MPUMALANGA Premier Mathews Phosa appointed one of the province’s most respected and proactive administrators, Coleman Nyathi, as acting provincial director general on Friday. The appointment follows the unexpected resignation of former director general Frank Mbatha in mid-January. Mbatha resigned to pursue a private-sector career after his authority began slipping, with bodies such as the Mpumalanga Parks Board and provincial finance department openly defying his orders. Nyathi currently heads economic affairs and gaming, the only department in Mpumalanga that has been untouched by corruption scandals or other irregularities.
RENEWED CONGOLESE WAR
HEAVY artillery fire broke out early on Friday south-west of Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, where troops backing the country’s military ruler are fighting rival militia forces. The renewed violence follows the lifting on Tuesday of a blockade on Brazzaville’s south-western districts of Makelekele and Bacongo where several hundred people are said to have been killed in fighting.The fighting has been between President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s army, backed by Angolan troops and the so-called Ninja militia loyal to former prime minister and Brazzaville mayor Bernard Kolelas.