Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi has been investigated but no decision has been made on prosecuting him, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, President Thabo Mbeki was caught off guard on Tuesday when asked questions by the media about the possible arrest of Selebi.
President Robert Mugabe renewed threats to seize foreign mining interests and businesses accused of profiteering, state radio reported on Tuesday. But the head of the central bank, Gideon Gono, warned against hasty and disruptive seizures in a country in economic crisis.
Somali rivals both claimed control of a disputed northern town on Tuesday after deadly clashes, and more fighting was feared. Tensions have been increasing in the normally calm north because of a border dispute between autonomous Puntland region and the breakaway republic of Somaliland.
A Ugandan man tasked with guarding a Marburg virus-infected mine crept into the underground cove only to be infected with the Ebola-like disease, health officials said on Tuesday. The mine was closed when the epidemic struck the western area situated in a forest reserve, killing one person.
Five children were killed and another seriously injured in an Angolan central rural district when they tried to open a mortar shell left from the civil war, an official said on Tuesday. The children were playing in Dando village, near Nharea in Bie province, when they discovered the 81mm shell.
Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Africa on Wednesday with the message that Germany is keen to step up cooperation with the continent to help combat poverty and disease. The chancellor’s trip to Ethiopia, South Africa and Liberia from October 3 to 7 will focus on economic development, social issues and business ties.
A journalist and two actors were arrested in Zimbabwe during a satirical play making fun of the country’s political situation, press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières said on Tuesday. It said plainclothes police stormed a theatre in central Harare on Friday night during a performance of The Final Push.
A group of elder statesmen, including former US president Jimmy Carter and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, urged all sides in Darfur’s bloodshed to reach a peace deal as they began a tour on Tuesday of the war-torn region. The visit comes days after rebels overran an African Union peacekeeping base in northern Darfur.
There is a probability that the hoax emails allegedly fabricated by former spy boss Billy Masetlha and his two co-accused were created by an amateur, the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court heard on Tuesday. Masetlha and his co-accused are facing charges of fraud amounting to R152 000.
President Thabo Mbeki was caught off guard on Tuesday when asked questions at a media photo opportunity at the Union Buildings in Pretoria about the possible arrest of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. Responding to questions from journalists by asking more questions, Mbeki queried whether it was a president’s job to issue warrants of arrest.