A former prime minister, Alassane Ouattara, returned to Ivory Coast today and said the ousting of President Henri Konan Bedie by the army on Friday was not a coup but a revolution to get rid of an ''outlaw regime.'' ''This is not a coup d'etat,'' he told reporters at Abidjan airport after stepping off a plane from Paris. ''This is a revolution supported by all the Ivorian people.'' He said he regretted the way power had changed hands, but added, ''We were in an outlaw state.'' Mr. Ouattara arrived with his wife, Dominique, and was greeted by supporters and journalists. About 200 more supporters outside the airport chanted ''A.D.O., president,'' using his initials. Mr. Ouattara left his job as deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund in July to take the leadership of the Rally of the Republicans Party and to prepare a challenge to Mr. Bedie in the presidential election scheduled for next October. Mr. Bedie claimed that Mr. Ouattara was actually from neighboring Burkina Faso, which would make him ineligible to run for president. A judge began investigating whether Mr. Ouattara had submitted forged documents to prove his nationality, and an arrest warrant was issued. Mr. Ouattara was out of the country at the time and chose to remain in France. An official from his party said that a court had ruled on Tuesday that there were no grounds to pursue the forgery allegation, and that the arrest warrant had been canceled. The military junta has invited the political parties to nominate potential ministers in a transitional government. Elections have been promised, but no timetable has been set. Mr. Ouattara, asked whether he might be a member of the interim government, said no, but he added, ''My wish is to serve my country through the transition.'' He said he would be a candidate in the presidential election. The junta's leader, Gen. Robert Guei, today continued a series of meetings to explain the coup, meeting religious leaders and urging them to rally round the transition. ''Mr. Bedie should not have taken the liberty of meddling in religious matters,'' said General Guei, who is a Roman Catholic. ''I was shocked, sometimes indignant to see that people wanted to use religion to divide the country.'' General Guei asked a Muslim leader who is close to Mr. Bedie to dissolve his own organization and join the mainstream National Islamic Council. The Muslim leader, Moustapha Diaby Koweit, had no immediate comment. The general has taken pains to woo Mr. Bedie's Baoule ethnic group and the Agni, who have dominated in power since the nation became independent in 1960. ''There are those who think that the Baoule ethnic group went too far,'' he said on Tuesday in the capital, Yamoussoukro, in the heart of the central Baoule region. ''It's not that at all. It was the behavior of one man.'' In Bamako, the capital of Mali, two rival Ivoirian delegations held an emergency meeting of West African foreign ministers to discuss the coup in Ivory Coast. One delegation represented the Ivoirian junta, which was led by Gen. Adboulaye Coulibaly; another represented Mr. Bedie and was led by his defense minister, Vincent Bandama N'Gatta. Mr. N'Gatta and Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan fled with Mr. Bedie to Togo under French protection after the coup.

Ivory Coast's military ruler, Gen. Robert Guei, said today that he had escaped an assassination attempt at his residence during the night but that two of his bodyguards had been killed. General Guei, who came to power after a coup last December, said a presidential election would go ahead as planned on Oct. 22. "Some young military people were more or less invited by certain people who are known to me to make an attempt on my life," he said at a news conference. Military sources said as many as 10 people from both sides had been killed. He declined to say who those "certain people" were, but colleagues of a political rival, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, said they feared that the military government would use the attack as an excuse for a crackdown on Mr. Ouattara.

Communications Minister Henri Cesar Sama said members of the presidential guard were involved in the attack. He said the operation to round up the attackers was continuing tonight. Until the December coup, the first since independence from France in 1960, Ivory Coast had been a rare haven of stability in a violent, volatile part of West Africa. The coup was preceded by a pay mutiny and months of ethnic tension, whipped up in part by President Henri Konan Bedie, who was trying to turn the country against Mr. Ouattara and was ousted in the coup.

Some in the military are known to be unhappy with General Guei's decision to run for president in October. At the time of the coup he had said that he had no interest in political power.

Source: New York Times

Heath's appointment 'hurts judiciary'

Judge Willem Heath's appointment as head of the special investigating unit into government corruption could damage the independence of the judiciary in the public's eye, the Constitutional Court heard on Thursday.

Arguing on behalf of the SA Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (Saapil), Advocate Wim Trengove said public confidence in the judiciary was "virtually dependent" on judges' perceived impartiality.

Saapil, an association of lawyers engaged in personal accident litigation, is appealing directly to the Constitutional Court against the dismissal of three challenges it previously raised in the Transvaal High Court.

Source: News 24.com

PROMOTION OF EQUALITY AND PREVENTION OF UNFAIR DISCRIMINATION ACT 4 OF 2000

The purpose of the PROMOTION OF EQUALITY AND PREVENTION OF UNFAIR DISCRIMINATION ACT is to give effect to section 9 read with item 23 (1) of Schedule 6 to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, so as to prevent and prohibit unfair discrimination and harassment; to promote equality and eliminate unfair discrimination; to prevent and prohibit hate speech; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

Preamble

The consolidation of democracy in our country requires the eradication of social and economic inequalities, especially those that are systemic in nature, which were generated in our history by colonialism, apartheid and patriarchy, and which brought pain and suffering to the great majority of our people;

Although significant progress has been made in restructuring and transforming our society and its institutions, systemic inequalities and unfair discrimination remain deeply embedded in social structures, practices and attitudes, undermining the aspirations of our constitutional democracy;

The basis for progressively redressing these conditions lies in the Constitution which, amongst others, upholds the values of human dignity, equality, freedom and social justice in a united, non-racial and non-sexist society where all may flourish;

South Africa also has international obligations under binding treaties and customary international law in the field of human rights which promote equality and prohibit unfair discrimination. Among these obligations are those specified in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;

Section 9 of the Constitution provides for the enactment of national legislation to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination and to promote the achievement of equality;

This implies the advancement, by special legal and other measures, of historically disadvantaged individuals, communities and social groups who were dispossessed of their land and resources, deprived of their human dignity and who continue to endure the consequences;

This Act endeavours to facilitate the transition to a democratic society, united in its diversity, marked by human relations that are caring and compassionate, and guided by the principles of equality, fairness, equity, social progress, justice, human dignity and freedom.

Source: SABINET

Focus on AIDS Epidemic, Mandela Says

Closing the 13th International AIDS Conference today, Nelson Mandela urged scientists to move beyond their concerns about South Africa's president and to focus on combating the epidemic that is raging across the African continent. In a speech punctuated by repeated applause, Mr. Mandela said the world could not afford to be distracted by the furor surrounding President Thabo Mbeki, his successor, who has questioned whether H.I.V. causes AIDS.

Mr. Mandela did not clarify Mr. Mbeki's views on the subject, but told his audience that Mr. Mbeki was committed to fighting the sickness in South Africa, the country with the largest number of people infected with the AIDS virus, 4.2 million. ''So much unnecessary attention around this conference had been directed toward a dispute that is unintentionally distracting from the real life-and-death issues we are confronted with as a country, a region, a continent and a world,'' said Mr. Mandela, who handed over the reigns of power to Mr. Mbeki one year ago. ''In the face of the grave threat posed by H.I.V./AIDS, we have to rise above our differences and combine our efforts to save our people,'' he said. ''History will judge us harshly if we fail to do so, and right now.''

The speech marked the end of the first international AIDS conference to be held in a developing country. About 34 million people, most of them in Africa, are infected with H.I.V. And this week, scientists debated the best ways to battle the scourge, finding hope in studies that suggest circumcision reduces the risk of infection and disappointment in a report that questions the long-term benefit of a drug intended to protect newborns from the virus. But the scientific developments announced here were almost overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Mr. Mbeki. He addressed the conference once, in the opening speech on Sunday, when he singled out extreme poverty, rather than AIDS, as the biggest killer in Africa.

