IN BRIEF ILLEGAL ALIENS ‘EASY ARRESTS’
POLICE figures released on Wednesday show that despite the fact that a third of all suspects arrested in Johannesburg in May were illegal aliens, only a tiny proportion of illegals were held on suspicion of committing a crime. Of the illegal immigrants held in Johannesburg, those arrested for armed robbery, hijacking, murder and attempted murder accounted for only 7,7%. It would appear from the figures that illegal immigrants are targeted in police actions, regardless of possible involvement in criminal acts. Said SA Police Service spokesman Mark Reynolds: “Special operations conducted by the illegal aliens investigations unit do not account for most arrests of illegal immigrants. Most are picked up in the normal course of operations. They are the easiest arrests to make.” *
Meanwhile, Idasa Migrant Project manager Vincent Williams says that many of the illegal immigrants Idasa interviewed boarded taxis back to South Africa the same day they were deported to Mozambique.
JOEY BURGER, ANYONE?
SOUTH Africans may have been dining on kangaroo meat if they have eaten burgers, wors or processed meats in the past month. Carnivores can rest assured however, kangaroo meat officially contains less fat and cholesterol than beef. The South African importers of the marsupial meat, Gaertner Importers, imported 20 tons of roo meat a month ago, and now has orders for another 100 tons. Patrick Gaertner, MD of the company, says that many people have been horrified to learn that kangaroo meat is sold for human consumption. Dr Johan van Wyk of the Department of Agriculture is adamant that there is nothing wrong with the meat. “There may be a psychological resistance to eating kangaroo, but I tell you, it’s good meat.”
MANDELA MEETS THE POPE
PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on Thursday. The mood of the meeting was relaxed, with both Mandela and the Pope exchanging lighthearted banter on Mandela’s arrival. Mandela is visiting the Vatican as President of South Africa eight years after his first visit as a newly released prisoner. During their conversation, which was private, Mandela gave thanks for Vatican and South African Roman Catholic Church support for the country and its “difficult moments of the past”. Mandela and the pope both stressed the need to find “urgent solutions” to the serious problems facing Africa.
TERRE’BLANCHE TAKES THE RAP
AFRIKANER Weerstandsbeweging leader Eugene Terre’Blanche has assumed full political responsibility for the deeds of 10 AWB members who are seeking amnesty for a series of bomb blasts on the eve of the 1994 election. In his statement, delivered at an amnesty hearing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Boksburg, Terre’Blanche says: “As political head of the AWB, I accept political and moral responsibility for the acts that have been committed.”
MORE ‘GHOSTS’ LOSE PAY
THE Free State government has unidentified 369 “ghost workers” draining its payroll. The crackdown on fraud has so far saved the provincial government R7,6-million since the investigation started in April, director-general Bethuel Setai said.
SABC BARS REDDY
SOUTH African Broadcasting Corporation deputy chief executive Govin Reddy will not be permitted to represent the broascaster at the Commonwealth broadcasters’ meeting in Mauritius, spokesman Enoch Sithole confirmed on Wednesday. Reddy, who was recently elected chairman of the Commonwealth broadcasters’ association, levelled charges of racism at the SABC board last week after his deputy, Reverend Hamu Mbatha, was chosen to succeed SABC chief executive Zwelakhe Sisulu. Sisulu said on Wednesday that Reddy’s future will be announced next week.
NINE KILLED IN ANGOLA
NINE people travelling on a truck in Angola’s northern province of Malanje were attacked and killed on Wednesday. Eight more were seriously injured. The attack, attributed to “armed gangs”, is the latest in violence which has left 200 dead in Malanje so far this year. Members of the rebel movement Unita, which is supposed to have demobilised its troops and joined the democratic process in Angola, have been blamed for previous attacks.
GIRAFFES CAN ‘TALK’
A NEW study has discovered that giraffes, long thought to be silent, communucate at infrasonic levels. The study, presented by Elizabeth Von Muggenthaler and Randy Fulk to the Conservation Research Consortium at Columbia’s Riverbanks Zoo, describes how researchers found that in a 24-hour period the animals make several hundred infrasonic sounds. Variations in duration, frequency and amplitude seem to indicate the sounds are a means of communication, not just noise, Von Muggenthaler said. For years, scientists have known that blue whales, elephants and alligators produce infrasonic sounds, which have wave frequencies below 20-hertz and cannot be heard by humans.
FRESH CLASHES IN BISSAU
RENEWED fighting has broken out between government troops and army rebels in the suburbs of the Guinea-Bissau capital. The rebels, who mutinied on June 7 in support of the sacked army chief of staff, General Ansumane Mane, are dug into part of a military barracks in the northern suburb of Bra. They are also holding the airport, which is nearby. The renewed fighting follows a lull in which the Gambian foreign minister, Sidat Jobe, met government officials in an attempt to mediate. He is expected to meet Mane on Thursday.
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