of Pinson was the coldest
place in the state, dipping to 7 degrees (-14 C) overnight.
It was so cold that the Birmingham Post-Herald came out against
winter on its editorial page.
"Even though the calendar will say otherwise for another 2 1/2
months, we're ready to put the winter temperatures behind us for
another year," the editorial read. "Are you listening, Mother
Nature?"
@ RETAIL-SALES
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa-INet-Bridge
OCT REAL RETAIL SALES DN 0.8% M/M, DN 1.5% Y/Y
Real retail trade sales (at constant
1995 prices) decreased by 0.8% from September after seasonal ad-
justment and fell by 1.5% on October 1997, data released by
Statistics South Africa showed today.
The seasonally adjusted real retail trade sales (at constant
1995 prices) for the 3 months up to October 1998 reflected a de-
crease of 0.8% compared with the previous 3 months and slipped by
0.5% on the same period in 1997.
Despite the declining trend in real retail trade sales since
the beginning of 1998, the real retail trade sales (at constant
1995 prices) for the first 10 months of 1998 are still 0.8% high-
er than for the corresponding period of 1997. Ten of the 20 mer-
chandise categories reflected increases during this period.
The seasonally adjusted real retail trade sales (at constant
1995 prices) for October 1998 reflected a decrease of 0.8% com-
pared with September 1998, with 13 of the 20 merchandise cate-
gories reflecting decreases. The largest percentage decrease in
the seasonally adjusted real retail trade sales during this peri-
od was reported for sport and recreation requisites (7.4%) and
for glass, crockery and kitchenware (7.4%).
Cash sales comprised 73.7% of the total sales for October
1998.
This is 0.8 of a percentage point higher than the 72.9% for
October 1997.
Hire purchases as a percentage of total sales increased by
0.4 of a percentage point, while other credit sales as a percent-
age of total sales decreased by 1.2 percentage points during the
same period.
(5.6950 rand-US $1)
@ TRAFFIC-KWANATAL
DURBAN January 6 1998 Sapa
398000 TRAFFIC TICKETS ISSUED IN KWANATAL IN 1998
Traffic officers in KwaZulu-Natal wrote out just under 400000
tickets for offences last year.
Provincial traffic spokesman Logan Maistry on Wednesday said
242687 were for speeding, 3442 for overtaking on barrier lines,
17099 for driver's licence offences, 24004 for not wearing
seatbelts, 6041 for overloading and 68187 for vehicle defects.
Maistry said 1713 people were arrested for drunk driving, 134
for reckless or negligent driving, and 163 for doing more than
190km/h. Officers ordered 1300 unroadworthy vehicles off the road.
The traffic inspectorate last year attended 3255 traffic
accidents. More than 730 abnormal loads were escorted.
Maistry said the overall road death toll in the province for
last year would be available next month.
@ SWAZI-COUNTERFEIT
MBABANE January 6 1998 Sapa
THREE SWAZIS ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH COUNTERFEIT NOTES
Three Swazis, including two top football referees, were
arrested in connection with counterfeit elangeni notes with a face
value of about E100,000 (R100000) in Mbabane on Tuesday.
The three were arrested after police raided a house. A machine
believed to have been used in manufacturing the counterfeit notes
was also seized.
Superintendent Leckinah Magagula warned the public to look out
for fake E100 notes.
@ BOTSWANA-INFLATION
GABORONE January 6 1998 Sapa
BOTSWANA'S YR/YR INFLATION RISES TO 6,4 PERCENT IN DECEMBER
Botswana's rate of inflation increased to 6,4 percent in
December, up from November's 6,2 percent, the Bank of Botswana said
on Wednesday.
It said the all items consumer price index was up to 115,3 from
114,9 the previous month. The base was 100 in November 1996.
The bank forecast further increases in inflation during the
early part of this year.
"This will reflect the effects of rising inflation in South
Africa, domestic salary increases and a rapid growth in credit and
government spending," it said in its latest economic review.
@ IRAQ-BRITAIN-COOK
LONDON, Jan 6, Sapa-AFP
COOK SAYS IRAQI CLAIMS ARE BOGUS
Britain on Wednesday dismissed as "bogus" Iraq's claim that it
could not guarantee the safety of British and US aid workers based
there and that they should therefore leave.
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the suggestion that popular
unrest was a threat to UN humanitarian staff following last month's
US-led air strikes was "a wholly bogus argument from this
particular repressive regime."
"These are humanitarian workers," he told BBC radio. "On the
whole, the work they do is overwhelmingly popular with the Iraqi
people."
The UN Security Council late Tuesday rejected Iraq's demand for
the replacement of US and British humanitarian workers in the wake
of the air strikes.
Cook said Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was becoming increasingly
isolated among Arab countries, pointing to a fiery speech urging
Arabs to rise up against their governments.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will Saturday visit Royal Air
Force crews based in Kuwait, who took part in the air strikes, on
his way back to Britain from a visit to South Africa.
His official spokesman denied the visit would stir renewed
controversy.
"The visit is about going to see the troops, thanking them for
what they do and making it clear that the prime minister continues
to support the work they do," he said.
@ ZIM-LIMPOPO
HARARE January 6 1998 Sapa
HUNDREDS WAIT TO SWIM SWOLLEN LIMPOPO TO RETURN TO WORK IN SA
South African employers will by now have heard the usual run of
unlikely excuses from workers returning late to work after the
festive season, but it will take a lot to beat those offered by
Zimbabweans who work illegally on the border near Messina.
Hundreds of them were on Wednesday stretched along banks of the
Limpopo river, waiting for the swollen waters to subside. They
cannot cross at the border post at Beitbridge because they are
illegal immigrants.
Their normal route is a walk across the river bed, usually no
more than a series of isolated pools at this time of the year, and
risk a walk through the Kruger National Park to reach the farms and
businesses they work at illegally on the South African side.
But heavy rain has turned the river into a raging torrent.
There are unconfirmed reports that two have drowned trying to
cross.
"The Limpopo is in flood and no one is willing to risk drowning
or becoming a snack for a crocodile by swimming across," the Herald
newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The border jumpers returned home to Zimbabwe just before
Christmas. They declared themselves to South African authorities,
who ordered them to leave immediately rather than go through the
expensive and time-consuming business of deporting them.
On the Zimbabwean side, they handed themselves over to police
and paid an admission of guilt fine of ZD100 (about R15) for
illegally crossing the border and returned to their nearby villages
to celebrate Christmas with their families.
But the flooded river has frustrated their return to work.
Almon Sibanda of the Beitbridge district council said hundreds
had already arrived by bus and gone to their usual crossing points.
"We warned them not to gamble, the river is very full," he told
The Herald. He said one of the illegal immigrants told the council
that he and two friends tried to cross.
He failed and sruggled back to the Zimbabwean bank, but said
his two friends were missing. Police said they had not received any
report that the men were swept away.
@ BLAIR ANNOUNCES UK SUPPORT TO IEC
Issued by: British Embassy
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR ANNOUNCES UK SUPPORT TO
INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Prime Minister Blair arriving in South Africa today announced
that Britain will contribute 1.1 million pound sterling (approx.
Rand 11 million) to a joint programme of international support to
the Independent Electoral Commission and the forthcoming national
elections.
Mr Blair, in Pretoria, said:
"I am delighted that Britain is joining other Commonwealth
countries in giving practical support to the Independent Electoral
Commission. The forthcoming elections will cement South Africa's
remarkable transition to democracy."
The British Department for International Development (DFID) has
worked with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to
co-ordinate an international programme of support for electoral
management, particularly in targeted areas in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu
Natal and Northern Province.
The project will help the IEC to enhance its capacity to
delivery the 1999 (and subsequent) elections by providing training
for key managers. The project will also help civil society to foster
public participation in the elections and assist with mediation and
conflict resolution by the IEC.
The programme has been developed jointly with the IEC and other
development organisations, in consultation with civil society and
other Chapter 9 Commissions. Up to 10 other countries, including EU
and Commonwealth countries, as well as multilateral organisations
will be involved in this international partnership. The IEC has
sought to draw on a wide body of international electoral experience,
from Africa and elsewhere. This exchange of practice will help to
support democracy in all countries involved.
Further information can be obtained from
Laurie Lee / Steve Godfrey
Department for International Development - Southern Africa
Tel: 012 342 3360 ext. 248
Cell: 083 676 0642 / 082 413 1043
Fax: 012 342 3429
@ CONGO-FIGHTING
BRAZZAVILLE, January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
CONGO TROOPS KILLS DOZENS OF MILITIA FOES NEAR CAPITAL: ARMY
Congolese government forces killed dozens of militia foes in
fighting close to the capital Brazzaville, losing at least four of
their own men and two armoured vehicles, army sources said
Wednesday.
Forces backing President Denis Sassou Nguesso killed several
dozen of the self-styled Ninja militiamen in operations on Tuesday
to flush them out of the Linzolo hills around 20 kilometres (12
miles) southwest of the capital, one military source who asked not
to be named said.
In the fighting, between four and five of the loyalist troops
also died and the Ninjas, who had served former premier Bernard
Kolelas before he and president Pascal Lissouba were ousted in a
1997 civil war, destroyed two armoured vehicles then abandoned by
pro-government forces, the source added.
General Sassou Nguesso's army, backed by Angolan troops,
surrounded the Ninja-occupied territory last week and began a heavy
bombardment of militia positions on Monday.
The military estimates that several hundred militiamen were
based in the hills. On Wednesday, one source said that they were
"numerous and getting reinforcements".
Artillery shelling in the Linzolo region had stopped on
Wednesday morning, an AFP correspondent said, but an army source
said pro-government sources were preparing for a new offensive in
the hills.
Heavy fighting first broke out in December between the Ninjas
and Sassou Nguesso's forces, while the latter sealed off the Pool
region adjoining the capital, which lies on the Congo river
opposite Kinshasa, capital of the strife-torn Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC).
On December 18 and 20, clashes and artillery fire in the
southern districts of Brazzaville itself claimed between 1,000 and
1,500 lives, according to one anonymous military source.
Sassou Nguesso, a former military ruler who had handed over
power to Lissouba in 1992 elections but seized it back with Angolan
help in October 1997 after five months of civil war, said on
December 31 that the fighting at the end of 1998 had left "several
hundred dead".
Militias opposed to his regime in Congo, where oil is one of
the key resources at stake in combination with ethnic conflict,
have been active since losing the civil war, which left much of
Brazzaville shattered and claimed between 4,000 and 10,000 lives.
The flare-up in fighting last year has led to serious concern
about the humanitarian impact, with aid agencies warning that many
civilians in the Pool and some other regions face shortages of
essential supplies and are isolated from assistance.
@ SWAZI-ELECTRICITY
MBABANE January 6 1998 Sapa
SWAZI ELECTRICITY BOARD TO JOIN SOUTHERN AFRICAN POWER POOL
The Swaziland Electricity Board intends joining the newly
established regional Southern African Power Pool to reduce the cost
of electricity, which is imported from South Africa.
The board said this would also make Swaziland less dependent on
the South African company Eskom for electricity and enhance
reliability of power in the country, a Sapa correspondent reported
on Wednesday.
The move was welcomed by Swaziland's industrial sector which
has over recent years been hit by frequent power cuts due to breaks
in power supply from South Africa.
The SEB was unable to satisfy the increasing demand for
electricity, sector representatives said.
@ HEALTH-DP
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
DP PREDICTS FAILURE OF COMPULSORY COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHEME
It was unlikely that compulsory community service for medical
interns would have a positive impact on the country's health
service, said Democratic Party Gauteng health spokesman Jack Bloom,
MPL, on Wednesday.
He said the service, which began on Monday, was ridden with
confusion and contradictions, making it difficult to predict its
outcome. The format of community service tended to benefit urban
areas at the expense of rural areas, where health provision was
needed most.
"The majority of posts are of necessity in urban hospitals, as
senior supervision is required for the interns, who have now been
slotted into existing medical posts rather than creating any new
posts," Bloom said.
"The community service is mostly a fiasco, making it even more
difficult for newly-qualified doctors to specialise and make a
career in the public service," he also said.
"Serious thought should be given to scrapping it entirely in
favour of proper incentives to encourage health delivery in
under-served areas."
