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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER 1998
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
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@ REGISTER-POLICE
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
POLICE AND ARMY TO MONITOR VOTER REGISTRATION ON THURSDAY
Police will be responsible for security at several registration
facilities during voter registration in the Western Cape and three
other provinces on Thursday, deputy provincial police commissioner
Dirk Crafford announced on Tuesday.
He said the request for assistance came from the Independent
Electoral Commission.
Crafford said a contingency plan was drafted in conjunction
with the SA National Defence Force and input from other role
players such as military and intelligence agencies and the IEC.
"This plan was drafted prior to the decision to change the
registration dates, and the postponement of the registration has
not compromised, or caused the plan to be amended," Crafford said
in a statement.
He said all available policemen would be utilised, including
uniform and administrative staff, reservists and detectives.
The defence force would be used to bolster reaction groups
which would be deployed in areas identified through intelligence
reports as possible flash points.
The object of the police and army presence was to provide a
safe and secure environment for IEC officials and voters who wished
to exercise their right to register.
The focus of operations would be to prevent intimidation and or
interference of the registration process.
@ TRADE-US
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
SA AND US SIGN INVESTMENT PROMOTION AGREEMENT
An agreement which aims to promote investment between American
and South African companies was signed in Cape Town on Tuesday by
Trade Minister Alec Erwin and United States Commerce Secretary
William Daley.
The memorandum of understanding will see Investment South
Africa, the government investment promotion agency, and the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a company which sells
political risk insurance and financing to US companies, joinly
promoting investment with an emphasis on small and medium-size
enterprises.
The two agencies are considering two projects in the fishing
and services industry.
At the signing, Erwin said South Africa's economy had endured
the recent global financial turmoil relatively well, and although
growth was lower than predicted it was still expected to be
positive.
However, high interest rates still posed a problem.
@ WORLD-AIDS
TOKYO December 1 1998 Sapa-AP
AIDS DAY OBSERVED AMID GROWING ALARM IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES
People across Asia handed out condoms and wore red ribbons
Tuesday as part of efforts on World AIDS Day to raise awareness
about the spread of the disease, especially in underdeveloped
countries.
In Japan, the Health Ministry organized rallies and charity
concerts in central Tokyo to spread the word about AIDS and express
solidarity with those suffering from the disease.
"It's extremely important to have an event every year to
repeatedly remind people that AIDS exists," said Dr. Yoshiki
Sakurai, an official of the Japanese Foundation for AIDS
Prevention.
Events in Tokyo will culminate with the lighting of a tree
decorated with home-made red-ribbons, the symbol of AIDS
solidarity, sent in from across Japan.
Discrimination against AIDS sufferers remains a serious problem
in Japan, and the country still lags behind many Western countries
in AIDS treatment facilities and education.
"We have to move on from the current situation in Japan where
people with HIV are isolated, to one in which they are accepted as
full members of society, with jobs," said Satoru Ienishi, a member
of Parliament.
Ienishi was among the thousands of Japanese hemophiliacs who
contracted the AIDS virus through the use of government-approved
blood products tainted by HIV.
"The taboo against AIDS is so strong in Japan that people with
HIV are less likely to die from AIDS than from economic
difficulty" caused by their alienation from society, he said in a
telephone interview.
In China, the government marked World AIDS Day by opening its
first exhibition on the disease, featuring photos of drug users and
AIDS patients.
The government also unveiled a new AIDS control program that
will include a nationwide campaign to educate people on how to
prevent AIDS. China is expecting a fourfold rise in AIDS cases
within two years.
It has officially recorded 11,170 HIV cases, but Health
Ministry officials estimate that more than 300,000 Chinese have the
disease.
In Hong Kong, bars, restaurants and nightclubs handed out beer
coasters warning people to practice safe sex as part of a
three-week AIDS awareness program organized by support group AIDS
Concern.
The colorful coasters feature pictures of a fluorescent condom
on one side, with a safe sex messages on the reverse.
One version of the coaster reads: "Do it safely; use a condom
every time."
Aids Concern also handed out 5,000 condoms at subway stations
in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning.
The theme of the 11th World AIDS Day is "Be a force for
change."
Experts have warned recently that although powerful new drugs
have sent AIDS deaths plunging in industrialized countries, the
disease continues to kill millions of people in impoverished
nations in Africa and Asia.
According to a new U.N. report, about 33.4 million people
around the world are infected with HIV, two-thirds of them in
sub-Saharan Africa. Two million people will die of the disease
south of the Sahara this year, four times the total for the rest of
the world.
About 1.7 million people in Africa and 700,000 people in Asia
and the Pacific are infected with HIV every year, according to U.N.
figures.
The Cambodian government marked AIDS day with the grim
announcement that 150,000 people - 1.3 percent of the population -
are infected with the AIDS virus.
Officials said that 50 to 70 people catch HIV in Cambodia every
day, the highest HIV infection rate in Asia.
The economic crisis sweeping through Southeast Asia has made it
even more difficult for governments in the region to curb the
spread of AIDS.
On the eve of AIDS day, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa
launched a plea at the United Nations for governments around the
world to contribute more funds to the worldwide fight against AIDS.
"We aren't doing enough to say to governments, for goodness
sake, why have so much money for death and so little for life,"
Tutu said
U.S. President Bill Clinton prepared to mark AIDS day with the
announcement of dlrs 10 million in emergency grants to help poorer
nations care for children orphaned by AIDS.
@ KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY MANDELA ON WORLD AIDS DAY
Issued by: Office of the President
Mtubatuba, 1 December 1998
Your Royal Highness;
Minister of Health and Home Affairs;
Premier of KwaZulu/Natal Province;
Amakhosi;
Dr. Piot of UNAIDS;
Friends and fellow South Africans,
We have come to Mtubatuba for World AIDS Day because this
province and this area have been hard hit by this deadly virus. We
have come here as Partners Against AIDS, to express our solidarity
and support. We have come to accept the help of the government and
the people of KwaZuluNatal in making our nation understand what this
disease really means.
AIDS is one of those problems that are beyond the capacity of
any one community, or any province to solve on its own, or even any
one nation alone.
To win we must join hands in a Partnership Against Aids, and
also work with other nations as part of the international community.
We need the help of organisations like the United Nations and it is
therefore a special pleasure to welcome Dr. Piot, the Director of
UNAIDS who has come to share this day with us.
Although AIDS has been a part of our lives for fifteen years or
more, we have kept silent about its true presence in our midst. We
have too often spoken of it as if it was someone else's problem.
We had hoped that today, before this rally, we could visit a
community that has been badly affected by AIDS, and pay our respects
to those whose lives were taken by the disease.
We want our communities to be able to say to our country: Come
and witness the reality of AIDS; see the devastation in our
community; see the fresh graves; see the courage of those who live
with the infection and of the children who have lost their parents.
We must remove the silence that leads companies to say to a
newspaper: "We want to put an advertisement in your paper, but it
must not be near anything about AIDS";
It is the silence that leads us, when we see all the signs in
our friend's face to speak of anything else, rather than ask, "Do
you have AIDS? How can we help?"
It is the silence that hangs over our cemeteries when we bury
loved ones knowing they died of AIDS, but not speaking of it.
It is the silence that is letting this disease sweep through our
country, adding 1,500 people each day to more than 3 million already
infected. It isolates those who need our support and help. It
threatens to undermine our efforts to grow our economy and build a
better life for all our people.
It is time to break the silence.
That is why we are here today as political leaders, following
the lead given by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki.
We are grateful to a province that has the courage to declare
that it has a high rate of infection. We admire the brave men, women
and children who are with us today to say: We are the human face of
AIDS - we are breaking the silence! If we are to succeed then all of
us must follow these examples and take responsibility for dealing
with this problem.
Though we are doing all we can to search for a cure for AIDS, it
has not yet been found and therefore prevention is the key to
turning the tide.
Because this disease is so new, and because it spreads mainly
through sex, prevention requires of us that we speak it in a way
that our traditions, our cultures and our religions provide little
guidance.
We must repeat over and over again our appeal to young people to
abstain from sex as long as possible. If you do decide to engage in
sex, then use a condom.
We must repeat over and over again our appeal to all men and
women to be faithful to one another, but otherwise to use condoms.
It is possible for any of us to be infected for eight years
without knowing it, and therefore to pass on the infection to others
without knowing it.
We appeal to all sexually active people who have not tested, to
have the test for the virus and if you are infected to openly seek
the support of the community.
But we do know that we can only make this call upon those who
have been affected if the community accepts its responsibility to
give support to People Living With HIV/AIDS.
All of us, in our communities, in our educational institutions,
in our workplaces, in our media, in our financial institutions, our
places of worship and recreation must work to eradicate the
discrimination that denies support and dignity to those who need it.
As traditional leaders and people of influence in our communities,
provinces and nation let us set an example.
South Africans have overcome obstacles which others thought were
insurmountable, because we joined hands to work for good of all
rather than remaining divided by less important things.
Just as we defied the prophets of doom who foresaw endless
conflict in our land, we can defeat this terrible disease by all of
us accepting responsibility for prevention of infection and for care
of those who have been affected.
In October we launched a Partnership Against Aids, and declared
our united resolve to save the nation.
Since then much has happened, but all of us need to ask
ourselves: Are we doing enough to lend strength to the partnership
on which our future depends?
What are we doing as teachers and parents? As business people,
big and small? As employers and workers?
The young people, who are our future, are most at risk. We rely
on their capacity for vision and on the courage that has been shown
by people living with HIV/AIDS to give our nation the lead it needs
to rise to this challenge.
Together we can succeed. On this World AIDS Day let us make a
pledge.
Let us do everything possible to prevent ourselves and our
partners from getting infected.
Let us build the Partnership Against AIDS so that it unites
every community and sector of our society into a force for change.
Let us break the silence by speaking openly and publicly about
AIDS, and by bringing an end to discrimination against those living
with AIDS;
Let us care for those living with HIV/AIDS and the orphans, and
give them support, with love and compassion;
And let us say that we will wear the Red Ribbon today, and every
day, in remembrance of those who have died and in solidarity with
those who are infected. Let us wear it as a sign of our commitment
to this pledge.
I thank you.
@ DRCONGO-UGANDA
KAMPALA December 1 1998 Sapa-AFP
UGANDAN DEFENCE MINISTER BELITTLES AGREEMENT ON DRC CONFLICT
Ugandan Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi has said that "no new
ground" was broken on the crisis in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) during the weekend Franco-African summit in Paris.
"I don't have the details of the discussions in Paris yet. But
the impression I had is that there was no new ground broken," he
told AFP in an interview late Monday.
Seven African nations embroiled in the DRC war agreed to a
truce and to a ceasefire accord in a surprise breakthrough on
Saturday secured by UN chief Kofi Annan on the sidelines of the
summit.
But Mbabazi said that the resolutions passed in Paris were
similar to previous ones during peace talks in Victoria Falls,
Zimbabwe, in September.
"In Victoria Falls II, heads of state agreed to a ceasefire so
what remained was working out the details of the ceasefire
agreement," he said.
Uganda and Rwanda, which are backing rebels fighting to topple
the government of President Laurent Kabila in Kinshasa, were
represented at the Paris summit by their presidents.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda confirmed there that the
warring sides had agreed to an immediate truce and an imminent
ceasefre accord, but he said that Ugandan troops would stay in the
DRC until his own security concerns were assuaged.
Mbabazi said that while foreign countries with forces in the
DRC may have agreed to a truce, that did not mean an immediate
ceasefire on the ground.
"The actual war is between the Congolese combatants," he added.
The rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy was left out of the
talks in Paris, and has since rejected the call for a ceasefire.
A new rebel faction, the Liberation Movement of Congo, led by
Jean Pierre Bemba and operating in the northeast of the DRC, has
also vowed to continue fighting.
But a Rwandan military officer said Monday that Rwandan troops
fighting alongside the rebels have halted at Nyunzu, in the
southeast, following the Paris ceasefire agreement.
"We have received orders to no longer attack and to halt the
advance because of the ceasefire," the officer told AFP, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
The rebels' uprising against Kabila began on August 2. Troops
from Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Chad have intervened to help the
DRC president.
@ TRUTH-SDUS
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
TRC JUDGE WARNS AGAINST FURTHER DELAYS IN SDU AMNESTY HEARING
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee on
Tuesday warned that it would not tolerate deliberate delays by
people who wanted to "take control of the process".
Judge Ronnie Pillay, who chairs the amensty hearing on the East
Rand for former African National Congress self-defence unit
members, said he was not happy about deliberate delays since the
beginning of the hearings on November 23.
He said the TRC was under the impression that there were
certain people who wanted to take control of the process and run it
at their convenience.
"I am not going to allow that," he warned.
Pillay said the amnesty panel had to complete its work by the
middle of next year. Those who delayed the hearings appeared to be
forgetting that there were people in prison who had also applied
for amnesty and whose applications were still to be heard.
"I don't think we will be able to finish hearings on their
applications with the kind of delays we are experiencing
currently," he said.
Pillay said: "I am not going to tolerate any delays any
longer."
Three members of the Thokoza SDUs told the committee at the
start of the hearing on Tuesday that they were withdrawing or
amending their amnesty applications.
Israel Mabote said he was withdrawing his amnesty application
for murder, but would seek amnesty for possession of an illegal
firearm.
He told the committee he was never involved in murder during
clashes between the ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party, which left
thousands dead and scores injured between 1990 and 1994.
The hearing continues.
@ SWAZI-SA
MBABANE December 1 1998 Sapa
SWAZIS CONDEMN SA FOR REFUSING TO DISCUSS BORDER DISPUTE
Chairman of Swaziland's border adjustment committee, Prince
Khuzulwandle, has accused South Africa of refusing to co-operate
with Swaziland in resolving a border dispute between the two
countries.
Swaziland is claiming vast areas of land, including Mpumalanga
and Ingwavuma in Northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The claim, pursued by the late King Subhuza II during his
62-year reign and since pursued by King Mswati III, refers to
former Swazi territory annexed and given to South Africa during the
colonial era when Swaziland was a British protectorate.
Despite reported comments by Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa
and Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo that Swaziland must forget such
claims, Prince Khuzulwandle has said Swaziland would persist until
the land was returned.
@ TRADE-CONFERENCE
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
DALEY WARNS ABOUT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
United States Commerce Secretary William Daley on Tuesday
warned South Africa that its failure to respect intellectual
property rights could threaten its prospects of attracting
international investment.
Investors wanted to know their intellectual property was
adequately protected, Daley said in an address to the Southern
Africa Trade and Investment Summit in Cape Town.
"It is important that patents, copyright and trademarks are
protected, particularly if Africa wants to attract high-tech
firms."
His comments follows the recent adoption of South African
legislation which US drug companies claim infringe on their
intellectual property rights.
Daley urged the 14-nation Southern African Development
Community to speed up regional integration - a major requirement
for attracting foreign investment.
"In 1996 the SADC nations agreed to make this a free trade zone
within eight years. More than two years have passed but so far only
five countries have ratified the trade protocol, a first step to
making this happen.
"For Africa to be on the global stage it cannot be small
disconnected markets. It must be regional markets."
Daley expressed optimism about the region's long-term economic
prospects, but said he expected investors to remain skittish for
the foreseeable future because of the recent global financial
turmoil. Investors were still concerned about corruption, he said.
In his opening address, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said South
Africa's commitment to transparency had resulted in it drawing more
criticism than countries which were not as honest about their
affairs.
He said the region was committed to ensuring there was peace
and stability, despite the conflict which was raging in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mbeki said the DRC was going through the birth pains of a new
dispensation and he was convinced a ceasefire would be agreed to.
Africa still had a problem with its image that discouraged
investment and made talks of embarking on sustainable investment
impossible, he said.
Events elsewhere on the continent impacted on the Southern
African region and recent developments in Nigeria were encouraging.
Asked about his vision for South Africa, Mbeki said the legacy
of apartheid had to be addressed, but in such a way that whites did
not feel threatened.
Poverty also had to be addressed and this could only be done in
the context of a growing economy.
Mbeki reiterated South Africa's commitment to opening up its
economy, even though this was a painful process.
"We cannot have an economy that is growing behind big, tall
barriers."
The summit, which aims to attract investment to the region,
ends on Wednesday.
It is being attended by several hundred local and international
investors and senior government officials.
@ MANDELA-AIDS
MTUBATUBA, KwaZulu-Natal December 1 1998 Sapa
MANDELA HELPS BREAK THE SILENCE ON AIDS
Just as South Africa had defied the prophets of doom in its
peaceful transformation into a democracy, so too could Aids be
defeated if South Africans joined hands in a united effort against
the pandemic, President Nelson Mandela said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a rally marking World Aids Day in Mtubatuba,
KwaZulu-Natal
- an area and province hard hit by the deadly virus - Mandela
added his
voice to calls for the silence to be broken about Aids.
"It is the silence that is letting this disease sweep through
our country, adding 1500 people each day to more than three million
already infected."
Although Aids had been a part of everyday life for fifteen
years or more, South Africans had kept silent about its presence.
Too often the disease had been spoken about as if it was
someone else's problem, he said.
Although all was being done to search for a cure for Aids, it
had not yet been found and therefore prevention was the key to
turning the tide.
"Because this disease is so new, and because it spreads mainly
through sex, prevention requires of us that we speak (of) it in a
way that our traditions, our cultures and our religions provide
little guidance."
Mandela urged young people to abstain from sex as long as
possible, and to use a condom if they could not.
He also repeated calls for men and women to be faithful to one
another, but, otherwise, also to use condoms.
"It is possible for any of us to be infected for eight years
without knowing it, and therefore to pass on the infection to
others without knowing it," he said.
On the Partnership Against Aids launched by Deputy President
Thabo Mbeki in October, Mandela said South Africans had overcome
obstacles which others had thought were insurmountable.
This was because they had joined hands to work for the good of
all, rather than remain divided by less important things.
"On this World Aids Day let us make a pledge. Let us do
everything possible to prevent ourselves and our partners from
getting infected.
"Let us build the Partnership Against Aids so that it unites
every community and sector of our society into a force for change,"
Mandela said.
@ STATS-ARRIVALS
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
LATEST SA STATISTICS SHOW INCREASE IN TOURISTS
South Africa's crime epidemic does not appear to be daunting
tourists, of whom an increasing number are making the country their
holiday destination, according to a report released on Tuesday.
According to Statistics SA, there was a 2,4 percent increase in
foreign tourists on last year.
Statistics SA found, when comparing arrival figures at
international airports for July 1997 and July this year, that the
number of overseas travellers had increased by 1,2 percent and
travellers from Africa by 8,5 percent.
For July this year, the number of overseas visitors was 86231,
with 19759 from the rest of Africa.
@ TRADE-CRIME
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
CRIME NOT ENDEMNIC TO SA: MBEKI
If South Africans understood that crime was a problem around
the world, they would be more empowered to deal with it, Deputy
President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday.
"Yes there is a problem of crime, but it needs to be placed in
a larger context," he told delegates attending the Southern African
Trade and Investment Summit in Cape Town.
The crime situation was closely linked to problems of poverty
and had to be addressed within the country's development programme.
"Clearly the issue of improving the lives of people is
critical."
Most crime in South Africa was committed by poor people against
each other, which showed how sustained unemployment and poverty led
to a situation where people lost hope and self-respect.
Murders were the crimes most easily solved by the police
because they were usually committed by people who knew their
victims, Mbeki said.
The high crime rate could also be attributed to the previous
government and apartheid system in which people set their own
rules, Mbeki said.
The police were at that time trained to uphold apartheid rather
than fighting crime.
The hearing is continuing.
@ STATEMENT OF THE ANC NATIONAL WORKING COMMITTEE
Issued by: African National Congress
The ANC National Working Committee met on 30 November 1998 at
Albert Luthuli House, 51 Plein Street Johannesburg.
The NWC received a report from the ANC elections team on its
assessment of the first voter registration week-end - 27-29
November. The NWC agreed with the assessment that while there have
been problems in all the five northern provinces where voter
registration took place the voter registration week-end was a good
start. From this voter registration week-end there is enough for the
IEC, government and all political parties to draw lessons and ensure
that all future registration days run smoothly with minimum
problems.
It was the view of the NWC that the responsibility of ensuring a
high turn-out in voter registration lies not only with the IEC and
government, but that all political parties have a responsibility to
mobilise their members, supporters and all potential voters to
register on the voters roll.
The ANC will for its own part intensify its voter registration
campaign to reach out to all potential voters and explain the need
to register on the voter's roll. As the voter registration programme
moves to the southern provinces on 3-5 December the ANC will deploy
all its forces to these provinces to ensure that as many potential
voters as possible register.
The NWC expressed its greatest disappointment at the childish
behaviour of the National Party and Democratic Party, who appear to
be doing their outmost to undermine the voter registration process.
While recognising the right for every citizen to seek relief from
the courts, the NWC views the court threats by both the National and
the Democratic Party as being mainly motivated by their
determination to undermine the country's democratic process.
The NWC discussed and adopted a document on the ANC deployment
strategy. The deployment strategy will provide broad guidelines for
deployment of ANC cadres to all areas which the movement regards as
crucial for the transformation project. The deployment strategy will
ensure that the movement deploys its cadres in accordance with their
knowledge, skills, abilities and experience.
A deployment committee headed by ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma
has been established and will advice the National Executive
Committee on all matters of deployment.
The NWC received notices from Mac Maharaj, Joe Modise and
Sibusiso Bhengu and Dave Darling indicating that they will not be
available to serve as Member of Parliament after the 1999 election.
All have indicated that they will continue to serve the ANC in their
other capacities and have further indicated that they will accept
other deployments. Future deployment for these comrades will be made
on the advice of the ANC deployment committee.
The NWC considered the filling of the vacant position of ANC
Chief Whip in the National Assembly. The NWC unanimously agreed that
Tony Yengeni be appointed to the position with immediate effect.
The NWC received an invitation from the MPLA for the ANC to send
a delegation to attend their national congress on 5 - 10 December
1998. Deputy President Jacob Zuma and head of International Affairs
Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini have been delegated to attend the congress
in Angola.
The NWC noted media reports about contents of a letter written
to donors by Idasa CEO Wilmot James, motivating for funding. The NWC
has established that indeed Wilmot James mentioned in his letter
that during 1999 - 2004, under President Thabo Mbeki, South Africa
will face tough times in terms of human rights violations and
undermining of democracy.
The ANC finds it most deplorable that Wilmot James uses his
official position as Idasa CEO to cast an aspersion on the future
President of South Africa and the government itself. The ANC calls
upon Idasa to come clean and denounce Wilmot James.
Lastly, the NWC received a report on preparations for the last
meeting of the National Executive Committee for the year 1998, to be
held on 7 - 9 December. The NEC meeting will make a general
assessment of the ANC's programme for 1998 and draw a programme for
1999.
By Secretary General - Kgalema Motlanthe
Issued by Department of Information and Publicity
For further information contact Thabo Masebe at 082 575 3978
1 December 1998
@ MPUMALANGA-OGIES
OGIES December 1 1998 Sapa
MPUMALANGA SENDS DEBT COLLECTION TEAM TO OGIES
The Mpumalanga government on Tuesday sent a special three-man
task team into the small blacked-out town of Ogies in a bid to
collect R21 million in outstanding rates and service fees, African
Eye News Service reported.
The government intervened after tension increased in the town
with an estimated 50,000 residents. Power to both Ogies and the
neighbouring Phola township was cut by Eskom on November 20.
Eskom switched off power to the region after the council failed
to pay its most recent three-monthly R625000 electricity bill. The
council already owed Eskom an additional R21 million for services
rendered since 1994.
All banks and garages in the area had to close, while retailers
and pharmacists hired petrol generators at R1000 per day to
generate power.
Residents were using candles for light and braziers for
cooking. The local business chamber warned that the power
switch-off bankrupted a number of small-to-medium-sized businesses.
Retailers complained they were only turning over 10 percent of
their normal revenue.
@ REGISTER-COSATU
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
COSATU CALLS FOR GREATER REGISTRATION CLARITY
The Independent Electoral Commission should announce next
year's date for the second phase of voter registration and also
publicise registration venues well in advance to avoid confusion,
the Congress of SA Trade Unions said on Tuesday.
In a statement criticising last week's registration process, it
urged government to announce the 1999 election date to help
encourage eligible voters to apply for identity documents and to
register for the polls.
Lack of clarity about the election date was confusing and
demoralising potential voters.
Last week's registration turnout in Northern Province, Gauteng,
Mpumalanga, North-West and the Northern Cape was unimpressive,
Cosatu said.
A number of factors had contributed to his, including the IEC's
failure to publicise the registration stations.
Noting the IEC had promised to send information about
registration stations to every household, Cosatu said: "The IEC
should in future avoid promising people what it has no realistic
chance of delivering."
IEC chairman Johann Kriegler has said the problems identified
in this first phase of registration would be cleared up for the
next registration phase, starting on Thursday in the remaining four
provinces, and in the second round of registrations for all
provinces in January and February.
@ AIDS-YOUTH
DURBAN December 1 1998 Sapa
YOUTH COMMITTED TOWARDS FIGHT AGAINST AIDS
The National Youth Commission on Tuesday reiterated its
commitment towards the fight against Aids and HIV in South Africa.
At a function in Durban, the NYC launched the Young Positive
Living Ambassadors Project whereby youth infected with the virus
would visit communities to provide information on prevention of the
disease.
In a statement the NYC said: "Young people who have tested
positive with HIV/Aids act as ambassadors where they address
schools, community groups, providing information on the prevention
of the disease, services and counselling.
"These young women (and men) will act as advocates for the
rights, needs and concerns of all young people and encourage
openness around HIV/Aids."
The NYC said the youth accounted for at least 50 percent of the
population which became infected after infancy.
The commission said the youth were mainly affected because they
were often inundated with mixed messages. In some societies this
included calls for girls to stay virgins but on the other hand
early and active sexual behaviour was encouraged among young men.
"They are confronted with media images of sex, smoking and
drinking as glamorous and risk-free. They are told to be abstinent,
but (are) exposed to a barrage of advertisements using sex to sell
goods," the NYC said.
@ HSRC
PRETORIA December 1 1998 Sapa
HSRC TO CLOSE TWO OFFICES DUE TO SHRINKING BUDGET
The Human Sciences Research Council announced on Tuesday that
it would close its offices in Cape Town and Durban at the end of
the month, largely due to a shrinking budget.
In a statement in Pretoria, the council said the move would
affect six staff members, of which five said they would accept
retrenchment packages.
One asked to be moved to the HSRC's head office in Pretoria and
negotiations were underway.
Michael O'Dowd, chairman of the HSRC council, said the decision
to close the two offices followed stringent reviews of all the
country's science, engineering and technology institutions during
the past year.
"The HSRC has been forced to revise its programme structure as
well as its focus and application of available resources, and
devise a clear transformation plan for the organisation," he said.
"Like many other state and semi-state institutions, the HSRC
has also had to contend with a shrinking budget and smaller
Parliamentary grant due to the many funding priorities that the
government has to meet."
HSRC acting chief executive officer Jan Beukes said the body's
Parliamentary grant had dropped from about R67 million for the
1998/99 financial year to R61 million for 1999/2000.
He estimated that the closure of the two offices would result
in an annual saving of about R2,5 million.
O'Dowd said the HSRC's service delivery in the two areas would
not be affected by the move. Research and liaison with roleplayers
in government, civil society and the private sector would in future
be conducted from Pretoria.
The council said it was also considering relocating its
Johannesburg-based Programme for Research Development to Pretoria
early next year.
@ ZIM-BANANA
HARARE December 1 1998 Sapa
ZIMBABWEAN GOVT ANXIOUS TO BRING BANANA BACK TO ZIMBABWE
Fugitive former Zimbabwean president Canaan Banana would be
brought back to the country if found in South Africa, where he was
reportedly seen on Monday, a senior Zimbabwean government official
said on Tuesday.
The official, who refused to be named, said Zimbabwean police
and Interpol had been informed of Banana's presence in South Africa
and efforts were being made to bring him back to Zimbabwe, the
Ziana news agency reported.
Banana is believed to have crossed into South Africa from
neighbouring Botswana. He is rumoured to have hid in Botswana
before his Zimbabwean High Court conviction in absentia on Thursday
on sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent assault charges brought
against him.
"The Zimbabwean police and Interpol are working together to
bring Banana back to the country as soon as possible and they will
not give him the chance to fly to South America as rumoured," the
official said.
South African Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marco
Boni still could not confirm on Tuesday whether Banana was in the
country.
He told Sapa if Banana was in South Africa he had not yet made
his presence known to officials and was probably in the country
illegally.
Banana approached the South African High Commission in Harare
on Thursday but was refused official documentation to cross into
South Africa.
Boni said the department had not received any request from the
Zimbabwean authorities to extradite Banana, but that could be a
possibility if the 62-year-old clergyman was found in South Africa.
Banana was head of state since independence in 1980 to 1987.
The official told Ziana that allegations that the state had
allowed Banana to skip the country were not true, and if Banana was
brought back he would be sentenced like any other offender.
"Nobody is above the law and justice should prevail in a
democratic country despite one's social status."
@ AIDS-TLW
DURBAN December 1 1998 Sapa
ABSTINENCE IS THE ANSWER TO AIDS: TRUE LOVE WAITS
An organisation opposed to sex before marriage on Tuesday
accused the Health Department of exacerbating the HIV/Aids problem
by concentrating its funding on promoting safe sex instead of
working to change the attitudes of youth.
True Love Waits in a statement said the department was spending
virtually all Aids funds on condoms instead of promoting abstinence
and behavioural change.
The organisation called on the Health Department to reassess
its approach to HIV/Aids as it was not reducing the rate of
infection in South Africa.
The non-profit organisation, founded four years ago by
Christians for Truth, said abstinence could become fashionable if
offered as the only logical option.
A nationwide drive last year by the organisation drew over
155000 pledges from youth in colleges and universities.
@ INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY IN SOSHANGUVE
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
The Department of Welfare will hold an International Volunteer
Day in Soshanguve, Trauma Centre on Saturday 5 December 1998 with
the theme `Victim Empowerment'.
On Wednesday 9 December 1998, the Departments of Justice and
Constitutional Development will launch local train campaigns in six
regions, i.e. Durban, Cape Town, Wits, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and
East London.
Slogans denouncng domestic violence will be painted on the
trains under the theme `Local Governance'.
Facts sheets on all 16 themes will be available from all
government outlets throughout the country in several languages, and
the themes are National Conference on the SADC addendum to the
Gender and Development Declaration; culture and Public Awareness;
Domestic Violence, Rape and other Act of Sexual Violence; Femicide,
The Girl Child; World Aids Day, Women with Special Needs, Economic
violence, Sexual Harassment, Victim Empowerment; Offender
Strategies; Batho Pele and Training; Early Life Development and
Educations; Local Governance, International Human Rights and the
National Crime Prevention Strategy and Crime Prevention.
CONTACT PERSON: FAIZEL DAWJEE - Government Communication
Tel: (012) 314-2133
@ JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TEAMS UP WITH NGOs
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
At a press conference in Pretoria recently the Department of
Justice, in collaboration with various non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), pledged to combat violence against women and
children.
On 10 December, the 50th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights will be celebrated and the National
Action Plan (NAP) launched.
The Deputy Minister of Justice, Ms Manto Tshabalala-Msimang,
said: "Violence is one of the greatest obstacles to the full
participation of all groups in our emerging democracy and the human
rights that this democracy seeks to protect and promote."
"Violence makes human rights such as the freedom and security of
a person an empty promise, particularly to those who are vulnerable
to various forms of violence such as women and children," she said.
Contact Person: Edwin Tshivhidzo - Government Communications Tel:
(012) 314-2454
@ CRIME-WATCH
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
PROVINCIAL GOVT DONATES TWO-WAY RADIOS TO NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Western Cape community safety MEC Mark Wiley on Tuesday
presented 80 two-way handheld radios to the Mitchell's Plain
Neighbourhood Watch Association.
Handing the radios, worth R2000 each, to association chairman
Graham Adams, Wiley described the occasion as historic.
It was the first time the provincial government was giving
money to a neighbourhood watch organisation.
"We like to lead by example to get other people to also partake
in this type of initiative," Wiley said, adding that communities
were vulnerable because of their exposure to crime and the reduced
levels of police manpower.
Neighbourhood Watch involves the police and the community and
is designed to enhance neighbourhood security, heighten the
community's power of observation and encourage mutual assistance
and concern among neighbours.
The Mitchell's Plain Neighbourhood Watch can mobilise 300
members every weekend and will man a base station. With the help of
the two-way radios, members can keep in touch with police and with
one another and can summon help at any time.
Also attending the presentation was police area commissioner,
Ganief Daniels.
@ TRADE-COKE
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
COKE WANTS TAXES SCRAPPED
Excise taxes on carbonated soft drinks should be scrapped
throughout southern Africa, regional president of the Coca-Cola
company Don Knauss said on Monday.
He told the International Herald Tribune investment summit in
Cape Town that the taxes were discriminatory, and the biggest
barrier to making Coca-Cola's products cheaper.
In Zambia, 25 percent excise duty had made the retail price of
a coke the highest in the world. Coca-Cola's volume there had
declined 62 percent in the past three months "and our proposed
investments in the country hang in the balance".
He said his company was encouraged that the South African
government recognised the need to reconsider excise taxes on soft
drinks, and he was confident that South Africa would do the right
thing and help ensure economic growth.
Knauss added that Coca-Cola was confident it could double its
business in southern Africa by 2003.
Of the nearly 200 countries where Coca-Cola did business around
the world, South Africa was its tenth largest market, with annual
per capita consumption of 164 240ml servings.
However carbonated soft drinks accounted for only five percent
of commercial beverage consumption in South Africa, and the company
believed it was "just getting started".
There was also room for improvement in the rest of the region.
Per capita consumption of Coca-Cola's products in Mozambique was
only 19 cans, in Namibia 8, and in Zimbabwe 77.
"We see the region as our engine for growth," he said.
"Southern Africa is sacred ground to us at Coca-Cola."
@ DTI SLAMS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
The Department of Trade and Industry has committed itself to the
eradication of violence against women and children for the next five
years.
Deputy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Director-General
Zavareh Rustomjee, have pledged to support the campaign denouncing
violence against women and children that commenced on 25 November to
10 December.
The DTI has prioritised the safety of women and children, and
other measures to be implemented includes:
* Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of economic legislative
measures aimed at ensuring that women emerge as economically
empowered key stakeholders of the South African economy at all
levels.
* Reviewing gender sensitiveness of trade agreements, including
their impact in terms of benefiting women through incentive
programmes and schemes that will enable them to be job creators for
the majority of unemployed women, and
* Introducing and strengthening administrative and support
mechanisms for potential and direct victims of economic violence.
Contact Person: Edwin Tshivhidzo - Government Communications Tel:
(012) 314-2454
@ AIDS-MEMORIAL
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
MABANDLA UNVEILS AIDS MEMORIAL WALL IN JOHANNESBURG
An Aids memorial wall commemorating victims of the disease was
unveiled on Tuesday morning by Arts, Culture, Science and
Technnology Deputy Minister Brigitte Mabandla at the Newtown
cultural precinct as part of World Aids Day events.
Shaun O'Shea, chairman for Aidslink, a fund-raising
organisation for destitute people suffering from Aids, told Sapa:
"We wanted a permanent wall in Johannesburg. This wall has plaques
that are individual works of art with the names of loved ones on
them who have died."
He encouraged people to remember their loved ones by placing
plaques depicting their names on the wall.
The wall was built outside the Artist Proof Studio, housing the
National Paper Prayers Campaign (NPPC), an Aidslink-run project.
The unveiling was followed by a minute of silence and a song by
Glen Nxumalo, especially written for the event.
Afterwards, two members of the NPPC presented Mabandla with a
collection of framed paper prayers.
Mabandla told Sapa: "We've identified the government's
committment to support projects around Aids. This wall is part of
that committment."
She was referring to a R300,000 government grant to Aidslink
projects.
@ BULELANI NGCUKA OF THE NDPP ANNOUNCES
The trial of four men accused of murdering a fellow gang member
in the Stellenbosch Magistrates' court begins today and Mr Bulelani
Ngcuka, head of the national directorate of public prosecutions
(NDPP) has promised that justice will be swift.
"Murder at any time is a foul crime; murder in a courtroom
undermines the fundamental fabric of a democratic society." he said.
Members of the Americans gang, Leondard Adams, Moegamat Majal,
Jacobus Philander and Gert Jantjies allegedly murdered Kevin
Williams while he was in court on 18 September 1998. At the same
time they also allegedly attempted to murder another gang member,
Isak November.
Key witnesses in the crime are the magistrate and court
officials who were present at the time.
Because of the far-reaching implications of the crime, Mr Ngcuka
ordered his department to fast-track the prosecution. The result is
that the case against the four accused is being brought to trial in
the Cape High Court today, just three months after the crime was
committed, more than four times faster than usual. "In recent South
African history a case of this nature could have taken more than a
year to bring to trial." said Mr Ngcuka. "We concentrated resources
on this case to speedily prepare a solid prosecution to send a
message that we will not tolerate such an outrage.
"The concept of murders taking place in a courtroom while a
trial is being conducted is simply intolerable. Justice must be done
quickly and fairly to send a message to the community that their
rights will be protected and to the criminals that evil will be
punished."
Mr Ngcuka anticipates that the trial will be over within two
weeks. "Nor will this fast-track prosecution be unusual. "he said.
"We hope that this is the speed with which we will act in serious
crimes."
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT LINDA CONSIDINE ON 082 416
6679 OR 011 784 1299
@ AIDS-PHOSA
NELSPRUIT December 1 1998 Sapa
SOUTH AFRICANS HAVE DUTY TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN ABOUT AIDS
It was the duty of all South Africans to educate their children
and teenagers about Aids, Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa said in
Nelspruit on Tuesday.
In a speech marking World Aids Day, he said children needed to
know all the facts about Aids so that infection could be prevented.
It was also essential that the different healers in South
Africa and around the world combined their knowledge and their
expertise in fighting HIV/Aids.
"We cannot afford to let any information, knowledge or
expertise be lost, discarded or miscommunicated," Phosa said.
@ TRADE-ERWIN
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
SADC FREE TRADE AGREEMENT POSSIBLE NEXT YEAR: ERWIN
Trade Minister Alec Erwin said on Tuesday he was optimistic a
free trade agreement within the 14-nation Southern African
Development Community trading block could be concluded next year.
The agreement, which envisions an eight-year tariff reduction
programme, has been approved in principle, but the terms of phasing
down tariffs are still being negotiated.
Zimbabwe would to table its offer in a matter of days, and
Mauritius had already done so, Erwin told delegates attending the
International Herald Tribune's Southern African trade and
investment summit in Cape Town.
He stressed that SADC's integration was inevitable if the
region wanted to develop, and said South Africa's economic success
was interdependent with that of its neighbours.
Erwin described SADC's inter-country payment system as
ineffective and expensive, and said it represented an obstacle to
regional development.
"If we are really serious about regional integration some form
of currency and payment system integration must come," he said.
"There is absolutely no option, no choice ... we have to build
regional markets."
There were problems with regional integration however,
including the different sizes of the SADC countries' economies, and
the low level of regional trade.
South Africa's exports to other SADC countries grew from R2
billion in 1988 to R15 billion last year. This represented 11
percent of all its exports.
Over the same period imports into the five-nation Southern
African Customs Union (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and
Swaziland) from the other nine SADC countries grew from just R530
million to R2,5 billion.
Erwin urged the several hundred people attending the conference
to exploit Southern Africa's virtually unlimited business
potential.
In response to accusations by one delegate that South Africa
was paying lip service to free trade, Erwin said the country's
tariff regime was the lowest in the region.
Government subsidies to businesses had also been done away
with, he said.
The summit ends on Wednesday.
@ ANC YENGENI
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
YENGENI APPOINTED AS ANC CHIEF WHIP
The national working committee of the African National Congress
has appointed Tony Yengeni as the party's chief whip in the
National Assembly.
ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe on Tuesday said the NEC
unamimously agreed that Yengeni should be appointed to the position
with immediate effect.
The position became vacant in November when Max Sisulu took up
a position in Denel, the state-owned arms company.
Yengeni is chairman of the joint committee on defence.
Motlanthe said the NWC had received notices from Transport
Minister Mac Maharaj, Defence Minister Joe Modise, Education
Minister Sibusiso Bhengu and Member of Parliament Dave Dalling
indicating that they would not make themselves available for
election in the 1999 election.
"All have indicated that they will continue to serve the ANC in
their other capacities and have further indicated that they will
accept other deployments."
Motlanthe said their deployment would be made on the advice of
the ANC deployment committee, headed by ANC deputy-president Jacob
Zuma.
@ REGISTER-ANC
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
NP, DP MOTIVATED BY DESIRE TO UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY: ANC
Threats by the Democratic Party and National Party to go to
court to force the recognition of non-barcoded identity documents
for voter registration was motivated by a desire to undermine the
country's democratic process, the African National Congress said on
Tuesday.
ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe - speaking after a
meeting of the National Working Committee - said the DP and the NP
seemed to be doing everything in their power to undermine the voter
registration process.
"The NWC expresses its greatest disappointment at the childish
behaviour of the National Party and Democratic Party, who appear to
be doing their utmost to undermine the voter registration process.
"While recognising the right for every citizen to seek relief
from the courts, the NWC views the court threats by both the
National Party and the Democratic Party as being mainly motivated
by their determination to undermine the country's democratic
process," Motlanthe said.
Both the DP and the NP have said they would go to court to
force the Independent Electoral Commission to recognise identity
documents that do not have bar-codes for the purposes of
registration for the 1999 general election.
Motlanthe said that while there had been problems in all the
five northern provinces where voter registration took place over
the weekend, voter registration had got off to a good start.
"From this voter registration week-end there is enough for the
IEC, government and all political parties to draw lessons and
ensure that all future registration days run smoothly with minimum
problems," he said.
He said the ANC would intensify its voter registration campaign
to reach out to all potential voters and explain the need to
register on the voter's roll.
"As the voter registration programme moves to the southern
provinces on 3-5 December the ANC will deploy all its forces to
these provinces to ensure that as many potential voters as possible
register."
@ NP-RESIGN
MIDDELBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
NP MIDDELBURG LEADER CLAIMS RACISM AND QUITS
The National Party's deputy chairman in Middelburg, Farouk
Suliman, resigned on Tuesday, accusing the party of racism after
failing to make the party's Mpumalanga and national election lists.
Suliman, who has served as an NP councillor in Middleburg since
1993, said he was squeezed out of the party because he was neither
white nor black enough, African Eye News Service reported.
"I was the only Indian candidate for the NP's provincial and
national election lists in Mpumalanga, but was overlooked. Instead,
the old order leaders are placed first and their wives third on the
lists."
The party's few black leaders were "window-dressing", he said.
NP spokesman Chris MacPherson declined to comment.
The NP in a letter to Suliman said nominations were made solely
on merit and not race, and warned that party members were not
allowed to buy guaranteed positions on party lists through party
contributions.
@ COURT-BOESAK
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
FINANCIAL PROBLEMS OF BOESAK'S WIFE CAUSED MARITAL TROUBLE
Elna Boesak's insistence on buying only the best was one of the
enduring problems of the Boesak marriage, the Cape High Court was
told on Tuesday.
Details in affidavits of financial bickering between Dr Allan
Boesak, former director of the Foundation for Peace and Justice,
and his wife during their 1992 divorce proceedings emerged on
Tuesday at his trial.
Mrs Boesak instituted divorce proceedings but withdrew the
action at the last minute.
Boesak has pleaded not guilty to fraud and theft charges
involving R1,1 million in foreign donor funds to the FPJ.
The affidavits from the divorce action were handed to the court
as evidence for the State in Boesak's trial.
The court was told that Boesak had to pay his wife's bills from
the Urban Discretionary Account which Boesak claimed was his own
bank account. The State alleges the foundation owned the UDA, from
which Boesak unlawfully took money for personal use.
In his answering affidavit in the divorce action, Boesak
complained that his wife's "insistence on expensive items was one
of the first and enduring problems of our marriage".
"This was totally in conflict with my lifestyle and I let
myself into tremendous financial constraints."
He said after they married he discovered that his wife had been
on the brink of financial collapse because she had lived "above her
means".
"With my divorce most of my assets went to my former wife
(Dorothy Boesak) because we were married in community of property.
I was compelled to start a new home," Boesak said.
He said the court sheriff had at one time been looking for Elna
Boesak with regards to outstanding debt, and she had almost been
arrested.
His wife initially denied to him that she had the debts but
later conceded she had run them up, mostly on her credit card.
"To avoid embarrassment I was forced to raise money to pay the
outstanding debt," Boesak said.
Investigative auditor Johan van der Walt told the court that
Boesak had paid his wife's debt from the UDA.
Van der Walt said Boesak had earned a basic monthly salary of
R5000, a travel allowance of R3350, and a tax-free housing
allowance of R7500.
He said the basis of his testimony would be that the UDA
belonged to the foundation.
"This account was also used to pay R100,000 for a deposit on Dr
Boesak's Constantia home and other accounts," Van der Walt said.
The trial continues.
@ ZIM-BRITAIN
LONDON December 1 1998 Sapa-AFP
MUGABE ARRIVES IN BRITAIN ON PRIVATE VISIT
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrives in Britain on
Tuesday for a private visit, braced for official protests at his
seizure of white farmers' land and a recent decree banning trade
union strikes.
His visit, which comes after a four-nation tour that began on
November 21, is in a private capacity, but he is expected to hold
talks with junior Foreign Office minister Tony Lloyd.
The 74-year-old president, accompanied by his young wife Grace,
is under pressure at home from the row over farm seizures, a severe
economic crisis, bitter labour unrest and Zimbabwe's involvement in
the Congo conflict.
Mugabe arrives in London from visits to Libya, Egypt, Italy and
France, where he attended a Franco-African summit in Paris. He is
expected to stay for two to three days.
If the meeting with Lloyd takes place, Zimbabwe's recent move
to confiscate 841 farms owned by white people will be high on the
agenda, said the Foreign Office.
Britain, alontrongly
criticized Mugabe for breaking an agreement over the issue.
The Zimbabwean government promised at a conference in Harare in
September that only 118 farms would be appropriated for landless
black peasants and that the seizures should take place in a
"progressive, transparent and equitable" manner.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the Zimbabwean government had
assured aid donors that it had no intention of departing from due
process of law in the land issue.
"That was the response we received when we expressed concern.
We will look very carefully now to see what happens," she said.
Mugabe is also expected to be taken to task for his ban on
trade union strikes imposed at the weekend following mass action
against his government.
Another item on the agenda will be Zimbabwe's military support,
along with Angola, Namibia and Chad, for neighbouring Congolese
President Laurent-Desire Kabila against rebels who are backed by
Uganda and Rwanda.
The spokeswoman said: "The UK would prefer a peaceful solution
and we have been calling on all parties involved to cease fire and
withdraw troops so there can be a proper negotiated solution to the
conflict."
Right-wing political commentators have drawn parallels between
the Zimbabwean president's visit and that of former Chilean
dictator General Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested in London at
Spain's request.
The conservative Daily Mail tabloid said Mugabe, who has ruled
the former British colony for the last 18 years, should be arrested
on charges of human rights violations the minute he steps onto
British soil.
Amnesty International, which has compiled large dossiers on
Mugabe's rule, said the human rights situation in Zimbabwe was
"worrying" but denied there were any parallels between Mugabe's
case and that of Pinochet.
@ MYBURG-OPPOSITION
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
OPPOSITION PARTIES BLAME ANC POLICY FOR MYBURGH'S RESIGNATION
Opposition parties on Tuesday said the justice system would be
the loser if the African National Congress continued to pursue its
policy of transformation.
They were reacting to the announcement on Monday that Labour
Court Judge President John Myburg was to resign with effect from
January 15.
It was allegeded in a daily newspaper that Myburgh had been
informed that he was no longer being considered for the position of
Johannesburg High Court judge president.
Myburg is to take up a general counsel position with Anglogold.
Democratic Party spokesman Douglas Gibson said: "The judiciary
cannot afford to lose people of the calibre of Judge Myburg."
He said it was a well-known fact that Myburg was passed over
for the position of judge president of the Transvaal in favour of
Judge Bernard Ngoepe because he was white.
"Of course we need to redress imbalances of the past, and of
course we need a judiciary that is more representative. The
question arises whether to chose politically correct above merit."
National Party spokeswoman Sheila Camerer said Myburg had been
left no option but to resign.
"His departure, however, is a great loss. If (Justice) Minister
(Dullah) Omar pursues transformation in this reckless fashion,
South Africa's justice system will be the loser."
The Freedom Front said it was concerned that the ANC's
affirmative action policy was being used to promote people high up
in the party.
Omar has denied Myburgh was not being considered for the
position of Johannesburg High court judge.
@ TRUTH-LD-SDUS
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
THOKOZA VIOLENCE VICTIM TELLS OF RAPE AND MURDER BY SDU MEMBERS
A victim of the Thokoza 1993 violence, Sibongile Sambo, on
Tuesday relived the trauma of being raped in a toilet by a group of
young self defence unit members who then shot dead her sister.
A weeping Sambo was speaking to journalists at the Mayfair,
Johannesburg hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's
amnesty committee on the activities of former African National
Congress self defence units.
She said SDU members murdered her sister and that she would not
forgive them unless they told where her sister's body was.
Sambo said she and her sister, Fransisca "Poti" Sambo, were
abducted in 1993 by SDU members following an order by their
commander Ben Mashinini, because they were alleged to have been
Inkatha Freedom Party informers.
She said they were taken forcefully from a friend's home to a
house where they were ordered to strip naked. Their belongings such
as jewellery, rings and earrings were taken from them.
"I refused to strip naked because when they kidnapped me they
told me that Ben wanted to see me. They were insisting that I must
strip naked, but I refused."
The women were pushed into a toilet, ordered to strip naked and
lie down, but Sambo refused. Realising that her crying sister was
on the floor and pleading with her to co-operate, Sambo gave in.
"They raped us....and afterwards shot at us. My sister was shot
in the back of the head and I was shot in the shoulder, leg and
private parts," an emotional Sambo told the media.
She said her house was set on fire after the kidnapping.
Sambo had been listening to the testimony of several SDU
members applying for amnesty for the incident, during which they
claimed she was rounded up because she was an IFP informer.
The applicants said her shebeen house was a venue for IFP
supporters to celebrate following attacks on ANC supporters. She
dismissed this testimony as nonsense.
She said she was in fact an ANC card-carrying member. Her sin
was that her shebeen was near the Buyafuthe hostel - whose hostel
dwellers were mostly IFP-aligned.
Sambo said those IFP supporters who came to buy liqour at her
shebeen had to sneak in to do so because they feared being
attacked. She dismissed the claim that she was an IFP informer.
"I had only come to the TRC with the hope that it will help us
find my sister's body. We would like to give it the right burial,"
Sambo said.
@ NGCUKA-CRIME
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
NGCUKA PROMISES SWIFT JUSTICE IN GANGSTER TRIAL
South Africa's super attorney-general Bulelani Ngcuka on
Tuesday promised that justice would be swift in the trial of four
"American" gang members accused of murdering a fellow gangster in
court on September 18 this year.
Their trial began in the Cape High Court on Tuesday, three
months after Kevin Williams was killed in the Stellenbosh
Magistrate's Court.
Noting that the case would ordinarily have taken more than a
year to come to trial, Ngcuka said he had decided to fast-track the
prosecution.
"Murder at any time is a foul crime; murder in a courtroom
undermines the fundamental fabric of a democratic society."
Resources had been concentrated on the case to prepare a speedy
and solid prosecution to send a message that such an outrage would
not be tolerated.
"The concept of murders taking place in a courtroom while a
trial is being conducted is simply intolerable," Ngcuka said in a
statement.
Ngcuka said he expected the trial would be concluded within two
weeks.
"Nor will this fast-track prosecution be unusual. We hope that
this is the speed with which we will act in serious crimes."
@ DRCONGO-REFUGEES
GENEVA December 1 1998 Sapa-AP
FIGHTING SENDS CONGOLESE STREAMING INTO TANZANIA: UN
Fighting in southeastern Congo has led to a new wave of
Congolese refugees crossing Lake Tanganyika into Tanzania, the U.N.
refugee agency said Tuesday.
Several hundred refugees each day have been arriving in port
villages in Tanzania's Rukwa region since mid-November, said Kris
Janowski, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
The new arrivals say fighting in Congo's Shaba region, as well
as looting and the fear of being pressed into military service, are
behind the exodus, Janowski said.
Around 50 refugees a day were arriving in the second week of
November. But over the following week, some 2,500 crossed into
Tanzania.
No adequate shelter is available in the lakeside villages for
the refugees and their situation is being made worse by
increasingly heavy rain.
UNHCR has transferred 1,200 refugees north from their arrival
points to Kigoma, where camps are already established.
More than 18,000 people have fled Congo for Tanzania during the
four-month conflict between forces loyal to President Laurent
Kabila and rebels based in Congo's eastern regions, the agency
says.
Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola are supporting Kabila against the
rebels, who have the backing of Rwanda and Uganda.
@ AIDS-NKOLI
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
ANC PAYS TRIBUTE TO AIDS ACTIVIST SIMON NKOLI
The African National Congress in Gauteng on Tuesday paid
tribute to former Delmas treason trialist and Aids activist Tseko
Simon Nkoli, who died of Aids on Monday.
The Gay and Lesbian Organisation of the Witwatersrand (Glow) in
a statement on Monday said Nkoli - born in 1957 - founded Glow
and received honours from international bodies and cities for his
work as an Aids counsellor and educator.
The ANC said Nkoli was a dedicated anti-apartheid fighter and
an active member of the United Democratic Front in the 1980s. He
was charged with other UDF leaders in the Delmas treason trial. He
was also a founder member of the Congress of SA Students.
"After the unbanning of the ANC, comrade Simon turned his
considerable talents in mass mobilisation to the struggle for gay
and lesbian rights. As a member of the ANC, he ensured that the
rights of gays and lesbians were enshrined in the Bill of Rights of
South Africa's democratic constitution."
The ANC said when he contracted Aids, Nkoli publicly used his
suffering and illness to give hope to other HIV/Aids sufferers. He
fought to demystify and remove the negative stigma that HIV/Aids
sufferers experienced in the society.
The ANC called on others to pay tribute to Nkoli by continuing
his important fight to support and protect those infected with
HIV/Aids and heed the call by government and Aids awareness groups
to combat the disease.
@ LESOTHO-THABANE
MASERU December 1 1998 Sapa
LESOTHO'S FOREIGN MINISTER CHALLENGED IN HIGH COURT
Lesotho's Foreign Minister Tom Thabane was on Tuesday
challenged by a member of the opposition Basotholand Congress Party
before a panel of three judges in the Lesotho High Court to show
cause why his election in Lesotho's general election in last May
should not be declared null and void.
The judges are Mr Justice Mahapela Lehohla (presiding), Mr
Justice Michael Ramodibeli and Mr Justice Gabriel Mofolo.
The application was brought by Ben Pekeche, who was the BCP
candidate at the Abia constituency in the Maseru district.
Pekeche sought a High Court order to nullify Thabane's election
and order a by-election on the grounds that Thabane could not stand
for elections as a public servant while he served as the prime
minister's adviser.
Kanalelo Mosito, for Pekeche, told the court the application
was "a constitutional case of great significance to Lesotho as far
as the rule of law is concerned".
He said the case sought to determine whether a person who stood
for elections was properly qulified.
Mosito said Thabane had served in the Lesotho public service on
a two-year contract as adviser to the premier since March last
year.
He said Thabane wrote a letter to the prime minister in April
in which he said it appeared to him that his holding of a public
office could disqualify him as a candidate for nomination and
election in the general elections in May.
Thabane had said in his letter to the premier that consequently
he resigned and requested three months' salary in lieu of notice.
Mosito said Thabane's purported resignation as the prime
minister's adviser was "a stratagem to assist him to stand for
elections".
The hearing continues.
@ EDUC-BENGU
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
BENGU CRITICISES UNDISCIPLINED STUDENT ACTIVISTS
Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu on Tuesday had harsh words
for undisciplined student activists, warning that the government
would no longer tolerate academic disruptions.
Bengu told the SA Students Congress' annual conference at the
Vaal Triangle Technikon that some students were determined to
frustrate the country's march towards complete change.
"I refer, comrades, to those among us who seem to see student
politics as a sanctuary from academic demands, those who
unashamedly defend academic non-performance."
Others, he said, had turned student activism into full-time
jobs of extortion from weak and susceptible administrations.
Such actions amounted to parasitism on taxpayers' hard-earned
money.
Bengu said the government had been coy for too long about
student indiscipline and corruption.
"I wish to categorically state our zero tolerance for whatever
disruptions might be contemplated to drive transformation and other
agendas during the 1999 academic year.
"We shall not support any action that effectively countermands
our revolutionary gains by deviating from progressive principles.
We shall oppose, and with vigour, corruptive behaviour dressed in
the robes of revolution."
Bengu said he took note of student concerns about financial
exclusions caused by high student debts.
"May I pronounce myself unambiguously on this by saying that it
remains the government's policy that recipients of higher education
should pay for it."
Those unable to pay should be assisted with loans or bursaries.
To this end, the government had pumped R850 million into the
National Student Financial Aid Scheme over the past few years.
Bengu called on student activists to expel undisciplined
comrades from their ranks, saying they would need moral authority
to be able to spearhead transformation.
He said real transformation would only start with envisaged
changes to academic programmes. Through their defence of
non-performance, students had for too long been tacitly endorsing
academic mediocrity.
Bengu praised student leaders who had helped to advanced
transformation without abusing the power invested in them.
Turning to World Aids Day, Bengu said the tragedy of South
Africa lay not in ignorance about HIV and Aids, but in the fact
that most people believed it was something that only happened to
others.
South Africa was one of the fastest growing HIV environments in
the world and its youth was hardest-hit.
"Think about it and let your country know what you as the
youth, the future, are going to do about it," Bengu told the
gathering.
@ AIDS-PRETORIA
PRETORIA December 1 1998 Sapa
THOUSANDS GATHER IN PRETORIA FOR WORLD AIDS DAY
Thousands of people gathered on Pretoria's Church Square on
Tuesday to mark World Aids Day.
Agriculture Deputy Minister Thoko Didiza urged the gathering to
use condoms when having sex, and so help stop the spread of
HIV/Aids.
"We all have a responsibility to care for those that are
infected. But caring also means that we must make sure that we
don't spread the disease," she said.
"Those of you that get your money by selling your bodies must
always remember that you must have a condom in your back pockets."
Didiza called on parents to teach their children about sex.
"It must never be that your children get Aids and they say you
did not tell them about the virus, or children get Aids because
their fathers or brothers raped them," she said.
The event was organised by an inter-departmental committee
comprising 20 national government departments and the National
Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union, said Health Department
spokeswoman Rose Smart.
Condoms and Aids awareness posters, calendars, pamphlets and
stickers were handed out at the gathering, while choirs from
government departments sang about the dangers of the virus.
Clowns painted Aids ribbons on people's faces, and drum
majorettes entertained the crowd.
South African entertainers such as Ringo Mamdlingosi and
Mo'base performed songs and told those assembled that it was time
to start fighting HIV/Aids.
Pretoria Mayor Jan van Zyl praised the Health Department's Aids
training and information centre in Pretoria, and said it was
bringing about a greater awareness of the virus.
Didiza said HIV/Aids was not only the Health Department's
problem.
Partnerships should be formed between the government and
communities, enabling them to combat the disease together.
The proceedings came to an early stop due to heavy rains.
@ LANDTAX
BLOEMFONTEIN December 1 1998 Sapa
PROPOSED LANDTAX SHOCKING AND UNACCEPTABLE: FSAU
The recommendation of the Katz Commission that a system of
rural land tax should be instituted for South Africa was shocking
and unacceptable to the Free State Agricultural Union, the union
said on Tuesday.
Neels Louw, member of the FSAU executive, said in Bloemfontein
that organised agriculture had expressed its serious opposition to
such a tax on numerous occasions. It was not only a form of wealth
tax, but also taxed the operating capital of a farming enterprise.
There was great concern that this Katz recommendation would
provide a vital source of income for the provision of services to
local communities.
While the accumulated debt of local authorities due to
non-payment for services ran to billions of rands, it could not be
expected that the farming community should provide the income to
supply services to those areas.
Louw said that farming enterprises already paid regional
service council levies on turnover and salary bills for services in
rural areas. Land tax would place an additional tax burden on
farmers.
Agriculture was in survival stage and could not stand in for
problems that flowed from government institutions, he said.
@ REGISTER-ANC
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
EAST CAPE ANC SAYS IT WILL HELP PERFECT REGISTRATION PROCESS
The African National Congress would not sit on the sidelines
like other political parties and whine about imperfections in voter
registration, but would rather contribute to perfecting the
process, the ANC in the Eastern Cape said on Tuesday.
Voters from the province, along with those from the Free State,
Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, will register from Thursday to
Saturday.
The ANC would not moan about the logistical problems faced by
the Independent Electoral Commission and the Department of Home
Affairs, but would rather dirty its hands to ensure that the
greatest number of people register on the designated days, the
party's Eastern Cape spokesman Mcebisi Bata said.
The ANC was interested in the success of the process, because
it was confident it had the capacity to register a convincing and
overwhelming victory in next year's elections.
"Whatever our detractors say, nothing will remove from the
minds of our people the fact that they have to register to provide
the ANC with an overwhelming majority to continue on the path we
have traversed over the past four years."
At least 17 ANC national executive committee members would be
deployed throughout the province at various registration points,
Bata said.
@ ZIM-LABOUR
HARARE December 1 1998 Sapa-AFP
ZIMBABWE GOVERNMENT, LABOUR AGREE TO MEET OVER ECONOMIC CRISIS
The Zimbabwe government has agreed to meet with the labour
movement and commerce and industry leaders next week to consider
demands to address the country's economic crisis.
In a statement published Tuesday the government said
negotiations would take place next Wednesday to examine an array of
demands from the powerful Zimbawe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
The ZCTU, which has led successful mass action against
President Robert Mugabe's policies, has suspended two planned
weekly strikes in a bid to give the government a chance to respond
to the list of demands.
Among the demands are a 20 percent pay hike for all workers, a
removal of 67 percent rise in the price of petrol and a probe into
corruption allegations. Mugabe's government has also been asked to
take full responsibility for the economic woes befalling the
nation.
But the government at the weekend slapped a temporary ban on
all collective work stoppages organised by the ZCTU.
Attorney General Patrick Chinamasa said such mass action could
not be allowed to continue while the economy suffered further under
their impact.
"These regulations are in response to the mass stayaways which
have occurred on two occasions and have caused irreparable harm to
the economy," Chinamasa told the state daily Herald.
"The government feels that it cannot allow a situation of
lawlessness and anarchy to prevail," he said.
But the increasingly militant ZCTU said it would legally
challenge Mugabe's ban, and that it would meet on Saturday to
discuss the general strikes.
@ ANNOUNCEMENT OF CANADA'S INVESTMENT IN GOLD
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF CANADA'S INVESTMENT IN GOLD
The Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the injection of
US$235 (R 1,34 billion) into the South African economy by the
Canadian Placer Dome mining company as a signal of confidence in
South Africa which will assist in creating much needed employment in
the gold-mining sector.
This new boost in the expanding economic relations between the
two countries so soon after President Mandela's recent visit to
Canada is encouraging. The fifty-fifty joint venture between Placer
Dome and JCI subsidiary Western Areas Ltd, announced on 30 November
1998, is Canada's largest investment and the second largest single
North American investment in South Africa. Placer will move to the
position of fourth largest single foreign investor in this country.
The Canadian company chose Western Areas Ltd after a year of
research and negotiations with various potential partners.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
1 DECEMBER 1998
@ TRADE-NP
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
TAKE US WARNING SERIOUSLY, URGES NP
American Commerce Secretary William Daley's warning that
investment in South Africa could be threatened by the government's
failure to respect intellectual property rights had to be taken
very seriously, National Party finance spokesman Theo Alant said on
Tuesday.
South Africa should take all reasonable steps to enhance
economic growth and job creation, he said in a statement. The NP
called on the government to respond to Daley's warning.
Recent health legislation infringing on the intellectual
property rights of American drug companies should, for example, be
brought into line with the requirements of the World Trade
Organisation.
Earlier on Tuesday, Daley told an investment summit in Cape
Town that it was important that patents, copyright and trademarks
were protected, particularly if Africa wanted to attract high-tech
firms.
Investors wanted to know that they were adequately protected.
@ ANC-IDASA
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
ANC CALLS ON IDASA TO DENOUNCE CEO FOR MBEKI REMARKS
The African National Congress on Tuesday called on the
Institute for Democracy in South Africa to denounce its chief
executive Wilmot James for a letter saying South Africa would face
tough times when Thabo Mbeki took office as president of South
Africa.
ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe said the party's
national working committee had confirmed a media report that James
had said - in a motivation for foreign funding - that during 1999
to 2004, under President Thabo Mbeki, South Africa would face tough
times in terms of human rights violations and undermining of
democracy.
"The ANC finds it most deplorable that Wilmot James uses his
official position as Idasa CEO to cast an aspersion on the future
president of South Africa and the government itself.
"The ANC calls upon Idasa to come clean and denounce Wilmot
James," he said.
ANC spokesman Thabo Masebe said the ANC was in possession of a
copy of the letter in question and refuted a claim by Idasa that
the allegations were untrue.
Masebe said although the ANC was prepared to discuss the matter
with Idasa, the letter in question did exist, that it contained the
same words attributed to James and that he wrote the letter in his
capacity as CEO of Idasa.
Masebe further said James had lied in a radio interview on
Monday when he allegedly claimed he did not even mention Mbeki's
name.
A statement from Idasa said the allegations were false and that
it was seeking a retraction from the newspaper in question.
@ SA-EU
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
ERWIN-PINHEIRO TALKS FAIL TO RESOLVE TRADE PROTOCOL IMPASSE
Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin and European Union
Commissioner Joao de Deus Pinheiro on Tuesday failed to resolve an
impasse in trade negotiations between South Africa and the EU.
"We have made further progress but there are one or two items
still oustanding which we have not resolved," Erwin told a Cape
Town media briefing after meeting Pinheiro.
Erwin did not want to elaborate on the outstanding issues.
"This is a delicate stage of the negotiations and we want them
to go back to the principles intact."
Both Erwin and Pinheiro would also not elaborate on the areas
in which progress had been made.
The sticking points in the talks, which have been under way for
more than three years, are likely to be the EU's insistence that
South African producers stop using the terms "port" and "sherry"
and the EU's demand for access to fish in South African waters.
Erwin said: "Its a small package of issues which can be dealt
with in a number of ways."
Pinheiro said he and Erwin had "exhausted their mandates," but
had looked at possible options to resolve the sticking points and
would have to consult their principles about them.
He claimed that if it were up to himself and Erwin, an
agreement would have been reached already, but they could not go
beyond their mandates.
Since any agreements signed by the EU ad to have the approval
of all its 15-member states, concluding them was a complex and
difficult task, Pinheiro said.
Significant progress had been made and the situation had been
reached where an agreement was within reach, he said.
"Most of the issues are now behind us."
He acknowledged that it was always possible no agreement would
be reached on some issues.
Erwin said he would brief Cabinet on the latest developments on
Wednesday, while Pinheiro would report back to the EU next week.
@ EDUC-INSTITUTIONS
PRETORIA December 1 1998 Sapa
PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS MUST REGISTER
Private higher education institutions should register with the
government before March 31 next year or face closure, the Education
Department said on Tuesday.
Legal steps would be taken from January 2000 to close down
non-registered institutions, a departmental statement said.
This was in line with the Higher Education Act passed recently.
The Act applied to all private higher education institutions, local
and foreign, the statement said.
"The Constitution allows for private higher education
institutions to function at their own expense on condition... that
they maintain standards which are as good as, or better than those
at public universities and technikons."
The department said the Act had been passed to root out poor
quality, unsustainable "fly-by-night" institutions.
Foreign institutions wishing to register would have to provide
proof of accreditation in their countries of origin.
The department advised potential students to make sure that the
private higher education institution they wanted to attend was
registered.
This would serve as a guarantee that the institution was
financially sound and offered quality education.
Registration forms could be submitted to the Registrar of
Higher Education in Pretoria.
@ GERMANY-SA
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE MINDFUL OF CRIME, SAYS GERMAN AMBASSADOR
The government should be kept aware of the negative impact that
crime had on foreign investments in South Africa, the
recently-appointed German ambassador, Dr Harald Ganns, said on
Tuesday.
Addressing the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and
Industry in Johannesburg, Ganns said that despite this he was
convinced that relations between the two countries would prosper
and grow from strength to strength.
The keyword to future relations was not change but continuity.
The recent R29 billion arms deal, in which German companies
emerged as preferential suppliers of defence equipment, was
indicative of these relations.
Ganns outlined the history of Germany's complex past diplomacy
with South Africa of simultaneously assisting the liberation
movements as well as maintaining investments in the country.
As a student he had met South African student leaders opposed
to the apartheid regime at international symposia and was aware of
the difficult situation in which they had had to function, he said.
@ ANC-DP
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
DP RELIEVED AT BENGU'S EXIT
Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu's replacement would have to
be of truly exceptional quality to stem the catastrophic course
Bengu had set education on, the Democratic Party said on Tuesday.
DP education spokesman Mike Ellis said his party was relieved
at the African National Congress' announcement earlier in the day
that Bengu would not seek re-election in 1999.
Some of the "most poisonous" elements of his rule, which his
replacement would have to attend to, included his disastrous
teacher redeployment scheme, administrative disintegration in the
provinces, his lack of zeal in tackling the absence of a culture of
learning and teaching, and his vendetta against former Model C
schools.
"Dr Bengu's reign has been characterised by flashy plans
containing more ideological conviction than common sense," Ellis
said. "Clearly not even the ANC could afford to have him carry on
in this reckless manner any longer."
ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe on Tuesday said the
party's national executive had received notice from Transport
Minister Mac Maharaj, Defence Minister Joe Modise, and Bengu that
they would not stand in 1999.
All had indicated they would continue to serve the ANC in other
capacities.
There has been speculation that Labour Minister Shepherd
Mdladlana, a former president of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union,
will take over from Bengu.
@ BARA-SAFETY
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
GAUTENG MEC MEETS POLICE TO DISCUSS SAFETY AT CHRIS HANI-BARA
Several measures would be implemented at the Chris
Hani-Baragwanath hospital to make it safer, Gauteng safety and
security department spokesman Mongezi Mnyani said on Tuesday.
This was decided at a meeting between MEC for safety and
security Paul Mashatile, police and the mayor of Soweto earlier in
the day.
More security staff would be employed, crime flash areas would
be patrolled and metal detectors would be used to search people,
Mnyani said in a statement after the meeting.
A system would be put into place to prevent people from
entering the hospital with firearms and personnel would patrol the
building.
The measures would be implemented in different phases, Mnynani
said.
Mashatile said the heads of the departments of health and of
safety and security would also meet during the week to discuss
further plans to ensure the safety of people in the hospital. These
included the installation of closed circuit television in different
areas and access control.
The campaign to declare hospitals and other government
institutions gun-free zones would also be intensified.
"The doctors at Chris Hani-Baragwanath hospital are a resource
to the community of Soweto and they need to be protected at all
costs by all members of the public, " said Mashatile.
Doctors at the hospital last week complained about the lack of
security at the hospital.
@ TRUTH-RADEBE
DURBAN December 1 1998 Sapa
JEFF RADEBE ADMITS ARRANGING FLOW OF ARMS INTO KWAZULU-NATAL
Public Works Minister Jeff Radebe admitted to the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee in Durban on Tuesday
that he played a key role in smuggling arms to African National
Congress self defence units in KwaZulu-Natal between 1990 and 1994.
Radebe, who was chairman of the ANC's Southern Natal region, is
applying for amnesty for his part in procuring arms for the SDUs at
the height of the conflict at the time.
Radebe told the committee the province was "in flames" and ANC
supporting areas were subjected to constant attacks. He said he
attended the funerals of his fellow comrades on a daily basis and
massacres were common occurrences.
Radebe told the committee he discussed the need to protect ANC
communities with Umkhonto we Sizwe leaders Ronnie Kasrils and Chris
Hani, who had agreed to supply arms to local SDUs.
He then explained an elaborate scheme whereby consignments of
weapons from outside the country were driven to Durban via
Johannesburg and parked at pre-determined places.
He said the arms, which were mostly AK47 rifles and pistols,
were hidden in concealed compartments in the vehicles.
Radebe would then hand duplicate keys to drivers in Natal who
would find the vehicles and drive them to ANC supporting areas
where the weapons were distributed.
He admitted to the committee that on one occasion he was
directly involved in the handover of a truckload of arms that was
delivered to the Workshop shopping centre in central Durban in the
early 1990s.
On the other occassions he merely arranged the delivery and
distribution of arms in the southern Natal region by way of
supplying keys to the drivers.
He said the three vehicles used were a Land Rover, a bakkie and
a minibus.
Radebe said he was not certain where the weapons came from,
because of the complex trail they followed from outside the
country.
"But come they did."
Asked by committee members Ilan Lax whether he had any
knowledge of the number of arms involved, Radebe replied that he
could not say for sure, but estimated about 120 AK47s and several
hundred pistols were supplied.
He said 90 percent of the weapons were accounted for and later
recovered after the successful 1994 election.