But in the corridors and conference halls at the convention center here, the president dominated conversations nearly as much as the talk about future vaccines. Last week, the scientific magazine Nature published a declaration signed by 5,000 scientists from around the world who described the link between H.I.V. and AIDS as ''clear-cut, exhaustive and unambiguous.'' And this week, in panel after panel, scientists and activists criticized Mr. Mbeki, who stirred the debate by consulting two American researchers who argue that poverty and malnutrition, not H.I.V., cause AIDS. No one disputes the link between poverty and AIDS, which is well established. And government officials here emphasize that Mr. Mbeki has never said H.I.V. did not cause AIDS.

But researchers fear that Mr. Mbeki's heavy emphasis on poverty and his talks with AIDS dissidents may fuel confusion among ordinary people who may assume they can engage in risky sexual behavior because the president has raised questions about H.I.V. ''I was disappointed, to put it bluntly,'' Roy Anderson, a prominent AIDS researcher, said of Mr. Mbeki's speech. ''In South Africa, it's really such an acute problem.''

The government quickly lashed back. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang dismissed the criticism and accused the media of distorting Mr. Mbeki's message. She insisted that the president was committed to fighting the disease by encouraging safe sex and by sponsoring research on drug therapies and a possible vaccine. ''Why should he deny something he has not said?'' she asked.

Today, Mr. Mandela also defended Mr. Mbeki. He called him ''a man of great intellect'' who ''continues to place this issue on the top of the national and continental agenda.'' Mr. Mandela acknowledged that the government, under his leadership and Mr. Mbeki's, had fallen short in efforts to fight the disease. Scientists and AIDS activists have accused South Africa of a lack of leadership in combating the epidemic. In 1993, H.I.V. infected 4 percent of South Africa's adult population. Now the figure is 20 percent. ''He will, with me, be the first to concede that much more remains to be done,'' Mr. Mandela said. ''I do not doubt for one moment that he will proceed to tackle this task with the resolve and dedication he is known for.''

Mr. Mandela did differ with Mr. Mbeki on some points. For instance, he emphasized his reluctance to engage in the scientific debate, saying he lacked adequate knowledge to contribute seriously. And while Mr. Mbeki has questioned the safety of AIDS drugs, Mr. Mandela stressed the urgency of using them to reduce the transmission of the virus from mothers to newborns, saying such measures ''have been proven to be essential.''

Source: New York Times

Amnesty granted to Craig Williams and Roger Raven - Ruth First's killers

Close relatives of murdered anti-apartheid activists Ruth First and Jeanette and Katryn Schoon have expressed outrage at the granting of amnesty to the assassins, apartheid spy Craig Williamson and his subordinate Roger Raven.

Williamson, a former security police major, and Raven also received amnesty yesterday for conspiring to kill Joe Slovo, First's husband and then leader of the African National Congress military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe. They were also granted amnesty for transporting improvised explosive devices, interception of mail and possession of explosives.

George Bizos, the Slovo family's lawyer, said yesterday night that, although he respected the ruling by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee, he was saddened by the decision. "It was an unexpected decision. I am saddened by it. I think that, in the case of Ruth First and the Schoon mother and child, their murders were completely unnecessary in the way they chose to kill them by way of letter bombs."

Sherry McLean, widow of Marius Schoon, whom she married after the bombing murder of his first wife Jeanette and their daughter Katryn on June 28, 1984 in Lubango, Angola, said Williamson would never be forgiven for the killings. McLean said her husband, who died last year after testifying in the amnesty application, had made it clear Williamson would never be forgiven. "On a human level it's a difficult task to deal with when Williamson was responsible for the murders of a wife, a mother and daughter and sister," she said. ANC general secretary Kgalema Motlanthe said it was regrettable that the TRC had deemed it fit to grant amnesty to Williamson and Raven.

The amnesty committee said it was satisfied Williamson had told the truth and the killings were politically motivated. "I have not seen the whole (TRC) report, but we have to accept the committee has satisfied itself with that requirement," Motlanthe said. His sentiments were echoed by former environment and tourism minister Pallo Jordan, who was with First when she was killed in Maputo in 1982. However, he said: "We have to live with its (the TRC's) findings."

At the time of their deaths, Jeanette Schoon and First were lecturing at universities in Luanda and Maputo. They were active ANC supporters. The actions were meant to destabilise, demoralise and disadvantage the ANC, the applicants said. Ex-spies Willem Schoon (no relation) and John McPherson were also granted amnesty for the attempted murder of Marius Schoon and Joe Slovo in 1982 and 1984, and for the Lusaka bombing.

Source: Daily Dispatch

Ruth First: Williamson given amnesty

Former apartheid spies Craig Williamson and Roger Raven have received amnesty for the 1982 murder of African National Congress activist Ruth First in Maputo. They also received amnesty for conspiring to kill Joe Slovo, First's husband and then leader of the ANC military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee granted them amnesty at a hearing in Pretoria on Thursday, TRC spokesman Phila Ngqumba said. Williamson and Raven also received amnesty for the murder of Jeanette and Katryn Schoon at Lubango in Angola on June 28, 1984. Williamson was a major in the security police and Raven was his subordinate. The two men got permission from the then minister of police, through their superior Brigadier Piet Goosen, to launch cross-border attacks that included the bombing of the ANC's London headquarters, they said in their submissions to the TRC. They were also granted amnesty for transporting improvised explosive devices, interception of mail and possession of explosives. Both these applications were opposed by the Slovo and Schoon families.

Jeannette Schoon and Ruth First were at the time of their deaths lecturing at universities in Luanda and Maputo. They were active ANC supporters. The actions were meant to destabilise, demoralise and disadvantage the ANC, the applicants said.

Ex-spies Willem Schoon (no relation) and John McPherson were also granted amnesty for their roles in the attempted murder of Marius Schoon and Joe Slovo in 1982 and 1984, and for the Lusaka bombing. The bomb was built into a briefcase and placed at the gates of the ANC offices in Lusaka by police agents. It exploded and caused minimal damage - no deaths or injuries were reported. The intention had been that the bomb should be left at Slovo's office.

Two other security police operatives, Kobus Klopper and Johann Tait, were also granted amnesty for killing four alleged arms smugglers at Komatipoort. The smugglers were carrying weapons intended for the military wings of ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress.

Another security police operative, Michael Bellingan, was refused amnesty for murdering his wife Janine on September 20, 1991, and for the theft of cheques intended for the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa). As part of normal security police operations at the time, the mail of certain organisations, including Numsa, was intercepted. In the course of these operations during 1988 and 1989 a number of cheques drawn in favour of Numsa were intercepted. Bellingan told the committee he had discovered that his wife was not happy with his work as a security policeman and she was about to leak confidential information to the ANC. He said he decided to kill her because she was a security risk. The committee, in refusing Bellingan amnesty, said it was not satisfied that he had made full disclosure or that the murder constituted an act associated with a political objective.

Source: IoL

Sierra Leone Rebels Forcefully Recruit Child Soldiers

The rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone is forcing children, including demobilized child soldiers, to join its ranks and engage in combat, Human Rights Watch said today. The rights group has documented abductions of children as recently as early May. "The RUF has forced many children to join its ranks in recent weeks, placing them on the front lines of combat," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. "For child soldiers, the crisis in Sierra Leone is far from over." He called on all parties to the conflict in Sierra Leone to immediately stop the use of child soldiers and to release all abducted children and people under the age of eighteen.

Since taking United Nations peacekeepers hostage in early May, the RUF has forced many children, included demobilized RUF child soldiers who had laid down their arms, to join its ranks. Many other children have been abducted by the RUF in recent weeks to carry military equipment and looted goods, and female abductees are regularly raped. The RUF has a long history of using child soldiers.

Seventeen-year-old "Abubakar" (not his real name) told Human Rights Watch that he had gone to a camp for demobilized RUF child soldiers in Makeni in March 2000 after fighting as a child soldier in the RUF for four years. He described how the RUF regularly came to the demobilization camp to pressure children to return to the RUF, telling the children that they would be sold when they left the camp, or stating that the RUF had located their families and would help them reunite. On at least one occasion, RUF fighters came to the camp and told the children that the RUF would kill everyone in the camp if they did not rejoin the rebel army. Abubakar estimated that the RUF took at least fifty children out of the camp through the use of threats, false promises, and false rumors.