No major hitches were reported on Monday, when 1040 of 1126
junior doctors reported for community service at the country's 90
provincial hospitals.
@ ANC VAAL REGION 87TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
6 January 1999
The ANC in Gauteng will celebrate the 87th Anniversary of the
ANC in the Vaal region at Mphatlalatsane Hall in Sebokeng, Zone 14
on the 9th January 1999 (Saturday) at 13h00.
The ANC Gauteng Chairperson, Mathole Motshekga and a member of
the National Executive Committee (still to be named) will address
the rally. Other dignitaries who will attend the rally are; Comrades
Baleka Kgositsile - Deputy Speaker at National Assembly, Aziz Pahad
- Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joel Netshitenze, Frank
Chikane, Max Sisulu and Jessie Duarte.
Since December (during the holiday) the ANC has been meeting
with branches in the Vaal region to prepare for this historic
occasion. The ANC was formed in 1912 in Blemfontein, Mangaung
Township. These celebration comes at a time when our country is
preparing for its second national democratic elections which the ANC
has vowed to win convincingly in order to accelerate transformation
in our country.
The ANC in Gauteng is proud of our past and confident of our
future. We have resolved not to fail the forefathers of our struggle
and all those who laid their lives for freedom.
For more information, please contact:
Oupa Mmotsa - 082 772 7394
Obed Bapela - 082 570 6301
Issued by ANC Gauteng Province
Department of Information and Publicity
P.O. Box 8299
Johannesburg
2000
@ KILLING OF POLICE SERGANTS
6 January 1999
ANC CONDEMNS KILLING OF THE POLICE SERGANTS
The ANC Gauteng Province strongly condemns the killing of the
police particularly that of Sergants Elias Senwamadi and Christopher
Sithebe who were shot and killed while transporting prisoners from
Jabulani Police Station to the Protea Magistrate Court on Monday. We
further wish to extend our condolences to both their families and
colleagues.
We are calling on our branches were the deceased reside to
assist in the preperations of the funerals and mobilise communities
to attend. This forms part of a strategy by the ANC to prioritise
the anti-crime campaign this year.
We are urging our people who have information on the killing of
these two policemen to contact the nearest police station. Those
harbouring criminals including those who have escaped from custody
must be made aware of the consequences of collaborating with
criminals. They should come forward to report these criminals. We
also call upon all MDM structures to actively take part in
preventing crime in our communities.
The ANC in Gauteng is encouraging communities to:
* Report crime
* Join the Community Policing Forums
* Cooperate with the Police
* Stop buying stolen goods
* Organise and mobilise members of the community to stand
against crime
* Join police resevists structures.
The killing of police officers is a clear move by sinister
forces to undermine our freedom and revolution. Unless all South
Africans unite to fight against crime, criminals will take over our
lives and run our communities.
For more information, please contact:
Oupa Mmotsa - 082 772 7394
Obed Bapela - 082 570 6301
Issued by ANC Gauteng Province
Department of Information and Publicity
PO Box 8299
Johannesburg
2000
@ MATRIC-KWANATAL
DURBAN January 6 1998 Sapa
KWAZULU-NATAL RECORDS LOWEST MATRIC PASS RATE IN YEARS
KwaZulu-Natal has recorded its lowest matric pass rate in years
with only 50,3 percent of candidates having passed their matric
examinations, a statement said on Wednesday.
According to the statement 54324 of the 108063 candidates who
wrote the examinations passed. The pass rate in 1997 was 54 percent
and in 1996 it was 61 percent.
On a more positive note, 59 schools obtained a 100 percent pass
rate as opposed to 50 in the previous year. The number of
distinctions also rose from 9118 to 10333.
On a regional basis in the province the highest pass rate was
recorded in northern Durban, followed by Pietermaritzburg, southern
Durban, Port Shepstone, Ulundi, Vryheid, Ladysmith and Empangeni.
Education MEC Dr Vincent Zulu said several factors had
adversely affected education in the province. Among them were a
number of disruptions in education in the first six months of the
year and the lack of a culture of learning at many institutions.
Another problem was finances.
Zulu said KwaZulu-Natal had been allocated the lowest funding
per learner in the country. He said the national norm had been
R3005 allocated per learner whereas only R2406 had been allocated
per pupil in KwaZulu-Natal.
"To be funded at the national norm, the KwaZulu-Natal
department of education and culture would need an additional R1,6
billion in its budget allocation."
Zulu said low funding had also affected text book provision and
staffing at schools.
"Although it is disappointing to note the decline in
performance, one must recognise that education improvement is a
gradual process, the effects of which are only noticeable in the
long term."
@ ANGOLA-FIGHTING
LUANDA January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
REBELS SHELL MALANJE DESPITE ANGOLAN GOVT OFFENSIVE: ARMY
UNITA rebels on Wednesday morning kept up artillery fire on the
northern town of Malanje, killing at least 10 people, despite a
counter-offensive by government troops, military sources said.
The Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) were seeking to break the
encirclement of Malanje, about 380 kilometres (240 miles) east of
Luanda, by troops of the National Union for the Total Independence
of Angola (UNITA).
Rebel shelling had already killed 25 people on Monday and
Tuesday, according to an official provisional toll.
On Wednesday morning, several people were killed and injured
when shells struck a market where hundreds of people were going
about their business.
The private radio station LAC said no precise casualty figures
could be established in the battle for the town, one of several
caught up in renewed civil war in several parts of the southern
African country.
Local health ministry officials said that 100 wounded people
were admitted to the hospital, but urgently-needed blood supplies
were lacking.
In Angolan towns spared the escalating warfare which has turned
Malanje and the central cities of Huambo and Kuito in battlegrounds
once again, a blood donation campaign has been launched.
More than 200 people have been killed in the past few days in
Kuito, the capital of Bie province 700 kilometres (about 435 miles)
from Luanda on the central plateau, and large numbers of injured
people need help.
In another development on Wednesday, the European Union
expressed its "grave concern" at the deterioriating situation in
Angola and said in a statement issued in Brussels that "the main
responsibility lies clearly with UNITA and its leadership".
The EU statement charged that Jonas Savimbi's rebels, who went
to war with Luanda on independence in 1975, "have neither
demilitarised their forces nor facilitated the extension of the
authority of the state, without the slighest justification and in
defiance of pressing demands by the UN Security Council and the
international community."
The EU "reiterates an urgent appeal" to UNITA for the
organisation "to unconditionally respect without any further delay
the commitments" it made under the Lusaka peace protocols signed
with the Luanda government in the Zambian capital in November 1994,
the statement said.
@ COURT-ESCAPE
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
WARDER IN COURT IN CONNECTION WITH XMAS DAY ESCAPES
A second prison warder appeared in the Johannesburg Regional
Court on Wednesday in connection with the escape of 11 prisoners
from the Johannesburg Prison on Christmas Day.
Seven of the 11 are still free.
Vincent Marumo, a warder at the prison, appeared briefly in
court on charges of assisting an escape, corruption and dealing in
firearms.
He was remanded in custody to January 13 when he is expected to
apply for bail.
- In a separate case on Wednesday, the Johannesburg Regional
Court granted bail to another warder who was allegedly implicated
in the escapes by a prisoner.
The case against John Ramotsela was postponed until January 27.
@ HOLOMISA BLAMES DORDRECHT TURMOIL
Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)
Holomisa blames Dordrecht turmoil on 'cancer within the ANC'
BISHO (ECN) - United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu
Holomisa yesterday (SUBS: Wed) said the community groups dividing
northern Eastern Cape towns represented evidence of the "cancer
within the ANC". Holomisa was reacting to a Daily Dispatch report
which said that top-level probes by Bisho and the ANC were underway
in towns across the northern region of the Eastern Cape as community
groups calling themselves Concerned Citizens disrupted government
and divide the party. The report said that both Housing and Local
Government MEC Sam Mazosiwe and ANC provincial spokesman Mcebisi
Bata said the provincial government and the ANC were taking the
destabilisation attempts seriously. They were referring to Concerned
Citizens Residential Front groups in Dordrecht, Sterkstroom,
Maclear, Whittlesea, Indwe, Cookhouse and Lusikisiki which since May
last year called for the resignation of their town councils,
alleging corruption and non-delivery.
It said some of problems are power struggles, some emanating
from within and others outside the ANC. However, Holomisa told ECN:
"It is the people within the ANC who feel that the people elected or
annointed or appointed are not transparent." "When these people
complain, the ANC leaders start labelling them. The disease is
within the organisation." "Some of us, are victims of a lack of
tolerance by the leadership of the ANC." Holomisa said the divisions
were not surprising and began a a few years ago. He said the
divisions existed "from top to bottom within the ANC". "The cancer
started to become visible within the ANC since Cyril Ramaphosa was
unceremoniously sidelined as deputy president of the organisation in
favour of Thabo Mbeki."
He said conflict was not new in the ANC and that during the
years in exile the ANC had detractors executed or silenced by other
means. Provincial DP leader Eddie Trent said it was clear that the
power struggles were getting out of hand and said he was surprised
the Housing and Local Government Department had taken so long to
intervene. He said: "They (government) must take full responsibility
for the consequences." Trent also said that in December last year
(SUBS: 1998) he had done some research, specifically on the
situation in Dordrecht and had spoken to various groups in the town.
"I came to the conclusion that the situation had deteriorated to
such an extent that an escalation of conflict was iminent and I
warned the government to interven at that stage." He said he issued
a puiblic statment to this effect. He said he specifically spoke to
Finance and Economic Affairs MEC Enoch Godongwana because Godongwana
had informed him that Dordrecht was part of his designated
constituency.
"They could have nipped it in the bud before the violence
escalated. I'd like to repeat my demand that Premier Makhenkesi
Stofile appoint an independent investigation and the causes
specifically in Dordrecht." "This must be done as a matter of
extreme urgency before further lives and property are lost." Trent
added that the divisions were symptomatic of the level of
dissatisfaction with local governments in the Eastern Cape. PAC
deputy provincial secretary Peter Mwati said his party believed the
conflict was caused by non-delivery and inexperienced councillors
and town clerks employed in jobs that they were not capable of
performing. He also said the ANC was wrong in believing the
residents all belonged to the ANC. "These are the issues that are
central in this violence," he said.
"Another thing that has to be looked at is that before 1995 the
ANC was behind the boycotts and violence in these towns because of
non-delivery of services then." "And now the same people who are in
power, who were supporting the violence and the boycotts then
against the Nationalist government, have the people against them
because they are failing to deliver." He said the PAC was not
calling on people to resort to violence, but urged people to demand
services. "People should not pay for services that are not given to
them."
@ BURSARIES-FF
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
WHITE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES BEING DEPRIVED OF BURSARIES: FF
Discrimination as a result of affirmative action policies were
depriving many white high school graduates of bursaries, the
Freedom Front claimed on Wednesday.
"Even top achievers who attained eight distinctions fail to get
bursaries because of the colour of their skin," FF spokesman Kallie
Kriel said in a statement in Pretoria.
He said some graduates were in this way being reduced to
second-class citizens.
Failure by the government to review its affirmative action
policies would result in greater polarisation in the country, Kriel
said.
@ ANC SADTU REJECT CRITICISMS OF POOR MATRIC RESULTS
Issued by: East Cape News (Ecn)
ANC, Sadtu reject criticisms of poor EC matric results
BISHO (ECN) - The provincial ANC and the South African
Democratic Union (Sadtu) have lashed out at opposition parties for
their criticisms of the dismal Eastern Cape matric pass rate. ANC
provincial spokesman Mcebisi Bata said: "It's very opportunistic of
the NP and the DP. They presided over bantu education which has led
to these results." Bata said the ANC would respond comprehensively
today (subs: Thurs) at a press conference which they were wanted to
organise together with ANC youth league, the Congress of South
African Students (Cosas) and Sadtu. He said the ANC would also wait
until the official results were officially released by Education MEC
Shepherd Mayatula before commenting. Sadtu regional chairman Mzolile
Mrara said all comments on the preliminery results were based on
"disinformation" and "was part of the electioneering process".