Radebe conceded that in some cases comrades in the SDUs had
abused their powers for criminal purposes.
Wherever possible, these people were disciplined and disarmed,
he said.
This was confirmed by former ANC member Sipho Sithole who is
also applying for amnesty, along with Radebe, for his role in
arming the SDUs. He said that whenever word was received of
criminal behaviour by SDUs firm action was taken.
He said at one stage a renegade band of SDUs was operating in
Port Shepstone and causing havoc in the community.
"We gave orders to the regular SDUs that they must be disarmed
- whatever the cost."
Sithole said the ANC were not prepared to tolerate people
acting against the community it was supposed to be protecting.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
@ N/L-AIDS
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
AIDS DAY RALLIES FOCUS ON YOUTH AND EDUCATION
World Aids Day rallies around South Africa on Tuesday focused
on the threat posed to the country's youth and young adults, who
are hardest hit by HIV and Aids.
Addressing thousands of people gathered at Church Square in
Pretoria to mark World Aids Day, Agriculture Deputy Minister Thoko
Didiza urged parents to educate their children about sex.
"It must never be said that your children get Aids and they say
you did not tell them about the virus," she said.
Reports by the United Nations programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS)
released in Johannesburg on Monday, revealed that the highest level
of infection was among adults between the ages of 15 and 24.
The National Youth Commission said at a function in Durban that
the youth were being infected because they were receiving mixed
messages from society.
In some societies sexual behaviour was encouraged among young
men while girls were urged to stay virgins.
"They are confronted with media images of sex, smoking and
drinking as glamorous and risk free. They are told to be abstinent,
but (are) exposed to a barrage of advertisements using sex to sell
goods," the NYC said.
The commission launched the Young Positive Living Ambassadors
Project whereby youth who have tested positive for HIV/Aids would
visit communities to provide information on the prevention of the
diseases, services and counselling.
A organisation opposed to sex before marriage, True Love Waits,
said in a statement that the Health Department was spending too
much money on condoms instead of promoting abstinence and
behavioural change.
President Nelson Mandela addressed a rally in Mtubatuba,
KwaZulu-Natal - an area and province hard hit by the deadly virus.
He said just as South Africa had defied the prophets of doom in
its peaceful transformation to a democracy, so too could Aids be
defeated if South Africans joined hands in a united effort against
the pandemic.
"It is the silence that is letting this disease sweep through
our country, adding 1500 people each day to more than three million
already infected."
Too often the disease had been spoken about as if it was
someone else's problem, he said.
He repeated calls for young people to abstain from sex as long
as possible and for men and women to be faithful to one another,
but otherwise, also to use condoms.
A number or organisations on Tuesday pledged their support for
the government's "Partnership against Aids" initiative, launched by
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki in October.
Two Durban cyclists are to embark on a world wide tour on
January 1 to raise R1 million for Aids orphans and to educate
people about the disease in South Africa.
Methodist pastor Stephen Bonaconsa and student Travis Gale hope
to cycle across Australia, North America, the United Kingdom and
Africa to raise money for orphans at the Lily of the Valley
Children's home and McCords Hospital care centre in Durban.
Springbok and SA under 21 rugby teams currently touring the
United Kingdom on Tuesday donned red ribbons to signify their
support for World Aids Day and the government initiative.
In Johannesburg an Aids memorial wall commemorating victims of
the disease was unveiled by Arts, Culture, Science and Technology
Deputy Minister Brigitte Mabandla at the Newtown cultural precinct.
UNAIDS head Peter Piot at a press conference on Monday said the
southern African region was facing an unprecedented human disaster.
South Africa had nearly half of the 1,4 million new HIV/Aids
infections in the region, he said.
The report said only a reduction in the number of new
infections and a partnership between individuals, communities and
organisations would combat the epidemic.
National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Tuesday
criticised the government's methods of fighting the spread of HIV
and Aids.
After visiting House Bethesda, a home for HIV-infected children
in Soweto, Van Schalkwyk said the NP opposed the decision to
withhold AZT treatment for pregnant women with the HIV virus.
He said privately funded institutions for individuals with
HIV/Aids was more effective than state institutions.
@ REGISTER-KZN
DURBAN December 1 1998 Sapa
IEC FACES MAJOR CHALLENGE WITH REGISTRATION IN KWANATAL
The Independent Electoral Commission in KwaZulu-Natal is facing
a major challenge preparing for voter registration on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday.
Although the IEC said at a news conference in Durban on Tuesday
that preparations in the province were on track, provincial
electoral officer Chris Mzoneli conceded there could be problems.
"It has been a great challenge in all areas - recruiting,
training, logistics, etc, and of course there are difficulties, but
generally things have gone according to plan," he said.
Among the difficulties were deliving equipment to remote rural
areas because of bad roads, and a possible shortage of registration
officials.
For security reasons the equipment would be transported to the
registration points only early on Thursday morning, and the SA
National Defence Force was on hand to assist, Mzoneli said.
He said an additional 1500 soldiers were on standby to help at
registration points if needed.
"Where necessary, members of the SANDF have been trained and
some have been deployed to different areas. A reserve component (of
1500) of staff are on standby in case of emergency."
He said materials had been distributed to electoral officers,
and distribution to voting districts began on Tuesday.
Registration supervisors and officials had been recruited and
trained, and were being send to registration points.
Mzoneli said 15000 registration officials were needed to assist
- but by Tuesday only 10,000 had volunteered.
The IEC hoped that another 5000 would come forward by Thursday.
The location of more than 3200 registration stations in the
province would be published in the press on Wednesday.
Registration would start at 7am on the three days and would
continue until 9pm in urban areas, and 6pm in rural areas for
security reasons, Mzoneli said.
@ MPUMA-POLITICS
NELSPRUIT December 1 1998 Sapa
PARTIES STAGE WALKOUT IN MPUMALANGA LEGISLATURE
Both opposition parties in Mpumalanga walked out of the
legislature in protest against Premier Mathews Phosa's end of year
speech on Tuesday, African Eye News Service reported on Tuesday.
The walkout by the National Party and Freedom Front is the
first such joint legislative protest since the house was formed in
1994.
Members from both parties told the house during heated debate
just before the walkout that Phosa's practice of delivering
year-end speeches was against all legislature rules and unfair
practice.
Pointing out that they were not afforded the opportunity to
respond to anything said in the speech, opposition members warned
that the African National Congress's decision to ram the speech
through despite repeated objections was a poor reflection on its
democratic principles.
"Phosa could say anything he wanted in the speech and we would
be unable to reply. It is not fair and it is not in the rules.
"It would definitely not be democratic to allow anyone to use
their majority to simply break the rules," said FF leader Moolman
Mentz.
He added that the ANC's insistence that the speech be delivered
by a substitute speaker when Phosa was called away from the
legislature at the last minute was even more worrying.
NP leader Dr Lucas Nel said the practice was not a convention
that had developed unopposed in the legislature over the past four
years, as suggested by the ANC, because both the NP and FF had
complained last year and again this year.
Speaker William Lubisi ruled that the ANC and the leader of the
house January Masilela were within their rights to insist that
Phosa be allowed to deliver a speech.
@ MPUMA-COMPLEX
NELSPRUIT December 1 1998 Sapa
MPUMALANGA FACES BUDGET CUTS TO FUND NEW COMPLEX
Mpumalanga's provincial departments might experience budget
cuts next year to fund the province's new R563 million legislature
complex, public works MEC Jackson Mthembu said on Tuesday.
This may be the case should the national loan co-ordinating
committee deny approval for alternative funding, he told the
provincial legislature.
Mthembu said the province had already committed itself to the
development and was legally bound to pay for development costs,
African Eye News Service reported.
He expressed the hope that the loan co-ordinating committee
would not reject the province's suggestion for the building,
operation and transfer of the complex, since it could end up saving
the province R506 million over the next 10 years.
"We will lose the saving if we are shot down and will also have
to dig very deeply into our annual budget next year to cover the
initial building expenses of over R563 million," he said during
question time.
Mthembu confirmed that Mpumalanga had secured a R30 million
loan from Rand Merchant Bank to ensure that it could finish the
complex's first phase by August next year.
@ LESOTHO-INAUGURATION
MASERU December 1 1998 Sapa
LESOTHO'S INTERIM POLITICAL AUTHORITY TO BE SWORN IN NEXT WEEK
Lesotho's Interim Political Authority, tasked with preparing
the country for fresh elections, will be sworn in in Maseru on
Wednesday next week, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili said on
Tuesday.
He made the announcement at the end of a two-hour meeting of
Lesotho's political party leaders to consider the inauguration of
the political authority.
Mosisili said the chairman of the Southern African Development
Community, President Nelson Mandela, will then arrange for the
holding of the inaugural meeting of the IPA.
He said the Basutoland Congress Party was the only one of the
12 parties which participated in the May general election who had
not yet submitted the names of their representatives on the IPA.
The BCP leadership said the names of their nominees would be
forwarded to the Minister of Law by the end of this week.
The swearing in had been delayed by the death of the leader of
the Basotholand National Party, Retselisitsoe Sekhonyana, who will
be buried this week.
@ FSTATE-DG
BLOEMFONTEIN December 1 1998 Sapa
FREE STATE PREMIER APPOINTS ACTING DG
Free State Premier Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri on Tuesday
announced the appointment of Makhosini Msibi as acting
director-general of the province.
Msibi is currently deputy director-general of the provincial
department of local government and housing.
"The premier and executive council express their full
confidence that Mr Msibi will ... continue with the acceleration of
the transformation process and service delivery in the Free State,"
the premier's office said in a statement.
A permanent appointment would be made in due course, the
statement said.
@ NAMIBIA-ELECTION
WINDHOEK December 1 1998 Sapa-AFP
NAMIBIAN REGIONAL ELECTIONS HEADING FOR LOW TURN-OUT
Namibia's regional elections were heading for a poor turnout
with less than half of the country's registered voters expected to
cast their ballots, newspaper reports said here Tuesday.
Voting for 13 regional councils started Monday throughout the
southwest African country and was due to finish late Tuesday, but
reports after the first day of polling indicated widespread voter
apathy with no more than 40 percent of Namibia's 800,000 voters
expected to come to the polls.
The turnout was expected to be particularly low in the troubled
northeastern Caprivi region, where many supporters of the official
opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), which controls the
Caprivi regional council, were not turning up to vote.
The DTA claims its supporters in Caprivi have suffered
harassment and arbitrary arrest since a secessionist movement was
uncovered in the region recently.
More than 700 Namibians have fled to Botswana in the past month
- some of them members of the secessionist group and others
fleeing
police and army attempts to flush out a fledgling rebel group.
Heavy rains in the north and northeast of Namibia were also
said to be hampering voting in the outlying districts.
Queues formed early on Monday at polling stations in Windhoek's
Katutura township, but in other parts of the capital voting was
much slower.
One polling station in the suburb of Khomasdal only processed
one voter in a 90-minute strectch Tuesday afternoon.
Caprivi polling stations were reported to be even quieter.
Monday had been declared a public holiday in order to voters
get to polling stations and voting levels were expected to be lower
Tuesday, as it was a normal working day.
Despite low numbers of voters, the electoral process was said
to be going smoothly in most areas with only a few minor logistical
problems being reported.
Polls close at 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) Tuesday, with results
expected to be announced Wednesday.
The ruling South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO)
currently controls eight councils and the DTA three, while the
Kunene region has a hung council with neither party enjoying a
clear majority.
@ LABOUR-NUMSA
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
NUMSA DECLARES DISPUTE WITH ESKOM PENSION FUND'S BOARD
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa on Tuesday
declared a dispute with the Eskom Pension Fund's board of trustees,
and referred the matter to the Financial Services Board (FSB), the
union said in a statement.
Numsa said it there were a series of unresolved issues over the
fund's management and administration.
These included issues about transformation, unilateral action
by the board's management, and the role of the board's chairman in
the conflict.
Management was refusing to respect labour's right to choose
representatives to the board, and was refusing to allow the union's
alternate trustees to participate in board meetings, Numsa said.
The union also claimed that the board's operations had been
suspended and that the FSB would establish a special committee or
appoint a third party to oversee the fund's affairs.
"Future activities cannot be financed and board members cannot
be renumerated," the statement said.
Fund chairman George Lindeque confirmed Numsa declared a
dispute, but said the fund's operations were not affected, as
claimed by the union.
Numsa's claim that the FSB would establish a special committee
to oversee the fund's affairs was also incorrect, he said in a
statement.
The board would continu to meet its obligations to pensioners
and members in terms of the rules of the fund, and managment would
continue to meet its obligations.
The board of trustees remained fully committed to the
transformation process which begun in 1994. This would include full
compliance with amendments to the Pension Fund Act which would come
into operation on December 15.
Lindeque said the dispute arose following Numsa's proposal to
appoint an alternate trustee in terms of the fund's rules.
The proposed appointee was previously dismissed from the board
after he released confidential information.
The board of trustees had asked that the proposed
re-appointment of the alternate trustee should be carefully
reviewed, but Numsa had insisted that its nominee be accepted
without question.
The matter could not be resolved at a board meeting on Monday
and after due process the board took a decision to continue with
the meeting, Lindeque said.
Representatives of Numsa and the National Union of Mineworkers
then left the meeting.
@ TRUTH-N/L-SDUS
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
SDU COMMANDER BLAMES THE DEVIL FOR 90s EAST RAND VIOLENCE
The former commander of a self-defence unit on the East Rand on
Tuesday blamed the devil for dividing supporters of the ANC and
Inkatha Freedom Party in the 1990s.
Thokoza SDU commander Patrick Thandixolo Mqibi told the amnesty
committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in
Johannesburg on Tuesday that people in Thokoza - African National
Congress and IFP - lived peacefully together until the devil came.
He said: "The devil was living with us... I don't know who
brought it among us so that we do wrong things.. We were living
together until the devil came.
"The devil was within us, and that is why I am here to ask for
amnesty."
Mqibi, 44, asked a woman who was raped and shot in 1993 to
forgive her: "I am very sorry about what happened... it was not our
intention to do any wrong... it's the devil."
Sibongile Sambo and her sister Pito were raped and shot
together because they were suspected of being IFP informers.
Sibongile survived and Pito was killed.
Mqibi said he instructed his unit in 1993 to set fire to the
houses of IFP members because they were perceived as enemies of the
community.
He said the Sambo home was set on fire because it was a shebeen
where IFP people gathered to celebrate after attacking ANC members.
The fire and the attack on the women did not happen on the same
day.
Jabu Jacob Nyethe, a former member of the ANC-aligned SDU,
said: "Our lives were being threatened and many people had already
been killed because of the information supplied by the two women -
hence the decision to kill them, so that we could protect the
community."
Sambo was at the amnesty hearing, but did not say whether she
intended giving evidence.
She told journalists she would not forgive the SDU members who
attacked her and murdered her sister unless they revealed where her
sister's body was.
Sambo said she and Pito were taken from a friend's home to a
house where they were ordered to strip naked. Their belongings such
as jewellery, rings and earrings were taken from them.
Sambo said: "I refused to strip naked because when they
kidnapped me they told me that Ben wanted to see me. They were
insisting that I must strip naked, but I refused."
The women had been pushed into a toilet and Sambo, realising
her weeping sister was on the floor and pleading with her to
co-operate, gave in.
"They raped us... and afterwards shot at us. My sister was shot
in the back of the head and I was shot in the shoulder, leg and
private parts," Sambo said.
She said she was a card-carrying ANC member. Her sin was that
her shebeen was near Buyafuthe hostel, and residents were mostly
IFP-aligned.
Sambo said IFP supporters who came to buy liqour at her shebeen
had to sneak inside, because they feared being attacked. She
dismissed the claim that she was an IFP informer.
"I (have) only come to the TRC with the hope that it will help
us find my sister's body. We would like to give it the right
burial," Sambo said.
Another SDU commander, Sandile Ngubeni, told the committee his
unit kidnapped and killed Sipho Makhathini - an IFP member - to
avenge the killing of several Phola Park and Thokoza residents.
Ngubeni said he was pleased that since the 1994 election peace
had returned to the township, and people were working together on
reconstuction.
He said relations between the parties had improved to the point
where they were playing soccer together: "I am sure that one day we
will be playing for Bafana Bafana together."
@ BOOZE
CAPE TOWN December 1 1998 Sapa
CHEAP BOOTLEG BOOZE FLOODING W CAPE
Cheap bootleg booze containing low-grade industrial alcohol is
flooding the Western Cape, police and government officials say.
Some samples of the brandy, cane and vodka being sold openly
through bottle stores contain more than 50 times the safe limit of
raw methylated spirits.
After painstaking detective work, police, revenue officers and
officials from the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday raided a
bottling plant in Cape Town and seized evidence of methanol being
used to "cut" the bootleg booze.
But officials fear the evidence found on Tuesday is only the
tip of a much larger iceberg.
"It is impossible to estimate how much of this potentially
lethal liquor is already on the market," Captain Hugo Truter of the
SA Police Service organised crime unit said.
"It could amount to anything from 500,000 to one million
bottles, depending on dilution. We can only guess at how much might
already be out there."
Truter said that once full laboratory analysis had been
completed, the names of the affected brands would be made public
and consumers would be alerted to avoid cane, brandy, and vodka
carrying these labels.
"These brands could be lethal," Truter said. "Some of the
samples we have tested contained as much as 113000 milligrams of
methanol per litre, whereas the safe legal limit is 2000.
"In other cases, raw methylated spirit - without the blue dye
- has been used to top up the alcohol content.
"Stockists who have bought any of these brands in good faith
should get them off their shelves immediately and contact the
Department of Agriculture's plant and quality control division at
Stellenbosch, tel (021) 809-1702.
"Nor should consumers on any account put their lives at risk
for the price of a few rand by drinking contaminated products,"
Truter said.
To combat the scourge, the Liquor Industry Combined
Investigative Tsk Force (LICIT) was set up two years ago,
comprising representatives from the liquor industry, the SAPS
commercial crime unit, the Department of Agriculture (responsible
for liquor health and safety regulations) and private
investigators.
A series of raids and arrests have already taken place, but the
scams simply resurface in different places and new guises.
"The difference now is that it's not just fraud and corruption,
this time lives are at stake. We hope that the courts will take an
equally serious view," Truter said.
A private investigator, Ernest Roberts, said a raid had been
conducted on a bottling company in Montagu late on Tuesday.
He listed the brand names of cane, brandy and vodka which
contained more than the acceptable limit of methanol.
@ US-MOZAMBIQUE
WASHINGTON, Dec 1, Sapa-AFP
US, MOZAMBIQUE SIGN BLATERAL INVESTMENT TREATY
The United States and Mozambique on Tuesday signed a bilateral
investment treaty aimed at promoting the free flow of capital and
commerce between the two countries.
US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky called the accord
"a significant step forward in building a solid foundation for
trade and investment relations between the United States and
Mozambique."
She was speaking after signing the treaty with Mozambican
Foreign Minister Joachim Simao.
The accord in general was drafted to ensure fair treatment for
investors in both countries.
It calls for the free transfer of capital, profits and
royalties as well as internationally recognized standards covering
expropriation, compensation and arbitration.
The treaty must now be submitted to the US Senate for
ratification.
@ PALAZZOLO
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
INVESTIGATION INTO PALAZZOLO HITS A SNAG AS FILE DISAPPEARS
A file needed for a highly sensitive investigation by the
Department of Home Affairs into the South African citizenship of
alleged Mafia boss Vito Palazzolo has disappeared, the SABC TV news
reported on Tuesday evening.
The report, extracted from the SABC 3 Special Assignment
programme, said it had been discovered that a file which the
department needed to determine whether Palazzolo had acquired his
citizenship illegally had disappeared.
The programme said Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi
met Palazzolo at the invitation of former Ciskei leader Oupa Gqozo.
Palazzolo denied anything improper happened during the meeting,
but said he offered Buthelezi his support and presented him with a
case of mineral water.
Palazzolo, who became a South African citizen in 1985, is on
trial in absentia in Italy and was recently listed as a top Mafia
figure by the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the United
States.
@ ZIM-ECONOMY
HARARE December 1 1998 Sapa-AFP
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON ZIMBABWE TO QUELL UNREST
Business leaders in Zimbabwe on Tuesday urged President Robert
Mubabe's government to stop political turmoil from becoming a
permanent feature in the country.
"What is of major concern is the clear lack of urgency on the
part of government to rescue the sinking economy," the Zimbabwe
National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) said in a statement.
Echoing suggestions made by the powerful labour movement, the
ZNCC called for greater transparency in Zimbabwe's involvement in
the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in a crucical
land-reform programme.
The chamber painted a gloomy picture of an economy
characterised by plummeting business confidence with no signs of an
economic upturn.
Zimbabwe's economy has this year been battered by punitive
interest rates of over 40 percent, a volatile currency, soaring
inflation rate expected to reach 40 percent in next few weeks,
severely depressed consumer demand and increased labour and social
unrest.
The ZNCC urged the government to publicly state how the DRC war
is being funded and give assurances that the intervention will not
"severely" impact on budgetary targets.
"Although Zimbabwe is fast sliding down the ladder of
creditworthiness, we are sure more transparency on issues such as
the land question and the impact of the DRC campaign on budgetary
perfomance, the country will receive a sympathetic ear from some of
the international financial institutions," said ZNCC.
The chamber also called for a probe into "widespread"
corruption in the country's petrol pricing system, which saw the
price of fuel skyrocket by more than 80 percent in just under six
months.
It also wants millions of dollars looted from the controversial
war victims compensation fund and a national housing fund to be
recovered with all involved including ministers prosecuted.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has forwarded similar
demands to be discussed at next week's meeting with the government
and the business community.
President Robert Mugabe's government has this year faced
several social and labour protests over economic policies and
hardship.
@ REGISTER-ECAPE
EAST LONDON December 1 1998 Sapa
EASTERN PROVINCE GEARS UP FOR VOTER REGISTRATION
A total of 2472 voter registration points had been set up in
the Eastern Cape, provincial electoral officer Bongani Finca said
on Tuesday.
He said most people would register at schools, church halls,
tents and municipal halls in their areas.
Finca intervened on Tuesday after 136 civil servants of the
East London area who were mobilised to help registering voters were
told that their services were not needed.
It was agreed to absorb the 136 volunteers to help at stations
in the area.
Finca said the response from volunteers in the province had
been overwhelming.
SA National Defence Force personnel who registered voters in
the five northern provinces last weekend had already arrived in the
Eastern Cape to help with the registration in the province, he
said.
@ AIDS-MBEKI
JOHANNESBURG December 1 1998 Sapa
SOUTH AFRICANS HAVE ENOUGH COURAGE TO WIN AIDS BATTLE: MBEKI
South Africans should not be ashamed to speak about Aids, but
should fight the disease with the same courage that ensured the
birth of a new democracy, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said in
Midrand on Tuesday night.
He addressed business and community leaders at a dinner in
honour of World Aids Day, and challenged them to become financially
and personally involved in the fight against Aids.
Mbeki said he was disturbed by recent international news
reports that said South Africa lagged behind other African
countries in taking steps to fight the disease.
"There is a price to pay for our transparency, for our need to
know the truth. If we are transparent about our problems we are
condemned," Mbeki said.
He also suggested that several of those who criticised South
Africa for an apparent lack of concrete steps to fight Aids were
not being honest about their own countries' Aids statistics.
But, he said, the government would continue to uphold the
values of democracy, despite widespread criticism.
"We need to know the truth about our problems. If we have
thieves who are stealing our money, we will continue to be
transparent about it in order to deal with the problem."
South Africa had faced difficult challenges in the past, and
would continue to do so in the future, but these challenges should
be viewed as a natural part of the country's birth.
"For example, I do not understand the people who are emigrating
when their country needs them and there are so many challenges
facing us as a nation."
The same principle of transparency applied to other challenges
facing the country, such as poverty and racism, Mbeki said.
"We are battling with the poverty that we see around us every
day, and it has to be brought to a stop so that people can live
with some semblance of dignity."
Referring to racism, he said South Africans had to believe in
themselves to overcome prejudices that were centuries old.
" We've got to overcome these prejudices by succeeding and
producing scientists, mathematicians and business leaders who can
stand up anywhere in the world and say they are equal."
There was no doubt in his mind that this could be achieved, the
Deputy President said.
"We have already set an example to the world of how peaceful
transition to democracy can be achieved. I'm sure we will set
another example when it comes to dealing with inherent racism."
Aids was another enormous challenge that had to be faced, Mbeki
said, and it could not be met without the help of the business
sector.
"A special appeal has been made to the business community. We
need their help, and we need to ensure that other sectors of
society get involved."
If South Africa fought the disease together the world could be
given another example of the nation's ability to respond to
challenges, Mbeki said.
He thanked those present for their attendance, and said they
had already taken a big step in the right direction.
"All those who are here tonight are here because they have made
a commitment to slow this disease down and ultimately reverse it. I
urge the whole country to become part of this initiative."
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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 3 DECEMBER 1998
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
publication or broadcast.
To unsubscribe from the ANC Daily News Briefing mailing list send a
message to 'list...@wn.apc.org'. In the body of your message put
'unsubscribe ancnews'.
@ SA-RESERVES
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
SA FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES UP FROM OCTOBER
The South African Reserve Bank's provisional gross gold and
foreign exchange reserves amounted to R31,2 billion as at 30
November 1998, compared to R30,5 billion as at the end of October
1998, the bank said in a statement.
The utilisation of foreign credit lines at November 30 amounted
to R18,3 billion, compared to R18,4 billion as at the end of
October.
The outstanding oversold forward book of the bank was US24,9
billion at close of business on November 30, compared to US25,3 as
at the end of October.
Any possible changes to these preliminary figures will be
reflected in the bank's monthly statement of assets and liabilities
to be published on December 8.
@ ARRIVE ALIVE - VEHICLE DEFECTS THAT KILL
Wednesday, 02 December, 1998
Motorists planning to go on holiday have been urged to have
their cars serviced early and properly by accredited workshops and
not to leave it till the last moment to backyard mechanics and fly
by nights.
This call has come from both the Motor Industry Federation (MIF)
and the organisers of the Arrive Alive road safety campaign, which
is now in its third phase. Both have joined forces in reminding
motorists that repairs and servicing should be done timeously, and
then by outlets prominently displaying a valid MIF Code of Conduct
and MIF logo in their reception areas.
"There is much synergy between the Arrive Alive campaign and our
Motor Industry Friends campaign. Arrive Alive talks to people. We
talk to the people's cars," on MIF spokesman said.
While human error remains the biggest contributing factor to
fatal and serious road crashes, vehicle defects can cause disasters
on their own or have a compounding effect.
During December 1997, vehicle defects played a contributing role
in 7% of the 650 fatal crashes. The most serious vehicle defects
were worn tyres (6.8%, faulty brakes (1,8%) and bad or
non-functioning lights (0.6%). Others included defective windscreen
wipers, windscreen cracks (impaired vision) and worn seat belts.
Overloading, which could render vehicles "defective", was
identified as a contributing factor in another 1,8% of all fatal
crashes.
"Seven percent may sound little, but considering that 841 people
died in those fatal crashes, the lives of more than 60 people could
have been saved in just one single month had their vehicles been
totally road worthy," said a spokesman for the Department of
Transport.
"In the same way, several thousand more people might have
escaped the loss of limb, pain and suffering in another 1 894
accidents, in which people were seriously injured last December.
That is one reason why we support he MIF campaign."
Another reason for Arrive Alive's support is that the MIF also
has a consumer department that solves disputes between the public
and MIF members, thereby offering motorists a recourse and
protecting their consumer rights.
Motorists are advised to check their tyres' `footprints' for
wear and grip for road holding and the sidewalls for scuffs, tears
and other damage to help prevent blow-outs, keeping in mind that
they will have to travel a fair distance over the holiday.
Maintaining correct tyre pressures is crucial.
Headlights and taillights should be in good working order and
headlights should be well adjusted for use not only at night, but
also in the mist and rain during the day. Brake lights and
indicators are also crucial during bad weather conditions.
Motorists are cautioned that windscreen wiper blades turn hard
and brittle from exposure to the sun, smearing windscreens and
diminishing their vision when driving in the rain. The results can
be disastrous and it is best to check wiper blades before departing
and replace them if they're worn at a minimal cost.
Windscreen cracks and blemishes can worsen on a long journey and
also impair vision, even blind the driver at night when approached
by another vehicle. These screens should be repaired before holiday
makers depart on their journeys.
Seatbelts are indispensable safety aids and can make the
difference between an injury and a fatality in a collision. Ensure
they are in a good condition and worn at all times. Frayed edges
indicate a weak spot. Seatbelts should be replaced after a crash, if
they were worn during the crash.
Motorists are also reminded that loose suspension components and
bad shock absorbers can affect handling and driver control. Oil
leaks can lead to hazardous oil spills for others.
For replacement and repairs, members of the MIF can be found in
all sectors of the motor body industry. They include from car and
motor cycle dealers, service stations, tyre dealers and retreaders
to general and specialist repair establishments, fitment centres and
motor body repairs shops.
"They all comply with stringent MIF membership qualifications
and motorists can therefore be assured these dealers are equipped
and their staff is properly trained to provide them with the
products and service they need," the MIF spokesman concluded.
Motorists are invited to cal the MIF's consumer department
(Highveld Division) (011) 886 6300 for more information on
dealers/members offering free vehicle checks in the Highveld.
Issued on behalf of: Department of Transport Contact: Marleen Ronald
Telephone: (012) 309 3666
Issued by: Sasani Communications Contact: Desiree Pooe Telephone:
(011) 784 2598 E-mail: des...@msomi.co.za
@ NORTHPROV-TRAFFIC
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
NORTHPROV PREMIER CALLS FOR DRIVER-PEDESTRIAN RESPONSIBILITY
Northern Province premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi on Wednesday called
on drivers and pedestrians to take special care and act responsibly
over the holiday period to prevent carnage on the roads.
The province supported the Arrive Alive campaign, aimed at
reducing road deaths by at least five percent, and the province's
traffic officers would show no mercy to serious offenders.
"We will crack down particularly hard on drunken drivers and
those exceeding the speed limits," Ramatlhodi said in a statement.
Drunken and speeding drivers accounted for 60 percent of all
accidents.
Ramatlhodi said traffic officers would also pay special
attention to people not wearing seatbelts and vehicles which were
overloaded, not roadworthy or had worn tyres.
Pedestrians were asked not to go on public roads, particularly
at night or when visibility was restricted due to rain.
@ TRUTH-SDUS
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
MAYFAIR TRC HEARING ADJOURNS SO LAWYERS CAN TRACE CLIENTS
The Mayfair, Johannesburg Truth and Reconciliation Commission's
amnesty hearings on Wednesday adjourned for a few hours to allow
lawyers for applicants to track down their clients.
The three clients - former members of the East Rand township's
self-defence units - were known to have been in prison, but
attorney Kenneth Samuel said they could not be found.
He was told the clients had been released.
Earlier, Cyril Chisoma, an African National Congress
self-defence unit member from Thokoza, told the amnesty committee
his commanders had ordered him to kill Inkatha Freedom Party
suporters as they were enemies of society.
Following an alleged attck by IFP members on the "defenceless
community" in 1994, Chisoma said he killed Moses Kabingwe Zulu -
who was seen as a disruptive force to the democratic process.
The killing occured at the time of multiparty talks on the
democratisation of South Africa.
The rivalry between the ANC and IFP, particularly in Reef
townships, escalated during this period.
Chisoma claimed that Zulu was always seen in the company of IFP
members during attacks on the community.
@ TRADE-SADC
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
BOTSWANA PRESIDENT DENIES TENSION WITHIN SADC
Botswana President Festus Mogae on Wednesday denied the
conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo was causing division
within the 14-nation Southern AfricaN Development Community, but
admitted the trading block was being distracted from its goal of
economic development.
"For the time being, SADC is less focused than it normally is,
but this is a short term phenomenon. I'm sure it will recover its
focus before long," he told delegates attending the International
Herald Tribune's Southern Africa Trade and Investment Summit in
Cape Town.
Mogae said there was no bitterness between SADC leaders, who
all endorsed Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola's efforts to stop the
overthrow of DRC President Laurent Kabila.
He admitted the war was "an expensive exercise".
However, the region could ill-afford the instability which
would result if the DRC government was overthrown every year.
Mogae said the Botswana army's role in surpressing a military
coup in Lesotho was almost at an end.
"We are going to leave very soon," he said.
He urged that conflicts in some African countries should not
detract investors from taking advantage of opportunities in the
region, which as a whole remained healthy.
"We have introduced reforms, political and economic, to
establish an environment that is friendly to the private sector."
Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob said eventually the
African continent would have to "come together as a whole" and work
together for economic development.
European Union commissioner Joao de Deus Pinheiro said the EU
was very positive about southern Africa's prospects.
He said he was hopeful a trade deal between South Africa and
the EU could still be struck before year-end.
Pinheiro said in the negotiations South Africa had always
stressed that any deal had to be good for the region.
The two-day conference ends on Wednesday (today).
@ KRUGERPARK
SKUKUZA December 2 1998 Sapa
KRUGER PARK TURNS R7 MILLION DEFICIT INTO MASSIVE PROFITS
The Kruger National Park managed to transform itself from being
a massive loss-making enterprise to making R14 million profit over
the past 10 months, its first black director, David Mabunda, said
on Wednesday.
Stating that the park had been R7,6 million in deficit when he
assumed his post, Mabunda said in a statement that the about turn
was full vindication of his transformation policies and new
business-based control measures, African Eye News Service reported.
Conceding there was still subtle resistance to his leadership
in the park by some white staff, Mabunda said he was also still
battling the misplaced belief among black staff that his
appointment gave them license to do as they pleased.
"It has not been easy and subliminal racism and other
stereotypes are by no means dead, but people seem to have put their
differences aside and are choosing to work together as a team."
The complete eradication of "free-loaders", who gained free
entrance to the park because of their connections, was just one of
the innovations which boosted the park's earnings, Mabunda said.
Tightened security at all retail and other cash outlets in the
park resulted in dramatic revenue increases. A decision was made to
run each of the park's 27 rest camps as a separate business unit
with separate budgets managed by the camp staff.
"Customer service is the new buzz word, with even our traffic
cops fining people with a smile these days," said Mabunda.
Mabunda was honoured for his leadership by chair of the South
African National Parks transformation task group, Dr Yvonne Dladla,
over the weekend at the park's annual award ceremony over the
weekend.
He received the green, blue and executive gold awards for
various aspects of his policies over the past 10 months.
@ CONCOURT-SARFU
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO HEAR MANDELA'S APPEAL AGAINST SARFU
The Consitutional Court on Wednesday ruled it would hear an
appeal by President Nelson Mandela against a high court ruling that
he had acted unconstitutionally in appointing a commission of
inquiry into the affairs of rugby.
Consitutional Court president Judge Arthur Chaskalson said the
5Court would hear the appeal against the Pretoria High Court ruling
over five days starting on March 23.
Chaskalson said written arguments had to be lodged by March 10,
1999.
He ruled that the parties should pay their own costs.
The SA Rugby and Football Union's counsel opposed the
application for the appeal to be heard in the Constitutional Court,
arguing that the case involved predominantly factual issues rather
than constitutional matters.
They argued therefore that the Supreme Court of Appeals in
Bloemfontein was better equipped to deal with the case.
The Consitutional Court rejected the argument in a unanimous
judgment.
The ruling followed the judgment in April by the Pretoria High
Court that Mandela had acted unconstitutionally when he appointed
the Browde Commission of Inquiry into the administration of South
African rugby.
In a controversial move, Mandela was ordered to take the
witness stand, the first time a South African president had been
called to testify before a judge.
Mandela was cross-examined by Mike Maritz, acting for Sarfu and
Dr Louis Luyt, former Sarfu president.
Judge William de Villiers, in his 1159-page judgment,
questioned Mandela's credibility as a witness and criticised his
demeanor in the witness stand.
The Constitutional Court application was lodged by Wim
Trengove, counsel for Mandela, Sports Minister Steve Tshwete and
the director-general of sport Mthobi Tyamzashe.
@ RICHMOND-FIVAZ
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
POLICE CONSIDERING REOPENING RICHMOND POLICE STATION
The situation in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal, was being evaluated
with a view to possibly reopening the local police station,
national police commissioner George Fivaz said on Wednesday.
He said in a statement in Pretoria that efforts to combat crime
in the area, which included a decision earlier this year to close
down the Richmond police station, had yielded positive results.
"The spate of senseless attacks which was the order of the day,
particularly in Richmond, seems to have decreased since the SA
Police Service and the SA National Defence Force intensified the
fight against crime and violence in Richmond."
Fivaz said the successes were largely a result of Operation Pax
II, which he said was working according to plan.
Phase one, which was aimed at stabilising the area, had
resulted in a marked improvement in the relationship between the
security forces and the community of Richmond.
Phase two, currently underway, included setting up a special
investigation team, addressing the problem of witness intimidation,
and improving investigations, prosecutions and intelligence
gathering.
The police and the SANDF were concentrating on visible crime
prevention including road blocks, searches, and surveillance of the
area. They were also rendering services such as the protection of
witnesses and community leaders, community liaison, and victim
support.
A community service centre, manned by police, was set up to
deal with cases other than those being handled by the special
investigations team.
"As part of phase three, we may eventually consider reopening
Richmond police station to the community of Richmond," Fivaz said.
He said divisional commissioner of the national crime
prevention and response division, Commissioner Andre Pruis, was
evaluating the situation.
The station was closed because of a lack of trust in the
police, Fivaz said.
"Once we are convinced that the situation in Richmond has
improved to an extent that normal policing can be resumed, we will
consider reopening the police station as soon as we possibly can."
Fivaz said successes achieved by the security forces in
Richmond should serve as a model for future policing in unique
situations.
"The lull in violence in Richmond and other parts of
KwaZulu-Natal should prompt other role players to begin to address
the root causes of crime and violence. The successes achieved by
the security forces are limited to the symptoms and not the
underlying causes."
"We should use the lucid interval to educate the community ...
the art of mutual respect among fellow human beings in order to
minimise hatred which in most cases leads to the commission of
crime and violence"
Fivaz thanked the community of Richmond for their co-operation
with the security forces.
@ IBA-ETV
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
IBA BEGINS PROCESS TO CENSURE E.TV
The Independent Broadcasting Authority on Wednesday began the
censure process against E.TV for its mounting number of licence
violations.
IBA spokesman Pekwane Mashilwane said the authority expected a
response on Wednesday afternoon to its request that the
Broadcasting Monitoring Complaints Commission hold an extraordinary
hearing on the issue as soon as possible.
"We have requested and hope that they will find time in their
busy schedule to convene an extraordinary hearing on E.TV," he
said, adding that the matter had reached serious proportions.
Meanwhile, E.TV spokesman San Reddy confirmed reports that
acting director of news and current affairs, Rapitse Monthsho, was
suspended on Tuesday.
The Star reported on Wednesday that Monthsho had been accused
of racism, abusiveness, leaking information to the press and poor
performance in a letter signed by Midi head, Jonathan Proctor.
Monthsho would not comment on Wednesday, saying he was meeting
his laywers later.
Despite the crisis situation, Mashilwane said the IBA was not
likely to agree to E.TV's urgent request on Wednesday for a
meeting, adding: "Their attitude does not augur well for a meeting
with us."
The new station had so far violated eight licence conditions,
he said.
Reddy said E.TV had not received an official notification from
the authority on the request for a meeting.
Unit head of monitoring and complaints, Johan Koster, told Sapa
that the first report covering the station's first week on air had
identified six alleged violations. Another two monitoring reports
were about to be delivered.
The alleged violations included that E.TV had extended its
broadcasting hours from 42 to 44 hours a week without notifying the
IBA, and that it had not aired any programmes in Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa
and Setswana, as required.
Thirdly, the station's information programming for the first
week was less (240 minutes) than the 285 minutes required;
fourthly, children's programming was broadcast only for 30 minutes
instead of the three hours and 37 minutes stipulated.
Additionally, on Monday the station also failed to begin its
news broadcasts on schedule.
@ REGISTER-CIVIL
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
GOVERNMENT THANKS CIVIL SERVANTS FOR REGISTRATION HELP
The government on Wednesday thanked civil servant volunteers
who helped register voters.
Public Service and Administration Minister, Dr Zola Skweyiya,
said the government wanted to voice its appreciation to those who
took part in the registration training sessions despite being
called upon at the last minute.
Skweyiya, in a statement, urged those who volunteered from
national departments to be on standby to be deployed for further
registration work if necessary.
@ COURT-PAGAD
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
HIGH COURT GRANTS BAIL TO ALLEGED PAGAD BOMBERS
Two men, allegedly members of Pagad's G-force military unit,
were granted bail on Wednesday by a Cape High Court judge who said
the charge against them had no reasonable chance of conviction.
Acting-judge Michael Donen said Moegamat Francis and Yusuf
Salie did not contravene Section 28(1) of the Explosives Act under
which they were facing charges.
The section says: "Any person who is found to have in his
possession or under his control any explosive ... to give rise to a
reasonable suspicion that he intended to use such explosive for the
purpose of injuring any person or damaging any property shall ...
be guilty of an offence."
John van den Berg, representing Francis and Salie, was
appealing against the refusal of bail by a magistrate three months
ago.
Donen said: "Mere possession does not constitute an offence in
terms of the section. The person would have to be found with the
explosives or the explosives would have to be under that person's
control.
"The person and the explosives have to be found together
simultaneously. There is no prospect of the charge against the
appellants succeeding," he said.
The men have denied being members of the vigilante group Pagad
(People Against Gangsterism and Drugs). They are accused of making
the pipe bomb that exploded in Francis's bakkie in the early hours
of July 30.
Two Pagad members, Faizel Hendricks and Nurulla Allie, were
killed in the explosion in Wetton.
The men were originally charged with two counts of murder but
the charges were dropped after discussions between the state and
the defence.
Donen said although he was sure that people who formulated the
charges had acted with good intentions, he was disturbed that they
had been influenced by the fear, paranoia and suspicion caused by
spiralling violence.
"These people did not study the facts and did not study the
law," he said.
On Wednesday morning State advocate Chris Naude submitted that
the bomb was self-made and exploded in the vehicle before the men
could commit a crime.
"They had a purpose with the explosives and the most obvious
would be to injure persons or damage property," he said.
"All the evidence shows they were busy with something illegal.
They were armed, had explosives in their vehicle but something went
wrong," Naude said.
Police also found Pagad posters and balaclavas inside the
bakkie.
@ TRUTH-KWANATAL
DURBAN December 2 1998 Sapa
ANC SDU MEMBER DESCRIBES HIS ROLE IN DONNYBROOK VIOLENCE
A former member of the African National Congress' self-defence
unit in Donnybrook in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday told the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission in Durban how he became embroiled in the
violence that beset the area in the early 1990s.
Thulasize Raphael Dlamini, 37, is applying for amnesty for his
role in a series of fatal attacks in the Donnybrook area in the
KwaZulu-Natal midlands in 1993 and 1994.
He explained to the committee that the situation became
intolerable as his communnity was subjected to almost daily attacks
by people supporting the Inkatha Freedom Party.
He said their cattle were stolen and individuals were killed at
random.
Dlamini said after joining the SDU in nearby Ixopo in 1993, he
became involved in skirmishes with IFP supporters.
He said he participated in a shootout with IFP supporters and
later heard on the radio that three people had died. He said he
presumed they had been killed during the shootout.
He also admitted to assisting SDU members who were pursuing IFP
attackers after a raid on their area. He said three more bodies
were found near the river which divided the IFP and ANC areas and
he believed they were the result of the SDU counter attack.
On another occasion he admitted shooting a person during a
battle with armed attackers.
Dlamini was never charged for his involvment in the attacks and
told the committee he was applying for amnesty because he felt
guilty about the deaths of political opponents.
The committee reserved its judgment on whether he should be
granted amnesty.
@ PRICEY
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
CAPE TOWN ONE OF WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES
Cape Town has become one of the world's most expensive cities
as far as hotel accommodation for business travellers is concerned,
according to a survey of more than 6000 United Kingdom-based
corporate travel clients.
The interim hotel urvey by Business Travel International's UK
partner, Hogg Robinson, revealed that Cape Town had moved up 26
places since last year and now occupied 13th position for the first
six months of this year.
Top of the list is Moscow, with Russia overtaking China for
this dubious honour. China, after the Hong Kong handover, briefly
held the title as the most expensive country in the world for hotel
accommodation.
South Africa is ranked 23rd on the list, up seven places from
last year's ranking, based on the average price paid per night for
hotel accommodation.
Malaysia has overtaken Wales as the cheapest country.
The biggest mover in the survey was Singapore, down 16 places,
with Pakistan and Croatia both down 13 places. Biggest climbers
were Portugal and the United States, which both moved up 11 places.
"Its good news that Johannesburg has moved down three positions
from last year's ranking of 46 to just scrape in the Top 50 for
worldwide cities at 49th position," said Lilian Boyle, chief
executive of Rennies Travel, BTI's South African alliance partner.
"What is of concern, however, is the rapid rise by Cape Town in
the global rankings," Boyle said.
"This confirms the sentiment expressed by many international
visitors that Cape Town is pricing itself out of its former status
as a value-for-money destination."
The survey was based on a complete range of hotels booked in 49
countries through BTI UK Hogg Robinson on behalf of its UK-based
travellers.
Hotels covered the spectrum of business requirements, from
super deluxe to budget.
@ STATEMENT ON NZO IN BALI, INDONESIA
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON MINISTER NZO'S ATTENDANCE OF GROUP OF 77 & CHINA
IN BALI, INDONESIA
Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo called for enhanced coordination
between the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77 & China
so as to enable the developing world to deal more effectively with
the processes of globalisation and liberalisation.
Minister Nzo was speaking in his capacity as Chair of the NAM,
during the opening ceremony of the Group of 77 High Level Conference
on Regional and Sub-regional Economic Cooperation in Bali, Indonesia
today. In his address Minister Nzo pointed out that the conference
was taking place at a time of great change in the international
financial and economic environment in which developing countries
were finding it increasingly difficult to adapt.
Minister Nzo emphasised that the developing world needed to face
these challenges in a proactive manner and in so doing improve the
cooperation between the two groupings of developing countries, the
NAM and the Group of 77 & China. Minister Nzo reminded the
Conference that, in line with the Durban Declaration of the 12th NAM
Summit earlier this year, developing countries should use regional
and sub-regional integration schemes to enhance their capacity to
participate in the global economy. The four day conference will
address the following three themes: regional and sub-regional
economic cooperation and the challenges of globalisation and
liberalisation; strengthening linkages between and among regional
and subregional economic arrangements; and South-South cooperation
in the next millennium.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
2 DECEMBER 1998
@ TRUTH-LD-SDUS
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
REPEAT:MURDERED MOSES ZULU WAS NOT AN IFP MEMBER: FAMILY
Relatives of Moses Zulu - killed by African National Congress
self defence unit members in Thokoza in 1994 - on Wednesday
dismissed claims that he was an Inkatha Freedom Party member and
therefore an enemy of towmnship residents.
Faith Sefatsane - Zulu's niece - said her uncle was a
card-carrying member of the ANC and that he had never attended any
IFP meetings.
Sefatsane was testifying at the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission's amnesty committee hearings in Mayfair, Johannesburg.
An ANC SDU member, Cyril Chisoma, earlier told the committee
Zulu was killed for his role in an IFP attack on Phola Park
residents. He claimed Zulu was regularly seen in the company of IFP
supporters and was known to have been an IFP member.
"I am sure that my uncle never went to IFP meetings....in fact
we went to ANC meetings with him...never to IFP meetings," a
weeping Sefatsane said.
She said Zulu had left Thokoza in 1991 for Newcastle, where he
had built himself a house. He returned to Thokoza in February 1994
to sign forms so that his vandalised home could be repaired through
the government's reconstruction and development programme.
"Two days after arriving in Thokoza, my uncle was killed for no
reason...It's not true that he had anything to do with the IFP
attack on residents," said Sefatsane.
She said she would forgive her uncle's killers, but insisted
they needed to tell the truth about him.
The hearing continues.
@ DRCONGO-TANZANIA
DAR ES SALAAM December 2 1998 Sapa-AFP
MORE THAN 16,000 DR CONGO REFUGEES IN TANZANIA
A total of 16,487 refugees
from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have fled into
Tanzania since early August, UN refugee agency official Anthony Moga
said Wednesday.
Moga told AFP on telephone from Tanzania's western region of
Kigoma that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was
registering many DRC refugees there each day.
"We are receiving many DRC refugees here daily and more than
2,000 have arrived here in the last two weeks," Moga said.
He said that about 1,000 refugees from the DRC had crossed and
entered Tanzania's southwestern region of Rukwa since last month and
that some UNHCR officials were now in Rukwa assessing the situation
on the ground.
Press reports here said Wednesday that 417 refugees from the DRC
arrived in Kigoma on Sunday from Rukwa, where they had fled last
week from Moba town in eastern DRC, and were by Tuesday being
sheltered at several camps near Kigoma.
The government-owned Daily News said that the refugees were
among some 1,000 who entered the Rukwa region from the DRC after
fleeing the civil war in the vast central African nation, where
Tutsi-led rebels have been fighting to topple President Laurent
Kabila since August 2.
The war has already dragged in Angola, Chad, Namibia and
Zimbabwe on Kabila's side and Rwanda and Uganda on the rebels'
side.
@ ANCYL-IFPYB
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
ANC YOUTH LEAGUE, IFP YOUTH BRIGADE TO SET UP JOINT TASK TEAM
The leaders of the African National Congress Youth League and
the Inkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade agreed on Wednesday in
Johannesburg to set up a joint task team for youth development.
"The social and economic emancipation of our people is a
priority, so our two organisations must organise around these
issues... and youth must be developed," ANCYL president Malusi
Gigaba said.
Other matters of common interest discussed between the two
parties at Wednesday's meeting included rebuilding the SA Youth
Council, strengthening the National Youth Commission, fighting the
abuse of women and children, and promoting peace and stability in
the country.
The meeting between the two youth organisations was also to
support a higher level effort to harmonise relations between the
ANC and the IFP, IFPYB national chairman Mntomhle Khawula said.
Backing this, Gigaba said: "The message to our membership is
that we are not political enemies."
"We want to declare that we want to co-operate in the building
of this future because the contrary to co-operation has already
cost our people their dear lives, their families and beloved ones."
The leaders of the two youth organisations also called on young
people to take Aids seriously, and to be supportive of those living
with the disease.
@ ANC-GENDER
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
ANCWL LAUNCHES DISCUSSION DOCUMENT ON GENDER VIOLENCE
The African National Congress Women's League on Wednesday
released a draft discussion document on gender violence to create
public awareness of violence against woman, spokeswoman Bathabile
Dhlaminito told Sapa in Johannesburg.
The draft was part of a process of implementing resolutions
made by the ANC in 1997 to develop a gender-based violence
programme. This would help to develop government policy on the
issue.
The purpose was to create infrastructure for public and
government awareness so that the issue could become a priority, she
said, adding the document would be given to all government
departments for discussion and debate.
Deputy Justice Minister Manto Tshabalala-Mismang said the
document aimed to encourage people to "blow the whistle " on
domestic violence.
She said the women's league hoped to create awareness of gender
related violence by holding workshops to train ANC officials who
could filter the information into communities.
She said this was important because South Africa was a
patriarchal society and every woman in the country had in common
the fear and risk of being a victim of gender related violence.
She hoped a refined version of the draft would be ready by
March 1999.
@ ZIM-BANANA
HARARE December 2 1998 Sapa-AFP
SA POLICE INTENSIFY SEARCH FOR BANANA AHEAD OF SENTENCE
Police in South Africa have intensified their search for
fugitive former Zimbawean president, Canaan Banana, who is due to
be sentenced for sex crimes back home next week, the media reported
Wednesday.
Zimbabwean police chief Augustine Chihuri said that South
African police were helping to hunt down Banana, believed to be in
the neighbouring country after he was located in Botswana last
week.
"We are trying hard to locate him, and South African police
have agreed to assist," Chihuri said.
The state daily Herald reported fears that Banana's son, who is
employed by South African Airways, could help his father flee from
that country. Last week media reports said he could be heading for
Chile or Brazil.
Banana, a 62-year-old Methodist clergyman, was last week
convicted in absentia of 11 counts of sodomy, indecent assault,
performing an unnatural act and common assault.
He ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987, during which time he used
his position as president to force men - aides, bodyguards and a
gardener - into submitting to sex with him.
After Banana left the presidency, he was alleged to have
sexually molested a job-seeker he met on the streets.
Zimbabwean authorities are frantically trying to bring back
Banana, who skipped bail, for sentencing next Thursday. The former
international peace negotiator faces a prison term.
@ METROBUS-CORRUPTION
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
SENIOR METRO OFFICIALS SUSPENDED FOLLOWING ANTI-CORRUPTION
PROBE
Four senior officials of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan
Council have been suspended following an investigation by the
council's anti-corruption unit.
During recent weeks, three officials were suspended, with a
fourth official suspended after a council executive meeting on
Tuesday, committee chairman Colin Matjila said on Wednesday.
In a statement, Matjila said: "At its meeting, the executive
committee considered a report by the audit committee which
highlighted some alarming information regarding the management of
the Metro Bus Service."
Majila said the audit committee report was conducted by a
council anti-corruption unit appointed in July last year.
"Over the past 12 months, corrupt practices have not only been
exposed, but perpetrators have been brought to book," Matjila said.
Action against offenders included dismissals and the institution of
criminal charges.
Tuesday's suspension was of a senior official at the
Metropolitan Bus Service, while the other officials were members of
the ambulance and support services.
@ DRCONGO-TROOPS
KIGALI December 2 1998 Sapa-AP
RWANDAN SOLDIERS CAPTURED IN CONGO TRANSFERRED TO ZIMBABWE
At least 40 Rwandan soldiers captured in the civil war in the
Congo have been transferred to Harare, Zimbabwe, in the hopes of
exchanging them for Zimbabwean troops captured by Rwandan-backed
rebels, relief agency sources said Wednesday.
However, Rwandan authorities have so far ruled out any prisoner
exchange, although they said they were in contact with Zimbabwean
authorities and are willing to facilitate visits to the captured
soldiers.
Rwanda and Zimbabwe are fighting on opposite sides of the
four-month uprising staged by rebels to oust Congolese President
Laurent Kabila.
Rwanda and Uganda are backing the rebels, a coalition of
disaffected soldiers and politicians who launched the rebellion
Aug. 2, accusing Kabila of corruption, nepotism and inciting ethnic
strife.
Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Chad have sent soldiers to back
Kabila.
It isn't clear how many Rwandan soldiers Congolese authorities
are holding.
Last week Ugandan Foreign Minister Amama Mbabazi said Rwanda
and Uganda had captured 600 pro-Kabila fighters, including at least
16 Zimbabweans who fell into rebel hands in October when their
plane landed by mistake at an eastern airstrip under rebel control.
In northern Congo, the rebels say they are holding at least 200
Chadian prisoners, most of them in Kisangani.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which usually
registers prisoners of war and, when possible, facilitates the
exchange of messages between the prisoners and their families, said
since September it had recorded the names of 594 people, mainly
captured soldiers, in prisons in Kinshasa.
In a statement, the Red Cross also said it has started visiting
POWs held by the Congolese rebels in Goma, the eastern rebel
stronghold, but gave no figures.
The Red Cross said it had visited a total of 2,500 persons in
detention in Congo, including Tutsi civilians held on suspition of
aiding the rebels in the southern city of Lubumbashi.
@ REGISTER-PAC
DURBAN December 2 1998 Sapa
PAC CONCERNED OVER VOTER REGISTRATION IN KWAZULU-NATAL
The Pan Africanist Congress in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday
expressed concern over the registration process in the province.
In a statement, PAC spokesman Nhlanhla Zulu said it was a cause
of concern that the more than 3000 registration points had only
been advertised in the press a day before registration commenced.
He said many voters did not have access to the print media,
which was a "recipe for disaster".
The PAC said it appreciated the effort the Independent
Electoral Commission had put into the registration process but did
not believe the IEC was sufficiently prepared.
"We therefore wish to caution the IEC that this province should
not be associated with disaster that could have easily been
avoided. We further challenge the IEC to extend registration into
the following week if we are to have good results," said Zulu.
@ DALEY
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
DALEY STILL HOPEFUL OF RESOLVING DRUG DISPUTE WITH SA
United States Commerce Secretary William Daley said on
Wednesday he was still hopeful a dispute between American and South
Africa over legislation affecting patent rights on medicines could
be resolved.
US pharmaceutical companies have objected strongly to the 1997
Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, which
allows the import of cheaper drugs, even when they are protected
under local patents.
Daley said he had raised concerns that South Africa was
flouting intellectual property rights with local officials, but
they had made "no comment or statements" that they would back down
on the act.
The South Africans had raised the "quite legitimate concern"
about the high price of medicines, he said.
Daley declined to comment on whether any retributive measures
were planned if South Africa did not respect the American drug
companies' patents.
"We are still hopeful our concerns will be addressed," he told
journalists in Cape Town.
Daley has led a two-day trade and investment promotion mission
to South Africa accompanied by executives from some of the United
States' largest companies.
One of these is drug company Pfizer, which on Wednesday
announced it would sponsor laboratory equipment and materials at
five disadvantaged schools, and assist with teacher training.
In October the company announced that it would provide
scholarships to 15 black medical students.
The cost of both programmes will be R3 million over the next
three years.
Daley acknowledged that the purpose of the trade mission was to
create jobs in the United States, saying that a spin-off would be
the creation on jobs locally.
Daley leaves South Africa on Wednesday afternoon for Kenya, the
Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
@ MANDELA-HEATH
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
DELAYS IN HEATH UNIT'S INVESTIGATIONS CAUSED BY RED TAPE
President Nelson Mandela's office and the Heath special
investigative unit on Wednesday said delays in the unit's
investigations were because of lengthy administrative processes.
In a combined statement, Mandela's legal advisor Fink Haysom
and unit spokesman Guy Rich said delays in getting proclamations to
the unit for investigation were because of red tape.
They said: "The President's office and the Heath special
investigations unit are concerned about the impression created in
the media that delays in the issuing of proclamations...lie with
the Office of the President.
"Matters requiring a speedy response have been dealt with
expeditiously by the President's Office."
Rich however, did not deny delays in the process, but said they
were due to red tape. "We have got to go through the procedure."
Any proclamation referred to the Heath unit had to be signed by
Mandela before a lengthy process of getting this back to the unit.
"This process is being addressed and amendments to the Act have
been compiled for the consideration of the Department of Justice
and Parliament."
@ REGISTER-DP
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
VOTER REGISTRATION STILL CHAOTIC: DP
Indications were that the Independent Electoral Commission
(IEC) was completely unprepared for the second voter registration
drive, which gets under way on Thursday in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free
State and the Eastern and Western Cape, the Democratic Party said
on Wednesday.
Party spokesman Douglas Gibson said reports were "streaming in"
of chaos in the four provinces.
They indicated that faulty or no information had been given to
the public on where and when to register, and pointed to large
scale incompetence on the part of the IEC, he said in a statement.
"The many faults in the process have been pointed out on so
many occasions that I fear that voters will be discouraged to the
extent that many may not even bother to go and register."
@ ANGOLA-VIOLENCE
LUANDA December 2 1998 Sapa-AFP
GRENADE KILLS FIVE IN CENTRAL ANGOLAN MARKET: PRESS
Five people were killed Wednesday when a grenade exploded in a
market in the central Angolan town of Kaala, a Roman Catholic radio
station reported.
Twenty-six people were seriously injured in the blast and three
are in a critical condition in hospital, according to Radio
Ecclesia.
The grenade was detonated by a government soldier who was
trying to make off with a stallholder's goods, the report said.
Soldiers' have caused casualties in several large Angolan
markets, especially in the capital.
At the beginning of the year, a number of people were killed in
an explosion in Estaleiro, one of the better known markets near
Luanda.
@ REGISTER-KWANATAL
DURBAN December 2 1998 Sapa
RAIN, STAFF SHORTAGE MAY HAMPER VOTER REGISTRATION IN
KWAZULU-NATAL
A shortage of volunteers to assist with voter registration in
KwaZulu-Natal's rural areas might be problematic, the Independent
Electoral Commission conceded on Wednesday.
By Tuesday 10,000 volunteers had offered their services but
15000 were needed for the process to run smoothly.
Spokesman Mawethu Mosery told Sapa the IEC had been inundated
with volunteers on Wednesday but they were mainly in urban areas
where they were not needed.
Rain and misty conditions could also hamper attempts to
transport electoral material to rural areas which were difficult to
reach even in dry weather, Mosery said.
The SA National Defence Force was on standby to assist, but the
air force would not be able to fly if Wednesday's weather
conditions continued.
Mosery said rural registration stations would be manned by at
least three trained electoral officers, although the ideal would
have been five personnel at each point.
He said voters would be encouraged to assist eac other in
filling in registration forms. Attempts would also be made to
distribute the forms ahead of Thursday's commencement of
registration, Mosery said.
Asked about time running out to train volunteers who came
forward later on Wednesday, Mosery said they would be used to
assist voters in filling out forms, while the process would be run
by trained personnel.
Mosery said the IEC's greatest concern was that volunteers
would not turn up at their posts, but he was optimistic people were
committed to the process. He expressed concern over the weather
especially in remote rural areas on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.
On Tuesday IEC provincial electoral officer Reverend Chris
Mzoneli said election material would only be transported to rural
areas on Thursday morning for security reasons.
But on Wednesday Mosery said the IEC was trying to get the
material to registration points on Wednesday afternoon because of
the inclement weather.
@ LAND
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
MORE THAN 200,000 HECTARES OF LAND RETURNED TO OWNERS SINCE 1994
More than 200,000 hectares of land had been returned to its
rightful owners in terms of the government's land restitution
programme since 1994, the Department of Land Affairs announced on
Wednesday.
Director-General Geoff Budlender told reporters in Pretoria
that 25 claims involving 11358 households and 224897 hectares of
land had so far been resolved.
He said 36485 claims had been lodged since 1994, of which 3915
had already been investigated, and were in the process of being
completed. A total of 284 claims were rejected.
Budlender said he expected the total number of claims to reach
just over 40,000 by the end of the month, the deadline for people
who had been dispossessed of land in the past to request
restitution.
Of the claims received so far, 80 percent were in urban areas
and 20 percent for rural land.
A total of 60 claims were currently before the Land Claims
Court, 200 would be submitted to the court before the end of the
year, and 100 were being resolved through out-of-court settlements,
Budlender said.
Turning to land redistribution, he said a total of 19623
households had received 188677 hectares of land since 1994 for
communal projects.
Redistribution involves state land, or land bought by the state
from private owners, being transferred to needy beneficiaries.
Budlender said the average number of households per project had
dropped from 285 in 1994 to 90 during the first 10 months of this
year. The number of hectares per project had also decreased, from
3746 in 1994 to 899.
He said this was part of a deliberate policy to scale down the
size of projects to ensure their viability and sustainability.
"Projects with large households are difficult to put in a
sustainable environment," he said. "Large groups of people find it
difficult to manage common enterprises."
Larger projects do not benefit the needs of the community
concerned or of the country in the long run. "They only address the
short-term needs of the beneficiaries."
Budlender said the land restitution process would in future
become less dependent on the Land Claims Court, and more
decision-making powers would be given to the Commission on the
Restitution of Land Rights.
He said a court process was not always appropriate in
restitution cases.
"We are going to turn it into an administration process, and we
believe this will dramatically improve the pace of what we are
doing."
Budlender also announced changes in the Department of Land
Affairs' representivity, saying its number of black staff had more
than doubled since 1995, to 53 percent of the total workforce by
last month.
In January 1995, he said, the department's management sector
comprised 98 percent white men, and two percent white women.
Last month, white men represented 55 percent of managers, white
women 24 percent, black men 12 percent, and black women nine
percent.
@ REGISTER-FF
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
FF URGES VOTERS TO REGISTER
Freedom Front leader Constand Viljoen on Wednesday urged all
opposition supporters in the four provinces starting registration
on Thursday to ensure they knew where to register.
It appeared that many opposition voters did not yet realise the
danger if the African National Congress won a two-thirds majority
in next year's poll, he said in a statement.
This could only be avoided if opposition supporters registered
and voted in large numbers.
@ REGISTER-WCAPE
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
W/CAPE VOTER REGISTRATION `ON TRACK'
Despite a few hiccups, preperations for voter registratin in
the Western Cape were on track and most, if not all, the 1305 voter
registration stations would open as scheduled on Thursday morning,
acting provincial electoral officer Joppa le Roux said on
Wednesday.
However, a snap survey in one of Cape Town's largest black
residential areas, Khayelitsha, indicated that there were still
many people who did not know where to register.
Le Roux told a media briefing that 6525 personnel were needed
to help voters register and about 5200 people were currently
available, leaving a shortfall of some 1400.
This was not critical, since the 6525 figure was merely the
optimum, and by reducing staff at certain stations from five to
four, three or two there would be enough to go around.
The provincial Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) office
was still hard at work finding more volunteers to help register the
just over two million voters in the province.
It was expected that a few rural stations in the Breede River
area might not open, but voters would have another chance to
register in January and February, Le Roux said.
The IEC had learnt a lot from last weekend's registration
process in the northern provinces and attention had been given to
correcting problems such as those experienced with the
barcode-reading "zip-zip" machines and their battery chargers.
Surplus staff would be available for emergencies, while roving
troubleshooters would attend to problems, Le Roux said.
It appeared on Wednesday that many residents of Khayelitsha in
Cape Town were unaware of the registration process.
The most worrying aspect was the lack of registration
information from the IEC and community leaders, they told Sapa
during a snap survey on Wednesday morning.
"I don't even know where to register. I just hear people
talking about it but I'm interested in the registration process so
that I can vote in next year's elections," Lydia Charles said.
Nothing would stop her from registering if she could find out
where she had to go.
Another resident, Mxolisi Rwanqa, said he was unaware of the
process. He blamed the IEC and community leaders for not informing
residents in time.
"They should have informed us. People in the 1994 elections
were informed; leaders made use of speakers to inform residents
where to vote, but this time the whole thing is terrible," he said.
Residents were also critical of what they said was government's
failure to deliver on promises made during the 1994 elections.
"I will not register for coming elections. I still carry cases
of beer for survival. The government has done nothing to stop my
suffering," said a woman beer vendor who refused to identify
herself.
However another resident, Peter Booysen, said the criticism
levelled at government was uncalled for.
"I see improvement in key areas of education, health and the
road safety standards improving," he said.
The African National Congress' Western Cape leader Ebrahimn
Rasool told journalists on Wednesday his party was ready for the
registration process.
He said the enthusiasm at the prospect of his party's readiness
would contribute to an ANC-led government in Western Cape after
next year's general elections.
Stations open at 7am and close at 9pm on Thursday and Friday,
and will operate from 7am to 5pm on Saturday.
Voters still unsure of where to register should contact their
local municipality or phone the IEC at 0800-11-8000.
@ DEPUTY MINISTER SHABANGU ADDRESSES COMMUNITIES
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
The Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, Ms Susan Shabangu,
will visit the Northern Cape on Thursday, 3 December 1998. During
her visit she will address women at the Postmasburg Community Hall
at 08:30. Women will represent communities such as Prieska, Kuruman,
Danielskuil, Upington and Groenwater. The Association for Community
and Rural Development, Concerned People Against Asbestos and
Skeifontein and Groenwater Communal Peoples Association were also
invited.
This visit relates to the No Violence Against Women Campaign.
The women in the communities would like to share their views on the
creation of an enabling environment for a meaningfull participation
of women in the mining sector and the compensation for family
members suffering from asbestosis with Deputy Minister Shabangu.
Asbestos has been extensively mined in the Northern Cape,
particularly near the town of Prieska, Koega and Kuruman. In th
1960's the pneumoconiosis research unit of the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research began investigating the
relationship between asbestos and cancer. In the 1970's the National
Research Institute for the Medical Council for South Africa carried
out research on the risks of asbestos related diseases in workers on
the asbestos mines. The findings indicated that the risk of death
through asbestosis or cancer of the lungs and stomach was severely
increased in blue asbestos areas.
The Department of Minerals and Energy (regional office in the
Northern Cape) has already spent approximately R5 million to
rehabilitate the ownerless mines. A number of residents in the
surrounding areas, who are presently suffering from asbestosis, have
approached the provincial department of Occupational Health for
possible compensation.
ENQURIES: Mrs Dinah Lefakane
Director: Communication
Tel: (012) 3179343
Fax: (012) 3224954
Cel: 082 443 1559
@ STATEMENT ON CABINET MEETING
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
Cabinet held its last meeting of the year today, 2 December
1998. The meeting noted progress in negotiations with the European
Union regarding trade and other matters. Cabinet approved the
approach adopted by South Africa's negotiators on outstanding
issues, and reiterated that we should seek an agreement that will
promote the development interests of South Africa.
The meeting expressed satisfactio at the commemoration of World
AIDS Day yesterday; and noted the multifaceted awareness programme
being undertaken by government in partnership with various sectors
of civil society.
Cabinet considered the nature of the legislative programme for
the last sitting of Parliament early next year, and resolved to
process Bills that are both urgent and would not require elaborate
processes that may not fit into the short session. Besides statutes
that will be considered at the first meetings of Cabinet in the New
Year, the meeting approved:
* Amendments to the Public Investment Commissioners Act which
among others allows investments which promote social responsibility
and infrastructure development;
* Prevention of Organised Crime Bill to rectify textual errors
which were identified at its Second Reading during the last session
of Parliament;
* Criminal Procedure Second Amendment Bill which will repeal
provisions of the existing Act in terms of which certain sentences
of magistrates courts are subject in the ordinary course to review
by a judge of the High Court;
* Public Service Amendment Bill which provides for heads of
departments and organisational components to be appointed by the
President and respective Premiers, among others, in order to allow
for re-deployment and utilisation of these public servants on a
government-wide basis.
Cabinet also approved the White Paper on Energy Policy subject
to relevant inter-ministerial consultation on aspects of the Paper.
It also approved the publication of the White Paper on the
development of the Construction Industry, including processes
towards the setting up of a Construction Industry Development Board
(CIDB).
On international matters, Cabinet was briefed on preparations
for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which will
take place in Durban, South Africa on 12 - 15 November 1999. The
meeting agreed on South Africa's contribution to the International
Development Association (IDA), a concessional lending window of the
World Bank. It also approved the signing of the Memorandum of
Agreement between SA and the United Nations pertaining to assistance
that South Africa may render to missions of the UN such as the
clearing of land-mines in Angola.
Cabinet approved the following appointments:
* Dipak Patel as Directors-General of the Department of
Transport;
* Members of the Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board for
1998/99:
* P Masemola as Chairperson and ZJ Sithole as full member of the
Council of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS);
* Upgrading of posts of Provincial Commissioner of the
Department of Correctional Services in Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern
Cape to the level of Deputy Director-General.
Cabinet reviewed the voter registration experience over the past
week-end and the challenges in the remaining provinces. While
acknowledging the independence and autonomy of the IEC, as well as
the special role of political parties in this regard, the meeting
emphasised the need for government to play a more active role in
encouraging eligible citizens to come out and register. The meeting
thanked the public servants who volunteered their services for this
purpose, and urged for more intensive mobilisation in preparation
for further registration periods in the new year.
Cabinet received a report on the monitoring of progress towards
making the country's computer infrastructure Year 2000 compatible.
While some progress has been made in this regard, Cabinet called on
public and private institutions to speed up their work in this
regard.
The meeting also received a report on the recent meeting of the
Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA) as well as preparations
for the 7th All Africa Games which will be hosted by the City of
Johannesburg in September 1999. Cabinet congratulated Minister Steve
Tshwete for his appointment as the President-in-Office of the SCSA.
02 December 1998
For further information contact:
Joel Netshitenzhe
082-900-0083
@ SA-UK
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
SA RECEIVES R115 MILLION IN GRANTS FROM THE UK
The United Kingdom on Wednesday made two donations totalling
about R115 million to South Africa for improving its tax collection
system and restructuring its forestry sector.
To this end, UK Minister for International Development George
Foulkes signed agreements in Pretoria with Deputy Finance Minister
Gill Marcus and Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Kader Asmal.
In a joint statement, Marcus and Foulkes said effective revenue
collection was critical to South Africa's economic growth.
Tax evasion resulted in a loss of hundreds of millions of rands
each month, more than R100 million on Value Added Tax (VAT) alone.
To this end, the UK Department for International Development
(DFID) has contributed about R20 million since 1996 to boost
expertise in the SA Revenue Service (Sars).
The agreement Foulkes signed on Wednesday provided Sars with a
further R90 million, the largest grant the DFID has made to South
Africa yet.
The money would be used for Sars' customs transformation
programme, launched in September. It is aimed at improving revenue
collection, the early detection of illegal trading activities,
protecting the public from harmful goods and materials, and meeting
its international obligations.
"The DFID will fund access to local and UK experience and will
provide advice on the development of tax policy," the statement
said.
"In addition, a component of this amount will be a grant to the
Department of Finance in order to develop its capacity in
formulating tax policy."
The agreement that Foulkes and Asmal signed provides for a UK
grant of about R25 million for the restructuring of forestry
management in South Africa's former homelands.
Asmal expressed gratitude for the grant, saying the homelands
forests were a burden on the department's budget.
The money would be used to help transfer the management of
commercial forests to the private sector.
The government was currently engaged in negotiations with
labour unions and the private sector in an effort to minimise job
losses as a result of this transfer.
