NDABANINGI SITHOLE GUILTY
VETERAN Zimbabwean opposition leader Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole was found guilty in the Harare High Court on Friday of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. He was also convicted of sending men for military training with the purpose of overthrowing the government, and of possessing arms of war. The 78-year-old Methodist cleric, a veteran African nationalist who was once an ally of Mugabe’s, remained expressionless in the dock as Judge Esmael Chatikobo announced his verdict. Nearly 30 years ago, in the same courtroom, Sithole was jailed for six years for plotting to assassinate the then white-minority prime minister of Rhodesia, Ian Smith. Sentence will be handed down at a later date
MADIBA SLAMS SPOOKS
PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela has accused elements in the SA Secret Service and Nationalo Intelligence Agency of working with sinister forces to undermine the country’s democracy. Speaking at the opening of the NIA and SASS new joint headquarters in Pretoria, he said this is clear from a spate of thefts from the NIA offices over recent months. Mandela said both organisations need to examine themselves very closely. “How can you claim with any measure of integrity that you are competent to protect the county if you cannot secure your own premises,” he asked.