"The results in the Eastern Cape have not yet been officially
released. No one can say they have the overall picture.. "Tommorrow
(Thurs) we will respond to the allegations once the results are
officially announced by the MEC for Education." However, the Azanian
Youth Organisation called for Education MEC Shepherd Mayatula's
resignation, saying that he and his officials were not targeting the
real problems in education. Eastern Cape newspapers reported on
Tuesday that the preliminary matric results showed a dismal
performance at most black schools - some with a shocking zero pass
rate - while former white schools fared well. The reports said at
least 14 black high schools throughout the province produced no
successful candidates, and dozens had pass rates as low as eight
percent.
Frustrated education oficials and teacher unions blamed the
appalling performance at many black schools on lack of resources,
poor study skills and inadequate preparation by teachers and pupils.
However, opposition parties lashed out teachers and the Education
Department. New NP Chief Whip Billy Nel said teachers at schools
which recorded shocking results should be fired immediately.
Provincial DP leader Eddie Trent blamed the poor results on a
serious lack of political, administrative and education leadership
in the provincial Education Department. He also criticised certain
elements in Sadtu for their intransigent and irresponsible attitude
towards education.
@ TRAFFIC
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
787 DIE ON SA ROADS
The death toll on South African roads rose to 787 by noon on
Wednesday, a statement of the Arrive Alive campaign said.
Over the corresponding period last year, 812 people died in
traffic accidents.
Most deaths - 151 - were reported in KwaZulu-Natal, followed
by the Western Cape with 122, Gauteng with 112, the Eastern Cape
with 98, Free State with 80, Mpumalanga with 73, the Northern
Province with 69, North West with 53 and the Northern Cape with 29.
Of those killed, 282 were passengers, 260 drivers and 245
pedestrians.
@ INDIA-GOLD
NEW DELHI January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
GOLD SMUGGLERS RUBBING HANDS OVER INDIAN DUTY HIKE
India's bid to swell its foreign reserves with a hike on gold
import duty is likely to boomerang with smugglers and black
marketeers reaping the profits, analysts and experts said
Wednesday.
Tuesday's customs duty hike of 60 percent, which raised tariffs
to 400 rupees (9.5 dollars) for every 10 grammes (0.35 ounces),
immediately affected prices which soared by 150 rupees (3.57
dollars) to close at 4,350 rupees (103.57 dollars) for 10 grammes.
Nand Kishore, a partner in one of India's largest jewellery
houses Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, told AFP the measure was a
retrograde step for the world's largest gold consumer.
"The retail prices of gold will shoot up and it will be a boon
for smugglers. The consumers will be badly hit."
Kishore said the price rise would paradoxically whet the
traditional Indian appetite for gold, which for centuries has been
regarded as the best form of investment.
"Gold was losing its charm after the government in 1989 relaxed
laws on buying and hoarding. It became like a common commodity."
In 1992, the government introduced further deregulation by
allowing Indians returning from abroad to bring in five kilogrammes
(11 pounds) of gold - a figure that was doubled recently.
"Now suddenly with the prices going up, people will attach more
value to it," Kishore said.
Demand will increase because that has been the common reaction
in India every time prices have gone up."
Palaniappan Chidambaram, India's last finance minister, also
slammed the move on Wednesday.
"The hike in import duty on gold will not bring any additional
revenue, but curtail legitimate imports," he said.
Defending the measure, the government said Indians imported 575
tonnes of gold between January and November 1998, a 28 percent rise
over the previous year.
As a result of the increased duties, the state foreign currency
reserves would benefit from additional revenue of nearly 60 million
dollars annually.
But M.L. Damani, president of the Bombay Bullion Association,
told AFP that the real beneficiary would be the black market.
"Last year, we imported 700 tonnes of gold of which about 15
percent was smuggled. This year, I expect the amount of gold coming
in through illegal channels to go up to 25 percent.
"I think the government's target of increased revenues are
vastly over-optimistic."
Damani said gold was an intrinsic part of Indian culture and
therefore demand could not be greatly curbed.
"For any social function, for any religious occasion, for
everything, gold is used," he said, referring to its role in
marriages, christening ceremonies, Hindu coming-of-age rituals and
religious festials.
Senior government officials argued in the media on Wednesday
that the increase was justified since gold was a luxury item and
rising imports were burdening an already unwieldy trade deficit.
Damani said: "I agree with this thinking. But the duty should
have been increased by 50 rupees at the most. There are other ways
of checking imports.
"Since most of the gold is lying around in bank lockers for
future use in marriages and other ceremonies, the government can
introduce gold certificates where the owner gives his gold to the
state in lieu of a certificate which will be redeemable at a future
date.
"This will increase our gold reserves and control imports," he
said.
Independent experts say more than 100 billion dollars worth of
gold is held privately in India. Since gold production here is
negligible, almost all is imported.
On Tuesday, the Dubai-based regional head of the World Gold
Council (WGC) said the decision was "a step backwards."
"The logic behind the projections of higher customs collections
after the hike is suspect," said WGC chief executive Rolf
Schneebali.
Scheenballi said Indian consumers would now have to pay a 9.5
percent premium over the international price, compared to 6.5
percent before, adding the step was likely to "drive the gold
industry underground again."
@ ROADSHOW TO PUBLICISE THE PRIVATISATION OF CONNEX
Issued by: David Barritt & Company
The Ministry of Public Enterprises has announced that a series
of roadshows is to be held throughout South Africa to publicise the
privatisation of Connex, the state-owned travel agency.
Once associated almost exclusively with government travel
business, Connex is today a competitive organisation with six
branches in South Africa and a British operation. It is a subsidiary
of the giant parastatal, Transnet.
Stella Sigcau, the Minister of Public Enterprises, says the
purpose of the roadshows is to attract and inform potential
investors. "Connex's privatisation is in line with government policy
and decision to privatise Transnet's non-core subsidiaries within 18
months," she said.
"Connex is an attractive business proposition and the Ministry
is aware that several potential purchasers have expressed interest
in acquiring it.
It is a part of my ministry's mandate to ensure that Connex's
privatisation is widely publicised to ensure that all potential
bidders are aware of the opportunity."
Mr Kananelo Makhetha, Connex's managing director, says that he
believes the privatisation of the company will be a great success.
"Connex has the right mix of clients, the right mix of products and
services and the right attitude to become a significant roleplayer
in the travel and tourism market. The company is small enough to
focus on the personal touch and big enough to negotiate real value
in a highly competitive industry."
Potential investors need to complete pre-qualification documents
which will be available from January 11, 1999. Closing date for the
submission of pre-qualification documentation is January 28, 1999.
The necessary documents may be obtained at the roadshows or from
the offices of Gobodo Corporate Finance (GCF) at 1st floor Block B,
Empire Park, 55 Empire Road, Parktown, Johannesburg.
And
Office for Public Enterprises - Directorate: Privatisation Pretoria:
Suite 401, Infotech Building, 1090 Arcadia Street. Telephone (012)
342 7111 Cape Town: Room 1523, 120 Plein Street. Telephone (021) 461
1469
GCF, assisted by HSBC Simpson McKie (Pty) Ltd., has been
appointed by the government as overall transaction advisor on the
privatisation of Connex.
Roadshows will be held at the following venues on the dates
listed.
Gauteng: Sandton Holiday Inn Crown Plaza, Grayston Drive, Sandton on
Monday January 11, 1999 from 09h00 until 11h00.
Western Cape: Cape Town Holiday Inn Garden Court, De Waal Drive,
Mill Street Gardens on Tuesday January 12, 1999 between 12h30 and
14h30.
North West: Mmabatho Sun, Mmabatho on Wednesday January 13, 1999
between 10h00 and 12h00.
Northern Province: The Huisman Guesthouse, Pietersburg on Thursday
January 14, 1999 from 10h00 to 12h00.
Mpumulanga: The Best Western Premier Lodge, Nelspruit Cnr Pretoria
And Graniet Road, on Friday January 15 1999 between 10h00 and 12h00.
KwaZulu Natal: Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Snell Parade, Durban on
Monday January 18, 1999 between 12h00 and 14h00.
Eastern Cape: Amatola Sun, Bisho on Wednesday January 20, 1999 from
11h30 to 13h30.
Free State: The President Hotel, Bloemfontein on Thursday January
21, 1999 between 10h00 and 12h00.
Northern Cape: Savoy Hotel, Kimberley on Thursday January 21, 1999
between 15h00 and 17h00.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT JOE MTHIMUNYE ON 011 482 2510
OR LINDA CONSIDINE ON 011 784-1299
@ TELKOM-TARIFFS
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
TELKOM CUSTOMERS TO PAY 7,3 PERCENT MORE ON THEIR ACCOUNTS
Telkom customers were to pay an average of 7,3 percent more on
their accounts from Wednesday, a company statement said.
The cost of local calls were to increase by 10,7 percent on
average while long distance call rates (over distances exceeding
50km) remained unchanged. International call costs were set to drop
by 8,1 percent in March.
Telkom said some local calls would cost less and others more in
terms of a new billing system which would come into effect on
Wednesday.
"For example, a four-minute call will cost 17,1 percent less, a
two-minute call 19 percent more and a three-minute call 24 percent
more."
The new billing system would see telephone calls charged per
second and no longer per three-minute unit as in the past, the
statement said.
Telkom said 46 cents would be the minimum charge for all calls.
Business and residential telephone installation fees increased
by eight percent, and residential telephone rental fees increased
by 11 percent from Wednesday.
Residential telephone installation fees for new customers and
those ordering an additional line would be R120 until the end of
March, a saving of 42 percent.
Calls over distances of up to 50km, made during standard call
time between 7am to 7pm, would cost 0,267 cents per second and 16
cents per minute.
Those made during Callmore time - from 7pm to 7am on weekdays
and from 7pm on Friday to 7am on Monday - would cost 0,08 cents
per second and 5 cents per minute for the same distance.
A standard-time call over distances exceeding 100km would cost
2,1 cents per second and 124 cents per minute, and a Callmore call
over the same distance would cost 1,03 cents per second and 62
cents per minute.
Telkom said all national calls made over weekends during
Callmore time from Friday to the end of March would not cost more
than R7.
"The special R7 weekend promotion ... applies only to calls
between phones on the Telkom network that are connected to an
automatic exchange," it said.
@ ZAMBIA-TREASON
LUSAKA January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
STATE CLOSES CASE IN ZAMBIAN TREASON TRIAL
The Zambian state has closed its case in the trial of 77
soldiers charged with treason over a coup attempt against President
Frederick Chiluba in October 1997, defence lawyers said Wednesday.
"The state closed its case on Tuesday, and we are now trying to
have some of the detainees released because some of them have never
been mentioned in court," lawyer Sachika Sitwala told AFP.
Two politicians charged along with the soldiers - Dean
Mungomba and Princess Nakatindi Wina - were freed last month when
the judge found that the state had failed to link them to the coup
bid.
The prosecution called 109 witnesses during the trial, which
opened on June 1 last year. The hearing will continue at a date yet
to be announced.
@ TRAFFIC-MAHARAJ
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
MAHARAJ WELCOMES JAILING OF SPEEDING TAXI DRIVER
Transport Minister Mac Maharaj on Wednesday welcomed a
KwaZulu-Natal magistrate's decision to jail a speeding kombi taxi
driver for a year, and called on other magistrates to follow suit.
"This decision sends out a clear message to South African road
users that speeding is a criminal offence because it endangers the
lives of all the people who use our roads," he said in a statement
in Pretoria.
Taxi driver SSN Ziqubu was arrested on Monday after driving at
162km/h on the N3 highway near Estcourt.
Besides being jailed, he was fined R1300 and his driver's
licence was suspended for 18 months.
Maharaj said this was the first time to the department's
knowledge that a magistrate exercised the full extent of the law
against a speeding offender. In terms of the Road Traffic Act, the
maximum penalty for speeding was a year's imprisonment or a R60000
fine.
"I welcome the decision by this Escourt magistrate to throw the
book at a speed offender."
Maharaj said speeding fines were a temporary hardship, as many
offenders were able to pay them with ease. A prison sentence,
however, sent out a clear message that speeding was a serious
crime.
He said speeding was particularly intolerable when the offender
was the driver of a passenger transport vehicle.