Asmal said an important aim of the restructuring was poverty
alleviation by increasing rural communities' access to forest
benefits.
Foulkes said the grant was the culmination of numerous
discussions between the two countries.
"We are very keen to see that the forests that are a burden to
you at the moment become an asset, especially in the area of job
creation."
The latest grant brings to about R67 million the total amount
of money made available to the South African forestry sector by the
DFID since 1995.
Foulkes said co-operation between South Africa and the UK had
improved greatly over the past few months.
The DFID's budget for co-operation with South Africa in the
current financial year was about R230 million, expected to increase
to about R275 million annually for the next three years.
@ ACOPS
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
AFRICAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS MEET ON DEVELOPMENT
About 30 African environment ministers are to meet in Cape Town
on Thursday and Friday to approve an agreement expected to pave the
way for a new approach to development on the continent south of the
Sahara.
A draft of the agreement, titled the Cape Town Declaration, was
hammered out in the city this week by representatives of
governments, donor countries, non-governmental organisations and
agencies, including the United Nations Environment Programme
(Unep).
The declaration will commit signatories to renewed co-operation
within the framework of two largely moribund conventions on the
protection of the subcontinent's marine resources.
It will set the wheels in motion for the Organisation of
African Unity to establish a sub-Saharan commission on sustainable
development, similar to commissions which already exist for the
Mediterranean and the west Indian Ocean.
It will also commit the signatories to supporting a
"partnership conference" involving African countries, donors, NGOs
and the private sector in the year 2000, probably in Abidjan.
Deputy Environment Minister Peter Mokaba on Wednesday said the
declaration would help change the donor-client relationship to one
of partnership.
He said African countries would go to the partnership
conference asking for assistance for development projects to which
they themselves had already committed resources.
"Countries should begin to explore their own capacities to do
things and apply that capacity, so when one goes out to ask for
assistance it complements your own work," he said.
"We now want to stand up and walk on our own."
A senior Unep official, Halifa Drammeh, said the decision to
revitalise the two marine conventions, signed in Abidjan in 1981
and Nairobi in 1985, could help solve Africa's economic woes.
He said it had been estimated that a third of the global gross
domestic product came from the sea, and proper use of marine
resources could bring in "quite an amount" for Africa.
It could also mean food security, and promote national
development goals.
He said the declaration represented a new effort to look at
development on the subcontinent from a regional perspective.
Thursday's meeting, which will be held in Parliament, is
scheduled to be opened by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki. UN
secretary general Kofi Annan may attend.
@ COURT-BOESAK
CAPE TOWN December 2 1998 Sapa
BOESAK DEFENCE, PROSECUTION CLASH OVER POSTPONEMENT CALL
The prosecution and defence teams in the trial of Allan Boesak
clashed on Wednesday over a State application for a postponement to
Monday for an auditor to be subpoenaed.
Judge John Foxcroft refused the application but permitted
prosecutor JC Gerber an early afternoon postponement to Thursday.
Mike Maritz, leading the defence, told the court he objected to
a postponement, especially since defence funds were running out.
Boesak has pleaded not guilty in the Cape High Court to fraud
and theft from the Foundation for Peace and Justice totalling R9
million, of which he is alleged to have taken R1,1 million for
himself.
Gerber told the court he had to subpoena the auditor, and
needed reasonable time to give effect to the order. The judge said
the postponement was reasonable.
"There may not be funds for next week, so if the case is
postponed until Monday we may find ourselves with the witness in
question testifying, but the defence absent due to lack of funds,"
Foxcroft said.
Gerber said he had tried since Monday to locate the witness. On
Tuesday he learnt the man was a lecturer at a local university and
spoke to him that night, but later lost track of him.
Gerber said technical verification of auditing documents before
the court were of utmost importance. The judge said he accepted
this, but it was also important to conclude the case.
Maritz said Gerber must have known for some time he needed the
witness to testify. There was no explanation for him trying track
him down so late.
"Only now, at the death of the State's case against Boesak,
were we told that an extra witness would be needed to verify
auditing documents presently before the court," Maritz said.
Numerous postponements at the State's request affected Boesak,
who had a constitutional right to a speedy conclusion of his trial,
said Maritz.
"I did at first ask for the last one-week postponement myself
(to argue a matter before the Constitutional Court), but that was
only because the State had run out of witnesses."
Maritz said Boesak was unable to hold down any form of
employment while he was an accused, and could not resume a normal
life until the trial ended.
The defence funds had run out before, and would run out again
by the end of the week.
"This may not mean anything to the State but it has dramatic
consequences for the accused, who will be severely prejudiced."
Maritz again raised the issue of American singer Paul Simon
testifying.
The court on Monday rejected a State application for Simon to
testify via satellite. Simon, a foreign donor to the FPJ, has
refused to come to South Africa to testify.
"That was on Monday - now the State needs further time, to the
detriment of the accused, to persuade Simon to come to court,
especially as he has already said he does not wish to come to
testify in the matter."
The trial continues on Thursday.
@ REGISTER-SANDF
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
NYANDA THANKS SOLDIERS FOR HELP WITH VOTER REGISTRATION
SA National Defence Force chief General Siphiwe Nyanda on
Wednesday thanked soldiers who assisted with voter registration in
five provinces last weekend, assuring them they would receive two
days' special leave for their efforts.
"I was proud to see and hear of our soldiers' discipline,
efficiency and enthusiasm in their endeavours to ensure the success
of the first registration of voters," he said in a statement in
Pretoria.
"To every man and woman, and there were some 8300 of them, who
were prepared to make personal sacrifices over the past week, I
want to extend my sincere appreciation.
"You provided indisputable evidence that our soldiers are
prepared to serve when and where they are required to do so."
Nyanda also expressed his appreciation to about 10300 soldiers
who would assist with the registration process in the remaining
four provinces this weekend.
Soldiers who worked on Saturday and Sunday for registration
purposes would also be granted two days' special leave, he said.
@ ANC VOTER REGISTRATION PROGRAMME
Issued by: African National Congress
Millions of South Africans who ordinarily reside in
KwaZulu-Natal will go to voter registration stations in their
districts on 03- 05 December 1998 to register on the voter's roll.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday leaders of the ANC, including
Deputy President, Jacob Zuma and Provincial Chairperson, Sbusiso
Ndebele will lead millions of South Africans residing in this
province to the various registration centres to register and ensure
that their names appear on the voter's roll.
ANC leaders will register as follows:
Thursday, 03 December
Sbusiso Ndebele, ANC Provincial Chairperson
Venue: Berea West Senior Primary School, 7 Trent Place,
Westville
Time: 07h00
Jacob Zuma, ANC Deputy President
Venue: Durban City Hall
Time: 10h00
Issued by: ANC KwaZulu-Natal Department of Information and Publicity
02 December 1998
Contact Mlungisi Ndhlela, ANC Provincial Media Officer.
@ SA-INDIA
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
THIRD MEETING OF SA-INDIA COMMISSION
The third meeting of the Indo-South African Joint Commission is
to be held in Pretoria on Friday and Saturday, the Indian High
Commission in Pretoria said in a statement on Wednesday.
The meeting would be chaired by Indian Minister of State for
External Affairs Vasundhara Raje and South African Deputy Foreign
Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad, the statement said.
Raje would be accompanied by an eight-member delegation
representing the trade, commerce, petroleum, energy, mining and
tourism sectors.
The statement said the commission's last meeting was held in
New Delhi in December 1996, during a visit to India by Deputy
President Thabo Mbeki.
During this week's meeting, delegates will review the
implementation of decisions taken at the last session.
An air services agreement is to be signed, and a number of new
accords are to be discussed. To date the two countries have signed
13 bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding.
"The joint commission will cover the entire range of bilateral
political and economic co-operation and co-operation in
multilateral fora," the statement said.
Government and industry representatives will also explore trade
and investment opportunities at the meeting.
A press conference would be held in Pretoria on Saturday after
the commission meeting, the statement said.
@ COURT-RICHMOND
PIETERMARITZBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
SAPU WITHDRAWS APPLICATION TO GET RICHMOND STATION REOPENED
The South African Police Union on Wednesday withdrew their
application in the Pietermaritzburg High Court to have the Richmond
police station reopened.
National police commissioner George Fivaz ordered the closure
of the station in July after a spate of attacks in the volatile
KwaZulu-Natal midlands area which left at least 48 people dead.
Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Henry Budhram said:
"Sapu has by consent withdrawn the application. In the interest of
continuing a good relationship the SAPS agreed that each party bear
its own costs."
He said most members who worked at the station voluntary left
for other stations while others took severance packages.
"Management is satisfied that the initial decision to close the
station was procedurally correct."
Since the station's closure and the deployment of the police's
national intervention unit and the army, no further violence was
reported. Budhram repeated the management's statement that
policemen at Richmond station were not involved in the violence.
Earlier in the day Fivaz said the situation in Richmond was
being evaluated with a view to possibly reopening the police
station.
He said in a statement that efforts to combat crime in the
area, which included the decision to close down the police station,
had yielded positive results.
@ COMPETITIONBOARD
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
ERWIN ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF COMPETITION BOARD CHAIRMAN
Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin on Wednesday accepted
the resignation of Dr Pierre Brooks as chairman of the competition
board.
Brooks will quit his post at the end of the year.
Erwin appointed Dave Lewis as interim chairman.
The Department of Trade and Industry thanked Brooks for his
dedication, loyalty and hard work, the statement said.
@ JUSTICE-OMAR
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
TRAINING WILL ENSURE IMPARTIALITY OF LAY ASSESSORS: OMAR
Training would help ensure the impartiality of lay assessors in
magistrate's courts, Justice Minister Dullah Omar said on
Wednesday.
"I recognise that lay assessors can display partiality, but it
need not be so," he told the annual meeting of lay assessors in
Port Elizabeth.
Omar said in a speech prepared for delivery he did not believe
the independence of South Africa's courts would be undermined by
the use of lay assessors, since an independent judiciary was
entrenched in the Constitution.
"The fact of the matter is that judges and magistrates
themselves have shown in the past that justice can be dispensed in
a very unfair manner."
Measures should be taken to ensure that the assessor system
helped to build the independence and impartiality of the courts.
This included extending the assessor training programme to all
courts, said Omar.
In terms of the Magistrate's Courts Amendment Act passed
earlier this year, two assessors must sit with a magistrate in a
trial involving crimes such as murder, rape, aggravated robbery,
serious assault, and indecent assault.
Omar said the possible use of lay assessors as justices of
peace and as magistrates in small claims courts should be
considered.
@ COURT-EIKENHOF
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
BAIL APPLICATION BY EIKENHOF THREE NEXT THURSDAY
A bail application by the three men convicted in 1994 of
murdering three people at Eikenhof, south of Johannesburg, will
only serve before the Pretoria High Court next Thursday following
representations made to the national director of prosecutions.
The application was on Wednesday postponed by agreement between
counsel for the three and the state.
A spokesman for the national director of prosecutions did not
want to elaborate on the nature of the representations or by whom
it was made, and said a press statement would be issued about the
case at a later stage.
Siphiwe James Bholo, 29, Sipho Samuel Gavin, 27, and Boy Titi
Ndweni, 22, were in 1994 convicted of murdering Zandra Mitchley,
her son Shaun Nel, 14, and Clare Silberbauer, 13.
Bholo and Gavin were sentenced to death, but their sentences
were later commuted to life imprisonment. Ndweni was effectively
jailed for 17 years. Advocate David Soggott SC, appearing for the
three African National Congress cadres, earlier this year submitted
that since their conviction, members of the Azanian People's
Liberation Army had admitted being responsible for the murders.
In August, counsel for the three told the court there was
irrefutable proof that the prosecution had failed to disclose
relevant evidence.
It was also submitted on behalf of the three that members of
the investigating team had been instrumental in causing false
evidence to be placed before the court which convicted the three.
The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein last month granted
the three men leave to appeal against their convictions and
sentences and ordered that leave to produce further evidence should
be sought from the court that hears the appeals.
No date has yet been set for the hearing.
@ CABINET
PRETORIA December 2 1998 Sapa
GOVT SHOULD PLAY MORE ACTIVE REGISTRATION ROLE: CABINET
The government needed to play a more active role in encouraging
eligible citizens to register, the cabinet said on Wednesday at its
last meeting of the year.
It also acknowledged the independence and autonomy of the
Independent Electoral Commission and the role of political parties.
The cabinet urged more intensive mobilisation of civil servant
volunteers for further registrations in the New Year.
It approved the appointments of Dipak Patel as Department of
Transport director-general, and upgrading the posts of correctional
services provincial commissioner in Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern
Cape to deputy director-general.
After looking at the legislative programme for parliament's
last sitting early next year before the general election, the
cabinet resolved to process Bills that were urgent and simple
enough to be fitted into the short session.
It approved the following:
- Public Investment Commissioners Act amendments, including
one allowing investments promoting social responsibility and
infrastructure development;
- the Criminal Procedure Second Amendment Bill to repeal
provisions under which certain sentences of magistrates' courts
were subject to review by a high court judge;
- the Public Service Amendment Bill, which allowed heads of
departments and organisational bodies to be appointed by the
president and premiers, among others, so public servants could be
redeployed on a government-wide basis;
- the White Paper on energy policy, subject to
inter-ministerial consultation;
- publication of the White Paper on construction industry
development, including a Construction Industry Development Board,
and
- the Prevention of Organised Crime Bill to rectify textual
errors identified at its second reading in the last parliamentary
session.
The cabinet was briefed on preparations for the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting in Durban from November 12 to 15 next
year.
A report on the recent Council for Sport in Africa meeting was
also received, and on the preparations for the 7th All-Africa Games
being hosted by Johannesburg in September next year.
It approved the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between SA
and the United Nations concerning possible SA assistance to UN
missions, such as the clearing of landmines in Angola.
Some progress had been made towards making the country's
computer infrastructure Year 2000-compatible, but public and
private institutions needed to speed up this work, the Cabinet said
after receiving a report on the issue.
@ FESTIVE TV SHOCKER FOR MOTORISTS
Issued by: Sasani Communications
DOT'S NEW ARRIVE ALIVE TV ADS NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED
Pretoria, Thursday, 3 December 1998)
Motorists and festive season couch-potatoes, hold onto your
seats. From tonight, the Department of Transport starts screening
its new series of Arrive Alive road safety advertisements. And- to
put it gently - there will be no punches pulled.
In the first phase two new ads will be flighted. Both are set in
and around the Groote Schuur Hospital Trauma Unit.
One focuses graphically on the consequence of crashing at speed.
The other highlights the campaign's stepped up enforcement drive,
emphasising the intensity of the campaign which drivers can expect
to run into over the holiday period and beyond. It focuses on
drinking and driving, the use of breathalysers as evidence in court
and the personal tragedies, which often follow from drinking and
driving - even from one drink over the limit. The TV ads will be
matched by radio ads on a wide range of stations. Expect to be
shocked and disturbed.
As Minister Maharaj said this morning: "We took a very careful
and conscious decision to hit hard with these ads. They do not make
for pleasant viewing. But we think they achieve what we wanted them
to achieve. That is, to shock people rigid and make them stop and
think. What really happens to the human body in a vehicle crash? How
do you live with the consequences of your actions after a
drink-drive crash?"
Maharaj says that the decision to go down this particular route
with the new ads was prompted by two motives. Firstly, the need to
reinforce the drink-driving message. "It began to take root last
year, and I know we have massive popular support for this year's
crackdown, which will feature 24-hour road-blocks and the new
evidentiary breathalyser. But we all need the reality reminder that
the ad gives; drinking and driving wrecks lives."
The second motive was to wake South African drivers up to the
fragility of the human body under the impact of a road crash. Says
Maharaj: "For all our efforts, we have not yet succeeded in
convincing any of our drivers that speed - with or without alcohol -
is the main killer on our roads. We need to challenge people's
illusions of control and invulnerability and show them what really
happens in a crash. Our speed ad will leave them in no doubt
whatsoever."
The first screenings are tonight in the Oprah slot on E-TV and
in the break in The Simpsons programme on M-Net as well as on SABC
TV. Be prepared.
Issued on behalf of: Department of Transport
Contact: Adrian Crewe
Telephone: 082 807 5686
Issued by: Sasani Communications
Contact: Desiree Pooe
Telephone: 011 784 2598
@ DISABILTY-MOLEKETI
JOHANNESBURG December 2 1998 Sapa
DISABILITY GRANTS CREATING DEPENDENCY: FRASER-MOLEKETI
Welfare Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi on Wednesday said
her department intended reviewing disability grants to reduce a
dependency syndrome that was creeping into South Africa's disabled
community.
In a statement to mark the International Day of People with
Disabilities on Thursday, Fraser-Moleketi said more than 90 percent
of government funding earmarked for the disabled was used to pay
out the grants.
She said last year alone, R4 billion in grants was paid to the
country's five million disabled people.
She said while there were limited opportunities for disabled
people on the job market, the grants given by her department erased
their incentives to find employment.
"Tough decisions must be made about eligibility and
alternatives to the disability grant. Legislation that addresses
societal barriers to full participation by the disabled is needed.
"New funding schemes must be adopted to encourage
non-governmental organisations to provide services that meet
national goals," Fraser-Moleketi said.
"The Department of Welfare is finalising a new funding policy
that will move away from the subsidy arrangement to more flexible
forms of financing services."
The minister said an amount of R8 million was being set aside
for pilot projects that would promote the economic empowerment of
disabled people.
Added to this, her department would make available R12 million
from the Poverty Alleviation Fund for projects that promote the
transformation of income-generating projects facilitated by NGOs.
Meanwhile the SA Human Rights Commission said it would have an
"Accessibility Campaign" on Thursday to mark the International Day
of People with Disabilities.
The SAHRC said its commissioners would conduct random
inspections of various buildings in Johannesburg and Pretoria to
determine whether they were accessible to disabled people.
@ REGISTER-ECAPE
EAST LONDON December 2 1998 Sapa
BAD WEATHER COULD COMPLICATE ECAPE REGISTRATION: IEC
Independent Electoral Commission Eastern Cape officer Bongani
Fincas on Wednesday said he envisaged some problems with voter
registration in rural areas.
"The rain could hamper eligible voters and IEC staff from
reaching certain registration stations," Finca said at a news
conference in East London.
Rain had already hampered efforts by military helicopters to
deliver registration materials in the Transkei, he said.
"The army informed the IEC on Wednesday that helicopters could
not be flown into the rural areas due to prevailing bad weather. A
number of roads in the Transkei are impassable."
Finca said registration stations at Buje, Kokodo and Tyeni near
Port St Johns would not open if the rain continued.
But, he said, the army would be able to use vehicles to ferry
equipment to certain areas.
Finca and commission vice-chairwoman Brigalia Bam were
optimistic that the commission was ready to register the majority
of voters.
"The enthusiasm demonstrated by the volunteering public and
civil servants is greatly appreciated by the IEC. Most Eastern Cape
mayors have offered to set an example by being first to register,"
Finca said.
Bam said she was impressed by the work done by the IEC staff
and volunteers.
"I am encouraged by the response of people who are prepared to
work without remuneration. They have demonstrated their interest in
South Africa's young democracy," she said.
The SANDF said 1585 soldiers would be deployed in the Eastern
Cape to assist with the three-day registration.
SANDF spokesman Colonel Johann Engelbrecht said army personnel
would be deployed in 22 towns, including East London, Port
Elizabeth, Umtata and Tsolo.
@ NZEALAND-SHILOWA
WELLINGTON December 2 1998 Sapa-NZPA
UNION MOVEMENT MUST RID ITSELF OF RHETORIC: SHILOWA
The union movement needed to rid itself of rhetoric and dogma in
order to have some influence, Council of South African Trade Unions
general secretary Sam Shilowa said yesterday.
"Unions are characterised by dogma and rhetoric in the main, and
all in the name of ideology," he told delegates at the Public
Service Association's two-day national conference in Wellington,
the Dominion reported today.
"I believe in ideology, but I also believe in theory and practice
and less in dogma and rhetoric." Making the opening speech, Mr
Shilowa said unions needed to engage with the Government so they
could put forward their views and clear alternative proposals.
Unions should also move away from narrow economism and become
involved in social and political situations.
"In other words dealing with bread and butter issues of our
members but placing these in a broad social, political and economic
context," he said.
While the New Zealand trade union movement has been hit with a
declining membership, Mr Shilowa heads a union that has experienced
strong growth. Formed in 1995 it now has more than two million
members.
He said the motto of a strategic union movement should be=20
"engagement, engagement and engagement".
A weak trade union movement could not engage and play an
influential role, he said.
"You will always only resort to power because that's the best
weapon you have if you can't engage. Power is important but it isn't
the only weapon at the disposal of the labour movement.
Within a strong union movement use of power should not be the
starting point.
"For me what is important is not leading your troops to battle
... but keeping your troops intact so your strength is never=20
weakened."
A strong public sector union was an important component of a
union movement. To be effective, a public-sector union needed to be
constructive even when it did not agree with a policy, so that it
could make alternative proposals. Mr Shilowa said unions also faced
other challenges which they needed to respond to more broadly.
"All over the world we now don't have workers as we knew them
before. There are new forces of production in place."
This had meant lots more contract workers and people who worked
from home, and increasing casualisation.
Another challenge for unions was to come to terms with the
economic trends of labour market flexibility and privatisation.
Labour Party leader Helen Clark will speak at the conference
today before it ends with the PSA drawing up its strategy for the
general election and next year.
@ ANGOLA-LANDMINES
LUANDA, Angola December 2 1998 Sapa-AP
ANGOLA'S GOVERNMENT, FORMER REBELS ACCUSED OF PLANTING NEW
MINES
Angola's government and the former rebel group UNITA have been
planting new land mines, causing a sharp rise in casualties,
several non-governmental organizations said Wednesday.
In a letter addressed to both sides, four organizations said 18
people had died and 36 were wounded in explosions during the past
two months in the eastern province of Moxico, about 560 miles (900
kilometers) southeast of the capital, Luanda.
The letter sent by the Jesuit Refugee Service, Mines Advisory
Group, Medico International and Vietnam Veterans of America
Foundation said the total number of mine victims this year is 91,
including 40 soldiers.
The groups added that the toll hadn't been so high since 1994,
when a U.N.-brokered peace deal was signed to end a two-decade-long
civil war.
A recent surge in tension between the government and UNITA has
triggered fears that the country is sliding back to war.
Angola is thought to have between 9 million and 20 million
mines concealed in its soil, making it one of the world's most
mined countries.
@ ANC GEARS UP FOR REGISTRATION IN WESTERN CAPE
Issued by: African National Congress
Anc provincial leader Ebrahim Rasool said today that the ANC was
ready for the three day registration process;
"There is both a sense of determination and enthusiasm in ANC
ranks on the eve of registration.
"Determination to ensure that our members and supporters
register in their numbers as the first step towards ending NP rule
in 1999.
"Enthusiasm at the prospect that our registration readiness will
contribute to an ANC led government in the Western Cape in 1999.
"Today the 3rd December marks the first step0 in our campaign to
win the Western Cape.
"It is clear that the tide is turning towards the ANC in our
province.
"Not only have we won the last 6 by-elections from the NP,
including the former NP strongholds of s16 (Pelican Park/Lotus
River) and Leeugamka, but increasing numbers of NP councilors and
grassroots activists in the coloured community are moving to the
ANC.
"At the same time it is clear that we are consolidating our
support in the African townships of the Western Cape.
"We also know that a number of DP supporters are growing
increasingly uncomfortable with the alliance with the NP and the
DP's daily lurch to the right.
"The ANC has assisted in recruiting over 1000 volunteers to help
the IEC with the registration process. We want to thank them and all
civil servants, members of the SANDF, and local government staff who
have come forward. The doomsday predictions of the NP will not come
to pass, despite their efforts to project a crisis.
"Our 200 branch elections teams have each set up a branch
operation centre that will work with our ten regional operation
centres from Vredendal in the West to George in the East. ANC party
agents will monitor practically every registration station and
submit reports to the provincial operation centre via the local and
regional operation centres.
"Every single Western Cape ANC MP, our MPL's, alliance
provincial and regional leaders as well as over 350 ANC councilors
have been deployed throughout the Western Cape to work with the
regional election teams.
"In addition Luthuli House has deployed Philip Dexter, Tony
Yengeni, Kader Asmal, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Phumzile Mlambo-
Ngcuka, Sam Shilowa, Brigitte Mabandla, Frene Ginwala, Membathisi
Shephard Mdladlana and Dullah Omar to assist in our province. This
is a clear indication that the ANC at a national level is investing
in the Western Cape.
"This is the winning team.
"We have learned lessons from the Northern Provinces and we have
also taken steps to ensure the smooth running of the process in our
province.
"It is a pity that the Western Cape government has displayed no
real commitment to the recruitment of volunteers. The constant
"blame and complain" syndrome has become a characteristic of NP rule
in this province.
"We are confident that our members and supporters will go to the
registration stations over the next three days. They know that this
is the first step to ending NP rule in the Western Cape" added Mr
Rasool.
Wednesday 2nd December 1998
Registration rally at the KTC clinic, KTC, tonight at 19h00.
Tony Yengeni ANC MP and newly appointed Chief Whip, Labour
Minister Membathisi Mdladlana and ANC Women's League Chairperson
Nomatyala Hangana to speak.
Thursday 3rd December 1998
Provincial Chairpersons of the ANC, the leagues and provincial
alliance partners will register today and will then be deployed to
their respective constituencies where they will visit voting
stations. The following leaders will register.
1. ANC provincial chairperson Ebrahim Rasool will register at
08h00 at the Oude Molen Technical High School, Jan Smuts Drive,
Pinelands
2. Leonard Ramatlakane, SACP Western Cape Chairperson and former
MEC for Transport will register at 09h00 at the Montevista Primary
School, Montevista.
3. Randy Pieterse COSATU provincial chairperson will register at
10h00 at Vorentoe Primary School, Christian Street, Ravensmead.
4. Roseberry Sonto, SANCO Western Cape Chairperson and ANC chief
whip in the Provincial Legislature will register 4 at 09h00, at the
Monte Vista Primary School, Monte Vista
5. Weve Simelela, chairperson of the ANC Youth League in the
Western Cape will register at Langa High at 11h00.
* A registration parade in Phillipi will be led by Tony Yengeni
MP and will start at 10h00 from the constituency office and proceed
to various registration stations in the area.
3. Friday 4th December 1998
Benny Mcarthy's father will register with the ANC MPL Russel
Mcgregor at 10h00 at the Heathfield Primary School. Mr Mcarthy is a
member of the Heathfield ANC branch.
4. Saturday 5th December 1998
Frene Ginwala, Kader Asmal and Dullah Omar will all register on
Sunday. Details to be provided.
Issued by ANC Western Cape, Further details from Cameron Dugmore at
082 894 7553
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
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| Dept Information & Publicity |
| PO Box 16469 Tel: (+27 21) 262740 |
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| Cape Town Internet: in...@anc.org.za |
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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER 1998
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
publication or broadcast.
To unsubscribe from the ANC Daily News Briefing mailing list send a
message to 'list...@wn.apc.org'. In the body of your message put
'unsubscribe ancnews'.
@ ACOPS-MBEKI
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
SOUTH AFRICA TO SIGN MARINE CONVENTIONS
South Africa is to become a signatory to two African
conventions aimed at protecting the continent's coastal and marine
resources, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki announced in Cape Town on
Thursday.
He told delegates to a conference on the protection and
development of these resources that Parliament would be asked to
finalise accession early next year.
The 1981 Abidjan and the 1985 Nairobi conventions have been
poorly supported by the countries that have already signed them.
One of the aims of this week's conference has been to revitalise
them and muster stronger political support for their
implementation.
Mbeki said that although coastal and marine areas were probably
one of the most valuable economic assets of those African countries
with coastlines, the pressure on these resources was very high and
often led to their serious degradation.
"There is agreement among us that we need to co-operate among
ourselves as the countries of sub-Saharan Africa the better to be
able to meet these common challenges," he said.
"Our own government is ready to contribute in whatever manner
necessary... to ensure that the proposals of this conference reach
the decision-making structures of Africa for proper consideration."
Representatives of about 30 African governments at the
conference, which ends on Friday, are expected to approve an
agreement outlining a new approach to development in the continent
south of the Sahara.
The agreement will commit signatories to renewed co-operation
within the framework of the Abidjan and Nairobi conventions, and
set the wheels in motion for establishment of a sub-Saharan
commission on sustainable development.
It will also commit the signatories to supporting a
"partnership conference" involving African countries, donors, NGOs
and the private sector in the year 2000, probably in Abidjan.
@ ACOPS-JORDAN
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
JORDAN ATTACKS UNPRINCIPLED PURSUIT OF PROFIT BY AFRICAN ELITE
Africa had to guard against the unprincipled and unregulated
pursuit of private profit by the continent's elite, Environmental
Affairs Minister Pallo Jordan said on Thursday.
The rationale offered for this pursuit was often the highly
commendable goal of economic development, he told representatives
of about 30 African countries at a Cape Town conference on the
development and protection of the coastal and marine environment in
sub-Saharan Africa.
However, development that resulted in untold violence to the
natural environment and the African people was ultimately
self-defeating.
Jordan said he could not overemphasise the need for the
continent to speak with one voice on environmental issues.
Organisation of African Unity assistant secretary general,
Ahmed Hagag, said some quarters maintained that marine management
had nothing to do with politics. Ideally this should be so, but
unfortunately the reality was different.
Hagag said there was continuous plundering of African resources
by non-Africans.
An example of this was in Somalia, where huge foreign fishing
fleets were using "the most crude methods" to destroy one of the
richest fishing areas of the world.
"When we approach the governments of the countries these fleets
are coming from, they say they have no control over them since they
are coming from the private sector. We are not convinced."
He said the OAU expected the Cape Town conference would send a
strong message to the world that Africa would no longer tolerate
this plundering of its wealth, and would co-operate closely to end
it.
@ REGISTER-VANSCHALKWYK
CAPE TOWN Dec 3 Sap
NP LEADER VAN SCHALKWYK REGISTERS
Twenty-five school children vigorously waved miniature South
African flags and in unison shouted "welkom Oom" (welcome uncle) as
National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk arrived at the
Welgemoed primary school in Cape Town on Thursday to register as a
voter.
The children, from the Kenridge pre-primary school, held a
poster of Van Schalkwyk aloft as he and his wife Suzette passed
through a guard of honour to the registration table.
Van Schalkwyk said the registration process in the Western Cape
was going reasonably well.
"There are problems but it seems as if the Independent
Electoral Commission has done its homework in this province. News
from the other three provinces are not as encouraging," he said.
According to reports he had received from Kwazulu-Natal, the
registration process was in total disarray and could be delayed
until Friday.
Van Schalkwyk said he would fly there on Friday to gain first
hand information.
He said the Free State was also experiencing problems, and
while the process was going reasonably well in urban areas of the
Eastern Cape there was chaos in the former Transkei.
Van Schalkwyk said he was more convinced than ever that the NP
should continue with its court application to ensure all identity
documents, and not just bar-coded ones, could be used to register.
"But we encourage voters to apply for their new ID documents as
we do not know how the court will rule."
Western Cape African National Congress leader Ebrahim Rasool
registered in Pinelands early on Thursday and said the party which
won the registration would also win the election.
Asked to comment Van Schalkwyk said Rasool was not a "credible
politician" and said his forecasts in both 1994 and 1996 were way
off target.
He conceded the ANC could be ahead in the Western and Northern
Cape, but only because more of its voters had the required ID
documents.
Dr Quarta du Toit of the NP complained that all correspondence
and posters used by the IEC were printed only in English.
She said the IEC also switched registration venues at the last
moment which added to the confusion as many people wanting to
register could not find the proper venues.
It has been reported from Somerset West that voters who had
registered took over a number of registrations when volunteer
workers did not arrive.
At Macassar, registration came to a halt when volunteers packed
up and left after they found out they would not be remunerated for
their work.
In Khayelitsha, voter registration at one station was suspended
after a howling south-easter up-ended a tent used by the IEC.
@ REGISTER-RICHMOND
RICHMOND December 3 1998 Sapa
SLOW START TO REGISTRATION IN RICHMOND AFTER HEAVY RAIN
Voter registration in Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal began slowly
when offices opened on Thursday morning after a heavy downpour made
many of the stations inaccessible.
However, by mid-morning a trickle of people began arriving at
the six registration stations in the midlands town.
The registering officer for the area, Graham Grenfell, said
apart from a few minor hitches, registration was going smoothly.
He said they had experienced a few problems with potential
voters who had arrived from outlying areas and tried to register in
Richmond but found they were unable to do so.
They were then directed to the relevant registration offices.
He reported that the main station at the Agricultural Hall in
Richmond had processes about 120 registrations in the first hour.
The other stations at Magoda and Ndaleni outside the town had
been slower but he attributed this to the weather rather than a
reluctance to register.
Richmond has been quiet in recent months following two years of
violence that caused scores of deaths.
It is also the support base of the United Democratic Movement's
KwaZulu-Natal leader Sifiso Nkabinde.
The Richmond area is expected to be hotly contested between
supporters of the UDM and African National Congress supporters in
next year's elections.
However Grenfell said no incidents of violence or intimdation
were reported since the registration of voters began on Thursday
morning.
The heavy rain also played havoc with the registration of
voters in many other Midlands towns.
In nearby Ixopo and in the Mooi River area, reports have been
received of farmers transporting their staff to registration
offices on trailers drawn by tractors.
The heavy rains has made many farm roads inaccessible by normal
vehicles.
Although the start to the registration of voters has been slow
Independent Electoral Commission officials at the stations
predicted that the flow will pick up as the weather clears and the
word spreads that the process is a relatively simple one.
@ DRCONGO-REBELS
KAMPALA December 3 1998 Sapa-AFP
DR CONGO REBEL FACTION CLAIMS CAPTURE OF TRADING CENTRE
The leader of a rebel faction in the Democratic Rupublic of
Congo (DRC) claimed Thursday that it had captured a trading centre
near the northern town of Lisala.
Jean-Pierre Bemba told AFP by satellite telephone that his
fighters seized Mindembo trading centre, 50 kilometres (30 miles)
east of Lisala, from government troops on Wednesday.
"We killed two (loyalist soldiers) and got a lot of equipment,"
said Bemba, who said he was speaking from Mindembo.
"The (loyalist) soldiers put the population in front of them
which made it difficult. But we made an ambush and succeeded in
getting Mindembo," he added.
Bemba, a 39-year-old millionaire businessman, late last month
said his forces had captured the Congo River port town of Bumba and
were heading west along the road to Lisala.
He says his rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of
Congo, was allied to the main rebel group, the Congolese Rally for
Democracy (RCD).
Meanwhile, a Ugandan govenrment official confirmed late
Wednesday that RCD leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba was in Uganda for
a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni.
The official said that Wamba dia Wamba had come for a briefing
on the Paris ceasefire agreement.
Seven countries involved in the DRC war agreed in Paris last
weekend to an immediate truce to be formalised by mid-December.
Leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) itself, its
allies Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe, and its foes Rwanda and
Uganda, made the commitments in principle during meetings called by
UN chief Kofi Annan on the fringes of a summit of 49 African
countries hosted by French President Jacques Chirac.
The rebels, excluded from the talks, rejected the ceasefire.
@ ZIM-LABOUR
HARARE December 3 1998 Sapa-AFP
ZIMBABWEAN RIGHTS LAWYERS CONDEMN STRIKE BAN
A group of human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe on Thursday
condemned the ban on strikes imposed by President Robert Mugabe in
a bid to curtail mass protest actions against his government.
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) also want the new
regulation slapped on the country at the weekend under special
presidential powers to be withdrawn.
ZLHR said in a statement that it was "deeply" ironic that the
Zimbabwe government chose to attack fundamental human rights in the
country as the world approached the 50th anniversary of the
universal declaration of human rights.
It warned that the government's use of "outrageous laws and
penalities" would force people to resort to less passive but not
necessarily peaceful means of protest.
"By attempting to outlaw the rights of citizens to campaign
peacefully against unjust government acts, omissions or laws, the
authorities are doing nothing less than provoking the people to use
less passive means of objection, which may not necessarily be
peaceful," the lawyers said.
The lawyers called for the immediate withdrawal of the
"pernicious" regulations, and urged Zimbabweans to take seriously
the issue of their human rights "and to continue to struggle by all
constitutional means for a genuine democracy in a country which is
fast returning to totalitarianism and rule by presidential decree".
On Saturday, Mugabe decreed a temporary ban preventing trade
unions and employers organisations from inciting or participating
in collective mass strikes to protest government policies.
His move came against a background of a series of social and
labour protests staged this year over economic policies and
hardship.
@ REGISTER-POLITICIANS
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
POLITICKING PICKS UP PACE WITH VOTER REGISTRATION
Political parties jockeyed to get the maximum political mileage
on Thursday as the second voter registration drive for next year's
election got under way.
The National Party's big drawcard was its leader Martinus van
Schalkwyk, who registered at the Welgemoed primary school in Cape
Town.
About 25 school children were assembled to welcome him, and
waved miniature South African flags and in unison shouted "welkom
Oom" (welcome uncle) as he arrived.
Van Schalkwyk said he was more convinced than ever that the NP
should continue with its court application to ensure all identity
documents, and not just bar-coded ones, could be used to register.
"But we encourage voters to apply for their new ID documents as
we do not know how the court will rule."
The African National Congress sent out detailed lists of where
all its senior leaders, and a number of junior ones, would be
registering.
Its Western Cape leader Ebrahim Rasool said Thursday marked the
first step in his party's bid to win the province from the NP.
"It is clear that the tide is turning towards the ANC in our
province," he said in a statement.
Rasool registered in Pinelands early on Thursday and said the
party which won the registration would also win the election.
Asked to comment, Van Schalkwyk said Rasool was not a "credible
politician" and his forecasts in both 1994 and 1996 were way off
target.
He conceded the ANC could be ahead in the Western and Northern
Cape, but only because more of its voters had the required ID
documents.
Western Cape premier Gerald Morkel registered at the Harmony
primary school in Steenberg, where he said he was not entirely
satisfied with the way the registration process was going.
He said people should look at registering and voting as putting
money in the bank.
"You lend your vote to the party of your choice and if that
party does not perform you take back your vote."
Most of the Democratic Party's senior leaders registered in
Gauteng last week, and its well-oiled media machine was
conspicuously quiet on Thursday.
Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi is due to
register on Friday in KwaZulu-Natal.
United Democratic Movement national secretary Sifiso Nkabinde
registered in Richmond on Thursday morning.
He told Sapa he had to wait for more than an hour to register
after a scanner jammed. He said the Independent Electoral
Commission had failed to ensure there were back-up mechanisms at
registration stations.
Among the Cabinet ministers expected to register in the Western
Cape on Friday and Saturday are Pallo Jordan, Dullah Omar, Kader
Asmal and Trevor Manuel.
@ REGISTER-SOUTHCOAST
PORT SHEPSTON December 3 1998 Sapa
RAIN HAMPERS REGISTRATION IN KZN LOWER SOUTH COAST
Voter registration in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal's lower South
Coast was hampered on Thursday after heavy rains in recent days
made some roads impassable.
At Boboyi, near Port Shepston at least three registration
points closed early because voters were unable to reach them.
At the Mganka School registration was not possible because
Independent Electorial Commission officials had not received the
neccesary equipment.
IEC superivsor Tehobikele Gcaba said equipment needed to
operate the bar-code scanners had not been delivered.
At least 150 potential voters had to be turned away.
Four elderly women, who had been waiting to register since 7am,
sat huddled in one of the class rooms, seemingly optimistic that
they might be able to register before the end of the day.
Many of the roads in Boboyi were traversable only by 4X4
vehicles.
@ NORTHPROV-RADEBE
BOLOBEDU, Northern Province December 3 1998 Sapa
14000 JOBS CREATED BY RURAL ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAMME
An increase in the number of jobs created by the Rural
Anti-Poverty Programme in the Northern Province brought the
projected national total of jobs created to 14000, Public Works
Minister Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.
Speaking at Bolobedu in the Northern Province where he launched
projects for local communities worth R21 million, Radebe said: "The
nature of the projects will no doubt stimulate the local economy."
The Bolobedu project created 4441 jobs, he said. The project
included a multi-purpose hall, transport facilities, an access
road, refuse dumping, additional classrooms, and a productive
plant.
Radebe said the delivery of Rural Anti-Poverty Programme
projects would be intensified following the recent allocation of
R274 million for projects in Kwazulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and
Northern Province.
Of Bolobedu's 325000 inhabitants, about 95 percent were
unemployed and the area had a high illiteracy rate, according to a
news release from Radebe's office.
@ MEDIA STATEMENT ON USIKO ARTIFACT EXHIBITION
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
The South African High Commission in Lagos will launch, during
the month of December, what promises to be one of the more
significant South African artifact exhibitions to be held on an
international scale. The assemblage of works offers viewers an
insight into a facet of African history which previously has not
been properly explored - the secret language of symbolism encoded in
beadwork during preliterate years.
In welcoming the launch of this important exhibition Foreign
Minister Nzo said "This heritage belongs to all South Africans and
we are proud that our Embassies will be the window through which
this will be exposed internationally." The exhibition, backed by
South Africa's national telecommunications company Telkom, is
entitled "USIKO - Africa's Treasure" and comprises over 30 framed
beaded original works of art created by various disadvantaged
communities representative of several different tribes.
The creation of the beaded items was inspired by photographs
taken of antique South African artifacts, part of a collection of
over 5 000 undocumented items, which are stored in London's British
Museum of Mankind. The exhibition, through illuminating captions,
provides viewers with an opportunity to explore the fascinating web
of culture, history and psychology that lies behind African symbols
and the symbol system. The USIKO collection was originally launched
in South Africa in July 1997 whereafter, in partnership with the
Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, a national road
show to all major centres was held in community-based libraries. In
one year over a hundred thousand school-going children were exposed,
for the first time, to their unique cultural heritage. The
exhibition was supported with the flighting of a video which
highlights the symbolism in ancient beadwork.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with Telkom,
is committed to exposing this rich South African cultural heritage
internationally. To this end, Lagos will be the first city outside
South Africa to host the USIKO exhibition, whereafter during 1999 it
will be travelling to the following areas : Jakarta (February),
Chicago (March), Ankara (April), Turkey Region (May and June), New
York (July and August), Tokyo (September), Milan (October) and Rome
in November.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFARIS
PRETORIA
3 DECEMBER 1998
@ FEATURE-AFRI/AID
NAIROBI December 3 1998 Sapa-IPS
DONORS URGED TO RE-FOCUS AID TO AFRICA
Donors have been urged to shift from the current short-term
relief aid to long-term approaches to enable starving communities
in war-torn African countries to cope and rebuild their broken
societies.
"Relief aid is currently being measured with the 'wrong
criteria' based on fulfilling short-term goals," said Matthias
Stiefel who heads the Swiss-based War-torn Societies Project (WSP).
"There is need for the international community to re-analyse
the way it distributes aid and dramatically improve the quality of
aid to these countries if it is committed to preventing further
conflict and help societies rebuild," he said.
Stiefel spoke in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi this week where
he met representatives of relief agencies operating in the troubled
Horn of African region. He said there is a growing concern within
the United Nations and the donor community that development aid to
Africa was sinking under the weight of conflicts that broke out in
the 1990s.
"Old Cold War conflicts have re-emerged in new forms of power
struggles and the international community is not very successful in
responding to them. Billions and billions of dollars have been
spent," he said, adding that "too often the result is much worse
than what had come before."
According to Stiefel, the international community and aid
agencies have often been ill-prepared or ill-equipped and even
operating at odds with one another when intervening in strife-
ridden countries like the Sudan where the Islamic government of
Lt-Gen Omar Hassan al Bashir is battling rebel forces in the south
of the country.
He said the aid to Sudan, where 2.6 million people need
emergency aid and which has recently attracted much international
concern, has increasingly been politicised fuelling the country's
16-year conflict.
Both the Khartoum government and the rebel Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA) have been accused of diverting food aid.
Khartoum has also been accused of interfering with food aid to
"starve" the south, SPLA's stronghold. As a result, thousands of
people in the south where fighting is concentrated, have died of
hunger-related diseases.
In Somalia, where a civil war has been ragging since 1991,
relief has created the 'negative' impact of aid dependency,
discouraging food production, according to WSP. "Humanitarian aid
has in the past acted as a substitute for lacking political
action," Stiefel said. "Donors must now understand the
battlefield before designing humanitarian interventions to ensure
that the aid applied does more good than harm."
WSP argues that relief should only be necessary in situations
where there is need to prevent humanitarian disasters such as this
year's famine which killed thousands in the Sudan, but that it
should be done in a focused way so that it does not produce
negative results.
Stiefel said WSP, established in 1994, has been successful in
spearheading post-war reconstruction and peace-building in
Mozambique and Eritrea which have undergone destruction as a result
of decades of war. The two countries, which are currently
considered role model economies in Africa, stress more on
investment rather than aid.
Eritrea, since the war of independence from Ethiopia ended in
1991, has embarked on the WSP "never kneel down" economic policy
which stresses independence from international aid.
Likewise, in Mozambique WSP arrived after the October 1992
peace agreement between the government and opposition, ending two
decades of civil war. Since then, the Southern African country has
started a programme to demobilise some 100,000 soldiers and
reconstructing areas devastated by the conflict.
Based on the successes on research findings in Eritrea and
Mozambique, WSP says it intends to start a similar recovery
programme for other war-torn countries like Somalia.
Somalia has had no central government since the 1991 ouster of
the late dictator Mohamed Siad Barre after which the country
disintegrated into fiefdoms protected by clan militias. Attempts to
reconcile the clan warlords has led to 14 peace agreements none of
which have held water.
WSP currently operates in north-eastern Somalia, a relatively
peaceful region which has embarked on a post-war reconciliation and
reconstruction efforts and operates as federal government.
Under the WSP programme, talented local people are brought
together to investigate their own war-ravaged communities and
produce a 'balance sheet' of their outstanding needs, according to
Adam Aipixi, a Somali who works with the local communities in the
region.
"It is an open public undertaking where the people identify
their own problems and work towards solving these problems by
themselves," he says. "All we do is show them how to do it."
But his plan to introduce the system to other regions of
Somalia, as soon as the warlords are persuaded to stop fighting,
has been opposed by other Somalis. "Somalia does not need aid or
development projects," says Abshir Warsame Jama, a Somali
journalist.
"We don't want the international community to establish
projects. We want a state," he says.
@ PROTECTOR-HANIS
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
PUBLIC PROTECTOR GIVES THUMBS UP TO ID SYSTEM TENDER PROCESS
The office of the Public Protector on Thursday said the tender
process for the Home Affairs National Identification System (Hanis)
- estimated to cost more than R800 million - was above board and
recommended the process be finalised.
The investigation, conducted by the Public Protector's office
and the office of the Director-General of Home Affairs, found that
the Department of Home Affairs took proper and adequate steps to
ensure a proper and effective evaluation of the tender.
It found that the department took proper precautions to ensure
that the tender and its evaluation complied with regulatory
provisions for state tenders.
Shortcomings identified by the office of the Auditor-General
could be addressed by conditions and provisions of the eventual
agreement between the state and the successful tenderer, a
statement from the office of the Public Protector said.
The Hanis tender was issued by the Department of Home Affairs
for the introduction of a mechanised system of positive
identification, based on fingerprints and information technology.
Arding to advocate Stoffle Fourie, who headed the
investigation, two of the tenderers cried foul after they failed to
make it through to the third phase of the tender process. This lead
to the investigation.
The Public Protector recommended that Cabinet be informed of
the financial implications of the Hanis project and that approval
be obtained before the successful tenderer was announced.
In 1996 the Cabinet approved an initial costing for the project
of R800 million.
A comprehensive report on the details of the investigation and
the reasons for the findings would be submitted to Parliament early
in 1999, the statement said.
@ AIDS-WHO
HARARE December 3 1998 Sapa
WHO OFFICIAL CALLS FOR ACTION TO STEM SPREAD OF AIDS AMONG
YOUTH
Government, political and civic leaders needed to develop
appropriate policies and laws to help control the spread of
HIV/Aids and to care for those infected with the deadly virus, the
World Health Organisation said on Thursday.
WHO regional director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim Samba, speaking in
the Zimbabwe capital, Harare on Thursday said he was focusing his
message on the young people of Africa.
Of the 30 million people infected with HIV or Aids at least a
third were between 10 and 24 years of age, Samba said.
Statistics showed that every day about 7000 young people
worldwide were infected with the virus, and there were three new
HIV infections among the youth of Africa every minute.
These facts should "goad us into action" to stop the spread of
the disease.
"We must make serious efforts to remove the unfavourable
conditions that expose our youth to disease, misery, pain and
death," he said.
"We must redouble our efforts to combat HIV/Aids by enhancing
our commitment, our resolve and our resources. We must also
remember to harness and utilise the energy and strength that the
young people possess.
"They are a powerful instrument to bring about change in their
families, in the lives of their peers and in the society (in which)
they live."
All sectors of society needed to work towards removing
unfavourable conditions that exposed youth to hardship, illness and
hopelessness and cultural practices that put young people in
danger.
Samba highlighted several areas in which action could be taken:
- family life education needed to be introduced in school and
college curricula as a matter of survival;
- youth initiatives such as Aids prevention and counselling
clubs, voluntary community care and support clubs needed to be
supported;
- health and counselling services and treatment facilities
needed to be youth-friendly;
- communities, non-governmental organisations, the private
sector and young people themselves needed to provide support and
assistance to affected families through social service programmes.
"We must resolve to make the lives of those already affected
less painful by providing adequate treatment, health care and
social support so that they can be active and productive for as
long as possible," Samba said.
"The longer we are able to keep them alive and active, the
greater the chance that they will benefit from effective drugs and
vaccines against HIV/Aids whenever these become available."
WHO was working with partners within the United Nations system
and outside to make drugs that would prolong the lives of Aids
patients.
"We need the political commitment and support of all
governments to achieve maximum success in this endeavour," Samba
said.
@ REGISTER-QUEUES
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
LACK OF QUEUES HAMPERING VOTER REGISTRATION
The Independent Electoral Commission's ability to speedily
register voters for next year's elections could ironically result
in less people registering, several aspirant Cape Town voters said
on Thursday.
They complained that long queues attracted attention and the
absence of queues made registration stations more difficult to
find. Some claimed the lack of queues was contributing to the
general confusion about where people should register.
Registration, which entails completing a few details on a form,
takes just a few minutes if all the equipment is working properly.
There were virtually no reports of queues at any of the
registration points in the southern four provinces, where a
three-day voter registration drive got under way on Thursday.
However this could not only be attributed to registrations
being processed quickly. There were many reports of voters being
apathetic or unable to find out where to register.
There were numerous complaints in all four provinces that
people had not received leaflets informing them of where to vote,
and that they were being shunted from station to station without
being able to register.
Some people also said it was almost impossible to get any
information from the IEC's toll-free number, which either just rang
or was continually engaged.
Many of those registering on Thursday morning were pensioners
and housewives. At some Cape Town stations people unsuccessfully
tried to get their children to register for them.
IEC officials expected the pace of registrations to pick up
outside of working hours.
@ MANDELA-CRECHE
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
MANDELA BRINGS CHEER AND SWEETS TO CRECHE'S AROUND JOHANNESBURG
President Nelson Mandela, accompanied by his two grandsons, on
Thursday visited five creches in and around Johannesburg, handing
out sweets and spreading his special brand of Madiba magic.
Wearing a gold and cream silk shirt, Mandela, with his
grandson's Mbuso and Andile, visited children in Soweto,
Sharpville, Westbury, Roshnee and Brixton.
He treated them to his version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little
Star" and was occasionally accompanied, with more enthusiasm than
skill, by the pre-schoolers.
Mandela, who has little problem generating enthusiasm wherever
he goes, was particularly popular as he was accompanied by boxes of
donated sweets and chocolates, as well as the Liquorice All-Sorts
Man and Simba.
A number of the creches visited by Mandela were part of a
community based project launched by the Gauteng department of
education.
The project, called Impilo, meaning "well being" in Zulu,
encourages communities to take responsibility for their children's
early development.
Gauteng education department head Mary Melcalfe, who
accompanied Mandela, said: "The project recognises communities
which are already providing care for pre-schoolers and provides the
centres with formal training and some educational material."
The project, which targets marginalised communities, requires
parents to take responsibility for the payment of teachers and to
provide food for the children.
There are over 1000 Impilo sites in Gauteng, which provide
centres for between 80,000 and 100,000 children.
"The project acknowleges the importance of grandmothers and
members of the community in caring for children and in passing on
traditional stories and values," she said.
It also makes it possible for the department to make maximum
use of available resources.
Metcalfe said it would be ideal to provide all children with
early care, but it was not economically viable, especially for
children living outside the major centres.
She said the project had already proven to be very successful.
Mandela on Thursday visited a creche in Soweto and one in
Sharpville, which were started by community members in a garage.
"In Sharpville, a woman with no training took on a team to help
look after children in the area," Metcalfe said.
"The children were not on the street, were receiving formalised
training and proper nutrition."
Mandela ended his visit in Brixton at Ons Kleintjie creche,
which is also part of the Impilo project. There he was treated to a
noisy version of the "Hockey Pockey" and presented with a framed
collection of the children's hand prints.
@ ZIM-BANANA
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
MANDELA MET BANANA IN PRETORIA
Fugitive former Zimbabwean president Canaan Banana met
President Nelson Mandela in Pretoria on Wednesday "to advise him
that he was in the country," a spokesman for Mandela confirmed on
Thursday.
Spokesman Tony Trew said the meeting took place at Banana's
request.
Zimbabwean police have a warrant for Banana's arrest after he
skipped the country shortly before his conviction on 11 counts of
sodomy, indecent assault, performing an unnatural act and common
assault.
Wednesday's meeting took place with the knowledge of the
Zimbabwean government, Trew said.
Banana did not apply for asylum and did not intend staying in
South Africa for long, he said. Trew could not supply further
details on what transpired at the meeting or on Banana's current
whereabouts.
Banana is said to have a son working in South Africa.
Earlier this week in Harare, a senior Zimbabwean official who
did not want to be named, said Zimbabwean police and Interpol had
been informed of Banana's presence in South Africa. Efforts were
being made to return him to Zimbabwe.
Banana is believed to have crossed into South Africa from
Botswana where he is rumoured to have hid before his conviction in
absentia.
"The Zimbabwean police and Interpol are working together to
bring Banana back to the country as soon as possible and they will
not give him the chance to fly to South America as rumoured," the
official said.
Banana, 62, was head of state from Zimbabwe's independence in
1980 to 1987.
Freedom Front foreign affairs spokesman Pieter Mulder on
Thursday said Mandela committed a diplomatic blunder by meeting the
fugitive Banana.
Mandela should not allow his feud with Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe over who was Africa's leading statesman to cloud his
judgment, Mulder said.
Although Banana was obviously involved in a struggle with
Mugabe, this did not justify such a meeting.
Mulder asked whether Banana was in South Africa legally,
following reports that he had been denied permission to enter the
country.
The normal legal process should be allowed to run its course
without the interference of anyone, including Mandela.
@ LEON
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
HEART BYPASS OP ON LEON A SUCCESS: DP
Democratic Party leader Tony Leon on Thursday afternoon
underwent a successful heart bypass operation at Johannesburg's
Milpark Hospital.
Party federal council chairman, Douglas Gibson, said the
operation was simply preventive and would ensure that Leon did not
have any major problem in future.
"I must emphasise he has not had a heart attack. It's simply
elective surgery," he said.
Leon had scheduled it to fit in after his nationwide "leader of
the opposition" tour.
"He's going to have twice as much vim and vigor after the
operation as before," Gibson said.
Leon was expected to be in hospital for another week. He would
take another few weeks to fully recuperate, Gibson said. Gibson
would be acting DP leader until then, he said.
Leon was visited at the hospital by President Nelson Mandela on
Wednesday shortly after his admission.
@ HEALTH-DRUGLIST
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
ESSENTIAL DRUG LIST LAUNCHED
A list of cheaper, alternative drugs that all public hospitals
and clinics are obliged to keep in stock was launched by Health
Minister Nkosazana Zuma in Pretoria on Thursday.
"The list was drawn up with a view to ensuring the availability
of medicines to the majority of South Africans at affordable
prices," she said in Pretoria.
"Drugs that are on the list will always have to be in public
clinics and hospitals, but drugs that have not been listed will not
be banned from the country," Zuma said.
The Essential Drug List (EDL) names 693 medicines which can be
used to treat most of South Africa's common health problems,
according to EDL committee chairman Patrick Mokhobo.
A statement released at the launch said the list was drawn up
based on World Health Organisation guidelines.
Drugs included on the list were those found to be the cheapest,
the best researched, and those produced by the most reliable local
manufacturer.
Mokhobo said the list would be updated regularly in response to
new diseases. Zuma said there was a huge market for South
African-manufactured drugs because they were cheaper, but still of
a high quality.
"An indication of the savings that could accrue from applying
the EDL... is that last year R69 million was spent on useless cough
mixtures, R79 million on irrational cholesterol-reducing agents and
thousands more on drugs that ended up expiring as a result of an
overloaded inventory," Zuma said.
She said the list would also help provinces save money because
they would be able to estimate accurately the quantities of
supplies required by medical facilities.
Next to salaries, drugs consumed the largest portion of the
budget of any health care facility, Zuma said.
"This realigning will lead to the phasing out of products form
the tender list which are deemed to be of no therapeutic value, and
in many instances, pose a serious hazard to those who use them."
Zuma expressed the hope that other southern African countries
would follow South Africa's example in this regard.
@ REGISTER-BRIEFS
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
VOTER REGISTRATION BRIEFS
- At Worcester in the Boland two stations didn't open on time
because the ground was too hard to pitch tents. Officials said they
would get two caravans instead.
- In Khayelitsha it was initally reported that some tents
erected as registration stations had been stolen overnight. An
offical said later, however, that they might have simply been
erected in the wrong place, and a search was under way. Another
tent was flattened by the howling south-easter.
- Former state president FW de Klerk would register on Thursday
afternoon in the Klein Drakenstein district in the Western Cape his
spokesman Dave Steward said.
- There was no indication whether former state president PW
Botha, 82, who lives in the Wilderness in the southern Cape, would
register or even if he had a bar-coded identity book. His staff
declined to comment about his plans.
- Just over 100 residents of Robben Island would be taken by
ferry to the mainland to register.
- Parliamentary officials were to be given special leave on
Friday to register.
- Some people at Nyanga in Cape Town sent their children along
to register for them, without success.
- A Cape Town resident said he had received two notifications
in his postbox on Wednesday informing him where to register, but at
two different venues.
@ REGISTER
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
IEC HOPES TO REGISTER UP TO A THIRD OF ALL POTENTIAL VOTERS
The Independent Electoral Commission said on Thursday it hoped
to register between a quarter and a third of the country's total
voter population by the end of Saturday.
IEC chairman Judge Johann Kriegler told reporters in Pretoria
initial figures indicated about one third of the electorate had
enrolled as voters in the five northern provinces last weekend.
Out of about 12,5 million eligible voters, about 3,7 million
had been included on the voters' roll by Thursday morning, a figure
expected to exceed four million by the end of the day, he said.
"If we hit four-and-a-half million in the northern provinces,
one Kriegler will be dancing - it would be much more than I
expected. I would have been happy for four (million), and it looks
as if we are going to top that in the next day or so."
Kriegler said he would be disappointed if the registration
drive currently underway in the four southern provinces did not
yield an increase of about five or 10 percent on the total
enrollment figure for the northern provinces.
Deputy chief electoral officer Norman du Plessis said
registration in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and
Eastern Cape had been plagued by staff shortages and heavy rains.
Communication with the Eastern Cape registration points was
being hampered by heavy rains, and many telephone lines were down.
As a result, information on progress with registration was
sketchy, although officials were aware of some stations in Port
Elizabeth opening late.
In the former Transkei, especially around the Umtata area, many
registration centres have not yet opened, largely due to
inaccessibility.
"Staff have to wait for rivers to subside before they can cross
and get to registration centres," du Plessis said.
Turning to KwaZulu-Natal, he said the number of registration
centres up and running in rural areas varied from 40 to 90 percent.
Bad weather was preventing staff from getting to registration
centres, but indications were that the rain was starting to
subside.
In Durban, only about 75 percent of stations opened on time on
Thursday morning due to staff shortages.
"We are busy redeploying staff and expect that the matter
should be resolved by midday."
Heavy rain in the south-eastern parts of the Free State was
making access to registration centres difficult. About 20 stations
in Bloemfontein and some in Botshabelo township did not open on
time due to a lack of staff.
Problems were also experienced in the north-western parts of
the province.
Additional staff were being deployed to all these problem
spots, du Plessis said.
Registration in the Western Cape rural areas appeared to be
going ahead as planned, but the Cape Town metro was presenting some
problems.
"In the central and southern substructures we have some 27
voting (registration) stations not yet open due to a shortage of
staff," he said.
Extra staff were being deployed to these areas, and most
stations should be up and running by Thursday afternoon.
Kriegler said registration in the four southern provinces
appeared to be running smoother than had been the case in the
northern parts of the country last weekend.
Less staffing problems had occurred, and no logistical setbacks
had yet been reported.
He added the IEC was not considering extending the registration
period in the four provinces due to problems caused by bad weather.
"If the rain continues unabated, we will have to rethink
whether it is worthwhile to stay open for three days in areas where
people can't get there.
"Clearly we won't carry on with an exercise that is pointless,
but I don't think that we would try to extend the three days now.
We will just have to pick up in these provinces in the next sweep
in January."
Kriegler appealed to civil society to make themselves available
as volunteers for voter registration next year.
"The staffing problem persists and clearly has to be addressed
between us and government at all levels.
"It has to be resolved before the next registration sweep is
done next month."
@ SA-INDIA JOINT BILATERAL COMMISSION
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Aziz Pahad, will lead
the South African delegation to the Third Meeting of the South
Africa-India Joint Commission to be held on 4 and 5 December 1998 in
Pretoria. The Indian Delegation will be led by Mrs Vasundhara Raje,
the Minister of State for External Relations of India.
Since the last meeting of the Commission in December 1996 in New
Delhi, progress has been made in reinforcing the strategic
partnership between South Africa and India, which included the
signing of the Red Fort Declaration in March 1997, during President
Mandela's state visit to India.
Several Cabinet Ministers and senior Government Officials have
also paid reciprocal visits.
Indo-South African bilateral relations are close and the aim of
the Joint Commission is to give attention to various issues of
bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The Commission will review
progress, address outstanding matters and set the pattern for
bilateral relations into the next millennium. A bilateral Air
Services Agreement will also be signed during the meeting.
On 3 December 1998 the inaugural session of the India-South
Africa Commercial Alliance (ISACA) was held in Pretoria today. This
brought together representatives of major business organizations and
groupings in both countries to further explore economic and trade
interaction and cooperation.
India has offered South Africa a number of training slots under
its India Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) under
which a number of South Africans have been trained in various
disciplines. India is also the world's third largest information
technology country and offers exciting possibilities for bilateral
cooperation in this field. It is expected that Minister Jay Naidoo
will sign a a Memorandum of Cooperation on Telecommunications during
a visit to India later this month. A media conference will be held
at the Diplomatic Guest House, 201 Matroosberg Road, Waterkloof
Heights, Pretoria on Saturday, 5 December 1998 at 10h00, following
the discussions.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
3 DECEMBER 1998
@ TRC REFUSES AMNESTY TO PAC MEMBER
Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
DECEMBER 3 1998
The Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
today refused amnesty to a member of the Pan Africanist Congress for
the murder of three people at Cross Roads near Cape Town in 1993.
Ntombizodwa Joslina Elles, Sincilo Pauli and Timothy Soga were
killed and Tienne Elles and Ayanda Ndinisa were injured when armed
men burst into their home and sprayed them with automatic gunfire at
House 2210, Old Cross Roads on March 19 1993.
Mandla Maduna, now serving a lengthy prison term at Victor
Verster Prison in Paarl, was nabbed by the police minutes after the
attack in possession of an Uzzi sub-machine gun and a number of
rounds of ammunition. However, his accomplice managed to escape.
Maduna claimed at his amnesty hearing that as members of the
PAC's Task Force, they were instructed by the organisation to attack
the home as it was occupied by members of a gangster group which was
attacking PAC members in the area.
In its decision, the committee said: "Tragically, the victims
and occupants were not members of a gangster group as (the)
applicant had been told. They were civilians who included women and
children who were watching TV. They had no quarrel whatsoever with
the PAC (and) there is no evidence that they were involved in any
political organisation."
The committee also expressed concern at Maduna's stated motive
for the attack and his claim that he was a member of the PAC.
Inquiries: Vuyani Green, 082 452 7858
@ REGISTER-FREESTATE
BLOEMFONTEIN December 3 1998 Sapa
VOTER REGISTRATION IGNORANCE WIDESPREAD IN THE FREE STATE
Voter registration was slow in the Free State on Thursday, with
widespread ignorance about the process.
Many potential voters in Bloemfontein did not know where to
register, and some were unaware the present registration drive
closed on Saturday at 5pm.
A snap survey in the city showed many people believed they
could register at the city hall or at stations near where they
worked, and were unaware they had to apply in the area where they
lived.
It appeared that information pamphlets telling people where to
register had been sent by the Independent Electoral Commission's
provincial office to its local offices by Wednesday morning but had
not been distributed.
Most registration stations in Bloemfontein experienced little
more than a trickle of applicants - mainly housewives and
pensioners - during the day on Thursday although the tempo
increased slightly during the lunch hour.
Officials hoped there would be more activity on Thursday
evening.
About 20 stations in Bloemfontein and some in Botshabelo did
not open on time due to a lack of staff.
In Kroonstad, which has about 25 registration centres and an
estimated 76000 potential voters, things seemed to be running
smoothly, although several stations opened late.
However there was still confusion about where people had to
register, and very few people had received pamphlets from the IEC.
One resident, Dedrick Kobude, said he knew where to register
because the local African National Congress had given him a
pamphlet with the information.
A steady stream of voters was registering Kroonstad's
Voorwaarts Primary School, and people were being processed in
minutes.
One man who registered said: "It took less than three minutes.
I'm luckier than Mandela," in an apparent reference to the
president's being sent to the wrong registration station.
An army volunteer at the school said only one person had been
turned away because of wrong documentation, and another because he
was at the wrong venue.
At Tshepong hostel midway between Welkom and Odendaalsrus,
assistant hostel manager Ariel Hlalele felt registration would be a
"total flop" as the 4799 residents were expected to register at a
school in Odendaalsrus' Hospital Park area, about 4km away.
Most of the hostel dwellers were working at Anglogold's
Matjabeng mine and no transport had been laid on for them, he told
Sapa.
Management had not made special arrangements to allow miners
time off and workers would have to register when they had the
chance. During the 1994 elections, residents were able to vote at
the hostel.
Some migrant miners from the Eastern Cape and Northern Province
said they had heard that they would have to return home to register
and they did not have enough money.
A miner, who did not want to be named, said he believed this
was an attempt to ensure only certain people were allowed to vote.
At the Odendaalsrus home affairs department, people lined up to
collect and apply for barcoded identity documents and temporary
registration certificates.
Staff complained the office was undermanned and that they were
unable to cope with the demand.
Five soldiers who were manning a registration centre at
Odendaalsrus said they had opened on time and had processed about
90 people in five-and-a-half-hours, but there was no electricity
and their scanners' batteries were running low.
Free State provincial electoral officer Chris Mepha said he
hoped the hitches would be ironed out soon, and said staff had been
dispatched to rural areas where volunteers failed to arrive.
Several registration points in the northern Free State opened
late or not at all because they did have the necessary equipment.
In the south-eastern parts of the province heavy rain made
access to registration centres difficult.
@ DISABLED-MOLEKETI
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
GOVT IS COMMITTED TO NEW DEAL FOR DISABLED: FRASER-MOLEKETI
Disability grants had a demotivating effect on disabled people
and made them reliant on welfare, Welfare and Population
Development Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said on Thursday.
"A new deal for people with disabilities is imperative and the
government is committed to ensuring this happens," she said in a
statement marking the International Day of People with
Disabilities.
"One of the critical aspects in such a new deal is the need to
urgently transform protective employment workshops for persons with
disabilities, as well as other services for disabled people, into
line with the government's new developmental approach to entrench
human rights and people's dignity," she said.
She said two research studies had found that an disabled people
were still marginalised in South Africa.
The studies were commissioned by the Welfare Department and
conducted by the Medunsa Organisation for Disabled Entrepreneurs
and the JF Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The first study found that the policies and programmes
inherited from the apartheid government were still causing about
five million disabled people to be marginalised.
Most of the programmes for the disabled in South Africa were
based on the medical model that either tried to make the disabled
person "normal" or to separate them from society.
The government hoped to remove societal barriers to disabled
people to allow them to participate equally in all spheres of life.
More than 90 percent of all government funding for the
disabled, which had doubled from R2 billion in 1993 to R4 billion
in 1997, went to disability grants, the study found.
Disability grants had an adverse effect in that they tended to
demotivate disabled people from working, making them reliant on
welfare.
There were, however, limited opportunities in the labour market
for the disabled. Added to this there was widespread
discrimination, inhospitable work environments and limited
transportation.
This meant most disabled workers were relegated to
government-subsidised workshops and sheltered employment factories.
The second study surveyed 175 protective workshops run by
private organisations and subsidised by the Welfare Department.
It found they were very expensive to run, inefficiently managed
and that most of the workers earned below the minimum wage.
Protective workshops also only served a tiny number - about
8400 - of the five million disabled people, and they promoted
marginalisation, rather than development of the disabled.
The studies recommended alternatives to disability grants be
considered, that legislation removing barriers to full
participation by the disabled be passed, and that new funding
schemes be adopted to encourage non-governmental organisations to
give services to disabled people.
Fraser-Moleketi said the disability grant system was under
review. The Department was also finalising a new funding policy to
move from the subsidy arrangement to more flexible forms of
financing.
This would allow organisations to extend services to rural
areas and townships.
Transforming the protective workshops would also be on the
Department's agenda.
She also noted that the October Job Summit had earmarked R8
million for employment programmes for the disabled. The Welfare
Department would also allocate R12 million to transform the
protective workshops, she said.
@ SA-INDIA
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
SA-INDIA JOINT COMMISSION MEETS IN PRETORIA
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aziz Pahad, will lead
the South African delegation to the third meeting of the South
Africa-India Joint Commission in Pretoria on Friday and Saturday,
the Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday.
The Indian delegation will be led by Vasundhara Raje, India's
Minister of State for External Relations.
Since the last meeting of the commission in December 1996 in
New Delhi, progress had been made in reinforcing the strategic
partnership between the two countries, Foreign Affairs said.
Indo-South African bilateral relations were close and the aim
of the Joint Commission was to give attention to various issues of
bilateral and multilateral co-operation.
The Commission would review progress, address outstanding
matters and set the pattern for bilateral relations into the next
millennium.
A bilateral air services agreement would also be signed during
the meeting.
On Thursday, the inaugural session of the India-South Africa
Commercial Alliance was held in Pretoria.
This brought together representatives of business organisations
and groupings in both countries to explore economic and trade
interaction and co-operation.
@ AIDS-WELFARE
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
CHILD WELFARE SAYS AIDS DRUG FIGHTS HIGH HIV AMONG CHILDREN
The National Council for Child Welfare on Thursday called for
the inter-ministerial committee on Aids to withdraw its decision
not to provide the AZT drug to HIV-positive pregnant women.
The appeal followed a public statement by Welfare Minister
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi on World Aids Day in support of the
committee's decision.
The council said research had revealed that transmission of the
virus to the unborn child was reduced by 50 percent if the drug was
administered to the mother during the last month of pregnancy.
"The National Council and its 170 Child Welfare societies have
expressed shock and astonishment at this decision taken by the
inter-ministerial committee and view the decision as being
short-sighted and to the detriment of our country," said national
director Andre Kalis.
He said child care and health resources were already stretched
to the limit providing special and intensive care for children with
HIV.
"The cost of AZT intervention in respect of one pregnant mother
is approximately R700 while the cost of treating a child suffering
from Aids would amount to thousands of rands.
"The cost in terms of human misery is immeasurable compared to
the cost of AZT intervention which is available as a preventative
option," he said.
The interministerial committee on Aids, chaired by Deputy
President Thabo Mbeki, decided on October 27 that AZT for pregnant
women with HIV would not form part of the public health policy.
However, private individuals could receive the treatment if they
were willing to pay for it.
Department of Health chief director of national programmes, Dr
Glordine Mtshai, said the issue was open for re-evaluation should
AZT or support service costs become cheaper.
Research on the drug is presently being conducted at the Chris
Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg and the King Edward
hospital in Durban.
"This was not an easy decision to make. We would like to
prevent anyone from becoming infected, which is why we will
continually re-evaluate the climate," she said.
"We are faced with the problem of how to use limited resources
for the largest number of people."
Mtshali said the department was concentrating its resources on
prevention and on targeting young sexually active individuals.
"It is not just the cost of AZT that would be the problem
should anyone be able to apply for the treatment.
"The department would also be required to provide formula, as
the mothers cannot breast feed their babies for fear of
transmitting the virus, as well as testing and counselling."
@ TRUTH-AMNESTY
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
AMNESTY COMMITTEE REJECTS PAC MEMBER'S APPLICATION
The amnesty committee of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission on Thursday refused amnesty to a member of the Pan
Africanist Congress for the murder of three people at Crossroads
near Cape Town in 1993.
