When residents of Mathare slum in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi staged a recent protest over a five-day water shortage, the police moved to break the demonstration, firing tear gas and arresting some of the protestors. The July 31 police action in the Bondeni area, however, did not address the cause of the problem.
The Council on Higher Education, the independent, statutory body that advises the minister of education on matters relating to higher education policy issues, has been struggling to find a chief executive for more than a year. This body has executive responsibility for quality assurance within higher education and training through its sub-committee.
Trade and peacekeeping also are on the agenda, but Southern African leaders meeting this week are likely to be preoccupied with the economic and political crises in Zimbabwe that are sending thousands of refugees into neighbouring South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.
This month we celebrate today’s revolutionaries. We recognise women who are making effective use of their power and authority in new and innovative ways. Whereas the revolutionaries of history were inevitably women in politics, today we see glass ceilings splintering across the country. We take a small sampling of those who are breaking through.
I am pleased to announce that a new species of bird, the African pheasant, was recently discovered by French wildlife enthusiast Nicolas Sarkozee. After years of carefully observing pheasants from all over the world, he visited West Africa and spent time in the jungle, noting carefully the features of this curious bird.
Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika threatened on Tuesday to close Parliament if a budget crisis threatening to cut off services in the impoverished nation was not resolved within two days. The 2007/08 budget debate, which should have been concluded by June 30, was suspended last month because the opposition first wanted a dispute settled.
Three more Boeremag treason triallists on Tuesday applied for their discharge on all of the charges against them, claiming the state had not managed to link them to any conspiracy to overthrow the government. Counsel for accused Adriaan van Wyk, Pieter van Deventer and Frederik Boltman applied for their clients’ discharge because of a lack of evidence against them.
The Sunday Times on Tuesday refused to return documents detailing Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s alleged drinking in hospital. The minister must ”explain on what basis” the documents should be returned, Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya said after a deadline set by the minister for the return of the documents had passed.
Veteran Springbok prop Os Du Randt hopes to make his final Test on South African soil a memorable one. ”This is my last season and I want to go out on a high,” the big front-ranker told the media on the eve of the Boks’ Rugby World Cup warm-up Test against Namibia at Newlands on Wednesday evening.
Only 30% of ,6-million requested to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by Sudan’s worst floods in living memory has been received and more heavy rains are expected, aid officials said on Tuesday. Afaf Bukhari from the Sudanese Red Crescent said 72 people have died in the flooding and 73 839 houses have been destroyed.