Two weeks ago the Congolese national assembly cautiously approved a $9-billion deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and China, but warned that it would be watching closely to see that the country’s best interests are protected. Parliament’s decision comes after a week of political wrangling, during which the opposition strongly opposed the deal.
Malawi’s former president Bakili Muluzi on Tuesday laughed off accusations that he was trying to topple his successor as his lawyers launched a high court bid to end his house arrest. Muluzi has denied any knowledge of documents which purportedly linked him to a coup against President Bingu wa Mutharika.
Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile on Tuesday voiced his concern over the slow pace of transformation in South African rugby. Stofile said appeals to officials to use the recent success of the Springboks in France as a catalyst for transformation had fallen on deaf ears.
Foreign children have the same right as their South African counterparts to be protected, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Tuesday. He said it was sad that children were once again bearing the brunt of xenophobic violence, losing parents and loved ones, as well as their homes.
The seven students expelled from the Mafikeng Campus of the North-West University (NWU) have been granted permission to continue with studies and examinations. Spokesperson Lester Mpolokeng said the seven students either expelled or suspended from the university would remain provisionally suspended.
Three South Africans have been arrested in southern Zimbabwe after police found them with broadcasting equipment belonging to Britain’s Sky News. Provincial police spokesperson Ronald Muderedzwa said the three and another suspect had been broadcasting illegally from a factory in the second city of Bulawayo.
Several institutions, including the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and national carrier South African Airways, offered funding totalling more than R20-million to xenophobia victims on Tuesday. SAA chief executive Khaya Ngqula said the airline would donate about R750Â 000 to the Red Cross.
Former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown is suffering from acute stress and deep depression, according to his psychiatrist. This emerged on Tuesday when Brown appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court in a bid to secure bail after his latest arrest. The application was postponed to Thursday.
Opening South Africa’s borders to facilitate the entrance and exit of Southern African Development Community residents would be disastrous, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Tuesday. ”This ‘come one, come all’ approach is likely to dramatically increase the number of people entering our borders and exacerbate existing tensions,” she said.
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Tuesday rejected claims that the South African Navy only had enough qualified crew to operate one of its new state-of-the-art submarines. ”I don’t know what the source of the information is that we can only operate one submarine … that is absolutely fallacious,” he told a media briefing at Parliament.