The TRC said in a statement that Ntombizodwa Elles, Sincilo
Pauli and Timothy Soga were killed, and Tienne Elles and Ayanda
Ndinisa injured, when armed men burst into their home and sprayed
them with automatic gunfire.
Mandla Maduna, now serving a lengthy prison term at Victor
Verster Prison in Paarl, was arrested by the police minutes after
the attack in possession of an Uzi sub-machine gun and a number of
rounds of ammunition. However, an accomplice managed to escape.
Maduna claimed at his amnesty hearing that, as members of the
PAC's task force, they were instructed to attack the home as it was
occupied by members of a gangster group which was attacking PAC
members in the area.
In its decision, the committee said: "Tragically, the victims
and occupants were not members of a gangster group as (the)
applicant had been told.
"They were civilians who included women and children who were
watching TV. They had no quarrel whatsoever with the PAC (and)
there is no evidence that they were involved in any political
organisation."
The committee expressed concern at Maduna's stated motive for
the attack.
@ REGISTER-WCAPE
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
VOTER REGISTRATION SLOW IN WCAPE
Voter registration in the Western Cape started off slowly on
Thursday morning, but picked up in the afternoon as more people
returned home from work.
Most people registered so far were pensioners, housewives and
those with the day off work, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)
officials said.
Registration had gone well, although staff at some registration
points had arrived late or not at all, preventing a number of
stations from opening.
In Khayelitsha, Cape Town, several registration stations did
not open by 9am and people who arrived to register went home. In
some parts of the sprawling township people were repeatedly
redirected as they turned up at wrong registration posts.
Registration at one station was suspended after a howling
south-easter up-ended a tent used by the IEC.
Reports were received from Mowbray that people could not
register because officials did not seem to know what to do. Some
registration stations in Vredehoek, above Cape Town's city centre,
did not open on time because officials failed to arrive.
In the Blaauwberg municipality all registration points opened,
but problems were experienced with scanning equipment and
replacements were arranged.
Registration stations at Robertson and Worcester were up and
running but at Paarl many registration stations had not opened by
mid-morning. Those that did open saw few people registering.
In the rural areas of the southern Cape, registration got off
to a slow start with potential voters arriving in small numbers. At
the Wilderness near George there was no sign of former state
president PW Botha. His staff would not comment on whether he would
register.
Registration points in Malmesbury's coloured and black
residential areas were quiet, while in the centre of the town -
the biggest in the Swartland wheat area - a number of prospective
voters formed queues prior to the 7am opening.
At Macassar, registration came to a halt when volunteers packed
up and left after they found out they would not be paid for their
work.
Western Cape premier Gerald Morkel registered at a primary
school in Steenberg just after 9am where a short queue had already
formed.
He said he was not entirely satisfied with the way the
registration process was going, but was confident the small
problems being experienced would be sorted out.
Twenty-five school children vigorously waved miniature South
African flags and shouted "welkom oom" (welcome uncle) as National
Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk arrived at a primary school in
Cape Town's northern suburbs to register.
Van Schalkwyk said the registration process in the Western Cape
was going reasonably well.
"There are problems but it seems as if the Independent
Electoral Commission has done its homework in this province. News
from the other three provinces is not as encouraging," he said.
Western Cape African National Congress leader Ebrahim Rasool
registered in Pinelands early on Thursday and said the party which
won the registration would also win the election.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa visited
several Western Cape registration points to encourage his party
members to register.
Holomisa said he was satisfied the process was free and fair.
@ REGISTER-SANDF
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
10428 SANDF TROOPS HELP OUT WITH VOTER REGISTRATION
The South African National Defence Force on Thursday deployed
10428 troops to help out with voter registration in the country's
four southern provinces.
In a statement in Pretoria defence force spokeswoman
Lieutenant-Colonel Laverne Machine said 3968 soldiers were manning
about 75 percent of the registration points in the Free State.
She said five stations opened late in the province because of
rain, while poor roads and weather conditions in the former
Transkei was hampering deployment.
"Generally the situation is under control in the Eastern Cape,
and only minor problems are being experienced in some of the urban
areas in locating and opening registration points," she said.
Machine said between 300 and 450 registration stations in the
province were being run by soldiers.
In the Western Cape a SA Navy minibus and three tents were
stolen, and at some points there were no Independent Electoral
Commission tents, Machine said.
"SANDF personnel are using car bonnets and boots as tables
until SANDF tents arrive."
Troops were manning 650 registration stations in the province,
Machine said.
She said that in KwaZulu-Natal, where troops were running 415
registration points, many rural venues could not be reached because
of poor road conditions.
"The one problem we've had in the province so far has been in
Msinga Seventeen SANDF teams haven't been deployed here because the
head man wants his own people to be used for registration," Machine
said.
@ ANC INTENSIFIES ITS VOTER REGISTRATION CAMPAIGN
Issued by: African National Congress
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is embarking on an intensified voter
registration programme for the next two days to ensure that all
eligible voters do register during this period. Other members of the
ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) residing in this province
will register tomorrow, 04 December 1998.
Other leaders of the ANC will be deployed throughout the province
to lead the roadshows aimed at mobilising our people to go and
register at their respective registration districts. The following
leaders will register as follows:
Friday, 04 December
Dr Nkosazana Zuma, ANC NEC member and Minister of Health
Venue: Northwood School, 8 Kewood, Mackeurtan Avenue,
Durban North
TIme: 08h30
Jeff Radebe, ANC NEC member and Minister of Public Works
Venue: Dukemini J.P. School, E-section KwaMashu
Time: 10h00
Dr Zweli Mkhize, ANC NEC member and KZN MEC for Health
Venue: Thandokuhle Pre-school, Willowfontein
Time: 08h30
Issued by the ANC KwaZulu-Natal Department of Information and
Publicity
03 December 1998
Contact Mlungisi Ndhlela,
ANC Provincial Media Officer at 082 5519 184
@ DISABLED-SAHRC
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION TOURS JOHANNESBURG BUILDINGS
The South African Human Rights Commission on Thursday led a
tour of public buildings in Johannesburg to assess their
accessibility to disabled people.
SAHRC commissioner Pansy Tlakula said the tour was a symbolic
event to raise awareness of the difficulties facing disabled people
and to mark International Day of the Disabled.
The delegation, which included two people in wheelchairs,
visited the Home Affairs offices in Harrison Street, the First
National Bank in Anderson Street and the Johannesburg Public
Libruary.
Tlakula said public awareness needed to be raised. At the Home
Affairs office members of the public clogged the ramp at the
entrance, forcing wheelchair users to battle to get access.
Toilets at the offices were also inaccessible.
At the First National bank access was made difficult because of
steps.
Inside the counters were too high to accommodate wheelchair
users. Tlakula said although staff were available to assist
disabled clients, this made people with disabilities feel
dependent.
"Disabled people want to do things for themselves and not have
to rely on others."
The public library was best equipped for the needs of the
disabled, although the lift was very cramped, Tlakula said.
The tour preceded a scientific study on South Africans living
with disabilities, which would be undertaken by the SAHRC next
year, Tlakula said.
@ ANGOLA-UN
LUANDA December 3 1998 Sapa-AFP
ESCALATING ANGOLAN FIGHTING BLOCKS VITAL AID: AGENCIES
Persistent reports that Angola's army is preparing an offensive
against strongholds of diehard UNITA rebels in the centre of the
country are worrying aid agencies trying to cope with a crisis.
In a statement issued Thursday, the UN relief coordination
office, UCAH, said that the confirmed number of Angolan civilians
already displaced by fighting which has flared up during 1998 has
risen to more than 350,000.
The main land routes for getting humanitarian supplies to many
people have been rendered impassable by rains or made very
dangerous because of attacks on convoys and other traffic by armed
gangs.
Aid workers also feared the likelihood of an assault by
goverment troops on the cities of Bailundo and Andulo in central
Angola, which are bases of loyalists to UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi.
One UCAH official, who asked not to be named, said that an
offensive appeared imminent. "We'll then have to contend with a
humanitarian crisis," he added.
All combatants of the National Union for the Total Independence
of Angola (UNITA) were due to have turned in their weapons and
demobilised by March this year under 1994 peace accords, but the
Luanda government has said that Savimbi still has some 30,000 men
at arms.
Sporadic fighting is continuing in the central Huambo and Bie
provinces, and above all in the Uije and Malanje regions of
northern Angola. Large tracts of the country, notably in the
southeast, are totally inaccessible to relief workers.
Supplying Huila province in the south via the southwestern town
of Lubango is also increasingly hard. On November 26, an
unidentified armed gang ambushed a UN World Food Programme (WFP)
convoy and killed two people.
This attack will lead to a further delay in delivering
assistance to some 15,000 people in the province who have been
waiting for food and medical supplies since August.
Around Luena, chief town of the eastern Moxico province, aid
organisations have noted an increase in military activity and
growing numbers of refugees fleeing fighting, as well as a growing
number of mine blasts.
The WFP has decided to increase the number of its relief
flights to Luena.
UCAH officials had hoped, four years after military and
political peace protocols were signed between the Luanda government
and UNITA, to be engaged in the development aid phase of their
operation for Angola, but instead are still organising emergency
operations.
Across the southwest African country, new anti-tank and
anti-personnel mines are being laid, almost wiping out years of
work carried out by dozens of mine-lifting teams to undo the hidden
threat left by two decades of civil war.
In all, just 16,000 mines have been destroyed, out of an
estimated five to seven million.
UNITA has seen increasing international pressure, including
tougher UN Security Council sanctions, to abide by its agreement to
disarm and to hand over all its strongholds to central authority,
but Savimbi has consistently refused to join politicians from his
movement in Luanda.
Since September, several of Savimbi's former top aides have
denounced him as a warmonger and created a dissident faction,
welcomed by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos's government while
the entire peace process hangs in the balance.
The only source of satisfaction for UCAH officials has been the
response to their calls for financial assistance. International
contributions have totalled more than 56 million dollars in 1998,
which is some 70 percent of the amount pledged.
The leading donors are the United States, Britain and the
Scandinavian countries.
@ REGISTER-KWANATAL
DURBAN December 3 1998 Sapa
WET SETBACK FOR REGISTRATION IN KZN
The start of voter registration in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday
suffered severe setbacks due to torrential rain in rural areas, and
in some districts as few as 40 percent of stations were open.
In the north of the province the foul weather made some areas
inaccessible even to the military.
In the Midlands it poured with rain and only a trickle of
people arrived to register, while registration points were quiet on
the South Coast, where rain was threatening.
Registration in Richmond began slowly when offices opened after
a heavy downpour made many of the stations inaccessible.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) registering officer
for the area, Graham Grenfell, said later in the day that apart
from a few minor hitches, registration was going smoothly.
He said they had experienced a few problems with potential
voters who had arrived from outlying areas and tried to register in
Richmond but found they were unable to do so.
They were directed to the correct points.
Grenfell said no violence or intimidation had been reported
since registration began.
In nearby Ixopo and in the Mooi River area, reports were
received of farmers transporting their staff to registration points
on trailers drawn by tractors.
Urban areas also experienced difficulties and staff problems
meant that only some 75 percent of registration stations had opened
in the Durban metropolitan area by midday.
In Pietermaritzburg, registration was slow but went smoothly
when offices opened.
The small numbers of voters who did arrive at the more than 100
registration stations in the city experienced no difficulties in
completing their registration forms, according to IEC officials.
However there was confusion among voters unsure which station
to register at.
Inkatha Freedom Party MPL Mike Tarr told Sapa he visited about
a dozen stations during Thursday morning and found that
registration was going ahead without any major hitches.
He said the volume of people passing through the stations was
very low and could be expected to pick up over the next two days.
Most registration points in rural areas on the lower South
Coast experienced delays on Thursday in receiving their equipment,
and prospective voters waited in vain for up to six hours.
An IEC official in Port Shepstone, Dirk van Heerden, told Sapa
the equipment had had to be stored overnight at the Izingolweni
police station about 48km inland from Port Shepstone and this
caused delays in getting it to registration points on Thursday
morning.
The majority of those who turned up for registration on the
lower South Coast were women or the elderly.
IEC supervisors said although the initial turnout was
disappointing, they were confident it would pick up once workers
returned from work.
They expected a large turnout on Saturday.
Police patrolled areas around registration points. Only one
incident of intimidation was reported, at Gamalakhe outside Port
Shepstone.
Some electoral officials complained that they had not been told
they should bring their own food, and were unable to buy lunch as
many of the rural registration points were far from shops.
@ DISABLED-NPROV
PIETERSBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST DISABLED LIKE APARTHEID: RAMATLHODI
Discrimination against the disabled in South Africa was just as
harsh as against black people during apartheid, Northern Province
Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi said on Thursday.
Speaking after a march to mark World Disabled Day, Ramatlhodi
said government and commercial facilities should change and allow
disabled people equal access so they could succeed in the
mainstream economy, African Eye News Service reported.
"The infamous "whites only" signs were the visible symbols of
apartheid but today our entire physical environment acts as a
similar signpost to shut out millions of our (disabled) citizens
every day."
The recent census showed that over two million people, or five
percent of the population, were severely disabled, and another
seven percent moderately disabled, he said.
"But less than half of these people are employed, and even
worse is the fact that up to 50 percent of disabled children are
denied access to schooling.
"This is not just alarming - it is shocking."
Making the disabled economically self-sufficient was the only
answer to the inadequate funding. About R3 billion was paid to
500,000 people on disability grants and R130 million spent on social
welfare, Ramatlhodi said.
Mashudu Ramano, chairman of the government's small business
funding body, Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency, said disabled
entrepreneurs found it very difficult to secure seed capital to
launch small businesses.
Banks and other traditional funding bodies viewed the disabled
as less likely to succeed, which contributed to their reliance on
the state for financial support, he said.
Ntsika assistance director Selloane Matoase said education and
training by small business service providers were rarely geared to
the disabled's needs because people did not think the disabled
would require such services.
@ UIF
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
REPORT ON UIF RESTRUCTURING RELEASED IN PRETORIA
A report proposing that Unemployment Insurance Fund benefits be
expanded to include civil servants, domestics workers and
high-income workers, was released in Pretoria on Thursday.
The document, compiled by a task team appointed by the Labour
Ministry, warns that the UIF faced a serious financial crisis
unless it was revamped.
Releasing the report for public comment, Labour Minister
Membathisi Mdladlana said massive unemployment had resulted in a
drastic decline in contributions to the UIF, and an increase in the
number of applications for benefits.
"This has placed a huge strain on the financial resources and
has undermined its ability to sustain its obligations to claimants
and beneficiaries."
To this end he had requested cabinet support in managing the
UIF's overdraft while the fund was restructured, Mdladlana said.
The report said national unemployment coverage was not the sole
domain of the UIF, saying there was a strong case for the state to
play a bigger financing role.
Less than 10 percent of South Africa's unemployed benefited
from the UIF at any given time, as the vast majority was not
eligible to receive benefits.
"Most unemployed had never held a formal sector job and would
not be eligible under any conditions to be covered by the UIF.
Neither, for that matter, would the short-term UIF benefits meet
the requirements of the long-term unemployed."
The task team therefore proposed that unemployment benefits be
extended to all workers.
"In the case of domestic workers, their inclusion represents a
considerable administrative and financial challenge. Despite this,
equity demands that they be included, and a phased inclusion is
recommended."
The task team said civil servants and high-income workers
should be included because of decreasing job security in these
sectors.
Currently, only people earning less than R89000 a year are
eligible to contribute to the fund.
It furthermore stated that female contributors to the fund
should not lose their benefits after drawing maternity benefits.
The report recommended a graduated benefit scale in terms of
which lower-paid workers would receive a monthly payment of 70
percent of their former salaries, and higher-paid workers 35
percent.
"In addition, a minimum benefit of R200 a month and a maximum
benefit of R2240 are proposed."
People would be allowed to apply for benefits four years after
losing their jobs, contrary to the current 13 weeks, and could
receive payments for up to four years, instead of eight months.
The task team said additional finances were required to sustain
the fund.
Unemployment Insurance commissioner Shadrack Mkhonto said
allowing people earning more than R89000 to become potential
beneficiaries of the UIF would not result in additional spending,
but would rather boost the fund's income.
"High income earners and the public sector fall into the
low-risk category in terms of losing their jobs. Their contribution
will subsidise and sustain the low income groups."
The report proposed that an annual evaluation be done of the
UIF's financial requirements for the following year, enabling the
fund to determine contribution rates.
The state should then be held responsible for any shortfall in
the fund's budget at the end of the year.
Other proposals included setting up a database with all
contributor records, increasing fines for non-payment, and the
setting up of an inter-ministerial committee to develop a social
security framework in consultation with all stakeholders.
Mdladlana said current legislation governing the UIF had a
number of shortcomings which were hampering the administration and
management of the fund.
The law did not have adequate provisions for enforcement,
enabling employers to avoid compliance.
Fines and penalties imposed on employers failing to contribute
to the fund were inadequate deterrents, a factor worsened by low
levels of successful prosecutions.
"Thirdly, the law has expanded coverage in a non-viable
manner," Mdladlana said.
"Large numbers of low income earners with a high risk of
unemployment have been included, while those with a low risk of
unemployment and a potential high-income source for the fund have
been excluded."
Mdladlana said he had instructed Mkhonto and the UIF board to
start with internal restructuring and to draft new legislation.
This legislation should be negotiated with all social partners
in the National Economic Development and Labour Council and
submitted to parliament next year.
Comments on the report should reach the UIF by February 28 next
year.
@ AIDS-HSRC
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
HSRC TO CONDUCT SURVEY OF WHERE MOST AIDS PATIENTS LIVE
The Human Science Research Council plans to do a survey which
would show how many people were infected with the HI-virus in
different areas.
"Information emanating from such a study should place the
government in a position to plan for the Aids pandemic," HSRC
director Craig Schwabe said in a statement on Thursday.
"Only an integrated and developmental approach based on
comprehensive information position
to truly cater for the population infected with HIV/Aids."
@ REGISTER-HIJACK
BISHO December 3 1998 Sapa
QUMBU THUGS HIJACK IEC ZIP SCANNERS
An Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) vehicle transporting
voter registration scanners and other equipment to Qumbu was
hijacked by two gunmen on Wednesday night.
Umtata police spokesman Superintendent Nondumiso Jafta said the
driver was hijacked near the Sejoesing garage in Qumbu.
The driver, an IEC official, was not hurt, but Jafta declined
to release his name as the official "fears for his life".
Jafta said the IEC's Toyota Hilux was approached by two armed
men who demanded the car keys and made off with the vehicle. No
arrests had been made.
The vehicle's registration number was GVN 728 G and members of
the public should be on the lookout for it.
Meanwhile, voter registration was continuing in Qumbu.
East Cape provincial electoral officer Rev Bongani Finca said
the IEC vehicle had been carrying a number of "zip-zip" scanners.
He said registration stations that were to have used the
scanners were operating manually until new machines were found.
@ BANANA-NP
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
MANDELA'S MEETING WITH BANANA A POLITICAL BLUNDER, SAYS NP
President Mandela's meeting with former Zimbabwean president
Banana was not only a political blunder but created international
embarrassment for South Africa, said National Party spokesman Boy
Geldenhuys in a statement on Thursday.
" It clearly has consitutional ramifications, since the
president took a deliberate decision to undermine the judicial
system of a neighbouring country by aiding and abetting a person
found guilty of a serious crime. "
The meeting would harm the already strained relationship
between the two countries. Mandela should have arranged for the
immediate extradition of Banana, said Geldenhuys.
@ ACOPS
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
OCEANS AN EMERGING CRISIS: ANNAN
The deteriorating state of the world's oceans should be
considered an "emerging crisis", United Nations Secretary General
Kofi Annan told delgates to a Cape Town conference on Africa's
marine and coastal resources on Thursday.
In a message read on his behalf to representatives of some 30
African governments, he said threats to the coastline and seas were
among the many environment challenges facing Africa.
Conflict, refugee flows and persistent poverty exacerbated
these problems.
"Africa is not alone in its quest for a peaceful, sustainable
path of development, but to get there we must take multilateral
cooperation to a new level," he said.
"This conference is an important step in that direction."
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki told the conference that South
Africa intended to join two African conventions aimed at protecting
the continent's coastal and marine resources, and that Parliament
would be asked to finalise accession early next year.
The 1981 Abidjan and the 1985 Nairobi conventions have been
poorly supported by the countries that have already signed them.
One of the aims of the conference is to revitalise them and muster
stronger political support for their implementation.
Mbeki said that although coastal and marine areas were probably
one of the most valuable economic assets of those African countries
with coastlines, the pressure on these resources was very high and
often led to their serious degradation.
"There is agreement among us that we need to co-operate among
ourselves as the countries of sub-Saharan Africa the better to be
able to meet these common challenges," he said.
Delegates to the conference, which ends on Friday, are expected
to approve an agreement outlining a new approach to development in
the continent south of the Sahara.
The agreement will commit signatories to renewed co-operation
within the framework of the Abidjan and Nairobi conventions, and
set the wheels in motion for establishment of a sub-Saharan
commission on sustainable development.
Environment Affairs Minister Pallo Jordan told delegates that
Africa had to guard against the "unprincipled and unregulated
pursuit of private profit" by the continent's elite.
The rationale offered for this was often the highly commendable
goal of economic development. However, development that resulted in
untold violence to the natural environment and the African people
was ultimately self-defeating.
Assistant secretary general of the Organisation of African
Unity Ahmed Haggag said huge foreign fleets were using "the most
crude methods" to destroy Africa's fishing grounds.
"When we approach the governments of the countries these fleets
are coming from, they say they have no control over them, since
they are coming from the private sector.
"We are not convinced."
He said the OAU expected the Cape Town conference would send a
strong message to the world that Africa would no longer tolerate
this plundering of its wealth, and would co-operate closely to end
it.
@ KENYA-US-TRADE
NAIROBI, Kenya December 3 1998 Sapa-AP
US COMMERCE SECRETARY ADVISES KENYA TO SHAPE UP
U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley said Thursday he wants
to boost trade between Africa and America, but advised Kenya that
attracting U.S. business means "your economic house must be in
order."
Daley, who is on the second leg of his four-country mission to
Africa with a 16-member trade delegation, said corruption,
political stability, regional markets and transparency were all
issues of concern to companies looking for new markets or
investment opportunities.
"This is the message I gave to the trade minister: this is a
good opportunity to sell your markets ... but these companies are
not going to invest here if they don't see things change," Daley
told The Associated Press.
Earlier, the secretary, who met Thursday with President Daniel
arap Moi, regional ministers and business leaders, told a luncheon
in his honor that representatives of the companies traveling with
him, including Coca Cola, DuPont, Chevron, Eastman Kodak, and
PanAmSat, a satellite company, are being courted by countries all
over the world.
"Every area of the world wants their business," Daley said.
"And I think, to be frank with you, they are more skittish to
invest, at least in the short term, because of problems with
Asia."
Daley said the first thing businesses look at is the economic
situation.
"Your economic house must be in order," he said. "I
encourage Kenya to build on the progress to date in privatizing and
cutting trade barriers," he said.
He said infrastructure in Kenya was also cause for concern in
terms of getting products to market quickly, the lack of efficient
phone lines and reliable power, and that the rebellion being fought
in Congo was a destabilizing factor for the entire region.
The secretary dismissed complaints about 1996 U.S. quotas on
textile imports which led several Kenyan textile manufacturers to
close, saying Kenya was not even meeting the existing quotas.
"This says to me that the private sector in Kenya has got to
get it together," the secretary said in a brief interview.
But corruption and the legal structures, meaning access to an
impartial judge and to rules that won't change arbitrarily, are key
concerns, Daley said.
In South Africa earlier this week, Daley told southern African
businessmen corruption was the greatest obstacle to foreign
investment in Africa.
Kenyan trade and manufacturing officials were quick to
acknowledge corruption, and insisted they were fighting it.
"Kenya is a democratic country. Kenya is a free country ...
determined to root out every level of corruption in our society,"
Kenyan Trade Minister Joseph Kamotho assured his visitors.
Still, four cooperation understandings were signed Thursday:
one to harmonize U.S. and Kenyan size standards for easier
marketing; a new loan from the U.S. government's Export-Import Bank
for Kenya Airways to purchase a Boeing 737-300 aircraft; and the
private U.S. firm Monsanto's sharing of a virus-resistant sweet
potato with Kenya's Agricultral Research Institute.
A fourth memorandum of understanding was signed between the
Kenyan government and the Overseas Investment Corporation, a U.S.
government company which sells political risk insurance and
financing to U.S. companies, to promote investment in Kenya.
Daley assured his audience that he believed the Growth and
Opportunities Act, which would require President Clinton to start
free-trade negotiations with African countries and increase funding
to back U.S. investments in Africa, would pass early next year.
He said the bill passed the House of Representatives but died
in the Senate before Congress recessed in October only because of
other issues that had been linked to it in the Senate vote.
The visit, Daley's third to Africa this year, had been
postponed from September after the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in
Nairobi left 213 people dead.
During a luncheon in Daley's honor, Daley and U.S. Ambassador
Prudence Bushnell distributed awards to Commerce Department staff
in Kenya, including several who assisted Bushnell down 21 flights
of stairs, and to the wives of two staff members who died in the
blast.
"We are alive and we are doing business. It can't get better
than that," Bushnell said.
Daley was to leave for Nigeria later Thursday and then head to
the Ivory Coast.
@ COURT-BOESAK
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
BOESAK CASE REMANDED FOR PAUL SIMON'S TESTIMONY
The Cape High Court on Thursday allowed a postponement in the
trial of Dr Allan Boesak to enable the state to try to secure
international musician Paul Simon's presence in court.
Judge John Foxcroft granted the state a postponement to Monday,
saying it was in the public interest.
Foxcroft said he wanted to know by 10am on Monday whether Simon
was unwilling to come to South Africa at all to testify in the
case, or whether his hectic schedule temporarily prevented his
presence in court.
Arguing in favour of the postponement, prosecutor JC Gerber
said the testimony of Simon in court was of utmost importance to
the state's case.
He contended that justice meant fairness to the state as well
as to the accused, and not just to Boesak.
Advocate Mike Maritz SC, leading Boesak's defence, said justice
included the prevention of injustice, which would be caused if
unnecessary postponements caused the withdrawal of the defence team
if Boesak ran out of funds.
Boesak has pleaded not guilty to fraud and theft from the
Foundation for Peace and Justice (of which he was the director)
totalling R9 million, of which he is alleged to have taken R1,1
million for himself.
@ LESOTHO-SA
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
MORE SA TROOPS TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM LESOTHO
More than 650 South African troops on a peacekeeping operation
in Lesotho in September would be withdrawn over four days from
Sunday, SA National Defence Force chief General Siphiwe Nyanda said
on Thursday.
He said in a statement in Pretoria the decision was the result
of normality having been restored in Lesotho, and the absence of
any military threat.
"In accordance with the agreement reached between the Lesotho
and South African governments, the SANDF has decided to withdraw
the troops of 7 SA Infantry battalion, certain logistical support
elements, as well as an element of the Military Health Service."
About 750 soldiers from 2 SA Infantry battalion would stay
behind along with 350 Botswana Defence Force members.
In Maseru earlier in the day, Colonel Robbie Hartslief handed
over command of the combined Southern African Development Community
task force to Colonel Hannes van der Merwe of 1 SA Infantry
Battalion.
Hartslief was appointed commander of the peacekeeping mission
on September 16 when the joint task force was formed between South
Africa and Botswana.
"From a military perspective all the objectives have been
reached and the final decision for the complete withdrawal of
(SADC) troops lies with the Lesotho, Botswana and South African
governments," Nyanda said.
He thanked the soldiers of 7 SAI, the logistical support
elements, and the Military Health Service, for the contribution
they made in Lesotho.
"I also wish to express our gratitude to the remaining SADC
forces for their ongoing contribution towards a peaceful solution
to Lesotho's internal problems."
Areas that deserved special praise, Nyanda said, included the
discipline displayed by all units, the commitment, willingness and
enthusiasm of soldiers to attain success, the comradeship forged
between the SANDF and the BDF, and the low number of civilian
casualties.
"This further down-scaling of the force is a clear indication
of the success of the efforts by the SADC soldiers," Nyanda said.
The first troop withdrawal took place last month.
@ REGISTER-ECAPE
GRAHAMSTOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
SOLID START FOR REGISTRATION IN EAST CAPE
Voter registration in Port Elizabeth got off to a good start
with registration going "reasonably well" at the 127 stations,
local election officer Graham Richards said.
In East London chaos reigned when voting registration stations
were changed without people arriving early in the morning to
register being informed.
National Party registration coordinator Tamsanqa Linda said
hastily hand-written notices had been pinned on doors while in
other cases there was no information.
Affected areas included Southernwood, West Bank, Chamberlain
Road, Quigney and Cambridge.
Home affairs officials in both Port Elizabeth and East London
confirmed being inundated with people wanting temporary ID
documents to qualify for registration.
In the rural areas of the former Transkei heavy rains hampered
registration as many rivers were impassable.
The hardest hit areas were around Port St Johns and Bizana.
However, by late Thursday a survey of registration stations
throughout the province indicated that the process was running
smoothly.
Officials at Flagstaff, Barkly East, Komga, Libode, Idutywa,
Cofimvaba and Graaff-Reinet said registration was going well.
Voter registration officials in the northern parts of the
Eastern Cape reported a quiet day and few problems.
In Queenstown, IEC officials and volunteers relaxed as a slow
trickle of eligible voters arrived at stations.
Raymond Plaatjie, the supervisor at the Round Table clubhouse
registration station in Sandringham suburb, said mainly the elderly
had registered during the day.
No problems were experienced at the Mlungisi community hall,
where a short queue of people were waiting to register.
Supervisor Thobeka Tom said the volunteers were ready for the
day's work by 6.30am, and no problems had arisen.
Nellie Nogondo, 81, of Mlungisi said she was registering as it
was her "right to vote."
Another Mlungisi voter Sitoto Sothuko said it was important to
register to vote so one could have representation on the various
levels of government.
A Queenstown couple, who declined to be named, said
registration to vote was necessary for ordinary citizens to
contribute to the government. "If you don't vote, you can't
complain," they said.
The community centre named after late Daily Dispatch sport
reporter, Ashley Wyngaardt, in the Victoria Park suburb in
Queenstown, opened before 7 am, but registration was slow, election
supervisor Andile Doko said.
A problem had arisen when some people arrived to register with
the wrong identity books.
They were referred to the home affairs department to apply for
temporary registration certificates.
In Cathcart, municipal official Vuyani Soga said a large number
of people had registered in the morning, but registration had
slowed down later in the day at both the Kati Kati Community Hall
and the town hall.
Aliwal North town clerk Jan Scheepers said while registration
was rather slow in the town, about 1500 people had registered in
Dukathole township by the afternoon.
A Maclear municipal official said a problem had arisen with
flat batteries in the identity book scanners, but a charger was
located, and by midday the problem had been sorted out.
Registration was going smoothly but slowly, he said.
Lady Grey reported quiet registration stations, particularly
the points on two farms in the district.
A spokesman said an early rush of mainly elderly people had
petered out by the afternoon, but it was expected that the
registration would pick up again by 5 pm.
The civil servants tasked with carrying out registration had
been well-trained and were "coping well," he said.
Indwe was exceptionally busy, with the registration station in
Mvuya township "overflowing," town clerk Andre Barnard said.
Registration was progressing well, with few hitches, he said.
@ REGISTER-PARTIES
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
OPPOSITION PARTIES BLAST IEC
Opposition political parties have accused the Independent
Electoral Commission of failing to sort out problems experienced
with last week's voter registration before the three-day drive that
began on Thursday.
They said the same difficulties were being experienced.
National Party leaders in the four provinces where registration
is now taking place on Thursday expressed concern that frustrated
voters were blaming political parties for administrative bungling.
In a joint statement, Western Cape Premier Gerald Morkel, Danie
Schutte of KwaZulu-Natal, Inus Aucamp in the Free State and Manie
Schoeman of the Eastern Cape appealed to voters not to abandon
their attempts to register, but to see the process through and vote
a more effective government into power.
Democratic Party spokesman Mike Ellis said the DP was
disillusioned at the way registration was going, especially in
KwaZulu-Natal where many stations had failed to open on time and
problems were experienced with the barcode-reading "zip-zip"
machines.
Too many basic mistakes had been made, but this was what the
party had expected, Ellis said.
Voters calling the Independent Electoral Commission's help line
to find out where they should register had in many instances been
told to "phone another number", which turned out to be the DP's own
registration hot lines in Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein.
DP MP Dene Smuts said the navy was providing a wonderful
service with voter registration in Cape Town's southern suburbs,
but the same could not be said of the IEC.
United Democratic Party spokeswoman Annelize van Wyk said the
improvements promised by the IEC had not materialised.
"People are experiencing the same problems as last week," she
said.
The main difficulties were ignorance about where to vote, a
shortage of scanning machines and truant staff.
Van Wyk said the UDM was very concerned that people would not
be able to register in the rural Eastern Cape, where rain had
washed out the registration process in some parts.
Her sentiments were shared by Freedom Front spokesman Kallie
Kriel.
He said what the IEC had promised and what materialised were
two different things.
African National Congress representatives in the Western Cape
and Free State appeared relatively happy with the way things had
gone.
Western Cape ANC spokesman Cameron Dugmore said by and large
logistical problems had been solved by Thursday afternoon.
ANC officials in the Eastern Cape said that considering the bad
weather and the undeveloped infrastructure in the province,
registration had gone relatively smoothly.
@ ZIM-BANANA
HARARE, December 3 1998 Sapa-AFP
ZIMBABWE SURPRISED BY MANDELA MEETING WITH BANANA: OFFICIAL
South African President Nelson Mandela's meeting with fugitive
former Zimbabwean president Canaan Banana took the Harare
government by surprise, an official indicated Thursday.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba said he had not been
informed officially of the meeting and therefore could not comment.
He said, however, that if Banana was in South Africa he should
be sent home to face sentencing next Thursday on 10 counts of
sodomy and sexual assault and one count of common assault.
Mandela's office said the South African leader met Banana on
Wednesday "with the knowledge of the Zimbabwean government".
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is currently on a visit to
Britain.
A spokesman for Mandela said the private meeting took place in
Pretoria at the request of Banana, who "wanted to inform the
president he was in the country."
The spokesman added: "He didn't make any requests for asylum.
He is not intending to stay in the country for long."
Zimbabwean police have issued a warrant for the arrest of
Banana, who slipped out of Zimbabwe shortly before being convicted
in absentia last week, and asked their South African counterparts
for assistance in locating him.
Banana ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987, during which time,
according to the court conviction, he used his position as
president to force men - aides, bodyguards, a cook and a gardener
- into submitting to sex with him.
@ REGISTER-TENTS
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
MISSING TENTS MYSTERY PUZZLES OFFICIALS
One of the headaches faced by registration officials at
Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats on Thursday was the mystery of the
missing registration venues.
The tents which were to have been erected on Wednesday night by
the South African Defence Force were simply not to be found, and
provincial electoral officer Joppa le Roux said they had been
stolen.
Later in the day, however, general manager of the Tygerberg
election office Attie Olivier said two had been located, one still
folded up on the back of a truck, and the other erected in a
neighbouring residential area.
"At this stage we're still looking for two, but I can't tell
you if they're stolen," he said. "I think they're more in the wrong
place."
The SANDF said in Pretoria that a navy minibus being used in
the registration drive in the Western Cape had been stolen.
@ LAND-DP
CAPE TOWN December 3 1998 Sapa
DP REJECTS LAND TAX
A proposal by a sub-committee of the Katz Commission to impose
a land tax in rural areas was ill-considered and administration
costs were likely to exceed any benefits, the Democratic Party said
on Thursday.
South African commercial farmers were already struggling to
survive in the face of punitive taxes, low production prices and
soaring production costs, DP agriculture spokesman Errol Moorcroft
said in a statement.
This had seen their numbers halved over 30 years to the present
all-time low of 55000.
The additional burden of the proposed tax would surely
accelerate the process, which would not be in the interests of
either agricultural production or job creation.
"Furthermore, the committee is silent on communally-owned land.
Will such land be taxed, if not, why not, if so, how?" Moorcroft
asked.
@ JUSTICE-ELOFF
PRETORIA December 3 1998 Sapa
OMAR PAYS TRIBUTE TO RETIRING JUDGE
Justice Minister Dullah Omar on Thursday paid tribute to Judge
Cristoffel Frederick Eloff, Judge President of the Transvaal
Provincial Division of the High Court, who retires at the end of
the month.
Omar said Eloff, whose legal career stretched over 50 years,
had rendered meritorious service to the administration of justice
in South Africa.
"Judge President Eloff has seved South Africa well, as a
distinguished lawyer, a respected judge, and an outstanding judge
president," Omar said at a Pretoria cocktail function in Eloff's
honour.
"I want to express my own appreciation for the role you played
as judge president, managing the bench and ensuring that your
courts were able to perform their functions despite the many
demands made upon your bench."
Omar also conveyed the appreciation of President Nelson
Mandela.
Eloff, 73, was first appointed a High Court judge in 1973. He
was appointed to his current position in 1991.
@ RESOLUTION OF LOGISTICAL PROBLEMS - VOTER REGISTRATION
Issued by: African National Congress
ANC provincial leader Ebrahim Rasool today commented on the
first day of the registration process;
"It appears that the IEC has managed by this afternoon to
resolve most logistical problems in the province.
"We were greatly concerned that by 09h00 this morning, not one
of the 64 registration stations had opened in Khayelitsha.
"A number of stations in Phillipi, Sea Point and Nyanga had also
not opened. The LEO and Area Manager of Tygerberg had failed to
ensure that equipment and personnel arrived on time. We have called
for a meeting with the LEO to ensure that the problems are resolved
and that adequate resources are deployed.
"It was only after the ANC regional election team had intervened
and provided transport to IEC staff and additional volunteers that
the situation began to stabilize. By 16h00 all registration stations
had been opened and were ready for the afternoon rush.
"The spirit of volunteers, civil servants and members of the
SANDF and the Navy is to be commended.
"With the logistics now in place we have called on our 3000
workers to move into mobilisation phase for the next two days,"
added Mr Rasool.
* ANC P/B tomorrow (4/12/98), 12h00 ANC Provincial Office, 1st
Floor Ledger House, Aden Avenue, Athlone.
ANC election co-ordinators Tony Yengeni and Marius Fransman will
report on ANC registration campaign
* Registration of Deputy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will
take place at 15h00 on 4/12/98 at Westerford High School
* Mr Dudley McCarthy, father of Benni McCarthy, will register at
10h00 tomorrow at Heathfield Primary School, Chadwin Road,
Elfindale. He is a member of the Heathfield ANC branch.
Deployment of ANC National leaders on 4th, 5th December
Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, Frene Ginwala, Zola Skweyiya, Tony
Yengeni, Philip Dexter, Kader Asmal, Brigitte Mabandla, Geraldine
Fraser- Moleketi and Dullah Omar have all been deployed to the
Western Cape. Programmes are available on request.
Election Briefs
1. NP councillor removed as IEC official
NP Councillor September from Bishop Lavis has volunteered and
been accepted as an IEC volunteer. Shew withdrew after a complaint
had been laid by the ANC. We are concerned that the IEC allowed this
to happen.
2. Money-lenders and ID rip-off artists.
Deputy Elections co-ordinator Marius Fransman said;
"We are deeply concerned at reports that certain money-lenders
are still not releasing ID's to clients wanting to register. It is
completely unacceptable fro anyone to do this. We have approached
the Minister of Trade and Industry to intervene in this matter and
we appeal to all money lenders to desist from this practice
"A further concern is that a certain rip of artist in Swellendam
has been collecting R35 from people and offering to get them ID's.
It seems that people taken in have not yet received ID's or been
given receipts. We are trying to locate this person and have warned
people not to make use of his services" added Mr Fransman.
Issued by ANC Western Cape, Further details contact Cameron Dugmore
on 082 894 7553
@ STATEMENT ON REV CANAAN BANANA
Issued by: Office of The President
President Nelson Mandela yesterday met former Zimbabwean
President Rev Canaan Banana at the latter's request. The Zimbabwean
government was informed that the President would be meeting the Rev.
Banana.
Rev Banana did not request asylum in South Africa. The
principled stand of South Africa on matters pertaining to the
respect for independent judicial processes both in our country and
abroad, and for international law, remains unchanged. The
President's firm view is that justice should run its course.
Issued by the Office of the President
3 December 1998
Tony Trew
082 555 8339
@ NAMIBIA-ELECTION
WINDHOEK, December 3 1998 Sapa-AP
NAMIBIA'S RULING PARTY SWEEPS NATIONAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS
Namibia's ruling party won a majority in 11 of 13 regional
councils in elections with the lowest turnout since Independence in
1990, officials announced Thursday.
The win by the South West Africa People's Organization, or
SWAPO, increases its control in the lower house of Parliament,
called the National Council, from 19 to 22 seats.
Each regional council sends two representatives to the National
Council.
Until the elections earlier this week, SWAPO controlled only 9
regional councils and half of a tenth council - or 19 delegates in
the National Council.
The low turnout - only 30 percent of the electorate - indicated
increasing disillusionment with the country's political leadership
and involvement in a foreign war, and a feeling there was no
political choice, observers said.
"People are (also) losing interest in participative
democracy," said a ruling party official who spoke on the
condition of anonymity. "The results are more important in terms
of what it doesn't say."
This week's voting was rescheduled from 1997, when the
government halted regional elections midstream, citing low voter
turnout. Only 20 percent of voters turned out in some of its
strongest constituencies.
The 30 percent turnout earlier this week was calculated from
preliminary results, said Joram Rukambe, Director of Elections. In
1992, similar regional elections drew an 81 percent voter turnout.
SWAPO campaigned on the basis of continuity and political
stability.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance,
hoped to tap voter anger over a SWAPO-supported constitutional
amendment passed earlier this year that allows President Sam Nujoma
to stand for a third term.
Presidential elections and voting for Parliament's upper house,
the National Assembly, will be held at the end of 1999.
One of the two councils won by the opposition is in the Kunene
region, where Nujoma plans to build a controversial dam that
threatens the traditional life style of the Herero ethnic group.
SWAPO won the Caprivi region, where opposition politicians who
advocate secession from Namibia fled the country over past months
to Botswana. The voter turnout was less than 10 percent in some key
constituencies.
Party officials from both sides in the southwest African nation
of 1.7 million said they would withhold comment until final results
are announced on Friday.
Namibia has sent troops to back Congolese President Laurent
Kabila in his four-month-old fight against rebels - a conflict that
has drawn at least five African countries into the fray.
@ MANDELA-BANANA
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa
JUSTICE MUST RUN ITS COURSE IN BANANA CASE: MANDELA
President Nelson Mandela firmly believed that justice should
run its course in the case of fugitive former Zimbabwean president
Canaan Banana, Mandela's office said on Thursday.
Banana met Mandela in Pretoria on Wednesday at the request of
the 62-year-old Zimbabwean, who was recently in absentia convicted
on 11 counts, including sodomy, in a Harare court.
The meeting took place with the knowledge of the Zimbabwean
government, presidential spokesman Tony Trew said.
He said South Africa's stance was unchanged on matters
concerning the respect for independent judicial processes, at home
and abroad, and for international law.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Marco Boni said this meant that South
Africa would not interfere in international legal processes.
Trew confirmed that Banana did not apply for asylum at the
meeting with Mandela, and said he did not intend staying long in
South Africa.
Zimbabwean police have issued a warrant for Banana's arrest
after he skipped the country shortly before his conviction last
week on 11 counts - of sodomy, indecent assault, performing an
unnatural act and common assault.
Homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe but not in South Africa.
"We are caught in a very tight spot. What is unlawful in
Zimbabwe is not necessarily unlawful here," presidential aide Parks
Mankahlana was reported as saying on Thursday.
The government of Zimbabwe had made no enquiries over Banana's
presence in South Africa, Mankahlana said.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba
expressed surprise on Thursday that Banana had met Mandela, and
denied his government had been officially informed of the meeting.
"We want Banana back, that is our requirement," said Charamba.
Boni told Sapa on Thursday that Wednesday's private meeting had
been arranged directly with Mandela.
He did not know the outcome of the meeting, nor Banana's
current whereabouts.
The Zimbabwean government had not yet lodged an extradition
request with South Africa for Banana's return.
"Extradition is a very clear cut situation where a formal
request has to be lodged by the country (wanting the return of a
fugitive). It is not something taken unilaterally by a country,"
Boni said.
He was not aware that South African police were searching for
Banana here, as reported, but said such a request from Zimbabwe may
have gone directly to police here.
Zimbabwe has no extradition treaty with South Africa, but
criminals have been exchanged in recent years by an informal
agreement between the two governments.
Earlier this week in Harare, a senior Zimbabwean official who
did not want to be named, said Zimbabwean police and Interpol had
been informed of Banana's presence in South Africa and were working
together to return him to Zimbabwe as soon as possible.
He would not be allowed the chance to fly, as rumoured, to
South America, the official said.
Banana is believed to have crossed into South Africa from
Botswana where he is rumoured to have hidden before his conviction
in absentia.
He is said to have a son working in South Africa.
Banana, a clergyman, became head of state when Zimbabwe became
independent in 1980 and served until 1987.
@ TSHWETE
JOHANNESBURG December 3 1998 Sapa-AFP
S. AFRICAN SPORTS MINISTER LASHES OUT OVER ALL-WHITE TEAMS
South African Sports Minister Steve Tshwete lashed out Thursday
at the country's sports selectors for excluding black players from
teams in white-dominated sports.
Tshwete, who at the weekend announced plans for a commission to
accelerate transformation in traditionally white sports, told SABC
television that provincial selectors were perpetuating racism in
sport.
"Provincial panels allocate to themselves the position of the
last bastion of apartheid in sport," he said.
He said the government's non-interference in the selection of
provincial sides should not "be used as a ploy to keep black
players on the benches as drinks boys."
Tshwete announced the commission after recent controversy over
the selection of an all-white South African cricket team for a Test
match with the West Indies.
He said Thursday he did not believe that black South African
fast bowler Mkhaya Ntini did not make the team purely because he
had been showing bad form.
"I am not prepared to accept that he was dropped because of bad
form. I would like to see reports from the team managers," he said.
Tshwete responded angrily when his interviewer asked how he
would feel if selectors chose a black player over a superior white
player and the choice cost a national side an important match.
"That is saying that black is associated with mediocrity," he
charged.
When Tshwete announced the commission Saturday at a function
for South Africa's unsung black rugby heroes he said blacks should
use the power of their superior numbers to change all-white teams.
"We are going to intervene in a very decisive kind of way to
ensure that we don't assemble here in this fashion in five years'
time to lament the death of rugby in our black areas," he said.
The commission is to begin work on April 1 next year, in the
midst of a campaign for the country's second democratic general
election, likely to be fought on race issues.
It has already drawn sharp criticism from South Africa's main
opposition National Party who this week accused the ruling African
National Congress of enforcing "authoritarian measures on every
sphere of life, including sport."
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
MONDAY 7 DECEMBER 1998
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
publication or broadcast.
To unsubscribe from the ANC Daily News Briefing mailing list send a
message to 'list...@wn.apc.org'. In the body of your message put
'unsubscribe ancnews'.
@ ANC-NEC
JOHANNESBURG December 4 1998 Sapa
ANC NEC MEETS IN JONANNESBURG NEXT WEEK
The African National Congress' national executive committee
will meet in Johannesburg early next week to discuss domestic and
international political situations, the ANC announced on Friday.
ANC spokesman Thabo Masebe said this meeting - being the last
for NEC for this year - would receive and discuss an annual report
to be presented by ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe.
"The report will assist the NEC in making a general assessment
of the programme of the ANC for the year 1998 and in identifying
priorities for 1999," he told Sapa.
Other issues to be discussed at the NEC meeting included the
1999 election and the programme of action for the coming year.
ANC sources said the national working committee's deployment
strategy document, adopted earlier this week, would be tabled at
the Monday and Tuesday NEC meeting.
The document was reportedly formulated on, among others, the
displeasing performance of the party in several of the provinces.
Remarks that the ANC-led government had failed to deliver on
its election promises, was said to be worrying the party
leadership, and through the deployment team, headed by the party's
deputy president Jacob Zuma, the organisation wanted to strengthen
its position ahead on the 1999 election.
"The NEC will want to look at what the problems are in these
provinces, and will want to look at other means to mobilise more
people to register to vote when the next opportunity comes," said
the sources.
Masebe said a media conference would follow the
behind-the-scenes NEC meeting on Wednesday at Albert Luthuli House.
@ REGISTER-WCAPE
CAPE TOWN December 4 1998 Sapa
WESTERN CAPE FARES BEST IN VOTER REGISTRATION
Voter registration in the four southern provinces this week
appeared to be running the smoothest in the Western Cape, where 98
percent of stations were up and running by the end of Thursday,
according to Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) officials.
They said all stations were operational by one o'clock on
Friday afternoon.
Acting provincial electoral officer Joppa le Roux told a media
briefing on Friday the province had not experienced any "major
catastrophes".
But, staff deployment was still a problem in Khayelitsha in
Cape Town.
A Sapa journalist reported that some stations in the sprawling
township were running smoothly, but others had no election
materials.
In Manenberg, a poverty-stricken area on the Cape Flats, it
appears that simmering tension between gangs may have had an effect
on turnout.
Earlier this week police advised navy teams distributing
registration pamphlets to withdraw from the area for their own
safety.
At a registration point at the Druiwevlei creche three navy
personnel were sitting in an empty hall at mid-morning, with two
policemen on duty outside.
The navy men said they had not been meant to man the station,
because it was in a "sensitive" area, but had been placed there at
the last minute.
A seaman said only 20 people had registered so far, which was
"a bit slower" than Thursday. Of about 3000 eligible voters in the
area, a total of 204 had registered on Thursday.
At the nearby Duinefontein community centre, registration
supervisor Granville Daniels said about 30 people had been
registered by 11.15 am.
He said there had been a drive in Manenberg three or four
months ago to get people to apply for the new bar-coded identity
documents.
Many people were now coming to register with the official
receipt of their application, instead of a temporary registration
certificate, and had to be turned away.
At Westerford high school in Newlands, station supervisor Gill
Bolton said the pace of registration was no different from Thursday
- "fits and starts".
Her team was still doing quite a lot of redirection to other
stations.
She said there was one area on the edge of her district that
the IEC did not appear to have allocated to any registration
district, so she was registering them anyway.
"Obviously the IEC will have to sort that out later," she said.
According to radio reports navy volunteers assisting with voter
registration in the KTC area at Guguletu were dismissed because
they were apparently drunk on duty.
The area manager said he discovered the navy volunteers were
drunk while assisting people with registration, and that he had to
dismiss them to prevent chaos.
Registration proceeded at a snail's pace in the Stellenbosch
and Paarl areas of the Boland on Friday.
Officials in Stellenbosch said the only significant problem
they had encountered was flat batteries for their scanners.
By noon on Friday, only about 700 of the estimated 2500 people
who should have registered at the Stellenbosch town hall had done
so.
At nearby Ida's Valley, only about 150 had registered by 1pm,
and at Kyamandi, 600.
The situation was similar in Paarl, where voting stations
tended to be overstaffed on Friday, following problems with
understaffing at some venues on Thursday.
A the hamlet of Koringberg in the heart of the Swartland wheat
area - between Piketberg and Moorreesburg - three South African
police service members doing duty as electoral officials perked up
on Thursday afternoon when a reporter walked into the local school
hall serving as the registration station.
They got all their equipment ready, only to be visibly
disappointed when it turned out it was not a potential voter coming
to register.
"Very few people knew about registration. They searched for the
hall," a constable said, flicking a fly off his brow.
"At least the air conditioning is working," his colleague
remarked.
Political parties appeared relatively satisfied with the
registration process in the province.
@ MANDELA'S VISIT TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
President Nelson Mandela will visit the United Arab Emirates from 6
to 8 December 1998 as the guest of honour at the annual Summit of
the Cooperation Council for the Arabian Gulf States.
This Council, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),
was founded in 1981 by the six Arab Gulf States, Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to strengthen
interstate cooperation in this oil-rich region.
It is the first time in the history of the GCC that an outside
Head of State has been invited to attend and address the GCC Summit.
During the two-day visit, President Mandela will be received by his
host His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, President of
the United Arab Emirates. President Mandela will also have separate
meetings with the following leaders of the GCC:
His Highness, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, Emir of the State
of Kuwait, His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz
Al Saud, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia His Royal Highness Sheikh Isa bin
Soliman Al Khalifa, State of Bahrain, His Majesty Sultan Gaboos bin
Said bin Said, Sultanate of Oman, and His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin
Khalifa Al Thani, State of Qatar South African political, trade and
investment relations with these strategically important Arabian Gulf
states are good.
The bilateral trade not only consists of oil purchases by South
Africa, but includes a significant exportation of goods and services
to the Gulf - mostly distributed through Dubai, the gateway to the
region. Total two-way trade to the Gulf region amounted to R6.1bn in
1997. A large South African community has settled in the UAE, Qatar,
Oman and Saudi Arabia. These South Africans work in management
cadres of multinational companies, in the medical and paramedical
fields as well as in construction, engineering and information
technology sectors.
South African companies have won substantial turn-key contracts
in these countries which has included the construction of a
prestigious hotel complex and extensions to the International
Airport in Dubai by Murray and Roberts; SASOL entered into a joint
venture with the Qatari General Petroleum Corporation and Philips
Petroleum Company of the USA to convert natural gas into liquids in
Qatar; and South African companies involvement in sugar projects in
both Kuwait and Oman.
Standard Bank, LTA and other South African companies have
established regional offices in Dubai to serve South African
business interests in the region.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
4 DECEMBER 1998
@ SARS-SANLAM
PRETORIA December 4 1998 Sapa
BAN ON DEBTORS GETTING FREE SHARES STAYS
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced in Pretoria
Friday that a ban on certain tax debtors receiving free shares as
part of the demutualisation of insurance giant Sanlam has been
extended.
On November 27 the Cape of Good Hope Provincial Division of the
High Court of South Africa granted an order in favour of SARS which
prohibited Sanlam until December 3 from dealing with any free
shares to specific SARS' debtors.
These include people who owe SARS more than R5 000, have been
so indebted for at least three months and who have not made
arrangements for repayment.
SARS said the court heard the matter again Thursday and had
extended the prohibition until February 24.
SARS said it was forwarding a notice to every taxpayer affected
by the court order.
"An appeal is therefore made to these taxpayers to pay the
outstanding taxes or to make acceptable arrangements with their
local Receiver of Revenue for the payment of such taxes so that the
shares can be released," said SARS.
@ SCHWARZ-OMAR
PRETORIA December 4 1998 Sapa
OMAR EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT MURDER SENTENCE
Justice Minister Dullah Omar on Friday expressed concern that
the five-year sentence imposed on Dave Schwarz for the murder of
his wife Sonia could send out a signal that family violence would
be tolerated.
Omar in a statement in Pretoria said he had taken note of media
reports suggesting that Schwarz may only serve a sixth of his
sentence before being released under correctional supervision.
"Whether Schwarz is released under correctional supervision
after 10 months or not is a matter for the Department of
Correctional Services.
"What is clear is that the court regarded him as a sick man and
imposed an extremely lenient sentence."
Schwarz, 44, reportedly hacked his 31-year-old wife to death
with an axe in October last year in front of their nine-year-old
son.
Eastern Cape Judge President Neville Zietsman imposed a
five-year sentence on Schwarz, saying part of his sentence may be
served under correctional supervision.
"It is not my purpose to criticise the judge for the sentence
he imposed," Omar said. "However, during the course of this year
government promoted the Domestic Violence Act because we consider
the issue of violence within the family to be a very serious
matter."
By passing this Act, government wanted to send a signal to
society that family violence was regarded in a serious light.
"I am deeply concerned that the wrong signal should not go out
to the public, namely that violence within the family can be
tolerated or will be treated leniently."
Omar said women were often at the mercy of their live-in male
partners.
"Women and children often find themselves imprisoned within
their own homes and subjected to the terror inflicted upon them by
the male partner or father."
In the past, a perception was created that the police and the
courts were reluctant to act in such cases, or that mitigating
circumstances were easily found.
"One of the logical consequences of the leniency so often
displayed, and the failure of the police and courts to come to the
assistance of victims, is unbridled violence resulting in
femicide."
Omar said it was important for the courts to send out a clear
signal that domestic violence would not be tolerated. In
appropriate cases, severe sentences should be imposed, particularly
in cases of femicide.
@ NEDLAC-NAIDOO
JOHANNESBURG December 4 1998 Sapa
NEDLAC CHIEFS MEET TO DISCUSS NAIDOO'S SUCCESSOR
The convenors of the four chambers of the National Economic
Development and Labour Council are expected to meet on Friday
afternoon to discuss applicants to replace Jayendra Naidoo,
Nedlac's executive director who vacates his position later this
month.
Raymond Parsons, convenor of the business chamber, said he and
the convenors of the labour, government and community chambers
would meet on Friday to review the more than 30 applications with a
view to developing a shortlist of candidates.
Ebrahim Patel, convenor of the labour chamber, said Nedlac
hoped to make an announcement in January about who would succeed
Naidoo.
@ HEALTH-BARA
JOHANNESBURG December 4 1998 Sapa
HEALTH MEC MAKES PLANS TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS AT BARA
After spending two days with a task team at Baragwanath Chris
Hani hospital, Gauteng health MEC Mondli Gungubele told a media
briefing on Friday he was disappointed by obvious problems such as
laundry chaos and deeper problems related to bad management.
He said there was a need for a formal investigation into staff
conduct and the utilisation of resources.
Gungubele said those patients who did not bring their own bed
linen to hospital were being reduced to sleeping on plastic
mattress covers.
"There is no control," Gungubele said. "The laundry does not
know how much linen goes out into the ward and how much comes back.
It does not know what goes elsewhere.
"We are disappointed by the impact this has on the dignity of
patients and the resources of this hospital," he said.
The MEC was equally perturbed by a management style that
"leaves much to be desired".
Gungubele announced that he planned to invoke Section 17 of the
Public Services Act in order to determine whether or not some staff
members could be found incapable of carrying out their duties
efficiently.
"We will only look at individual cases when we get results from
that process," he said.
Gungubele also planned by next year to have changed the
requirement in the act that stated heads of hospitals should have a
medical background.
"This system has contributed to a lot of the kind of problems
we are having. We need a macro revolution of management systems in
hospitals."
In his talks with BCH hospital staff, Gungubele said the main
problem raised by hospital workers at every level had been related
to work load.
This was a legitimate concern, with two nurses sometimes
tending 50 to 60 patients during a shift, but the problem was
probably magnified by bad management and should be addressed in
combination with an effort to improve this.
In addition, there was "a case to be made regarding discipline
in this hospital. We need to go into it deeper to see how this is
linked to management," Gungubele said.
The problem of a lack of communication between nurses and
doctors was a deep-seated problem clouded by the legacy of
apartheid which granted white doctors supremacy over black nurses.
The minimum safety of patients could only be guaranteed if
nurses and doctors applied a multi-disciplinary approach which
respected each other's professional autonomy.
"For us to consciously allow the breakdown of doctor-nurse
communication is criminal," Gungubele said.
The second part of the media briefing concerned the Makoena
investigation, which considered the medical records of 21 patients
and interviewed senior hospital personnel after allegations were
made in July that deaths were caused by negligent surgical
management at the hospital.
Gungubele said he had referred Makoena's report to the Medical
and Dental Council to determine whether any action should be taken.
The MEC decided to spend two days in Baragwanath hospital after
reading a report in the Saturday Star about two infants dying in
the hospital, allegedly unnecessarily. He said he wanted to check
the systems, regulations and controls in place at the hospital.
"I felt I must get into the works of this hospital."
He added that it was important to isolate problems.
"I think it would be unwise to demonise this hospital. This
hospital has delivered so much to this country and its contribution
is continuing."
"There are a significant number of dedicated staff here. I have
seen that for myself."
The MEC is scheduled to spend time at Tembisa Hospital next
week.
@ TRUTH-SPU
PIETERMARITZBURG 4 Sapa
AMNESTY HEARING FOR 5 IFP SPU MEMBERS & MK CADRE FOR 27 DEATHS
The TRC amnesty committee will next week hear applications from
five former members of the IFP-aligned SPUs and a former MK cadre
for attacks that killed at least 27 people in KwaZulu-Natal in the
early 1990s.
The hearing - to be chaired by Judge Andrew Wilson - was
scheduled for Monday to Friday next week at the Marian Centre in
Pietermaritzburg, Truth and Reconciliation Commission spokesman
Vuyani Greensaid on Friday.
Five former Inkatha Freedom Party self-protection unit members
are seeking amnesty for crimes ranging from murder, attempted
murder, conspiracy to murder and illegal possession of arms and
ammunition.
They are serving prison terms ranging from 15 years to life
imprisonment.
Philane Zondi, an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) cadre and former
bodyguard of the Northern Natal African National Congress regional
secretary, will apply for amnesty for shooting dead Sihle Mpanza in
Empangeni on March 22, 1994.
Mpanza was part of a group of IFP supporters whom Zondi saw
tearing down ANC election placards. Zondi was sentenced to 10 years
imprisonment.
The former IFP SPU members are Bongani Thusi, Petros Mthalane,
Nicholas Ntanzi, Nkosinathi Ngwenya and Sibusiso Mbhele.
Thusi is applying for amnesty for his role in the attack, which
left 16 people dead in Richmond in 1991, the 1994 murder of Paulos
Zulu, who was believed to be an ANC sympathiser in Ulundi, and for
illegal possession of arms and ammunition.
In his amnesty application, he said he was one of a group of
five SPU members who launched an attack with high-calibre automatic
weapons at Ndaleni, Magoda, Slahlambewu and Smozameni, leaving 16
people dead and scores of others wounded.
No one was arrested for this incident.
Mthalane is seeking amnesty for the murder of Clement Mchunu
near Plough Hotel in Ixopo on October 27, 1993.
Nicholas Ntanzi and Nkosinathi Ngwenya are seeking amnesty for
the murder of Mpathiseni Ntanzi, near Ezindophi Reserve on
September 25, 1993.
Sibusiso Mbele is applying for amnesty for the murder of three
unidentified former Transkei soldiers at Emazabekweni: Mafuthalenja
Dlamini, Anthony Nzimande and Thwalofu Dlamini; and the attempted
murder of a Mr Magubane at Pulangweni.
Mbhele also said he was involved in a conspiracy to assassinate
ANC leader Reggie Hadebe.
Meanwhile, the amnesty hearing into ANC-aligned self defence
unit activities on the Reef before the 1994 elections will continue
on Monday next week at Palm Ridge Community Centre near Thokoza,
Johannesburg.
@ NAMIBIA-DRCONGO
WINDHOEK December 4 1998 Sapa-AFP
DR CONGO PRESIDENT LAURENT KABILA VISITS NUJOMA IN WINDHOEK
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Laurent Kabila
travelled to Windhoek on Friday for talks with his Namibian
counterpart and ally Sam Nujoma, the Namibian foreign ministry told
AFP.
A spokesman for Nujoma's office confirmed that the two leaders
met at Nujoma's residence durig the course of the afternoon, but
declined to give further details.
Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe and Chad are providing Kabila with
military assistance in his four-month-old war against Tutsi-led
anti-government rebels - who are in turn supported by Rwanda and
Uganda.
The Namibian government last month announced that it had
stepped up its troop presence in the DRC after Kabila's allies
agreed in Harare on October 28 to launch an offensive against the
rebels in the east of the country.
Windhoek has refused to reveal the exact number of troops it
has in the DRC, but the local press has reported that it could be
more than 2,000 soldiers.
The government has however announced that it was spending 30
million Namibian dollars (5.3 million US dollars) on the war effort
in the DRC.
Opposition parliamentarians, economists and a human rights
group have criticised the military spending at a time when the
country is facing economic hardships.
@ MOOSA-INDIGENOUS
PRETORIA December 4 1998 Sapa
CONFERENCE TO BE HELD FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
A conference on the plight of South Africa's indigenous
population groups will be held in February next year, Provincial
Affairs and Constitutional Development Minister Valli Moosa
announced on Friday.
After meeting National Griqua Forum leaders in Pretoria, he
said: "In the past these people were dealt with in a horrific way,
and this is why government is giving them special attention".
The conference will also include representatives of the Nama,
San and Korana indigenous communities.
Moosa said it was decided at Friday's meeting that the White
Paper on traditional leaders which was still been drawn up, would
make mention of these groups.
They would also be represented in the Department's chief
directorate of traditional affairs.
He said the forum proposed that South Africa should adopt the
United Nations Declaration on Indigenous People which was still
been drafted.
It also recommended that a statutory council for indigenous
people should be formed on a national level, Moosa said.
"Next year's conference will make decisions on all these
proposals, and it will be the most representative conference of
these people ever held," he said.
Forum chairman Cecil le Fleur said he was satisfied with the
meeting because proposals made were dealt with in a serious manner.
"We as Griqua people are pleased with the way our case is being
handled. Every one of our issues raised got a positive response,"
he said.
@ ANGOLA-POLITICS
LUANDA December 4 1998 Sapa-AFP
ANGOLA'S MPLA TO RENEW LEADERS, REJECT TALKS WITH SAVIMBI
The ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola
(MPLA) will on Saturday begin a week-long congress aimed
essentially at renewing its leadership structures, sources close to
the party said.
The MPLA, which was the sole ruling party until 1990, is also
expected to ratify a government policy of abandoning any further
peace negotiations with the historic chief of its UNITA foes, Jonas
Savimbi, the sources said.
The latter measure was mentioned a day after the UN Security
Council decided to extend the mandate of the UN Observer Mission in
Angola (MONUA) for three months.
The United Nations considers Savimbi's National Union for the
Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) primarily responsible for the
breakdown of the country's arduous peace process.
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is the only candidate
for his succession as chairman of the formerly Marxist-Leninist
MPLA, which fought a civil war with UNITA, long backed by the
United States and apartheid South Africa, after independence from
Portugal in 1975.
At its fourth ordinary congress - held against a background of
ongoing conflict against UNITA diehards who have failed to
demobilise, disarm and hand over their strongholds in line with
1994 peace accords - the MPLA is expected to see a new central
committee elect a new secretary-general.
Sources said that the current chief executive, Lopo do
Nascimento, may be returned to the post.
Dos Santos himself will give a keynote address on Saturday
morning to some 1,200 delegates of the party, which claims to have
a total membership of more than 800,000.
The MPLA, which opened the way to multiparty politics with a
new constitution in 1990 and dropped its own official
Marxist-Leninist line two years later, is expected to see changes
in its structure but no major policy amendments.
UNITA, which already had members of parliament on the strength
of a 1992 election that was followed by renewed war over contested
results, officially became the main political opposition on
proclaiming itself totally demobilised in March this year.
Luanda, however, estimates that Savimbi has some 35,000 armed
men at his disposal, while the government backs a UNITA dissident
movement that split from Savimbi in early September, led by two of
his former closest aides, Eugenio Manuvakola and Jorge Valentim.
The authorities quickly decided that the dissidents were the
only UNITA members they were prepared to talk to, with Savimbi and
his forces entrenched mainly in central Angolan strongholds and an
upsurge of fighting in other reasons, notably the north.
While the United Nations recognises that Savimbi is the main
obstacle to peace and has slapped sanctions on UNITA, it has also
urged the government to keep communication channels open.
But UNITA Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba Gato on Thursday told
Portugal's TSF radio that a government offensive on UNITA in the
central town of Andulo was "imminent", stating that: "The decision
has been taken, it's just a question of time."
General Higino Carneiro, deputy minister for territorial
administration in a country devastated by war, destitute despite
massive oil wealth, and riddled with mines, has for his part said
that, if necessary, the government would pursue the reunification
of the country by "abnormal" means - in other words, force.
UN special envoy Issa Diallo, seeking to prevent further
all-out bloodshed, has repeatedly called for re-establishing
dialogue.
However, a western diplomat who asked not to be named
commented: "I don't see the point in renewing the UN mandate to
apply a peace treaty nobody wants anymore."
@ NEDLAC-EU
JOHANNESBURG December 4 1998 Sapa
NEDLAC BACKS GOVERNMENT STANCE IN EU TALKS
The executive council of the National Economic and Labour
Council on Friday expressed support for the government's refusal to
bow to pressure from the European Union to stop the use of the
names "port" and "sherry" for locally produced fortified wines.
At a media briefing following a meeting of the executive
council, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said the council
supported the firm stance the government had taken on the issue in
trade talks between the EU and the South African government.
"The council noted that while South Africa had made significant
concessions to the EU on its tariff offer and over trade related
matters, the EU's negotiating stance had not been responsive to
South Africa's developmental challenges," he said.
"The Nedlac Executive Council today expressed its support for
the stand that the government has taken in the negotiations with
the European Union on the continued use of the product
appellations, Port and Sherry in the SADC market."
Trade Minister Alec Erwin, also at the media briefing, said if
the EU agreed to the proposals which had been developed between him
and EU Commissioner Joao de Deus Pinheiro, the agreement could be
finalised by the end of the year.
The EU's insistence that South African producers stop using the
terms "port" and "sherry", has been one of the main sticking points
in the talks, which have been under way for more than three years.
@ ZAMBIA-POLITICS
LUSAKA December 4 1998 Sapa-AP
FRESH ALL-PARTY TALKS IN ZAMBIA OPEN WITH ACRIMONY
The government and opposition groups reopened talks Friday for
the first time since a 1997 coup attempt, with sharp differences
quickly emerging between the main parties.
President Frederick Chiluba opening the meeting of 22 political
organizations by declaring his ruling party was not obliged to
"consult or share with anyone the right to govern."
But former President Kenneth Kaunda denounced Chiluba's rule
was undemocratic, pointing out that opposition parties had
boycotted the 1996 elections to protest amendments to Zambia's
constitution.
Among the amendments was one barring first-generation Zambians
from running for president. That amendment prevented Kaunda, leader
of the main opposition United National Independence Party, from
running because his parents were immigrants from neighboring
Malawi.
"The claim that you are mandated through a parliamentary vote
and presidential vote misses the point that the 1996 constitution
was discriminatory," Kaunda told Chiluba.
The talks are aimed at defusing tension between the government
and opposition parties over the constitutional amendments.
Kaunda's opposition alliance has also accused the government of
condoning irregularities in the registration of voters ahead of the
1996 national elections.
Political tensions culminated in an Oct. 28, 1997, coup attempt
by junior officers who stormed the state broadcast center and
claimed to have overthrown Chiluba. Loyal troops quickly crushed
the revolt.
Kaunda was placed under house arrest for alleged involvement in
the failed coup. He was freed in June after the state dropped
treason and conspiracy charges against him.
Kaunda, 74, led the nation to independence from Britain in
1964. He headed an authoritarian regime until he was ousted by
Chiluba in the first democratic elections in 1991.
@ ZIMBABWE-BRITAIN
LONDON December 4 1998 Sapa-AFP
BRITAIN EMPHASISES CONCERNS OVER FARMS' SEIZURE TO MUGABE
The British government emphasised its concerns over his seizure
of white farmers' land in Zimbabwe to President Robert Mugabe on
Friday as the African head of state continued a private visit.
Junior foreign office minister Tony Lloyd said that he also
raised the question of Harare's involvment in the conflict in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lloyd said in talks he had stressed London's "concern over
recent public statements on London reform in Zimbabwe" and
"repeated the government's support for the consensus reached at the
donor conference in September."
"In the interests of transparency, and in order to avoid
further speculation, I encouraged President Mugabe to explain
clearly his government's intentions, especially to those most
closely involved."
Mugabe, 74, who is accompanied by his young wife Grace, is
under pressure at home from the row over the former British colony
of Rhodesia's recent move to confiscate 841 farms owned by white
people.
The Zimbabwean government promised at a conference in Harare in
September that only 118 farms would be appropriated for landless
black peasants and that the seizures should take place in a
"progressive, transparent and equitable" manner.
Britain has strongly criticised the seizures in the past, and
Lloyd's tone was markedly milder than previous statements from
London.
Another item on the agenda was Zimbabwe's military support,
along with that of Angola, Namibia and Chad, for DRC President
Laurent-Desire Kabila, against rebels who are backed by Uganda and
Rwanda.
"I urged him to use his influence with the key players to bring
about a ceasefire and negotiated settlement, and encouraged him to
do his utmost to bring about real progress at the forthcoming talks
in Lusaka and Ouagadougou", Lloyd said.
He was referring to a regional summit on the DRC conflict in
the Zambian capital, which was postponed Friday from December 8 to
14, according to the Lusaka government, and to another meeting on
the troubled Great Lakes region due in Burkina Faso's capital on
December 17 and 18.
Lloyd added, giving no details, that the pair had also held
talks on "Libya/Lockerbie".
There were no discussions, as had been expected, on Mugabe's
ban on trade union strikes imposed at the weekend. Mugabe's
government has drawn strong domestic criticism both for its
economic policies, which triggered strikes last month, and for its
costly involvement in the DRC war.
Right-wing political commentators in Britain have drawn
parallels between the Zimbabwean president's visit and that of
former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested
in London at Spain's request.
Some said Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony for
the last 18 years, should be arrested on charges of human rights
violations the minute he steps onto British soil.
