IN BRIEF MASIRE STEPS DOWN
BOTSWANA’S outgoing President Sir Ketumile Masire stepped down on Tuesday, after 18 years in office. He is succeeded by his vice-president Festus Mogae. Masire’s last official duty involved meeting American President Bill Clinton on Tuesday night before Clinton left for Senegal on the final leg of his six-nation African tour. Earlier in the day, Masire attended the farewell parade of Botswana Defence Force commander Lieutenant-General Seretse Ian Khama, who retired the same day and is believed headed for a position in Mogae’s Cabinet.
FRENCH TRADE MISSION ROBBED
THE French Trade Mission in Sandown, Johannesburg, was robbed by a gang of five armed men on Tuesday morning. Police spokesman Inspector Mark Reynolds said robbers entered the seventh-floor offices at 8.20am, demanded cash and forced staff to lie on the floor. When the Trade Mission head arrived, the robbers forced him to open a small safe. After locking staff in the offices, the gang escaped with R1000, a cellular telephone and some clothing. Reynolds said a “tea lady”, not employed by the mission, was arrested.
GENDER TALKS FOR SA
A NON-political women’s organisation announced the start of a conference in Pretoria on Wednesday that will address the upliftment and education of women. Associated Country Women of the World, which claims a membership of 9-million in 66 countries, said 750 women from 47 countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Iceland, Canada, the United States, England, Ireland, Denmark and Zimbabwe are expected to attend the conference. Literacy and female circumcision will be discussed, along with other gender-related concerns.
STUDENTS ARRESTED AFTER SIT-IN
NINE University of Transkei students who were staging a sit-in at the vice-chancellor’s office were arrested during a clash with police on Wednesday. The sit-in followed an announcement by authorities that students who owe the institution money will not be accepted this year, and will have to vacate the campus. Police are monitoring the situation.
SA HIGH COMISSIONER MEETS OVER MUGGING
MANGISI ZITHA, South African African High Commissioner to Maputo, was on Monday asked to explain the mugging of Mozambican Housing Minister Roberto White in Johannesburg last week. Zitha met Mozambican Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Hipolito Patricio on Monday. The minister expressed concern about the attack on White and similar attacks on Mozambicans in South Africa, Zitha said. East Rand police said on Wednesday they are investigating the possibility that policemen may have been responsible for the attack.
ANC EXPELS CORRUPT COUNCILLOR
THE African National Congress in the Cape Town City Council has decided to support the council decision to fire two councillors who broke their code of conduct by intervening in a council eviction in Manenberg on the Cape Flats. The conduct of the two, Mogamaat Sampson of the ANC and Osborne Adams of the National Party, led to death threats being made against Cape Town housing director Billy Cobbett. The NP left the council chamber before the vote on the expulsion.
RIGHTWING PRISONER WANTS EUTHANASIA
A RIGHTWING prisoner has requested euthanasia, saying he is suffering unbearable pain as a consequence of being tortured after his arrest in 1994. Phil Klopper, a former brigadier in the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, is serving 82 years for murder and attempted murder. His open letter to the authorities says: “Every day in my life is pure hell … allow me to die.” The letter went to Correctional Services Minister Sipo Mzimela and President Nelson Mandela. Klopper has been receiving treatment for his neck since arriving in Leeuwkop prison.
LIBERIAN FEUD SETTLED
LIBERIAN President Charles Taylor has appointed long-time rival and former warlord Roosevelt Johnson as ambassador to India. The announcement followed a meeting between Taylor and representatives of Johnson’s tribe, the Krahn. In the last week, Johnson’s supporters have accused Taylor of attacking the former’s home. West-African Ecomog peacekeeping troops are now patrolling the Liberian capital Monrovia. Johnson and Taylor led different rebel forces in the seven-year civil war against dictator Samuel Doe.
CHIRAC AND RAWLINGS TO SA
FRENCH President Jacques Chirac may visit South Africa on a state visit in June, while President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana is expected later this month. Although a Foreign Affairs spokesman was reluctant to confirm the visits because it is “too early”, he said indications are that both heads of state will be visiting South Africa.
CLINTON N SENEGAL
UNITED States President Bill Clinton arrived in Senegal on Wednesday, amid wildly cheering crowds and members of a political opposition party chanting “sopi”, meaning change. Senegal is the final stop on Clinton’s six-nation tour of sub-Saharan Africa. Clinton will wrap up his trip on Thursday with a speech on the future of US-African relations at Goree Island, a former outpost of the slave trade off the coast of the Senegalese capital Dakar.
SA DISPLAYS ANTI-NUKE PACT
SOUTH Africa submitted the ratified African Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty to the Organisation for African Unity last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. In terms of the treaty, which Parliament ratified in November last year, all co-signatories are prohibited from buying or possessing nuclear weapons. The treaty also prohibits nuclear testing, dumping radioactive waste, and armed attacks on nuclear installations. The treaty has been signed by five parties and will come into effect once it has been ratified by 28 countries.
BUTHELEZI TO WORK WITH IEC
HOME Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the Independent Electoral Commission on Tuesday affirmed their commitment to join forces to ensure the success of voter registration ahead of the 1999 elections. The two parties held talks earlier in the day to explore ways in which they could co-operate in the run-up to the elections. Buthelezi said in a statement that the Home Affairs Department will head up a campaign to promote awareness among voters of the need to possess of an indentity document to register for the poll.
PARIS SQUARE NAMED AFTER DULCIE SEPTEMBER
FOR the first time ever, a street name in the city of Paris will bear the name of a South African. The Dulcie September Square was officially inaugurated on Tuesday, 10 years after the activist was assassinated in the city. The plaque was unveiled by the SA ambassador to Paris, Barbara Masekela, French Co-operation Minister Charles Josselin, and Tony Dreyfus, mayor of the city district of Paris in which the square is situated. The plaque, in the universally recognised blue and green rectangular format of Paris’s street names, reads: “Dulcie September Square: Representative of the African National Congress: Assassinated in Paris on March 29 1988”.
MINSTERS TO MECCA
JUSTICE Minister Dullah Omar and Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development Minister Valli Moosa will leave for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday to follow the annual Muslim pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. Omar, accompanied by his wife, and Moosa will stay as guests of the Saudi royal family for the duration of their stay.
YOUTH SERVICE PROPOSED
DELEGATES to the weekend Masakhane Youth Summit on Monday called for the urgent introduction of a national youth service, which would focus on promoting development and reconciliation in South Africa. South African Youth Council president Freddy Pilusa said the proposed service will target early school leavers, graduates and the unemployed who have the necessary skill and training required for constructive contributions to various development projects. “The youth are those who have the most available leisure time and we are asking them to use some of this time toward making a difference in our country,” Pilusa said.
MOI INVITED TO SA
KENYAN President Daniel arap Moi has accepted an invitation by President Nelson Mandela to visit South Africa later this year, Foreign Affairs spokesman Marco Boni said on Tuesday. The invitation was extended to Moi on Mandela’s behalf by Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Nzo, who is in Kenya to discuss bilateral issues with his counterpart Dr Bonaya Godana, Boni said.
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