When fighting broke out in early May, Abubakar was forced to rejoin the RUF when he was abducted while walking near the demobilization camp in Makeni. "It was not my wish to go fight, it was because they captured me and forced me," he told Human Rights Watch, "There was no use in arguing with them, because in the RUF if you argue with any commander they will kill you." Abubakar took part in recent fighting in Lunsar, Rogberi Junction, and Waterloo. He and others were often forced to commit abuses. In Rogberi Junction, their commander ordered them to burn down the entire town after a counterattack on the RUF by government helicopters. RUF commanders also used looted U.N. vehicles to move looted civilian properties back to RUF bases. Abubakar finally managed to sneak away from the RUF and return to the demobilization camp, which was evacuated to Freetown soon after. On their way to Freetown, the large group of demobilized child combatants was harassed by the pro-government Kamajor militia as well as by the Sierra Leone Army (SLA), who beat them. Abubakar said the Kamajors got angry with the children for showing them demobilization documents, saying that the children were provoking them because it was known that Kamajors were not educated and could not read.

Fifteen-year-old "Foday" (not his real name) was abducted by RUF when he was eight years old and had gone to the Makeni demobilization camp after the Lomé peace accord. He told Human Rights Watch further details of the evacuation of the Makeni demobilized child soldier camp on May 23. He also said that RUF commanders regularly came to the camp to threaten and scare former child combatants into rejoining the RUF, and explained that the camp was evacuated early in the morning of May 23 because of fear that the RUF would attempt a mass abduction. On their way to Freetown, the eighty-six former child soldiers who left the camp were stopped by RUF and stripped of their possessions: Foday lost a new watch, his clothes, a radio, and some money. The RUF then forced Foday to join them to carry looted goods back to an RUF camp located twenty-seven miles away. He later managed to escape from the RUF, but was then harassed and beaten by Kamajors, who took away his remaining possessions and threatened to kill him until a commander intervened and stopped the abuse.

RUF forces have also abducted children to carry loads of looted goods and military equipment for them, and have abducted girls for the purpose of rape. Fifteen-year-old "Musa" (not his real name) was abducted from Port Loko during an RUF attack in mid-May, and forced to carry a heavy bag of salt for four days. He told Human Rights Watch that the rebels shot and killed his brother, twenty-year-old Lamina K., after Lamina complained that his load was too heavy. Musa showed Human Rights Watch a large bump on his head which he had sustained when he was beat by the RUF with rifle butts.

Rape of captured women and girls is routine. Twenty-year-old "Miriam" (not her real name), still nursing her five-month-old baby, was raped in front of her husband almost as soon as they were captured near Masiaka on May 21. She told Human Rights Watch that she was raped almost continuously by seven RUF fighters, including some as young as fourteen, over the next three days. Some of the girls raped after capture are very young. "Malikah," who told Human Rights Watch that she was ten but looked much younger, told Human Rights Watch that she was raped by an RUF rebel after being captured, and watched her twenty- year-old sister Mawa Kamara die after RUF rebels amputated both her hands and one foot. "Children face some of the gravest abuses in this war at the hands of the RUF," said Takirambudde. "The RUF specifically targets children for recruitment as child soldiers, forced labor, and sexual exploitation."

Source: Human Rights Watch

Two student protesters killed by police in Durban, South Africa

Last Tuesday, May 16, two students were killed at the University of Durban-Westville (UDW), when police opened fire on a group of protesting students at the campus. Michael Makhabane, a 23-year-old student from Ficksburgin in the Free State, died after being hit in the chest by a blast of pellets. Another student, Lala Ngoxolo, was also killed. A third student is said to be fighting for his life in hospital. Police have admitted that five students were injured.

The students were demonstrating against the de-registration of 517 of their colleagues who were unable to pay their school fees.

A report sent to the World Socialist Web Site quoted a UDW professor who commented: “Of course we don't expect much from the Durban police. After all it's no secret that the police control the drug trade in this city and it was just a couple of weeks ago that a young girl accused of shoplifting was brutally gang raped at the Phoenix police station.... Nevertheless we still don't expect the police to murder our young people like this.”

The murder of the two students took place as President Thabo Mbeki's ANC government has stepped up its repression against popular opposition to its pro-big business policies. Less than a week before nearly half the country's workforce went on strike and more than 100,000 workers marched nationally against growing unemployment. In Durban police fired tear gas at a crowd of protesting workers and students.

Source: World Socialist Web

AIDS in South Africa; A President Misapprehends a Killer

THE tone and substance of the letter was so peculiar that some officials in Washington thought it was a hoax. In a five-page letter to President Clinton last month, South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, argued that his country had to chart its own course in dealing with AIDS, including consulting those who challenged prevailing views on the causes and treatments of the disease. A ''campaign of intellectual intimidation and terrorism'' akin to ''medieval book-burning'' was keeping such voices from being heard, Mr. Mbeki wrote.

The letter was no hoax, and it touched off an uproar, in part because South Africa's democratic politics and advanced industry make it the natural leader in the fight against a disease that has devastated Africa. This status was acknowledged in the nation's selection to sponsor this year's international AIDS conference. Yet here was Nelson Mandela's anointed successor questioning many years of scientific research. Never mind that Mr. Mandela hardly mentioned the disease during his presidency. In the weeks since, many South Africans have engaged in a kind of psychoanalysis of the 57-year-old president they elected last year. Why did this cultured man, educated as an economist at Sussex University in England, take such a position? What does he gain from it?

Mr. Mbeki is the only African leader to have questioned the consensus theory on AIDS. He has, moreover, an embattled history with the disease, having first become embroiled in the scientific debate three years ago, when Mr. Mandela's cabinet backed research into Virodene, a supposed cure developed locally that turned out to be carcinogenic. Attacked by scientists, the health minister in Mr. Mandela's government, which Mr. Mbeki was virtually running, refused to back down, and it later turned out that stock in the company set up to make Virodene had been given to the ruling African National Congress. Virodene was discredited long before Mr. Mbeki began publicly questioning the causes of AIDS, so there seems little reason to believe that led to his present position. But it helped create the ill-will that exists between the scientific establishment and the A.N.C.

Last year, Mr. Mbeki stunned experts by questioning the safety of the standard anti-AIDS drug AZT, which the government has declined to distribute to pregnant women despite studies indicating that it could greatly reduce the transmission of the virus to newborns. Still, AIDS activists are shocked by Mr. Mbeki's refusal to accept the standard scientific model of the disease. Political analysts, meanwhile, say they can see little political gain for him or for his party (which took 66 percent of the vote in the 1999 elections) in his stance. Most see it as a personal decision from a man who, since his teens, has lived largely in exile, petitioning world leaders to help fight apartheid. They say that Mr. Mbeki's desire to reject Western thinking -- and condescension -- is strong, and his speeches have repeatedly called for an African renaissance. ''He is very keen on doing things in an African way and not just accepting the gospel from the West,'' said Raymond Louw, editor of the weekly newsletter Southern Africa Report. ''You hear this all the time.'' Wishful thinking about a cheap cure may also have played a part, some say, since South Africa isn't nearly rich enough to afford $15,000 AIDS cocktails, (or even $3,000 ones, if drug companies cut prices, as they indicated they might last week) for the 13 percent of the population that is infected.

Others believe that Mr. Mbeki simply couldn't help himself. He has repeatedly displayed a stubborn inclination to master technical issues in his own way, and in a highly personal speech recently he told of Internet searches with dictionaries at his side as he looked for information that might help him formulate his country's AIDS policies. Whether his current approach -- convening a ''What Causes AIDS?'' panel divided between orthodox AIDS researchers and those who believe it is caused by malnutrition and parasites -- will help or hurt his country is an open question. Heading the panel of 33 experts is William Makgoba, who runs South Africa's equivalent of the National Institute of Health. Mr. Makgoba strongly supports the standard model of AIDS, but said that bringing the dissidents ''into the tent'' will be a good thing.

