IN BRIEF PRO-ABACHA RALLY BANNED
LAGOS State police have abruptly withdrawn permission for a weekend rally to urge Nigerian junta leader General Sani Abacha to stand in civilian presidential polls, press reports said Thursday. The state police commissioner, Abubakar Tsav, said on Wednesday that the permit earlier granted to rally organisers has been cancelled. Meanwhile, opponents of military rule, represented in the United Action for Democracy coalition of 26 poups, on Wednesday said they will hold “the mother of all mass actions” in Lagos and other parts of the country, at a date still to be announced.
EL NIO HAD MERCY
ALTHOUGH the El Nio drought threat has passed for this year, Southern African harvests are likely to be down 8% this year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisations. They estimate the region will need to import 4,7-million tons of grain over 1998-1999.
TOURISTS TRAPPED IN GORGE
A RESCUE team was on its way at 5.00pm on Thursday to help five foreign tourists trapped in the Storms River Gorge in the southern Cape since Wednesday, according to the Air Force. Rising water levels left them trapped in the gorge, and their female guide had to swim icy waters to the river mouth to summon help. Helicopter rescue proved impossible and rescuers on rafts were to take over.
FIRE KILLS 22 PUPILS
TWENTY-TWO girls at a Kenyan boarding school were killed in a fire on Wednesday night. Another 80 were injured, 11 seriously. The fire was started by an electrical fault. The dormitory housed 144 girls when the fire was started. No reasons for the high death toll have yet been made public. President Daniel arap Moi has ordered a “thorough investigation”.
VRYBURG ACTION PLAN
THE North-West executive committee is to adopt an action plan proposed by a government task group to integrate Vryburg High School, where racism has been found to be “omnipresent”, and management “partisan and unrepresentative”. The task team’s 14-point plan includes appointing a black deputy principal and introduction of black teachers to white classes and vice versa. The provincial government will not release the full report yet, to avoid aggravating the situation.
MASONDO SHIFTED
GAUTENG Health MEC Amos Masondo will step down from his position in June to lead the African National Congress’s 1999 election campaign, Gauteng Premier Mathole Motshekga announced on Wednesday. Motshekga said ANC members elected to the national executive committee can be repositioned at the party’s head office when needed. Masondo will return to the province after the 1999 election. Speculation is rife, however, that Masondo’s redeployment is part of a “purge” by Motshekga ahead of the ANC’s provincial congress this weekend. Masondo was the ANC’s preferred candidate in the race for a new premier after the resignation of Tokyo Sexwale.
NURSING COLLEGES CLOSE
FOUR of Gauteng’s eight nursing training colleges are to be closed over the next three years as part of a structural transformation programme aimed at revamping the province’s health delivery. Gauteng professional services director Mary Grace Msimango said four of the colleges will be merged with the remining four, in terms of a 1996 transformation plan.
NATS SEEK ELECTION ALLIANCE
NATIONAL Party leader Mathinus van Schalkwyk on Wednesday announced his party’s intention to make formal approaches to other opposition parties for co-operation in next year’s general election. Addressing a parliamentary Press Gallery Association lunch, Van Schalkwyk specifically mentioned the Inkatha Freedom Party and the Democratic Party.
MUGABE DENIES HEADING FOR HIGHLANDS
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday denied reports that he is looking to buy a castle in the Scottish highlands. Mugabe’s office made an official statement, published in The Herald, dismissing the reports as a smear campaign run by Mugabe’s detractors to undermine the legitimacy of the government as it is tries to tackle land reform. Mugabe also denied rumours that he had banned an issue of Time magazine reportedly carrying an article on the supposed transaction.
ZAMBIA PARLIAMENT ENDS EMERGENCY
THE Zambian parliament has ratified the revocation by President Chiluba on March 17 of the state of emergency after an attempted coup by junior military officers last October. In parliament, there was some debate about whether Chiluba should have announced the revocation rather than parliament, and various arguments led to inflammatory accusations that the house contains too many “bush lawyers”.
GIANT TELESCOPE FOR SA?
SOUTH African scientists and astronomers are planning one of the world’s most powerful telescopes for Sutherland in the Karoo. According to the University of Cape Town’s Monday Paper, the telescope will be similar to a new United States telescope, with a mirror 10m in diameter. New technology is making it possible to build powerful telescopes at a fraction of the previous cost. Astronomers worldwide would like to see such a telescope in the southern hemisphere, but the planners are relying on finance from the SA government.
MANDELA SUPPORTS DUARTE’S RESIGNATION
PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela supports the decision of ANC Gauteng leaders to ask Safety and Security MEC Jessie Duarte to resign. “I fully support them, notwithstanding my love for Jessie Duarte, who is a wonderful lady,” he said. He said he had passed no judgment on the accusations made against Duarte, but said he had “never met a person who is as efficient and as honest an individual as herself”. An investigation into possible corruption and mismanagement in Duarte’s department is still in progress.