NO DNA TEST FOR CHILUBA
ZAMBIA’s High Court on Tuesday dismissed an opposition petition to order President Frederick Chiluba to undergo a DNA test to determine whether his is really Zambian-born. The opposition claims that Chiluba was not rightfully elected as president, saying he was born of a father, 74-year-old Luke Kafupi Chabala, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). Chief Justice Mathew Nqulube cited an earlier court’s ruling last July, saying there was no reason to review this decision.
NEW AMNESTY OFFICIALS
THE Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Wednesday announced the appointment of five new members to its overworked amnesty committee. They are: Trankei judge Selwyn Miller; Wynand Malan, a TRC commissioner and the deputy chair of its human rights violations committee; Charl Cilliers, founding member of the Legal Resources Centre and its chairman for more than 17 years; Leah Gcabashe, an advocate and former journalist and senior law lecturer at the University of Natal; and Nkola Motata, chairman of the Black Advocates’ Forum in Johannesburg. Parliament is at present considering a further amendment to the Promotion of National Reconciliation and Unity Act that will expand the committee to 19 members.
MYSTERY EXAM PAPERS
FIFTY Gauteng exam papers, all of them filled in, were found dumped next to a road near Potgietersrus. The papers, for the course Northern Sotho, have alarmed education authorities, already under fire over allegations of exam fraud.
PARLIAMENT REPORT THIS WEEK
The internal ANC committee considering the future location of parliament, will report to the party executive at the weekend. ANC leaders have repeatedly said that the country cannot afford two capitals, and it is expected that Cape Town will lose parliament to Pretoria. Opposition parties have expressed anger that the matter is being investigated inside the ANC rather than in parliament itself.
PAGAD WON’T REPLACE TOEFY
VIGILANTE group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs has decided not to replace chief commander Aslam Toefy, who resigned at the weekend. ”It has been decided in a full working committee meeting that the position of chief commander in the Pagad movement shall henceforth cease to exist with immediate effect,” Pagad official Gulam Allie said in a statement on Tuesday night.
MOROCCAN ELECTIONS
MOROCCANS go to the polls on Friday for general elections intended to usher in Western-style democracy. While the elections will not transform the kingdom of Hassan II into a parliamentary democracy, they will be a significant advance towards that, observers say in Rabat. In moving toward democracy, Morocco is trying to stem the Islamic tide while neighbouring Algeria sinks deeper into terror and conflict.
SA GROUP AWARDED
SOUTH African anti-racism organisation We Care Trust has been awarded the 1997 French Republic Award for Human Rights, the French embassy said on Tuesday. The group, which conducts an anti-racist education scheme directed at children aged between 10 and 12, won the R100 000 prize along with other organisations from Colombia, Switzerland, Togo and Ukraine. French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin will present the award during a ceremony to be held in Paris on December 10 — International Human Rights Day.
NIGERIA LEFT OUT
NIGERIA is not on the list of countries and regions invited to take part in the seventh Francophone summit, the Vietnamese organisers said on Wednesday. Earlier, diplomatic sources in Paris had said Nigeria, whose military junta has been shunned by the British-led Commonwealth, was on the guest list and its attendance would be a step towards gaining observer status. Several leaders of the military junta have reiterated their intention to integrate Nigeria into the French-dominated west African region. The seventh Summit of French-speaking countries — with its 49 states representing 500-million people — is scheduled to open in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Friday.