"I call on magistrates in other parts of the country to also
exercise the full extent of the law on our roads," Maharaj said.
@ MATRIC-DP
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
MATRICULATION PICTURE DISCOURAGING: DP
The overall picture regarding matric results was much more
discouraging than the Department of Education wanted the public to
believe, the Democratic Party said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Without the 1,05 percent adjustment of non-English-speakers'
marks, the results would have been significantly different," DP
education spokesman Mike Ellis said.
He said Gauteng education MEC Mary Metcalfe stated that without
the mark adjustment in the province, the four percent improvement
over last year would have been a decline of almost two percent.
This also applied to other provinces, according to Ellis.
Some former Department of Education and Training schools have
managed to substantially improve their results, but average results
masks dismal performances by too many schools.
"At least 14 schools in the Eastern Cape produced no successful
candidates, while many had pass rates as low as eight percent."
The number of matric exemptions was more important than actual
passes because without it, few doorways would be opened to
candidates in the employment sector and higher learning
institutions, Ellis said.
"We must bear in mind the fact that South Africa's position at
the bottom of international comparisons of children's performance
at school still stands.
"The country habitually comes out bottom of an annual
international study on children's expertise in maths and science."
Until South African schools improved themselves there could be
no rejoicing over matric results, Ellis said.
On behalf of the DP he congratulated successful matric
candidates in the provinces where results are known, and wished
them well for their future careers.
@ MATRIC-IFP
DURBAN January 6 1998 Sapa
IFP DISAPPOINTED AT KWAZULU-NATAL MATRIC RESULTS
The matriculation results for KwaZulu-Natal were disappointing
but not surprising, the Inkatha Freedom Party said on Wednesday.
The IFP was responding to the 50,3 percent matric pass rate for
1998 announced in the province on Wednesday morning.
In a statement IFP spokesman Blessed Gwala partly blamed
education unions for disruptions in education.
Gwala said unions often misled and coerced teachers into
increasing their demands and rallying against the education system,
which caused several disruptions in schools.
"Children, being what they are, naturally take their lead from
adults and from authority. And so it is not surprising that some
schools literally ceased to function," Gwala said. "Disorder and
anarchy have a habit of spreading quickly when fuelled by those
trained to cause discord."
Referring to a recent visit to provincial schools by national
Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu, Gwala said politicians were
engaging in electioneering instead of educating.
"The excellent work, encouragement and measures introduced by
regional and local educational bodies will always suffer when
politicans and bullies enter with agendas of their own."
@ COURT-JUDGES
BLOEMFONTEIN January 6 1998 Sapa
JSC CALLS FOR NOMINATIONS FOR DEPUTY JUDGE PRESIDENTS, JUDGES
The Judicial Service Commission has invited nominations for two
deputy judges-president, a constitutional court judge and five high
court judges.
The posts for deputy judges-president are in the Cape and
Transvaal provincial divisions of the High Court, while the
positions of high court judges are in the Transvaal, Free State and
Ciskei divisions.
JSC chairman Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed on Wednesday said all
nominations, accompanied by the signed written consent of the
nominee and a completed questionnaire, must reach the commission by
February 12.
Interviews with short-listed candidates will be conducted in
public in Cape Town between April 19 and 22.
@ BLAIR-SA
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER ARRIVES IN SA
British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived at Waterkloof air
base near Pretoria at about 3pm on Wednesday for a three-day visit
to South Africa.
He was met by Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad,
Gauteng premier Mathole Motshekga, and South African high
commissioner to the United Kingdom Cheryl Carolus.
Blair was accompanied by his wife Cherie and senior policy
advisers.
South African officials said Blair would hold one-to-one talks
with Deputy President Thabo Mbeki in the afternoon, after which the
two leaders and their wives would have a private dinner at Mbeki's
official Pretoria residence.
On Thursday morning Blair and Mbeki will chair a session of the
South Africa-UK bilateral forum in Pretoria. The meeting will
include the signing of a declaration of intent on industrial
co-operation and discussions on the European Union-South African
free trade talks.
After a joint news conference at the presidential guest house,
Blair and Mbeki will have a working lunch at the same venue.
Blair and his wife will in the afternoon pay President Nelson
Mandela and his wife Graca a courtesy visit at Mandela's official
Pretoria residence.
The two heads of state are expected to discuss several issues,
including the Lockerbie air disaster.
The crash claimed 270 lives on December 21, 1988 after a bomb
exploded aboard a United States-bound Boeing 747 over the Scottish
town of Lockerbie.
Britain and the US recently agreed the trial of the Libyan
bombing suspects should be held in the Netherlands, but a number of
issues remained unresolved.
Pahad on Tuesday said it was expected Blair would highlight
what his government perceived as the outstanding problems. If
necessary, South Africa could discuss these with the Libyan
government, Pahad told reporters.
Later on Thursday afternoon the British couple are to visit
Alexandra township in Johannesburg, including a health clinic. They
will then attend a reception at the Johannesburg home of the
British consul-general.
Blair leaves for Cape Town on Friday morning, where his
programme will include a private lunch with British high
commissioner to South Africa Maeve Ford.
On Friday afternoon he will attend a medal parade for British
military officers who have since 1994 been helping with the
integration of the SA National Defence Force.
Blair will address invited guests in the Old Assembly dining
room at Parliament in the evening. He and his wife are to dine with
Ford before leaving for an official visit to Kuwait.
@ CRIME-CHIEF
DURBAN January 6 1998 Sapa
PROMINENT MIDLANDS CHIEF AND HIS SON SHOT DEAD
Three men, including a prominent chief and his son, were shot
dead in an ambush in Ematimatolo in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on
Tuesday morning, police said on Wednesday.
Spokesman Senior Superintendent Henry Budhram said Themba
Nyoka, 55, his 21-year-old son, Sicelo, and Sipanelo Dladla, 30,
were killed in the attack.
According to Budhram the three men were travelling along the
main road in Ntembisweni when a group of armed men fired on the
vehicle from both sides of the road. Nyoka stopped the vehicle and
ran away, with the attackers in pursuit.
About 400m from the vehicle he was shot dead. The attackers
killed his son and Dladla as well.
Nyoka, acting chief of the Bomvu clan in Ntembisweni, was the
chairman of the community policing forum. He was also the person
responsible for development projects in the area.
At the time of the attack he was apparently on his way to check
on progress on a water project. Several spent AK47 and R1 rifle
cartridges were found on the scene.
Nyoka's .303 rifle, a 9mm pistol, cellular phone and cash was
taken by the attackers. Budhram said it appeared as if the attack
was related to faction fighting in the area.
He said a reward for information leading to an arrest and
conviction would be considered. Anyone with information can contact
the Ematimatolo police on (033) 445-9332 or the Crime Stop number,
0800-11-12-13.
@ ESCAPE-CHAUKE
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
TWO PRISON WARDENS APPEAR IN COURT AFTER CHRISTMAS JAILBREAK
The Department of Correctional Services on Wednesday said a
newspaper report that fugitive heist suspect Colin Chauke was
behind the escape of 11 prisoners from the Johannesburg Prison on
Christmas Day could not be confirmed.
"His name has never been mentioned during the investigation," a
departmental statement said.
A daily newspaper on Wednesday quoted highly placed
Correctional Services officials as saying Chauke planned the
escape.
On Christmas morning, 11 prisoners with two firearms
overpowered a warder. One allegedly changed into his uniform, and
the group walked out of the prison.
In the ensuing chase police shot dead one of the ecapees and
rearrested three more, one of whom was wounded.
The prisoners still at large had been serving sentences ranging
from 40 to 80 years.
Johannesburg police spokesman Inspector Mark Reynolds said the
police team investigating the escape had no evidence to suspect
Chauke.
Director Bushie Engelbrecht, head of the police's special
investigation unit, said he also had no information about Chauke's
alleged involvement, but said the possibility could not be
excluded.
Detective Services spokesman Senior Superintendent Faizel Kader
said the claims would form part of a broader investigation into
Chauke's activities.
"We don't know if there is any substance to the claims. We will
approach Correctional Services and ask them if they have any
intelligence to back it up."
The department said its investigation into the escape has been
completed. A report was being drafted and would be presented to
Gauteng Correctional Services commissioner Tami Nxumalo on
completion.
"No further details can be revealed at this stage apart from
the fact that the investigation team established how, by whom, and
when the firearms were possibly smuggled into the prison," the
department's statement said.
Two prison warders appeared in the Johannesburg Regional Court
on Wednesday in connection with their alleged complicity with the
escape. One of them was arrested on the day of the escape and the
other on Tuesday.
@ WCAPE-ANC
CAPE TOWN January 6 1998 Sapa
WINNING WCAPE AN ANC ELECTION PRIORITY, SAYS SPOKESMAN
The African National Congress viewed winning the Western Cape
province as a priority in the upcoming general election, national
ANC spokesman Thabo Masebe said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a media briefing in Cape Town ahead of the ANC's
87th anniversary rally, set to be held in the city's Athlone
stadium on Saturday, he said the turnout at the event would be an
indication of the party's growing strength in the province.
"Winning the Western Cape is a priority for the ANC - we need
to win the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces in addition to
all the others.
"Our election goal is to achieve an overwhelming majority -
meaning we want to repeat what we got in 1994 and possibly improve
on that," Masebe said.
During the 1994 elections, the ANC won 33 percent of the
Western Cape vote, compared to the then National Party's 54
percent. Recent opinion polls show the ANC and New National Party
are currently locked in a neck-and-neck race for control of the
province.
ANC president Thabo Mbeki will address Saturday's anniversary
rally. Representatives of about 85 foreign governments are also set
to attend the celebrations, which will get underway at 10am.
Security at the event is expected to be tight, with about 200
ANC marshals and 200 South African Police Services members on hand
to control the crowds.
Masebe told journalists that the decision to hold the rally in
Athlone had no bearing on any decision to move Parliament.
The situation of Parliament was not an election issue and would
be decided separately, he said.
- Mbeki will deliver the ANC's "January 8 statement" -
dealing with the challenges facing South Africa and the ANC's
vision for 1999 - on Friday morning, ANC spokesman Cameron Dugmore
announced at Wednesday's media briefing.
@ MANDELA-MONUMENT
MAPUTO January 6 1998 Sapa
MANDELA TO ATTEND MACHEL MONUMENT INAUGURATION
President Nelson is expected to attend the inauguration of late
Mozambican president Samora Machel's monument on January 19.
Mozambican President Joachim Chissano and Machel's widow, Graca
Mandela, are also expected to attend the inauguration at Mbuzini in
Mpumalanga.
African Eye News Service reported on Wednesday that survivors
of the 1986 air crash - in which Machel was killed - met
government representatives in Maputo on Wednesday to finalise
preparations for a monument at the crash site in South Africa.
The crash occurred on October 19, 1986, while Machel was
returning from a regional leaders' conference in Zambia.
@ FIVAZ-NNP
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
FIVAZ' PROMISE TO RETALIATE AGAINST CRIMINALS BACKED BY NNP
The New National Party on Wednesday supported National Police
Commissioner George Fivaz' promise that there would be stronger
retaliation against criminals.
"The New NP wholeheartedly supports commissioner Fivaz' warning
to criminals, and we sincerely hope that enough pressure can be put
on the ANC government to take drastic steps to address the
grievances and serious shortcomings in the (SA Police Service),"
NNP spokesman on safety and security Piet Matthee said in a
statement.
In the wake of the armed theft of 23 guns from Claremont police
station in Cape Town on Sunday, Fivaz on Monday expressed outrage
at the escalation in attacks against policemen.
Matthee said: "The arrogant and audacious manner in which
criminals are taunting the state's policing functions is a serious
indictment of the (African National Congress) government's ability
to ensure the safety and security of law-abiding citizens,
investors and tourists."
He said the first step in the fight against crime would be to
change budget priorities to allocate adequate funds to police and
the departments of justice and correctional services.
The death penalty should be reintroduced immediately as a
discretionary sentence for the most heinous crimes.
@ ANGOLA-RUSSIA
MOSCOW, January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
RUSSIA CONDEMNS DOWNING OF UN PLANES IN ANGOLA AS "CRIMINAL"
Russia on Wednesday condemned the downing of two UN aircraft in
a rebel stronghold of Angola as "criminal and inhumane" and
deserving of sanctions against the suspected perpetrators, the
rebel UNITA.