@ COURT-BARNARD
CAPE TOWN December 4 1998 Sapa
FINDINGS RUINED MY REPUTATION: BARNARD IN TRC COURT CHALLENGE
Western Cape director-general Niel Barnard, in a High Court
application for a review of the TRC's findings, has characterised
himself and the National Intelligence Service as peace brokers who
were instrumental in bringing South Africa to a negotiated
solution.
Barnard, and his successor as NIS head Michael James Louw,
filed the application concerning the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission's final report in the Cape High Court on Friday on
behalf of all former NIS operatives - to clear their names, it was
claimed.
The TRC report held the operatives accountable for
extra-judicial killings on the grounds that information they
gathered was used to eliminate political opponents.
Barnard, NIS head between June 1980 and January 1992, said he
had been grouped with the likes of Eugene de Kock, Joe Mamasela and
Dirk Coetzee despite being held in high esteem by his colleagues
and those who initially saw him as an enemy.
He said the application was urgent because the TRC had a
limited lifespan. The TRC has 14 days to produce its records. A
hearing is unlikely before next year.
Barnard said in the application that the TRC's findings
reflected seriously on his reputation and had led to calls for his
resignation.
"In my view, the incumbent of a position such as mine must be
above suspicion. It would therefore be in the interests of the
province itself and its inhabitants if the blot on my reputation
could be removed as a matter of urgency," Barnard said.
Describing his role in the former government, Barnard said it
was a matter of public record that preparations he was intimately
involved with from the start culminated in talks between the
African National Congress and the South African government.
Barnard said he engineered the first meeting between President
Nelson Mandela and former state president PW Botha.
He had also been involved in peace brokering as NIS head,
including in the normalisation of relations with Mozambique which
resulted in the Nkomati Accord, the independence of Namibia and the
resolution of the Angolan conflict, and the development of Africa's
capacity to defuse conflicts on the continent.
He said many heads of state he had negotiated with over the
years were still in office, and his counterparts in the
intelligence community understood and appreciated his role and
involvement in the transition.
Barnard, describing a difference in approach between the NIS
and the SA Defence Force, said the SADF had manipulated security
intelligence to enlarge its claim on South Africa's human and
financial resources.
The NIS, on the other hand, had argued for a peaceful
resolution to South Africa's problems, and said it was in the
country's security interests to allocate resources to
socio-economic upliftment.
He said the NIS' fundamental position was that the country's
problems and dangers could be effectively addressed only by
radically changing the political status quo.
Against this background, the TRC's findings implicating the NIS
and himself in extra-judicial killings caused immeasurable personal
harm, Barnard said.
@ ANC WELCOMES 100% OPENING OF W.C. REGISTRATION STATIONS
Issued by: African National Congress
ANC leader Erahim Rasool said;
"It has been a tremendous achievement. This was possible only
due to the combined effort of the IEC, SANDF, SA Navy, public
servants and civil society volunteers.
"I want to also salute the ANC election teams in Khayelitsha and
Phillipi whose efforts in many ways saved the process.
"It is vital that this 100% record is maintained from now until
this round of registration finishes at 5pm tomorrow.
"We have proved the prophets of doom and gloom in the NP and DP
wrong.
"As the ANC we are in full swing to make Saturday the biggest
day for registration. Many workers will be able to register.
"We are convinced that with the logistical problems out of the
way, voter turnout will increase dramatically tomorrow," added Mr
Rasool.
1. Sam Shilowa, Cosatu General Secretary has arrived in Cape
Town. After attending a press briefing at 12h00, he addressed 100
Cosatu shopstewards at the Workers College and urged them to become
active in the ANC's campaign to secure an overwhelming majority and
win the Western Cape.
Mr Shilowa said "It is clear that the NP and DP are intent on
sabotaging the elections because they knew they face a hiding at the
polls.
"The anti-worker policies of the NP and DP have exposed them as
parties of privilege.
"It is clear that workers have only one real choice and that is
the ANC. It is only the ANC which is capable of transforming our
country, no other party has the will or capacity to do so."
Mr Shilowa then addressed mini- rallies at Imizamo Yethu
community in Hout Bay and then addressed 100 workers at the Sea
Harvest factory. He was on his way to do a tour of the hostels in
Langa and Gugulethu together with ANC MP Tony Yengeni
Mr Shilowa will spend the entire day in Khayelitsha tomorrow
visiting all 20 ANC branches and at least twenty of the 64
registration stations.
He is accompanied by Randy Pieterse, Western Cape Chairperson of
Cosatu and can be contacted at 083 4255 100
2. Minister to Register on Saturday
* Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka
will register at 09h00 at the Westerford High School.
* Minister of Water Affairs Kader Asmal will register at Cottage
Motors at 11h00 on Campground road.
* Minister of Justice Dullah Omar will register at 16h00 at the
Rylands High School, Balu Parker Boulevard, Rylands
3. Dudley McCarthy registers to vote ANC in 1999
Speaking after his registration this morning at the Heathfield
Primary School, Dudley, father of Benni McCarthy, said:
"I have registered so that I can vote ANC in 1999. I will vote
ANC because I want all youth to be able to become role models like
Benni."
Issued by ANC Western Cape, Further details from Cameron Dugmore at
082 894 7553 4184616 code z-7131
@ ANGOLA-FIGHTING
LISBON December 4 1998 Sapa-AP
ANGOLAN REBELS SAY GOVT TROOPS ATTACKING ITS POSITIONS
Angolan air force MiG fighters bombed a stronghold of the rebel
group UNITA for a second day Friday and were advancing on other
rebel-held areas, a UNITA spokesman said.
The government denied it was moving on UNITA's central highland
strongholds but said it had recently taken UNITA-held villages.
Carlos Morgado, a UNITA spokesman in Lisbon, said MiG jets
bombed Andulo, 480 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of Luanda, for
a second day in the latest clash to threaten the ailing 1994 peace
pact between the two sides.
Morgado called on the government to say whether it still
respected the peace accord.
"Does this mean the peace accord is dead? The government must
state openly and clearly whether it has torn up the agreement," he
said.
Morgado said he had been in telephone contact with Andulo, but
he had no information on casualties. There was no independent
verification of a government attack.
In the Angolan capital Luanda, government spokesman Higino
Carneiro denied the army had moved on UNITA strongholds but said
the government was ready to use force, including airstrikes, to
seize them.
"We have no other option, now that our enemy has been
identified," Carneiro said at a news conference.
Carneiro said the army recently has taken control, "in a
violent and coercive way," of 40 villages held by UNITA.
The Angolan government and UNITA in recent months have accused
each other of renewed military action that looks increasingly
likely to nullify the 1994 peace pact which ended a two-decade
civil war in the former Portuguese colony.
A 1,000-strong United Nations force monitoring implementation
of the peace accord has withdrawn from about half of the vast
southwest African nation due to sporadic clashes between the foes
in remote rural areas.
Morgado said government troops backed by tanks were encircling
Andulo and nearby Bailundo.
The troops were trying to advance but had met resistance from
the so-called presidential guard of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi,
Morgado said.
The presidential guard is made up of some 400 elite and
well-armed troops, mostly guerrilla veterans war, who are dug into
strong defensive positions, according to Morgado.
"They want to destroy us, and obviously we're fighting back.
We're determined not to be crushed," Morgado said in a telephone
interview.
Havy rainalso was slowing the advance of government armor, he
said.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday blamed the renewed
crisis in Angola on UNITA and demanded that it disarm and adhere to
the peace deal.
Under the terms of the accord, UNITA - a Portuguese acronym for
the National Union for the Total Independence for Angola - was to
hand areas under its control to the government.
However, lingering hostility between the two sides has hindered
implementation of the deal, and no progress has been made since
June.
The civil war broke out following Angola's 1975 independence
from Portugal and some 500,000 people were killed in the fighting.
@ ACOPS
CAPE TOWN December 4 1998 Sapa
GOVERNMENTS AGREE ON PROTECTION OF SEA
Representatives of 33 sub-Saharan African countries on Friday
formally committed themselves to better co-operation in protecting
the subcontinent's coastal and marine resources.
At the end of a week-long conference in Cape Town, they also
set the wheels in motion for the establishment of a sub-Saharan
commission on sustainable development, similar to existing
commissions for the Mediterranean and the west Indian Ocean.
The conference was called amid concern about the subcontinent's
fragmented approach to coastal and marine issues, and rapidly
worsening environmental conditions in the region.
The declaration commits the governments, including South
Africa, to renewed co-operation within the framework of two
existing, but moribund, sub-Saharan conventions on the protection
of marine and coastal resources.
The 1981 Abidjan convention and the 1985 Nairobi convention
require signatories to fight marine pollution and manage natural
resources as best they can. It also puts them under a special
obligation to preserve rare or fragile ecosystems.
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki told delegates on Thursday that
South Africa intended to join the conventions.
The document also commits the 33 governments to work towards a
"partnership conference" of African countries, donors, the private
sector and non-governmental organisations to be held in the year
2000, probably in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast.
The United States' deputy assistant secretary for ocean and
space affairs, Mary Beth West, said on Friday that the US supported
a process that would draw these groups together to promote
co-ordination and avoid competition.
"We seek to avoid the fragmented use of limited political,
institutional, human and financial resources," she said.
Regrettably only four sub-Saharan African countries had
ratified the United Nations' fish stocks agreement, and only one
had accepted a Food and Agriculture Organisation agreement on
fishing.
These agreements offered the international community a way to
achieve sustainable fisheries, and it was the US' fervent hope that
other countries on the subcontinent would help bring the agreements
into force.
The Mozambican representative of the World Conservation Union,
Ebenezario Chonguica, said Africa needed renewed support from the
donor community for the conservation and sustainable use of natural
resources.
"But it also needs to end the boom-and-bust cycles of
development financing, and it needs to diversify its sources of
support."
The partnership conference would be an important opportunity to
bring this about, he said.
British International Development Minister George Foulkes told
the conference his government would commit about R200 million to
implementing a code of conduct for responsible fisheries in Africa.
@ UN-ANGOLA
UNITED NATIONS December 4 1998 Sapa-AFP
ANNAN APPEALS FOR RESTRAINT AMID MILITARY ESCALATION IN ANGOLA
UN chief Kofi Annan on Friday appealed to the Angolan
government and rebel forces to show "utmost restraint" to avert an
escalation of their conflict.
In a statement issued here, Annan specifically called on Jonas
Savimbi, the leader of the rebel Union for the Total Independence
of Angola (UNITA) to allow the departure from his rebel strongholds
of Andulo and Bailundo of 14 UN peacekeepers.
The UNITA leadership has refused the peacekeepers flight
clearance "under various pretexts" to leave Andulo and Bailundo
since the middle of last month, Annan noted.
Annan ordered their temporary relocation because of the
deteriorating security situation in the country, which has
jeopardized 1994 peace accords.
The secretary-general on Friday said he was "extremely
concerned about the situation with the 14 peacekeepers."
He "strongly urges the UNITA leadership and personally Mr.
Jonas Savimbi to cooperate fully and immediately" with the UN
observer mission in Angola to ensure their withdrawal.
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution
warning that the UNITA leadership would be held responsible for the
peacekeepers' safety.
Annan said that the relocation was all the more urgent because
of the recent intensification of military operations in central
Angola, where Andulo and Bailundo are located.
He appealed to all concerned, "including the government of
Angola, to exercise the utmost restraint so as not to endanger the
lives of UN personnel as well as civilians, and avoid further
deterioration of the situation on the ground."
Annan has warned that he will consider recommending withdrawing
the 1,000-strong UN mission in Angola depending on the security
situation in the coming weeks.
@ UN-ANGOLA
UNITED NATIONS December 4 1998 Sapa-AFP
UN SECURITY COUNCIL CALLS EMERGENCY MEETING ON ANGOLA
The UN Security Council was called into emergency session on
Friday to discuss Angola, a UN spokesman announced.
Western diplomats said that the session was called amid an
Angolan government offensive on the central Angolan strongholds of
rebel leader Jonas Savimbi.
A total 14 UN peacekeepers have been prevented from leaving the
central towns of Bailundo and Andulo for the past two weeks and
there is concern about their safety, the western diplomats said.
They added that Portugal had prepared a formal statement that
was likely to be adopted by the council following the closed-door
consultations.
Earlier Friday, UN chief Kofi Annan appealed to the Angolan
government and rebel forces to show "utmost restraint" to avert an
escalation of their conflict.
In a statement issued here, Annan specifically called on
Savimbi, the leader of the rebel Union for the Total Independence
of Angola (UNITA) to allow the peacekeepers' departure from Andulo
and Bailundo.
The UNITA leadership has refused the peacekeepers flight
clearance "under various pretexts" to leave Andulo and Bailundo
since the middle of last month, Annan noted.
Annan ordered their temporary relocation because of the
deteriorating security situation in the country, which has
jeopardized 1994 peace accords.
The secretary-general on Friday said he was "extremely
concerned about the situation with the 14 peacekeepers."
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution
warning that the UNITA leadership would be held responsible for the
peacekeepers' safety.
Annan appealed to all concerned, "including the government of
Angola, to exercise the utmost restraint so as not to endanger the
lives of UN personnel as well as civilians, and avoid further
deterioration of the situation on the ground."
Annan has warned that he will consider recommending withdrawing
the 1,000-strong UN mission in Angola depending on the security
situation in the coming weeks.
@ UN-ANGOLA
UNITED NATIONS December 5 1998 Sapa-AFP
UN SECURITY COUNCIL DEMANDS RELEASE OF UN SOLDIERS IN ANGOLA
The UN Security Council on Friday demanded the "immediate and
unconditional" departure of UN peacekeepers from UNITA strongholds
in central Angola, amid an upsurge in fighting.
A press statement issued after an emergency session of the
15-member council expressed "grave concern" about the soldiers'
safety and warned that UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi would be held
"personally responsible" for their security.
The session was called amid an Angolan government offensive on
Savimbi's central Angolan strongholds of Bailundo and Andulo, where
the 14 peacekeepers have been virtual hostages for more than two
weeks.
UN Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping, Bernard Miyet,
informed council members at the closed-door meeting that the
government had conducted bombing raids around the two towns.
But he said that the raids were not close to the camps of the
peacekeepers, who were safe and in touch with UN headquarters,
according to diplomats.
UNITA has prevented the UN peacekeepers from flying out of the
central towns of Bailundo and Andulo for the past two weeks, by
failing to provide flight clearance.
UN chief Kofi Annan ordered their temporary relocation because
of the deteriorating security situation in the country, which has
jeopardized 1994 peace accords.
The council reiterated that "the primary responsibility for the
deterioration in the peace process lies with the leadership of
UNITA in Bailundo."
The council also called on both sides to exercise "utmost
restraint," echoing an appeal from Annan earlier in the day, who
said he was "extremely concerned" about the peacekeepers'
situation.
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution
warning that the UNITA leadership would be held responsible for the
peacekeepers' safety, and calling on Savimbi to comply with his
obligations under the peace accords.
Annan has warned that he will consider recommending withdrawing
the 1,000-strong UN mission in Angola depending on the security
situation in the coming weeks.
@ DRCONGO-UN-CEASEFIRE
UNITED NATIONS December 5 1998 Sapa-AP
CONGO CEASE-FIRE TO BE SIGNED AT DEC. 14-15 SUMMIT
The countries at war in Congo are expected to sign a formal
cease-fire at a summit in Zambia on Dec. 14-15 and the rebels are
talking about how they can be brought on board, a senior U.N.
official said Friday.
A cease-fire agreement will hopefully be followed by deployment
of an African or U.N. peacekeeping force in the Congo with at least
15,000 personnel, the official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
In Paris last week, leaders of Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe and
Congo made a commitment to end the war, to strive for an immediate
cessation of hostilities, and to sign a cease-fire agreement.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who attended the Paris
summit, has been working for months to try to avert an all-out war
in the Congo, which could lead to a regional conflagration.
The U.N. official said some of the Paris commitments were
already starting to be implemented.
Congo rebels, who didn't participate in the Paris talks and
initially reacted negatively to the outcome, traveled to Uganda
three days ago and are talking to President Yoweri Museveni "about
how they could be brought aboard for the cease-fire," the official
said.
Rwanda has ordered a halt to military action unless its forces
are attacked and a summit has been scheduled in the Zambian
capital, Lusaka, on Dec. 14-15, he said.
"We expect that during that summit, a formal cease-fire would
be signed by all the concerned countries," the official said.
The secretary-general has been talking to Zambian President
Frederick Chiluba and participants at the Paris conference "to
encourage them to attend the Lusaka summit with a spirit of
openness and compromise," the official said.
During the summit, the rebels will be in Lusaka, just as they
were in Paris, but it's doubtful that they will attend the meeting
or sign the cease-fire because that would set a precedent which
countries like Uganda and Rwanda probably cold not accept, the
official said.
The rebels are trying to overthrow Congo's President Laurent
Kabila, who came to power in May 1997 after toppling longtime
Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. He promised reform and democracy
in his renamed Democratic Republic of Congo, but many critics say
his regime's 18 months in power has seen repressive policies and a
growing intolerance of criticism.
After the cease-fire is signed, the United Nations will be
involved in its implementation and efforts to bring peace to the
Congo. But the scope of the involvement will depend on the Security
Council and other U.N. organs.
"Many are thinking that this time the U.N. should deploy a
peacekeeping force, or a U.N. peacekeeping force together with an
Organization of African Unity observation force," the U.N.
official said.
That will be determined at an OAU meeting in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso, on Dec. 17-18.
To deploy a U.N. peacekeeping force would require a formal
cease-fire and its implementation, agreement of all governments
concerned, adequate security, a clear mandate from the Security
Council and sufficient resources, the official said.
According to the current evaluation, a "near minimum" force
should have at least 15,000 personnel, he said.
U.N. officials recognize that such a large peacekeeping
operation will be costly.
"I hope the U.N. will evaluate both the pros and cons of
having a peacekeeping force and not having it, because ... this is
the center, the heart of Africa geographically and geopolitically.
You have nine countries all around that can be affected by
disintegration of the Congo," the U.N. official said.
@ ANC RESPONSE REGARDING VOTER REGISTRATION
Issued by: African National Congress
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal dismisses with contempt the statement
by KZN National Party leader Danie Schutte that the Independent
Electoral Commission and the ANC are "dismal failures" because of
the low voter registration turnout in the province on Thursday and
Friday. The National Party, in 12 years, has failed to convince
whites to apply for bar-coded Identity Documents and is now ready to
point fingers about what is wrong with the process.
Mr Schutte, who served as Minister of Home Affairs in the
apartheid regime, should be the last person to whine about bar-coded
IDs and voter registration when he himself was in the position to
ensure that whites get proper South African identification. In fact,
bar-coded IDs are known to many Africans as "Barayi IDs" after the
late Cosatu President Elijah Barayi who, in 1986, started a mass
action campaign for Africans to discard the dreaded "dompas" and
apply for proper ID books. The National Party has not been able to
achieve this in 12 years.
The white parties - NP,DP and UDM - sitting in their splendid
isolation of white middle class may not be aware that it is not
possible to assemble Africans in large numbers on a Thursday or
Friday simply because they are working people. We have witnessed
what happened in the northern provinces last week where voter
registration on the Friday was very poor but people turned up in
large numbers on Saturday and Sunday.
Early reports from registration stations all over KwaZulu-Natal
on Saturday morning indicate that numbers are picking up
substantially.
Issued by: ANC KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Chairperson, Sbu Ndebele.
05 December 1998
Contact Sbu Ndebele at 082 5533 592
@ REGISTER
CAPE TOWN December 5 1998 Sapa
MIXED RESPONSE TO VOTER REGISTRATION
The voter registration drive in the five southern provinces
drew a mixed response on Saturday with some provinces reporting
more interest than others.
The current round of registration ends at 5pm on Saturday,
although it is to be extended until Sunday in some regions of
KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
In KwaZulu-Natal, which has been plagued by logistical problems
and bad weather over the past few days, the situation had largely
improved, IEC official Nowetu Mosery said on Saturday.
Ninety-eight percent of registration stations in the province
were open.
Officials were still deciding which stations would be open on
Sunday.
Most rurban would be fully
operational from 7am to 5pm on Sunday, Mosery said.
It had been decided that all small transitional local council
stations would not open, and neither would the station at
Newcastle.
He appealed for volunteers to help with the registration
process for one more day.
In the Eastern Cape where voter registration is to be extended
until Sunday in six districts of the former Transkei most stations
reported a low turnout.
Graaff-Reinet and Nieu-Bethesda local electoral officer Thys
Galloway reported that only between 10 and 15 percent of the area's
potential voters had registered.
Cradock electoral officer Danie Coetzer said one of the
thirteen stations under his control had not opened on Saturday.
He reported a 34 percentvoter registration turnout.
The election official for Burgersdorp, Rene de Klerk reported
registration of between 40 and 50 percent, with a low turnout in
the rural areas.
She said in the seven station under her control only 188 people
had registered from the rural areas. This was because farms were
far away from registration points, making it difficult for people
to register.
IEC provincial electoral officer Reverend Bongani Finca said
voter registration would be extended in six districts of the former
Transkei.
These were Ngqeleni, Lusikisiki, Umzimkulu, Port St Johns,
Tabankulu and Elliotdale.
He said further possible extensions in other districts would be
announced later on Saturday.
Meanwhile Port Elizabeth electoral officer Graham Richards said
the registration process had been running very smoothly at all the
city's registration stations.
The process was also running smoothly at the Motherwell
Community Hall, said ANC party agent Richard Befile.
He said about 810 people had registered so far. "It's going
slowly today, but yesterday it was very fast," he said.
He reported confusion about where people should register.
In the Western Cape all registration stations were open and
running smoothly, an IEC official said.
Most opened on time with the last opening at 8am.
Turnout was good in the rural areas, while in the urban areas
it was still being assessed.
At a station in Crawford, on the Cape Flats navy warrant
officer Paul Flounders said the pace of registration was "slow and
steady", as it had been for the previous two days.
He said believed a lot of people did not have the correct
identity documents.
Supervisor at a station in Manenberg, Granville Abrahams said
registration picked up a bit early Saturday morning, "but then it
slowed down again, and we are sitting here waiting for people to
come."
At Westerford High School in Newlands, supervisor Gill Bolton
said shortly after midday that 809 people had registerd, of an
estimated 2613.
It was "a bit optimistic" to think they would reach the halfway
mark by the end of the day.
She said there were still some hiccups in terms of people
arriving at the wrong station.
In the Free State chief electoral officer Chris Mepha said
stations everywhere were running smoothly.
By noon 90,000 people had been registered on the voters role.
Problems in Goldfields area had been sorted out after extra
personnel had been deployed there.
Mepha reported that many farmers were bringing their workers to
town to register.
"There are sporadic negative reports but those refusing to
allow their workers to register are a drop in the ocean," he said.
@ REGISTER-IDS
CAPE TOWN December 5 1998 Sapa
MOVE TO STOP LOAN COMPANIES FROM HOLDING ID BOOKS
Dr Rob Davies, the chairman of the National Assembly's trade
and industry committee, on Saturday called for lending institutions
to be prohibited from holding the identity documents of clients who
owed them money.
He made the call after discovering that a number of potential
voters in Ashton in the Western Cape were unable to register for
next year's election because their identity documents were being
held as security by small loan companies.
The companies had indicated they would only be prepared to
release the documents when the debts had been paid later on
Saturday after the workers received their wages.
The documents offered no real collateral to financial
institutions, which should not be allowed to insist that they hold
them, Davies said in a statement.
He had spoken to the trade and industry department chief
director of fair trade Dr Alastair Ruiters about the matter.
Ruiters was in the process of raising it with the home affairs
department and the Association of Microlenders.
In the Eastern Cape the local electoral officer for
Graaff-Reinet and Nieu-Bethesda, Thys Galloway said on Saturday
only 10 to 15 percent of area's potential voters had turned up for
registration.
Galloway, who is in charge of 16 voter registration stations,
attributed this to money lenders holding identity documents of many
people who wanted to register as surety for loans.
@ SOUTH AFRICA - INDIA JOINT COMMISSION
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE 3RD SOUTH AFRICA-INDIA JOINT COMMISSION: 4
AND 5 DECEMBER 1998, PRETORIA
South African-India relations have been further strengthened
following the holding of the Third Joint Commission meeting on 4 and
5 December 1998 in Pretoria and the signing of a bilateral agreement
on air services. The inaugural meeting of the India-South Africa
Commercial Alliance (ISACA) was held on 3 December 1998.
Led by Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad and the Indian
Minister of State for External Affairs, Mrs Vasundhara Raje, the
Joint Commission focused on a wide range of issues dealing with
Political and Defence matters, Trade, Economic, Cultural, Technical,
Education, Scientific and Tourism Cooperation.
Both sides agreed that the strategic partnership reaffirmed in
the Red Fort Declaration was build on a strong base of political
goodwill, economic potential and similarities in global perceptions.
The relevance of this partnership had been illustrated by the 13
bilateral agreements concluded by the two countries, the ten-fold
growth in bilateral trade over the last 5 years to over 5 billion
Rands in 1997, and exchanges of visits at the highest levels. At te
same time both sides recognised that there remained considerable
untapped potential to strengthen the partnership through frank and
regular exchanges of views on bilateral and mulitlateral matters, in
an atmosphere of trust and mutuality of interest. The two sides
emphasised the need for expeditious follow up of Joint Commission
decisions through mechanisms between the diplomatic Missions in the
two countries and the concerned government departments, with a
procedure for review of implementation of decisions through these
mechanisms within a period of 6 months after each Joint Commission
meeting.
It was agreed that the next round of Foreign Office level
consultations, due in New Delhi in the first quarter of 1999, should
aim at wide-ranging discussions on all bilateral and multilateral
issues with a view to investing greater strength and substance to to
the bilateral strategic partnership.
While noting with satisfaction the successful conclusion of 13
bilateral agreements, the two sides agreed that focused efforts
should be undertaken by both sides to conclude the 9 agreements
which are under discussion. It was agreed that the two sides would
immediately initiate action to renew discussions on all these
agreements with a view to concluding them by March 1999. They
include the MOU on Telecommunications, Agreement on Maritime
Shipping, Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement, Cultural and
Educational Exchanges Programmes, and Agreements on Cooperation in
Housing and Health.
The South African side conveyed appreciation to the Government
of India for the training imparted to South African diplomats at the
Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi and requested the Indian side
to consider extending longer term training programmes especially for
South African diplomats from hitherto disadvantaged communities.
They agreed on the need for reform of the UN system, including
the restructuring of the Security Council in a manner reflecting
current global, political and economic realities. The meeting
recognised the importance of revitalising the economic agenda of
NAM, so that it could more effectively articulate the interests of
the developing countries in their major economic concerns. They
agreed that the enormous potential for economic cooperation between
the countries of the Indian Ocean Rim remained as yet largely
untapped. They agreed that the two countries would work together in
the effort to shift the focus of the Indian Ocean Rim Association
from organisational and logistical issues to those relating to
substantive economic cooperation.
The first meeting of the India-South Africa Defence Committee at
the level of Defence Secretaries held in Pretoria in August 1998 was
a significant development in bilateral defence cooperation. Defence
cooperation between India and South Africa had registered tremendous
progress in the last few years and India had emerged as the leading
importer of defence equipment and technology from South Africa. It
was agreed that bilateral defence cooperation has to transcend a
buyer-seller relationship and encompass other vital dimensions such
as joint research and development, joint production and joint
ventures.
The parties agreed that interaction between their defence forces
constitutes an important dimension of defence cooperation. It was
recognised that there is considerable scope in such cooperation
including exchanges between defence training establishments, joint
exercises, ship visits, hydrography, information sharing and
participation in seminars and conferences.
It was noted with satisfaction that there had been a number of
important exchanges of high level visits including the visits to
South Africa of the Chiefs of the Indian Army and Air Staff and the
visit to India of the Chief of the South African Navy.
THe meeting reaffirmed the need for cooperation in the housing
sector, as South Africa and India share similar problems and India
has significant achievements in the low cost housing sector.
A Joint Working Group (JWG) on Petroleum and Energy for
cooperation between the two countries is to be set up. The JWG may
address itself to expanding the two countries is to be set up. The
JWG may address itself to expanding cooperation between the two
countries in the Petroleum and Energy Sectors.
It was also felt that there can be considerable experience
sharing between the two countries in the field of tourism
development. There is also considerable scope for business joint
ventures between the two countries in the development of high-class
resorts and amusement centres. Exchange of information on tourism
and participation in various travel expositions in India and South
Africa has also been agreed to between the two sides.
Cooperation in the field of education between South Africa and
India should be strengthened. It was decided that an
inter-governmental meeting would shortly be convened to develop a
Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Education.
Regarding the Cultural Agreement signed between the two
countries on 4th December 1996 the need was expressed to conclude
the cultural exchange programme at an early date to give effect to
the Cultural Agreement.
The two parties took note of the conclusion of the Programme of
Cooperation (PoC) in the fields of Science and Technology for the
period 1997-1998 and expressed their satisfaction on continued
interaction between the Indian and South African researchers through
their visits to each other's country. It was agreed that one or two
workshops may be organised in India and South Africa every year in
mutually agreed areas to stimulate the research cooperation and
identifying specific themes/projects for joint implementation in
these areas.
It was noted that the South African and Indian Departments of
Health are discussing a draft Memorandum of Understanding on Health
Cooperation and identified many areas of concurrence and similarity
in terms of needs and approaches.
Jointly issued by the Governments of India and South Africa.
5 December 1998
Pretoria
@ DRCONGO-REBELS
KIGALI December 5 1998 Sapa-AFP
DRCONGO REBELS RECRUIT 12,600 NEW FIGHTERS
Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have recruited
12,600 new fighters, a rebel officer told AFP Saturday from their
stronghold in the eastern DRC city of Goma.
"Our recruits, around 12,600 volunteers, have just completed
their military training of three months in (northeastern) Bunia and
Beni, and they will join the troops at the front" fighting
government forces supported by troops from Zimbabwe, Angola,
Namibia and Chad, Goma commander Louison Ikwa said in a telephone
interview.
"Two thousand have already arrived in Goma for a ceremony to
take up arms that should take place on Sunday," he said.
"These recruits will go to the front near Mbuji Mayi (capital
of central Kasai province) and elsewhere by plane," Ikwa said.
Meanwhile, a source close to the rebels in Kigali confirmed
Saturday that Zimbabwean forces attacked Kabalo in the southeast.
The city is held by the rebels and allied forces from Rwanda.
"The battle of Kabalo lasted 24 hours from Thursday to Friday
afternoon. It was between rebel forces and Zimbabwean forces," the
source said, adding that the Zimbabweans had infantry and
artillery.
"The attack was contained by the rebel forces, who destroyed an
armoured personnel carrier and captured two soldiers as well as two
82 millimeter mortars and many guns," the source said.
Rebel president Ernest Wamba dia Wamba reported the attack
Friday, saying that it occurred despite an attempt at the
Franco-African summit last month in Paris to reach a ceasefire
agreement.
"It shows that no one took the accord seriously," he said while
on a visit to Uganda, which has also deployed troops on the side of
the rebels, who took up arms against President Laurent Kabila on
August 2.
Kabalo, a small city in mineral-rich Katanga province, was
captured by the rebels on October 16. Zimbabwean airplanes have
been bombing the area for the past month.
An AFP correspondent reported Monday that the front line
follows the Walaba River, a tributary of the Congo River, and that
the Zimbabwean forces were trying to cross the Nzofu bridge, some
15 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Kabalo.
@ SA-INDIA
PRETORIA December 5 1998 Sapa
INDO-SOUTH AFRICAN JOINT COMMISSION SIGN 13 AGREEMENTS
The two day Indo-South African Joint Commission on Saturday
signed 13 bilateral agreements at its third meeting at the
Diplomatic House in Pretoria.
South African Deputy Foreign Affairs minister Aziz Pahad told
journalists at a press conference in Pretoria that 13 agreements
were signed and nine other agreements are about to be finalised.
The meeting was chaired by Pahad, and Indian Minister of State
for External Affairs Vasundhara Rage.
"The existing political and diplomatic relations between South
Africa and India are now going to be furthered economically," Rage
said.
The treaties included co-operation in the fields of air
transport, trade, science and technology, tourism, geology and
mineral resources and culture.
The commission said the nine agreements which had not yet been
finalised, included maritime shipping, cultural and educational
exchange programmes, telecommunications, and co-operating in housing
and health.
"Relations with India are fundamental to South Africa's foreign
policy," Pahad said.
He said trade had grown to R5 billion between the two countries
over the last five years.
Rage said there were currently 20 Indian companies in South
Africa, and India was the country's 11th largest investor.
"Indian companies are very keen to start joint ventures with
South Africa," she said.
The next round of meetings between South Africa and India would
be early next year in New Delhi, India, Pahad said.
@ ANGOLA-DOSSANTOS
LUANDA December 5 1998 Sapa-AFP
ANGOLAN PRESIDENT SLAMS UNITA LEADER SAVIMBI
Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos lashed out against UNITA
leader Jonas Savimbi, whom he accused of seeking to rob the country.
Savimbi is the "leader of operatives serving foreign interests
in Angola who think only of looting our country," Dos Santos said to
the applause of 1,300 people attending a party congress of the
ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which
opened Saturday in Luanda.
"All attempts to integrate (Savimbi) into the life of the nation
have been fruitless," he said, adding that now it was necessary to
"mobilize all the people of Angola to oppose these criminal
designs."
"All Savimbi knows is to kill and divide," Dos Santos said,
adding: "The only solution is to isolate him within and outside (the
country) and to neutralize him politically and militarily."
Luanda considers a UNITA dissident movement that split from the
traditional leader in early September to be the only valid
interlocutor in negotiations to implement peace accords reached in
1994.
Savimbi and his forces, estimated at some 35,000, are entrenched
mainly in central Angolan strongholds.
@ REGISTER-PARTIES
GRAHAMSTOWN December 5 1998 Sapa
POLITICAL PARTIES CONTINUE TO BICKER OVER VOTER REGISTRATION
Political parties continued their bickering about voter
registration as the process wound down in the four southern
provinces on Saturday.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa described the
registration process as a disaster and said the poor turnout showed
that nobody was in command of the situation.
A planned voter registration awareness campaign had not
materialised and instead the African National Congress confined
education to itself and the "state-controlled SABC radio and
television," he said.
Holomisa felt the registration period had been too short as a
result of the ANC having "bulldozed" the process throught.
"That is why I always say although we are in a democratic
country it looks like we are in a democrazy."
National Party Eastern Cape legislature leader Anne Nash said
poor voter registration figures were because of disillusionment and
dissatisfaction with the ANC government's delivery.
"I've gathered from people in the coloured and black townships
that they don't think it will make any difference if they
registered."
Nash said registration had come at a bad time because of
instability in the social security, health and education systems.
In KwaZulu-Natal, ANC provincial chairman Sbu Ndebele said he
dismissed with contempt a statement by provincial NP leader Danie
Schutte that the Independent Electoral Commission and the ANC were
"dismal failures" because of the low voter registration turnout in
the province.
"The NP in 12 years, has failed to convince whites to apply for
bar-coded identity documents and is now ready to point fingers
about what is wrong with the process," he said.
Ndebele accused the "white parties" - the National Party,
Democratic Party and the United Democratic Movement - of ignoring
the fact that it was impossible to assemble Africans in large
numbers on a Thursday or Friday simply because they were working
people.
"We have witnessed what happened in the northern provinces last
week where voter registration on the Friday was very poor but
people turned up in large numbers on Saturday and Sunday."
Early reports from registration stations all over KwaZulu-Natal
on Saturday morning indicate that numbers were picking up
substantially, Ndebele said in a statement.
@ STEENKAMP
CAPE TOWN December 5 1998 Sapa
ANOTHER NP MP JOINS UDM
Senior National Party MP Dr Johan Steenkamp on Saturday joined
a growing list of defectors to the United Democratic Movement,
saying he could no longer practice "graveyard politics".
His move was not unexpected, as he clashed with his party
leadership last year over the direction the party was taking, and
was at one point suspended from it.
Steenkamp,55, a former vice-chairman of the party in
KwaZulu-Natal, has been an MP for 12 years, and a member of the NP
for 28. He now automatically loses his seat in the National
Assembly.
In August the NP's Gauteng leader, Sam de Beer, crossed to the
UDM, followed by the party's chief whip in the National Council of
Provinces, Gerhard Koornhof, and MP Macfarlan Phenethi.
Steenkamp told a media conference in Cape Town that he decided
in April last year that that he would not make himself available as
an NP candidate in 1999.
He took this decision after the party disbanded the task team
on a new political movement headed by former NP secretary general
Roelf Meyer, who went on to become a co-founder of the UDM.
"It overturned a bucket of water on the new spark that was
introduced in the party... FW (De Klerk)'s vision and mission of
1996 is no more," Steenkamp said.
He said it was a pity that De Klerk "shunned the challenge" and
failed to complete what he started.
"The biggest service the NP could have rendered to South Africa
was to become the fertiliser of a new political movement. It
decided not to do that. It will land on the periphery of political
history in this country.
"I refuse to practice graveyard politics. That is why I have
moved to the UDM."
He said the UDM had placed itself squarely in the new South
Africa and was able to mobilise the best talent from all racial
groups.
Although he had made no secret of his intention to join the
UDM, it had been "a touch of mischievousness", coupled with
financial considerations, that led him to stay when the NP wanted
him out, Steenkamp said.
His wife Lynette and four children are already members of the
party.
Steenkamp had not been promised a place on the UDM's list of
candidates for the 1999 election, but would be available if the
party wanted him.
NP spokesman Dr Dienie Nel said in reaction that Steenkamp had
lost the trust of the NP's regional and provincial structures many
months ago, and that his defection had been expected.
However, it was puzzling why he had decided to join the UDM at
this stage, since it had become clear that the party would not be a
national player in the elections and had already lost more than
half of its original support.
@ AFRICA-INVESTMENT
HARARE December 5 1998 Sapa
GDP GROWTH AVERAGES FIVE PERCENT IN SOME AFRICAN STATES
The world investment report says 1997 was the fourth
consecutive year of economic growth for Africa with gross domestic
product in several countries exceeding five percent.
The report, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development, said privatisation had become increasingly
important for attracting foreign direct investment, Ziana reported
on Saturday.
It said, however, privatisation was far from being fully
explored by most countries on the continent.
"In sub-saharan Africa, US299 million of a total of US623
million in privatisation sales were accounted for by foreign
investors.
"Ghana topped the list with US186 million, selling a US112
million stake in Ashanti goldfields to foreign investors, followed
by Kenya with US137 million which included a 26 percent share in
Kenya Airways that was sold to KLM of the Netherlands for US26
million," said the report.
It said African countries were strengthening efforts to enhance
policy frameworks, making them attractive to foreign investors.
By 1997, it said, 47 of the 53 African countries had adopted
national laws governing foreign direct investment.
Progress had also been noted in improvements in institutions,
openness to trade and strengthening of the telecommunications
infrastructure.
"Investment promotion agencies are proliferating and awareness
is rising in African governments of the need to strengthen the
overall investment environment by reducing bureaucratic red tape
and curbing corruption," the report said.
The world investment report said the flow of foreign direct
investment reflected real differentiation between countries that
enjoyed political stability, securing growth and enhancing their
investment environment, and other countries.
The report said investors needed to look at the continent
country by country and sector by sector when planning to invest,
because of substantial differences.
"While the great majority of the foreign direct investment into
the region went to relatively few countries, a number of Africa's
smaller countries such as Lesotho and Malawi, have been attracting
increasing foreign direct investment.
"They hosted higher foreign direct investment stocks per US1000
of the GDP than many of the larger recipients in 1996," the report
said.
In some of the smaller countries cases, it said, foreign direct
investment inflows were accounted for by the existence of rich
reserves of natural resources they possessed.
"In some cases, countries are seen as relatively competitive
investment locations for foreign direct investment that is
undertaken to service the markets of larger neighbouring countries,
for example Lesotho relative to south africa," the UNCTAD report
said.
@ OAU-MANDELA
JOHANNESBURG December 5 1998 Sapa
MANDELA REITERATES SADC STANCE ON DRC
President Nelson Mandela this week reiterated the Southern
African Development Community's stance regarding matters in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokesman said on Saturday.
Tony Trew confirmed Mandela was contacted by Organisation of
African Unity (OAU) chairman Blaise Compaore and Libyan leader
Colonel Muammar Qadhafi on Thursday evening.
Compoare was in Libya for talks with Qadhafi including the DRC
issue.
"During the course of their talks, they contacted Mandela to
get his view as SADC chairman on the issue. Mandela reiterated the
SADC position - which includes an immediate ceasefire and
withdrawal of troops and finding an internal solution to the
country's problems," Trew said.
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan arrived in Libya on
Saturday for talks with Qadhafi regarding the 1988 bombing of a
PanAm flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.
@ AFRICA-ANNAN
HARARE December 5 1998 Sapa
UN CHIEF SAYS AFRICA NEEDS STABLE ENVIRONMENT
African governments must strive to create stable and secure
environments in which investment and economic growth can take root
and flourish, United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan said.
Annan was quoted in a UN special initiative on Africa
newsletter as saying progress made in recent years by many African
countries was conducive for the UN and its partners to co-ordinate
and harmonise programmes and mobilise support for African
development, Ziana reported on Saturday.
"If we are to accelerate the continent's progress and give new
hope to the upcoming generation of Africans, the (UN system-wide
special) initiative must succeed.
"I am fully committed to this mission and will spare no effort
in ensuring that the entire international community is involved in
making it work," he said.
Annan said since taking office, he had sought to mobilise the
entire international community behind the cause of African
development and had called on donor nations to reverse the
disturbing trend of declining official development assistance.
"I have emphasised the need for peace, good governance and
respect for human rights as essential conditions for development,"
he said.
"And I have said that my quiet revolution of reform and
transformation at the United Nations should be judged in no small
part on how well it enables the organisation to respond to the
needs of the poorest people in African and elsewhere".
@ LD-REGISTER
PRETORIA December 5 1998 Sapa
4,9 MILLION SAFRICANS REGISTER, ONLY 180,000 YOUNGER THAN 21
Of the more than 4,9 million South Africans who had registerd
as voters by 1pm on Saturday, only about 180,000 were 20 years old
and younger, the Independent Electoral Commission said.
IEC chairman Judge Johann Kriegler said this meant only about
5,4 percent of first-time voters have applied for registration.
Describing the trend as both fascinating and disturbing, he
said it was a clear pointer that much more public education had to
be done among youngsters about the need to enroll as a voter.
In the 20 to 30 year age group 15,5 percent had registered, 20
percent in the 30 to 40 year group, and 25 percent among those aged
40 to 50.
The 70 to 80 age group had the highest enrollment figure with
29 percent.
"One of the great advantages of the phased process (of
registration) is that we can pick up the weak spots," Kriegler
said.
"Quite clearly we, political parties, educational institutions,
the Department of Home Affairs, civil society, and everybody who
has an interest in the future of representative democracy in the
country, must sit up and take note that youngsters do not know in
sufficient numbers that they have to register."
He proposed that youngsters between 16 and 20 years of age be
bombarded with information by using schools, pop groups, sporting
clubs, and youth programmes on radio and television.
Children of 16 are allowed to register as voters, but may only
vote from the age of 18.
Kriegler said the low registration number among the 16 to 20
year age group may be an indication that home affairs department
could be wrong about the number of youngsters in the posession of
bar-coded identity books needed to register and vote.
"This is clearly something we have got to look at with them."
IEC deputy chief electoral officer Norman du Plessis said
4910966 prospective voters had added their names to the voter's
roll by 1pm on Saturday.
This included the names of 4,2 million people who registered in
the five northern provinces last weekend, and 683000 who had
enrolled to date in the southern parts of the country.
Of the registrations downloaded so far, 192000 duplicates have
been recorded, du Plessis said.
"I don't think one must come to too many conclusions from that,
its people that misscan and scan again - that kind of thing. The
point is that we do pick them up and can deal with them."
Also, 37499 non-citizens have registered.
Du Plessis said they included permanent residents, who are not
entitled to vote, but also some citizens from the former TBVC
states, whose ID books still show they are not South African
citizens.
This would be rectified when the voter's roll is compiled.
On registration in the southern provinces, du Plessis said 100
percent of enrollment stations in the Free State and Western Cape
were fully functional by the end of Friday.
In the Eastern Cape some minor problems were experienced in
Lusikisiki, while some stations in the Ugu region on the
KwaZulu-Natal South Coast did not open due to inaccessibility
caused by rain.
The IEC said in a statement registration in the Eastern Cape
would continue in Ngqeleni, Lusikisiki, Umzimkulu, Tabankulu, Port
St Johns, and Elliotdale from 7am to 5pm on Sunday.
In KwaZulu-Natal, enrollment would continue at the Dolphin
Coast, Pietermaritzburg, Utrecht, Ladysmith, Estcourt, Hibberdene,
Matubatuba, Pongola, Ulundi, Vryheid and the Durban metro.
Kriegler said more areas may be added to the list, and would be
announced later in the day.
@ LIBYA-MUGABE
LONDON December 5 1998 Sapa
LIBYA AGREES TO BAIL OUT ZIMBABWE OIL COMPANY: MUGABE
Libya has agreed to provide Zimbabwe with an unlimited credit
line to shore up the cash-strapped National Oil Company of
Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe said on Saturday.
Briefing Zimbabwean journalists accompanying him on his 16-day
five-nation official tour, Mugabe said the first tranche of US100
million would be disbursed soon, Zimbabwe news agency Ziana
reported.
"That was the substance of my visit to Libya. The offer had
been made during my earlier visit in May, but there had been
problems in disbursing the money but we finalised (the deal) on my
last visit when I held talks with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar
Gaddafi," he said.
Banking officials from Zimbabwe had actually travelled to Libya
earlier this week to put the final touches to the deal expected to
end the company's crisis.
"There is a provision to extend the line of credit once the
first tranche is exhausted," Mugabe said.
On why he violated United Nations sanctions to fly directly
into Libya, Mugabe said the whole of Africa no longer saw the need
for the sanctions since Gaddaffi agreed to release, for trial in a
neutral country, the two suspects in the 1988 bombing of a Pan AM
airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland which killed 270 people.
@ ZIM-MUGABE-MEDIA
LONDON December 5 1998 Sapa
MUGABE SAYS GOVT NEEDS TO IMPROVE IMAGE ABROAD
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe an Saturday said his office and
cabinet needed good image-makers to counter growing negative
publicity by Western media, the Zimbabwean news agency Ziana
reported.
Mugabe admitted to journalists here that although he had
considered himself immune to a deliberate media campaign
particularly in Britain, South Africa and the United States,
to discredit him as a dictator presiding over the plunder of
resources in his country, he could not let that continue.
He said there was need for a public relations group that
would react immediately to media attacks and also be offensive.
"We should have started that ages ago. We should improve
on our public relations. We should have information consultants
to help us.
"What we lack actually are people with the ability to read
messages and have the immediate reaction to counter negative
reports and launch an offensive nationally and abroad to promote
our country," said Mugabe.
He admitted though, that it could be difficult to achieve a
late impact in britain, where his current visit was marred by a
constant vigil by the local media seeking to prove their notion
that he was on a shopping spree while his country fell apart.
"But l must say, other European countries like Austria,
France, Germany and Italy, support us, even the entire EU
itself. All we need to do in those countries is to ensure that
the British influence against us does not spread there," he said.
@ ZIM-MUGABE-ECONOMY
LONDON December 5 1998 Sapa
DON'T BLAME GOVT ALONE FOR POOR ECONOMY: MUGABE
President Robert Mugabe said on Saturday Zimbabweans were wrongly
apportioning blame on the poor performance of the economy on his
government, the Zimbabwean news agency Ziana reported.
Addressing journalists at the end of his 16-day five-nation
tour, Mugabe said while government had its own shortcomings, the
private sector and other groups should also be answerable for
certain problems.
He said poor rains during the past two years and low mineral
prices on the world market had eroded the country's two main
sources of income thus affecting business and the livelihood of
the people.
Mugabe said the manufacturing sector was still monopolistic
that "one or two" large producers could increase prices just to
exploit consumers and profiteer.
"This is why we had to go back to our position before
liberalisation to control prices of basic commodities.
"Yes, this might affect our chances (of getting balance of
payments) from the IMF but where I have my people suffering on
one side and IMF demands on the other I am for my people," he
said.
He said most commercial farmers, despite their riches and
resistance to land redistribution circumvented paying taxes for
one reason or the other while the manufacturing sector did not pay
as much tax as it should, all because of "our failure as
government to collect the tax".
Mugabe said he would not want to see further price increases
of goods and services that would make the poor poorer when there
were other sources of revenue still untapped.
@ ELEPHANTS-REF
JOHANNESBURG December 6 1998 Sapa
HANEKOM URGED TO INTERVENE IN TULI ELEPHANT MATTER
The Rhino and Elephant Foundation on Sunday urged Agricultural
and Land Affairs Minister Derek Hanekom to urgently intervene in
the matter of the 30 Tuli elephants to ensure that the elephants
were only relocated if it was in their best interest.
The foundation has repeatedly expressed concern about plans by
the NSPCA to relocate the elephants to game ranches in three
provinces across the country saying such a move could endanger the
live of the elephants.
The NSPCA won custody of the Tuli elephants last week in the
Brits Magistrate Court after filing cruelty charges against their
owner Riccardo Ghiazza of African Game Services.
The REF has stated that the facilities at African Game Services
were the best suited for the elephants and that they should remain
there under the auspices of the NSPCA.
It said on Sunday the NSPCA was less than open in its dealings
with the game industry and the public after it became known that
one of the designated ranches, Sable Ranch near Brits, could not
take the elephants because it recently required a number of rhinos.
The NSPCA was informed of this.
"It is well known that conflict between young elephants and
rhinos can result in the death of the rhinos," REF Director Dr
Andrew McKenzie said.
Another facility Mossdene, where most of the elephants were to
be released, has also withdrawn its offer to take the elephants
after a meeting with the REF.
Mossdene withdrew the offer saying they could find nothing
wrong with the facilities at African Game Services.
The only remaining designated destination for the 30 elephants
was the small Pulula Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal.
"We are very concerned that the public and members of the game
industry have been so thoroughly misled by the NSPCA.
"It appears they will stop at nothing to achieve the so-called
liberation of the Tuli elephants and the implications for both the
elephants and the people drawn into this debacle seem to be of
little consequence to them," McKenzie said.
He called on Hanekom to intervene in the matter to prevent what
he termed could potentially be a disastrous incident for the NSPCA.
@ MANDELA-AMNESTY
CAPE TOWN December 6 1998 Sapa
MANDELA REJECTS BLANKET AMNESTY
President Nelson Mandela has flatly rejected a blanket amnesty
for gross human rights violators.
In an interview published in the Sunday Independent on Sunday,
he said there was no question of a general amnesty - an idea which
has been floated in African National Congress ranks in
KwaZulu-Natal.
"I will resist that with every power that I have," Mandela
said. "We cannot have that. Everybody must apply."
He said discussion of a blanket amnesty was a "futile debate".
He said that during one of his government's first Cabinet meetings,
it had discovered that former state president FW de Klerk had given
about 3000 members of the security police blanket amnesty.
"We said we are going to cancel that general amnesty. Everybody
must apply for amnesty as an individual."
The Sunday Independent said the idea of a blanket amnesty,
which would cover senior Inkatha Freedom Party officials who had
been named by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission but did not
apply for amnesty, was seen as a way of holding onto the fragile
peace in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mandela also told the interviewer, John Carlin, that he was
totally against the death penalty, describing it as "a reflection
of the animal instinct still in human beings".
@ VOLUNTEER-MOLEKETI
JOHANNESBURG December 6 1998 Sapa
VOLUNTEER YOUR SERVICES TO TRANSFORM SOCIETY: MOLEKETI URGES SA
South Africans should get together and voluntarily offer their
services to help in the transformation and rebuilding of the
country, Welfare and Population Development Minister Geraldine
Fraser-Moleketi said at the weekend.
Addressing an International Volunteers' Day meeting in
Soshanguve, Pretoria, Fraser-Moleketi said the spirit of
selflessness, unity and volunteering was not knew to most South
Africans.
South Africa's new democracy was brought about mainly as a
result of the prevalence of that spirit, she said.
Participants in the anti-apartheid struggle were largely not
paid and most of them were prepared to lose their lives to
transform the country into a democratic society.
"It is the same spirit that is needed to rebuild communities,
to deliver vital services and to see that the process of
democratisation reaches all areas of the country," she said.
She highlighted the need for the community to help in the fight
against the Aids pandemic.
As part of the celebration, Fraser-Moleketi presented awards to
Lulu Mawela and David Babili Masiane for their voluntary services
in their communities.
Mawela was honoured for her work with abandoned and neglected
children in Galeshewe since 1948, while Masiane got his award for
co-ordinating an Aids awareness programme in Mpumalanga.
@ REGISTER-PAC
JOHANNESBURG December 6 1998 Sapa
PAC HITS OUT AT IEC FOR USING FREE LABOUR IN REGISTRATION
The Independent Electoral Commission should have adequately
remunerated people who registered potential voters in the past two
weeks, the Pan Africanist Congress said on Sunday.
PAC Free State provincial chairman Johnny Maseko said the chaos
that prevailed in the initial voter registration exercise was
mainly due to the fact that people were not rewarded for their
services.
"In order for this process to be successful, people who work
should be adequately remunerated. Proper remuneration gives
incentives for better performance," said Maseko.
The Independent Electoral Commission had called for volunteers
to register potential voters, saying its budget constraints could
not allow for remuneration.
He said it was ironic that government officials were calling
for volunteers while at the same time awarding "exorbitant and
inflated" salaries to themselves.
The government, he said, had set a bad precedent by using free
labour to "put the pillars of democracy in place".
Registrars need to be paid and well-trained for the task.
Failure to do this could result in a replication of the
election-related problems that plagued Lesotho a few months ago.
The IEC was sowing seeds of discord that were likely to
germinate during the 1999 election, he said.
"What did the men and women on the gravy train sacrifice during
that period when poverty-striken unemployed people gave the country
free labour?"
@ HEALTH-DP
JOHANNESBURG December 6 1998 Sapa
PROPERTY WORTH MORE THAN R216000 MISSING IN HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Property worth more than R216000 has been stolen from the
Gauteng department of health's offices this year, health MEC Mondli
Gungubele told the legislature last week.
Twelve items, mainly computers, worth more than R79000 were
stolen from the department's head office in central Johannesburg,
the Democratic Party said in a statement on Sunday.
Items worth R53000, including a R10,000 photocopying machine, a
printer and three computers, were stolen from its offices in
Hillbrow.
Its West Rand offices lost a further twelve items worth R9000.
These included a bar fridge, a microwave oven, a television set,
clocks and electric kettles.
A switchboard machine, microwave oven and a fax machine were
stolen from the department's Central Wits Region offices.
The DP described the thefts as disturbing and said more should
be done to change people's attitude towards state property.
@ REGISTER-DP
JOHANNESBURG December 6 1998 Sapa
USE MUNICIPAL AND POST OFFICES, FOR REGISTRATION: DP
The Democratic Party on Sunday said the Independent Electoral
Commission should review the current voter registration process and
allow potential voters to register at municipal offices, government
and post offices.
DP spokesman Douglas Gibson said the IEC should announce the
January registration dates now so that political parties could take
the necessary steps to ensure that the January registration process
met with more success than the current one.
The current registration process has been characterised by low
turnouts, confusion on where to register and shortages of staff to
man the stations.
Gibson also said his party was going to lodge papers
challenging the use of only bar-coded identity documents for the
May 1999 general elections.
@ NP-MOTSHEKGA
JOHANNESBURG December 6 1998 Sapa
MOTSHEKGA GUILTY IN HOUSING SCAM: NP
Gauteng permier Mathole Motshekga had deliberately blocked a
Heath Commission investigation into gross irregularities and the
reckless management of Gauteng housing subsidies, the National
Party said on Sunday.
NP Gauteng spokesman Johan Kilian said the commission had
revealed on Saturday that Motshekga had not responded since August
to its requests for a meeting to discuss provincial government's
alleged irregular international financial syndicate activities.
The premier's failure to respond had confirmed Kilian's belief
that Motshekga had become part of the multi-million rand Gauteng
housing finance scam, which involved illegal promissory notes.
Motshekga, by allowing Gauteng housing MEC Dan Mofokeng to
"park" the housing scandal with the under-resourced and
over-burdened Public Protector and by refusing to co-operate with
the commission's investigation, had now become as tainted as
Mofokeng over the issue.
"That now places him (Motshekga) firmly in the dock as a
negligent accomplice or, at worst, an active collaborator with a
particular interest in non-disclosure," Kilian said in a statement.
Kilian said he was to meet Public Protector Selby Baqwa on
Tuesday to discuss ways of kick-starting the investigation process
and getting the commission access to the Gauteng department of
housing.
"We shall not, under any circumstances, allow the ANC (African
National Congress) to abuse the constraints of watchdog
institutions to effectively park and bury the housing scam under
paper mountains in the Office of the Public Protector, while
denying access to the most effective weapon against corruption," he
said.
@ REGISTER-IEC
PRETORIA December 6 1998 Sapa
UP TO 10 MILLION TO REGISTER BY THE END OF SUNDAY
Up to 10 million of the country's estimated 25 million voters
will have enrolled for next year's general elections by the close
of registration on Sunday, the Independent Electoral Commission
predicted.
Deputy chief electoral officer Norman du Plessis said by Sunday
morning the names of 5,7 million South Africans had been added to
the voters' roll.
About 4,2 million voters registered in the five northern
provinces last weekend and about 1,5 million had registered in the
four southern provinces by 10am on Sunday.
He said registration stations were still loading voter
registration data onto the computer network of the IEC on Sunday.
Du Plessis said about 500,000 more names were expected to be
added to the list in the northern provinces, bringing the total
close to five million.
"If the southern provinces follow a similar pattern, this
should give us a roughly equal number of people, perhaps slightly
more," he said.
"Based on available data, we expect to have at the end of the
process somewhere between nine and 10 million people on the voters'
roll."
IEC chairman Judge Johann Kriegler said he was delighted with
the estimated total of about 10 million.
"I would have been even more delighted if on the first sweep we
had somewhere about 12 to 14 (million), but I didn't expect us to
get anything like that the first time around."
Kriegler said elections would not be held if only half of the
electorate registered, but gave an assurance that this would not be
the case.
Kriegler said he was also very pleased that "not a single life
or limb" had been lost during the registration process.
Du Plessis said Gauteng had the highest registration rate at
1,8 million, with the Northern Province following with about one
million.
The lowest number of registrations so far had been recorded in
the Northern Cape with 205000.
Du Plessis said more women than men had enrolled, especially in
the Northern Province, where the figure for women was nearly double
that of the men.
According to IEC figures, a total of 3,2 million women had
registered by Sunday morning, compared to 2,5 million men.
In the 16 to 18 year age category, about half of whom would be
eligible to vote by next year, only about 2,3 percent had
registered, and 10 percent of those aged between 18 and 20.
The highest registration rate was among the 70 to 80 year age
group, with 33,9 percent.
Describing the trend as disquieting, Kriegler said this had to
be addressed by political parties and the IEC.
It may also be partly a result of students waiting until
universities and technikons reopened in February to register.
Reacting to calls for identity documents other than the
bar-coded version to be accepted for next year's two registration
sweeps in January and February, he said this was a decision for
Parliament.
Dates for next years registration periods would be announced
after consultation with political parties this week, he said.
@ ANGOLA-UNITA-UN
LISBON December 6 1998 Sapa-AP
ANGOLAN REBELS ALLOW U.N. EVACUATION: REPORT
The U.N. special envoy to Angola has reached an agreement with
rebel movement UNITA to evacuate 14 U.N. peacekeepers based in
UNITA's central highland strongholds, which are under government
attack, news reports said Sunday.
Issa Diallo told the Portuguese news agency Lusa that three
U.N. peace monitors - one Swedish, one Brazilian and one Senegalese
- already had left Andulo, 480 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of
the capital Luanda, to Huambo, almost 200 kilometers (125 miles)
southwest of Andulo.
The remaining staff, based in UNITA's other stronghold
Bailundo, about 125 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Andulo,
shortly will join the others in Huambo, Lusa quoted Diallo as
saying.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday said he would hold
UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi personally responsible for the security
of his peacekeepers, and called on him to allow an evacuation
flight into Andulo and Bailundo.
Annan's appeal followed reports that the government was
attacking the two strongholds which UNITA has refused to relinquish
despite pressure from the United Nations.
The U.N. envoy also said both sides had informed him of a
government offensive near Andulo and Bailundo, according to Lusa.
The United Nations brokered the 1994 pact ending a two-decade
civil war between the government and UNITA, which followed the 1975
independence from Portugal's colonial rule.
Souring relations between both sides and mutual accusations of
military action have stymied the peace process since.
The United Nations has reduced its observer mission in Angola
from 7,000 peacekeepers in 1994 to about 1,000.
@ MANDELA-UAE
PRETORIA December 6 1998 Sapa
MANDELA ARRIVES IN THE UAE
President Nelson Mandela arrived in the United Arab Emirates on
Sunday afternoon as guest of honour at the annual Summit of the
Cooperation Council for the Arabian Gulf States.
Presidential aide, Tony Trew told Sapa that Mandela arrived
here at 5.30pm South African time (8pm UAE time), adding that
there were no special plans for the evening.
Mandela is the first head of state from a non-Arab country to
be invited to address the council.
The council - also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council -
was founded in 1981 by the six Arab Gulf States: Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to
strengthen interstate cooperation in the oil-rich region.
During the two-day visit, Mandela will be received by his host,
President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan.
He will also have separate meetings with several GCC leaders,
including Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah, Emir of the State of
Kuwait, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi
Arabia, Sheikh Isa bin Soliman Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Sultan
Gaboos bin Said bin Said of Oman.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said political, trade and
investment relations with these strategically important Arabian
Gulf states were good.
"The bilateral trade not only consists of oil purchases by
South Africa, but includes a significant exportation of goods and
services to the Gulf - mostly distributed through Dubai, the
gateway to the region. Total two-way trade to the Gulf region
amounted to R6.1bn in 1997," the statement said.
A large number of South African companies were also operating
in the gulf region, and Standard Bank, LTA Construction and others
had established regional offices in Dubai.
@ DUKUDUKU
JOHANNESBURG December 6 1998 Sapa
GOVERNMENT TO BUY LAND TO RESOLVE DUKUDUKU
The government would resolve the dispute over the Dukuduku
forest in northern KwaZulu-Natal by buying land nearby to relocate
the local community, Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Kadar
Asmal announced on Sunday.
Asmal on Sunday met community leaders, who agreed the plan
would meet the needs of the community and save the forest.
About 20,000 people live in the forest. Politicians and
conservationists have warned the forest could soon be destroyed
because of the community's burning and clearing.
Asmal said on Sunday that services and infrastructure would be
provided on the relocation land.
The forest would be rehabilitated and managed by the Department
of Water Affairs and Forestry in cooperation with the community, he
said in a statement.
The Dukuduku forest was a resource of local, national and
international significance, and fell within the Greater St Lucia
Wetland Park area, he said.
The latest development at Dukuduku would be part of the
Lumbombo Spatial Development Initiative, designed to attract
tourism and investment to the area shared by South Africa,
Mozambique and Swaziland.
Asmal said despite recent accusations that the government was
neglecting the forest, the parties involved believed meeting the
needs of the local people was the only answer.
"They (the critics) have failed to understand that the
protection of the environment can only take place with the
cooperation of local people."
Asmal said that, with the cooperation of all parties concerned,
the Dukuduku forest issue was fully resolved.
@ REGISTER-COURT
CAPE TOWN December 6 1998 Sapa
NP, DP CHALLENGE REGISTRATION IN COURT THIS WEEK
The National and Democratic parties both intend to launch court
challenges this week against the provision in the Electoral Act
that only bar-coded identity documents can be used for voter
registration and for polling.
An NP legal representative said on Sunday night that the
party's legal team expected to lodge papers in the Cape High Court
early on Monday morning.
He said the application, expected to cite the Independent
Electoral Commission and the Department of Home Affairs as
respondents - would be along the lines detailed by NP leader
Marthinus van Schalkwyk last month.
Van Schalkwyk said then that the restriction on ID books was
unreasonable and unconstitutional, and that all ID documents
recognised in terms of the population register, including the old
blue books and green ones without the bar code, should be accepted.
The court would also be asked to order Home Affairs to
distribute the new ID books it had processed, and to order that
adequate time be allowed for registration.
The NP lawyer said a hearing date would be finalised on Monday,
but it was quite possible the case would be heard this week.
Earlier on Sunday, Democratic Party spokesman Douglas Gibson
said the DP expected to lodge papers in the Pretoria High Court on
Wednesday, also challenging the bar-coding requirement.
"This follows the unsuccessful countrywide registration process
administered by the IEC over the last two weekends," he said.
The DP believed legal action was necessary to ensure all voters
had a chance to register and vote.
He said the application might not necessarily be heard
immediately, and that it was possible the court "could come to a
different conclusion than that held by the DP".
@ REGISTER-ECAPE
QUEENSTOWN December 6 1998 Sapa
RURAL AREAS DISAPPOINT IN EASTERN CAPE VOTER REGISTRATION
Voters in the northern parts of the Eastern Cape will need more
time to register for next year's elections, Queenstown town clerk
and electoral officer Antonie de Klerk said on Sunday.
De Klerk said he had been disappointed at the number of people
who had registered in both urban and rural areas under his
jurisdiction.
At the eZibeleni community hall a group of people allegedly
tried to push into the hall after registration closed on Saturday
evening . The group was refused admission and told to disperse.
He said he had been satisfied with the organisation of the
registration, but felt a lot of pressure had been put on the
process due to the time factor.
Cathcart local electoral officer Bennie Cilliers said
registration in the district, especially in Goshen, had been
disappointing.
Many people in possession of the wrong identity book had to be
turned away, and it was expected that further registration dates
would be needed in January.
Maclear mayor Vincent Tame said he had heard that registration
in the rural areas had been marked by a poor turnout of eligible
voters.
He said further registration days were "definitely needed."
In Burgersdorp, mayor Jack Jacobs said he was satisfied that
the registration process had proceeded with few hitches in the
area.
Although a large number of people had registered at the town's
five registration stations, he felt that there would be a need for
further registration dates in January, particularly for people
living in the rural areas.
He said the municipality had received a large number of
identity documents late in the week and had tried its best to get
the documents to their owners.
Meanwhile, Independent Electoral Commission spokesman Victor
Dlamini told Sapa on Sunday that registration in KwaZulu-Natal -
extended to Sunday as a result of last week's rains - went
smoothly.
Dlamini said registration closed at 5pm and that he was not in
a position to provide figures on the turn-out. These would only be
available on Thursday, at the earliest, he said.
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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
TUESDAY 8 DECEMBER 1998
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
publication or broadcast.
To unsubscribe from the ANC Daily News Briefing mailing list send a
message to 'list...@wn.apc.org'. In the body of your message put
'unsubscribe ancnews'.
@ COURT-NP
CAPE TOWN December 7 1998 Sapa
NP LODGES COURT APPLICATION ON BAR-CODED ID ISSUE
The National Party on Monday lodged an urgent application in
the Cape High Court asking that the bar-coded ID stipulation for
next year's general election be declared unconstitutional.
The party also wants the court to rule on the validity of
government departments allegedly interfering with the independence
of the Independent Electoral Commmission and wants it to instruct
the Home Affairs department to deliver ID documents in its
possession to the citizens who had applied for them.
NP legal adviser Andre Gaum said it was hoped the court would
hear the application on Thursday.
The respondents in the case are the government, Home Affairs
Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, IEC
chairman Judge Johann Kriegler and Chief Electoral Officer Mandla
Mchunu.
NP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk told reporters at Parliament
that his party believed the last-minute inclusion in the Electoral
Act of the stipulation that only bar-coded IDs would be valid for
the poll was part of the African National Congress' attempt to get
a two-thirds majority.
The NP believed the provision, which he said could
disenfranchise millions of potential voters, was unconstitutional
as the Constitution guaranteed the right of every citizen to vote.
"No law of Parliament can come along and prescribe an
administrative procedure which has the effect of disenfranchising
millions - this amounts to gerrymandering," Van Schalkwyk said.
He said the NP's request for a ruling on interference with the
IEC's independence was a watershed.
At issue was the IEC's independence and that of other
independent institutions created by the Constitution.
Asked if political parties could not have done more to mobilise
their supporters to register over the past two weekends, Van
Schalkwyk said: "Political parties are swimming against a tide of
incompetence in this country."
- Democratic Partyd on Sunday
that the DP expected to lodge papers in the Pretoria High Court on
Wednesday, also challenging the barcoding requirement.
"This follows the unsuccessful countrywide registration process
administered by the IEC over the last two weekends," he said.
The DP believed legal action was necessary to ensure all voters
had a chance to register and vote.
He said the application might not necessarily be heard
immediately, and that it was possible the court could come to a
different conclusion to that held by the DP.
@ KWANATAL-UDM
DURBAN December 7 1998 Sapa
UDM DENIES ITS KWAZULU-NATAL LEADERSHIP HAS BEEN DISBANDED
The United Democratic Movement in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday
denied claims that the entire UDM leadership in the province had
been disbanded due to poor performance and lack of strong
leadership.
A report in the Natal Witness on Monday quoted a "reliable
source" as having said a lack of direction was one of the reasons
for the disbandment.
KwaZulu-Natal UDM leader and national secretary Sifiso Nkabinde
said he knew nothing of the alleged disbandment.
The newspaper report also maintained that an interim structure
had been set up to run the party in KwaZulu-Natal until a new
leadership was elected next week.
Nkabinde said the party was restructuring for next year's
election campaign and that structures would be reviewed. A
reshuffle would take place next week but no heads were expected to
roll, Nkabinde told Sapa.
"What is contained there (in the report) is far from the
truth," he said.
He added that no attempt had been made to contact him to verify
the claims.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said the report was an attempt to
discredit the party.
@ DRCONGO-RWANDA
KIGALI, December 7 1998 Sapa-AFP
RWANDA WILL INTERVENE IN DR CONGO WHENEVER THREATENED: KAGAME
Rwanda will intervene militarily in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) whenever its security is threatened, Rwanda's Vice
President and Defence Minister Major General Paul Kagame said.
"We should be able to fight for restoration of our national
security. Whenever that is threatened, we should be able to fight,"
he told AFP and the BBC in an interview late Sunday. "The issue is
not to fight for the fall of (DRC President Laurent) Kabila, or to
fight for the installation of one person. The issue is the concern
we have for our security," Kagame declared.
"For us it is a matter of our security, and once that is
provided, we will have no business continuing to fight in Congo,"
he said.
A Tutsi-led rebellion against Kabila's rule began in the DRC in
August. Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe have sent forces in
support of Kabila, while Rwanda and Uganda back the rebels.
Kagame said Rwanda would continue to search for a peaceful
solution to the conflict.
But warned: "The present situation demands that we fight for
our security and I'm sure Kabila knows that very well.
"I'm also sure that the rebels know that we have a right to our
security, and therefore whether they take over or they are simply
part of the outcome, they know that it is paramount for us to have
peace."
Kagame said: "I don't see a total winner in this situation,"
adding: "It should be very clear to everyone that there is a need
for a negotiated settlement."
The rebels, who launched their insurgency on August 2, hold
much of the east of the vast DR Congo, an area bordering Rwanda,
its much smaller neighbour.
The government in Kigali admitted a month ago that it had
troops in the DRC but said they were there to protect Rwanda's
national security. Ethnic Tutsis head the Rwandan government as
well as the rebel movement in DRCongo.
@ EU-SA
PRETORIA December 7 1998 Sapa
R50-M EU GRANT FOR SA DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCED
A R50 million European Union grant for economic and social
development in South Africa's black communities was on Monday
announced at Technikon Northern Gauteng in Soshanguve.
Chancellor Cyril Ramaphosa said the money would be used to fund
a project called Technical and Business Education in South Africa.
It is a joint initiative between the European universities of
Coventry, Greenwich and Limerick, and four South African technikons
- Northern Gauteng, ML Sultan in Durban, Eastern Cape and
Peninsula.
The money would be used to set up technology enterprise centres
in each of these institutions, which would in turn develop
technology-based small business firms, said Ramaphosa. It would
also fund the publishing of learning materials on technological
concepts and business applications.
Ramaphosa said in a prepared speech the four-year venture was
expected to create formal economic and business opportunities for
South Africa's formerly disadvantaged groups.
It should also boost co-operation between technikons and future
employers in the private sector.
"It is through this type of funding that the European Union
continues to demonstrate its extraordinary commitment to the
development of this country in all sectors of activity," Ramaphosa
said.
@ ZIM-BANANA
HARARE December 7 1998 Sapa-AFP
CONFUSION OVER GETTING BANANA HOME TO FACE ZIM JUSTICE
Confusion prevailed on Monday in the case of Zimbabwe's
fugitive ex-president Canaan Banana, who was in South Africa last
week and is wanted in Harare for sentencing on sex-crime charges.
South African newspapers quoted police as saying they have
received no official request from Zimbabwe to arrest Banana, who
had a meeting last week in South Africa with President Nelson
Mandela.
But Zimbabwe's permanent secretary for home affairs, Tinaye
Chigudu, told AFP on Monday he had definitely instructed the
commissioner of police here to ask South Africa to arrest and
extradite Banana, who is wanted for sentencing on Thursday.
