ECSTASY CHARGE DROPPED
A CHARGE of possession of the designer drug ecstasy against Dr Johannes Koekemoer, 54, was withdrawn in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court last week. Koekemoer was arrested in February, allegedly in possession of 56 ecstasy tablets. The charge was apparently withdrawn at the request of the attorney-general. Koekemoer was arrested during police follow-up investigations after the earlier arrest of apartheid chemical weapons supremo Dr Wouter Basson on charges of dealing in the drug.
MANDELA: ‘NO BORDER CHANGES’ IN an unusual move, President Nelson Mandela on Tuesday reiterated government policy that there will be no transfer of Bushbuckridge from Northern Province to Mpumalanga. “There is no question of changing the borders at all,” he told reporters after meeting the Bushbuckridge Border Committee at his official Pretoria residence. The committee has led a number of violent demonstrations in recent weeks to demand Bushbuckridge’s incorporation into Mpumalanga.
PROPER BURIAL FOR CADRES The remains of four Umkhonto We Sizwe cadres which were exhumed two months ago on a remote Free State farm are to be reburied. The bodies of Lesetja Joseph Sexwale, Anthony Sureboy Dali and Thabiso Rakobo will be reinterred after a memorial service at Heroes Acre in Soweto on June 21, and the body of Mavuso Siyenzangabom will be buried in Alice in the Eastern Cape.
FLORAL ARTIST HONOURED JAPANESE Emperor Akihito has honoured South African Hester Ferreira by awarding her the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Rays, for her efforts in bringing traditional Japanese culture to the people of South Africa. Ferreira, a floral artist who makes Japanese flower arrangements, will be given the medal in a ceremony at the Japanese embassy in Pretoria this week.
TEENS TORCH BUSES TWO teenagers were arrested in Groblersdal for setting four buses alight early on Tuesday morning. Police say the two, and six others, attacked the buses and damaged them. There is no evidence yet that the attacks are linked to the ongoing violent border dispute in the area.
MORE JUSTICE POSTS
The justice department has called for more money to create 1 347 prosecution and court posts to allow it to cope with the war on crime. “The shortage of personnel has led to a severe cut in service delivery, overcrowded court rolls and detention of accused persons for long periods,” said a proposal to parliament.