MR. MAKGOBA believes Mr. Mbeki to be a ''very intellectual person'' who is trying to inform himself on a disease that is ravaging his country. He wishes, however, that Mr. Mbeki had informed himself in private, fearing that he will be classified ''as one of those African leaders who doesn't care about science or technology.'' Tom Lodge, a professor of political science at the University of Witwatersrand, says that Mr. Mbeki shows the personality traits of what he calls ''an interferer, not a delegater.'' It is a trait that has come up in other arenas as well, he says.

At the moment, Professor Lodge points out, Mr. Mbeki is shuttling back and forth to Zimbabwe, trying to ease the tensions over the violence that has broken out as supporters of President Robert Mugabe have seized white-owned farms. But Professor Lodge says Mr. Mbeki should let his foreign minister do the traveling. ''He is running up to Harare every two minutes like an office boy,'' Professor Lodge said. ''The AIDS issue is the same. Maybe he will learn the lesson that a head of state does not busy himself with details.''

Source: New York Times

South Africa In a Furor Over Advice About AIDS

President Thabo Mbeki's decision to seek advice from two Americans who argue that H.I.V. does not cause AIDS has touched off an outcry at home and abroad and raised fears that South Africa's already soaring infection rate will climb still further. News that Mr. Mbeki recently consulted the Americans, a scientist and a professor of African history, leaked out this month, and is the latest of several disputes over how to treat AIDS in a country of 44 million people with one of the highest H.I.V. infection rates in the world.

Mr. Mbeki and his officials spoke with David Rasnick, a biochemist, and Charles Geshekter, a professor of African history at California State University, Chico, as the president was considering strategies to combat the virus, which has infected 12.9 percent of the nation's adults. He plans to convene international AIDS experts later this year, and telephoned the scientists to assess various AIDS treatments and to reappraise the evidence that concludes that H.I.V. causes AIDS. ''The president speaks to all scientists and to everyone who believes he's got something to contribute,'' said Parks Mankahlana, the president's spokesman. ''Until all the questions that keep cropping up are answered, we are not going to be able to say to a person who disagrees with the conventional thinking, 'You are wrong or right.' Mbeki has never said H.I.V. doesn't lead to AIDS,'' Mr. Mankahlana said.

Mr. Rasnick argues that H.I.V. does not cause AIDS, a view shared by Peter Duesburg, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California at Berkeley. The United Nations AIDS program, the World Health Organization and most scientists say the causal link between H.I.V. and AIDS is already well established. ''At first, we were thinking we would just ignore it, but now we think this confusion can really undermine all the efforts people have made to prevent this disease,'' Dr. Awa Coll-Seck, the director of the United Nations' Department of Aids Policy in Geneva, said in a telephone interview of Mr. Mbeki's move. ''People will reassure themselves, perhaps, that they can continue risky behavior because H.I.V. is not the real cause of AIDS,'' Dr. Coll-Seck said. ''It's becoming a real issue.''

Earlier this month, government officials scrambled to explain how $6.2 million of the country's $17 million AIDS budget went unspent last year. They said the money would be rolled over into next year's budget. And five months ago, Mr. Mbeki stunned health experts by questioning the safety of the standard anti-AIDS drug AZT. This week, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said the government had decided the drug should not be distributed in public hospitals. ''There is not enough information for me as the minister of health to expose women to a drug that we do not know about,'' Ms. Tshabalala-Msimang said. Concerns about AZT, particularly for children, have been raised in the United States. One study found that pregnant mice treated with AZT gave birth to babies with tumors. But after reviewing the mouse study and others like it, the National Institutes of Health determined in 1997 that the benefits of the drug far outweighed the potential side effects. One two-year study found that a short course of AZT treatment for women who did not breast-feed their babies reduced transmission of the virus by 50 percent.

But Mr. Mankahlana says South Africa cannot afford to accept the West's conventional wisdom about AIDS without investigating carefully since Western scientists have yet to discover a cure for the disease. ''The fact of the matter is, there is so much that is still unknown about H.I.V. and AIDS,'' said Mr. Mankahlana, who added that the government would spend an additional $11 million this year on research. Mr. Rasnick said he received a telephone call from Mr. Mbeki after he replied to faxed questions from the president about AIDS. Mr. Rasnick and his colleagues say AIDS is typically caused by recreational drug use and malnutrition.

Prominent scientists say this thesis, which is most prominently advanced by Mr. Duesberg, relies mostly on the data of other scientists and that those scientists disagree with this interpretation of their work. But on Jan. 21, Mr. Mbeki called Mr. Rasnick directly, to hear for himself. ''He wanted our views, and we gave them to him,'' said Mr. Rasnick in a telephone interview from his home in Saratoga, Calif. ''He had read everything we had written, everything that was available on the Internet. He knows there are some serious questions out there.'' ''I think he's courageous,'' Mr. Rasnick said. ''You start looking like a lunatic if you question the AIDS axioms. Knowing this in advance, he put his neck out there anyway. He wants to have a free and public hearing about all things related to AIDS.''

source: New York Times

National Consumer Forum (NCF)

Member no.: 2002 (of Consumers International)
Joining date: 14 Mar 2000
Operational language: English
Member type: Affiliate
Type of Work: Campaigning and/or lobbying,Consumer Advice,Dispute Resolution,Networking

Location: South Africa
Telephone: +27 12 403 7071
Fax: +27 12 428 7284
Main contact: Thami Bolani
Position: Chairman

Description

The National Consumer Forum (NCF) is an individual-based membership consumer organisation, the most active organisation in South Africa. The main activities of NCF are: the printing and distribution of the country only consumer magazine, 'Consumer Fair'; the consumer complaints handling service which handles about 250 queries monthly; advocacy work which focuses on financial services, health, food safety and security, and legislation on consumer protection. Consumer education also plays an important role in the work of the NCF with regular slots on national TV and Radio. Its most popular programme on Ikwekwezi FM attracts about 550,000 listeners.

Current campaigns

ISO 26000

www.ncf.org.za

Source: Consumers International

WITNESS PROTECTION ACT 112 OF 1998

The purpose of the Witness Protection Act is to provide for the establishment of an Office for the protection of witnesses; to regulate the powers, functions and duties of the Director: Office for Witness Protection; to provide for temporary protection pending placement under protection; to provide for the placement of witnesses and related persons under protection; to provide for services related to the protection of witnesses and related persons; to amend the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977, so as to make provision for witness services at courts; and to provide for incidental matters.

Establishment of Office for Witness Protection

(1) There is hereby established an office within the Department called the Office for Witness Protection.
(2) The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Safety and Security and the National Director, by notice in the Gazette -
(a) establish a branch office of the Office in any defined area for the purposes of the administration of this Act;
(b) abolish any branch office or incorporate it with any other such office, and may for this purpose make any administrative or other arrangements as he or she may deem necessary; or
(c) amend or withdraw a notice issued in terms of this subsection.

SOurce: SABINET

A Battle in South Africa Over Racism and Press Freedom

The subpoena landed on the editor's desk on a Friday afternoon last month. It ordered him to appear before the country's Human Rights Commission, which was investigating racism in the media. It said he must account for his newspaper's reporting or face up to six months in jail. All told, the commission issued 36 such subpoenas to editors -- white and black -- of newspapers, radio and television stations. And in a country where freedom of the press was only recently enshrined in the Constitution, where newspapers were frequently closed and journalists arrested under the apartheid government, the subpoenas sent shivers through South Africa's newsrooms. ''I thought, 'My God,' '' said the editor, Phillip van Niekerk, who is white and who runs the Mail & Guardian, a weekly here. ''I really didn't expect them to go that far. The jackboot approach is something we thought we'd got away from.''

In the outcry that ensued, the subpoenas were withdrawn and the editors agreed to appear voluntarily before the commission. Mr. van Niekerk and other white editors say they are willing to discuss the issue; they just don't want to be forced to discuss it. Nonetheless, the hearings on racism in the media, which started this week, have set off a debate over whether the commission and the government of President Thabo Mbeki are trying to stifle criticism and dissent in the press.

