IN BRIEF 150 GUN OWNERS ARRESTED
NEARLY 150 owners of licensed firearms were arrested in Gauteng over the weekend for the unlawful use of firearms, according to police. Various offences were noted, including pointing firearms, shooting in the air and, last but not least, armed robbery. Ninety-nine firearms were confiscated. Police say that negligent use of guns is an increasing trend. The courts will decide whether those arrested should have their licences revoked.
CONSOLATION LUNCH FOR BAFANA BAFANA
SOUTH AFRICA’S national football team, Bafana Bafana, were treated to lunch by President Nelson Mandela on Tuesday to thank them for their achievements in the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament. Presidential spokesman Parks Mankahlana said Mandela congratulated them on reaching the final, despite the many expert pessimists. The team were runners-up in the tournament, having lost 2-0 to Egypt in the final in Burkina Faso on Saturday.
REBELS RUN BEFORE ECOMOG
FORCES from Sierra Leone’s ousted military junta fled the northern town of Makeni on Monday, ahead of the Nigerian-led intervention force Ecomog. Makeni, one of the countries largest towns, had been expected to be the site of heavy resistance, and the rebels’ flight suggests there is little fight left in them. The advance of Ecomog has freed 50 religious workers trapped in the town. Many properties were looted before the rebels departed. Reports say that dozens of houses have been burnt down, while decomposing corpses lie in the streets.
SUSPECT HELD FOR TOURIST MURDERS
A TWENTY-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in Friday night’s killing of two Swedish tourists in Umhlanga. The tourists’ hired silver Honda Ballade has been found by police in Qumbu in the Eastern Cape. Police are still conducting forensic examinations of the holiday flat in which the two men were killed. It seems they have yet to work out how the murderers got into the flat, as security was good, and there was no sign of forced entry.
FORT HARE TO REOPEN
THE University of Fort Hare reopens on Wednesday, university authorities said on Tuesday. Riots by unregistered students forced the closure of the campus a week ago. Unregistered students will have to prove their payment of half the first term’s fee to be allowed to study. The accumulated student debt at the end of 1997 exceeded R26-million, said a Fort Hare spokesman.
KENYAN BANKS FIRE THOUSANDS
FOUR major Kenyan banks on Tuesday sacked thousands of employees striking to protest the government’s decision to raise interest rates on employer-subsidised loans. In a move that heightened social tensions, the Kenya Commercial Bank, the Commercial Bank of Africa, the National Bank of Kenya and Standard & Chartered Bank sacked employees who have shut down most banking activities in the country since Friday. The government, under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to tighten up tax collection to produce desperately needed revenue to plug a growing budget deficit, has directed all employers to raise interest to 22% from 15% on loans to their employees.
VRYBURG FIST FIGHTS
FIST fights between black and white pupils erupted at the troubled Vryburg High School in North-West Province on Monday after a week of racial confrontations and riots sparked by the expulsion of five black pupils. Regional police spokesman Senior Superintendent Pieter du Plessis said no one was seriously injured in the fighting and that Vryburg and Huhudi township, although still tense, had returned to normal on Monday, with 100% attendance at the high school.
‘WETSUIT ROBBER’ HAS WATERTIGHT ALIBI
CHARGES against Robben Island’s alleged “wetsuit” robber — Gerhard Rossouw, brother of Springbok rugby player Pieter Rossouw — have been dropped after police received video evidence of his alibi, police said on Monday. Rossouw’s lawyer Gerhard de Jong presented police with a video showing Rossouw at a party at Quay 4 restaurant at the Waterfront at the time of the robbery. Rossouw, formerly employed in the Robben Island musueum, was accused of robbing a Robben Island shop of R24 000. The robber was dressed in a wetsuit despite the fact the shop is over 1km from the beach.
16 EXECUTED IN DRC
SIXTEEN people sentenced to death by military authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo were executed by firing squad on Tuesday in the southern town of Lubumbashi, the head of the town’s military court announced. The public executions held at the Wangu military camp were of two soldiers and 14 civilians convicted of murder and armed robbery. Public executions are becoming increasingly frequent in the former Zaire, with 21 soldiers put to death in Kinshasa on January 27 and 19 others on January 15 in Goma.
WORK: IT’S A PAIN IN THE BACK
BACK problems are the biggest cause of both temporary and permanent disability among employees in South Africa, according to figures released by Sanlam Group Benefits this week. Almost R125-million was paid out in disability benefits last year, R7-million more than in the previous year, the financial group said. A total of 31% of all disability claims last year were the result of skeletal problems. In almost all cases, skeletal problems referred to some kind of back problem. A second major cause of disability was circulatory problems, which were responsible for 17% of claims.
NAVY MEN HELD FOR ARSON
TWO South African navy sailors have been arrested for an arson attack on offices in the Simons Town naval base on Saturday. A third suspect is in hospital with serious burns. The motive for the attack, targeted on the offices of Commodore Peter Keene, is not known.
VAN DER POST’S ASHES IN KAROO
THE ashes of British author Sir Laurens van der Post, close friend of Prince Charles, are to be spread in the Karoo near where he was born in the town of Philippolis in 1904. Among the guests at the ceremony in April will be Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, another close friend of Van der Post.
FLOOD DEATH TOLL RISES
THE death toll in weekend floods in the Eastern Cape has risen to seven, with three people missing, police said on Monday. Four people drowned in East London and three in Umtata after torrential rain caused flooding at the weekend. A rescue services spokesman, John Fobian, said on Monday afternoon that the rain appeared to be abating and that evacuation of flooded areas is no longer necessary.
SA/CANADA DEFENCE LINK
SOUTH Africa and Canada on Monday initialled an undertaking that could result in joint defence industry ventures between the two. A future agreement could see industrial co-operation in the field of armaments, military technology and production, Defence Minister Joe Modise said. Art Eggleton is the first Canadian defence minister to visit South Africa.