"The criminal and inhumane actions by UNITA (the National Union
for the Total Independence of Angola) against civilian planes have
brought outrage and condemnation of the entire international
community," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin
told a news briefing.
The diplomat said Russia is demanding that UNITA leaders
"conduct an instant investigation of the tragic incidents and take
emergency measures to determine the fates of the passengers, who
include Russians."
The two UN aircraft were shot down last week after taking off
from the central city of Huambo.
A total 14 people were on board the first C-130 transport
plane, which crashed just after takeoff on December 26, while eight
people were on the second flight, also a C-130, which came down on
Saturday.
Both flights were chartered by the UN peacekeeping mission in
Angola, and the passengers were either UN peacekeepers or local
employees with the mission.
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution
condemning the lack of effective action in determining the fate of
the passengers and crew of the doomed UN flights.
Rakhmanin said Russia supported the UN resolution and "if
necessary, the adoption of steps that lead from corresponding
regulations in the UN Charter."
@ COURT-GORILLA
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
GORILLA ATTACK ACCUSED FALLS ASLEEP DURING TRIAL
The man accused of shooting Max the gorilla in the Johannesburg
Zoo in 1997, fell asleep during his trial in the Johannesburg
Regional Court on Wednesday.
Isaac Mofokeng, 29, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges,
including housebreaking, abduction, rape and malicious damage to
property (the gorilla).
The court was told on Wednesday how he allegedly abducted a
young couple in Parkview on July 12, 1997.
Their domestic worker, Eliza Mathye, testified that Mofokeng
tied her up in her quarters in the yard of the Parkview home on
that evening.
She managed to free herself and pressed the panic button, which
sounded in the main house, in an attempt to warn a university
student and her boyfriend who were inside.
But Mofokeng got there first and he forced the student at
gunpoint to tell the alarm company that everything was in order
when they phoned to query the activation of the panic button, the
court heard.
Mathye said she ran next door for help but the couple were
abducted in one of the family's vehicles before help arrived.
The boyfriend, who may not be named, testified that Mofokeng
later locked him in the boot of the car, while a man resembling
Mofokeng raped his girlfriend before dumping them at the Dlamini
service station in Soweto.
On Tuesday, Mofokeng removed himself from the courtroom after
refusing to participate in the court proceedings.
On Wednesday he remained in the courtroom, playing with his
leg-irons, then drumming on the seat in the dock, and later falling
asleep in the dock.
After having refused to speak to his public defender at every
appearance since April last year, he told the court on Wednesday:
"I am not ready to say anything."
The trial continues on February 22.
@ MATRIC-NNP
DURBAN January 6 1998 Sapa
KWAZULU-NATAL MATRIC RESULTS A DISASTER: NNP
The matric pass rate of 50,3 percent in KwaZulu-Natal was a
disaster, the New National Party in the province said on Wednesday.
The results were released in a statement by education MEC
Vincent Zulu in Ulundi on Wednesday morning.
In a statement the NNP blamed the poor results partly on
Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu's retrenchment of about 5000
teachers last year.
NNP spokesman Brian Edwards said the retrenchments had a
predicted negative impact on standards and the morale of teachers
and pupils.
He said a lack of funding from central government meant a
shortage of text books, stationery and adequate security at
schools.
Militant action by teacher unions was also to blame, Edwards
said, and Zulu must take full responsibility for the poor results.
@ BOTSWANA-NAMIBIA
GABORONE January 6 1998 Sapa
DECISION "WITHIN DAYS" ON NAMIBIAN SECESSIONIST REFUGEES
More than 2000 Namibians who fled to Botswana, claiming they
faced persecution by the Namibian government, will know within days
if they will be given political asylum.
The Namibian government alleged that they were linked to a
group seeking the secession of the Caprivi Strip from Namibia.
The leaders of the secessionist group were among the first to
cross the border on October 30.
"The committee which is interviewing the asylum seekers is
expected to finish its work within three or four days," a Botswana
government spokesman said on Wednesday.
"A government decision is expected soon after."
Botswana is sticking to the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees' convention on asylum seekers to which both it and Namibia
are signatory, meaning the refugees will not be sent home against
their will.
"The onus to decide to return is on the asylum seeker, they are
given the benefit of the doubt. We cannot force any of them to
return to Namibia," a government spokesman said when the influx
started.
A November meeting in Gaborone between Namibian Premier Hage
Geingob and Botswana Deputy President Lieutenant-General Ian Khama
agreed that the secessionists would only be returned to Namibia
voluntarily.
The UNHCR advised the Botswana government in determining the
status of the Namibians. In mid-November the UNHCR found it was
plausible they would face persecution if they went back.
The preliminary UNHCR report concluded the Namibians did not
plan to use Botswana as a base from which to pursue an armed
struggle for the independence of Caprivi.
They were, however, considered keen to continue political
acitivities to settle the issue through peaceful negotiation.
@ LABOUR-EARLYBIRD
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
EARLY BIRD STRIKERS, MANAGEMENT MOVE APART DESPITE MEDIATION
Hundreds of strikers at Early Bird poultry farm in
Olifantsfontein, north of Johannesburg, on Wednesday vowed to
intensify their wage dispute.
This was despite efforts by the Commission for Conciliation,
Mediation and Arbitration to resolve the pay dispute.
Spokesman Mike Maloba said the workers, under the umbrella of
the Food and Allied Workers' Union, would call for a consumer
boycott to force their employer to award them a nine percent wage
increase.
Management has offered the striking employees an eight percent
increase, saying the company coult not afford more. The strike, by
more than 700 FAWU workers, is now in its fifth week.
"Management does not want to negotiate and if toyi-toying is
not good enough, then we must find other means of hurting the
company's pocket to force them to listen to us. To that extent, a
consumer boycott would be a good start" Maloba said.
Early Bird spokesman Arnold Prinsloo said what was being
discussed at the CCMA were picketing rules. If this issue was
resolved to the satisfaction of both parties, they would discuss
the pay dispute.
He said FAWU's threatened action to extend the protest was
illegal and would not go ahead.
He described as false allegations by workers that the company's
slaughtering methods were not halaal - a fact that was backed by
the chairman of the Muslim Judicial Council, Imam Yasin Harris.
Early Bird hired 700 casual employees on December 7 following a
decision by FAWU members to stop work.
The company's employees at the Standerton plant are still to
start wage negotiations.
@ COURT-NNP
CAPE TOWN January 6 1998 Sapa
NNP VOICES CONCERN OVER BARCODE CASE DELAYS
The New National Party on Wednesday said it was concerned by
the government's reluctance to adhere to time frames determined by
the Cape High Court in the NNP's case opposing an Electoral Act
stipulation that only bar-coded identity documents were valid for
the upcoming general election.
The NNP lodged an application against the stipulation with the
Cape High Court on December 10 last year, and in terms of the order
granted by Judge President Edwin King, the ministers of housing and
home affairs had until December 30 to submit opposing affidavits.
However, the NNP said it had only received the government's
affidavits on Monday, January 4.
"The New NP is deeply concerned that the reluctance of the
government to keep to the time frames determined by the Cape High
Court could threaten the possibility of the election being held in
May," NNP legal head Andre Gaum said in a statement.
The case is set to be heard in the Cape High Court on February
5.
Spokespersons for the ministries of finance and home affairs
could not be reached for comment.
@ ANGOLA-UN
LUANDA January 6 1998 Sapa-AP
ANGOLAN PRESIDENT PROMISES TO HELP U.N. REACH DOWNED PLANES
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has promised to help the
United Nations reach the wreckage of two U.N.-chartered planes
which went down in a war zone with a total of 22 people aboard, a
top U.N. official said Wednesday.
However, U.N. envoy Benon Sevan said he would only be able to
work out the final details for the deployment of a U.N.
search-and-rescue team at a meeting later in the day with Defense
Minister Pedro Sebastiao.
Dos Santos "promised to help us send a team to investigate the
downed planes," Sevan told reporters after talks with the Angolan
president.
"I am satisfied with the meeting. The President was sincere in
his promise to fully support the United Nations," Sevan said,
adding that the discussions had reached "a sensitive stage."
A U.N.-chartered C-130 cargo plane with 14 people on board
crashed Dec. 26 in the central highlands near Huambo, about 480
kilometers (300 miles) southeast of Luanda. A second chartered
C-130 with nine people went down in the same area Saturday.
U.N. officials believe both planes were shot down as they
passed over a war zone where the government army and UNITA rebels
have been engaged in heavy fighting for the past month.
The government says captured rebels have reported that
survivors are being held by UNITA, though the rebels deny that
claim.
The government insists that UNITA must also enter into a
cease-fire before the rescue team is deployed. But U.N. officials
said Wednesday that no meeting with rebel representatives had so
far been scheduled.
Sevan is carrying a letter from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan appealing to both sides to cooperate in looking for survivors
of the crashes.
The renewed fighting has shattered a 1994 U.N.-brokered peace
accord aimed at ending a two-decade civil war which followed the
country's 1975 independence from Portugal.
In another sign that the accord has crumbled, UNITA on
Wednesday resumed broadcasts on its Vorgan radio station which was
shut down nine months ago in compliance with the peace accord.
Meanwhile, observers fear a humanitarian disaster after the
United Nations suspended its flights in the vast, southwest African
country following the two plane crashes.
"The decision to suspend the flights is merely a precaution,
not a political weapon, or means of pressure," Sevan said
Wednesday.
Lifting the flight ban depends on the outcome of the envoy's
trip to Angola, said Cesar Arroio, a spokesman for the World Food
Program in Luanda.
Arroio said WFP stocks in various places throughout the country
should last for a further two weeks.
Battles mostly have focused around the government-held central
highland cities of Huambo and Kuito, almost 500 kilometers (310
miles) southeast of Luanda, since fighting flared Dec. 4.
However, UNITA's offensive this week moved north to Malanje,
where the rebels launched an artillery barrage two days ago.
The city reportedly is overflowing with a population that
doubled to 400,000 following the arrival of people displaced by the
clashes staged in surrounding areas.
International Red Cross spokeswoman Francoise Zambellini quoted
aid workers in Malanje as saying eight people had died and 10 were
wounded in the artillery barrage which began Monday.
UNITA claimed Wednesday that its forces have killed 1,105
government soldiers and shot down 10 aircraft since the country's
civil war restarted.
The government did not immediately respond to the rebel claims.
It said Monday that its forces had killed 731 rebel soldiers in the
fighting.
UNITA - a Portuguese acronym for the National Union for the
Total Independence of Angola - stymied implementation of a 1994
U.N.-brokered peace pact by refusing to relinquish control of its
highland strongholds and by keeping a 30,000-strong army hidden in
the bush.
The accord unraveled in December when government troops tried
to take the strongholds by force and were beaten back by
heavily-armed rebel forces.
@ HOUSING-MOFOKENG
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
NNP WELCOMES LEGAL ACTION BY GAUTENG HOUSING MEC: KILIAN
Gauteng housing MEC Dan Mofokeng was welcome to go ahead with
threats to sue the New National Party in Gauteng and its leader,
Johan Kilian, the NNP said on Wednesday.
Mofokeng has demanded R1 million from the NNP and Kilian,
claiming he was defamed.
"As far as the NNP is concerned, [the defamation claim] is a
side issue and nothing more than an infantile attempt to intimidate
us and divert attention away from the serious charges of
maladministration and corruption prevailing in the Gauteng housing
department," Kilian told a press briefing in Johannesburg on
Wednesday.
If the truth on conditions in the Gauteng housing department
could not be established through any other process, the NNP would
at least have the opportunity to cross-examine Mofokeng and others
in court, Kilian said.
Kilian on December 29 accused Mofokeng of issuing a
"spindoctored" version of the auditor-general's report, released on
December 28, to suppress a number of findings.
The report apparently cleared the Gauteng housing and land
affairs department against allegations of irregularities and
corruption made by the department's former head, Enos Mkuchana,
from whom Mofokeng is also demanding R500000.