It is no secret that Mr. Mbeki and his ruling party, the African National Congress, remain deeply suspicious of the white-dominated news media. Most of the nation's politically influential newspapers, including Mr. van Niekerk's Mail & Guardian, are run by white editors. Party and government officials, who helped write the country's new Constitution, say white journalists seem intent on discrediting the black government and typically disregard issues important to the black majority.

Mr. Mbeki, the African National Congress and commission members deny that they want to muzzle the media, but they rarely sugarcoat their criticism. The A.N.C. applauded the commission for issuing the subpoenas. Last month, in its annual report, the ruling party described the media as a ''hostile press'' that is ''still primarily owned and controlled by antagonistic forces with minority interests.'' Those opinions are increasingly shared by black editors. At today's hearing, five black editors broke ranks with their white colleagues to support the commission's investigation, which has been largely derided by whites. The black editors testified that the media still portrays blacks as corrupt and incompetent, focuses almost exclusively on the white minority and drowns out the stories and concerns of ordinary black people. ''It is our contention that in a country like South Africa, it simply cannot be right that, because of its dominance in the media, a minority should continue to set the public agenda,'' said Mike Siluma, editor of Sowetan, the nation's largest daily, one of several popular newspapers directed at black readers.

The black editors said the issue was so important that they would have willingly testified under subpoena, which stunned their white counterparts, who had unanimously attacked the subpoenas as an infringement of press freedom. ''We talk about a rainbow nation, but we're still living in different places,'' said Mr. van Niekerk. Many of the editors, black and white, battled apartheid in South Africa and suffered for it. In 1988, Mr. van Niekerk, who worked at what was then The Weekly Mail, saw his newspaper shuttered temporarily because the government decided it had portrayed A.N.C. guerrillas favorably.

Peter Sullivan, the white editor of The Star, who then worked for the liberal Rand Daily Mail, was forced to justify his reporting before a government commission in the 1970's. Aggrey Klaaste, the black editor-in-chief of the Sowetan, was jailed for six months in 1977 after the government closed what was then Sunday World. All three men run influential newspapers. All agree that the commission's interim report on racism in the media, which was the foundation of the investigation, was seriously flawed. The report, for instance, criticized a photograph of two black birds near an overflowing garbage can, saying the birds depicted Johannesburg's black downtown and the garbage can its decay.

All agree that the subtle racism and stereotyping described in the report continues to surface in newspapers and television and radio broadcasts. ''We mirror a very racist society,'' Mr. Sullivan said. ''If there was no racism in the media, it would be absolutely astounding.'' But that is where the similarities end. The white editors say they are already working hard to hire blacks and to carefully scrutinize coverage, and that the commission's investigation was, for the most part, unnecessary. The black editors disagree.

After the hearing this week, the commission will present its recommendations to Parliament. ''People must not pretend that things are normal when they are not,'' Mr. Klaaste said. ''The country is run by white people, economy-wise. These newspapers are run by white people. We know that. There's no point in trying to be coy about this kind of thing. They say there is racism in the media, but they say that and do nothing about it.''

The commission began looking at the issue two years ago when the Black Lawyers Association and the Association of Black Accountants called for bias inquiries into two papers, including the Mail & Guardian. The groups pointed out that the Mail & Guardian had written 14 times about allegedly corrupt blacks but only 4 times about whites. Journalists counter that that should not be surprising since the most government officials these days are black. They also note that the major newspapers have given Mr. Mbeki some favorable coverage. Mr. Mbeki and Trevor Manuel, the finance minister, received rave reviews last month for major speeches. According to the commission's statistics, progress has been made in the hiring and promotion of blacks, but whites still overwhelmingly dominate the top tiers of management. Last year, the commission said, about 76 percent of the country's top media managers were white compared with 88 percent in 1994.

But whites are not the only ones to voice concerns about Mr. Mbeki's commitment to freewheeling discussion and critique. Earlier this year, two black professors complained about what they described as the dampening of dissent within the ruling party in a column in the recently revived Sunday World newspaper. And last year, Trevor Ngwane, an African National Congress councilman in Johannesburg, was suspended from his party positions for publicly criticizing the A.N.C.-led council's planned privatization of government services. Parks Mankahlana, a spokesman for President Mbeki, said the Human Rights Commission, an independent body that reports to Parliament, is no mouthpiece for Mr. Mbeki. Last year, he noted, the commission sharply criticized the government for seeming to scale back rights of accused criminals and began an investigation into the government's interim policy against distribution of the anti-AIDS drug A.Z.T.

Mr. Mankahlana emphasized that it was the black government, not the white government, that gave this country its first constitutionally protected rights to free speech. ''This thing of being intolerant of dissent, it's just not true, '' he said.

Source: New York Times

President Mbeki threatens South African workers

In his State of the Nation address in Cape Town last Friday President Thabo Mbeki made clear that the ANC government would not tolerate workers' opposition to its plans to offer South Africa as a low-wage investment platform for transnational corporations.

Since coming to power, the ANC has relied on the South African Communist Party (SACP) and trade unions to control the working class. This is becoming increasingly difficult. Last year saw a sharp increase in strikes, with 3.1 million days lost, compared to 2.3 million the previous year. Just one day before Mbeki's speech, British Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain, speaking in Johannesburg, warned the ANC that investors were worried about the rash of strikes in the country.

Mbeki's response to such concerns was to spell out the government's intention to impose rigorous discipline on the labour force, underlined by his outburst against the striking Volkswagen workers.

In government, the ANC has proved to represent a grasping and selfish layer of the native petty bourgeoisie, who have enriched themselves over the past six years of ANC rule and aspire to become the agents of international capital.

Source: World Socialist Web

South African Leader Warns Unions Not to Impede Development

In his sharpest challenge yet to South Africa's powerful trade unions, President Thabo Mbeki vowed today to relax restrictive labor laws, speed the pace of privatization and reduce spending in the bloated public sector. Addressing Parliament in his first state of the nation speech, Mr. Mbeki highlighted the country's brightening economic fortunes and signaled that his government would publicly battle the unions if they stood in the way of desperately needed foreign investment and growth.

Since 1994, when South Africa elected its first black government, inflation has fallen to 5.2 percent from 12.5 percent, he said. Foreign reserves, which stood at $5.2 billion last year, have surged to $7.4 billion. And the economy, which experts say grew by less than 1 percent in 1999, is expected to grow by at least 6 percent during the next two years. Mr. Mbeki said the nation needs such growth to tackle the daunting challenges of poverty and unemployment. And he warned that he would not allow organized labor -- which has long supported Mr. Mbeki's party, the African National Congress, but opposes its fiscally conservative policies -- to threaten such growth. ''Jobs, a better life for our people in the context of a growing economy and our standing in the eyes of the investor community cannot be held hostage by elements pursuing selfish and antisocial purposes,'' he said. He did not say which labor laws would be changed, nor did he indicate which government agencies might be privatized next. But his remarks, which were applauded by opposition parties and business leaders here, were clearly made with an eye to investors abroad, who have complained about South Africa's tough labor laws, which make it difficult to transfer, reassign or fire employees.

And just six months into his presidency, Mr. Mbeki seemed determined to show the world that he would take the necessary steps to liberalize the economy, even if that meant antagonizing his old allies in the anti-apartheid struggle. Mr. Mbeki first signaled his willingness to challenge the unions last summer when he refused to give public sector workers the salary increases they wanted, saying the country could not afford it. The decision touched off weeks of strikes and protests. But it did not hurt the government's approval ratings, which have improved during the last year -- driven by increasing optimism about the economy.

