BRAZZAVILLE FIGHTING ESCALATES FIGHTING in the Congo capital Kinshasa escalated on Tuesday, once again putting peace talks in jeopardy. The tense situation in the city has been characterised by almost daily ceasefires, which are broken as they are announced. The opposing sides were reported to have spent the day trading mortar and machinegun fire near the Sofitel hotel in downtown Brazzaville.
NIGERIA EXILES MEET COMMONWEALTH EXILED Nigerian opposition leaders are to meet the Commonwealth ministerial action group in London this week to present new information about the military regime. Nigerian Foreign Minister Tom Ikimi has condemned the meeting as an “orchestrated campaign to vilify the country” and sustain her suspension from the Commonwealth.
NAMIBIA HOSTAGE DRAMA SEVERAL hundred former Swapo guerrillas held four regional councillors hostage at the Swapo head office in Oshakati on Tuesday. The councillors were only released in the early evening, when police surrounded the building. The former guerrillas, their wives and children, have been holding protests around the country for almost a fortnight against the government’s failure to provide them with jobs seven years after liberation.
CIVIL SERVANTS BACK ON JOB NINETY percent of civil servants in Bushbuckridge returned to work on Tuesday after a two-month stayaway in support of incorporating the area into Mpumalanga. The Bushbuckridge Border Committe, making the announcement, added that 65% of boycotting school pupils had also returned to classes. This followed a decision by residents at a mass rally on Sunday to suspend mass action on the border dispute pending the outcome of several initiatives aimed at ending the stand-off.
MANDELA IN LONDON NELSON MANDELA and Graca Machel had tea with Queen Elizabeth yesterday at the start of a five day tour of Britain. Mandela meets prime minister Tony Blair today, before going to Oxford to receive the freedom of the city. In a BBC interview, Mandela urged the British to contribute to a fund for deprived South African children.
JO’BURG CLEAN UP JOHANNESBURG will begin a “clean up” initiative next week, to be launched by Thabo Mbeki, to fight crime and inner city decay and win back streets and parks for ordinary citizens. The initiative, called Mayivuke, was initiated by the private sector Inner City Development Forum. One of its key components will be to split the city into sectors, each responsible for its own management.