"Mofokeng succeeded in misleading media people and the South
African public, by carefully avoiding damning evidence and
selectively quoting from the attorney-general's comments, resulting
in a totally distorted version," Kilian reiterated on Wednesday.
Mofokeng's spindoctored report created the impression that the
auditor general's investigations had been completed, when in fact
those investigations had barely scratched the surface, Kilian said.
"A large number of complaints...are still pending in the office
of the Public Protector, Selby Baqwa."
Due to a totally unrealistic workload and lack of resources the
investigations were progressing at a slow but steady pace, he said.
Kilian suggested that progress into the investigation was being
hampered by the inability to procure the services of specialised
forensic auditors.
"The appointment of forensic auditors is subject to tender
board approval, and is currently being blocked by the Gauteng
Provincial Tender Board."
Unlike Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa, who now had a record
of tackling corruption upfront, Gauteng premier Mathole Motshekga's
government was still in the denial phase that allowed them to
believe that the issues would disappear if they continued to play
them down, Kilian said.
He furthermore demanded Mofokeng be suspended with immediate
effect pending the outcome of an investigation by the Heath
Investigative Unit, which probes allegations of corruption and
mismanagement on the recommendation of the President.
The chairman of the commission, Judge Willem Heath, is
scheduled to meet Motshekga on January 19.
Housing department spokesman Mbulelo Musi said on Wednesday
afternoon that MEC Mofokeng had received no official correspondence
to the effect that Judge Heath would be conducting an
investigation.
"As far as the department is concerned, the purpose of the
meeting is to open lines of communication, establish working
relations and kickstart the operation of the Heath Commission in
the province," Musi said.
@ COURT-BODYGUARD
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
MBEKI BODYGUARD APPEARS IN COURT ON MURDER CHARGE
A bodyguard of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki appeared in the
Mamelodi Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on a charge of murder,
police said.
Captain Elias Mawela said Sergeant Evans Modise, 33, was
granted R1000 bail. The case was postponed to January 21 for
further investigation.
Modise was arrested after a man was killed in Mamelodi on New
Year's Day.
The victim, Samuel Baloyi, was walking with his nephew and
apparently stopped to urinate against the outside wall of a house.
He was attacked allegedly by the home owner.
His head was repeatedly slammed against the tarred road outside
the house, and he died the next day in Pretoria's Muelmed Hospital,
Mawela said.
Senior Superintendent Lazarus Tlomatsana, spokesman for the
police national crime prevention and response service, said Modise
was a member of the VIP protection unit, and was permanently
assigned to Mbeki's team of bodyguards.
He said Modise was suspended from duty, and an internal hearing
would determine whether he was fit to remain in the police.
@ FRANCE-CASTRO
PARIS January 6 1998 Sapa-AP
LAWYER FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST CASTRO FOR ALLEGED DRUG
TRAFFICKING
The daughter of a Cuban colonel executed for allegedly
smuggling narcotics to the United States filed a complaint
Wednesday against Fidel Castro, accusing the Cuban leader of
international drug-trafficking.
Ileana de la Guardia, the exiled daughter of Cuban Col. Antonio
de la Guardia who was shot in 1989 along with three other
officials, said she hoped to clear her father's name and have
Castro charged.
French judicial officials, who requested anonymity, said a
judge would automatically open an investigation given the nature of
the accusations. That could eventually lead to the filing of
criminal charges against Castro.
Cuban drug-trafficking "was a matter of state, organized by
the highest echelons of power in the country," De la Guardia told
reporters at the Palais de Justice in Paris.
"It's impossible that Fidel Castro was unaware of this," she
said.
De la Guardia was represented by lawyer Serge Lewisch, who also
filed two other charges against Castro on behalf of a French
photographer, Pierre Golendorf, who spent two-and-a-half years in a
Cuban jail, and Cuban artist Lazaro Jordana, jailed for four years
for illegally leaving the country.
Both men accuse Castro of "crimes against humanity,"
including torture and murder, the officials said. No further
details were immediately available on these latter charges.
However, they said it was unlikely the charges of crimes
against humanity would prosper since Castro would enjoy immunity as
a head of state.
In November, a Spanish court rejected petition by a Cuban exile
group for a probe into allegations of genocide, terrorism and
torture filed against Castro.
But French judicial officials said the drug-trafficking charges
could stand, since French law respects the immunity of foreign
leaders only in cases directly linked to the sovereignty of the
state in question. Drug-trafficking, they said, would not fall into
that category.
De la Guardia was shot by a firing squad alongside Cuban war
hero Maj. Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa, Maj. Amado Padron and Capt. Jorge
Martinez.
All confessed guilt but asked for mercy based on their records
and contrition.
De la Guardia's daughter said Wednesday that Castro organized
their "political murder" to create a smokescreen.
"Castro preferred to blame a group of officers who at the time
were beginning to change their political beliefs, influenced by the
perestroika movement in Russia," she said.
The drug scandal stunned Castro's communist government, which
for years had denied U.S. accusations that Cuba was being used to
smuggle cocaine and marijuana to the United States.
At the time of the trial, Castro said the scandal had done
immense internal damage and eroded Cuba's international image.
Lewisch said the United States knew in the late 1980s that Cuba
had become a major conduit for drugs, and that the Caribbean island
was using the revenue to fight the U.S. trade embargo and to fund
its forces in Angola.
Encouraged by the case against former Chilean dictator Augusto
Pinochet, Lewisch said he hoped France would eventually issue an
arrest warrant for Castro.
He added that other complaints would soon be filed against
Castro in Italy, Britain and Belgium. At least one, he said, was
linked to drug-trafficking charges.
French judicial sources said prosecutors would need to prove
that the drugs were destined for Europe, and France in particular,
as Lewisch claims.
@ BLAIR-ELECTION
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
UK GIVES R11 MILLION FOR SA GENERAL ELECTION
The United Kingdom would donate about R11 million in support of
preparations for the forthcoming general election in South Africa,
visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced on Wednesday.
The money would be used to train electoral managers for certain
areas in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Province, the
British High Commission said in a statement in Pretoria.
It quoted Blair as saying: "I am delighted that Britain is
joining other Commonwealth countries in giving practical support to
the Independent Electoral Commission."
Blair arrived in Pretoria earlier in the day for a three-day
visit to South Africa.
The British contribution forms part of an international support
programme for electoral management, co-ordinated by the IEC and the
British Department for Internatiional Development.
About ten other countries are taking part in the project.
The high commission said the programme would also help to
promote participation in the elections, and would assist with
conflict resolution by the IEC.
@ ANC ON THE KWAZULU-NATAL 1998 MATRIC RESULTS
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has learnt with disappointment that the
overall 1998 matric results in the province have dropped from 54%
pass rate of 1997 to 50% whilst other provinces have registered
tremendous progress in improving their results.
This in the only province that registered a down-turn matric
pass rate. In particular, we are concerned that the learning areas
of mathematics, geograghy and science have such a high level of
failure.
This is a tragedy for our youth and their career aspirations,
their families and the country as a whole. As well primary schools
should be concerned because the matric examination is the
culmination of at least 12 years of schooling - not just the matric
year.
IN particular, it is a grave result for the province especially
with its resolve to reconstruct and develop the region. We blame
this on Dr V.T. Zulu's lack of vision, leadership and political will
to deliver sound educational programmes that will redress the
imbalances and inequities in the provisioning of education.
The MEC for education, Dr V.T. Zulu owes the people of this
province an explanation why he reflects a poor track record. The ANC
demands a commission of enquiry into why 54 339 matric pupils failed
their 1998 matric exam.
The ANC has information that teachers received very little
guidance and support from subject advisors who visit schools
infrequently, that funds allocated to this province by the National
Governing for the promotion of the culture of teaching, learning and
service were diverted to programmes other than programmes the funds
were designated for, the main culprit being the Director General,
Prof Otty Nxumalo and other two officials in the Education
department.
We find it disgracable for the Dr V.T. Zulu who has performed
embarassingly to blame his failures on the National Minister of
Education.
This is a clear indication that Dr V.T. Zulu has run out ideas
and therefore deserves a portfolio with lesser responsibilities.
Issued by the ANC KwaZulu-Natal Department of Information and
Publicity
06 January 1999
Contact Cyril Xaba, ANC Provincial Spokesperson on Education at 082
8217 637
@ KENYA-CHINA
NAIROBI, January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
KENYA, CHINA SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Kenya and China pledged Wednesday to enhance relations between
their two countries to high levels and to enter a new period of
intensive cooperation.
Speaking during a ceremony to sign a new memorandum of
understanding with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, Kenyan
Foreign Minister Bonaya Godana expressed thanks for assistance from
the People's Republic of China since diplomatic ties were
established in December 1963, six months after Kenya's independence
from Britain.
Godana cited China's construction and maintenance of the Moi
International Sports Complex at Nairobi's northeastern suburb of
Kasarani, a hospital at Eldoret in northwest Kenya, and the
Kima-Emusutswi road in western Kenya.
"I would like to underline our support for the People's
Republic of China on the 'One China' policy, because we are
convinced that the policy promises peace, stability and prosperity
not only for the friendly people of your great country, but in the
region as a whole," Godana told his Chinese counterpart.
In reply, Tang, who arrived in Kenya earlier in the day,
pledged that the signing of the agreement would bring relations
between the two countries to a higher level and usher in a new
period of cooperation.
Tang said that although China's assistance to Kenya was not
very high, it was always rendered with extreme sincerity, "without
political strings attached."
On Taiwan, Tang expressed appreciation of Kenya's attitude on
the issue, saying that the stand was "a firm support for us that we
will never forget."
Tang said that during their bilateral talks on cooperation,
which were starting immediately after the ceremony, the two
delegations would discuss a whole range of bilateral issues.
Tang will hold talks with President Daniel arap Moi on Thursday
in Nakuru, 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of here, before
returning to the capital in the afternoon to sign a five-million
yuan (600,000 dollar) grant to Kenya.
Trade between the two countries is expanding rapidly, the
Chinese embassy said, standing at 133 million dollars in 1997
compared with 69 million dollars in 1994.
China has provided economic assistance to Kenya totalling more
than 471 million yuan (almost 57 million dollars), and more than 20
major Chinese companies have branches in Kenya, working on 90
contracts, the embassy said.
Moi visited China in 1980, 1988 and 1994, and President Jiang
Zemin visited Kenya in 1996.
The Chinese foreign minister is also visiting Egypt, Uganda,
Tanzania and Zimbabwe, on his second continental mission after
visiting five west African nations in June soon after his
appointment.
"China will not neglect its ties with Africa while it improves
its relations with world powers," said Liu Guijin, the head of the
African division of the foreign affairs department, said in Beijing
before Tang's departure.
The visit would give "new impetus" to the development of
Sino-African relations and bilateral cooperation, he said.
Sino-African trade was worth around five billion dollars in the
first 11 months of last year, according to official figures.
After leaving Africa, Tang will make an official visit to Paris
on January 15 and 16.
Africa has emerged as one of the major battlefields in the
incessant tug-of-war between Taiwan and China since their
separation in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
Twenty-seven countries recognize Taiwan which Beijing regards
as a breakaway province.
@ MATRIC-ANC
DURBAN January 6 1998 Sapa
APPOINT AN INQUIRY INTO KZN POOR 1998 MATRIC RESULTS: ANC
A commission of inquiry should be appointed to investigate why
54324 of 108063 KwaZulu-Natal pupils had failed their 1998 matric
examination, the KwaZulu-Natal African National Congress said on
Wednesday.
The demand followed the announcement that the overall matric
pass rate for the province had dropped from 54 percent in 1997 to
50,3 percent in 1998.
Provincial ANC education spokesman Cyril Xaba said the party
was particularly concerned about the high failure rate in the
mathematics, geograghy and science fields.
"This is a tragedy for our youth and their career aspirations,
their families and the country as a whole," he said in a statement.
The ANC blamed this on provincial education MEC Dr Vincent
Zulu, accusing him of lack of vision, leadership and the political
will to deliver sound educational programmes to redress imbalances
and inequities in education.
Xaba said the ANC had information that teachers received very
little guidance and support from subject advisors who visited
schools infrequently.
He said funds allocated to the province by national government
for the promotion of the culture of teaching, learning and service
were diverted to programmes other than what they were designated
for.