But the challenges facing South Africa are enormous. Unemployment stands at nearly 40 percent by some estimates, and the economy has lost at least 500,000 jobs in the last five years. About three million people still need housing, 7.5 million lack access to running water and 21 million go without sanitation services. An estimated 3.6 million of this nation's 44 million people are believed to be infected with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. And crime rates are among the highest in the world.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, which began a campaign of protests this week to highlight job losses, says the government needs to create more jobs and to help ordinary people. The organization found little comfort in Mr. Mbeki's remarks. Responding to his speech, officials at the South African Municipal Workers Union said they feared that the hasty restructuring of state assets would only result in more pain for the poor. ''This cannot be achieved by following the pattern so far, which has been to slash jobs and privatize assets in the drive for a 'lean and mean' state,'' the union officials said.

Source: New York Times

South African Leader Warns Unions Not to Impede Development

In his sharpest challenge yet to South Africa's powerful trade unions, President Thabo Mbeki vowed today to relax restrictive labor laws, speed the pace of privatization and reduce spending in the bloated public sector. Addressing Parliament in his first state of the nation speech, Mr. Mbeki highlighted the country's brightening economic fortunes and signaled that his government would publicly battle the unions if they stood in the way of desperately needed foreign investment and growth.

Since 1994, when South Africa elected its first black government, inflation has fallen to 5.2 percent from 12.5 percent, he said. Foreign reserves, which stood at $5.2 billion last year, have surged to $7.4 billion. And the economy, which experts say grew by less than 1 percent in 1999, is expected to grow by at least 6 percent during the next two years. Mr. Mbeki said the nation needs such growth to tackle the daunting challenges of poverty and unemployment. And he warned that he would not allow organized labor -- which has long supported Mr. Mbeki's party, the African National Congress, but opposes its fiscally conservative policies -- to threaten such growth. ''Jobs, a better life for our people in the context of a growing economy and our standing in the eyes of the investor community cannot be held hostage by elements pursuing selfish and antisocial purposes,'' he said. He did not say which labor laws would be changed, nor did he indicate which government agencies might be privatized next. But his remarks, which were applauded by opposition parties and business leaders here, were clearly made with an eye to investors abroad, who have complained about South Africa's tough labor laws, which make it difficult to transfer, reassign or fire employees.

And just six months into his presidency, Mr. Mbeki seemed determined to show the world that he would take the necessary steps to liberalize the economy, even if that meant antagonizing his old allies in the anti-apartheid struggle. Mr. Mbeki first signaled his willingness to challenge the unions last summer when he refused to give public sector workers the salary increases they wanted, saying the country could not afford it. The decision touched off weeks of strikes and protests. But it did not hurt the government's approval ratings, which have improved during the last year -- driven by increasing optimism about the economy.

But the challenges facing South Africa are enormous. Unemployment stands at nearly 40 percent by some estimates, and the economy has lost at least 500,000 jobs in the last five years. About three million people still need housing, 7.5 million lack access to running water and 21 million go without sanitation services. An estimated 3.6 million of this nation's 44 million people are believed to be infected with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. And crime rates are among the highest in the world.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, which began a campaign of protests this week to highlight job losses, says the government needs to create more jobs and to help ordinary people. The organization found little comfort in Mr. Mbeki's remarks. Responding to his speech, officials at the South African Municipal Workers Union said they feared that the hasty restructuring of state assets would only result in more pain for the poor. ''This cannot be achieved by following the pattern so far, which has been to slash jobs and privatize assets in the drive for a 'lean and mean' state,'' the union officials said.

Source: New York Times

ICD to probe Selebi swearing claim

Charges of crimen injuria against National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi would be probed by the Independent Complaints Directorate, Selebi's office said on Tuesday. Spokeswoman Director Sally de Beer said the ICD was perfectly placed to handle the investigation as it was independent from the SA Police Service. "This will help ensure a credible and objective finding," she said in Pretoria.

The Democratic Party earlier called on Selebi to go on leave pending the outcome of the probe into charges that he swore at a Pretoria policewoman on New Year's eve. "It is too much to expect that the inquiry can be concluded impartially with the new commissioner on duty," the party's safety and security spokesman Graham McIntosh said in a statement.He questioned Selebi's motives for declining to elaborate on the incident by "hiding behind" the sub judice rule. "If he really called the policewoman a 'f... gorilla' he should be man enough to admit it and apologise," McIntosh said. "Instead he is subjecting himself and the SAPS to a long process which is not in the interest of South Africa."

Selebi allegedly swore at a female sergeant on duty at Pretoria's Brooklyn police station after he demanded a driver but was not recognised. The woman, identified as Sergeant Jeanette Mothiba, has laid a charge of crimen injuria against her new boss.

On Sunday Selebi said the charge resulted from "an unfortunate incident of mistaken identity". He said it would be improper for him to elaborate as the case was sub judice. The DP's Gauteng branch said in a separate statement it was understandable that Selebi was not as "recognisable" as he would have liked. "I have sympathy with the sergeant who apparently failed to snap to attention upon his entrance. I for one would not know the face of Mr Selebi, who has now been in office for a mere four days," according to public safety spokeswoman Shelley Loe.

"If Mr Selebi felt that it was so important to be instantly recognised by police throughout the country, I suggest that he issue a clear head and shoulder photograph of himself to be displayed in all police stations."

Source: Mail & Guardian

With Ivoirian President Ousted, an Opponent Returns From Exile

A former prime minister, Alassane Ouattara, returned to Ivory Coast today and said the ousting of President Henri Konan Bedie by the army on Friday was not a coup but a revolution to get rid of an "outlaw regime." "This is not a coup d'etat," he told reporters at Abidjan airport after stepping off a plane from Paris. "This is a revolution supported by all the Ivorian people." He said he regretted the way power had changed hands, but added, "We were in an outlaw state."

Mr. Ouattara arrived with his wife, Dominique, and was greeted by supporters and journalists. About 200 more supporters outside the airport chanted "A.D.O., president," using his initials. Mr. Ouattara left his job as deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund in July to take the leadership of the Rally of the Republicans Party and to prepare a challenge to Mr. Bedie in the presidential election scheduled for next October. Mr. Bedie claimed that Mr. Ouattara was actually from neighboring Burkina Faso, which would make him ineligible to run for president.

A judge began investigating whether Mr. Ouattara had submitted forged documents to prove his nationality, and an arrest warrant was issued. Mr. Ouattara was out of the country at the time and chose to remain in France. An official from his party said that a court had ruled on Tuesday that there were no grounds to pursue the forgery allegation, and that the arrest warrant had been canceled.

The military junta has invited the political parties to nominate potential ministers in a transitional government. Elections have been promised, but no timetable has been set.

Mr. Ouattara, asked whether he might be a member of the interim government, said no, but he added, ''My wish is to serve my country through the transition.'' He said he would be a candidate in the presidential election.

The junta's leader, Gen. Robert Guei, today continued a series of meetings to explain the coup, meeting religious leaders and urging them to rally round the transition. "Mr. Bedie should not have taken the liberty of meddling in religious matters," said General Guei, who is a Roman Catholic. "I was shocked, sometimes indignant to see that people wanted to use religion to divide the country."

General Guei asked a Muslim leader who is close to Mr. Bedie to dissolve his own organization and join the mainstream National Islamic Council. The Muslim leader, Moustapha Diaby Koweit, had no immediate comment. The general has taken pains to woo Mr. Bedie's Baoule ethnic group and the Agni, who have dominated in power since the nation became independent in 1960. "There are those who think that the Baoule ethnic group went too far," he said on Tuesday in the capital, Yamoussoukro, in the heart of the central Baoule region. "It's not that at all. It was the behavior of one man."

In Bamako, the capital of Mali, two rival Ivoirian delegations held an emergency meeting of West African foreign ministers to discuss the coup in Ivory Coast. One delegation represented the Ivoirian junta, which was led by Gen. Adboulaye Coulibaly; another represented Mr. Bedie and was led by his defense minister, Vincent Bandama N'Gatta. Mr. N'Gatta and Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan fled with Mr. Bedie to Togo under French protection after the coup.

