PRIVATE JAILS
PARLIAMENT has unanimously approved a bill which allows for ‘privatised’ prisons, which are built and run by the private sector at a set fee per prisoner. Correctional Services Minister Dr Sipo Mzimela said Cabinet had approved four pilot projects, which were in the process of being put to tender. The Bill also provides for the appointment of an inspecting judge to head a directorate responsible for independent prison visits and reporting on the treatment and condition of prisoners. ANC SUES M&G MAN
THE African National Congress in Mpumalanga says it will take news wire editor Justin Arenstein to court to reveal his sources for a story in last week’s Mail & Guardian.
The story dealt with the unanimous decision by the provincial executive committee to withdraw their nomination of Premier Mathews Phosa as ANC deputy president, whose style they described as “dictatorial”.
Arenstein said on Thurday he would not reveal his sources, but offered to take a polygraph test. he said a key ANC official had read the article before publication “and had no objections”.
PRINCE SMILING FLIES OUT Britain’s Prince Charles ended his eight-day visit to Southern Africa on Wednesday, having for once scored high marks with the popular press for his “new, relaxed style”. The Prince took pains to appear happy and smiling and made determined efforst to joke with the public throughout his visit, which included Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland. This was the first foreign trip he has taken since the death of Princess Diana, two months ago.
LAST KENYA REFORM BILL PASSES The Kenyan Parliament on Thursday passed the last section of a reform package criticised by extra-parliamentary activists as mere “cosmetic change”. The package, including a provision for a two-year Constitutional Review Commission, follows several months of demands for reforms before general elections, expected in a month.
CAPE TOWN SNUBS TUTU ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu may be a world-renowned figure and Cape Town’s most famous son, but that hasn’t helped him get the Freedom of the City of Cape Town. The Cape Town city council failed to get the required two-thirds majority approval, thanks to “no” votes by National Party members who still remember the party’s recent tiff with the Truth Commission. Council representative Nomaindia Mfeketo said the issue was “an embarrassment to Cape Town”.
POLICE WITHDRAW WINNIE’S GUARDS POLICE bodyguards to Winnie Madzikizela Mandela were withdrawn on Wednesday, following a series of “disagreements” with her private bodyguards. She is the only former government official (other than former state presidents) to benefit from police protection, on the grounds of her “high-risk profile”.
NAMIBIAN BISHOP Former educationist Shihala Hamupembe has been elected Anglican Bishop of Namibia, succeeding retiring Bishop James Kauluma. Currently archdeacon of Odibo in northern Namibia, Hamupembe studied youth leadership and community development in Zambia and theology at the University of Glasgow and Unisa. He began teaching school in 1968, and served as a high school principal before being ordained as a priest in 1979.
LAWYER FOR GARDENER BENNETT Sibiya, the Cape Town gardener who admits that he lied to the Truth Commision to “frame” its investigations head, Dumisa Ntsebeza, has been granted a legal aid lawyer. Sibiya still has to explain himself to an inquiry into the matter, and, according to lawyer, Michael Donen, plans to sue “whoever got him in this situation.”
Gardener admits to lying, says Tutu
MPs’ FINANCES Water Affairs Minister Kader Asmal on Thursday called on MPs and delegates to the National Council of Provinces to declare their financial interests to Parliament by the end of the current session. So far, 261 of the 400 National Assembly members have declared to Asmal’s committee on members’ interests, and about half of the delegates to the council of provinces. The register of members’ interests is open for public scrutiny.
MADUNA APOLOGISES ENERGY minister Pennuell Maduna apologised in the National Assembly last night to the Democatic Party’s Kobus Jordaan for remarks he made several weeks ago suggesting that Jordaan was an apartheid-era government spy. Maduna meanwhile faces another parliamentary probe into remarks he made suggesting that the auditor general, Henri Kluever, is unqualified.