MANDELA SCOFFS AT ‘SPIES’
PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela yesterday challenged Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille to read her list of alleged spies from the apartheid era, out loud, outside of parliament. De Lille claimed in parliament last week that seven members of the current Cabinet – members of the African National Congress – were spies for the old regime.
Mandela said he has seen no such list. He said he ordered a police and army investigation into alleged spies three years ago, which turned up no evidence of Cabinet ministers’ involvement. Mandela said: “I don’t think, personally, there’s evidence anywhere against the people who have been named .”
BUS TOLL REACHES 34
The toll after Saturday’s collision between a petrol tanker and a bus near the Tugela Bridge in KwaZulu-Natal rose to 34 by Sunday night, all members of a delegation to an Inkatha Freedom Party Women’s Brigade conference in Ulundi. Bystanders said flames from the collision leapt 20 metres into the air. A call for a week of national mourning has been supported by organisations including Cosatu.
WINNIE ON MARCH
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told a million-plus black American women at a rally in Philadelphia, USA at the weekend that “We have a shared responsibility to save the world from the violence that wrecks it”. Madikizela was keynote speaker at the march, billed as the female answer to the Million Men March and a pledge by black women in the United States to retrieve and restore their communities.
RICHARDSON IN KENYA
AMERICAN ambassador to the UN and roving envoy Bill Richardson has arrived in Kenya, where he plans to urge Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi to “swiftly come to agreement” with his opponents “on the next steps in their development as a democratic nation.” Richardson also plans to show US support for the Sudan peace talks, which are to be held in Nairobi on Wednesday.
MINE SAFETY BILL TABLED DRAFT legislation aimed at promoting the health and safety of workers on the country’s mines was tabled in Parliament on Friday. The Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill provides for a system of administrative fines of up to R200 000 for employers who contravene safety and health regulations. The Bill stems from recommendations by the Mining Regulations Advisory Committee.