BANDA TAKES IT WITH HIM
The late Malawian president Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who died last week aged 99, will take his lavish lifestyle to the grave with a $37 000 coffin. The gold-plated casket, “fit for a former head of state”, comes with a 75-year guarantee. Said diplomat John Chikago: “By guarantee, I mean that for 75 years nothing like air or anything will get inside the casket and his body will be intact for that period.”
ANCYL REPATS VOTE AT 16 CALL
THE African National Congress Youth League on Monday reiterated its call for the lowering of the voting age to 16 years. “This must be seen as part of giving youth their rights and demanding responsibility from them. As voters there are things they will be expected to do to exercise responsibility to their nation,” the league said.
DETECTIVES ORDERED BACK TO SCHOOL
ALL detectives dealing with organised crimes have been ordered to undergo advanced training courses at the police detective academy in Pretoria, national commissioner George Fivaz said on Monday. He said this is aimed at preventing incidents such as the one in Durban last month when two suspects in South Africa’s biggest armed robbery walked free, allegedly because illegal investigative methods were used. Fivaz expressed concern about the incident, saying there is no substitute for objective and solid detective work to secure a conviction. “It is completely unjustifiable for either police officials or court prosecutors to attempt to take investigative or judicial short-cuts in the hopes of a quick-fix prosecution.”
ARAFAT ENVOY TO SA
The special envoy of Palestine’s President Yasser Arafat, Suleiman al Najjab, will arrive in South Africa this week at the invitation of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad, the department of foreign affairs said on Monday. Al Najjab will also brief Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on the current status of the Middle East peace process, at talks set to be held in Pretoria on Tuesday, the department said.
TAIWAN DEMANDS ‘UNTENABLE’
TWO of Taiwan’s major demands in negotiating its future ties with South Africa are untenable, Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo said on Monday. Nzo said Taiwan had asked to maintain its symbols, flag and name at whatever SA premises its representatives continue to occupy after 1997. “Unfortunately that would mean maintaining its current status,” Nzo said. Taiwan also wants to keep open its consulates in SA — a position that can only apply when diplomatic relations exist between countries, Nzo said. President Nelson Mandela announced last year that South Africa will relinquish its diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of mainland China at the end of 1997.
NO E CAPE VOTE FOR WINNIE
THE 13 branches of the Eastern Cape region of the ANC, one of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s strongholds, failed to nominate her for a single top ANC office at the weekend. With all the key ANC nominations now in, only the ANC Women’s League has remained behind Madikizela-Mandela.
TRC DEFENDS TREVOR TUTU AMNESTY
THE Truth and Reconciliation Commission has denied weekend claims of nepotism, after Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s son Trevor was granted amnesty for a bomb hoax at an airport. The commission has also threatened to sue to protect the archbishop’s reputation. Both the Democratic Party and Pan Africanist Party say that Trevor Tutu’s ‘prank’ should not have earned him a release from jail because it was not committed on behalf of a bona fide political organisation. The Truth Commission says Trevor Tutu’s application was handled by a three-person committee which did not include the archbishop. He had not seen his son’s application and was unaware of the decision until his son’s lawyer informed him. The committee was headed by Chris De Jager, a former Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging member, nominated to the Truth Commission by the Freedom Front.
KIDNEY APPEAL MAN DIES
DURBAN diabetic Thiagraja Soobramoney, the man whose appeal for free renal dialysis at state expense was rejected by the Constitutional Court, died at the weekend. Soobramoney went to court to argue that he was unable to afford treatment for a chronic kidney condition, and was therefore entitled to state medical treatment in terms of the constitution. The court ruled that since his condition was terminal, and “an ongoing state of affairs”, it did not fit the category of emergency treatment. Soobramoney’s wife said: “I am bitter because they (the court) have left me a widow … His last plea was that everyone had the right to life and all humans deserve compassion.”
STAMPEDE OVER BANDA’S BODY
FORTY-ONE people were injured in a stampede as they tried to view the body of Malawi’s former president Hastings Kamuzu Banda as it lay in state in Blantyre, hospital sources said on Monday. Most of the victims were reportedly treated and discharged, but 14 were admitted, four with serious injuries. The victims suffered head injuries and multiple abrasions after being trampled as thousands of people crowded the Chichiri conference centre in Blantyre on Sunday, where Banda’s body lay. Baton-wielding riot police backed by dogs finally brought the crowd under control. Banda, who ruled Malawi for 30 years, died last week in a South African clinic aged 99.
SOMALI WARLORDS RECONCILE
Somali warlords, who last week agreed to set up an interim government in their anarchic country, have reached an agreement to hold a national reconciliation meeting in southern Somalia later this month to set up the new government. The decision was taken on Sunday to meet in the town of Baidoa, southwest of Mogadishu, on December 20, a source close to Somali warlord Ali Mahdi Mohammad said. “Somali faction leaders are still meeting here [Cairo] to finalise preparations for this meeting,” the source said.
MALAY TEAM HEADS FROM CAPE TO CAIRO
A MALAYSIAN expedition of 54 men and women in 16 4×4 vehicles is set to leave Cape Town on Monday on a 33-day overland trip to Cairo in Egypt. Malaysian organiser George Wong said the Silverstone TransAfrica 4×4 Expedition hopes to complete the 17 000km journey by January 2, 1998. “This is the first large-scale expedition in history to embark upon an ambitious overland journey in Africa and aims to strengthen the bond between Malaysia and the African countries,” he said. The expedition, under the patronage of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad, will travel through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt.
FIVE SHOT ON FLATS
FIVE men were wounded when two men opened fire on a Belhar, Cape Flats house late on Sunday. Police spokesman Superintendent Wicus Holtzhausen said the motive for the attack is still being investigated. Gang violence occurred in the area at the weekend. Two men drove up in a car and fired numerous shots at the house before speeding off. Arend Heikenman, 28, was shot in the buttocks, Mario Adams, 25, was shot in both legs, Marcelo de Kok, 19, was shot in the left leg and stomach, Andries Arries, 27, in the right leg and Kevin Arends, 34, in the back. They are being treated in hospital.