Xaba said Zulu owed the KwaZulu-Natal people an explanation as
to why the results were so poor when other provinces had registered
tremendous progress in improving theirs.
The ANC was also surprised that Zulu had shifted the blame to
Education Minister S'busiso Bengu. Zulu's failures indicated that
he had run out of ideas, and therefore he deserved a portfolio with
lesser responsibilities, the ANC said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Zulu attributed the failure rate to a
number of disruptions in education in the first six months of the
year and the lack of a culture of learning at many institutions. He
also blamed a lack of finances.
@ ANGOLA-LD-FIGHTING
LUANDA January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
REBELS SHELL TOWN DESPITE ANGOLAN GOVT OFFENSIVE: ARMY
UNITA rebels on Wednesday kept up artillery fire on the
northern town of Malanje, killing at least 17 people, despite a
counter-offensive by government troops, military sources said.
UN Security Coordinator Benon Sevan meanwhile said he had won
"total support" and guarantees from Angolan President Jose Eduardo
dos Santos allowing a rescue mission to the sites of two downed
planes.
"He promised me total support and he promised us that he would
help us in the deployment of a search team," Sevan told reporters.
However, the two UN-chartered planes are both located on the
central plateau in a war zone.
The Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) were seeking to break the
encirclement of Malanje, about 380 kilometres (240 miles) east of
Luanda, by troops of the rebel National Union for the Total
Independence of Angola (UNITA).
Rebel shelling had already killed 25 people on Monday and
Tuesday, according to an official provisional toll.
On Wednesday morning, several people were killed and injured
when shells struck a market where hundreds of people were going
about their business.
The private radio station LAC said no precise casualty figures
could be established in the battle for the town, one of several
caught up in renewed civil war in several parts of the southern
African country.
Local health ministry officials said that 100 wounded people
were admitted to the hospital, but urgently needed blood supplies
were lacking.
In Angolan towns spared the escalating warfare, which has
turned Malanje and the central cities of Huambo and Kuito into
battlegrounds once again, a blood donation campaign has been
launched.
More than 200 people have been killed in the past few days in
Kuito, the capital of Bie province 700 kilometres (about 435 miles)
from Luanda on the central plateau, and large numbers of wounded
need help.
The Hercules C-130 transport planes chartered by the UN
Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) were shot down by UNITA rebels,
one on December 26 and the other on January 2, both in central
Huambo province, according to the government, but UNITA denies the
allegation.
Huambo is some 600 kilometers (350 miles) southeast of Luanda.
The first crashed near Vila Nova, which is in a war zone, with
14 people including 10 UN workers aboard, while the second had five
passengers and four crew members on board, according to a UN
spokesman late Tuesday.
UNITA has refused to guarantee safe passage to a rescue
mission.
The Angolan army has said the 14 people aboard the first plane
are alive and being held by the rebels in their central strongholds
of Andulo and Bailundo.
The fate of the nine who were aboard the second aircraft,
including four UN employees, was unknown.
Russia on Wednesday condemned the downing of the two aircraft
as "criminal and inhumane" and deserving of sanctions against
UNITA.
Foreign ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin told a news
briefing that Moscow was demanding that UNITA leaders "conduct an
instant investigation of the tragic incidents and take emergency
measures to determine the fates of the passengers, who include
Russians."
In another development on Wednesday, the European Union
expressed its "grave concern" at the deterioriating situation in
Angola and said in a statement issued in Brussels that "the main
responsibility lies clearly with UNITA and its leadership."
The EU statement charged that Jonas Savimbi's rebels, who first
went to war with Luanda on independence in 1975, "have neither
demilitarised their forces nor facilitated the extension of the
authority of the state, without the slighest justification and in
defiance of pressing demands by the UN Security Council and the
international community."
The EU "reiterates an urgent appeal" to UNITA for the
organisation "to unconditionally respect without any further delay
the commitments" it made under the Lusaka peace protocols signed
with the Luanda government in the Zambian capital in November 1994,
the statement said.
@ MEDUNSA-NNP
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
PERCEPTION THAT EDUC IS A RIGHT CAUSING CAMPUS TRASHING: NNP
The perception that education was a right not a privilege set
off the trashing of the Medical University of SA campus, the New
National Party said on Wednesday.
Trouble flared on Monday night when word spread that Medunsa
would bar a number of undergraduates from the GaRankuwa campus for
not paying their 1998 class fees.
NNP spokesman Riaan Aucamp said in a statement: "This
perception will have to be drastically altered.
"This mind-set that the trashing of a university to achieve
one's aims must be halted at all costs. The youth of South Africa
must see that these actions will not benefit anyone and can only
result in further conflict."
He said the way the conflict was resolved was important as it
could spread to other campuses about to open and called for
negotiation with all parties involved.
@ HOLOMISA-SUITCASE
EAST LONDON January 6 1998 Sapa
AFTER WEEKS OF SEARCHING, HOLOMISA STILL HOPES TO FIND SUITCASE
After three weeks of searching for his suitcase which he lost
while travelling to Transkei from Johannesburg last month, United
Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa still hopes his luggage
will be recovered.
Holomisa lost his suitcase about three weeks ago after taking a
South African Airways flight from Johannesburg International
Airport to East London for his Christmas holidays.
"I was going home for my holidays when I lost the suitcase," he
said. "Whoever stole it must have scored quite a fortune. I just
hope that they will find it."
Last week SAA sent him a claim form to claim his belongings. "I
haven't filled in the form yet, but I am going to claim because
they have acknowledged that they have lost my suitcase."
According to communications officer Victor Nosi, the suitcase
was sent to him at his destination - East London.
A fuming Holomisa dismissed this, saying according to the
information given to him by the airport authorities in East London,
the suitcase was never loaded.
"My bag is not in East London. It was lost between checking and
loading. Let them stop playing games. That guy knows nothing and is
now making me angry. Those people never loaded my suitcase."
Holomisa told SAA that if they ever find the suitcase they
should perform laboratory tests on its contents because he feared
it might have been stolen by state intelligence operatives who
wanted to poison his clothing.
There was nothing secret in the suitcase but expensive
clothing, he said in an interview on Wednesday. "It had my wedding
suits and suits for funerals. They are expensive suits. I also had
my summer clothes in there and my holiday shoes because I was going
there for a holiday."
Rumours that the luggage was recovered in Johannesburg last
week were untrue, said Holomisa.
"I phoned them (SAA) immediately when I heard that rumour last
week. But they also did not know where that rumour came from."
@ LAND-ROMAN
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
BROEDERSTROOM LANDOWNER TO GIVE LAND TO LONG-TERM OCCUPANTS
Landowner Roger Roman was on Wednesday night making final
preparations for the Thursday transfer of ownership of a portion of
land to the long term occupants of his Broederstroom farm.
Roman told Sapa: "The Minister of Land Affairs (Derek Hanekom)
will be there and it will be an act of reconciliation and strategy
to avoid what is happening in Zimbabwe."
Controversy is raging in Zimbabwe over a plan to transfer land
ownership from white farmers for the resettlement of the landless.
"On legal grounds I realised that I could not evict the
families because they lived there for ten years. On moral grounds I
couldn't evict them either so I decided to transfer some land to
them so they can access government housing subsidies.
"It hasn't cost me a cent and it has created a stable
community.
"We have gained an enormous amount - I don't think I've given
away anything."
In a statement the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs
said: "It is through land reform projects of this nature where
landless people are able to acquire ownership of land through the
generous contributions of private landowners that we are able to
achieve the positive transformation of our country."
Roman said there would be a small party afterwards "where I'll
break my hunger strike".
He went on hunger strike to protest the Hartebeespoort Town
Council's opposition to the transfer plans.
@ LABOUR-JUSTICE
THREE CAPE TOWN STATE ADVOCATES RESIGN OVER POOR PAY
Three advocates with a combined experience of 50 years on
Wednesday announced their resignation as public prosecutors, citing
unhappiness over their remuneration.
The three are advocates Chris Cilliers, Helena Booysen and
Dieter Fitschen.
The Justice Department recently lost three other advocates,
Percy Sonn, Deputy Cape director of public prosecutions, and Willie
Viljoen, a senior advocate, along with Adriaan Mopp, to the
newly-created Investigative Directorate - Organised Crime and
Public Safety (IDOC).
A Cape Town daily newspaper reported that a total of 20 senior
and experienced advocates had left the department since January
last year.
Even though Justice Minister Dullah Omar last month announced a
six percent salary increase, a nationwide strike by dissatisfied
prosecutors was continuing, prompting National Director of
Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka to step in.
He urged prosecutors to resume work because "substantial
injustice would occur if people who are not supposed to be in
custody spend their Christmas and the rest of the festive of the
season behind bars".
Cilliers, a senior state advocate for the past nine years, said
it was unfortunate that people with experience were leaving the
provincial justice office.
"It seems to me court cases are getting more and more serious
and experienced people are leaving. What will happen now is that
inexperienced people will be given serious cases," he said.
@ BLAIR-BOERE
PRETORIA January 6 1998 Sapa
HNP PROTESTERS DEMAND MEETING WITH TONY BLAIR
About 50 rightwingers protested in Pretoria on Wednesday
against the refusal of visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair
to meet Herstigte Nasionale Party leader Jaap Marais.
Led by Marais, the group outside the Presidential Guest House
also demanded an apology from Blair over the deaths of Afrikaner
women and children during the Anglo-Boer War.
Blair arrived in Pretoria earlier in the day for a three-day
visit to South Africa.
Marais told reporters that his request to meet Blair on the
alleged crimes of British troops during the war was rejected
earlier in the day.
"I asked for an interview today (Wednesday), but eventually
they said he was not prepared to grant me one," Marais said.
"That's why we are here."
He handed a petition outlining the HNP's demands to British
Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa Simon Gass.
A few street blocks away, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki welcomed
Blair and his wife Cherie for a private dinner. The two leaders
shook hands and smilingly posed for photographs, but did not speak
to reporters.
They are to chair a session of the UK-South Africa forum at the
Presidential Guest House in Pretoria on Thursday.
Blair is to meet President Nelson Mandela on Thursday
afternoon.
@ ZIM-IMF
HARARE January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
IMF OFFICIALS IN ZIMBABWE TO DISCUSS AID ISSUES
Officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in
Harare to discuss agricultural land reforms that prompted a
suspension of aid to Zimbabwe last year.
The officials, led by the head of the IMF's African department
Goddall Gondwe, met Wednesday with Vice President Simon Muzenda in
Harare, according to press reports.
Gondwe said the IMF was seeking clarification on land reforms,
after it withheld 55 million dollars in aid last year following the
government's seizure of 841 white-owned farms.
"We are not questioning (the land policy); we still support the
government on that," Gondwe said, recalling that 4,000 white
farmers own 30 percent of the land.
"All we are concerned with is how it is going to be implemented
so that it does not impact negatively on agricultural production,"
Gondwe said.
The IMF believes that the seizures, initiated last November,
went against decisions reached at talks with donor countries last
September, where it was agreed that only 118 farms would be
appropriated for landless black farmers over a two-year period.
@ ANC-NP
CAPE TOWN January 6 1998 Sapa
ANC TO CELEBRATE 87TH BIRTHDAY IN CAPE TOWN
The African National Congress celebrates its 87th birthday in
Cape Town on Saturday and massive crowds are expected to attend the
festivities at the Athlone stadium.
The choice of the venue for the celebration is widely thought
to be part of the ANC's bid to take the Western Cape from the New
National Party, which won the province in the 1994 election.
Party president Thabo Mbeki - who will address the gathering
at 2pm - is expected to appeal to supporters to renew the ANC's
mandate, said national ANC spokesperson Thabo Masebe at a press
conference on Wednesday.
"This year is a watershed year. It is the end of our first term
in office and the end of the government of national unity," he
said.
>From 10am onwards cultural events have been organised to draw
the crowds. TK-Zee, Ringo and Prophets of Da City are some of the
artists who have confirmed they will perform.
With a capacity crowd expected, as well as around 500
dignitaris and 80 representatives of foreign governments, security
will be tight. The ANC will provide 200 security marshals to
complement the 200 policemen and women who will be at the stadium.