Chidugu, however, that he could not be sure the instruction had
been carried out.
The former head of state faces apossible jail term after being
convicted in absentia on 11 charges involving sodomy, indecent
assault and common assault, mostly committed during his term of
office from 1980-1987.
However, an editorial in the Zimbabawean state-owned Herald
newspaper meanwhile praising Banana's contribution to the country
during his reign.
This came as signal to some observers here that President
Robert Mugabe is planning to pardon him, though the head of state
told reporters in London last week that he wants Banana extradited
"to face the music".
Officials in Zimbabwe say they are not even sure that Banana is
still in South Africa. They could not explain how he managed to
cross international borders without his passport, which he
surrendered as part of his bail conditions.
Home affairs secretary Chigudu was also vague on whether
Zimbabwe has a formal extradition treaty with South Africa.
However, he said, extradition could be arranged because both
countries are members of the Commonwealth and because South Africa
and Zimbabwe have an agreement on "police to police cooperation."
A legal expert in Harare told AFP: "It's all become something
of a mystery, worthy of the attentions of Sherlock Holmes."
@ SWAZI-AIDS
MBABANE December 7 1998 Sapa
MORE 50 PERCENT OF NEW SWAZI AIDS CASES ARE YOUNG PEOPLE
More than 50 percent of people who tested HIV-positive in
Swaziland were between the ages of 10 and 24, a report revealed on
Monday.
The report was to mark the World Aids Day on December 1, but
was published in Mbabane on Monday, a Sapa correspondent reported.
Only eight percent of those who tested positive said they or
their partners used condomns regularly, and 37 percent admitted to
never using condomns.
The report said 76 percent admitted having sex outside marriage
and over half of those had sex with multiple partners.
Most of the infected students, aged between 15 and 18, were
sent for tests by parents, rather than volunteering.
@ SA-COMOROS
PRETORIA, December 7 1998 Sapa-AFP
SOUTH AFRICA WILL NOT SEND TROOPS TO COMOROS: FOREIGN MINISTRY
South Africa has not been asked to send troops to the troubled
Comoros islands in the Indian Ocean and is not considering such a
step, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said Monday.
Foreign affairs spokesman Marco Boni told AFP there had been no
direct appeal by the Comoros government the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU) or to South Africa to help quell unrest in the
archipelago off eastern Africa.
"And there are no plans to do that. We are not going to send
troops," Boni added.
The Comoros government appealed at the weekend for outside
military intervention after fierce battles between militias on the
secessionist island of Anjouan, where residents reported sporadic
shooting on Monday.
Witnesses reached by telephone in the island capital Matusumadu
on Monday told AFP that the clashes had claimed at least 20 lives.
Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, a vice-president of
the OAU, on Sunday mooted the possibility of sending South African
troops to the Comoro Islands.
He told AFP that the government of Interim President Tadjidine
ben Said Massounde had asked Mauritius to send troops to the
Comoros.
However, he said, as Mauritius had no armed forces, he had
contacted South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and the
possibility of sending a South African contingent was under study.
Mbeki's spokesman, Ronnie Mamoepa, told AFP on Monday morning
that he was not sure whether the deputy president had been
contacted by Ramgoolam.
@ REGISTER-WCAPE
CAPE TOWN December 7 1998 Sapa
MORE THAN 6 MILLION VOTERS ON COMPUTER
A total of 6310900 registered voters were recorded on the
computers of the Independent Electoral Commission by 8am on Monday.
The IEC's Western Cape office said that based on the population
census of 1996, the lowest percentage of registered voters was in
the 16-20 age group with only 2,8 percent, and the highest was in
the 70-80 age group, with 33,97 percent.
Registration stations in the 14500 voting districts around the
country were still putting registration details onto the computer
network.
In the Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Western
Cape, the number of voters registered on December 3, 4 and 5 was
2061224 out of a voting popluation of 13944402.
In the Western Cape 485817 voters were recorded out of a total
of 2800462, but 31,7 percent of municipalties had not yet produced
figures.
Chief electoral officer for the Western Cape Joppa le Roux said
the slow trend for registration was not what the IEC would have
wished for, but that all information had not yet been collated.
"I expect the voters to be more aware of next year's election
and their need to register when the second and third rounds of
registration (are) held in January and February.
"We did not experience major problems in the Western Cape, but
we will look at our mistakes and improve our service by next year,"
Le Roux said.
IEC spokeswoman Bridgitte Backman said a problem was that each
registration station had maps only of its own area.
"When voters from other areas wanted to register they were
turned away and had to go and find the next station. Next year maps
of surrounding stations will me made available to all registration
stations so that voters can directed to the right station," Backman
said.
The voter count by province into the common voters' roll for
the southern provinces at 8am on Monday was, including voting
populations and voters registered in brackets: Eastern Cape 3863139
(657869); Free State 1786368 ( 370420); Kwazulu-Natal 5494433
(547118), and Western Cape 2800462 (485817)
@ COURT-BOESAK
CAPE TOWN December 7 1998 Sapa
BOESAK TRIAL: STATE APPLIES FOR SIMON TO TESTIFY TO
COMMISSIONER
The prosecution in the Allan Boesak trial in the Cape High
Court on Monday applied for the testimony of international musician
Paul Simon to be heard on commission.
That means that the court appoints a commissioner to travel to
the country where the witness lives to hear the evidence and then
report back to the court.
Boesak has pleaded not guilty before Judge John Foxcroft to
fraud and theft from the defunct Foundation for Peace and Justice
(of which he was the director), totalling R9 million. Of this he is
alleged to have taken R1,1 million for himself.
Prosecutor JC Gerber had to inform the court on Monday whether
Simon's schedule temporarily prevented his presence as a witness in
court, or whether he refused outright to come to South Africa to
testify against Boesak.
At the start of Monday's proceedings, Gerber told the court he
had "bad news" - that Simon in fact refused outright to come to
South Africa - and it was now necessary for the state to apply for
his evidence to be taken on commission.
Simon's testimony was of the utmost importance, Gerber told the
court.
Boesak's counsel Mike Maritz objected on the grounds that
commissioned evidence was only permissible under special
circumstances.
The fact that Simon refused outright to come to South Africa,
and was not merely temporarily prevented from testifying by a
hectic schedule, meant there were no special circumstances, he
said.
Maritz said that the procedure also involved complex questions
of protocol and that the interests of justice militated against
commission proceedings as it was essential for the court itself to
observe the demeanour of a testifying witness, which would be
impossible with the appointment of a commission.
Judgment on the application is expected on Tuesday.
@ ANGOLA-UN
LUANDA December 7 1998 Sapa-AP
UN PEACEKEEPERS EVACUATED FROM AREAS OF FIGHTING IN ANGOLA
The United Nations has evacuated 14 of its peacekeepers who
were trapped by fighting between the army and the rebel group UNITA
in two towns in central Angola, a U.N. spokesman said Monday.
The peace monitors - a Swede, a Brazilian, a Senegalese, and 11
Indians - are due to arrive in the capital Luanda within 24 hours,
spokesman Hamadoun Toure said in a statement.
Toure said the men were withdrawn Sunday from the UNITA
strongholds Andulo and Bailundo, about 290 kilometers (180 miles)
southeast of Luanda, and taken to Huambo, 200 kilometers (125
miles) southwest of Andulo.
"They are all well. Their morale is high, they are in good
health and good spirits," Toure said.
The peacekeepers will fly from Luanda to their home countries,
according to Toure.
Andulo and Bailundo, where the UNITA leadership is based,
reportedly are under attack by government forces in the latest
fighting to threaten the crumbling 1994 peace pact between the two
sides.
The government accused UNITA of using the peacekeepers as human
shields to ward off attack. In a statement Friday, the U.N.
Security Council said it would hold UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi
personally responsible for the safety of the monitors.
UNITA - a Portuguese acronym for the National Union for the
Total Independence of Angola - has yielded control of most of the
country it once held to the government, but the group has refused
to relinquish its last strongholds despite U.N. pressure.
Continuing hostility between the two sides has hindered
implementation of the peace deal, and no progress has been made
since June.
The government says UNITA has about 30,000 armed men hidden in
the bush of the vast southwest African nation.
The civil war broke out following Angola's 1975 independence
from Portugal, and some 500,000 people were killed in the fighting.
@ HEALTH-GAUTENG
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
GOVT'S IMPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH CARE PLAN LACKS VISION: DOCTORS
The government's plan to make health care accessible to all
South Africans was noble, but its implementation lacked vision, the
Gauteng Doctors Action Group said on Tuesday.
The closure of certain provincial hospitals, the acceptance of
voluntary retirement packages and the moratorium on the appointment
of all categories of staff had led to enormous staff shortages,
GDAG spokesman Dr Sanjay Lala said.
"Doctors who have committed themselves to serving the community
through the public health service are frustrated by the manner in
which restructuring is taking place."
Lala said in the midst of the present crisis, the moratorium
placed on the filling of existing vacant posts made no sense and
would contribute to the irreversible disintegration of health
service provision.
"The poor and disadvantaged communities, who ironically were
intended to receive the maximal benefit...from the restructuring
process, will bear the brunt of the humansuffering following this
erosion of services."
If existing plans were implemented, essential medical services
- including emergency after-hour care - would be forced to close,
compromising patient care even further, Lala said.
"Much confusion clouds the future of medical officers,
registrars and specialists working at state institutions... an
absurd situation has arisen where training posts have been
reallocated to accomodate doctors completing their community
service."
Departments with a high turnover of medical staff were the
worst affected by this move, and existing staff in those
departments worked in extremely stressful conditions, he said.
"Doctors seeking training as specialists and newly qualified
specialists committed to working in public sector hospitals are
forced to emigrate or to work in the private sector."
Lala said attempts to clarify aspects of the moratorium with
the Gauteng health department had so far been unsuccessful.
"A truthful response from Gauteng Health and a genuine desire
to help resolve this crisis is urgently needed."
When asked to respond, departmental spokesman Popo Maja said
his department had never heard of the GDAC.
"We don't have the ideal number of doctors at Chris-Hani
Baragwanath, but that is due to budgetary constraints," he said.
The department said Dr Lala was creating a storm in a tea-cup
and the sincerity of his motives was questionable.
The Gauteng health department had an open-door policy.
Officials would be happy to discuss the concerns of the doctors,
Maja said.
Lala told Sapa numerous attempts to reach the department over
the past few weeks had been unsuccessful.
"I've phoned at least six times. They don't return my calls and
this to me indicates an unwillingness to discuss anything."
Maja told Sapa the department was prepared to commit to a
meeting with the GDAC in order to examine the doctors' concerns,
but he could not commit to a date for the meeting.
"We are aware of existing problems, but I want to emphasise
that there is no crisis at Chris-Hani Baragwanath Hospital," he
said.
Lala said doctors who worked in the public sector were a
national asset who should be jealously safe-guarded by the
government.
"We are committed to serving the public, and ultimately we
share the same concerns as the Gauteng health department. I'm sure
if we all sat down at a table we could come up with solutions to at
least some of the serious problems currently facing us."
@ REGISTER-NP
DURBAN December 7 1998 Sapa
NP WARNS VOTERS TO CHECK PROOF OF REGISTRATION
The National Party on Monday warned voters who registered for
next year's election to ensure they were given receipts.
Pietermaritzburg NP councillor Geritt Meyer said that at a
registration point at Pelham in the midlands about 30 receipts had
not been issued. The NP said voters without proof of registration
might not be able to vote next year.
Independent Electoral Commission spokesman Victor Dlamini said
two receipts were issued to a person as proof of registration. The
receipts were glued to the voter's ID book and the registration
form.
Dlamini said there were records for each person registered.
"...We have registration forms and records of the potential voters,
and this will enable us to check if the person is eligible to
vote," he said.
@ REGISTER-DP
CAPE TOWN December 7 1998 Sapa
KRIEGLER'S COMMENT COULD PRESAGE A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: DP
South Africa could be heading for a constitutional crisis,
given the nature of a comment by IEC chairman Judge Johann Kriegler
that there would be no election next year unless more than half of
all eligible voters registered before the end of February, the
Democratic Party said on Monday.
Judging from this "appalling" comment, it seemed the
Independent Electoral Commission was already laying the groundwork
to justify a failed registration process, DP Federal Council
chairman Douglas Gibson said in a statement.
"Justice Kriegler is trying to say that if we manage to achieve
slightly more than a 50 percent registration figure, we will be in
the clear. The DP is saying we need to remove the obstacles
preventing voters from registering in far greater numbers if we are
to have a free and fair election," Gibson said.
The Constitution required that an election be held and that the
IEC delivered on this process.
"It is quite clear what needs to be done is to give all South
Africans the opportunity to register and vote in next year's
election. We must stop wasting time and do it right," Gibson said.
@ REGISTER-YOUTH
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
DEVISE A PLAN TO ENCOURAGE YOUTHS TO REGISTER, VOTE: NYC
The Independent Electoral Commission should devise a plan to
promote the participation of young people and first-time voters in
the electoral process, the National Youth Commission said on
Monday.
Reacting to the poor turnout by youths in the first phase of
the voter registration process, the commission said it was willing
to meet the IEC on the issue.
"The NYC appeals to all young South Africans to heed the call
of the IEC and register for the 1998 elections as soon as the
chance arises again," the commission said.
About 10 million potential voters of an estimated 25 million
registered in the first phase that ended on Sunday.
According to figures released by the IEC on Sunday, only 2,3
percent of youths between 16 and 18 years registered. Ten percent
of youths between 18 and 20 registered.
The dates of the next phase of voter registration in February
have not yet been announced.
@ MPUMA-CORRUPTION
NELSPRUIT December 7 1998 Sapa
MPUMALANGA TO SUSPEND CORRUPT OFFICIALS
A total of 39 officials in the Mpumalanga public works, roads
and transport department who were suspected of fraud and
corruption, were to be suspended, MEC Jackson Mthembu said on
Monday.
On Friday head of department Josias Mabilo was suspended,
pending an investigation as to whether he had run the department
effectively, African Eye News Service reported.
Mthembu said 24 of the 39 officials were from the department's
traffic section. Some traffic officials were accused of selling
licenses and taking bribes.
"We've found that some people never sat for their drivers'
licences, but ended up having a driver's licence."
A licence receipt book was missing, he said.
Some officials being investigated for fraud include an Ermelo
regional engineer and his wife, who is an assistant in the roads
section.
An entire Nelspruit team, comprising a chief roads
superintendent, a senior artisan, senior administration clerk and
accounting clerk, would also be suspended on fraud allegations,
said Mthembu.
He said the Nelspruit officials allegedly colluded in issuing
tenders to companies that did not exist.
"We searched some houses belonging to the officials and found
that certain companies which won the roads tenders were directly
linked to the officials concerned or did not exist at all."
About R8 million had been lost to non-existent companies or to
companies to which officials were linked without the knowledge of
the department.
A senior administrative clerk from the department's
headquarters would be suspended for stealing bursary cheques meant
for students, Mthembu said.
@ BANANA-DP
CAPE TOWN December 7 1998 Sapa
DP CONCERNED AT MANDELA'S BANANA RECEPTION
There was a worrying trend among African National Congress
leaders of giving recognition to high profile persons accused of
crimes, the Democratic Party said on Monday.
DP spokesman James Selfe was reacting in a statement to the
reception by President Nelson Mandela of former Zimbabwean
President Canaan Banana, who is being sought by authorities in that
country for sexual abuse crimes.
"What are victims of rape then to make of President Mandela's
reception of such a person? That it is all right to rape and
sexually abuse your inferiors as long you are a prominent figure?"
Selfe asked.
He said Banana was convicted of sexual assault in his country.
"We deeply regret President Mandela's apparent insensitivity to
the plight of the many sexual abuse victims of both sexes and the
message that it sends to all kinds of criminals about the rule of
law in this country", Selfe said.
@ DEP. PRES. MBEKI PROGRAMME FOR 7-31 DECEMBER 98
Issued by: Office of the Deputy President
Monday, 07 December
09h00 - 21h00 ANC NEC Meeting Venue: Gallagher Estate
Tuesday, 08 December
09h00 - 21h00 ANC NEC Meeting (continued) Venue: Gallagher
Estate
Wednesday, 09 December
18h00 Launch of Deputy-President's book Venue:
Inter-Continental Hotel, Sandton
Thursday, 10 December
17h45 - 21h00 Launch of Blue Train II Venue: Park Hyatt
Hotel, Rosebank Contact: Mr. David Barritt @ (011)
773-584/5
Friday, 11 December
07h40 Departure of Blue Train Venue: Platform 16, Park
Station 08h55 Speech by Deputy President to Launch Blue
Train 09h15 Photo opportunity with Pres. Mandela &
Deputy-Pres. Mbeki 18h55 Speech by Deputy President @
arrival at Gaborone Station
Saturday, 12 December
07h30 Speech by Deputy President @ arrival at Bulawayo
Station 19h15 Speech by Deputy President @ arrival at
Victoria Falls
Sunday, 13 December
14h45 8th Assembly of World Council of Churches (Zimbabwe)
Venue: University of Zimbabwe
Monday, 14 December
10h00 - 13h00 ANC Officials meeting
13h30 - 17h00 ANC NWC Meeting
Thursday, 17 December
Meeting in Youagadougou on conflict in DRC
Friday, 18 December
Meeting in Youagadougou on conflict in DRC
Saturday, 19 December unitl Monday, 4 January 1999
Deputy-President on vacation
For audio clip, please call: Deputy President's Info Line @ (012)
324-2219 / (012) 328-3626
For more information contact: Ronnie Mamoepa @ 082 990 4853 / (012)
337-5205
@ AMNESTY-NP
CAPE TOWN December 7 1998 Sapa
MANDELA'S STATEMENT ON GENERAL AMNESTY IRRESPONSIBLE: NP
President Nelson Mandela's statement that general amnesty would
never be considered and that amnesty granted to security forces by
the previous government might be reconsidered or even withdrawn was
highly irresponsible, the National Party said on Monday.
It was not clear whether Mandela spoke for himself or for the
African National Congress or the government as a whole, NP leader
Marthinus van Schalkwyk said in a statement.
What was clear was that the amnesty issue was not finally
settled and needed urgent attention.
Van Schalkwyk said the NP could agree with Mandela that any
person who wanted amnesty should be able to apply for it and that
there had to be disclosure.
"Where we differ with President Mandela is that further general
amnesty will never be granted", Van Schalkwyk said.
The NP believed that the opportunity to apply for amnesty had
to be reopened, should be automatic, but there had to be
disclosure.
"Agreement on such a process is needed by all sides in the
previous conflict for South Africa to able to move forward", he
said.
@ COMOROS-UNREST-OAU
ADDIS ABABA, December 7 1998 Sapa-AFP
OAU ASKS REGIONAL COUNTRIES TO RESTORE PEACE IN COMOROS
Organisation of African Unity (OAU) ambassadors on Monday
appealed for help in restoring peace to the Comoran island of
Anjouan, where rival militias clashed for the third straight day.
The OAU's central organ appealed to countries in the region "to
assist in the restoration of normalcy, peace, security and
stability" on the secessionist island.
Fighting between rival militias which erupted there Saturday
intensified Monday, with a district of Mutsamudu, the main town, on
fire and some sources putting the death toll since Saturday at 30
to 40, residents said.
Looters were pillaging shops in Mutsamudu, where partisans of
self-styled "president" Abdallah Ibraham were using
rocket-launchers to attack the adjoining village of Mirontsy,
residents told AFP by telephone.
The central organ, made up of ambassadors, met in emergency
session and issued its appeal "as a matter of urgency."
It urged the militias "to commit themselves to a peaceful
solution of the crisis within the framework of the peace process
initiated by the OAU."
In Port Louis, Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told
AFP on Sunday that the federal government of Interim President
Tadjidine ben Said Massounde had asked Mauritius to send troops to
the Comoros, but that as Mauritius had no armed forces the
possibility of sending a South African contingent was under study.
That followed talks he held by telephone Saturday with South
African Vice President Thabo Mbeki and OAU Secretary General Salim
Ahmed Salim, Ramgoolam said.
In Pretoria, however, foreign ministry spokesman Marco Boni
told AFP on Monday morning that South Africa had not been asked to
send troops to the troubled Indian Ocean islands and was not
considering such a step.
He said then that there had been no direct appeal by the
Comoros government or the OAU to South Africa to help quell the
unrest in the archipelago off eastern Africa.
Anjouan declared its secession from the central government on
Grande Comore on August 3 last year, followed a week later by
Moheli, the third island in the Indian Ocean Islamic federation.
Moheli returned this year to federal rule.
The secessionists accused the central government of neglecting
the two smaller islands, and awarding plum jobs to people from
Grande Comore.
An OAU-sponsored conference in Addis Ababa in December last
year faied to resolve the crisis.
@ EU-SAFRICA
BRUSSELS, Belgium December 7 1998 Sapa-AP
EU NEGOTIATOR SEEKS SUPPORT FOR SOUTH AFRICAN TRADE DEAL
The European Union's top negotiator in talks with South Africa
sought backing from EU governments Monday to break months of
deadlock and keep alive hopes of concluding a broad free-trade deal
by the year's end.
Joao de Deus Pinheiro, EU commissioner for African affairs came
close to wrapping up a agreement last month to phase out duties on
some 90 percent of EU-South Africa trade, which is worth dlrs 19
billion a year.
On Monday, Pinheiro was looking for more support from the 15 EU
foreign ministers, but hopes of a breakthrough were dimmed by
continued divisions over the labeling of fortified wines.
The Europeans want South African vintners to stop using the
names "sherry" or "port" for some of their wines. The EU argues
that only Spain can produce wines called sherry and only wines from
the Portuguese city of Oporto can be labeled as port. South Africa
claims to have used the terms for 300 years.
Portuguese officials said they were demanding a commitment that
South African winemakers phase out the names over the next decade
in international and domestic markets.
Sales of South African wine labeled port or sherry are worth
about 750 million rand (dlrs 123 million), of which 13 percent
comes from exports.
Portuguese officials said other EU nations had problems with
canned fruit imports and access to South African waters for
European fishing boats.
After four years of painstaking negotiations, the two sides are
under pressure to wrap up a deal. EU leaders at a meeting with
President Nelson Mandela in June, pledged to conclude talks by the
autumn.
Diplomats fear negotiations could become bogged down in
campaigning for national elections in South Africa next year if
they drag on much longer.
@ SACOB-INDEX
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
BUSINESS CONFIDENCE SHOWS SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT
South African business confidence improved marginally in
November, suggesting the depressed mood of the past six months may
be stabilising.
This is according to the SA Chamber of Business (Sacob) which
in Johannesburg Monday announced a 0,4 percent rise in its monthly
Business Confidence Index.
Sacob said improvements in the financial markets and in some
real sectors of the economy were responsible for nudging the index
up to 84.8 from 84,4 where "it had lanquished for two months."
The strengthening of the rand, a slight decline in the Consumer
Price Index, rising share prices and better retail sales were among
the positive factors contributing to the rise.
On the down side, there was a deteriorating employment climate
in manufacturing, a lower gold price, a fall in export volumes and
a further decrease in new vehicle sales.
"Although the stabilisation is still tentative - and
vulnerable to further shocks - at least it ends the year on a more
positive note," said Sacob.
But it added that the economy was still under-performing with
export volumes declining by 11 percent in the first 10 months of
this year against a four percent rise in import volumes.
Sacob said these trends were both "surprising and
disappointing" given the sharp depreciation of the rand and the
slowdown of domestic economic activity.
Sacob urges " a more aggressive response" by exporters to take
advantage of the weaker currency.
It said although the country was still not yet technically in a
recession, GDP had only grown by an average of 0,3 perecent in the
first three quarters, with contractions evident in mining,
quarrying and manufacturing.
Agricultural output had dropped by nearly 20 percent.
Sacob's survey of economic prospects for 1999 points to the
next 12 months being difficult and recovery slow.
@ SALIM
CAPE TOWN December 7 1998 Sapa
AFRICA MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS DESTINY: OAU CHIEF
Africans had to take the responsibility for and accept the
challenge of making their continent an active actor in the global
system, Organisation of African Unity secretary-general Dr Salim
Ahmed Salim said on Monday evening.
Addressing a graduation ceremony at the University of Cape Town
at which he was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws, he said
while the world was described as a global village, it did not as
yet behave like one in which there was a sense of balanced
inter-dependence.
"The prevailing behavioural pattern is one in which the most
powerful, by the criteria of economic and political power, as well
as in terms of efficiency and competition, tend to dominate.
"In this respect, while Africa is part of the world and remains
committed to international solidarity, its lack of competitive
capacities and low levels of efficiency forces it to remain in the
periphery," Salim said.
Africa had to persist along a path of political transformation,
as well as economic revitalisation and integration.
The most effective remedy for the incessant conflict on the
continent was the promotion of edmocracy and good governance.
This was also a critical ingredient for its development.
Salim said the whole struggle against colonialism and apartheid
had been predicated on the legitimate aspirations of Africans for
dignity, freedom and justice, and on their desire to collectively
build nations and institutions that would accommodate all segments
of society in charting a common destiny.
"In this respect, there is need to sustain vigorously the
momentum that African countries have embarked upon towards opening
the political space through refining electoral systems, promoting
pluralistic political involvement, engaging the civil society, and
initiating legal and institutionhal reforms," Salim said.
Another component of Africa's political challenge concerned
building a culuture of respecting human rights.
Underlying the process of the continent's political
transformation was the imperative challenge of economic
revitalisation and integration.
The contribution of a nation like South Africa needed to be
acknowledged.
"Indeed, since the advent of democracy in this country and its
reincorporation in the community of nations, South Africa has been
performing a constructive and dynamic role in fostering
socio-economic development in the continent."
@ MPUMALANGA-CHINA
NELSPRUIT December 7 1998 Sapa
PHOSA, VICE-GOVERNOR OF CHINESE PROVINCE MEET IN NELSPRUIT
Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa on Monday held a meeting with
the vice-governor of China's Hebei province, Chen Liyou, in
Nelspruit, the premier's spokesman Oupa Pilane said in a statement.
He said the two leaders discussed issues of mutual interest,
including economic co-operation and other possible ties between the
provinces.
Phosa and Chen described the talks as very constructive. They
said they hoped the meeting would lead to further exchanges between
the provinces and their respective business sectors.
The meeting was also attended by the representatives of the
Chinese Embassy and of the Hebei private sector, as well as the
members of the Mpumalanga provincial administration.
@ REGISTER-KWANATAL
DURBAN December 7 1998 Sapa
IEC UPBEAT ABOUT REGISTRATION IN KWAZULU-NATAL
The number of voters who registered in KwaZulu-Natal for next
year's general election was beyond expectations, the Independent
Electoral Commission said in Durban on Monday.
Provincial electoral officer, Reverend Chris Mzoneli, said
550,000 registrations had been counted by Monday afternoon and the
number was expected to rise considerably.
"It should be noted that this figure does not include most of
the rural areas of the province. Indications are that the final
figure could rise to between 800,000 and one million registered
voters," Mzoneli said.
The final figure was expected towards the end of the week.
One of the biggest problems encountered by the IEC was
inclement weather which prevented some stations from opening on
time.
Another problem was the lack of training, because of time
restraints, of electoral staff, Mzoneli said.
A trend which had emerged was that registration numbers were
higher in poorer areas compared with affluent regions.
Mzoneli said KwaZulu-Natal faced a great challenge in
increasing the number of registrations.
"We regard it as a responsibility of all civil society
organisations, business, religious formations, youth groups and
political parties (to encourage voter registration).
"All concerned have to engage in greater voter education
programmes in order that a proper election takes place."
An announcement on the second stage of registration is expected
to be made by the IEC by the end of the week.
@ LANDTAX-NP
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
ALLOW FARMERS TO CLAIM TAX REBATE ON NEW LAND TAX: NP
The National Party on Monday appealed to the government to
allow commercial farmers to claim a proposed new land tax as a tax
rebate.
NP agriculture spokesman Manie Schoeman said commercial farmers
were already suffering under the government's tax laws.
"This is after all the sector that provides the country's basic
food requirements and should rather enjoy government support
instead of further discriminatory measures," said Schoeman.
He said all indications were that the proposed land tax would
be selective and only applicable to commercial farmers instead of
including communal land and that under traditional authorities.
"The NP is totally opposed to any attempt by the African
National Congress government to marginalise the commercial farmers,
and is convinced that the new land tax is part of the ANC's overall
redistribution strategy," said Schoeman.
@ MPUMALANGA-TAXIS
NELSPRUIT December 7 1998 Sapa
NELSPRUIT TAXI CLAMPDOWN TO START ON TUESDAY
Mpumalanga authorities on Tuesday morning would start a severe
clampdown on taxi operators in Nelspruit to try to end the conflict
between two rival organisations.
The feud between the SA Long Distance Taxi Association (Saldta)
and the Federated Long Distance Taxi Association (Feldta) has
claimed the lives of more than 30 people.
Scores have injured since the dispute started in January.
Mpumalanga transport MEC Jackson Mthembu told Sapa the Andrews
Street taxi rank would be split equally between the two
organisations.
The rank was closed three weeks ago because it was becoming a
security risk, Mthembu said.
Only taxi drivers with the necessary permits, or receits to
show they were in the process of getting permits, would be allowed
to use the rank.
Taxi's running the Nelspruit-Bushbuck Ridge route would be
given stickers, but only if they were roadworthy and had permits.
>From Thursday, taxis without stickers would not be allowed to
operate on the route, Mthembu said.
In addition, traffic police, helped by the army and police,
would do roadworthy checks and fine offenders at the rank's
entrance.
@ ANGOLA-UNITA
LUANDA December 7 1998 Sapa-AFP
ANGOLAN GOVT ATTACKING UNITA AMID RUMOURS OF AIR BOMBARDMENTS
A government general confirmed Monday that Luanda's troops were
pursuing an offensive against UNITA diehards, but would not be
drawn on reports of air raids on the guerrillas' strongholds.
"I'm not aware of these, but I can tell you that we have been
pursuing the military operation I announced" several weeks ago,
General Higino Carneiro, deputy minister for territorial
administration, said.
He said he had no information on the reports that two National
Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) strongholds had
been subjected to aerial attack.
According to the reports, Andulo and Bailundo - the two
"capitals" of Jonas Savimbi's diehard rebels - have been under
attack from the air for the past month.
The rumours began on Sunday at the same time as the
announcement of the freeing of 14 UN observers who had been held
for a month by UNITA in the two towns in question.
The monitors from the United Nations - 10 Indians, one
Bulgarian, a Swede, a Senegalese and a Brazilian - arrived Sunday
at the headquarters of the UN forces in the capital, a UN spokesman
here said.
Speaking at the opening of the fourth Congress of the People's
Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) on Saturday, President
Jose Eduardo dos Santos reaffirmed his intention of dealing finally
with Savimbi, a man "who knows only how to kill, destroy and
divide."
Luanda feels Savimbi is no longer a reliable negotiator in the
peace process and had broken off contact with him.
It has said Savimbi still has some 30,000 men at arms.
@ TOURISM-PARTNERSHIPS
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
TOURISM CONFERENCE STRESSES SERVICE AND PARTNERSHIPS
The South African tourism honeymoon is over, and with overseas
visitor numbers now levelling out it is time the country started
working together to attract tourists, Tourism Minister Pallo Jordan
said on Monday.
Addressing the Minister's Tourism Summit at Gallagher's Estate
in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, Jordan said overseas visitor
numbers had increased since 1994 by an average of about 20 percent
a year. More than 1,5 million overseas tourists were expected to
have visited South Africa in 1998, compared to 700,000 in 1994.
The Asian economic crisis had caused a drop of 40 to 50 percent
in Asian tourist numbers, while traditional tourist markets Europe
and the United Kingdom had levelled out.
The one-day tourism conference, attended by hundreds of
representatives from government, and private and public sector
tourism bodies, stressed partnerships as the vehicle for developing
tourism.
"Tourism is a sector where no-one acting on their own can get
it right. We need to work together," Jordan said.
South African National Parks spokesman Richard Willys said the
organisation was working in partnership with the Industrial
Development Corporation to develop tourism and employment in two
local initiatives.
It was also planned to promote all parks in South Africa to
tourists.
About 60 percent of visitors to the country visited game
reserves, and 80 percent of them were happy with their wilderness
experience. Nearly a fifth of those went to the Kruger National
Park, yet the park was ranked only the sixth most popular tourist
destination.
"A lot of visitors, particularly overseas visitors, a lot of
them are unaware what true wilderness really is... We're going to
look at promoting the wilderness on behalf of the nation," Willys
said.
The organisation was also trying to stress to its employees
that good service was essential for tourism growth.
"Unless we as a nation can turn the service culture around...
we will not succeed in marketing ourselves as one of the top
tourist destinations," he said.
Hospitality Industries Training Board director Tony Ansara said
South Africa lacked grassroots support for tourism and a unified
positive attitude of service "as a national value".
The Ubuntu Service Culture campaign, being launched on January
8, was a welcome host programme adapted to South Africa which aimed
to improve service. It had been piloted mostly in Mpumalanga,
Ansara said.
Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Pumzile Mlambo Ngcuka said
tourism development would help create jobs and alleviate poverty.
But some gaps still remained in tourism, such as
"community-friendly" tourism products, getting new tourism
providers into the market, access to finance, and the dynamic
packaging of South African tourism.
IDC spokesman Bertus de Vos said commercial banks were still
wary of giving finance for medium and smaller-sized tourism
projects.
De Vos said IDC's loans for tourism focused on making existing
accommodation more attractive, on extensions and new developments.
Loans of more than R300,000 for five to 15 years were given if a
tourism development had economic merit, security, made substantial
impact on creating new projects, and if its own financial
contribution was more than 40 percent.
For large to medium ecotourism projects, the IDC could offer
loans of more than R25 million with interest rates 2,5 percent
lower than the going prime rate, De Vos said.
The parastatal had identified major risks in the tourism
sector. These included inexperienced operators, unknown or
unbranded regions, single product operations, mediocre tourism
experiences and operators who were not part of a collective
marketing network.
@ REGISTER-ECAPE
EAST LONDON December 7 1998 Sapa
ECAPE POLITICAL PARTIES GIVE REGISTRATION PROCESS THUMBS-UP
Political parties across the spectrum in the Eastern Cape
believe the three-day registration process in the province was
largely a success under the circumstances faced by the Independent
Electoral Commission.
The parties on Monday expressed the hope that logistical
problems encountered by the IEC staff during the three days of
registration were lessons from which the IEC could learn and try to
overcome.
The African National Congress said the process was successful
given the geographic spread of the province and the fact that many
people managed to register as voters.
Provincial spokesman Mcebisi Bata said the rain adversely
affected the registration, but the figures of those who registered
were satisfying.
The ANC had deployed hundreds of its party agents to monitor
the process and the organisation was in the process of compiling
reports and records of the situation.
Bata played down the problems encountered, saying the exercise
was a dress-rehearsal for the IEC.
"We had no complaint as we were in constant contact with the
IEC. We were able to resolve some of the problems through our
co-ordination with the IEC," Bata said.
National Party leader Anne Nash said the party received good
reports from many areas. She blamed apathy for the low turn-out.
"We hope that next time round things will improve," Nash said.
She blamed the low budget of the IEC and the use of volunteers
for the problems experienced.
"The government cannot run an election with volunteer workers,"
Nash said.
United Democratic Movement spokesman Mabandla Gogo also blamed
the volunteers for many of the IEC failures, saying the workers
were not committed to the task.
He alleged that volunteers at some registration centres in
Transkei closed earlier than the scheduled closing time.
Gogo urged the IEC to prohibit political campaigning and
displaying of party posters at or near registration centres.
He accused the ANC of making people pay a R12 membership fee to
join the party after they registered at some centres.
Gogo said the IEC should consider making the registration
process a continuous and full time exercise until February.
Democratic Party leader Eddie Trent expressed disappointment at
the low turnout in some areas of the province.
He blamed the situation on apathy probably caused by people's
disappointment at the lack of delivery.
Pan Africanist Congress leader Zingisa Mkabile said despite the
previous postponement of the registration and the bad weather
condition during registration, the turnout was surprisingly good in
many areas.
@ ANCYL LOW TURNOUT OF YOUTH IN REGISTRATION
Issued by: African National Congress Youth League
The ANC Youth League notes with grave concern the poor turnout
of the eligible young voters in the voter registration process.
Young people heave a responsibility to vote, generations have
fought and died in defense of this right. The future is in your
hands!
The ANC Youth League is aware that there are those youth who did
not register to vote because among others,
- they are concerned about changes that have happened in their
lives since 1994;
- learning institutions are closed and learning youth were told
to register where they study, and hence they were displaced;
- Seventeen year olds turning eighteen next year were turned
away;
- The IEC experienced some serious technical problems with the
new voter registration equipment and their staff were inadequately
trained.
The ANC Youth League therefore calls on the IEC to ensure that,
the registration period in February 1999 actively draws on young
people, handicapped people, and all those people who have not
registered to vote yet.
Proposals:
- In the next registration, target students in their learning
and working institutions.
- There is a need for an increased campaign targeted at youth.
- There should be targeted programmes at out-of-school and
out-of-work youth.
- Music artists and young sports men and women must publicly
call on youth to register.
The ANC Youth League itself is going to embark on an intensive
voter registration drive. Amongst other things we will;
- Intensify our media efforts on informing young people about
the need to register.
- We will organise provincial and national structures to
mobilise members and non members of the Youth League to register.
Issued by: African National Congress Youth League
For more information contact Oscar Van Heerden
011 333 6750
082 804 0601
@ TOURISM-FORUM
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
NEW LOOK SATOUR LAUNCHED
A new-look South African Tourism Board was launched on Monday,
complete with a new logo incorporating all the colours of the flag
and the new slogan "South Africa - A world in one country".
At the Minister's Tourism Summit outside Johannesburg, Satour
chairwoman Liz Westby-Nunn said after 18 months of restructuring
the new board and streamlined organisation was ready for its
challenge of generating tourism to create jobs.
A group of artists made a musical dance presentation at the
tourism conference, held at Gallagher's Estate in Midrand, to
launch the new look, which was first seen at the World Travel
Market in London last month.
Also at the conference, a voluntary consumer levy of one
percent on tourism providers' turnover was announced, to take
effect from February 1, and the formation of a Tourism Forum
between government and tourism business sectors.
Tourism Business Council of SA chairman David Wigley said a
trust would be set up to manage the levies, administered by council
auditors. The money would be spent on projects formulated by the
reconstituted Satour Marketing Committee.
About R50 million in levies was expected in the first year and
government had agreed to match this amount.
Wigley said a marketing proposal had also been submitted to the
National Business Trust recommending R50 million be allocated to
job creation and training.
"This will effectively give us a potential of R150 million to
actively market destination South Africa generically."
Wigley appealed to the provinces not to set up their own levy
system and to work together to share information and resources.
Another focus of the tourism conference was the finalisation of
a partnership between government and business. Part of this
involved setting up a Tourism Forum between government and the
tourism business sector, represented by the council.
Wigley said the forum would comprise eight government and eight
business representatives. Tourism Deputy Minister Peter Mokaba was
the proposed chiarman.
The forum would be officially constituted on February 1, and
would decide on programmes to be jointly funded by business and
government.
It would provide strategic direction and guiding parameters for
the destination marketing strategy and provide a platform for
informal effective joint decisions and co-ordination between public
and private stakeholders.
Wigley said tourism marketing was an urgent priority as it had
been historically under-funded, so the goal was to provide
sufficient funding for generic tourism marketing.
The parties agreed investment would initially focus on
international marketing, followed by skills development and
training, and enterprise support to encourage small business and
develop opportunities for new and emerging tourism businesses.
Tourism contributed between seven and eight percent of South
Africa's gross domestic product and this was expected to grow to
over ten percent by 2010.
About 673000 people were employed in the travel and tourism
sector, which was also expected to rise by 2010.
"Within this scenario, it is imperative that growth in foreign
tourism is encouraged. It is time we showed the world that South
Africa is a dynamic destination by doing justice to our incredible
tourism products," Wigley said in a statement.
@ AMNESTY-DEKLERK
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
DE KLERK DENIES GRANTING AMNESTY TO 3000 SECURITY POLICE
Former President FW de Klerk on Monday issued a statement
denying he had granted blanket amnesty to 3000 members of the
apartheid-era security police, as charged by President Nelson
Mandela in an interview with a Sunday newspaper.
In the interview Mandela said that during one of his
government's first cabinet meetings it discovered that De Klerk had
given blanket amnesty to about 3000 members of the security police.
De Klerk said those involved had applied for indemnity for
certain limited offences in terms of the same legislation under
which many thousands of African National Congress members had
already been granted indemnity.
"The offences did not include gross violations of human rights
and I was not involved personally at any stage of the process,
which was dealt with administratively within the Department of
Justice," he said.
De Klerk said it had been forgotten that many thousands of
people, nearly all of them ANC supporters, were granted anmesty for
offences which did include gross human rights violations under the
Further Indemnity Act.
Mandela, in the interview, rejected the idea of blanket
anmesty, saying amnesty would only be granted to individuals who
applied for it.
The issue of blanket amnesty came to the fore following the
recommendation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that
perpetrators who had not applied to the commission for amnesty
should be prosecuted.
@ TRAFFIC-TRANSPORT
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT APPEALS TO MOTORISTS TO SERVICE VEHICLES
The Department of Transport on Monday appealed to motorists to
have their vehicles checked and properly serviced before embarking
on their journeys during the festive season.
This followed the death of 81 people in 46 fatal road accidents
countrywide in the fist week of December.
Department spokesman Perry Parirenyatwa in a statement said
police reports received by the Arrive Alive information centre on
the most common causes of the accidents included speeding, drinking
and driving, illegal overtaking, faulty brakes and lights, worn
tyres and driver fatigue.
Parirenyatwa said KwaZulu-Natal topped the list with the most
road accident deaths at 34, followed by the Eastern Cape (22) and
Gauteng (10).
The Western Cape had three deaths, the Free State six,
North-West two and the other provinces on each.
Pedestrian jaywalking constituted 37 percent of these deaths
and speeding 26 percent.
Parirenyatwa warned motorists that the N2 highway between
Butterworth and Kokstad in Transkei was unsafe at night as there
was a hijacking risk and the road was full of potholes.
He said the R545 road between Bethal and Ogies was also full of
potholes.
@ HEATH-MOTSHEKGA
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
MOTSHEKGA DID NOT BLOCK HEATH UNIT: MOFOKENG
The acting premier of Gauteng, Dan Mofokeng, on Monday denied
that his superior, Mathole Motshekga, tried to block a Heath
Special Investigating Unit investigation into promissory notes.
He demanded a retraction from the Heath unit's spokesman, Guy
Rich, on behalf of Motshekga who is in China on an official visit
with several Gauteng MECs.
Mofokeng, who is also Gauteng MEC for local government and
housing, was reacting to media reports and allegations by the
National Party that Motshekga was blocking an investigation into
the housing department's issuing of illegal promissory notes which
use government property as collateral.
Mofokeng said at a press conference in Johannesburg that the
unit had only asked to meet Motshekga to introduce itself and its
functions to the executive council, and to highlight how the unit
could help the provincial executive and the provincial
administration.
"The Heath Commission did not mention any investigations or
illegal fraudulent guarantees in any correspondence," Mofokeng
said.
"The Heath Commission does not need the premier's permission
nor a meeting with the premier to investigate any matter," he said.
Rich said: "The unit never said he was blocking the
investigation. What was reported today (Monday) gives the
impression that he was blocking the investigation."
In a letter to the premier's office to clear up a report in
Business Day that Motshekga had ignored requests for a meeting,
Rich said: "Allow me to state that at no time did we indicate that
our requests for a meeting had been ignored by your office."
Rich said they told the reporter that they had sent three
requests to the premier's office for a meeting and had explained
that they needed an appointment with the premier and the executive
council before they could become fully operational.
Rich said the unit did not discuss the promissory notes, but
was only trying to set up a meeting to forge a working relationship
with the provincial executive committee.
Except to say that five had been recovered and one was still in
circulation, Rich would not elaborate on the promissory notes.
Mofokeng said the Gauteng government had already conducted its
own investigation into the matter and had proved that no government
officials were involved.
"The provincial government has not signed any guarantees and no
official has signed any guarantee," Mofokeng said.
He said forensic tests on the notes proved them to be
forgeries.
The Gauteng government had not lost a cent, he said.
"We have reported it to the police and we know who is
responsible.
"What we should be asking now is what are the police doing?"
Mofokeng said.
Motshekga and the Heath unit will meet on January 19, Rich
said.
@ MALAWI-ECONOMY
BLANTYRE December 7 1998 Sapa-AFP
60 WESTERN DONORS TO MEET IN MALAWI FOR CONSULTATIONS
Malawi will this week host some 60 of its donor agencies at a
two-day meeting in the administrative capital Lilongwe, World Bank
officials said Monday.
Traditionally the consultative meetings take place in Paris,
and this first exception is aimed at giving donors first-hand
experience and to "come closer to reality," bank officials said.
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa.
Noel Kulemeka, acting representative for the World Bank in
Malawi, said the meeting was set to discuss Malawi's economic
reforms.
"In return donors will make financial commitments to assist the
country with its economic programme," Kulemeka said.
About 60 bilateral and multi-lateral donor agencies are
expected to attend the meeting on Thursday and Friday.
Kulemeka said the agenda will feature among other issues,
poverty, AIDS, population, gender, food security and debt
management.
@ TRUTH-SPUS
PIETERMARITZBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
AMNESTY APPLICANT'S RETRACTION ON ANC LEADER'S MURDER
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee was
on Monday taken aback when an amnesty applicant retracted part of
his affidavit that he was involved in a plot to kill African
National Congress leader Reggae Radebe.
Life-imprisoned Inkatha Freedom Party self-protection unit
member Sibusiso Richard Mbhele told the committee at Marian Centre
in Pietermaritzburg that he did not take part in the conspiracy to
assassinate Radebe in 1992.
"I did not say that... the mistake was committed by the person
who took my statement. I have said it and I won't say it again... I
was not part of the plot," Mbhele said.
He said the people who were behind the killing of Radebe were
Ixopo traditional leader Xhawulengweni Mkhize and SPU commander
Bheki Mkhize.
However, in his sworn statement, he said the assassination was
plotted at chief Mkhize's kraal in Jolievet on the south coast
after an announcement by Radebe in the media that there would be a
peace meeting in Ixopo between the warring parties in the area.
In the disputed part of the affidavit, Mbhele said the chief
suggested he was going to shake hands at the peace meeting with
Radebe in order for the hitman to see who the target was.
"The chief said that Reggie Radebe had to be killed as IFP
officials were being killed, but none from the ANC were murdered,"
said the affidavit.
Disputing this, Mbhele said he was not in a meeting and only
learnt of the plot when his commander, Bheki Mkhize, told him that
afternoon of the assassination.
He said the commander appeared to be very happy as he broke the
news to him.
Mbhele is also applying for amnesty for the murder of three
former Transkei soldiers at Mazabekweni - Mafuthalenja Dlamini,
Antony Nzimande and Thwalofu Dlamini - and the attempted murder of
an African National Congress leader known as Mabubane in Ixopo.
He said all the acts he committed were on orders from his
superiors in the IFP to counteract ANC attacks on IFP members in
the area.
The hearing continues on Tuesday.
@ REGISTER-ANCYL
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
ANC YOUTH LEAGUE CALLS FOR CAMPAIGN TO GET YOUTH TO REGISTER
The ANC Youth League on Monday called for a concerted campaign
to encourage young voters to register for the 1999 general election
following a low turnout of young voters in recent registration
drives.
"Young people have a responsibility to vote, generations have
fought and died in defenc of this right" said the ANCYL's Oscar
van Heerden.
He said reasons for the low turnout were that students were
told to register where they were studying, but that these
institutions were closed. He said 17-year-olds turning eighteen
next year were also turned away.
The ANCYL said the IEC should target students at their learning
institutions.
There should also be programmes targeting out-of-school and
out-of-work youth.
"Music artists and young sportsmen and women must publicly call
on youth to register," Van Heerden said.
The youth league would also embark on an intensive voter
registration drive, intensifying its media campaign and mobilising
its members to encourage young people to vote.
@ NORTHWEST-EXPENDITURE
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
NWEST GOVERNMENT SPENT OVER R360 MILLION WITHOUT AUTHORISATION
An Attorney General has found that the North-West provincial
administration incurred unauthorised spending of R363,8 million in
the 1996/97 financial year, SABC television news reported on
Monday.
The department of health and social welfare topped the list
with spending of R41,8 million, with the departments of education,
sport, and arts and culture following.
The department of transport and civil aviation bought 788
vehicles which were not being used and the department of education
used more than R6,2 million which was not allocated to it.
Over R4 million was paid to a supplier whose name did not
correspond to a name on an invoice, and almost R2 million was
overpaid to a supplier.
Responding on SABC, the North-West government said the report
did not imply fraudulent or irresponsible expenditure.
Director General Joe Makgoro said: "The reference to
unauthorised expenditure does not imply that fraudulent or
fruitless expenditure occurred."
He said it should be viewed against savings of R226,4 million
in the past financial year.
Provincial Attorney General Bryant Madliwa said much had to be
done to ensure real financial control.
@ SPORT-FREEDOMFRONT
JOHANNESBURG December 7 1998 Sapa
POLITICAL STORM UNFAIR TO GIBBS: FREEDOM FRONT
The Freedom Front on Monday said the impression that Herschelle
Gibbs was selected to play against the West Indian cricket team for
political reasons had placed added pressure on the batsman.
Freedom Front spokesman Leon Louw said while cricket experts
said he was selected on merit, the perception that he was included
because the selectors did not want an all-white team did an
injustice to the player.
Louw called on sportsmen and woman in South Africa not to allow
the African National Congress government to use them for political
gain.
Louw also condemned Ali Bacher, head of the United Cricket
Board of South Africa and Silas Nkununu, head of the South African
Rugby Union, for bowing to political pressure.
@ MANDELA SPEECH AT SUMMIT OF CO-OPERATION COUNCIL ABU DHABI
Issued by: Office of the President
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA AT THE
OPENING SESSION OF THE SUMMIT OF THE
CO-OPERATION COUNCIL FOR ARABIAN GULF STATES.
Abu Dhabi, 7 December 1998
Your Royal Highness, Chair of the Gulf Co-operation Council;
Your Royal Highness, Host of this Summit;
Your Majesty;
Your Royal Highnesses;
Secretary-General of the Gulf Co-operation Council;
Secretary-General of the United Nations;
Excellencies,
It is a great honour to have been invited to address this Summit
meeting. I appreciate that this is the first time that a Head of
State from outside your community has been afforded this privilege,
and I thank you most sincerely for that. My frequent assertion that
an old man is respected for his grey hairs more than for any real
achievements, is more and more being proved right. This old man,
however, remains greatly honoured by your gracious gesture.
It brings an opportunity to say again what we cannot say too
often. If there was something unique about our freedom struggle, it
was in the fact that it enjoyed support from virtually all political
parties in all parts of the world. Therefore, the freedom of South
Africa's people was the outcome of a struggle that the members of
this Council also shared with us. Our victory was yours too; and the
people of South Africa will always remember your support with
gratitude.
It is also a great joy, as an African, to be present in a
council of leaders that for nearly two decades has promoted
co-operation for development, peace and stability in a region that
has played an indispensable part in the history, culture and economy
of Africa.
Indeed, there are historians who have asked why the map of
Africa draws the continent's boundary at the Red Sea rather that the
Gulf! I refer to this, not to advocate any revision of the maps!
Rather it is to recall how deep and ancient are the affinities on
which we can build today.
South Africa's own Islamic heritage has been a vital part of our
history. It would be appropriate on an occasion such as this, to pay
tribute to those Muslims who sacrificed in resistance to apartheid.
We think in particular of those who died in detention: Babla
Saloojee; Ahmed Timol; Imam Haroun; and Dr Hussein Hafferjee.
The represent the involvement of the Muslim community in the
fight for freedom. Today, it takes its place in the even greater
challenge of creating a just and prosperous society - as Ministers
in our Cabinet; in the highest judicial office in the land; in
business and the professions.
Now that we are free, South Africa is forging a proud new
identity in which all our diverse religions, cultures and languages
are accorded equal rights. Unlike before free South Africa accords
equal constitutional status to Islam along with other religions.
Muslim marriages are being recognised, in contrast to what was
previously the case.
The things that were once used to divide us are today a source
of unity and strength. In the same way the religious and cultural
ties that nourished solidarity in struggle, are today strengthening
partnerships for peace and prosperity with the Gulf.
In this spirit, our visit allows us to affirm our determination
to consolidate and extend across the broadest range possible, the
rapid growth of relations between our countries and regions that has
been made possible by the ending of apartheid.
The members of the GCC have emerged as strategic trade partners
of South Africa. Mutual knowledge of each other is helping to create
a climate of confidence in which our relations can develop to the
full. This can only benefit the whole Southern African development
Community as well as the GCC region.
These burgeoning relations are a part of the reconstruction of
our country; the development of our region; and the rebirth of our
continent. In a rapidly changing world, they are helping to define a
new world order in which the needs of development are more
adequately reflected.
In the modern world no country can conduct its affairs in
isolation. The problems we face are beyond the capacity of any one
nation to solve on its own. What happens in any one country impacts
on its neighbours and further afield.
We know that we do not need to stress these facts in this forum,
or before our host today, His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al
Nahyan, whose role in the creation of the United Arab Emirates, in
support of international justice and in regional and international
affairs exemplifies a practical commitment to progress through
co-operation and integration.
We are aware of the dispute regarding the three islands in the
Arabian Gulf. Though we are not well-versed in the details, we have
every confidence that the leadership of the Gulf Co-operation
Members and Iran have sufficient experience to resolve this matter
through negotiation and thereby make a critical contribution to
stability in the region. Negotiation and discussion are the greatest
weapons we have for promoting peace and development.
These facts are only too evident to a region that has lived the
history of the Middle East Peace Process. It is our earnest wish
that the spirit which at Wye River broke the long deadlock will
sustain progress towards a comprehensive and just peace. After the
revival of hope that these negotiations brought, it would be nothing
short of tragic if failure to abide by agreements, including the
release of political prisoners, again frustrated the aspirations of
the Palestinian people for justice and the yearning of the whole
regional and the world for peace in the Middle East.
What the Middle East knows, applies to the world as a whole;
that peace, stability and development are indivisible and
inseparable.
I have been privileged during the past year, also as part of
my saying farewell to those who had been invaluable partners in our
freedom struggle and now in our process of rebuilding our country,
to participate in the meetings of various regional, continental and
international associations.
What has for me personally been a journey of leave-taking, has
also been an encouraging glimpse of a future which can be created as
the nations of the world work together to achieve the ideals which
they cannot realise separately or in conflict with each other.
In particular it has confirmed the potential for developing
countries to strengthen each other through co-operation and by
building relations amongst ourselves. Thereby we also promote the
conditions for a mutually beneficial partnership with the countries
of the North.
As the new chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, South Africa is
committed to working for the realisation of these goals, so that the
imbalances between the North and the South can be addressed.
The imperatives of interdependence are stronger today than ever
before. In 1994 when South Africa achieved its freedom, the world
itself was undergoing profound change.
Then, although we encountered doubts in various parts of the
world as to our capacity to manage a modern economy, there were few
who expressed doubts about the orthodoxy of the day, namely that the
interdependence that came with globalisation and liberalisation
could only bring benefits to all. Today the picture is very
different. South Africa - like the Gulf countries - has weathered a
financial storm that has exposed the structural faults in an
international financial system, in urgent need of reform. But none
have been unscathed, and none can remain complacent as long as vast
sums of capital can sweep across the world to no social purpose,
setting back the best efforts of nations to uplift themselves.
As crises far away diminish markets and reduce prices of raw
materials and products, as they suddenly reduce the value of
investments, the consequences are felt across the world. And though
all are affected, it is the developing countries that bear a
disproportionate burden.
It is therefore vital that we seek, as developing countries,
continously to co-operate when addressing issues in multilateral and
international institutions such as the World Trade Organisation;
Unctad; the ILO; the UNDP and the Bretton Woods Institutions. Only
then can we ensure that the needs of the developing countries are
addressed in the evolution of these institutions and the systems
that they regulate.
The United Nations itself could play a critical role in
promoting these objectives. That potential, however, will only be
fully realised to the extent that the decision-making process of the
United Nations come fully to reflect democratic principles.
The Non-Aligned Movement has also proved itself as a vehicle for
the convergence of the South on the major global, economic,
political and strategic issues of the day. South Africa looks
forward to working with all the members of this Gulf Co-Operation
Council to strength NAM in order to promote the interests of
developing countries. The high level participation of GCC members at
the recent Non-Aligned Movement in Durban bore witness to your
commitment to the organisation, and was much appreciated.
The impact of co-operation at the multilateral level with depend
also on our success in building concrete relationships between
ourselves as countries and regions. As Africa renews old links under
new conditions, South and Southern Africa are looking to realise the
potential for co-operation with those who share the Indian Ocean, as
a vital component of economic growth.
We firmly believe that a detailed, sustained and determined
effort to strengthen economic, scientific, sporting and other
relations amongst ourselves will bring benefits to all our countries
and peoples. That is exemplified in the support that South Africa
received from the Gulf countries during the successful Sixth
International Energy Conference in Cape Town recently. It is
illustrated in the financial support for development in various SADC
countries that has come from this region. It is given concrete
reality in the joint ventures, the trade and investment, and the
interchange of technology that is boosting growth and enhancing the
productive capacity of our countries and regions.
Your Excellencies;
I have stressed the possibilities and benefits of co-operation
amongst the developing countries and regions of the world, and in
particular between the Gulf and Southern Africa, because there is no
other path to sustained development and stability for our regions
and for our world. There is no other way of meeting the challenge of
the new millennium, to reverse the widening gap between the rich and
poor parts of the world.
At the end of a century, which has seen so much suffering
brought conflict, can we afford to do otherwise!
As my public life draws to a close, I am filled with hope,
having seen how far we have come in understanding that peace and
co-operation are the most powerful weapons in meeting this
challenge.
I would like, in conclusion, to take this opportunity to express
the hope, that the co-ordinated efforts of your countries will help
bring lasting peace and stability to a region of such strategic
importance to the world.
It will be as the world approaches that peace and stability on
which the prosperity of all can be built, that I and others across
the world who gave our lives to a struggle for a better world for
all, would be able to retire with contentment and personal peace.
I thank you
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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
WEDNESDAY 9 DECEMBER 1998
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
publication or broadcast.
To unsubscribe from the ANC Daily News Briefing mailing list send a
message to 'list...@wn.apc.org'. In the body of your message put
'unsubscribe ancnews'.
@ EU-SAFRICA
BRUSSELS December 8 1998 Sapa-DPA
NO DEAL YET WITH SOUTH AFRICA, E.U. ADMITS
European Union foreign ministers have failed to
give their endorsement to a new free trade agreement with South
Africa but officials said Tuesday that approval could come at a
summit of the bloc's leaders in Vienna next weekend.
"There are still a number of issues pending," Austrian Foreign
Minister Wolfgang Schuessel, also current president of the E.U.
Council of Ministers, told reporters.
European Development Commissioner Joao de Deus Pinheiro and South
African Trade Minister Alec Erwin agreed on a provisional trade
package last week which officials say goes some way to meet both
sides' demands for better access to each other's markets.
Hoping to inject a sense of urgency into the three-year-old talks,
Pinheiro told E.U. foreign ministers on Monday night that it was
important to conclude the negotiations before the end of the year.
"The message is that we now have a window of opportunity to do the
deal," a commission negotiator said. "A possibility of getting a
better agreement by prolonging the discussions is difficult."
The commission fears that South Africa may start losing interest
in the agreement once its top policymakers become involved in
legislative elections planned for next year.
There is also concern that any decision to extend the negotiations
will raise hopes in Pretoria that the E.U. may end up making new
concessions.
Negotiators say that a number of market access problems have now
been solved, with the E.U. agreeing to liberalise imports of 95
percent of all South African goods over a ten-year period.
In exchange, the E.U. is committed to breaking down import
barriers for 86 percent of European exports. The E.U., however, is
unhappy with tariff concessions made on its exports of textiles and
auto parts to South Africa.
There are still problems over South African reluctance to phase
out use of the term "port" and "sherry" for the fortified wines sold
on the domestic market and in the neighbouring countries.
The E.U. wants the South Africans to stop utilisation of the term
over a 13-year period.
"Clearly there is dissatisfaction on both sides," the commission
negotiator said. "But this is the time to do a deal."
In June, E.U. leaders promised South African President Nelson
Mandela that the agreement would be finalised before the end of
autumn.
Officials in Brussels say this means that negotiations could
continue until December 21, the official start of winter in Europe.
@ P2:TOURISM SUMMIT SPEECH BY MIN. PALLO JORDAN
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
No where has this been better exemplified than through the
National Business Initiative. I trust that I speak for everyone
present in conveying our thanks to the Business Initiative for their
vision and commitment. We thank all the individual companies (both
workers and management) who have committed contributions to the
Business Initiative. The advent of the Initiative has played an
important catalytic role in galvanising the areas of funding and
partnerships within our own sector.
Following the Presidential Job Summit I am heartened by the
progress made in consolidating partnership mechanisms in tourism. By
agreeing to co-fund and co-manage the marketing of our country,
drawing on international best practice, we are now in a position to
lay the groundwork necessary to compete internationally.
The partnership arrangements coupled with a not insignificant
budget for international generic marketing, of at least R140
million, for the forthcoming financial year augur well for the
future. Bearing in mind that we have spent less on marketing South
Africa internationally than Bangladesh, we now have the resources to
compete effectively for increased arrivals and hence assist in
creating more jobs.
Today is about marking the consolidation and partnerships that
have been forged and that provide the framework for success.
We are blessed by a wealth of diversity. But if we are not able
to harness, and synergise this richness we will not attain the
growth that is there for the taking. We need to work together, in
this regard the analogy I like to employ is borrowed from the
experience of an old uncle who was raised in the Transkei. According
to him, the manner in which one spans a team of oxen is determined
by assessing and learning the strengths and weaknesses of the
individual members of your team of oxen. Since each ox has different
attributes, it is important to organise the team so that as they
pull together your arrangement harmonises their individual
attributes and thus maximises their collective strength.
I think there is a lesson to be learnt by all of us from that
analogy.
>From some quarters we have heard criticisms suggesting that we
don't have a vision for tourism. Where is your strategy, they often
ask? I want to pick up this point because I deem it to be of the
utmost importance as it goes to the very heart of understanding of
what tourism is.
We do have vision as set out in the White Paper. That vision was
further elaborated in "Tourism in Gear" the implementation plan.
That offers some ideas as to how this vision is to be achieved. This
is where we as government see a crucial role for the collaborative
strategy process, which will be amplified during the course of
today's programme.
Neither the government nor any other single interest group has
the power to impose or direct the actions within the industry
towards the strategic outcome it desires because the power to
determine the outcome is almost as widely dispersed as the industry
itself. The implementation of the strategy will therefore not be the
result of any single players, or even alliance of players, directing
actions t happen. Our strategy development process envisages the
creation of a centre of influence which will lead the diversified
industry into the future, rather than attempt to force outcomes onto
players within the industry.
With regard to tourism, it is important that we recognise that
there is not single strategic position for the sector. There are
potentially many "sound" strategic positions, and there are many
that can be assumed at the same time by different parts of the
industry (some can align to high end adventure tourism; others to
low-end beach holidays). The collaborative strategy process seeks to
harmonise the range of choices which individual firms make, thus
creating coherence at a national level.
Like our proverbial team of oxen, it is in the pulling together
that the different players will be harmonised.
THe Industry is complex and highly diversified: there are
literally thousands of actors and firms taking individual decisions
which together add up to create the enacted (rather than
written-on-paper, alignment in the industry between the many actors
so that the strategy enacted by the many harmonises with the
espoused national vision.
The tourism strategy developed at a national level does not
necessarily percolate down, on its own accord, to inform local or
firm level decision making. These firms will pursue their own
interests, irrespective of agreements brokered at national level
between their representatives and those of interest groups. The
process aims at evolving a strategy that seeks to harness and
harmonise the creative impulses of disparate actors.
Mr Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A crucial element of the coming of age of tourism is the role
that government plays. The national department has finally been
consolidated with appointment of the new Director-General in Prof
Patrick Fitzgerald. His leadership together with Dr Tanya Abrahamse,
Deputy Director-General, and the Chief Director, Dr Mike Fabricius,
means that we as a national department, together with my Ministry,
are able to play a more cohesive role in forging our new tourism
growth path, together with our social partners. One of the key areas
we intend to focus on next year is in honing our understanding of
the tourism pipeline. In doing so we need to understand what the
drivers of the competitiveness are in the various businesses along
the value chain. Only by so doing will we as government be in a
position to create an environment that enhances competitiveness thus
resulting in more tourism, whilst ensuring equity, sustainability
and a widening of access to previously excluded areas.
It is not my place to steal the thunder of the exciting
developments that we are here to unveil, celebrate and discuss. We
are fortunate to have with us Mr Spicer from the Business Trust, who
will share with us some of the thinking behind the initiative and
what they hope to achieve in choosing us. Thereafter the Deputy
Minister together with David Wigley, Chairman of the Tourism
Business Council, will jointly explain the private public
partnership. After tea we will witness the launching of the new
SATOUR as well as our new logo. The latest developments in tourism
training will also be outlined followed by a panel discussion on
finance and investment in which we will be brought up to date with
the state of play in three key Spatial Development initiatives. We
are honoured in having the Deputy Minister of Trade & Industry on
this programme. We will conclude the day with the announcement of
the Tourism Cluster Initiative with input from organised labour and
communities.
In closing my remarks permit me to thank everyone involved in
tourism for the outstanding contributions made to date. We are here
to celebrate the coming of age and to take some time to consolidate
our new partnerships that will equip us to begin the new year armed
and invigorated in our quest to make South Africa the tourism envy
of the world.
Onward and upward, and let us bring them to the Sunshine!
Thank You
@ NP-NAME
CAPE TOWN December 8 1998 Sapa
NP TO CHANGE ITS NAME
The National Party is to change its name to the New National
Party.
A notice in the Government Gazette said the party intended
applying to the Chief Electoral Officer on December 28 to be
registered as the New National Party. Its abbreviation is to be
New/Nuwe NP.
Anyone objecting to the name change must do so by written
notice setting out the grounds for the objection, delivered to the
office of the Chief Electoral Officer on or before December 28.
The name change follows unofficial use by the NP and its
office-bearers for some time of the appellation "new" with its
present name.
@ RIGHTS-OMAR
JOHANNESBURG December 8 1998 Sapa
GOVT DEPTS TO REPRIORITISE BUDGETS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: OMAR
All government departments would have to reprioritise their
budgets to ensure adequate implementation of the country's plan for
protecting and promoting human rights, said Justice Minister Dullah
Omar on Tuesday.
The plan will be launched in Johannesburg on Thursday, and Omar
said the government was committed to individual liberties.
"What we are trying to do is to protect citizens from abuse by
an overbearing state. This is not a question of just preparing
statements, or pie in the sky, but of serious commitment, and all
departments must adjust in this regard."
He said as the nation celebrated International Human Rights Day
on Thursday, South Africans should take pride in the fact that
theirs was one of few countries in the world where social and
economic rights were entrenched in the Constitution alongside civil
and political rights.
"It is the duty of the state to make sure that these rights are
observed... in this regard good relationships between the state and
civil society are important.
"Civil society and non-governmental organisations should act as
watchdogs in the provision of such rights," Omar said.
The National Action Plan will be presented to a United Nations
representative by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday. It
comes in response to calls by the 1993 Vienna World Conference on
Human Rights, which requested states to draw up plans they intended
to follow in the protection and promotion of human rights.
It is aimed at overcoming the legacy of apartheid, providing
the government and civil society with a tool for monitoring
observance of human rights, and upgrading the country's rights to
meet international standards.
It places emphasis on the rights of women, children,
HIV-infected people, immigrants, and the previously marginalised.
Thursday's launch will include a human rights carnival in the
streets of Johannesburg from the Afrika Kulture Centre in Goch
Street to the Fort in Hillbrow.
@ COMOROS-OAU
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia December 8 1998 Sapa-AP
OAU CALLS FOR INTERVENTION IN COMOROS
The Organization of African Unity is urging its eastern and
southern member states to try and restore peace in the Indian Ocean
nation of Comoros.
The call came Monday after a meeting of the Central Organ of
the OAU Mechanism of Conflict Prevention and Resolution, the OAU
said in a statement.
It said the central organ called on the countries in the region
to "respond positively, as a matter of urgency, to the request of
the government of the Comoros to assist in the restoration of
normalcy, peace, security and stability in Anjouan."
The statement made no specific recommendations.
Fighting between rival groups in the separatist island erupted
Saturday and continued Monday. Some sources said between 30 and 40
people had been killed. It is unclear what triggered the fighting.
The OAU statement urged the factions in Anjouan to immediately
end the fighting and "commit themselves to a peaceful solution of
the crisis."
The separatists last year snubbed OAU representatives, saying
the island has no intention of being part of the federal
government.
The OAU supports a united Comoros.
The crisis broke out when Anjouan declared independence from
the republic Aug. 3, 1997 and the government on Grand Comore sent
troops to the breakaway island a month later in an abortive attempt
to put down the secession.
The OAU, based in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, set Dec.
10 as the date for a national conference to reconcile separatists
and the government in the archipelago.
In November, 1997 the separatists prevented an OAU team of
military observers from landing on the island.
@ HEALTH-DP
JOHANNESBURG 8 Dec Sapa
40% INCREASE IN MORTALITY RATE AT NATALSPRUIT HOSPITAL: DP
The mortality rate at the East Rand's Natalspruit Hospital had
increased significantly since 1995, the Democratic Party said on
Tuesday.
According to statistics released on Monday by Gauteng health
MEC Mondli Gungubele, patient deaths increased from 991 in 1995 to
1415 in 1997, DP Gauteng Health spokesman Jack Bloom said in a
statement.
"This is only partly accounted for by the overall increase on
patients from 35000 to 41600 during this period," Bloom said.
The percentage of patients dying rose from 2,4 percent to 3,4
percent, which meant a 40 percent increase, he said. Paediatric
deaths increased by 20 percent, Bloom said.
"Staff deficiencies are partly to blame, with seven specialist
posts needed in the major disciplines, and vacancies for a medical
superintendent, five professional nurses, therapists and six
administrative staff."
Whereas expenditure last year was R135 million, the budget for
this year was only R121 million, he said.
"My view is that management at this hospital has slipped badly
over the years, suffering blows such as the suspension of the
superintendent on fraud charges. There are currently eight staff
members under investigation on theft charges."
The mortality figures proved that conditions were deteriorating
badly, despite promises of improved health care, he said.
Natalspruit Hospital's acting superintendent Dr G Mazizi could
not be reached for comment.
Gauteng government health spokesman Popo Maja said Bloom had
gotten his sums wrong.
"He indicates that the percentage of patient deaths `has risen
from 2,4 percent to 3,4 percent, which is a 40 percent increase',
when the increase is in fact from 2,83 percent to 3,4 percent, a 20
percent increase."
Maja said the 20 percent mortality increase was in line with
trends expected from the Aids epidemic.
"Mr Bloom has once again resorted to wild allegations without
understanding the facts," Maja said.
He said the hospital had specialists in six of the seven major
disciplines - internal medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and
gynaecology, surgery, orthopaedics and radiology.
"The post in anaesthetics is in the process of being filled,"
he said.
@ COURT-BOESAK
CAPE TOWN December 8 1998 Sapa
DEFENCE TO APPLY FOR BOESAK'S DISCHARGE ON MONDAY
The defence in Allan Boesak's fraud and theft trial in the Cape
High Court is to apply for his discharge on Monday.
This was indicated to the court on Tuesday, after Judge John
Foxcroft rejected a State application for the testimony of singer
Paul Simon to be heard on commission in the United States.
Simon would have been the State's last witness, and without him
prosecutor JC Gerber closed the State's case.
Boesak has pleaded not guilty to theft and fraud from the
defunct Foundation for Peace and Justice (of which he was the
director) totalling R9 million. Of this he is alleged to have taken
R1,1 million for himself.
Boesak's senior counsel Mike Maritz did not attend Tuesday's
proceedings, and a defence application for a postponement to Monday
was presented to the court by his assistant Jaap Cilliers.
Cilliers said the defence needed time to analyse the State
evidence in preparation for Monday's application for Boesak's
discharge.
Rejecting the State application for Simon's testimony to be
heard on commission in the US, Foxcroft said the Criminal
Procedures Act allowed for only one person to be appointed
commissioner on his own.
This permitted the appointment of the judge himself as
commissioner, if the court comprised the judge alone.
However, because the Boesak court comprised a judge and two
assessors, all three would have to be appointed commissioners,
which was not envisaged by the Act.
The judge said the movement of a criminal court from one
country to another was a matter having international ramifactions,
which would have to be handled at that level.
The judge said the court did not know what Simon would say even
if the court did travel to the US.
The application came towards the end of a long trial, and there
was no indication whether Simon's evidence would be heard next week
or in several months.
The judge said the application was not substantiated on legal
or factual grounds, and had to be refused.
@ MPSHE-OMAR
JOHANNESBURG December 8 1998 Sapa
GOVT WILL NOT TAKE AGAINST MPSHE UNTIL AFTER HEARINGS: OMAR
The government would not take any action against
KwaZulu-Natal's new Director of Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe
until the disciplinary hearings into his conduct as an attorney
were completed, Justice Minister Dullah Omar said on Tuesday.