Source: New York Times

Arrests made in India over screening of film on the Manjolai massacre

Tamil Nadu's Dravida Munetra Kazhagam (DMK) state government, a coalition partner in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in New Delhi, arrested two men in October for holding a preview of the documentary Death of a River. The film deals with the police massacre of striking Manjolai tea estate workers at the Thamiraparani River and includes footage of the police attack on the demonstrators and their supporters.

Tamil Nadu police arrested T. S. S. Mani, convenor of the Tamil Nadu Human Rights Organisation (TNHRO) and Thirunavukarasu, a cinema manager, on October 11 after screening the film to writers, journalists and intellectuals.

Mani was held by police and then brought him before a magistrate where they obtained permission to detain him for "interrogation". Police did not file a mandatory First Information Report, which is required within 24 hours. The human rights activist was then shifted from one city police station to another for 10 days in order to prevent him meeting with his lawyers, supporters and relatives.

On October 21, he was released on the condition that he reported to the local police station every Saturday. Police targeted Mani because he was an important witness to the massacre and helped the Kanchenai Film Movement produce the film. Thirunavukarasu, the cinema manager, was released after questioning on the day of his arrest. R. R. Srinivasan, the film's director had to obtain anticipatory bail from the courts in order to avoid arrest.

Two days after his arrest Mani's mother was told that he had been charged with screening the film without government permission and for instigating caste tensions (most of the estate workers belong to the oppressed castes). The charges have been framed against him under the Indian Penal Code and under section 31/w 15(2) of the Tamil Nadu Exhibition of Films on Television Networks (Regular) Act of 1984 and section 7(a)(I) of the Cinematography Act of 1952.

Demonstrations by intellectuals, professionals and women activists have been held to protest Mani's arrest, and while no further action has been taken against the film's makers since October, the police have not withdrawn the charges and can act against those arrested at any time in the future.

Death of a River is a documentary about the Manjolai massacre, which took place when Tamil Nadu police attacked a procession of striking tea estate workers, their families and supporters on July 23. The demonstrating workers were demanding that they be paid the half-day wages illegally deducted from their pay packets since February and the release of 652 fellow workers previously arrested by police. Seventeen people, including two women and a two-year-old boy, were killed and 500 injured in the police attack.

The documentary exposes the provocative nature of the police attack, which involved the Rapid Action Force, a special police unit, and shows police throwing bricks and stones at the demonstrators. It also includes footage of police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and rifles at the terror-stricken and unarmed men, women and children. The demonstrators were subjected to a baton-charge and forced into the river; a waiting column of police beat those able to make their way to the other side of the river.

The film opens with a Brahmin standing in the river in prayer with a holy thread across his shoulders. The holy man is worshipping the river, "the goddess Ganga—the goddess of life". The film later shows the bodies of those killed by police strewn on the banks of the river. Thus the Manjolai massacre represented the Death of a River, the Thamiraparani, which had sustained the life of many people over centuries.

The first part of the documentary graphically exposes the police brutality and includes interviews with tea estate workers, the injured and leaders of the demonstration. The 60-minute film, which denounces the Tamil Nadu government's judicial inquiry into the massacre, concludes with the words, "It is only the people who will and are eligible to give justice."

Although some television channels have previously broadcast news footage on the incident, Death of a River is the first film to provide a detailed examination of the massacre. The response of the Tamil Nadu government to the film reveals its extreme nervousness over any exposure of the Manjolai massacre. The film has been screened in Bangalore and New Delhi.

Source: World Socialist Web Site

Ousted Leader Of Ivory Coast Flees to Togo

The ousted president of Ivory Coast left the country in a French aircraft today, landed in nearby Togo and may seek asylum in France, the government here said. Three days of rioting seemed to be coming to an end today as the army established control over the West African country, which until last week was considered one of the most stable, prosperous and democratic on the continent.

Residents of Abidjan, the main city, who were unable to finish their Christmas shopping when looting and car hijackings began on Thursday as soldiers held a protest, were back in stores, guarded by soldiers. There were military checkpoints on the thoroughfares, but buses, the main means of transportation for the city's three million people, began running again at dawn. Nonetheless, a nightly curfew and patrols by soldiers and police officers empowered to shoot anyone on the street after 6 p.m. will continue for the moment, security officials said. The country is being run by a nine-man junta calling itself the National Public Salvation Committee. The commanders of the police, the marines, the paratroops and armored and infantry units took oaths to it on television on Saturday night.

But the real power seems to be Gen. Robert Guei, 58, a former chief of the armed forces. He said today that he would create a government that would include civilians, but did not say when. On Saturday he invited political parties to discuss a unified government. France and the United States condemned the overthrow of President Henri Konan Bedie, 65, as did Nigeria and South Africa, the two most powerful countries in sub-Saharan Africa. A panel of foreign ministers from the Economic Community of West African States said it would meet soon to discuss the crisis. Ivory Coast is a member of the group, which has intervened in civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

This is the first coup in Ivory Coast, which is the world's largest producer of cocoa, and which exports palm oil, bananas and other tropical products. The country had a history of stable government. It was ruled by Felix Houphouet-Boigny from independence in 1960 until his death in 1993. Mr. Bedie, of Mr. Houphouet-Boigny's Democratic Party, succeeded him.

General Guei said today that mutineers had overthrown the government because it had been taking political prisoners and showing ethnic intolerance uncharacteristic of Ivorian traditions. But several forces seemed to be at work. General Guei, a French-trained career officer with a relatively low profile, was himself dismissed as armed forces chief by Mr. Bedie in 1995 after rumors of a coup were circulated. The general has said he was not involved in plotting a coup and was working on his farm when the mutineers asked him to be their spokesman.

The young soldiers who took part along with hooligans in the looting that began on Thursday complained about pay and working conditions. The government has recently been showing virulent nationalism and a xenophobic attitude toward migrant workers; a third of the 19 million population is from neighboring countries. More recently, the governing Democratic Party, dominated by members of Mr. Bedie's Baoule ethnic group, has tried to prevent Alassane Ouattara, an International Monetary Fund official who was Mr. Houphouet-Boigny's prime minister, from becoming a candidate in a presidential election next October. Mr. Bedie contended that Mr. Ouattara was a citizen of Burkina Faso and thus ineligible to run.

The government also jailed leaders of Mr. Ouattara's party, the Rally for the Republicans, who were freed by the mutineers. The new junta has some apparent links to Mr. Ouattara's party. Gen. Lassana Palenfo, another prominent member of the junta, was once Mr. Ouattara's security minister.

The junta expressed satisfaction with the departure of Mr. Bedie under what the French Foreign Ministry described as ''safe and dignified circumstances.'' Mr. Bedie spent two days hiding inside a French military base near the Abidjan airport under the protection of 550 French marines. Some cabinet ministers are being held by the junta, which said the detention was for their own protection. At least two appeared on television endorsing the coup, one of them surrounded by soldiers.

Mr. Bedie's wife and children were among the entourage of about 12 people allowed to leave with him. He was greeted at the airport in Lome, Togo's capital, by the Togolese president, Gnassingbe Eyadema. Asked by Agence France-Presse whether Mr. Bedie could end up in France, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry here replied that she did not know whether he wanted to come, but ''if he wishes to, he has the option of doing so.''

On Saturday, France reinforced its garrison with 40 troops from Gabon and positioned 300 more in Senegal to aid in any possible evacuation of the 20,000 or more French citizens in Ivory Coast. But General Guei refused permission for any more French troops to enter and guaranteed the safety of French citizens and property. He said an increase in troop strength could lead to a bloodbath, but also seemed to fear that France might try to restore Mr. Bedie to power.

Source: New York Times

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 116 OF 1998

The purpose of the Domestic Violence Act is to provide for the issuing of protection orders with regard to domestic violence; and for matters connected therewith.

