/ 21 April 1999

VOLK SUBMIT FINAL REPORT

THE Volkstaat Council on Wednesday handed its final report on Afrikaner self-determination to President Nelson Mandela. The 20-member council was established under the 1993 constitution as a mechanism “to enable proponents of the idea of a Volkstaat to constitutionally pursue the establishment of such a Volkstaat”. The council shut its Pretoria offices and effectively disbanded at the end of March, and it is expected it will be formally dissolved by presidential proclamation once it has completed the report.

WOMAN HEADS ARMY COMMANDO

THE army in Mpumalanga made history this week when a woman was appointed to a senior command post of a commando unit. Housewife, Susanne Mare, who is an intelligence officer for the Belfast Commando was appointed second in command of the unit on Monday. “This appointment is a clear indication of the commitment of the South African army to transformation and the acceptance of women in previously male-dominated roles,” said Eastern Transvaal Command spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Hester Boshoff.