In an interview with Sapa Omar said his department was not
going to interfere with the hearings and was keenly awaiting its
findings.
"As far as we know there has been no act of dishonesty and
nothing to suggest that he was not fit for the office of Director.
We do not want to pre-judge him, so we will wait for the final
results before deciding on what action to take."
Omar said he had discussed the issue with the National Director
of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka. Both of them were awaiting
the outcome of the case.
He denied Mpshe's appointment to succeed Tim McNally was
pre-mature, saying he was fully briefed on all aspects of the case.
Omar declined to say what the department would do in the event
of Mpshe being found guilty.
If found guilty Mpshe, who was appointed to his current post on
Tuesday last week, could be struck from the roll.
Mpshe faces seven counts of professional misconduct in a
Pretoria Bar Council disciplinary hearing.
He pleaded guilty to four of the seven counts but contested the
other three.
The counts to which he pleaded guilty ealier, relate to his
failure to appear in court on four dates in 1996 to defend a client
in a criminal case for which he had been instructed.
He told the hearing that the four dates clashed with an
appointment he had with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,
but conceded that he should have made alternative arrangements.
Mpshe however contested the charges that he failed to return an
incarcerated client's car lent to him in 1983, that he failed to
reply to these allegations as demanded by the Law Society and that
he offered the client, Abram Masilo, a R5000 bribe to withdraw the
complaints.
The charges and convictions prompted opposition parties to call
for his resignation, saying his standing, trust and authority had
been dented.
He refused to resign.
Mpshe was reported to have said that after the 1996 incidents
of failing to appear in court for a client, he wrote letters of
explanation to the Bar Council, to the magistrate concerned and to
his client. He did not believe the matter necessitated his
resignation.
@ BANANA
PRETORIA December 8 1998 Sapa
SA AND ZIMBABWE DO NOT YET KNOW WHERE BANANA IS
South African and Zimbabwean authorities had by Tuesday not yet
established the whereabouts of fugitive former Zimbabwean leader
Canaan Banana, according to Interpol in Pretoria.
Interpol spokesman Deon Niemann said all South African border
posts have been informed to be on the lookout for Banana, who was
convicted on 11 charges, including sodomy, in absentia in the
Harare High Court on November 26.
Pictures of Banana and his passport number would be circulated
to all border posts shortly, even though it was suspected he was
not travelling with his legal passport, Niemann said.
"We have no idea where he is at the moment, and Zimbabwean
authorities have also been unable to establish whether he had
returned to that country."
If Banana was found in South Africa, he would be treated like
any other illegal alien and deported to Zimbabwe as soon as
possible, Niemann said.
"There is no proof that he entered this country legally."
Banana was refused official documentation from the Department
of Foreign Affairs to visit South Africa.
Home Affairs spokesman Hennie Meyer said it could not yet be
established whether Banana had entered South Africa illegally,
although no records of his arrival existed.
Niemann said Interpol was requested by Zimbabwe on Wednesday
last week to determine wether Banana had entered the country. By
the time the investigation got underway on Thursday morning, Banana
had already met President Nelson Mandela in Pretoria.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Marco Boni said South Africa had not
received a request from Zimbabwe for Banana's extradition.
@ CULTURAL INDUSTRIES GROWTH STRATEGY
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
Mrs Brigitte Mabandla Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture Science
and Technology, said today that her Department is proud to be
launching the results of the first phase of the Cultural Industries
Growth Strategy. The official launch will take place at the Sandton
Civic Gallery on Wednesday 9 December 1998.
The global economy is changing and new system is emerging is
based on information, and a country's competitive advantage will be
based on its human capital, creativity, innovation and knowledge.
"DACST has identified this change as having significant
potential for growth and development in the South African economy.
Our lead project in this regard is the Cultural Industries Growth
Strategy (CIGS)", stated Mrs Mabandla.
"The arts and culture sector used to be regarded as a "soft"
sector, as a consumer of public funds that produced no economic
returns. The cultural industries all over the world, from India to
the United States have provided this conventional wisdom wrong",
said Mrs Mabandla. Products of the cultural industries, from the
Hollywood move to the craft object from the Philippines are
consumed by millions of people at over the globe. Every day, these
sectors employ more people than the manufacturing sector, even in
developed countries.
The cultural industries can be distinguished from other art
forms by the commercial activity that is their driving force. Those
art forms that are "not-for-profit" are important resources for the
cultural industries, and have been addressed through the
establishment of the National Arts Council (NAC).
The Cultural Industries Growth Strategy has four central
premises at its core:
* The cultural industries can and so create employment and
wealth
* These industries often produce significant returns on
investment
* The cultural industries have the potential to drive our new
economy by generating innovative and creative human capital.
* Developing these sectors requires a collaborative approach
between the public and private sectors.
The craft and related trades sector employs 1.2 million people
according to the 1996 census results. The South African music
industry is worth in excess of R900 million and employs over 12 000
people at the core of the industry. Over 20 000 people find
employment in the film and television sector. The South African film
and television industry is worth approximately R1.3 billion. The
publishing industry employs over 20 000 people and its worth,
including books, newspaper and magazines is estimated at R4 billion.
The detailed information contained in four sector reports forms
a solid foundation upon which a strategy to develop the cultural
industries in South Africa can be based. The strategy is contained
in a document called "Creative South Africa" that will be made public
on Wednesday 9 December.
"CIGS has provided us with the framework, the macroeconomic
strategy that will inform our activities and policies with regard to
the cultural industries for years to come", said Mrs Mabandla.
The industries themselves have participated in the process,
firstly as key respondents in the research process and secondly via
a series of focus groups in each sector. At each of the focus groups
the findings ad proposed strategy were discussed with the aim of
developing a collaborative way forward to develop the industry.
The strategy suggests the formulation of a Cultural Industries
Development Trust. The aim of the Trust will be to fund projects
that arise from collaborative efforts within each of the four
industries. The Trust will be set up early in the New year on behalf
of DACST.
The CIGS process has been a dynamic one. During the research and
strategy formulation process a number of projects were initiated. A
few examples are:
* DACST involvement in the Spatial Development Initiatives
(SDIs);
* Involvement in the local content process by hosting a local
content conference and ongoing participation in the Department of
Communications broadcasting policy process;
* Craft exports by participating in DT trade missions to South
Korea, Japan and the United States.
* Funding of the Centre for the Book to promote a reading
culture in South Africa.
* Participation in the establishment of the Print Industries
Cluster.
* Establishment of Business Art South Africa.
* Publication of a cultural calendar and the establishment of a
corresponding web-site.
@ LABOUR-PROSECUTORS
JOHANNESBURG December 8 1998 Sapa
PROSECUTORS DEMAND BETTER PAY DEAL
Public prosecutors should be paid as much as magistrates, the
National Union of Prosecutors of South Africa said in a statement
on Tuesday.
Prosecutors were currently earning in excess of R2250 per month
less than magistrates, who often started out with three-year law
degrees and no experience, the statement said.
Nupsa president Eduard van der Spuy said the Department of
Justice promised in May 1993 to bring the level of prosecutors'
remuneration up to that of magistrates, but this was never done.
Reacting to this, Justice Ministry spokesman Paul Setsetse said
since 1995 magistrates had not been part of the central bargaining
chamber for civil servants and were negotiating their own salaries.
He said prosecutors had only stopped being civil servants when
the national prosecuting authority came into being earlier this
year.
Justice Minister Dullah Omar was negotiating with relevant
government institutions to increase the salaries of prosecutors,
Setsetse said.
Van der Spuy said Omar had promised to announce a salary
increase at the end of November.
Prosecutors were angered and frustrated that the national
prosecuting authority, which had been in operation for months, had
failed to announce prosecutors' new salaries - something which
should have been done as soon as possible, according to the law, he
said.
Setsetse said the ministry hoped to announce a salary increase
before Christmas. This would not represent a huge percentage, but
the minister was committed to improving the prosecutors' salary
situation.
"We are not promising billions and billions.
"Whatever little we can get, I am sure we will live within that
until we can go back to those who provide the money."
Van der Spuy believed the problem of low salaries was recently
compounded by a ban on overtime, including after-hours bail
applications, effective from December 1.
"This may lead to more free time for officials who prepare
their court rolls in their family time, but it could seriously
impair the delivery of 'productive' court time as preparation will
... have to be done in office hours," said Van der Spuy.
In response to this Setsetse said that Omar had said
prosecutors should be paid a market-related salary and not make
overtime a solution to their financial or time problems.
Van der Spuy said the treatment of prosecutors was impairing
the administration of justice.
The total of 2000 prosecutors nationwide was a
disproportionately low number. Resignations led to the last-minute
switch of prosecutors in complex or sensitive cases such as child
rape, Van der Spuy said.
He said morale had dropped to "rockbottom" and prosecutors were
unable to perform at the optimum due to financial pressures and
poor working conditions.
Setsetse said all the allegations made by Nupsa against the
ministry and the department were unfounded and made by a minority
to cause unnecessary panic in the prosecutorial service.
"Prosecutors are happy, and excited by the latest developments
in the prosecutorial services," he said.
"Morale has been improving since 1994 and since the appointment
of the National Director of Public Prosecutions."
Van der Spuy said Nupsa members were finding it increasingly
difficult to show loyalty to a department that expected
professional conduct but did not treat them as professionals.
The Society of State Advocates accused the Justice Department
of ineptness, saying it had not budgeted for a pay rise for
prosecutors.
"Certainly this repeated unexplained shifting of the goal posts
more than justifies the inference that there is probably nothing on
the cards."
The society said low salaries resulted in resignations, a loss
of expertise and ever-increasing vacancies.
"In the Pretoria office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,
there are at present 15 vacancies out of a possible 71 posts, with
a possible four resignations to follow in the beginning of next
year," it said. "The percentage vacancies at present amounts to 20
percent."
Any national effort to combat crime and corruption was doomed
to failure if the prosecution was unable to deliver an expert
service, the society said.
"Is it too much to ask of government to have this very
sensitive matter swiftly and professionally resolved in the
interests of both a crime-ridden community and the prosecution,
whose calling is above all to prosecute criminals and bring them to
book?
@ NAIDOO LEADS BIGGEST TRADE DELEGATION TO INDIA
Issued by: Ministry for Post, Telecommunications and B/casting
Today, a 27-person strong delegation of businessmen and women
active in the information technology (IT), multi-media and
broadcasting sectors begin a high level visit to India, the world's
third largest IT power. The delegation will be led by Post,
Telecommunications and Broadcasting Minister Jay Naidoo.
During the visit, the delegation will have meetings in new
Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mubai with senior politicians,
government officials, state enterprises, the private sector and
industry associations. The trade delegation is the biggest yet from
South Africa to visit India.
The purpose of the trip is to investigate training
opportunities, software development, information services and joint
partnership.
India's software exports have jumped from US$1,1 billion to
US$1,75 billion in just one year, pushing the overall value of the
IT sector up to more than US$2 billion. "That's something to think
about, particularly when you consider that the IT sector in India
has grown in value from about US$10 million to US$2,2 billion in
about 10 years, largely because the government made fostering
software development and the domestic IT industry a top priority,"
Naidoo says. Almost every Indian state has adopted its own IT
development policy.
"We have much to learn from India, considering that IT, like
South Africa, is a developing country facing major problems in
infrastructure development and poverty. Yet India managed to create
an industry that today employs more than 160 000 people and
continues to be the world's most sough after programming skills,"
Naidoo says.
Indian software companies have concentrated mainly on
developing applications for the banking, manufacturing, insurance
and other financial services and retail/distribution sectors.
"But India in increasingly emerging as a software development
centre with more and more overseas companies setting up operating in
India either through equity holdings, joint ventures or marketing or
technical agreements," he says.
South Africa is also seeking to learn from India's experience in
growing a vibrant local film and television production industry.
"The Broadcasting White Paper which was tabled in Parliament in June
this year, clearly makes the promotion of a local content industry a
priority. We hope to learn how best to do this," he says.
While in India, Naidoo will be delivery a number of keynote
speeches to important gatherings of businessmen and women from the
IT, telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.
@ LOW YOUTH TURNOUT FOR VOTER REGISTRATION
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
The National Youth Commission wishes to record its concern on
the reported low turnout of young eligible voters for voter
registration.
The time for this country's young men and women to be fully
involved in the rebuilding of our country is now. one of the ways in
which this contribution can be actively expressed is through
exercising the hard-won right to vote. To be able to do so in our
country's crucial second democratic election in 1999 will require
taking the time and effort to register as a voter at the very next
opportunity.
The NYC therefore appeals to all young South Africans to heed
the call of the IEC and register for the 1999 elections as soon as
the chance arises again. The energy demonstrated by youth in
developing the National Youth Policy needs to be recreated in the
voter registration process to ensure that young people continue to
have a central voice in our country's development.
The NYC also calls on the IEC to use all available resources to
ensure the success of the voter registration drive in February 1999.
In particular, we are keen to see specific strategies to promote the
participation of young people and first-time voters. In this regard,
the NYC is willing so sit down with the IEC to discuss effective
ways in which this could happen.
For further information please call the NYC's Monde Mkalipi on Cell
082 575 3976.
Issued by the National Youth Commission
@ UNVEILING OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTION PLAN
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
PRESS RELEASE ON THE UNVEILING OF THE NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR THE
PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
8 DECEMBER 1998
On 10th December 1998 - International Human Rights Day - South
Africa will launch its National Action Plan for the Protection and
Promotion of Human Rights (NAP) as part of our country's
commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Universal declaration
of Human Rights.
10th December has a special historical significance for our
country. Not only does it mark International Human Rights Day, but
it was also the day on which President Mandela signed our own
Constitution into law.
There is also a special significance to the celebration of the
50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of us here in South
Africa. 50 years ago, when the rest of the world was adopting the
Universal Declaration, apartheid was being entrenched in our
country. For close to half a century our country developed in the
opposite direction to the rest of the world.
The NAP is government's response to the call made at the Vienna
World Conference in 1993 for states to draw up national action plas
idntifing steps they would take to improve the protection and
promotion of human rights.
In producing the NAP, government has also responded to the
desperate call of our people for a detailed policy and legislative
programme to realise the fundamental rights and freedoms provided
for in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
As a human rights policy document, the NAP is:
* A tool for evaluating our country's vision on human rights.
* An instrument for evaluating our performance with regard to
our international human rights obligations.
* A record of government's performance with regard to the
promotion and protection of human rights.
* A tool for setting human rights goals and priorities within
achievable time-frames.
* A tool for planning the management of resources for the
promotion and protection of human rights.
* A statement of strategies and measureable targets with regard
to the protection and promotion of human rights.
The elaboration, drafting and adoption of the NAP was based on
extensive consultation and active collaboration between government
and civil society.
On 10 December this document will be officially launched at the
Old Fort in Braamfontein from 10:00 a.m. The launch will be preceded
by a Human Rights Carnival which will start at the Afrika Kultural
Centre in Newtown and wind its way to the Old Fort.
The public is invited to participate in the activities at the
Fort. Many NGO's, government departments, foreign embassies and
other organisations will be setting up human rights stalls. There
will also be various forms of entertainment - music by artists such
as Ringo Madlingozi, Thandi Klaasen, Free Flight Dancers and others,
poetry and mural painting.
The whole family is invited to join in the festivities. Food
stalls will also be set up.
Later in the evening the NAP Coordinating Committee will co-host
with NIPILAR the presentation of the Duma Nokwe Human Rights Award.
For further inquiries contact:
Jeny Pasley
011-484 8300
0827449619
@ PUBLIC-SERVICE
PRETORIA December 8 1998 Sapa
MANDELA APPOINTS 14 PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONERS
President Nelson Mandela on Tuesday ratified the appointments
of 14 commissioners to the Public Service Commission with effect
from January 1.
Public Service and Administration Minister Zola Skweyiya said
in a statement that the current chairman, Stan Sangweni, and his
deputy, John Ernstzen, both appointed by the national assembly,
were re-elected to their posts.
The other three national assembly appointments are Edwin Gordon
Bain, Mamodupi Maria Rantho and Jeremiah Sikhulumi Vilakazi.
The provincial representatives are:
- James David Squire Mahlangu (North West),
- David Walter Marsh (Mpumalanga),
- Nathaniel Mashilo Masemola (Northern Province),
- Vusimuzi Goodman Moses Mavuso (Gauteng),
- Rosemary Elfreda Modise (Northern Cape),
- France Kasinyane Morule (Free State),
- Mzwandile Msoki (Eastern Cape),
- Bernard Quintin Frederick Wentzel (Western Cape), and
- Henry Gabriel Dlokwakhe Zondi (KwaZulu-Natal).
"In accordance with the Public Service Commission Act, 1997,
the national assembly approved the appointment of five
commissioners, and each premier nominated one commissioner from
each province, prior to the presidential approval," Skweyiya said.
The new commissioners were ready to resume their duties, he
said.
@ LESOTHO-IPA
MASERU December 8 1998 Sapa
LESOTHO'S 24-MEMBER ELECTION MONITORING BODY TO BE SWORN IN
Members of Lesotho's Independent Political Authority - charged
with the responsibility of preparing for the country's fresh
elections within 18 months - will be sworn in on Wednesday.
The swearing-in ceremony for the 24-member body will take place
at the High Court in Maseru at 10am.
It was delayed by the death of the leader of the Basotholand
National Party, Retselisitsoe Sekhonyana, who was buried over the
weekend.
South African Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi is
expected to travel to Maseru on Thursday morning to chair the
inaugural meeting of the IPA.
Mufamadi, who has been leading a Southern African Development
Community negotiations team on Lesotho, will chair the meeting
until IPA members elected a new chairman.
@ SRILANKA-SA
COLOMBO December 8 1998 Sapa-AFP
SOUTH AFRICAN MPS TOUR SRI LANKA AMID TENSION OVER TIGERS
An team of South African parliamentarians arrived in Sri Lanka
Tuesday following moves by the Colombo government to block the
island's Tamil rebels setting up an office in South Africa.
The foreign ministry here said the seven member multi-party
delegation, which is visiting at the invitation of Foreign Minister
Lakshman Kadirgamar will also have talks with President Chandrika
Kumaratunga.
The delegation is also due to visit the northern town of Jaffna
where Tamil Tiger guerrillas ran a de facto state for nearly five
years till they were driven out in December 1995.
The visit comes amid tension between the two countries over
charges that sections of the ruling African National Congress may
be supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Last month, South African Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo reassured
Kadirgamar that Pretoria would discourage any attempt by the Tigers
to set up a bureau in the country.
Nzo told his Sri Lankan counterpart in talks in Pretoria that
South Africa would discourage the activities of the rebel LTTE to
the extent allowed by its liberal constitution.
Sri Lanka said last month that it believed the LTTE ws
shifting its operations from London to South Africa because of new
anti-terrorism laws in Britain.
South African officials have expressed concern that the
movement may seek to raise funds within the country's sizable
Indian community.
The US government last year designated the LTTE as a "foreign
terrorist organisation," making it illegal for the guerrillas to
raise money there for their separatist war at home.
@ NAIDOO-INDIA
CAPE TOWN December 8 1998 Sapa
NAIDOO LEADS TRADE DELEGATION TO INDIA
Telecommunications Minister Jay Naidoo is leading a 27-person
delegation of businessmen and -women, active in the information
technology (IT), multi-media and broadcasting sectors, to India.
The purpose of the trip, which started on Tuesday, was to
investigate training opportunities, software development,
information services and joint partnerships, he said in a statement
on Tuesday.
"We have much to learn from India, considering that it, like
South Africa, is a developing country facing major problems in
infrastructure development and poverty."
South Africa would also seek to learn from India's experience
in growing a vibrant local film and television production industry.
The delegation would also meet senior politicians, government
officials, state enterprises, the private sector and industry
associations.
Naidoo is to deliver a number of keynote speeches to important
gatherings of businessmen and -women from the information
technology, telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.
India's software exports had jumped from US$1,1 billion to
US$1,75 billion in just one year, pushing the overall value of the
IT sector up to more than US$2 billion, he said.
@ SAA-NP
CAPE TOWN December 8 1998 Sapa
SAA THE FIRST VICTIM OF ILL-CONSIDERED LABOUR LEGISLATION: NP
The request by SAA that the aviation industry be excluded from
the provisions of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act could be
seen as the first of many such desperate attempts by South African
industries to try and deal with the practical and financial
implications of the new Act, the National Party said on Tuesday.
According to media reports, South African Airways stood to lose
a further R90 million a year if it complied with the working-time
requirements of the Act, NP labour spokesman Willie Fourie said in
a statement.
"SAA argues that the Employment Act is in conflict with
international legislation and guidelines which govern the aviation
industry, and that the needs of the aviation industry, with its
longer working hours, are not being taken into account by the new
Act.
"The New National Party is not at all surprised by this turn of
events," he said.
>From the outset it was clear that the African National
Congress' labour legislation would have an extremely negative
impact on the economy as a whole, and on the labour market in
particular.
The ANC government had committed an injustice to the millions
of unemployed in South Africa. Not only did the new labour
legislation pose a real threat to labour relations, but, in
particular, it destroyed job opportunities.
Instead of passing restrictive labour legislation, the
government should take steps to create wealth through which better
economic circumstances could be achieved.
"The present economic realities in South Africa should be taken
into account and special consideration should be given to the
relationship between the employer and the employee to enable
employers to survive financially," Fourie said.
@ SA COORDINATE OAU FACT-FINDING MISSION TO COMOROS
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
Consistent with the mandate it received as coordinator of the
regional contact group on the Comoros, at the OAU Summit in Burkina
Faso in June this year, South Africa will coordinate a fact-finding
mission to the Comoros from 9-11 December 1998. The OAU mission will
include one representative each from the governments of South
Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania.
Following the clashes by secessionists on the island of Anjouan,
which lead to several deaths over the weekend, the mission will
visit Grande Comoros under the auspices of the OAU's Mechanism for
Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution and make
recommendations for consideration by the OAU Summit meeting of the
OAU Central Organ in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 17 December 1998.
Since the islands of Anjouan and Moheli declared unilateral
independence from the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros in
August last year, the OAU has consistently urged all parties to
resolve their dispute peacefully and it has also reaffirmed the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Comoran archipelago.
The OAU has had a small military observer mission on the islands of
Grande Comoros and Moheli for the past year.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
8 DECEMBER 1998
@ CONGO-ANGOLA
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo December 8 1998 Sapa-AP
ANGOLAN SOLDIERS, REBELS SAID TO BE FIGHTING IN REPUBLIC OF
CONGO
Angolan rebel forces are fighting alongside an outlawed militia
group that is battling government forces south of Brazzaville,
Republic of Congo officials charged Tuesday.
Angolan government troops, meanwhile, have entered the fray to
help the Republic of Congo government, a military official said on
condition of anonymity.
The official said that 120 Angolan soldiers were now fighting
alongside government soldiers in the Pool region south of
Brazzaville, where the outlawed "Ninja" militia have launched a
series of attacks. Congolese officials said soldiers from the
Angolan rebel group UNITA had joined up with the Ninjas.
"We believe that elements of UNITA are fighting beside these
bandits trying to spread grief," Communications Minister and
government spokesman Francois Ibovi said.
The accusation of UNITA involvement comes as government forces
are fighting the Ninjas near the site of a failed ambush Saturday
that left 60 rebels dead, according to a senior military official
said.
The fighting was taking place in the Mindouli district, 25
kilometers (15 miles) away from the southern rebel stronghold of
Ntadi.
The military official said that the Ninja fighters, loyal to
ousted Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas, control Mindouli and the
nearby town of Missafou.
Ibovi declined to comment on whether the rebels had control of
the towns, but said they "can't hold on more than 48 hours."
Kolelas was a sometime-ally of ousted president Pascal
Lissouba.
Both fled the country after President Denis Sassou-Nguesso
defeated Lissouba in a five-month civil war last year, but the
Ninjas have resisted disarmament and are waging a campaign against
Sassou-Nguesso's government.
Since his takeover, Sassou-Nguesso has outlawed all militia
groups including his own Cobras.
Angola turned the tide in Republic of Congo's civil war, coming
in to help Sassou-Nguesso and helping him defeat Lissouba. Many
Angolan soldiers stayed in Republic of Congo after the war ended.
@ GIBSON
PORT ELIZABETH December 8 1998 Sapa
MBEKI PRESIDENCY COULD BE INTOLERANT OF OPPOSITION: DP
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki had not laid his cards on the
table nor spelt out his plans for the next five years, but there
were warning signs that his presidency would be characterised by an
intolerance of opposition and of criticism, Democratic Party acting
leader Douglas Gibson said on Tuesday night.
There were also warning signs that there would be a
concentration of too much power in his hands and those of the
African National Congress, he told a public meeting in Port
Elizabeth.
Gibson said the warning lights were flashing.
Lacking a clearly articulated plan for South Africa's future,
Mbeki seemed increasingly to be a peddler of ominous threats and
utopian visions.
"A dreamer of dreams. Opposition political parties and critics
of the government are increasingly subject to vague threats and
accusations."
They were accused of having "long outlived their purpose", of
being "obstacles to transformation" which must be "removed".
"Mr Mbeki is a master of turning questions of fact into
questions of motive," Gibson said.
"For instance, when South Africa invaded Lesotho, Mr Mbeki did
not return to South Africa to defend that action on its merits.
"Later, after his rather languid return, he disissed the
critics of the Lesotho invasion as being motivated by a `hatred for
the forces of genuine change on our continent'. "
"For Mbeki, achieving his unarticulated aims takes precedence
over a vigorous opposition and ultimately over democracy.
"Yet this is precisely the same ideological cul-de-sac that has
taken the rest of Africa down the road of corrupt one-party rule."
This dislike of opposition and desire for "unfettered power"
was further manifested in calls by the ANC for a two-thirds
majority, Gibson said.
@ EDUC-KWANATAL
DURBAN December 8 1998 Sapa
NEARLY 25 PERCENT OF SCHOOLS IN KZN UNFIT FOR TEACHING: HSRC
Almost 25 percent of schools in KwaZulu-Natal were unfit for
teaching, the Human Sciences Research Council said on Tuesday.
In a statement the HSRC said classroom shortages were severe in
many districts, with three areas needing more than 700 classrooms.
"Other alarming findings concerned the number of schools that
were without administrative furniture and the clear need for
furniture for learners and educators. More than 200,000 desks and
chairs (are) needed in the province," the statement said.
"About 75 percent of the schools in KwaZulu-Natal completely
lacked specialised facilities, such as laboratories and libraries."
Almost two thirds of the schools had no telecommunication
facilities and electricity.
An HSRC study found that a third of the schools were without
water and about 10 percent had no toilets. More than half the
schools used a pit latrine.
Text books and stationery were also lacking and were only
adequate in slightly more than half the schools.
The percentage of schools that were completely without media
equipment, communication material and general equipment ranged
between 78 to 89 percent, the study found.
The results of the Third International Mathematics and Science
Survey showed that KwaZulu-Natal scored below the national average
for both mathematics and science at grade eight level and slightly
above the national average at the grade seven level.
The study showed that KwaZulu-Natal had the third best mean for
mathematics and the fifth highest for science and English in the
country.
@ ECONOMY-SARB
PRETORIA December 8 1998 Sapa
SA VICTIM OF ASIAN CRISIS DESPITE SOUND FINANCIAL SYSTEM: SARB
South Africa - where macroeconomic stability is not in doubt
and the financial system is fundamentally sound - could not escape
the spillover effects of the Asian Crisis, the SA Reserve Bank said
in its latest quarterly review.
"Some of the reasons why Asia contagion affected monetary and
economic conditions in South Africa were the low domestic savings
ratio, the inability to attract sustained inflows of foreign direct
investment, the high ratio of short-term external debt to
international reserves, the paucity of international reserves and
falling commodity prices," the SARB said.
The Bank said the principal elements that transmitted the
crisis to South Africa were heavy selling of fixed-interest
securities by non-resident portfolio investors which caused an
unavoidable rise of 725 basis points from June to August in bank
lending rates. "This had the potential to limit economic activity
in the short run."
The real gross domestic product, which had been growing at a
subdued pace prior to the onset of the crisis, declined abruptly in
the third quarter when business confidence was negatively
influenced by the international finaincial turmoil and export
demand was curtailed by the recession in Asia.
Apart from the services sectors, where the telecommunications
and financial services sectors contributed to positive growth in
output, fairly steep rates of decline were recorded in the real
value added by other sectors of economic activity.
"More specifically, production in the manufacturing sector
declined sharply as domestic consumer demand for durable goods
declined and the international economy slowed down."
Mining output in the third quarter also contracted, partly
because of the weak export demand for commodities, whereas
agricultural output shrank as a result of a much smaller maize
crop, the Bank said.
The decline in the third quarter notwithstanding, year-on-year
output growth in gross domestic product during the first three
quarters of 1998 was still positive at about 1/2 percent. Largely
because of the low base established in the third quarter,
projections point growth of less than 1/2 percent for the whole of
1998.
"This growth rate is considerably lower than had been expected
generally at the beginning of 1998. It also implies a sharp decline
in the real income per capita of the South African population in
1998," the Bank said.
@ SPEECH BY MINISTER NAIDOO AT THE CONFEDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRIES
Issued by: Ministry for Post, Telecommunications and B/casting
New Delhi, 7 December, 1998
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Two villages, tens of thousands of kilometres apart, capture so
much of our history in the 20th Century.
One is in Qunu, in the beautiful rural setting of Transkei in
the Eastern Cape of South Africa; the other - Porbandar - in the
deep rural areas of Gujarat.
In both villages, the beauty underlies great poverty and
underdevelopment. Yet the social fabric of these two communities,
steeped in the richness of generations of accumulated wisdom, have
produced two of the most outstanding moral authorities of our
century.
One is Nelson Mandela, from Qunu, widely acknowledge today
across the world as a beacon of hope, compassion and greatness. The
other is Mahatma Gandhi, revered as a leader of spiritual greatness
and humility.
Both are characterised by a stubborn determination to set their
people free. Both have suffered great injustice at the hands of
colonial and racist oppressors. Both have cherished the hope of a
nation, a world freed from the shackles of victimisation, the
passion of unbridled materialism and the destructive obsession of
power hungry elites.
Both have paid heavily for the path they chose, Nelson Mandela
cloistered in a tiny prison cell for 27 years and Mahatma Gandhi
paid the ultimate sacrifice at the hands of an assassin.
Our histories are shared, our vision fused and our futures is
interconnected by forces greater than we can understand. We are two
countries, in two continents, whose history is profoundly deep.
Africa is the home to "Homo Sapiens". This week we will announce
the discovery of humankind's most distant ancestors. Remains of an
almost complete skeleton dating back three million years have been
discovered in South Africa.
We marvel at the wonders of the science, medical and
philosophical wealth of the royal court of Timbuktu in the 16th
Century. We celebrate the ancient civilisation of the Egyptian and
Nubians as we discover that the scientific genius of the pyramids
thousands of years old which shelter artistic treasures of
unsurpassed beauty. We celebrate the great wonders of the Zimbabwean
civilisation and discover the rock painting of the San and Khol of
South Africa.
Across the expanse of the Indian Ocean, we gaze in wonderment at
the achievements of early Indian civilisation. The precision,
architecture and urban planning of towns such as Mahenjo Daro and
Harappa that spanned the Great Indus River. We celebrate the
profundity of the Rig Veda and the discovery of Indic Saraswati
scripts during the reign of Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd Century BC.
A common threat that weaves through our social fabric is a deep
spirituality and value system based on compassion, honesty,
devotion, peace and the development of our communities. There was
respect of the wisdom of our elders. There was humility in our
pursuit of service. There was harmony in our relationship with
Nature.
Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi represent the spiritual
lodestar of this century. The challenge is whether we will be guided
by their vision? The critical challenge we face at the dawn of the
next 1 000 years is what legacy will we bequeath to our future
generations?
Reflecting on the past decades, we can be justly proud at the
progress humanity has made in science and technology. We have
launched Yuri Gagarin into outerspace. We have landed Neil Armstrong
on the moon. We have sent a remote mission to plant Mars and the
Pathfinder scoured its surface, and today's newspapers applaud the
construction of a multi-national space station. The world's
knowledge is available at the tip of a finger of a computer
keyboard.
We are in the throes of a revolution, a technological
revolution, a digital revolution. The World Wide Web connecting
millions of databases is driving a knowledge revolution. The
creation of information, its packaging into services and its
distribution are seen as the centre of wealth creation in the 21st
Century.
Globalisation has created a global village, without borders and
interconnected. However, the paradigm of the world economy continues
to reflect inequality. The development gap between North and South,
developed and developing countries, between the information rich and
the information poor, men and women and urban and rural is widening.
In a world where the crisis is one part no matter how remote, is
transmitted instantaneously to other parts of the world, no physical
barriers can restrict the flow of information. But can we continue
the course in which wealth creation and accumulation that deprives
the greater part of humanity no access except to a future of poverty
and underdevelopment? Can we bequeath a viable legacy to the future
when four billion people have no access to a telephone line? Can we
laud the achievements of the information revolution when unseen
forces wreak havoc on our financial markets and throw thousands of
honest entrepreneurs and millions of hardworking workers into our
crowded streets in Delhi, Jakarta, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo?
However, we need to caution against throwing the baby out with
the bathwater. There are many positive elements of our
modernisation. Our challenge is universal access. Our challenge is
to harness the power of modern science and technology to level the
playing fields, to leapfrog our nations into the 21st Century.
India today is reputably the third biggest IT power in the
world. It is the biggest exporter of programming skills in the
world. You area a leader in the field; your market is potentially
one of the biggest in the world. Yet your country, like ours, does
not reflect the sophisticated services available to consumers in the
developed North.
South Africa, emerging from three centuries of colonial neglect
and apartheid racism has sough in the past four years to extend
universal access and build a networked society.
We have introduced a three-tier separation of power with
government concentrating on developing a national policy framework,
an independent regulator responsible for licensing and controlling
the frequency spectrum and preparing the ground for fair competition
amongst a multiplicity of operators.
We have introduced private sector partnerships in the form of
Malaysia Telecom and Southwestern Bell Corporation, USA, into our
national telephone operator Telkom.
We have committed them to one of the most rigorous rollouts in
the world. Over the next five years, every village, school, clinic,
community centre, post office and police station will be connected
to a digital, fibre optic, highspeed, broadband backbone in the
country. Three million new digital lines have to be built and
infrastructure spending reaching R50 Billion over this period.
This spending has already had a multiplier effect across the
economy with the information industry growth in revenues and new
listings on the Stock Exchange higher than any other sector of the
economy.
To deal with the growth of the cellular industry with 2,5
million users between two operators, Government has announced its
intention to license two further operators. Our goal is to lower the
costs of entry, the costs of service and improve the quality of
service while compelling the establishment of a modern communication
infrastructure.
In recognising the convergence of voice, data and video on the
networks, Government has moved rapidly to liberalise the
broadcasting market. Our goal is to consolidate the freedom of the
airwaves and to move from the notion of state broadcasting to public
broadcasting, and introducing private sector investment. We believe
this is crucial to deal with the overwhelming flood of foreign
programming that is driving the world towards a unilingual and
unicultural future that will threaten the very survival of the rich
multicultural diversity of our country and our world.
As countries of the South, we sit on a goldmine of our cultural
diversity that can be developed and exported to the world. Today,
India and South Africa function as the economic hubs of our
respective regions. In Africa, we face the great challenge of
building a modern communications infrastructure.
Earlier this year, I convened a meeting of African ministers of
telecommunications, and we agreed on a framework to build the
communications infrastructure across the continent. Already, the Pan
African Telecommunications Union - with 44 member countries - has
adopted The African Connection as we call this plan, as its focus of
activities for the next five years.
We have identified five pillars in this framework:
* Creating rules that are transparent, consistent and independent of
political or commercial interference;
* Establishing a financing mechanism that builds private/public
sector partnerships and develops regional markets and regional
projects;
* Developing a human resource framework that emphasises IT skills
and creates a network of learning institutions operating with a
common accreditation system;
* Identifying key priority projects such as infrastructure,
investment, tele-medicine, distance education and
tele-agriculture; and
* Building the communications platform to launch Africa into the
21st Century.
South Africa is the gateway into Africa as much as India is the
gateway into the Indian sub-continent. We can gain tremendously from
a mutual co-operation and partnership.
We are natural strategic allied united by a common struggle
against injustice and oppression. The powerful emotional and
spiritual bonds of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi unite us. A
shared history, culture and leadership in the Non-Aligned Movement
bind us.
Our private entrepreneurs, our religious organisations, our
civil society organisations need to be unified in the search for an
enlightened path towards social progress and economic development.
Importantly we need to balance the spiritual needs of our people
with the material aspirations. There is a sense of urgency to deal
with the poverty and abuse our people face in their daily lives.
We need pioneers that are able to move beyond their traditional
confines of their vision and to grasp the mantle of leadership to
make the world a better place for all its citizens.
It is my fervent hope that our compass moves from the scenic
beauty of the Cape Point to the splendor of snow-capped Himalayas,
from the steamy shores of Durban to the beautiful beaches in the Bay
of Bengal, we shall see the partnership of the African Lion and the
Indian Tiger. This sacred bond can offer the masses of humanity a
better future to look forward to.
And as we step past the dawn into the new Millennium, I can
think of no more fitting tribute to two great patriots of our
countries and of humanity Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
I thank you.
@ COMORES-SA
CAPE TOWN December 8 1998 Sapa
SA TO CO-ORDINATE OAU FACT-FINDING MISSION TO COMOROS
South Africa would co-ordinate an Organisation for African
Unity fact-finding mission to the Comores from December 9 to 11,
the Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.
This was consistent with the mandate it received as coordinator
of the regional contact group on the Comores at the OAU Summit in
Burkina Faso in June this year, the department said in a statement.
The OAU mission would include one representative each from the
governments of South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Kenya and Tanzania.
Following the clashes by secessionists on the island of
Anjouan, which led to several deaths over the weekend, the mission
would visit Grande Comoros under the auspices of the OAU's
Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution.
It would then make recommendations for consideration at the
summit meeting of the organisation's central organ in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso on December 17.
"Since the islands of Anjouan and Moheli declared unilateral
independence from the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros in
August last year, the OAU has consistently urged all parties to
resolve their dispute peacefully and it has also reaffirmed the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Comoran archipelago."
The OAU had a small military observer mission on the islands of
Grande Comoros and Moheli for the past year, the statement added.
@ ENVIRON-AGULHAS
CAPE TOWN December 8 1998 Sapa-AP
CAPE AGULHAS TO BE A NATIONAL PARK
For years it has been Africa's most unusual address and the
holiday home of a bricklayer.
Now barren and windswept Cape Agulhas, the African continent's
southernmost tip, will be converted into a national park, South
African National Parks said on Tuesday.
Cape Agulhas, marked by a solitary lighthouse and scattered
cottages, has long been a tourist trap, attracting 80,000 visitors
a year to a point where the next land south is in Antarctica.
For decades tourists assumed the lighthouse marked the spot,
but in 1986, when officials decided to erect a beacon, surveyors
discovered the southernmost tip in fact lay in the grounds of a
neighboring bricklayer's cottage.
Now Koos Malan, who used the site for holidays, has abandoned
plans to erect a restaurant and curio shop and sold the property
for 1.8 million rand (dlrs 300,000) to the parks authority, which
will conserve the land.
Plans are also afoot to lease the area surrounding the
lighthouse to create a 2,000 hectare (4,940-acre) national park by
March 1. Eventually up to 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres) of nearby
land could be purchased in the area, which is home to rare plant
and bird life.
One of the first acts of the new park will be to bulldoze the
grey brick cottage, but its former owner is unlikely to protest.
"They can do whatever they like with it and I wish them
luck," Malan told the Cape Times newspaper "I still don't like
the place and I've never liked the house. The only thing right
about that place was the address."
@ ZAMBIA-POLITICS
LUSAKA, Dec 8, Sapa-AFP
TREASON TRIAL POLITICIAN EXPELLED FROM ZAMBIA'S RULING PARTY
A senior Zambian politician charged with treason, Princess
Nakatindi Wina, has been expelled from the ruling Movement for
Multiparty Democracy (MMD), the party announced Tuesday.
MMD publicity chief Vernon Mwaanga said the decision to expel
Wina was taken at a meeting of the party's national executive
committee.
He gave no further details.
Wina, a member of parliament for a Lusaka constituency and a
former minister in President Frederick Chiluba's cabinet, was head
of women's affairs in the MMD.
She was arrested in February and charged with involvement in a
coup attempt in October last year.
Wina is one of two politicians facing treason charges along
with 77 soldiers.
Her lawyers last week applied for bail, arguing that the state
was simply punishing her and Zambia Democratic Congress leader Dean
Mungomba, since no witnesses had so far linked them to the coup
bid.
Judgement on the bail application is expected later this week.
@ ANGOLA-UNITA
LUANDA December 8 1998 Sapa-AFP
SEVERAL INJURED IN CENTRAL ANGOLA FIGHTING
Clashes in central Angola have left several civilians and
government troops injured, national radio reported Tuesday.
The clashes against fighters of the National Union for the
Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) took place at Chipeta,
Catabola and Calusinga in the central province of Bie.
While the army refused to comment on the fighting, the private
press in Luanda reported that UNITA had captured Calusinga after a
series of battles.
UNITA Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba, also known as Gato, said
Monday that residents in Bie were resisting a government offensive
there.
A month ago the government announced it would mount an
offensive in central Angola.
@ MPUMALANGA-TAXIS
NELSPRUIT December 8 1998 Sapa
CLAMPDOWN STARTS ON MPUMALANGA TAXI ASSOCIATIONS
Mpumalanga authorities on Tuesday morning started a massive
clampdown on taxi operators in Nelspruit, aiming to curb a feud
between two rival associations.
Tensions were high on Tuesday afternoon following the apparent
refusal of one association to accept an agreement reached between
its leadership and authorities.
Nelspruit's head of protection services, Johan Putter, said
Federated Local and Long Distance Taxi Association (Felldta)
drivers refused an agreement to share the rank with rival SA Long
Distance Taxi Association (Saldta).
The refusal came after Nelspruit's main rank in Andrews Street
was reopened under the watchful eye of police, traffic officials
and a private security company on Tuesday morning.
The two organisations agreed to have an equal share of the rank
following 11 months of fighting in which at least 30 people were
killed.
Said Putter: "Yesterday afternoon (Mon), the Felldta executive
agreed on the regulations set down, but it seems their guys on the
ground don't want to accept the decision."
While Saldta continued loading passengers at the rank, Felldta
drivers stopped in Anderson Street. Officials recently closed the
Anderson rank because of poor sanitation and security reasons,
Putter said.
"We told them if they did not leave, we would impound their
vehicles," he said. After talks, Felldta left and didn't go back to
Andrews Street.
Nelpruit police crime prevention chief Director Mandla Mahlangu
told Sapa it was unknown if Felldta would return to the rank.
"We are not sure what they are planning and this poses a threat
to security," Mahlangu said.
Tuesday's clampdown also included issuing of permits for taxis
to use the rank and stickers to operate on routes including one
between Nelspruit and Bushbuckridge in Northern Province.
@ CRIME-TV
CAPE TOWN December 8 1998 Sapa
CAPE TOWN'S ANTI-CRIME SEEING-EYE SYSTEM A FIRST IN TECHNOLOGY
The most advanced closed-circuit television equipment in South
Africa will start anti-crime surveillance of roads and malls in
central Cape Town on Wednesday, the Cape Town City Council
announced on Tuesday.
The hidden cameras could film in the dark using infra-red
technology, the council said in a statement.
It would be the first time a surveillance system as modern and
as large as this would be put to work in an outdoor area in South
Africa, the council said.
The first phase of the system, which was developed by
international consultants in conjunction with Telkom technology
using 12 cameras, would be switched on at noon at Thibault Square
in the city centre.
During this period, operations would be streamlined with a view
to increasing, in phase two, the number of cameras in the central
business district to between 75 and 120. Linking and networking the
control centre with security systems in the waterfront, the
harbour, the Metro Rail service and others of private security
operators was also planned.
The third phase in the programme would be the extension of the
system to other business districts and crime hot-spots in the
municipality.
The initiative resulted from an investigation led by Business
Against Crime (BAC) in partnership with the city of Cape Town, the
police, Grey Security Services, Telkom, the Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research and Cape Town's business community, among
others.
The ceremony would be attended by Environmental Affairs and
Tourism Minister Pallo Jordan and the chief executive officer of
the South African police services, Meyer Khan.
@ DRCONGO-FIGHTING
KINSHASA, December 8 1998 Sapa-AFP
DAILY FIGHTING ON EASTERN FRONT IN DR CONGO: KABILA
Forces backing the Democratic Republic of Congo government are
engaged in daily battles against rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda
in the east of the country, President Laurent Kabila said Tuesday.
"Every day there are battles" on the eastern front, Kabila told
a press conference broadcast live over state radio.
The DRC president added: "The front is stabilized. ... The
enemy has been halted, stopped. There are no more big offensives by
the enemy, not because they don't want to (launch them), but
because we've broken them."
Kabila's forces are backed by troops from Angola, Zimbabwe,
Namibia and Chad against the Tutsi-led rebels, who are in turn
supported by Rwanda and Uganda in the four-month-old conflict.
Despite the fighting, Kabila reiterated his willingness to
negotiate with Rwanda and Uganda, voiced late last month on the
sidelines of the France-Africa summit in Paris.
However, the DRC leader also reiterated his refusal to
negotiate with the rebels: "We are being asked to negotiate with
traitors, collaborators with the enemy."
The rebels "are not political opponents. They were created by
the invaders," he said.
He refused to give details of where the latest fighting has
been taking place.
Speaking of "lost ground" in the east, Kabila said: "We have
lost a lot in Maniema and Kivu provinces, and Orientale province,
and now a start in Equateur province."
But he added: "That does not mean the enemy controls these
provinces." He said the rebels merely controlled cities, and that
"large areas, notably in South Kivu," were not under rebel control.
"They have an opening in Equateur," but "they go from city to
city leaving huge areas unoccupied by their troops, and where
(government) troops are located."
"Each side is getting ready," he said. "This period is a period
of change in the balance of forces (on the ground). It takes a lot
of time. ... We are satisfied with our preparation."
If the rebels and their allies "stay in Kindu and Kisangani,
that will mean the partition of a country," Kabila warned.
"We will go to Ouagadougou (December 17 and 18) to negotiate
the departure of these gentlemen," Kabila said, referring to a
planned Great Lakes regional summit under the aegis of the
Organisation of African Unity.
"Unfortunately we Congolese are weak militarily. ... It is a
hard choice" to negotiate before the withdrawal of "enemy troops."
He added, however: "We are prepared to support a war for a long
time."
@ STATEMENT ON TENSION OVER WYE RIVER AGREEMENTS
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
In response to rising tension between Palestinians and Israelis
over the question of prisoner releases by Israel in terms of the Wye
River agreements, the Department of Foreign Affairs called on both
sides to do all possible to defuse the present crisis.
Restraint must be exercised by all concerned the Department
said, adding that acts of violence against innocent bystanders had
to be condemned.
It was pointed out that the Wye River agreement concluded in
October 1998 between Israel and Palestine had been finalized with a
view to implementation of the various Middle East Peace Process
Accords, in particular the Interim Agreement of 28 September 1995,
Annex VII of which had made specific provision for the release of
Palestinian political prisoners.
The Department reiterated the South African Government's view
that it would be tragic if failure to abide by these obligations
results in further injury or loss of innocent life and leads once
more to another deadlock in efforts to move the Middle East Peace
Process forward.
The Department accordingly called upon the Government of Israel
to meet fully its obligations in terms of the Oslo Peace Accords and
to live up to the spirit of hope which the Wye River agreement had
engendered in the Middle East Peace Process.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
8 DECEMBER 1998
@ MANDELA-LOCKERBIE
ABU DHABI December 8 1998 Sapa-IPS
AN END TO THE LOCKERBIE IMPASSE IN SIGHT: MANDELA
South African President Nelson Mandela predicted on Tuesday
that a solution may be in sight to the impasse between Libya, the
United States and Britain over the trial of two Libyan suspects in
the Lockerbie plane bombing.
Mandela addressed a press conference in Abu Dhabi, where he
spoke at the opening session of the annual summit of the Gulf
Co-operation Council.
He said he had spoken in the last few days to US President Bill
Clinton and to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and planned to
speak to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi once he returned home.
"Things are moving in a satisfactory manner," Mandela said. He
said Britain had agreed to remove the problem created by the lack
of Libyan diplomatic representation in London by permitting the
establishment of a Libyan office in Scotland, where the two
suspects will serve their sentences if they are convicted at a
trial set to take place in Holland.
Libya has expressed concern about the possible treatment of the
two suspects in a Scottish prison.
Visiting Abu Dhabi for the second time as he approaches the end
of his presidency, Mandela predicted that relations between the
United Arab Emirates and South Africa would continue to develop at
an even greater pace.
Since diplomatic ties were first established at the end of the
apartheid era, the two countries had developed good relations,
diplomatically, economically and socially, Mandela said.
"The growth in trade has been fantastic... and the markets of
both countries are now available for each other."
Mandela said South Africa's foreign relations policy was
dictated not by other countries, but by the interests of the region
and the promotion of peace and stability throughout the world.
He went on to praise the steps being taken by Nigeria's new
leader, General Abdu Salaam Abu Bakar, to return that country to
democratic rule.
"Abu Bakar has relaxed the military grip... I am confident that
he means it when he says he plans to hand over to civilian rule and
return the military to the barracks."
Africa as a whole, Mandela said, was doing very well.
"It is not realistic to expect Africa to be free of economic
problems, many of which are the legacy of colonialism," he said,
also citing the existence of other handicaps like poor education,
poverty and a lack of technology.
Mandela said despite difficulties, his African National
Congress ruling government had achieved a great deal over the past
four-and-a-half years.
"Everyone can witness the changes in South Africa. Our
government had three obectives: uniting the country, promoting
reconciliation and bringing peace. Although the ANC came into power
with no training for government, it has attained most of the
objectives."
@ FOSSIL
JOHANNESBURG December 8 1998 Sapa
THREE MILLION YEAR OLD SKELETON UNEARTHED
Almost complete fossil remains of a three million year old
hominid, heralded as the most significant anthropological discovery
since the Taung skull was unearthed in 1924, have been discovered
by a South African anthropologist.
This was revealed by Broadcasting Minister Jay Naidoo in a
speech delivered in New Delhi and sent to Sapa on Tuesday.
Naidoo's announcement broke an embargo set for Wednesday
morning by the University of the Witwatersrand.
In a press release inviting media to a function at 10am on
Wednesday to announce the discovery, anthropological luminary
Professor Phillip Tobias said the breakthrough by Dr Ron Clarke of
the Wits Palaeo-Anthropological Research Group "was of such
importance that the mind boggles".
"We are talking here about world impact news - nothing like it
of such a great age has ever been found in the world," he said.
The press release said Clarke and his research assistants,
Stephen Motsumi and Nkwane Molefe, would announce the full details
at the press conference at Wits on Wednesday.
However, Naidoo in his speech let the cat out of the bag.
"This week we will announce the discovery of humankind's most
distant ancestors. Remains of an almost complete skeleton dating
back three million years have been discovered in South Africa," he
said.
@ KWANATAL-NP
DURBAN December 8 1998 Sapa
KZN NP DEPUTY LEADER APPOINTED TO NATIONAL PARLIAMENT
The KwaZulu-Natal National Party deputy leader Sipho Mkhize was
on Tuesday appointed to replace Johan Steenkamp as the party's
representative in the national parliament.
NP spokeswoman Dienie Nel said this followed the resignation of
Steenkamp from the party on Saturday.
Mkhize joined the NP in 1993 and had been the provincial deputy
leader for two years. He was the chief organiser for the NP on the
south coast and chairman of the council for traditional leaders in
the provincial party structure.
"Mkhize is also a member of the Royal family in KwaZulu-Natal
and therefore well versed in the traditions and culture of the Zulu
people," Nel said.
She said Mkhize would begin his duty on December 18 and would
not resign from his present positions in the party.
@ EDUC-VIOLENCE
PRETORIA December 8 1998 Sapa
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT COMMEMORATES NO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN DAY
The Education Department on Tuesday commemorated the
International Day of No Violence Against Women, Education Minister
Sibusiso Bengu said.
"The department strives to promote and develop an education
environment that condemns and counteracts violence in any form," he
said in a statement in Pretoria.
He said the department would seek to inform all students about
their basic rights and how to exercise them.
"Education departments will strive to eliminate
institutionalised violence in the form of prejudicial management
practices, negative stereotyping and curriculum content that has
contributed to the abuse of women," Bengu said.
The commemoration was part of a 16-day national campaign to
combat violence against women, which ends on Thursday, he said.
@ SA-PALESTINIANS
PRETORIA December 8 1998 Sapa
SA TELLS PALESTINIANS, ISRAEL TO HONOUR WYRE RIVER AGREEMENTS
South Africa's Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday urged
Palestinians and Israelis to defuse rising tension emanating from
the Wye River agreements entered into between the two parties in
October 1998.
The department said in a statement the agreements had been
finalised with a view to implementing the various Middle East Peace
Process Accords, particularly the interim agreement of September
28, 1995.
Annex VII of the interim agreement had made specific provision
for the release of Palestinian political prisoners. The department
said there was rising tension between Palestinians and Israelis
over the question of the release of prisoners by Israel in terms of
the agreements.
"The department, accordingly, called upon the government of
Israel to meet fully its obligations in terms of the Oslo Peace
Accords and to live up to the spirit of hope which the Wye River
agreements had engendered in the Middle Peace Process," said the
department.
It said restraint must be exercised by all the parties, adding
acts of violence against bystanders had to be condemned.
It would be tragic if failure to abide by these obligations
resulted in further injury or loss of innocent life and led to
another deadlock in efforts to move the Middle East Peace Process
forward.
The department said thiswas the view of the South African
government.
@ SATRA-CONSULTANT
JOHANNESBURG December 8 1998 Sapa
SATRA CALLS FOR CONSULTANTS FOR NEW CELLULAR SERVICES
The South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority on
Tuesday opened tenders for consultants to assist with the
regulatory aspects of applications for further mobile cellular
licences.
Satra spokesperson Busi Moloele said in a statement the
consultants would also be required to advise Satra on the contents
of the Invitation to Apply, and to assist with the evaluation of
the applications for the two additional cellular services.
The consultancy would be for seven months and applicants would
need to be qualified in the following areas:
- Knowledgeable about policy and legislative and regulatory
frameworks pertaining to the licensing of telecommunications
- Able to draft terms and conditions for the two additional
mobile cellular services' licences - within international trends
- To advise on aspects of confidentiality of the applications
- To provide technical, business and legal expertise necessary
to evaluate the applications, as well as any representations made
- To advise Satra on the negotiation process to be followed
with the successful applicants so as to agree the final terms and
conditions of the licences.
The full tender document is on Satra's website at
www.satra.gov.za. The tender closing date is Monday December 21.
@ NP-KRANSKOP
CAPE TOWN December 8 1998 Sapa
NP SAYS CITIZENS ARE TIRED OF HOLLOW CRIME PLANS
The National Party on Tuesday said all law-abiding South
Africans were sick and tired of only hearing about new plans to
prevent and combat crime while there were no results.
The NP's safety and security spokesman, Piet Matthee, said even
the recent summit on farm attacks amounted to little more than a
talk-shop and a government public relations exercise.
Matthee was commenting on the murder of Kranskop farmer Friedel
Redinger, shot dead on his Dulumbi farm on Monday.
"The ANC government must now make the necessary funds and other
resources available so that the plans can be implemented
effectively," Matthee said in a statement."
@ REGISTER-IEC
PRETORIA December 8 1998 Sapa
IEC TO ANNOUNCE JANUARY REGISTRATION DATES LATER THIS WEEK
The Independent Electoral Commission on Tuesday said it would
announce the dates on which registration would take place in
January later this week after consultation with political parties.
It would consult political parties on Thursday, it said.
The commission said the number of registered voters on the
national database increased from 5,784356 million on Sunday to
6,728638 million on Tuesday.
IEC spokesman Victor Dlamini said files from more than 2000
bar-code scanners would be processed on Tuesday night and these
would add about 600,000 registered voters to the roll.
The Northern Cape had registered the highest percentage of
voters (38,8 percent) so far, he said.
Latest estimates indicated that more than 30 percent of the
electorate would have been entered on the national common voters'
roll by the end of this week.
The registered voter count by province at 3pm on Tuesday was:
Eastern Cape (741373); Free State (450445); Gauteng (1,874103
million) KwaZulu-Natal (691475); Mpumalanga (611258); Northern Cape
(205732); Northern Province (992849); North-West (595035); and
Western Cape (566368).
@ MANDELA-SAUDI
RIYADH December 8 1998 Sapa-AFP
MANDELA MEETS SAUDI KING FAHD
South African President Nelson Mandela met with Saudi Arabia's
King Fahd here Tuesday during a one-day visit to the kingdom.
The official SPA news agency said two men discussed bilateral
cooperation and a Saudi-financed mosque due to be opened shortly in
South Africa, which is home to 700,000 Moslems.
The talks were also expected to include discussions on the
"strategic partnership" launched in November during a visit by
South African Vice President Thabo Mbeki, an official told AFP.
The partnership includes cooperation in the fields of energy,
science, technology, trade, investment, industry and defence.
Mandela's last visit to the kingdom in November 1997 ended with
a letter of intent for tighter cooperation between the two
countries' oil sectors.
Diplomats say the nations have also been negotiating the sale
of of G-6 supercannons and anti-aircraft missiles to Riyadh in a
deal thought to be worth 1.5 billion dollars.
Riyadh and Pretoria established diplomatic ties in 1994. Since
then trade has grown to 450 million dollars annually.
Mandela's visit follows his participation Monday in the opening
of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) three-day annual summit in
Abu Dhabi.
During a speech at the opening session, Mandela called for
closer economic ties between southern Africa and the six GCC states
of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates.
Total two-way trade with the region amounted to 1.06 billion
dollars in 1997, centering on oil purchases by South Africa and the
exportation of South African goods and services to the Gulf, mainly
through Dubai.
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have large South African
communities whose members are employed mainly in the management,
medical, construction, engineering and information technology
sectors.
@ REGISTER-AZAPO
JOHANNESBURG Dec 6 Sapa
AZAPO ACCUSES ANC OF CANVASSING VOTES THROUGH THREATS
The Azanian People's Organisation on Tuesday accused the
African National Congress of threatening to stop paying out
pensions if the elderly did not register and vote for it in the
next election.
Azapo spokesman Kedibone Molema said this explained why most of
the people who had registered were pensioners and white people.
Molema also accused the ANC of using registration stations as
campaign offices.
"Azapo has received many reports of governing party supporters
violating IEC (Independnt Electoral Commission) rules with
impunity... displaying party flags and questioning people about
their party allegiance.
"Some volunteers have themselves been wearing party gear while
working," Molema said.
Azapo claimed the low turn-out for voter registration was
because of public disillusionment with the government.
"After being promised so much and experiencing the frustration
of having their hopes dashed, it is understandable that people
think it's not worth their while to register to vote because, in
the end, politicians are just seeking to enrich themselves and
nothing else," Molema said.
Azapo also blamed the IEC for a poor registration turn-out,
saying the commission had been "unbelievably incompetent" and
inadequately prepared.
Nevertheless, Molema said Azapo would do its best to mobilise
its members to register.
"We believe it is of the utmost importance for our people to
understand that to stay away from the elections is to entrench the
ruling party and to strengthen parties that will not address their
needs," said Molemo.
The ANC was approached for comment, but failed to return Sapa's
telephone call.
@ WORLD-STUNNING FOSSIL DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
December 7, 1998
The Media, nationally and internationally, are invited to a
MEDIA CONFERENCE to announce details of an extremely important
fossil discovery. It will be held on Wednesday, December 9 at 10am
at the Len Miller auditorium, 9th floor, Wits Medical School, 7 York
Road, Parktown.
What is considered to be the most important South African
anthropological discovery - certainly since the Taung skull in 1924 -
has been made by Dr Ron Clarke of Wits University's
Palaeo-Anthropology Research Group.
"We are talking here about world impact news - nothing like it
of such a great age has ever been found in the world," says Phillip
Tobias, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Anatomy, Wits
Medical School. "This discovery is full of 'firsts', and of such
importance that the mind boggles."
Dr Clarke, considered to be one of the most knowledgeable
palaeontologists on human-like fossils of South Africa, was
responsible in 1994 for the discovery of Little Foot, the nickname
for a set of hominid footbones that lay for decades incorrectly
labelled in a box as animals.
Dr Clarke, with his assistants Mr Stephen Motsumi and Mr Nkwane
Molefe, will be present at the launch for Media questions when Dr
Clarke will relate the sleuth-like route that his uncanny
'palaeontological nose' led him along to make this stunning
discovery.
Please note: A full account of the extraordinary series of
circumstances that led up to the discovery - and the preliminary
assessment of the significance of the find - are described by Dr
Clarke in the issue of the South African Journal of Science published
on Wednesday. It will be available at the launch.
For further information contact Peggy Jennings 716 3525.
For confirming attendance please telephone Ms Heather White on 647
2516.
@ ZIM-LAND
HARARE December 8 1998 Sapa
MUGABE LASHES OUT AT SA AND BRITISH LANDOWNERS IN ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday criticised
British and South African absentee landlords during his address to
the eighth World Council of Churches assembly in Harare.
"British lords, British companies, wealthy South African
families and companies have massive land holdings which they
possess by dint of colonial history.
"Yet we are made to appear unjust, more unjust than the
absentee landlords or multiple landholders of underutilised land,
when we demand land reform," he said, according to SABC television
news.
@ EASTCAPE-REPORT
EAST LONDON December 8 1998 Sapa
EASTCAPE AG'S REPORT REVEALS POOR FINANCIAL CONTROL
A report of the Eastern Cape auditor-general for 1995/6
financial year has revealed poor financial control and management
of assets among government departments in Bisho.
The report found the quality of financial management and
administration in many departments was not up to standard during
the year in review.
The audit identified many instances of bank reconciliations
which were not properly prepared. Cash book balances were not
always valid and there were many unknown reconciling items.
Outstanding cheques were not necessarily valid.
The report expressed concern about the incomplete accounting
records, inadequate systems and apparent lack of expertise to
handle control over liabilities and assets.
Plans were formulated to address the problem of lack of
financial management, but nothing was improved satisfactorily in
practice. However, the management of finance in Bisho has since
been centralised to the Finance Department.
Speaking in the legislature recently, finance MEC Enoch
Godongwana said centralisation of finances was meant to dea with
inefficiency in departments.
Godongwana said there was a tendency by departments to deny
they lacked the capacity to budget.
As the finance department had the necessary capacity, it
intended to extend it to other departments to improve their
financial management and control.
@ DRCONGO-ELECTIONS
KINSHASA, DRCongo December 8 1998 Sapa-AP
KABILA SAYS NO ELECTIONS IN CONGO UNTIL RWANDA, UGANDA WITHDRAW
President Laurent Kabila said Tuesday that Congo won't hold
elections until Ugandan and Rwandan soldiers withdraw from his
country, appearing to back away from pledges to hold a presidential
vote in April.
"The possibility of elections is linked to the withdrawal of
the soldiers of aggression that are occupying our territory,"
Kabila said at a press conference. "One can't have elections in a
divided country."
Kabila had earlier promised to hold the elections in April.
Last month, during a summit in Paris, the leaders of Rwanda,
Uganda, Zimbabwe and Congo made a commitment to end the war and to
sign a cease-fire agreement.
They are expected to sign it Dec. 14-15 in Lusaka, Zambia.
Congo rebels, who didn't participate in the Paris talks and
initially reacted negatively to the outcome, are talking to Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni about how they could be a part of the
cease-fire, a U.N. official said recently.
Rwandan officials have said, however, that they will keep
troops in neighboring Congo until security along its border is
guaranteed.
The rebels are trying to overthrow Kabila, who came to power in
May 1997 after toppling longtime Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
He promised reform and democracy in his renamed Democratic Republic
of Congo, but many critics say his regime's 18 months in power has
produced repressive policies and a growing intolerance of
criticism.
@ HOUSING-BOPHELONG
JOHANNESBURG December 8 1998 Sapa
GAUTENG'S BIGGEST HOUSING PROJECT COMPLETED
The biggest housing development in Gauteng was opened on
Tuesday by Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele and Gauteng
housing MEC Dan Mofokeng, SABC television news reported.
The Bophelong Focus Area project near Vanderbijlpark, south of
Johannesburg, was completed at a cost of R78,5 million and has
provided 5770 houses to residents of the area, most of whom stayed
in shacks.
Mthembi-Mahanyele said 629449 houses had been built or were
under construction nationwide since the government embarked on its
project to build a million new houses by 2000.
@ EDUC-EASTCAPE
EAST LONDON December 8 1998 Sapa
EUROPEAN UNION TO CONTRIBUTE R60 MILLION TO EAST CAPE EDUCATION
The European Union will inject R60 million into the coffers of
the budget-battered Eastern Cape education department in January,
and financial lifeboats from Transnet and South African Breweries
are not far behind.
The news was disclosed by department spokesman Phapama Mfenyana
on Tuesday after the release of the Human Sciences Research
Council's nationwide schools register of needs survey.
The initial HSRC report was released last year and based on the
state of education at 32000 schools in the nine provinces in 1996.
Mfenyana said the Eastern Cape education department, made aware
by the HSRC report of alarming shortages in textbooks and basic
learner equipment, "went all out and sought donor funding".
An education trust fund had been opened and several projects,
including repairs and renovations to schools and classrooms, were
getting off the ground through a R20 million Japanese boost.
The European Union scheme would be launched in January.
The HSRC on Tuesday described the condition of primary and
secondary education in the Eastern Cape as bleak.
Only 48,9 percent of Eatern Cape matric pupils had passed the
1996 exams, placing the province seventh in the country, while
Eastern Cape pupils scored below the Standard 5 and 6 national
average for mathematics and science.
The schools register of needs survey found "a substantial
percentage of the schools in the province were in need of repair
and a large percentage were without telecommunications,
electricity, water and modern toilet facilities".
The HSRC said many schools were without textbooks, more than 50
percent of the schools had no furniture for administrative staff,
and more than 300,000 desk and chair units were needed for learners.
"The Eastern Cape also had a high percentage of over-age
learners (three or more years older than the average for the grade)
and more than 30 percent of all learners in the secondary grades
were found to be too old for the grade they were enrolled in."
The HSRC's register of graduates, also made available on
Tuesday, said white graduates had dropped by 43,1 percent between
1985 and 1994, while black graduates had increased by 32,1 percent.
There had been an increase in human and management services
graduates and a decrease in natural sciences graduates.
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
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| Dept Information & Publicity |
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A N C D A I L Y N E W S B R I E F I N G
THURSDAY 10 DECEMBER 1998
PLEASE NOTE: This News Briefing is a compilation of items from South
African press agencies and as such does not reflect the views of the
ANC. It is for reading and information only, and strictly not for
publication or broadcast.
To unsubscribe from the ANC Daily News Briefing mailing list send a
message to 'list...@wn.apc.org'. In the body of your message put
'unsubscribe ancnews'.
@ JAPAN-SA-RICE
CANBERRA, December 9 1998 Sapa-AP
AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA ANGRY AT JAPANESE RICE TARIFF PLAM
South Africa and Australia jointly criticized Japan on
Wednesday over reports that it is planning a super tariff of up to
1,300 percent on its rice imports.
"Let me express the strongest possible concern about those
reports emanating from Japan," said Tim Fischer, Australia's Trade
Minister.
South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin, who is
in Australia for regular talks between the two countries, quickly
endorsed Fischer's remarks.
"South Africa very much shares that view," he said.
"Decisions like this do not make any sense in the world
economy at all," Erwin said.
Fischer said Australian authorities are urgently checking the
reports, which said the huge tariff would be a strategic measure to
protect Japanese rice farmers ahead of a new round of world
agricultural trade talks.
He said Australia had worked hard with other like-minded
nations to secure an 8 percent opening of the Japanese rice market.
"It means 92 percent remains closed," he said.
"Now it's not a fair cop if we keep importing without any
quotas, without any percentage restriction, every single
four-wheel-drive Japan wants to send to Australia at a 5 percent
tariff," Fischer said.
He said this is just one example of Australia's open trade
policies with Japan.
He said all tariffs are effectively taxes on the consumers of
Japan, "And those consumers deserve better."
Australian farmers joined in the general condemnation of the
reported Japanese plan, describing it as a bad omen for next year's
free trade talks planned by the World Trade Organization.
"Such a premature move by Japan would signal a lack of will by
the Japanese to engage in a serious attempt to remove international
trade barriers," said the president of Australia's National
Farmers Federation, Ian Donges.
@ INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATIONS
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
A media information desk will be in place at the Old Fort,
Braamfontein, Johannesburg on 10 December 1998 from midday until
15:00 to assist the media.
The launch of the NAP at the Old Fort will be preceded by a
carnival which starts at the Africa Cultural Centre in Newtown, this
carnival winds its way to the Old Fort.
For further information, contact: Petra Wiese on 0825658062.
Issued by the Government Communication and Information System
9 December 1998
@ MARCH-TEMBISA
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
CLASH LOOMS BETWEEN POLICE AND RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION
A clash between police and a residents' association was looming
about an illegal protest march planned for Saturday, North Rand
police said on Wednesday.
The Tembisa Residents' Association planned the march, due to
take place between 8am and 2pm, in protest against the non-delivery
of services in the township.
Police spokesman Superintendent Eugene Opperman said: "The
association has a right to march but they must respect other
people's rights as well. This is a very busy day at a very busy
time of the year."
He said the march would disrupt traffic and was a safety risk
to marchers and shoppers alike.
"The council officer responsible asked the march convener to
postpone it until another date. The convener insinuated the march
would go ahead, whether they had permission or not."
Extra policemen would be on the ground on Saturday should the
march go ahead, Opperman said.
"But we still hope the convener would decide to postpone the
march to another date."
Acting area commissioner Director Gert de Lange said if people
did not comply with the law, they had to bear the consequences of
their actions.
@ RIGHTS-PAC
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
COUNTRIES MUST REVISIT LAWS TO ENSURE HUMAN RIGHTS, SAYS PAC
Countries must revisit their laws and political systems to
ensure that they comply with the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights as they celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Pan Africanist
Congress said on Wednesday.
In a statement to mark the anniversary on Thursday, PAC deputy
president Dr Motsoko Pheko said principles laid down in the
declaration should be observed.
The principles, promoting human rights, would mean nothing if
they were not translated into action or properly interpreted.
Everyone had the right to life and security. This right needed
to be revisited in South Africa where there was a glaring lack of
respect for life, Pheko said.
"People are murdered with impunity. Their right to life is
violated everyday. There's no appropriate punishment for the
destroyers of other people's lives."
He said instead the destroyers were the first ones to remind
everyone about their right to life.
The declaration also states that everyone has the right to an
adequate standard of living and to well-being, including food,
clothing, housing and medical care.
"On the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights, Africa must seriously embark on a 10-year programme of
eradicating poverty.
"In South Africa, a state of affairs where the country has a
first world economy for the minority and a third world economy for
the majority must be ended," Pheko said.
@ COMOROS-UNREST-ANALYSIS
MORONI December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
ANJOUAN BATTLES A POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN SECESSIONIST LEADERS
Fighting on the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan stems from a
power struggle between its secessionist leaders and pits "nobles"
of Mutsamudu, the main town, against villagers from the "bush."
Anjouan unilaterally delcared its secession from the central
government of the Comoran archipelago on August 3 last year.
Principal antagonists are self-styled "president" Abdallah
Ibrahim, 72, a former Koranic teacher who fought as a soldier in
the French colonial army, and the "prime minister" he sacked in
July, Chamasse Said Omar, who is 58, and blind, the result of a
work accident while serving as a rating in the French navy.
On Tuesday, Chamasse, ensconced on the French island of
Mayotte, called for Abdallah's resignation as "president," saying
it was the only way to resolve the crisis.
The fighting between their partisans erupted Saturday and
continued through Monday, leaving at least 24 people dead and
prompting a French army medical team to prepare for a possible
intervention from the French island of Reunion.
On Tuesday, looters ransacked Mutsamudu and torched houses as
African nations discussed sending an intervention force.
Anjouan's secession was followed a week later by that of
Moheli, the third island in the Islamic federation. Moheli returned
this year to federal rule.
The secessionists accused the central government of neglecting
the two smaller islands, and awarding plum jobs to residents of
Grande Comore, the main island.
They first demanded to return to French rule, along the lines
of Mayotte, the fourth island in the archipelago which chose to
remain under French tutelage when the other islands became
independent in 1975.
A rotund, moustachioed man, Abdallah is a "noble" who made his
fortune in the family jewellery business, trading with Dubai.
Chamasse comes from Domoni, on the southeast coast over the
mountains from Mutsamudi, the region considered the most "radical."
He still wants the island to return to French rule, a popular
idea among villagers who envy the salaries there - paid on time -
and the French pensions.
Hundreds of Anjouanese have died over the years making the
perilous crossing to Mayotte in frail boats to sell prouce there,
or infiltrate as illegal immigrants.
