THE Eastern Cape towns of Mount Ayliff and Thabankulu have been declared disaster areas after they were ravaged by a tornado on Monday. The decision to declare a disaster in the areas follows a visit to the affected parts on Thursday by Welfare Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi and Constitutional Affairs Minister Valli Moosa, and was made after consultation with President Nelson Mandela. In a statement on Thursday, the welfare department gave the final damages tally at 26 people killed and hundreds injured, 416 houses destroyed, and 821 damaged.
PRINCESSES OF CHAOS
LEGISLATORS in the Ugandan tribal kingdom of Buganda have produced evidence to counter claims by three princesses that the reigning king, or Kabaka, is not the biological son of his predecessor and occupying the throne illegally. Three dissident princesses have claimed that the 44-year-old Mutebi is the son of Mutesa’s closest friend, Daudi Ochieng’, from the Acholi tribe of northern Uganda.However, they did not name the rightful heir although Mutesa has many other sons from his many wives. Mutebi was enthroned in 1993 after President Yoweri Museveni lifted a 27-year ban imposed on tribal monarchies by the regime of Milton Obote.
GAY POLITICIAN IN PARLOUR LINK
THE Greater Johannesburg’s Eastern Council is investigating complaints that Juan Uys, leader of the newly formed Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GLA) party, is running a gay massage parlour from a house in Greenside East.The Star reported on Friday that neighbours complained to the council that naked men chase each other around the garden until the early hours of the morning and that condoms and syringes are being thrown over their walls. Uys, whose party is running in the upcoming election, apparently confirmed to the newspaper that he has an interest in a massage parlour in Pretoria but denied the Greenside East house as a parlour. GLA has threatened The Star with a R250000 lawsuit. An advertisement in the paper’s classified section, however, carries the house’s phone number.