COMPOSITE ANTHEM STAYS
PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela on Friday proclaimed the combined version of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and Die Stem van Suid Afrika as the country’s official national anthem. A notice to this end was published in a Government Gazette in Pretoria. The combined version served as South Africa’s national anthem under the interim constitution. The new Constitution, approved earlier this year, stipulated it was up to Mandela to officially proclaim the new national anthem.
OFFICIALS IMPLICATED IN BREAK-OUT
TWO high-ranking prison officials in KwaZulu-Natal have been removed from their positions following the escape on Thursday of 14 awaiting-trial prisoners suspected of serious crimes. The Department of Correctional Services’ KwaZulu-Natal spokesman, Philemon Ntuli, said provincial commissioner Maxwell Ntoni has already removed Maphanga and Mtshali from their positions, pending an internal investigation. Ntuli said the prisoners escaped out of an unlocked cell at 11.30pm on Thursday. He said four of the suspects were arrested later and the others are still at large and are considered dangerous.
FBI SAYS ‘SORRY RONNIE’
THE United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has formally apologised to Deputy Defence Minister Ronnie Kasrils for forging his name on a letter used to trap three suspected spies. The apology was made after a preliminary meeting with SA’s US ambassador Franklin Sonn, who was instructed to find out exactly what happened when the FBI used Kasrils’s name in the sting operation on Saturday. Sonn is also due to raise the matter with officials from the US state department and the justice department.
MUGABE’S POWER STATION DEAL FLOPS
A CONTROVERSIAL contract to boost the thermal power of Zimbabwe’s Hwange power station has run into obstacles as foreign investors show reluctance to support the deal. The contract, worth an estimated $600-million, caused severe international censure in August last year, when President Robert Mugabe dismissed the tender procedure and awarded it directly to the Malaysian YTL Corporation. When the deal was criticised by Western governments, Mugabe said they could “go to hell”. As yet, no major Western investors have backed the deal, and the final stage of the contract negotiations has been stalled.
MOI MOVES TO END STRIKE
KENYAN President Daniel arap Moi named a three-member committee to resolve the week-long teachers strike that has gripped the country. Moi ordered committee members to “come up with a possible solution to the dispute and a return-to-work programme and return to me within 48 hours”. The negotiations reached a stalemate on Tuesday, when teachers demanding a 150% to 200% salary increase rejected the Department of Education’s highest offer of 40%. Since then, 200 000 teachers have been on strike, some of them participating in marches on parliament.
R23bn INDIA ARMS DEAL?
INDIA and South Africa have signed a R23-billion arms deal for the sale of 155mm gun turrets for Indian tanks, according to a journalist close the the Indian trade delegation visiting SA. A deal to sell India R700-million worth of ammunition for 155mm guns was previosuly concluded between the two countries. Foreign Affairs director general Rusty Evans said South Africa and India have been talking for a long time about increasing military co-operation between the two countries. Arms parastatal Denel has denied the report. Spokesman George Masoek said: “There is no deal on the table. The reports are speculation of the highest porder.”
JSC FORWARDS PROPOSALS
THE Judicial Services Commission has announced its recommendations for appointments to vacancies in various courts. The JSC put forward Judge PE Streicher for appointment to the Supreme Court of Appeal. For the vacancy in the Constitutional Court, the JSC proposed Judge Edwin Cameron, Judge M Madlanga, advocate Zac Yacoob and Professor J van der Westhuizen. President Nelson Mandela will select which of the four takes the appointment.
ICD CASH-STRAPPED
THE Independent Complaints Directorate is experiencing financial difficulties caused by severe budgetary constraints, ICD executive-director Neville Melville said on Friday. The directorate, which investigates complaints against police, receives a budget that is inadequate for it to perform its mandate more efficiently and it is impossible to continue operating within the budget, Melville told the National Assembly’s safety and security committee. However, he added, negotiations for additional funding are continuing.
PLAGUE IN MALAWI
AN outbreak of bubonic plague has been reported in southern Malawi, with eight cases so far identified, health authorities said on Friday. State health service controller Wilfred Chalamira Nkhoma said victims are receiving treatment and no one has died yet. Meanhwile, measures have been taken to control the plague, which is caused by rats, and a nationwide alert issued to all regional health authorities. He said the plague was first reported on September 29 and originated from neighbouring Mozambique.