Thousands of Kenyans returned home on Monday under a government programme to resettle families displaced by the violence that followed elections at the end of last year. An initial batch of several hundred left camps in several Rift Valley towns back to the countryside under police and army escort.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday accused Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang of keeping Aids statistics low after an official report was released by the Development Bank of South Africa. ”The minister of health must explain why official statistics are so low,” said DA spokesperson and MP Sandy Kalyan.
The existence of the Scorpions is ”as valid today as it was at conception”, says the Khampepe report released on Monday. ”Despite indications that crime levels are dropping, it is my considered view that organised crime still presents a threat that needs to be addressed through an effective comprehensive strategy,” states the report.
Municipal workers in Pretoria began an indefinite strike on Monday to press for better pay and working conditions, their leader said. Hundreds of members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union marked the start of the stoppage with a march through the streets of the capital before handing in a petition demanding pay increases.
The case involving former Bafana Bafana player Doctor Khumalo — who faces charges of drunken, reckless and negligent driving — is still being investigated. Police spokesperson Govidsamy Mariemuthoo said Khumalo’s accident report and blood samples were still being analysed and investigated.
Thousands of Somalis protested in Mogadishu’s streets on Monday, angry at food traders refusing to take old currency notes that have been blamed for spiralling inflation, witnesses said. ”The whole city is up in smoke,” said protester Hussein Abdikadir.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is looking to make popular concessions in a bid to win back support for his beleaguered Labour government after its drubbing in last week’s local elections. Labour ministers and backbenchers continued to voice support for the prime minister despite the worst local election results for the party in 40 years.
Rebels who have stepped up attacks on Nigeria’s oil industry in the last month said on Sunday they were considering a ceasefire appeal by United States presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has launched five attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta since it resumed a campaign of violence in April.
Motorists and petrol-pump attendants will have to use mental arithmetic to calculate how much they owe for fuel when the price goes up on Wednesday as some pumps are not able to handle more than three digits, the South African Petrol Retailers’ Association (Sapra) said on Monday.
West Bromwich Albion were promoted to the English Premier League after two seasons away as champions of the second-tier Championship following a 2-0 win away to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday. Stoke City, who haven’t played in English football’s top flight since 1985, also gained automatic promotion after finishing runners-up after a goalless draw with Leicester City.