SOUTH AFRICAN holiday road deaths passed the 600 mark on Monday morning, with 100 deaths recorded over the Christmas weekend alone. A provincial breakdown of the deaths has not yet been released, but the most recent figure, for Sunday night, was: KwaZulu-Natal, with 106, followed by 91 in the Western Cape, 72 in Gauteng, 73 in the Eastern Cape, 57 in Mpumalanga, 53 in the Free State, 42 in the Northern Province, 41 in North-West and 20 in the Northern Cape.
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HUNDREDS HELD IN GAUTENG BLITZ
NEARLY 700 people were arrested and more than 20 firearms confiscated in a crime-prevention operation in Gauteng on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Police spokesperson Director Reg Crewe said on Monday that 688 people were arrested on charges ranging from drunken driving to murder. Some 650 police officers took part in the operation, in which police set up roadblocks and searched 460 vehicles and 1500 people, Crewe said.
MBEKI WARNS ANC ‘GOLD-DIGGERS’
DEPUTY President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday lashed out at members of his ruling African National Congress for seeking power simply to line their own pockets. ANC mayors and officials aspire to leadership positions, he said, “not because they are committed to serve their communities, but because they want to line their pockets with ill-found financial riches.” Mbeki was making a traditional visit to his home town of Engcingwana in Transkei for a two-day homecoming ritual, at which thousands of supporters and tribal leaders turned out to bless the future president. President Nelson Mandela was a special guest at the ritual, in the Eastern Cape province.
ANC LEADER ESCORTED FROM MOSQUE
AFRICAN National Congress Western Cape leader Ebrahim Rasool was escorted out of the Kromboom Road Mosque in Rondebosch East on Sunday, after a spat with a little-known group, calling itself Muslims Against Illegitimate Leaders. Rasool, who has delivered sermons in mosques during the past month, was to have addressed worshippers on the theme of Muslims and the African Renaissance. Mail spokesperson Abdurahman Khan said Rasool and the ANC do not represent the interests of Muslims at large, and condemend Rasool for “trying to use the sanctity of the mosque to propagate ANC policy”.
21 DIE IN KZN VIOLENCE
FOUR people, including an eight-year-old girl were shot dead in a suspected revenge attack in KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend. Two gunmen fired into the Khumalo home at Ntabamhlophe, KwaZulu-Natal midlands, killing Lindiwe Khumalo, 30, Philani Khumalo, 21, Sandile Khumalo, 20, and eight-year-old Nqobile Khumalo.
Police linked the attack to an earlier incident in which Sandile Khumalo was kidnapped by another family, and later rescued by his brother. Some 21 people were killed in violence in Natal over the Christmas weekend.