Masebe said the ANC wanted to win the next election with an
overwhelming majority, and clinching the Western Cape and
KwaZulu-Natal - presently controlled by the Inkatha Freedom Party
- was an important part of that goal.
The New National Party issued a statement on Wednesday saying
the ANC's intention to to win the Western Cape was "completely
ridiculous".
NNP spokeswoman Juli Kilian said her party was committed to
ensuring that at least four of the nine provinces would not be in
the hands of the ANC.
@ DISCRIMINATION
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
NO LEGISLATION TO PROTECT VICTIMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
There was no proper national legislation to protect victims of
racial discrimination, SABC television reported on Wednesday.
The disclosure followed a caravan park's refusal to admit a
black person who was in a party who had booked a chalet, SABC
reported on its 8pm news broadcast.
Human Rights Commission chairman Barney Pityana said: "The
power of enforcement is what is lacking at the moment."
Attorney Halton Cheadle said aggrieved persons could possibly
bring a common law claim on the grounds that the discrimination was
an affront to their dignity.
He said Deputy President Thabo Mbeki should make sure such
legislation was given the priority it deserved.
@ ZAMBIA-CHILUBA
LUSAKA January 6 1998 Sapa
CHILUBA TO TRAVEL TO RWANDA TO DISCUSS DRCONGO WAR
Zambian President Frederick Chiluba leaves for Kigali on
Thursday for talks with his Rwandan counterpart, Pasteur Bizimungu,
on ways to end the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Zambia's foreign affairs department announced on Wednesday.
Chiluba, who said he was consulting with other leaders in the
region, was optimistic that DRC president Laurent Kabila and the
rebels would sign the ceasefire accord prepared by the Organisation
of African Unity.
Chiluba is expected to persuade Bizimungu to exert influence on
the rebels to sign a ceasefire.
A State House spokesman said the off and on Lusaka Southern
African Development Community heads of state summit was planned for
the middle of January, if no further obstacles emerged.
@ ANGOLA-PLANE
LUANDA January 6 1998 Sapa-AFP
ANGOLAN PRESIDENT GIVES UN ENVOY GO-AHEAD TO VISIT CRASH SITES
UN Security Coordinator Benon Sevan said Wednesday he had won
"total support" and guarantees from Angolan President Jose Eduardo
dos Santos allowing a rescue mission to the sites of two downed
planes.
"He promised me total support and he promised us that he would
help us in the deployment of a search team," Sevan told reporters.
However Defense Minister General Pedro Sebastio on Wednesday
ruled out a ceasefire in the Huambo area, where the two Hercules
C-130 transport planes chartered by the UN Observer Mission in
Angola (MONUA) were shot down by UNITA rebels according to the
government.
The area, some 600 kilometers (350 miles) southeast of Luanda,
has been the scene of heavy fighting between rebels of the National
Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and government
forces.
UNITA has denied any responsibility for the plane downings on
December 26 and January 2, and has refused to guarantee safe
passage to a rescue mission.
Sebastio, who had talks with Sevan, said Luanda would provide
the United Nations with "all necessary information" and "do its
best," while stressing that a "ceasefire is not a consideration."
He said a truce was not even raised during the meeting.
The government "was provoked" and was merely defending itself
against the rebels, Sebastio said.
Sevan said after the meeting that a technical meeting on
Thursday would bring together representatives of the army and of
the UN observer mission in Angola (MONUA) to work out details of a
rescue mission.
The first plane crashed near Vila Nova, which is in a war zone,
with 14 people including 10 UN workers aboard, while the second had
five passengers and four crew members on board, according to a UN
spokesman late Tuesday.
The Angolan army has said the 14 people aboard the first plane
are alive and being held by the rebels in their central strongholds
of Andulo and Bailundo.
The fate of the nine who were aboard the second aircraft,
including four UN employees, was unknown.
@ ELECTION-CHIKANE
JOHANNESBURG January 6 1998 Sapa
CHIKANE ASKS CHURCHES TO ENCOURAGE VOTER REGISTRATION
Frank Chikane, the director-general in Deputy President Thabo
Mbeki's office, on Wednesday said religious groups had an important
role to play in encouraging communities to register for the coming
election, SABC television news reported.
Chikane said this could lead to more than 17 million people
registering in the second round of the process later this month.
He was speaking after meeting the leaders of various religious
denominations in Soweto.
Just over 9,4 million people registered for the election last
year.
He said the government was also working hard to ensure that a
maximum number of civil servants were deployed for the registration
process.
A meeting of all national and provicial directors-general had
been planned for the 15th of January to finalise plans on how civil
servants and other resources would be provided to the IEC.
@ HEALTH-FRANCE
JOHANNESBURG Jan 7 Sapa
FRENCH SURGEON UNKNOWINGLY GIVE PATIENT HIV: JOURNAL
A French orthopaedic unknowingly infected an elderly widow with
HIV during a ten hour hip operation in 1992, Medinfo said in a
statement on Thursday.
Details of the incident were sketched in the Annals of Internal
Medicine, Medinfo spokesman Dr Andrew Jamieson said.
"The French surgeon acquired HIV from a needle stick type
injury occasioned in 1983 while operating an HIV positive person,"
said Jamieson.
The unidentified surgeon was not aware that he had been
infected and continued to operate. He was eventually forced to stop
operating in 1993 as a result of depression.
The surgeon went for an HIV test in 1994 and was found to be
positive and immediately informed the French health aouthorities
who offered HIV tests and counselling to more than 3000 patients
the doctor had operated since the needle stick injury.
"A total of 983 former patients underwent testing for HIV
infection, with one patient returning a positive result".
The patient was an elderly woman with non of the known HIV risk
factors. She had not had sex since the death of her husband, years
before the surgery.
"Genetic testing of the virus samples tasken from the surgeon
and the patient pointed strongly to the surgeon having
inadvertently infected the widow," said Jamieson.
A review of the surgeon's techniques and practices revealed him
to be a cautious and careful practitioner, who adopted sensible
precautions against HIV transmission during surgery.
@ BRITAIN-AFRICA
LONDON Jan 7 Sapa-AFP
MONTGOMERY'S PLAN FOR A WHITE SUPREMACIST AFRICA REVEALED
Britain's most famous World War II general, Field Marshal
Montgomery of Alamein, considered Africans incapable of economic
development and hatched a plan for a white supremacist continent,
several newspaper reported here Thursday.
Montgomery submitted a paper to the 1947 Labour government in
London - a paper now released after 50 years under secrecy laws -
claiming the African "is a complete savage and quite incapable of
developing the country himself".
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia he dismissed as "pathetic".
Basing his plan on a two-month tour of 12 states, he proposed
to amalgamate British interests in the continent into three
federations containing vast reservoirs of labour and minerals as a
bulwark against African nationalism.
The federations would be based in the British colonies of Kenya
and Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana, and Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia.
The idea was to ensure that if a confrontation loomed between
East and West, then "Africa goes with the West".
"We must advance courageously, as did Cecil Rhodes," Montgomery
wrote.
"The plain truth is that these lands must be developed in order
that the British may survive."
The plan so severely embarrassed the government of Clement
Atlee that only 10 copes were ever made and Montgomery's speeches
and lectures were watched so as to ensure such sentiments were not
made public, said The Guardian.
After hearing of the government's objections, Montgomery
conceded that he and the administration disagreed "fundamentally"
on the issue.
@ EAT-MEMORY
WASHINGTON Jan 7 Sapa
MEMORY DETERMINES HOW MUCH WE EAT: STUDY
Someone with a good memory is less likely to overeat than a
forgetful person, we eat more in company than alone and have extra
helpings in the autumn, according to recent US studies.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania write in the
journal Psychological Science they found that memory of what has
been consumed is a strong factor in making people start or stop
eating.
In extreme cases, "densely amnesiac" people took a second
complete meal offered minutes after finishing the first, and
started on yet another soon after that.
At Georgia State University it was found that meals taken with
other people are averagely 44 per cent bigger than meals eaten
alone.
And people, at least in Georgia, eat 10 per cent more in the
autumn months than during the rest of the year. Study leader John
de Castro says so far his team found no explanation for this
phenomenon.
@ SCOTCH
VANCOUVER Jan 7 Sapa
HIGH PRICED SCOTCH BEING HELD AT RAMSOM BY BURGLARS
High-priced scotch is being held for ransom by burglars who
broke into an Edmonton, Canada, bottle store.
The store owner says an anonymous caller this week offered him
a chance to buy back the 750ml bottle of single-malt Bowmore
whisky, worth about R45000, for a third of its value. Otherwise,
the caller told him, he would sell it to the highest bidder.
The pricey booze came from a cask that sat forgotten in a
corner until Suntory of Japan bought the distillery.
The cask yielded 306 bottles, of which Suntory kept 12. Each
bottle on the market comes with a certificate entitling the holder
to visit the Bowmore distillery on the isle of Islay and to a 30ml
sample from one of the 12 bottles.
The owner says the telephone call allayed his fears that the
expensive tipple might have been stolen by drunkards incapable of
really appreciating the expensive tipple. He is not buying it back.
@ LESOTHO-MOKHEHLE
Dr Ntsu Mokhehle, 80, passed away in Maseru after a long illness on Wednesday night.
Mokhehle celebrated his 80th birthday on December 26, while
attending a big political rally in Maseru.
Mokhehle was one of Lesotho's most illustrious leaders and he
founded Lesotho's main liberation movement in 1952 - the
Basotholand African Congress. It was later renamed the Basotholand
Congress Party.
Mokhehle was leader of the BCP until June 1997 when he broke
away with a large following to establish his Lesotho Congress for
Democracy which ruled Lesotho from the time of its establishment to
the present.
Mokhehle was most influential in Lesotho's modern politics and
he championed the cause for Lesotho's independence from Britain and
the former British protectorate attained its independence on
October 4 1966.
@ BACK TO SCHOOL, BACK TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Issued by: Ciet Africa
BACK TO SCHOOL, BACK TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE
One in every three Johannesburg schoolgirls have experienced
sexual violence at school and, of these, only 36% said they reported
the episode to someone. Rape is a part of teenage life before they
are even old enough to vote - some become victims, some
perpetrators.
In the 1998 CIETafrica survey at high schools in the south of
Johannesburg, 12% of the male pupils declared in a confidential
enquiry they had had sex with a girl without her consent.
The study, conducte by CIETafrica in partnership with the
Southern Metropolitan Local Council (SMLC) provided the baseline to
measure the impact of an initiative to prevent sexual violence. The
sample included 1,500 pupils of both sexes from grade eight to
matric and includes schools from Johannesburg, Soweto, Eldorado
Park, Orange Farm and Lenasia.
"The culture of sexual violence cannot be stopped by more
intensive policing. Adults telling kids what to do also cannot stop
it. The youth have to change it themselves. Kids have always built
their own culture, very often at odds with adults of the day. We
cannot decide what their culture will be, but we can help them get
the evidence to build their own," says Professor Neil Andersson,
executive director of CIETafrica and head of the project.
Professor Andersson also points out the need to educate youth
about their personal rights,and points of dangerous misinformation.
The study shows an alarming number of high school girls are unaware
of their own rights - 12% said they do not have the right not to be
subjected to sexual violence.Nearly half the teenage boys who
participated in the survey said they believe a girl who says "no"
means "yes". Among those who knew someone who had been raped, 16%
said they thought the young woman actually enjoyed it and 31% said
they thought she "asked for it".
Nearly half the boys involved in the project said they had
friends who are sexually violent. Three in every ten male students
said they could personally be violent towards a girl. "This means
seven out of ten schoolboys say they could not be sexually violent;
this is a corner-stone for a culture of non-violence," says
Professor Andersson. "The present phase of the project will try to
build on this resilience, in the context of youth culture."
"The next step is to collaborate with the schools in our area,
to design ways of preventing sexual violence, with a special focus
on youth-to-youth and youth-to-community interventions. We
successfully piloted this school-based scheme with CIET in 1998, and
in 1999 we plan to reach at least 500 schools by involving our
partner NGOs, civil society groupings and the police,"adds Dr Shan
Naidoo, the SMLC's strategic executive: health and social
development.
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