At secession, villagers painted their faces in the French
colours - blue, white, red - and hoisted the French flag
throughout the island, along with the red-and-white flag of the
pre-colonial warrior-sultans of Anjouan.
Abdallah also originally demanded re-attachment to France, but
realised France was serious when it said it did not wish to resume
that responsibility.
He has claimed Anjouan's independence was "irreversible" but
has also said he would accept the island's autonomy in a Comoran
community.
Tensions rose after the unexpected death, attributed to a heart
attack, of federal Comoran president Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim on
November 6.
Ordinary Anjouanese have meanwhile become disillusioned, faced
with periodic economic embargoes and ever more difficult living
conditions.
The island has a population of 220,000, more than half of them
under the age of 20. Some 35,000 residents worked for the federal
government before secession. The island has virtually no industry,
and prices for export crops have plummeted.
Opponents accuse Abdallah and those close to him of
misappropriating Anjouan's meagre resources and delaying promised
"parliamentary" elections for fear of finding themselves in a
minority.
The fighting took place in Mutsamudu, with its castle, and the
adjoining working-class village of Mirontsy, nicknamed "Hebron"
because its residents vaunt their military prowess and feel they
are in the position of Palestinians facing Israelis.
It is the home village of Abdallah's current "prime minister,"
Abdou Mohamed, whose militia has joined Chamasse's.
In September last year the federal army - small and sparsely
equipped - landed on Anjouan to "restore order," but was routed by
the islanders.
The government said one soldier died, but secessionists said
they killed around 40.
The following December, a conference in Addis Ababa failed to
resolve the crisis.
Last July, Ahmed Mohamed Hazi, a former Comoran army chief of
staff, led two truckloads of armed men in a bid to overthrow
Abdallah, but was repulsed by militiamen.
Abdallah escaped an assassination attempt last month as he was
travelling from Mutsamudu to Domoni.
The Comoros have seen 17 successful and attempted coups since
independence, some of them led by notorious French mercenary Bob
Denard, who also has Comoran citizenship.
@ LESOTHO-IPA
MASERU December 9 1998 Sapa
LESOTHO INTERIM POLITICAL AUTHORITY MEMBERS SWORN IN
Lesotho's Interim Political Authority, tasked with preparing
for fresh elections within 18 months, was on Wednesday morning
sworn in before six judges of the country's High Court Maseru.
The ceremony was administered by Judge Mahapela Lehohla.
Those who attended included cabinet ministers, diplomats,
senior government officials as well as many supporters of the
various political parties, whose members were sworn in.
Lesotho government secretary and master of ceremonies Mohlabi
Tsekoa said before the start of the function that the IPA might
usher Lesotho into a fresh period for building the country anew and
for serious self-examination.
It was hoped that in its work, the IPA would heal the wounds of
the political crisis in Lesotho over time, Tsekoa said.
He said the IPA would provide an opportunity to build and
nurture new relationships as it had a "real mix" of various
political leaders.
Afterwards Foreign Minister Tom Thabane denied that the IPA
would dismantle the country's Independent Electoral Commission, as
he was earlier quoted as saying.
On the contrary, one of its main objectives would be to
re-organise and strengthen the IEC, he said.
Thabane said at its inaugural meeting on Thursday the IPA would
elect a chairman and a deputy and start working.
South African Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi, who
has been chairing the Southern African Development Community driven
multi-party talks on Lesotho, would chair this meeting until the
election of the new chairman.
@ CRIME-MASHATILE
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
MASHATILE CALLS FOR THE REINTRODUCTION OF STREET COMMITTEES
Street and block committees were to be reintroduced in Gauteng
townships to help fight crime, safety and security MEC Paul
Mashatile said on Wednesday.
Addressing journalists on the crime situation in the province,
Mashatile said his department intended to discuss the issue with
community policing forums next month.
"We want the people to assist the SA Police Service in fighting
crime as they did in the 1980s. Unlike in the eighties, these
committees will have the support of the state and the police.
"We believe this will assist in the reduction of crime as the
community will become the eyes and ears of the police."
Mashatile said crime statistics in the province from January to
June 1998 showed a dramatic increase in public awareness.
During those six months 23,6 percent more rape cases were
reported to police than in the same period in 1994.
"This is largely due to awareness campaigns implemented by the
department and various organisations dealing with rape and domestic
violence issues," Mashatile said.
"Members of the community are now reporting more cases of rape
to the police and the CPF have initiated projects aimed at ensuring
that communities feel free to report such cases."
Provincial Commissioner Sharma Maharaj said his officers were
geared up for an expected surge in criminal activities over the
festive period.
The police would maintain an increased visibility at shopping
centres, taxi ranks and places of entertainment, and set up road
blocks, he said.
Police were also taking contingency measures for flash points
like Hillbrow and the Randburg Waterfront on New Year's eve.
@ CRIME-CCTV
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
PLAN TO SET UP CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISIONS IN JOHANNESBURG CBD
The Gauteng province was looking for private sector partners to
install closed-circuit television cameras in central Johannesburg,
MEC for safety and security Paul Mashatile said on Wednesday.
The project, which would be implemented early next year, would
cost an initial R4,5 million, of which his department would
contribute R2,8 million.
The project involves the installation of surveillance cameras
at flash-points in the central business district to counter crimes
like muggings and car thefts.
A steering committee comprising representatives of the police,
the department, Metro Traffic, the Johannesburg Community Police
Forum, the Johannesburg Partnership and Business against Crime was
set up to draw up a business plan, Mashatile said.
@ MPUMA-SUSPEND
NELSPRUIT December 9 1998 Sapa
FIVE ALLEGEDLY CORRUPT MPUMA OFFICIALS SUSPENDED
Five of 39 officials in Mpumalanga's public works, roads and
transport department who are accused of fraud and corruption were
suspended on Tuesday.
The five roads division officials were accused of processing
payment for tenders issued by companies that either did not exist
or to which they were linked, African Eye News Service reported on
Wednesday.
Their suspension follows an announcement by the department's
MEC, Jackson Mthembu, on Monday that 39 officials faced suspension
as part of a clean-up campaign.
Departmental head Josais Mabilo was suspended on Friday pending
an investigation into alleged incompetence.
The officials suspended on Tuesday are chief road
superintendent Johan van der Merwe, senior provisioning
administration clerk EC Myburgh, road superintendent Gerhardus du
Plessis Froneman, senior administration clerk Sylvia Swart, and a
road worker, a Mr Masuku.
Mthembu said about R8 million had been lost to non-existent
companies, or to companies to which the five officials were
allegedly linked without the knowledge of the department. Mthembu
said the five officials were suspended pending further
investigations by the department and police.
Departmental spokesman Zwelakhe Mayaba confirmed the
suspensions, and said it was the beginning of many more to come to
ensure that accountable officials ran the department.
Of the 39 officials facing suspension, 24 are from the
department's traffic section, where some officials are accused of
selling licences to members of the public and accepting bribes.
@ FEATURE-AFRICA
PARIS December 9 1998 Sapa-IPS
AFRICA - FEELING THE EFFECTS OF CONFLICT, CLIMATE AND CRISES
Economic growth in Africa has decreased from 4.6 percent in
1997 to 4.5 percent so far this year, according to figures quoted
during a recent meeting here of the World Bank-led Special
Programme of Assistance to Africa (SPA).
The reasons for the slight decline, according to Callisto
Madavo, the World Bank's Vice-President for Africa, include the
conflicts in various parts of the continent and poor climatic
conditions. Other contributory factors, he said, are shrinking
markets as a result of the Southeast Asian crisis and the fact that
global, foreign, direct investment has remained low.
However, the situation is not the same in all of Africa's
regions, Madavo told the meeting. While Southern African
Development Community (SADC) economies have been stagnating because
of recession in South Africa and war in East/Central Africa's Great
Lakes region, West Africa continues to make progress on the
economic front.
All in all, he said, more than half of the African countries
have kept their economic growth rate at three percent or more,
which is higher than the average population growth of 2.8 percent.
According to Alan Gelb, director of management and social
policy at the World Bank's Africa section, the aim of the
assistance given to sub-Saharan Africa is to improve the quality of
life there, but the advance of Aids threatens to wipe out all the
efforts made in that direction.
Without healthy human resources, economic recovery and
development policies will be stymied, according to Gelb, who said
the impact of Aids was such that if nothing were done to stop it,
life expectancy in Africa would drop by at least 20 years.
As a result, the donors participating in the SPA have decided
to make the fight against Aids one of their priorities and they
propose to support agencies and non-governmental organisations that
are working on the ground, especially in Aids prevention.
The SPA also pledged to give special support to countries that
focus on the integration of rural women in their development
projects. In 'Gender, Growth and Poverty Reduction', a publication
co-sponsored by the World Bank and released this month, the PSA
argued that involving women more in decision-making and making sure
they have better access to services and financing would consolidate
and stimulate growth.
In many African countries, the volume of work done by women is
still much greater than that done by men, said Micah Cheserem,
governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, who also participated in the
meeting. Better gender equity, he said, would enable Africa to
achieve the sustained growth of seven to eight percent per year
that it needs to start emerging from poverty.
The World Bank's SPA for poor, highly-indebted African
countries is an informal association of donors launched in 1987.
Madavo explained that it was created to help countries that had
carried out World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)
reforms to mobilise quickly the money they need, rationalise
procedures and monitor results so as to make sure they have an
impact on poverty, among other aims.
Since its creation, the SPA has mobilised more than 15 billion
US dollars for qualifying nations. Originally it was open to
countries whose annual per capita income was 905 US dollars or
less. In 1995, however, the per capita ceiling was raised to 1465
US dollars, which increased the number of eligible countries from
21 to 31.
SPA resources are mobilised mainly in pledging meetings held
twice a year to examine the performance of recipient countries in
carrying out reforms and revising their financing needs, and to
check how far donors have gone with regard to allocating and
disbursing the contributions they pledged.
The SPA entered its fourth phase in 1997. According to Jean
Louis Sarbib, head of the World Bank's West Africa department, the
aims of this phase include reducing poverty substantially within
five to seven years. During this phase, fast-track aid is to be
earmarked for countries which carry out economic reforms targetting
poverty reduction and increasing national savings.
Participating donors have thus far pledged five billion US
dollars for the PSA's fourth phase.
According to Sarbib, it is now "up to the Africans to show that
they deserve the attention that is once again being given to their
economies, especially at a time when they are starting to recover
in many countries".
"The SPA offers them the possibility of accelerating the rate
of reforms so as to make growth lasting," he added. "Peace and
stability are key determinants in this regard."
@ COMOROS-UNREST-OAU
MORONI, Dec 9, Sapa-AFP
OAU TEAM ARRIVES IN EMBATTLED COMOROS
An Organisation of African Unity (OAU) mission arrived
Wednesday in the Comoran capital of Moroni to probe battles between
rival militias on the secessionist island of Anjouan.
The team members, who arrived from South Africa, were whisked
discreetly from the airport to the presidency, an AFP correspondent
reported.
The mission is made up of one representative each from the
governments of South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Kenya and Tanzania, and is scheduled to stay here till Friday.
Interim President Tadjidine ben Said Massounde and Prime
Minister Abbas Djoussouf have set up a crisis centre.
Fighting flared at the weekend on Anjouan, which seceded from
the federation in August last year, and pits partisans of
self-styled "president" Adallah Ibrahim and those of Chamasse Said
Omar, whom Abdallah sacked as "prime minister" last July.
Residents said between 20 and 35 were killed in the clashes.
On Tuesday, looters ransacked the main town, Mutsamudu, and
torched houses.
@ QUOTA-NP
CAPE TOWN December 9 1998 Sapa
NP SLAMS SPORT QUOTAS
The New National Party could under no circumstances support any
legislation using race as its basic premise, NP sports spokesman
Abe Williams said on Wednesday.
Williams was commenting on media reports that the government
was planning to introduce legislation early next year aimed at
enforcing racial quotas on South African sport.
"This will mean, amongst others, that 40 percent of all South
African sport teams will have to be made up of black players,
regardless of the type of sport," he said in a statement.
The NP was under the impression that South Africans now lived
in a new democratic country in which discrimination on the basis of
race, gender and ethnicity was something of the past.
"Not so. The African National Congress government is making it
increasingly clear that they wish to return to the bad old days of
apartheid by reintroducing race as a central premise of new
legislation aimed at transforming South Africa," Williams said.
"It is clear that the main focus of the ANC government's
relentless attack on sport is the traditionally European sports of
rugby and cricket.
"That the South African rugby and cricket teams are currently
rated as probably the best in the world, and the international
exposure that this brings for our country, are of no consequence to
the ANC government."
To now propose that merit and excellence should be discarded in
the selection of the national teams bordered on the absurd,
Williams said.
@ COMOROS-OAU
MORONI December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
OAU DELEGATION ARRIVES IN COMOROS WITH MILITIAMEN CONTROLLING
MUTSAMUDU
Young militiamen were in control Wednesday of Mutsamudu, the
virtually deserted and burned out main town on the embattled
Comoran island of Anjouan.
Only a few elderly women refused to flee, one of them told AFP
by telephone.
But they were staying indoors, she said, because the young men,
armed with automatic rifles, "are threatening us."
Rival militiamen were surrounding Mutsamudu, the residents
said.
An Organisation of African Unity (OAU) fact-finding team
meanwhile arrived in the Comoran capital of Moroni, on the island
of Grande Comore, to study the government's request for an
intervention force after the battles between rival militias which
erupted on secessionist Anjouan at the weekend.
A French army medical team, which was on stand-by on the
neighbouring French island of Mayotte, would fly to Anjouan later
in the day to treat the wounded and restore electricity, Comoran
hospital sources told AFP.
The fighting between militias loyal to self-styled "president"
Abdallah Ibrahim and Chamasse Said Omar, whom Abdallah sacked as
"prime minister" last July, started on Saturday and continued on
Sunday and Monday, with residents estimating the death toll at 20
to 35.
Residents said that at least 24 bodies of people killed in
Mutsmamudu had been buried since the weekend, and that others had
died in the adjoining village of Mirontsy.
Some people risked their lives fleeing to Mayotte - a six to
seven hour voyage - aboard frail fishing boats.
They included Chamasse, who arrived Sunday, and landed without
going through immigration. In his house near Mamoudzou, surrounded
by bodyguards and militiamen, the blind 58-year-old former French
sailor told journalists that Abdallah should resign to allow the
crisis to be resolved.
The whereabouts of Abdallah, a 72-year-old former Koranic
teacher and French colonial soldier, were unknown.
The OAU team members, who arrived on Grande Comore from South
Africa, were whisked discreetly from the airport to the presidency,
an AFP correspondent observed.
The mission is made up f one representative each from the
governments of South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Kenya and Tanzania, and is scheduled to stay here till Friday.
The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) for its part issued a
statement in Port Louis calling for an "immediate cessation of
hostilities on the island (Anjouan), the resumption of dialogue and
national reconcilation in the Federal Islamic Republic of the
Comoros".
The statement was issued in Port Louis by the IOC, which groups
Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros and Reunion. The body is
currently headed by France, of which Reunion is an overseas
territory.
Comoran Interim President Tadjidine ben Said Massounde and
Prime Minister Abbas Djoussouf have set up a crisis centre.
On Monday and Tuesday, looters ransacked Mutsamudu, and torched
houses.
On Anjouan, civilians deserted Mirontsy from Saturday, fleeing
to the village of Ouani, a few kilometres (miles) along the coast
beside the small airport, which has been closed since Saturday.
Normal telephone links have been cut since Monday.
Anjouan declared its secession from the central government on
Grande Comore on August 3, 1997. It was followed a week later by
Moheli, the third island in the federation. Moheli returned this
year to federal rule.
The secessionists accused the central government of neglecting
the two smaller islands and awarding plum jobs to Grande Comore
residents.
Chamasse wants the island to return to French rule along the
lines of Mayotte, which chose to remain under French tutelage when
the others became independent in 1975.
Abdallah also originally demanded re-attachment to France, but
settled for the autonomy of Anjouan in a Comoran community of
states after Paris made it clear it did not wish to resume
responsibility. The idea of becoming French again is popular in
Anjouan's villages because of Mayotte's higher standard of living.
The fighting also highlights historical antagonism between the
"nobles" of Mutsamudu and the less educated villagers.
The power struggle between the secessionist leaders intensified
after the unexpected death, attributed to a heart attack, of
federal president Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim on November 6 opened up
prospects of a resolution of the crisis.
The Comoros have seen 17 successful and attempted coups since
independence.
@ ZIM-ECONOMY
HARARE December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
CRISIS TALKS FLOP BETWEEN ZIM GOVERNMENT, UNIONS, BOSSES
Crucial talks among the Zimbabwe government and union and
business leaders ended prematurely Wednesday, without discussion of
the substantive matters on the agenda, the labour chief said
Wednesday.
"The meeting didn't go very well," Morgan Tsvangirai, secretary
general of the powerful Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU),
said of the crisis session that brought together several of
President Robert Mugabe's cabinet ministers, the workers'
representatives and business leaders.
The much-awaited talks - to consider demands expected to
address the country's economic crisis - had led to the suspension
of mass strike actions by the labour movement. Finance Minister
Herbert Murerwa, a key player, was absent.
The ZCTU said the talks had achieved little and almost led to a
stalemate. Another meeting has, however, been set for next week.
"There was no progress on the substantive issues," Tsvangirai
told AFP, adding that the government appeared to be posturing
tactically by wanting to discuss first the issue of a social
contract among labour, business and government without addressing
workforce demands.
"It was a tactic to try to avoid substantive matters," he said.
Among the labour demands are a 20 percent pay, hike for all
workers, a removal of 67 percent rise in the price of petrol and a
probe into corruption allegations, as well as an explanation of the
circumstances surrounding Zimbabwe's costly military intervention
in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The government wanted first to examine the issue of a social
contract which seeks to establish an accord among the three
parties, whereby they would share a national economic vision and
compromise on certain issues.
Some of the compromises would mean workers agreeing to restrain
wage demands, while employers would control price hikes, and
government would be required to reduce spending.
Wednesday's talks were a result of pressure exerted on the
government by the ZCTU, through mass protest actions, to find
lasting solutions to the economic problems besetting the country.
The ZCTU, which has in the past led successful mass strikes
against Mugabe's policies, has suspended three planned weekly
strikes in a bid to give the government a chance to respond to a
list of demands.
Tsvangirai accused the government of showing no political will
in the process of searching for a lasting solution to the economic
and social woes.
Zimbabwe's economy has this year been battered by punitive
interest rates of over 40 percent, a volatile currency, a soaring
inflation rate expected to reach 40 percent in the next few weeks,
severely depressed consumer demand and increased labour and social
unrest.
Business leaders are echoing similar sentiments to those of
labour and are stressing the importance of transparency in
government.
0 "We want to hear in detail how the war in the (DR) Congo is
being financed. We are worried about its budgetary implications.
It's basically transparency we are calling for," said Farai Zizhou,
chief economist of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.
0Mugabe's government has been largely blamed for all the
economic woes befalling the nation.
The next meeting has been set for next week Thursday following
the setting up of a special committee to come up with a workable
social contract.
@ COURT-NP
CAPE TOWN December 9 1998 Sapa
NP APPLICATION ON ID'S BEFORE COURT ON THURSDAY
The applicaion in which the National Party is asking for the
bar-coded ID stipulation for next year's general election to be
declared unconstitutional is to be consdidered by the Cape High
Court on Thursday morning.
The NP also wants the court to rule on the validity of
government departments allegedly interfering with the independence
of the Independent Electoral Commmission (IEC) and wants it to
instruct the Home Affairs department to deliver ID documents in its
possession to the citizens who had applied for them.
The respondents in the case are the central government, Home
Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Finance Minister Trevor
Manuel, IEC chairman Judge Johann Kriegler and Chief Electoral
Officer Mandla Mchunu.
NP legal adviser Andre Gaum said on Wednesday it was likely the
case would be postponed to allow the respondents to prepare their
arguments.
@ REGISTER-ANC
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
NP, DP COURT ACTION ON BARCODED IDS SHORTSIGHTED, SAYS ANC
The National and Democratic parties were shortsighted to launch
court challenges against the provision in the Electoral Act that
only bar-coded identity documents could be used for voter
registration and voting, the African National Cogress said on
Wednesday.
The NP on Monday launched its court application to overturn the
provision while the DP was expected to follow suit later this week.
ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe told journalists in
Johannesburg that it would be better for South Africa to have a
proper voter's roll now than to face the costs of such a process in
the future.
Asked to comment on the two opposition parties' court action,
he said: "We think it is just a red herring to try and thwart the
government's effort to establish a common voter's roll."
The ANC acknowledged it was a costly exercise to have a common
voter's roll, but they believed it would be cost-saving to engage
in the process now rather than later, Mothlanthe said.
On the issue of a low turn-out at the recent voter
registration, ANC national chairman Terror Lekota said it was the
duty of all South Africans to encourage every eligible voter to go
and register.
For those who were reportedly not interested in registering
because of complaints like being unemployed, he had this message:
"By withholding your vote you will not change things."
Motlanthe also announced decisions of the party's national
executive committee meeting in Midrand on Monday and Tuesday.
He said the NEC recognised that much more still needed to be
done to achieve the objective of transforming South Africa into a
united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society.
The committee noted problems which occured during the first two
voter registration weekends, but had nonetheless acknowledged the
Independent Electoral Commission's determination to eliminate all
obstacles encountered.
@ ANC-NTHAI
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
NORTHERN PROVINCE MPL WITHDRAWS...
Seth Nthai, MEC for safety and security in the Northern
Province, had withdrawn from the African National Congress
parliamentary list, a party spokesman said on Wednesday.
Ian Madikoto told Sapa that Nthai, an advocate, represented the
Northern Province at the historic World Trade centre negotiations
in the early 90s and helped draw up the Constitution.
Madikoto said Nthai was pursuing his legal career. He would
remain an MEC until the 1999 election.
@ EDUC-SASCO
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
SASCO WELCOMES PROPOSAL OF NEW STUDENT AID FUND
The South African Students Congress at a conference on
Wednesday welcomed the proposal of a new students' aid scheme to
replace the Teacher's Education Fund of South Africa.
The National Student's Financial Aid Scheme - being phased in
at the beginning of 1999 - will help register all needy students.
This would avoid financial exclusions, said the new Sasc
president, Gilbert Kganyago.
He said the old fund created a situation where too many
teachers had been trained, swelling the amount of unemployed in the
country.
The new scheme would be funded by NGOs and the government.
Sasco would press for fund disclosure to prevent fraud and the
double-funding of students by mistake, said Kganyago.
@ LABOUR-NUMSA
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
SOUTH KOREAN DEMOS: NUMSA THREATENS SYMPATHY ACTION
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa on Wednesday
threatened countrywide demonstrations next year if the South Korean
government failed to release detained unionists and allow free
union activity.
In a statement in Johannesburg, Numsa called for the immediate
release of more than 488 Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
leaders it said had been held since May.
The call coincided with protests in many countries against
gross human rights violations in South Korea, and also with
International Human Rights Day, the statement said.
Numsa said it was painful to see other people suffering worse
repression than had been inflicted by South Africa's apartheid
regime.
"We condemn the shabby treatment meted out against the trade
unions by the Kim Dae-Jung regime, in cahoots with the
multinational companies, especially Daewoo Motor Corporation."
Unionists clashed with riot police in Seoul this week following
announcements that top conglomerates planned to spin off
subsidiaries to cut debts and restore foreigners' confidence in the
economy.
South Korean government officials said large layoffs were
inevitable.
@ STATEMENT OF THE ANC NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Issued by: African National Congress
The ANC National Executive Committee met on 7-8 December 1998 at
Gallagher Estate in Midrand. The NEC discussed a wide range of
issues including; political overview, annual report, TRC process,
preparations for the 1999 election and the ANC programme of action
for the next year.
On the political overview the NEC recognised that much more
still need to be done to achieve the objective of transforming South
Africa to a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and a
prosperous society.
The NEC recognised that while the ANC has the historical
responsibility to lead this transformation process, successful
transformation can only happen with the active participation of all
South Africans in the process.
The NEC reaffirmed the correctness of the ANC strategy of
reaching out to all South Africans and mobilising them to play an
active role in the reconstruction and development of our country,
South Africa. In this regard, the NEC reiterated the statement of
the ANC on January 8 this year that "we should aim to ensure that
every citizen becomes a patriot and that every patriot should be
engaged in the struggle for social transformation".
Annual report
On the basis of the annual report presented by the Secretary
General, the NEC made an overall assessment of the state of all
organisational structures of the ANC and their ability to implement
the programme of the organisation.
The ANC had at the beginning of 1998 set itself the objective of
building its organisational capacity to mobilise the broadest
section of the South African populace behind the programme of social
transformation. In pursuit of the objective the ANC evolved an
outlined programme of strengthening all its structures at national,
provincial, regional and branch levels. The programme included
visits by the NWC to all provinces where members of the NWC visited
regions and branches to discuss organisational challenges and work
out organisational approaches.
In general the NEC found that the ANC has during the year 1998
done enough to build its organisational capacity to ensure that the
movement reaches out to the people of South Africa to mobilise them
behind the transformation process.
99 elections
The NEC received a report from the ANC National Elections Team
covering the movement's preparations for the elections and the
assessment of the first two registration week-ends.
The NEC noted problems which occurred during the first two voter
registration week-ends. It is the view of the NEC that the IEC could
have done better in its preparations for the voter registration
week-ends. The NEC has nonetheless acknowledged the IEC's
determination to eliminate all the problems encountered during the
first voter registration week-ends. The NEC expressed confidence in
the ability of the IEC to manage the election process.
The NEC expressed its appreciation of the great response by
South Africans who turned out to the various registration centres
during the voter registration week-ends to register their names on
the voter's roll.
The NEC reiterated the statement made earlier by the NWC that
"the responsibility of ensuring a high turn-out in voter
registration lies not only with the IEC and government, but that all
political parties have a responsibility to mobilise their members,
supporters and all potential voters to register on the voters roll".
TRC
The NEC received a progress report from the NWC on its
evaluation of the TRC report. The NEC expressed its appreciation of
the manner in which the NWC handled the TRC report.
The NEC reiterated the view that it is the responsibility of all
South Africans to ensure that the objectives of reconciliation and
national unity are achieved.
The NEC mandated the NWC and the sub-committee on truth and
reconciliation to complete its work of evaluating the truth and
reconciliation process and report to the next meeting of the NEC in
January 1999.
Programme of action
The NEC agreed on the following key objectives for the 1999
programme of action:
* a decisive victory in the general elections and a high voter
turnout;
* strengthening of the Tripartite Alliance and the mass democratic
movement;
* building national consensus on the key challenges facing
the country;
87th Anniversary
The NEC agreed that the 87th anniversary of the ANC be held at
the Western Cape, within the Cape Town Metropolitan district. The
exact venue will be announced later.
By Secretary General - Kgalema Motlanthe
For further enquiry contact Thabo Masebe
9 December 1998
@ CONGO-ANGOLA
BRAZZAVILLE, December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
ANGOLAN REBELS SIDING WITH CONGO MILITIAMEN: BRAZZAVILLE
Congo on Wednesday accused Angolan rebels of fighting alongside
anti-government militiamen in the Pool region, near Brazzaville.
"We are aware of the presence of Angolan mercenaries from UNITA
(Union for the Total Independence of Angola) among the armed
bandits who sometimes fall back into the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC)" government spokesman Francois Ibovi told AFP,
referring to the neighbouring state formerly known as Zaire.
The term "armed bandits" is used for Ninja militias of Bernard
Kolelas, who served as prime minister under the regime of ousted
president Pascal Lissouba.
Since the militias of Lissouba and Kolelas were defeated in
October 1997 by that of General Denis Sassou Nguesso, backed by the
regular Angolan army, the Ninjas have retreated into the Pool
forests.
Since September, clashes with the army have left at least 100
dead. Some 63 were killed last week in this region.
"These bandits operate in small groups ... and seem to enjoy a
certain freedom in the DRC," said Ibovi.
He added that Lissouba's supporters in the DRC capital Kinshasa
were arming the Ninjas.
Brazzaville has "notified" the Kinshasa authorites of these
"subversive" activities, Ibovi added.
0 On Tuesday, Angolan troops, who have been stationed in Congo
since last year, deployed to the Mindouli region, some 100
kilometres (60 miles) west of the capital and near the DRC border,
to reinforce Congolese government forces.
Angola has also sent troops to DRC to help President Laurent
Kabila counter a rebellion which rose up early August.
@ VOLKSTAAT-PHOSA
NELSPRUIT December 9 1998 Sapa
PHOSA AGREES IN PRINCIPLE TO COMMITTEE ON MINORITY RIGHTS
Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa and the Volkstaatraad on
Wednesday agreed in principle to a committee to investigate
minorities' rights.
The decision followed a meeting between Phosa and a delegation
led by Volkstaatraad chairman Professor Pikkie Robbertze. Also
there was Moolman Mentz, leader of the Freedom Front in the
provincial legislature.
After the meeting Phosa said he needed to consult on the
establishment of the committee, but he supported the idea in
principle.
Issues raised by the Volkstaatraad included fears among
Afrikaners as a minority group about job losses under affirmative
action, the need to co-operate for the economic growth of the
province, and the need for co-operation between people of different
persuasions.
Phosa and Robbertze said they were satisfied a basis had been
established to move on with idea of establishing a structure to
test certain initiatives in Mpumalanga and specific areas.
Phosa said all groups, including minorities, had the right to
express their views in an open and frank manner.
@ ZAMBIA-DRCONGO
LUSAKA December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
KABILA ENDS VISIT TO ZAMBIA AFTER TALKS WITH CHILUBA
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Laurent Kabila
held private talks on Wednesday with President Frederick Chiluba on
the war in the DRC.
No statement was made after Kabila's four-and-half hour visit
to Lusaka.
The two men were due to go directly into talks at State House.
The visit has been kept low-key by the Zambian government, and
reporters were denied access to Kabila both on his arrival and
departure.
He left early afternoon for Kinshasa, according to Chiluba's
presidential aide.
Kabila's lightning visit comes just a few days ahead of a
regional summit scheduled for Monday, which follows a peace
agreement for the DRC produced at the France-Africa summit in Paris
last month.
A neighbour of the DRC, Zambia is playing a neutral, mediatory
role in the four-month-old conflict that has drawn in Namibia,
Angola, Zimbabwe and Chad on the side of the Kabila government, and
Uganda and Rwanda on the side of the Tutsi-led rebellion which rose
up in early August.
The DRC summit in Lusaka on Monday is to be followed the same
week by yet another meeting aimed at resolving the DRC war, to be
held in Ouagadougou under the aegis of the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU).
@ THE APPOINTMENT OF JAYENDRA NAIDOO AS CO-ORDINATOR
Issued by: Office of the Deputy President
STATEMENT ON THE APPOINTMENT OF JAYENDRA NAIDOO AS
CO-ORDINATOR OF THE SPECIAL DEFENCE PROCUREMENT
PROGRAMME
The Office of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki wishes to announce
the appointment by the Defence Ministry of Jayendra Naidoo,
(formerly with Nedlac), on contract to the position of Co-Ordinator
of the government's Special Defence Procurement Programme.
Naidoo's responsibilities will include among others:
* heading the South African government negotiations team to
extract the best possible solution to the financing and industrial
benefits accruing from the Special Defence Programme.
* preparation and guidance of the teams and key decisions on the
route to be followed in pursuing the objectives of obtaining a
financing package acceptable to the cabinet.
* conclusion of firm contracts relating to the envisaged flows
of foreign exchange from the investments and potential exports from
South Africa contained in the Industrial Participation offers
received from bidders.
Since his tasks will involve activities that relate to the
Department of Defence, Finance, Public Enterprises and Trade and
Industry, Naidoo will be accountable to and report to Deputy
President Thabo Mbeki.
The Office of the Deputy President congratulates Naidoo on his
appointment and expresses its conviction that his extensive
experience in negotiations will help him meet the challenges that
lie ahead for him in the defence ministry.
For more info contact Ronnie Mamoepa at 082-990-4853 or (012)
337-5205. For audio clip of the statement contact Deputy President
Thabo Mbeki's information line at (012) 324-2219 or 328-3626.
Issued by Office of Deputy president T.M. Mbeki
Communications Division
P/Bag X955
Pretoria
0001
@ STATEMENT ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
Fifty years tomorrow the United Nations General Assembly adopted
and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To
coincide with this historic day South Africa will be ratify four
important human rights conventions at the United Nations in New
York. They are as follows -
* International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
* International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination;
* Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and
* Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide. This brings to 26 the number of human rights-related
conventions and protocols to which South Africa is a party.
South Africa will also lodge with the United Nations a copy of
its National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human
Rights tomorrow.
This National Action Plan was compiled in accordance with the
1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which called upon
states to consider drawing up such plans, identifying steps whereby
governments would improve the promotion and protection of human
rights as well as freedoms.
In depositing these documents at the United Nations, South
Africa will recommit itself not only to the international community
but also to the people of South Africa.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
09 DECEMBER 1998
@ STATEMENT ON LESOTHO INTERIM AUTHORITY
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
The South African Government has welcomed the swearing in of the
Lesotho Interim Political Authority in Maseru today. Deputy Foreign
Minister Aziz Pahad described the ceremony as an important step in
the restoration of political stability in Lesotho and called on all
Basothos to support the interim process which will lead to fresh
elections within eighteen months.
The Interim Political Authority (IPA), which is composed of two
members each from the twelve political parties in Lesotho, was
sworn-in today at a ceremony held at the Palace of Justice in
Maseru. The South African High Commissioner in Maseru, Mr Japhet
Ndlovu attended the ceremony on behalf of the South African
Government.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
PRETORIA
9 DECEMBER 1998
@ DRCONGO-NAMIBIA
DAR ES SALAAM, December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
NAMIBIAN TROOPS IN DR CONGO FOR SECURITY, SOLIDARITY: GEINGOB
Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob said Wednesday that his
country's troops were in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for
security and solidarity reasons.
"We have special security interests in DRC. Angola is our
neighbour, and any threat to Angola means a threat to Namibia as
well," Geingob told a news conference here at the end of a
three-day official visit to Tanzania.
Geingob said that the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) protocols and the concept of territorial integrity had also
motivated his country to join Zimbabwe, Angola and Chad in fighting
alongside the troops of President Laurent Kabila against DRC rebels
and their Ugandan and Rwandan allies.
"Our position is clear on DRC. In SADC, we respect territorial
integrity and cannot allow any country to be invaded. We also don't
allow military coups in SADC," Geingob told the airport press
conference, shortly before he left for home via South Africa.
Geingob added that before independence, Namibian freedom
fighters were supported by many African countries, including Angola
and Zaire (now the DRC).
But he said that Namibia welcomed efforts to restore peace in
the war-torn central African country, where the Tutsi-led rebels
launched their insurgency on August 2.
Without disclosing costs or troop levels, Geingob admitted that
keeping his country's men in the DRC was expensive.
"It is really expensive, and that is why we are maintaining a
small force, proportional to our economic ability," Geingob said.
The Namibian premier spent last Friday and Saturday in Tanzania
on a private visit, during which he viewed game in the north, ahead
of his official visit, which ended with his attending celebrations
of the 37th anniversary of Tanzania's independence on Wednesday.
In a joint communique distributed to the press shortly before
Geingob's departure, Tanzania and Namibia vowed to enhance
bilateral cooperation, particularly in development and trade.
Geingob cited tourism and fishing as two areas in which the two
countries could work together for their mutual benefit, and said
that Tanzania had a lot to show in terms of wildlife, while
tourists were attracted to Namibia's deserts.
"We also have a lot of experience in commercial fishing, and we
can share this with Tanzania," Geingob said.
@ MPUMALANGA-DOLPHIN
NELSPRUIT December 9 1998 Sapa
MPUMALANGA LOBBIES DOLPHIN TO SCRAP CONTRACT
The Mpumalanga government is trying to convince the
multi-national Dolphin group to either scrap or renegotiate its
multi-billion rand contract with the province, African Eye News
Service reported on Wednesday.
The contract grants Dolphin exclusive development rights to
four of the province's prime game parks for 25 years in return for
limited financial support of the ailing Mpumalanga Parks Board.
Environment affairs MEC Fish Mahlalela on Wednesday said the
contract signed in 1996 was legally binding, but the province
lacked funds to meet its financial obligations to Dolphin.
The contract obliges the MPB to provide all bulk infrastructure
and mass earthworks for a string of envisioned developments in the
reserves.
The provincial executive committee pledged R86 million to the
MPB this year, mainly for infrastructure development, but has to
date not paid any of the money.
"We're not disputing the contract itself, but we're simply not
able to live up to it. It's no longer either realistic or
practical, and we have informally asked Dolphin to reconsider the
whole deal," Mahlalela said.
He added the province had been informally approached by a
series of other international tourism developers for options to
some of the reserves promised to Dolphin.
Mpumalanga would ultimately want to scrap Dolphin's contract,
he said.
"We definitely haven't made any commitments, but would love to
reopen this whole deal to transparent public bidding. We can't
unilaterally scrap Dolphin's agreement, but this would be a first
prize."
Dolphin had agreed to a formal meeting on the issue, but the
MPB would have to reconvene its board of directors before any
negotiations were entered into.
Half of the MPB's 10-member board was suspended for alleged
involvement in the illegal issue of six promissory notes worth R1,3
billion earlier this year.
They have not yet been officially dismissed or replaced as a
commission of inquiry into the scam still has to be instituted.
Dolphin's South African representatives were unavailable for
comment on Wednesday.
@ DEFENCE-NAIDOO
CAPE TOWN December 9 1998 Sapa
JAYENDRA NAIDOO TO CO-ORDINATE DEFENCE PROCUREMENT PROGRAMME
Former head of the National Economic Development and Labour
Council Jayendra Naidoo has been appointed on contract as
co-ordinator of the government's special defence procurement
programme, the Office of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki announced on
Wednesday.
Naidoo would head the government negotiation team tasked with
extracting financing and industrial benefits accruing from the
special defence programme, the statement said.
He would also be responsible for the conclusion of firm
contracts which, it was envisaged, would result in foreign exchange
and exports in terms of the participation offers received from
bidders.
As his tasks would involve the Defence, Finance, Public
Enterprises, and Trade and Industry departments, Naidoo would be
accountable and report to Mbeki, the statement said.
@ DRCONGO-FIGHTING
KINSHASA, December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
ZIMBABWEAN FORCES SINK TWO REBEL BOATS IN EASTERN DR CONGO
Zimbabwean armed forces have sunk two rebel boats carrying
reinforcements on Lake Tanganyika in the eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), independent sources said in Kinshasa on
Wednesday.
0The attack took place overnight Monday off Mpala, some 40
kilometres (25 miles) north of Moba, the sources said, without
giving details of whether planes or helicopters carried out the
operation or how many rebels were on the vessels.
On November 21 and 22, Zimbabwean planes backing DRC President
Laurent Kabila attacked and sank barges carrying more than 600
rebels down the lake as reinforcements to Moba, according to
independent sources in Kinshasa.
The rebels have denied the attacks on those vessels as well as
the loss of more than 1,000 men at Moba, which independent sources
have said was recaptured from insurgent troops last Thursday by the
Zimbabwean army and regular DRC troops.
Moba has been totally sealed off by the Congolese Armed Forces
(FAC) and their allies for a week, according to the independent
sources who also reported "atrocious fighting" around the town, but
added that road access had been reopened.
Leaders of the rebel movement, which is based in the eastern
town of Goma, have stated that Moba is still under their control
and that fighting has taken place only in its outskirts. Sources in
Kinshasa have said that allied forces took the town after several
days of fighting and shelling.
The rebels landed forces at Moba in order to get round
Zimbabwean front lines stretching towards Kalemie in the far north
of the mineral-rich southwestern Katanga province.
Reliable sources here said that the Zimbabweans were determined
to wipe out the rebels at any price.
The Kinshasa regime has minimised the role of DR Congolese
mainly Tutsi rebels in the insurgency, which began in the east of
the vast DRC early in August.
It has accused neighbouring Rwanda, ruled by a Tutsi majority
government, and Uganda of invading the country.
Many soldiers from Rwanda's southern neighbour Burundi, where
the army is predominantly Tutsi, have died in fighting on the rebel
side near Moba, the Roman Catholic missionary agency MISNA
meanwhile said Wednesday.
In a statement, the Rome-based agency insisted on the veracity
of reports it first gave on Sunday that a large but unspecified
number of Burundian army troops had been killed.
These soldiers, passed off as rebels, were in fact men of the
"Burundian regular army," said the Missionary Service News Agency,
known for well-informed reporting from conflict zones where
Christian religious orders are present.
MISNA on Sunday said that two lorries had arrived amid secrecy
on the outskirts of Burundi's capital Bujumbura, carrying the
bodies of the troops who had been killed near Moba. On Wednesday,
the agency added that the corpses had passed through Uvira on the
DRC side of the border.
Burundi's national Net Presse agency had dismissed such claims,
but MISNA responded that if "Net Presse strives to transmit
official reports, MISNA defends people, Christians and
non-Christians, who are the object of trouble from warlords."
On Tuesday, Namibian papers reported the death of a soldier in
fighting near Moba. Unconfirmed reports from Windhoek have said
that an undisclosed number of Namibian troops have been killed in
the region.
Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Chad have deployed troops to
support Kabila's regime since August, when Kinshasa and its supply
region, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) from the eastern
front, came under direct attack.
@ RIGHTS-SA
PRETORIA December 9 1998 Sapa
SA MARKS HUMAN RIGHTS ANNIVERSARY BY SIGNING 4 CONVENTIONS AT
UN
South Africa would ratify four human rights conventions at the
United Nations on Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the
adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
They are the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights; the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and the
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide.
The signing would bring to 26 the number of human
rights-related conventions and protocols to which South Africa was
a party, the statement said.
South Africa would also lodge with the United Nations a copy of
its national action plan for the promotion and protection of human
rights.
The national action plan was compiled in accordance with the
1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which called upon
states to identify steps that would improve the promotion and
protection of human rights and freedoms.
@ XENOPHOBIA
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
SAHRC LAUNCHES NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO FIGHT XENOPHOBIA
Tackling xenophobia would prove to be an enormous task
requiring the combined efforts of all sectors of society, SA Human
Rights Commission chairman Barney Pityana said on Wednesday.
Speaking in Johannesburg at the launch of the SAHRC's 1999
national action plan (NAP) to combat xenophobia, Pityana said the
fact that over 30 foreign immigrants had been murdered in South
Africa over the past two years was cause for serious concern.
It was a pity, he said, that it took the brutal killings of
three foreign Africans on a train near Pretoria to make the public
aware of the problem.
"We have to send a strong message of tolerance to people about
the country we live in. No-one, whether in this country legally or
not, can be deprived of his or her basic rights."
Pityana said the mere fact of being without legal status did
not mean that such a person should be subjected to exploitation,
violence or criminal treatment.
The HRC's action plan makes recommendations focused around six
central issues:
- Violence against foreign hawkers;
- Violations of the rights of migrant workers;
- The plights and rights of migrant workers;
- The conduct of police and civil servants in dealing with
refugees;
- Media coverage on refugees, migrants and asylum seekers; and
- The role of education in combating xenophobia.
The recommendations suggest, amongst others, that city councils
should design strategies to bring hostile campaigns against
foreigners to an end, and that the departments of Safety and
Security, Labour and Home Affairs should put a stop to malpractices
in the agricultural sector.
Another recommendation encourages refugee and asylum seeker
communities to raise awareness about foreigners through field work
an training programmes.
Furthermore, police and government officials should recruit
personnel from refugee and migrant communities, the plan
recommends.
A massive public education programme supported by national and
provincial education departments had to be implemented in order to
foster tolerance and recognise qualifications from other countries.
Asked about the implementation of the action plan, Pityana said
government had committed itself to the plan and had also accepted
ultimate responsibility for its implementation.
"Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi in particular
promised the HRC that he would support our inititatives. We will be
approaching him soon for concrete proof of his support."
Pityana said the action plan had been given a three-year
lifespan, after which it would be re-evaluated and revised.
The SAHRC, the Office of the Public Protector, judiciary,
non-governmental organisations and the media would be invited to
actively participate in monitoring the action plan.
"We cannot foster a culture of human rights in South Africa
when our treatment of those who happen to be different to us is
unforgiving, uncaring and sometimes even brutal with deadly
consequences," Pityana said.
Referring to the apartheid past, he said South Africa had taken
a giant leap on the road to democratisation since then, but that
much still needed to be done.
"We hope the NAP will light the way forward," he said.
@ SKELETON-THABO
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
MBEKI HONOURS SCIENTISTS RESPONSIBLE FOR SKELETON FIND
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki was applauded on Wednesday when he
told those responsible for the discovery of a 3,5 million-year-old
skeleton they were rolemodels for the African renaissance.
"Among our heroes and heroines we should not just have
footballers and cricketers," Mbeki said at a Johannesburg media
conference announcing the fossilised skeleton find.
He reaffirmed the support of government for scientists such as
Dr Ron Clarke and Professor Phillip Tobias, and congratulated all
those involved in the Sterkfontein caves excavation.
"We are very proud of these people who have done this
extraordinarywork.
"We have been talking about an African renaissance... this
challenge facing all of us as Africans to change this continent and
this country for the better," Mbeki said.
Referring to the contribution of African doctors and
mathematicians in ancient times, Mbeki said the discovery would
underline how Africa had advanced humanity.
"This discovery will say to people all over the world we played
this role in society.
Mbeki said the discovery was also important because "part of
what we needed to do as Africans was to discover as much about our
origins as possible".
The media conference was attended by Environmental Affairs and
Tourism Minister Pallo Jordan, Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture
Brigitte Mabandla and National Council of Provinces chairman
Patrick "Terror" Lekota.
Tobias told Mbeki: "Your words have been a shot in the arm to
those of us who are sweating to bring prehistoric man out of the
African soil."
He added: "This government and the Gauteng administation have
been immensely supportive, especially the Gauteng premier Motshega
Mathole, and the MEC in charge of these matters.
"They have helped promote the significance of the Sterkfontein
area and the excavation sites."
Tobias said the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
had also built up the work at the fossil sites and made it possible
for South Africa to become one of the world's first world heritage
centres. The Sterkfontein excavation sites had been nominated for
this honour, and its status would be decided in Paris, he said.
"This is the last important scientific achievement in South
Africa's Year of Science 1998," said Tobias
Education minister Sibusiso Bengu, who was unable to attend the
media conference, sent a message which was read out by Tobias.
"I wish to pay tribute to Dr Ron Clarke and members of the
university community for such an important and groundbreaking
achievement.
"This is indeed a clear demonstration that our universities are
seond to none in the world," said Bengu.
He would continue to support university initiatives such as the
excavations at the Sterkfontein caves because "science will
continue to play an important role in the reconstruction and
development of our country".
@ BLUETRAIN-SALIM
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
OAU SECRETARY-GENERAL TO JOIN MBEKI ON THE BLUE TRAIN
Organisation of African Unity secretary-general Dr Salim Ahmed
Salim will be one of the dignitories to join Deputy President Thabo
Mbeki on the inaugural journery of the Blue Train to Zimbabwe on
Friday.
In a statement, Transnet on Wednesday said Salim would join the
presidents Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, Festus Mogae of Botswana
and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and prime ministers Hage Geingob and
Sibusiso Dlamini of Namibia and Swaziland respectively on the
journery.
The two-day journey will begin at Johannesburg's Park Station
and will travel to Victoria Falls via Gaborone and Bulawayo.
@ SKELETON-JAY
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
MEDIA CONFERENCE LAUGHS AT JAY NAIDOO'S FOSIL ENTHUSIASM
Both Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and University of the
Witwatersrand professor Phillip Tobias on Wednesday joked about
Broadcasting Minister Jay Naidoo's breaking of an embargo on news
about the discovery of a three-and-a half million-year-old
skeleton.
Tobias and Dr Ron Clarke, who discovered the fossilised
skeleton of an ape-man, had planned to announce the find for the
first time at a news conference on Wednesday.
But Naidoo, who heard about the discovery last week Wednesday,
stole the scientists' thunder when he announced the greatest
paleoanthropological discovery in Africa during a speech in New
Delhi on Tuesday.
Mbeki told the Wednesday media conference the cabinet was told
about the fossil find the previous Wednesday.
"One of our ministers was so moved and enthused by this he
found it impossible to observe the embargo," said Mbeki.
Later in his address, after referring to the "African
Renaissance", Mbeki said Clarke's discovery proved that Africans
would succeed and advance knowledge and understanding, as they had
done since ancient times.
"It was out of this excitement that Jay Naidoo thought he
should tell the Indians," Mbeki said.
Tobias later laughingly asked the Deputy President to tell
Naidoo that the age of the skeleton was three-and-a-half million
years, not three million years as Naidoo had announced.
@ DRCONGO-EU
KAMPALA, December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
EU WARNS OF AID CUTOFF TO COUNTRIES WITH TROOPS IN DR CONGO
The European Union on Wednesday threatened decreased aid to
countries involved in the crisis in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) unless a political solution is found there.
"The only solution lies in dialogue and political
negotiations," an EU statement issued at the Paris Club donor
consultative group meeting in Kampala said.
"If no political solution is aggressively pursued, the EU might
find it increasingly difficult to continue its present level of
budgetary assistance to countries involved in the conflict, should
they persist on the military option," the statement said.
Rwanda and Uganda are fighting alongside Tutsi-led rebels, who
took up arms against the regime of President Laurent Kabila on
August 2. Troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia and Zimbabwe are
fighting alongside DRC government soldiers.
All rely heavily on donor assistance to prop up their
economies.
The consultative group meeting, which has brought together 27
donor nations for the first time in Kampala, opened Wednesday.
The statement further called for an immediate ceasefire to be
agreed by all parties involved in the DRC conflict and the start of
a process leading to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the
country.
The statement said that the EU recognised Uganda's legitimate
security concerns along its common border with DRC.
But the strongly worded statement noted: "At the same time it
is doubtful that the current level of military presence and
activity up to 700 kilometres (450 miles) away from the Ugandan
border solely serves that purpose."
It added: "It has to be stressed the Ugandan military presence
within DRC has a very high cost."
The statement represents the sharpest criticism to date by the
donor community of countries involved in the five-month-old DRC
conflict.
Turning to military operations by the Ugandan army inside the
country, especially in the north, the statement called on Kampala
to make peace with Sudan.
The statement urged dialogue and initiatives such as inclusive
amnesty legislation to help resolve the conflict.
@ ANGOLA-FIGHTING
LUANDA December 9 1998 Sapa-AFP
UNITA PREPARING DEFENSE OF CENTRAL ANGOLAN STRONGHOLD: LUANDA
UNITA has beefed up defenses around Bailundo, a stronghold in
central Angola, against possible ground or air attacks by
government forces, a ruling party official said Wednesday.
Anastacio Ndavoka, who represents the ruling People's Movement
for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the central city of Huambo,
said here that the National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola (UNITA) had moved most of its political leadership to Henge,
in central Kwanza-Sul province.
Henge, situated in heavily forested hills, may become the new
headquarters of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, Ndavoka, who is here
for an MPLA party congress, said over national television.
Another option is Dinde, in southern Huila province, he added.
Combat units have taken up positions south of Bailundo to stop
a possible incursion by government troops from Huambo, Angola's
second city, Ndavoka said, ading that the main line of defense for
Bailundo was some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city.
He thus dismissed reports in the international press Monday and
Tuesday that Bailundo had fallen to government forces but said the
Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) "will retake towns controlled by UNITA.
We will succeed."
The MPLA deputy added: "Motorized units of UNITA forces are
deploying in the region, but are avoiding entering into direct
contact with the FAA."
Insistent reports in Luanda of air raids and an advance by
government forces on Bailundo could not be confirmed by UNITA, the
government or the UN observer mission in Angola.
However both sides have reported fighting in central Bie
province, especially to the north and northeast of Kuito.
On Monday, state radio said that several government soldiers
and civilians were wounded in fighting in the towns of Chipeta,
Catabola and Calusinga.
A Catholic missionary based in Kuito said civilians were
fleeing to the city, including a large number of wounded.
On Tuesday, UNITA Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba said that
"the people of several communes in Bie province are resisting"
government troops.
Isaias Samakuva, who formerly represented UNITA on a joint
commission implementing peace accords, said Wednesday over
Portuguese radio that civilians were joining UNITA fighters in
resistance against government soldiers.
The peace accords, signed in Lusaka in 1994, have been all but
superseded by a resurgence of fighting in March and the
government's decision in early September to cease negotiations with
Savimbi.
@ ANC-BOE
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
ANC VICTORY WOULD GIVE GOVERNMENT COURAGE TO TACKLE LABOUR LAWS
An overwhelming win by the African National Congress in the
next election would give the governing party the courage to tackle
its alliance partners on restrictive labour legislation, BOE
Securities chief economist Herman van Papendorp said on Wednesday.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions and the SA Communist Party have
aligned themselves with the ANC for the next election.
Van Papendorp said in a statement: "The ANC's main constituency
is the poor. The poor can only enjoy better prospects if the
economy creates more jobs. Companies will only invest in new jobs
if labour costs are contained and if restrictive labour legislation
is eased.
"It is wrong-headed of organised labour to claim that they
represent the poor too. They don't. They represent their members -
the people who already have a job.
"The ANC also represents those who don't have jobs and don't
have much prospect of one as long as the price of labour fails to
reflect the abundance of labour."
Van Papendorp said only after a convincing win for the ANC was
there any chance that it would have the confidence to choose its
voters over its alliance partners.
He said the poor were the silent majority while organised
labour was capable of aggressively pursuing its own interests.
He expressed confidence in the appointment of former labour
minister Tito Mboweni as successor to Chris Stals as Reserve Bank
governor next year.
"Government has shown itself much better than its predecessors
at containing the budget deficit. Fiscal discipline is being
applied.
"There has been a lot of sniping at the Reserve Bank
governor-in-waiting, but in the new era of politicised economics, a
new broom could be just what we need."
@ METHANOL-HANEKOM
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
SOME LIQUOR PRODUCTS IN SA CONTAIN MORE METHANOL: HANEKOM
Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Derek Hanekom on
Wednesday warned that some liquor products sold in South Africa
contained illegal levels of methanol.
Hanekom in a statement said samples of Blue Marlin Cane,
Oakwood Brandy, Rasputin Vodka, Breakers Cane, Eikenhout Brandewyn,
Outeniqua Brandy and Magersfontein Gold Brandy were analysed and
found to contain illegal amounts of methanol.
"Consumtion of these products could have serious health
damaging effects," he said.
The Departments of Agriculture and Health were working together
in testing samples of liquor products throughout the country.
Hanekom said such products would be prohibited for sale. Other
brand names found to have illegal levels of methanol would also be
released.
@ REGISTER-TOTAL
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
REGISTRATION FIGURE TOPS SEVEN MILLION MARK
The figure for the first round of registration for the election topped
seven-and-a-half million people by Wednesday afternoon, the Independent
Electoral Commission announced.
Commission spokesman Victor Dlamini said that by 4.30pm on Wednesday
there were 7533056 names downloaded from computers for the voters roll.
This was out of an estimated electorate of 24,5 million.
Potential voters' names would be downloaded for at least another week.
So far Gauteng was leading with 1875038 people having braved uncertainty
and confusion in their quest for the small white sticker in their identity
document which entitles them to vote in the next election.
The results by 4.30pm on Wednesday were:
Province Number of voters
Eastern Cape 888 982
Free State 521 453
Gauteng 1 875 038
KwaZulu-Natal 1 126 691
Mpumalanga 613 833
Northern Cape 206 853
Northern Province 1 007 782
North West Province 607 399
Western Cape 685 045
Total 7 533 076
Dates for the next round of registration are expected to be announced
this week.
@ TRAFFIC
PRETORIA December 9 1998 Sapa
ROAD FATALITIES NUMBER 106 SINCE START OF DECEMBER HOLIDAYS
A total of 106 people have been killed on South African roads
since the start of the Christmas holiday period on December 1.
The Department of Transport's Arrive Alive campaign said in a
statement on Wednesday that 42 people were killed in KwaZulu-Natal;
28 in the Eastern Cape; 13 in Gauteng; nine in the Free State; five
in the Western Cape; four in the North-West; two in the Northern
Cape, two in the Northern Province; and one in Mpumalanga.
The campaign urged motorists to take enough rest before taking
off on long holiday trips. Fourteen people were killed in five
crashes in December, in which it was suspected that the drivers had
fallen asleep.
In one of the crashes near Helpmekaar in KwaZulu-Natal, three
passengers were killed when their vehicle left the road and smashed
into a pole.
In another accident near Nongoma, also in KwaZulu-Natal, four
people died on their way home from a wedding ceremony. Police
suspected the driver of the vehicle had consumed alcohol and fell
asleep.
In the other accidents, fatigue was found to be a contributing
factor when vehicles left the road or overturned.
Lawrence Barit, an expert in traffic criminology and researcher
of driver fatique, said: "If a driver is not well-rested, fatigue
can set in in several ways. He can doze off for a split second,
which we call a microsleep. He can start slumbering. In all cases,
the driver is comatose and no longer has control over the vehicle."
Barit said in his research findings 34 percent of road
fatalities involved single vehicles, either running off the road,
overturning, or colliding with a barrier, pole, bridge or other
fixed objects. A common feature was the lack of skidmarks before
the point of impact.
He said researchers believed driver fatigue caused more than 50
percent of these crashes. It also played a fatal role in many
head-on, rear-end and side-swipe crashes, including vehicle
pile-ups.
Perry Parirenyatwa, of the Arrive Alive campaign, urged
motorists to plan their holidays well and not to drive for more
than 800km a day.
"They should stop at safe place when their level of
concentration drops, or every 200km or two hours, whichever comes
first."
Other factors contributing to fatalities included:
- motorists not reducing speed for wet conditions;
- short following distances not increased for wet weather;
- vehicles not turning on headlights in poor visibility;
- pedestrians not wearing bright or white clothing;
- rear lights not working, especially on trailers or caravans;
and
- crossing of pedestrians at dangerous places or walking in
the middle of the road, or jaywalking.
@ EASTCAPE-PARASTATALS
UMTATA December 9 1998 Sapa
EASTCAPE PARASTATAL BILL REJECTED AT PUBLIC HEARINGS
Legislation intended to rectify legal flaws committed by the
Bisho government when it disbanded three Eastern Cape agricultural
parastatals more than a year ago, was rejected outright by all
participants at public hearings held in Umtata on Wednesday.
At the same time, legal professionals in the region turned down
an invitation to attend the hearings, which were convened by two
standing committees of the provincial legislature on agriculture
and economy.
Instead the professionals issued a statement warning that the
government was obliged to respect a series of court judgments made
against the Bisho administration from High Court level to the
Appellate Division.
This was after the Transkei High Court first found that the
closure of one the parastatals, the Transkei Agricultural
Corporation (Tracor), by Premier Makhenkesi Stofile in July last
year, was unlawful.
In a joint statement the National Association of Democratic
Lawyers, the Black Lawyers Association, the Transkei Attorneys
Association and the Society of Advocates of Transkei said they had
studied the two Bills seeking to give Bisho back-dated authority to
liquidate the farming corporations.
The lawyers said: "We offer our assistance in the process of
rectifying whatever procedural flaws were previously committed.
"But we should also point out that our organisations are
disappointed by the arbitrary manner in which the authorities have
dealt with this highly sensitive manner.
"The corporations which had been the source of employment to
thousands of indigent and illiterate people in the former Transkei
for many years, were simply closed down without prior consultation
with employees."
The lawyers said the unilateral closure of the corporations had
caused immense economic dislocation, misery and suffering.
Thousands of breadwinners had been left without jobs. They lost
homes, vehicles and insurance policies following improper
termination of their employment.
"This we regard as gross violation of human rights."
At the hearings, objections from participants centred mainly
around the Bill which sought to give the Bisho legislature
authority to have the liquidation of Tracor, the Magwa Tea
Corporation and the Ciskei Agricultural Corporation backdated to
July 10, 1997.
Former Tracor management official Bafo Cekeshe rejected the
Bill as an immoral piece of legislation seeking to cover the Bisho
government after it had defied several court judgments.
He said the Bill also sought to legalise what the judges had
found to be illegitimate.
"We therefore, register our strongest objection to the proposed
legislation in that it is prejudicial to the rights of the
corporation employees while it attempts to bypass in many ways the
due process of existing legislation," Cekeshe said.
In another submission, former Tracor managing director Mandla
Chagi suggested that the public hearings should have been held
before the Bisho government had consulted with the employees of the
disbanded corporations.
What was at stake affected mostly their individual rights, he
said.
A professional teacher now a leading figure in the local
farming community, Zola Nomlala, said there was lack of vision in a
government which saw fit to disband agricultural corporations in a
rural region where land production was the lifeblood of the people.
There was no transparency either in a government which closed
down public institutions without first consulting relevant
communities.
"We are dealing with a government which does not know its
priorities. Instead of wasting money on exchange visits with
countries like Taiwaan, they should be ploughing all that money on
the development of the small farmer.
"The Bills we are called upon to approve here are nothing else
but stinking pieces of legislation. Go tell the Bisho government I
have said so," a visibly angry Nomlala said.
The hearings were chaired by the head of the Bisho standing
committee on land affairs and agriculture Zingisa Goduka.
Other members of the provincial legislature on the public
hearings panel were Chief Zanexhoba Tonjeni, Dr Maliza Mpehle,
Mzolisi Mabude and Francois Flaurich.
@ POLICE-RACISM
EAST LONDON December 9 1998 Sapa
BID TO RESOLVE DISPUTE AFTER WHITE COPS WALK OUT OF MEETING
A meeting of top East London police officers on Wednesday
failed to resolve a dispute that arose on Monday when white police
officers stormed out after members of the Black Officers' Forum
tried to address a weekly crime meeting.
"We cannot say that we are reconciled," area commissioner
Sandile Hloba said on Wednesday afternoon after meeting about 20
senior superintendents and directors.
He said a decision taken on Tuesday to involve the Independent
Complaints Directorate in an inquiry, stood.
The split occurred on Monday morning when representatives of
the Black Officers' Forum tried to address a weekly crime meeting.
Fifteen white officers stormed out of the meeting in protest,
claiming later that the BOF was a racial and political
organisation.
Independent Complaints Directorate chief Alfredeen Jenneker
said she was in contact with provincial commissioner Nico Slabber
and BOF provincial chief Senior Superintendent Maxwell Dani.
She was to have addressed BOF members on Wednesday night and
was due to meet Slabber on Friday.
She said she would continue speaking to all role players in an
effort to resolve the dispute.
@ MBEKI-BOOK
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
MBEKI'S BOOK "AFRICA - THE TIME HAS COME" LAUNCHED IN JHB
The biggest challenge facing South Africans was to change
society and it was crucial to join in the debate about how this
process should unfold, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said on
Wednesday
Speaking at the Johannesburg launch of his book "Africa: the
time has come", he said: "As South Africans we have a lot to learn
about each other and I think we have a new world to create - it's
a big challenge, we have to change many things.
"If this book encourages all of us to join in this debate about
what to do about our country, then perhaps it might have served a
useful purpose," he said.
The book contains 42 of Mbeki's speeches, all but two of which
were made after the 1994 election.
It articulates Mbeki's vision for the future of South Africa
and Africa. The speeches chosen for the book incorporate Mbeki's
ideas and reflections of themes that include socio-economic
justice, poverty alleviation, development, the opening up of
opportunities, and achieving reconciliation through transformation.
It was published on a grant from the Billiton group of
companies in a joint venture between Mafube and Tafelberg
publishing houses.
Presenting a leather-bound edition to Mbeki, Billiton chairman
Brian Gilbertson said: "Much that is set out in the book is a
challenge to us in the future. Being able to set out what lies
ahead is the difference between a politician and a statesman."
He said Billiton had decided to sponsor the book to answer the
oft asked questions of local and international investors as to what
policy direction could be expected under Mbeki's impending
presidency.
Essop Pahad, head of the editorial committee that collectively
brought the idea to fruition, said the book demonstrated the very
powerful intellect and depth of thought that went into the
production of these speeches.
""Mbeki's not a populist and consequently his speeches do not
contain rhetorical flourishes," he said, adding that instead they
were based on sound, compact but open-minded arguments.
Tafelberg publishers' spokesman Hannes van Zyl said of his
reading of the book: "I was moved and made more aware of our duty
toward our country and its people."
There had already been a high level of interest in "Africa: the
time has come" from US publishing interests and other African
countries and publishing houses.
The book also contained autobiographical facts about Mbeki's
life that it was important for people to know, he said.
@ DRCONGO-SA
JOHANNESBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
KABILA DESCRIBES SOUTH AFRICA AS "PUPPETS OF THE AGRESSORS"
Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila has
branded South Africa as "puppets of the aggressors" in the civil
war raging in his country, SABC television news reported on
Wednesday.
He said he was suprised by the South African government's
attitude towards the war in the DRC.
Speaking at a press conference in Kinshasa, Kabila said: "They
(South Africa) are puppets of aggressors."
Referring to the common knowledge that Rwandan and Ugandan
forces were deployed in the DRC, Kabila asked: "So why are we still
talking about rebels instead of invaders?
"First of all we are victims of aggression and at the same time
pressure from the outside (is) concentrated on us, not on them.
They don't ask the aggressors to immediately leave the country.
This double standard is unpleasant for all the people of Congo."
He said there would be no ceasefire in his country until
Rwandan and Ugandan troops withdrew.
The South African Department of Foreign Affairs said it would
react to Kabila's remarks on Thursday morning.
The civil war started in the Democratic Republic of Congo in
August when Tutsi-led rebels launched a drive to topple Kabila, who
had ousted long time ruler Mobuto Sese-Seko.
Rwanda and Uganda are backing the rebels who claim Kabila has
not done enough for reform in the country, while Zimbabwe, Angola,
Namibia and Chad are supporting Kabila.
South Africa's role has been primarily mediatory and, along
with other African countries, has hosted meetings which attempted
to resolve the crisis.
Two more are to be held next week - one in Lusaka on Monday
and another in Ouagadougou led by the Organisation of African
Unity.
@ EASTCAPE-STOFILE
BISHO December 9 1998 Sapa
STOFILE TO LAUNCH R8,5 MILLION DEVELOPMENT PRJECT
Eastern Cape premier Makhenkesi Stofile will on Thursday
officially launch a R8,5 million development project in Cofimvaba.
The project includes a complex with municipal offices, 18 shops
and a taxi rank. The facilities were constructed by a local
company, HDM Construction, as part of a development programme of
the Cofimvaba transitional local council.
Cofimvaba mayor Sithembele Plata said 60 jobs were created
during the construction phase and over 100 new jobs were provided
since the project became operational in September.
"It has injected a new and better life to the people of
Cofimvaba, and has given impetus to the economic development of the
neglected and the needy area of the province."
Meanwhile, Stofile and the national Sports and Recreation
Minister Steve Tshwete are scheduled to address the provincial
celebrations marking the International Human Rights Day in Port
Elizabeth at the weekend.
The event will take place at the Great Centenary Hall on Sunday
instead of Thursday as was initially scheduled.
Head of the Office on the Status of Women, Zukiswa Ncitha, said
the theme of the day would be "all human rights for all - making
rights a reality".
She said the celebrations were meant to build awareness and
enhance the capacity to demand human rights protection and redress.
The celebrations are designed to coincide with the 50th
anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the
United Nations, and will mark Thursday's submission of South
Africa's national action plan to the UN by Foreign Minister Alfred
Nzo.
Ncitha said the action plan would help gauge the country's
performance in promoting human rights.
@ EASTCAPE-HEALTH
BISHO December 9 1998 Sapa
COMMITTEE PAINTS BLEAK PICTURE OF HEALTH CARE IN EASTERN CAPE
The shortage of medical supplies in Eastern Cape hospitals
could be laid at the door of poor monitoring and supervision and
the failure to adhere to policy in ordering and distributing
medicines and drugs, according to a report of the standing
committee on health.
The report is to be tabled in the Eastern Cape legislature on
Monday.
The report follows a week-long investigation by the committee
at hospitals and clinics throughout the province last August.
The report said existing policy on ordering and distribution
from depots was not properly implemented, and shortages and delays
were caused by lack of expertise in ordering medicines.
The theft of drugs - a problem reported at most centres
visited by the committee - was blamed on a lack of control at
depots and hospitals. Allegations that staff were pilfering drugs
and medicines were received at most centres visited by the
committee, it said.
Medical supplies from the Port Elizabeth depot took a long time
to be delivered to the former Ciskei and Transkei areas, and some
of the medicines had already expired by the time they arrived at
their destinations, the report said.
The committee found it took one week to order drugs and
medicines from Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein but six weeks or
more to order from the Umtata depot, which was more often out of
stock.
The report complained about the poor state of roads which made
it impossible for health centres to be accessible, especially in
rural areas. This, as well ass the shortage of shortage in the
former Transkei, affected the collection and delivery of medicines
to clinics.
Owing to the failure of the provincial finance department to
pay accounts, pharmaceutical companies refused to supply drugs to
the Port Elizabeth depot. As a result, some medicines were not
available at the store.
The report said not enough medicines and drugs were supplied to
rural health centres, especially in regions D and E (the former
Transkei region), and black townships.
It said there was a serious shortage of drugs for sexually
transmitted diseases and paediatric infections in region E (the
Kokstad-Lusikisiki area).
The committee expressed concern about the influx of Lesotho
citizens who crossed the border to seek medical services in
hospitals in the province. It called for measures to be implemented
to control the problem.
The report noted that racism was rampant, especially in the
Karoo.
Some hospitals and doctors' consulting rooms were using
separate entrances for black and white patients, it said, and some
doctors allegedly refused to attend to patients referred for
admission to hospitals by a local black doctor.
@ TRUTH-SPUS
PIETERMARITZBURG December 9 1998 Sapa
TRC HEARS IFP KILLED ANC MAN BECAUSE HE WAS NUISANCE AT HOME
African National Congress-aligned Phathiseni Ntanzi of Eshowe
in KwaZulu-Natal was killed by Inkatha Freedom Party members
because "he was a nuisance at home as a result of his association
with unknown people", the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's
amnesty committee heard on Wednesday.
His brother, Nicholas Ntanzi, 25, told the hearing at Marian
Centre in Pietermaritzburg he was among three people who killed
Phathiseni at his home at Izindophi in Eshowe in September, 1993.
The decision was taken after an IFP youth meeting at the
Luthuli homestead in the area. "Many IFP members had been killed
and houses burnt in the area since his association with unknown
members of the ANC," Nicholas Ntanzi said.
"We knew they were ANC because they used to wear the
organisation's t-shirt and jackets when they visted him."
Izindophi was said to have first been an IFP stronghold, but
later became mixed as many people began to join the ANC.
Nicholas Nranzi said his brother used to refer to the IFP as an
organisation for barbarians and uncivilised people. This strained
their relations further, and as a result he reported the matter to
his fellow members and a plot was hatched to eliminate him.
At least 25 people were at the meeting to plot Phathiseni
Ntanzi's murder, but only three carried out the killing.
Describing how his brother was killed, Nicholas Ntanzi, who is
serving a 14-year imprisonment for the crime, said he knocked at
the door to the house in which Phathiseni Ntanzi was sleeping.
"As my brother opened, Nkosinathi (Ngwenya) shot him with a
home-made gun, while Mfanawezinyawo watched for possible
attackers," he said.
Ngwenya, 33, is also an amnesty applicant in the matter and is
serving a 12-year jail term for this. Mfanawezinyawo is said to
have died.
Nicholas Ntanzi was warned by the committee to make full
disclosure of the incident by mentioning other people who
participated in the murder and not only Ngwenya and Mfanawezinyawo
because they had been convicted and had died respectively.
Nwenya's assertions mostly concurred with that of Nicholas
Ntanzi, except on the description of the scene as they approached
Phathiseni Ntanzi's homestead for the attack.
He said Phathiseni Ntanzi was inside the house as they
approached, whereas Nicholas Ntanzi said he was standing in the
yard with some people, who fled on their arrival.
The application for another amnesty applicant, Bongani Thusi,
will be heard on Thursday. It could not take place on Wednesday
because the victim's next-of-kin complained they received late
notice.
Thusi is applying for amnesty regarding 16 murders in Richmond.
@ ZIM-WORLDBANK
HARARE December 9 1998 Sapa
BANK OFFERS ZIMBABWE US300 MILLION LIFELINE
The World Bank is offering a US300 million lifeline that could
rescue Zimbabwe's tottering economy, Business Day reported on
Thursday.
The bank plans to make the money available to the government to
refinance a large part of domestic debt. This debt totals about
US1.2 billion, the equivalent of about 30 percent of gross domestic
product.
Most of the debt is in the form of treasury bills - US800
million - while the rest is in the form of a government
"overdraft" with the Reserve Bank.
A World Bank team from Washington left the country this week
after putting the proposal to the government. An official said an
answer was expected from the government early next year.
A key component of the strategy behind the World Bank's offer
is to find additional resources from the acceleration of the
government's slow-moving privatisation programme. Privatisation
proceeds are needed to bring down the debt to sustainable levels
and offer domestic investors a noninflationary alternative to the
government paper they are holding.
Under the programme, reducing the debt would create the fiscal
space to attend to the country's social issues.
The US300 million will come as a structural adjustment loan
from the International Development Association, the soft lender for
"least developed countries".
Easy terms are offered - 20 years to repay at 0,75 percent
interest with a 10-year grace period.
According to an official this means in essence that 65 percent
of the money is a grant.
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