RECOGNISING that domestic violence is a serious social evil; that there is a high incidence of domestic violence within South African society; that victims of domestic violence are among the most vulnerable members of society; that domestic violence takes on many forms; that acts of domestic violence may be committed in a wide range of domestic relationships; and that the remedies currently available to the victims of domestic violence have proved to be ineffective;

AND HAVING REGARD to the Constitution of South Africa, and in particular, the right to equality and to freedom and security of the person; and the international commitments and obligations of the State towards ending violence against women and children, including obligations under the United Nations Conventions on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Rights of the Child;

IT IS THE PURPOSE of this Act to afford the victims of domestic violence the maximum protection from domestic abuse that the law can provide; and to introduce measures which seek to ensure that the relevant organs of state give full effect to the provisions of this Act, and thereby to convey that the State is committed to the elimination of domestic violence.

Source: SABINET

One in eight South Africans HIV-positive

Currently 6 million South Africans, one in eight, are HIV positive, with 1,500 new cases reported every day. More than 60 percent of beds at state hospitals are filled with AIDS patients.

Source: World Socialist Web

COTE D'IVOIRE: Arrest warrant issued for opposition politician

Ivorian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for opposition politician Alassane Ouattara who is insisting on his right to run against Henri Konan Bedie in presidential elections next year.

The warrant issued on 29 November by an examining magistrate has been issued on the grounds of Ouattara's alleged fraud and the use of forged documents to support his eligibility to run in the elections in October 2000.

A defiant Ouattara has announced his intention to return home before the end of December and a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry (le Quai d'Orsay), Anne Gazeau-Secret, has criticised the arrest order.

Source: IRIN

The G7 and China in the Management of the International Financial System

For several years, scholars, practitioners and analysts in "think tanks" have conducted an ever more vigorous debate about China's proper relationship with the G7 and now G8 club of major industrial democracies, as this forum increasingly emerges as an effective centre of global governance for the international financial system of the 21st century.

During its quarter century in operation thus far, the G7/8 system has substantially transformed its relationship with China, moving during the 1990's from its initial Tienanmen engendered focus on China as an adversary and object of collective G7 admonition to the current emphasis on China as a supportive player and potential associate of the G7/8 in managing the many economic and political challenges a rapidly globalizing, post European Cold war system have brought.

This progression has hastened recently with the responsible and helpful role China played, in its own interest, in supporting the G7's efforts to combat the Asian-turned-global financial crisis of 1997-9 and to construct a new international financial architecture more appropriate to the conditions of the twenty first century.

This new role for China has led to its inclusion in recently created forums such as the G22 and G20, with the G7 at the core, to manage and modernize the international financial system. Its approach to these bodies and the issues at the centre of their agenda, together with the assets and vulnerabilities China brings, suggest that it is time to develop options for further associating China with the G8 itself.

Source: University of Toronto G8 Information Centre

'Kill the Boer' slogan led to murders

The convicted murderer of a Vryheid farmer told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday that his crime was influenced by the "kill the Boer, kill the farmer" slogan he heard at African National Congress rallies.

Ntuthuko Chuene, 28, is serving a life sentence for the murder of Godfrey Frederick Lanz Heuer on August 22, 1992. He also stole a Rossi Special firearm, ammunition and a suitcase containing about R1 000 in cash, a pocket calculator and books. He said he stole the guns to defend his community from the Inkatha Freedom Party. Chuene said his accomplice in the killing, Piet Nkosi, was later shot and killed by the police. He said he was forced by circumstances in the area where he lived, Mondlo, to commit the crimes. The killing was not directed at Heuer, as he just happened to be a white farmer at the wrong time. "I could have killed any other white man I came across at that time. My frustrations were directed to white men because they had what we did not have," Chuene said. "I am sorry, I look back now and regret."

Heuer's wife Amy said she did not believe Chuene killed her husband because of politically motivated reasons. "I do not want him to be granted amnesty. I watched my husband die in front of me and could not help him," she said.

Source: IoL

Heath to call magistrates in R30m probe

ine KwaZulu-Natal magistrates will be among 48 magistrates and contractors that the corruption-busting Heath Commission will summon before special tribunals for allegedly being involved in the misappropriation of more than R30-million in State funds. This was announced by Judge Willem Heath in Ulundi on Monday after briefing KwaZulu-Natal premier Lionel Mtshali on a number of cases under investigation by the unit, including management of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) funds intended to help victims of political violence in KwaZulu-Natal.

The scam being investigated against magistrates involves the misappropriation of millions in public funds intended for the maintenance of magistrates' offices."We have concluded the investigations to that matter and we are on the point of issuing summonses to large number of magistrates all over the country. "As far as KwaZulu-Natal is concerned, we have nine magistrates that we will be taking action against as well as a number of contractors. The total money all over the country involves about R38 million," said Heath.

A number of contractors were also accused of making false representations to magistrates, saying they had the proper authority to go ahead with work when they did not. In a meeting described by both both Heath and Mtshali as "fruitful and successful", the two discussed wide-ranging issues around the moves to arrest the tide of corruption in the province and in the country.

On the issue of the controversial RDP funds, Heath said no progress had been made, adding that the unit had applied for a proclamation from President Thabo Mbeki's office. "As soon as that is proclaimed we will attend to that case as it is one of our priority cases," he said.The RDP funds budgeted for helping the victims of political violence in the past two years and managed by the provincial director-general Professor Otty Nxumalo have been dogged with controversy for some time. On Monday, Heath said they were also investigating the department of traditional and environmental affairs. However, he did not elaborate on the nature and scope of the investigation in this regard.

Mtshali welcomed Heath in Ulundi in the "spirit of partnership against all forms of corruption and dishonesty". "His visit ties up with our policy position that we shall not tolerate any form of corruption and self-enrichment. Whatever resources are available at our disposal as government must be used to be best advantage of the poor communities," said Mtshali. He added that right now there was an investigation into transport irregularities and the possibility of fraud in KwaZulu-Natal. "There are quite a number of cases under investigation and therefore it was quite important for Judge Heath to brief me as a head of government so as to offer him all our support and we believe that at the end of it all, we have to develop a culture of honesty as people of the province," said Mtshali.

SourceL IoL

De Kock tells of Vlakplaas 'invasion'

Apartheid assassin and former Vlakplaas unit commander, Major Eugene de Kock, took the stand to respond to claims about his involvement in the murder of four Chesterville anti-apartheid activists 13 years ago. De Kock told the amnesty committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission sitting in Durban that the entire Vlakplaas unit descended on the city to deal with "terrorists" who had murdered three white policemen.

Applying for amnesty for the killing are Warrant Officers Butana Almond Nofemela and Nicholas Vermeulen, who were part of the contingent which killed the United Democratic Front (UDF) members. Although he gave the orders to kill, De Kock did not apply for amnesty but he was implicated by Nofemela and Vermeulen. He merely testified to state his version of the events. The purpose of the operation was also to eliminate Charles Ndaba, who was reported to be responsible for the murder of several policemen.

In a spectacular turn of events at the hearing, an askari (ANC-turned-informer), Simon Radebe, shocked the committee when he said he was the driver of the minibus which transported the contingent that attacked the UDF members at Chesterville in 1986. Radebe said: "I am telling the truth because I know what I was doing that day. You can say whatever you want, but I was the driver." But in a contradictory statement, Nofemela said: "I was the driver of the minibus that day. When I drove the men I did not know they were going to be killed."

Radebe's evidence corroborated De Kock's testimony. Radebe was De Kock's confidant and both have given testimony which contradicts Nofemela's statements. Nofemela fell out of favour when he was left to "feel the pain" for robbing and killing a farmer. De Kock did not cover up for Nofemela, who later exposed Vlakplaas unit activities which got De Kock into trouble.

Source: IoL

THE TIRUNELVELI MASSACRE

Brutal police action on a procession taken out in support of agitating tea estate workers claims 17 lives in southern Tamil Nadu.

IN a reign of terror that lasted half an hour, the Tamil Nadu police enacted a mini-Jallianwallabagh on the banks of the Thamiraparani in Tirunelveli, 650 km from Chennai, on July 23. Seventeen persons lost their lives following a brutal police at tack on a procession taken out in support of a labour struggle. The victims, who included two women and a child, were drowned when they, along with scores of others, ran into the river to escape the lathi blows of the policemen who descended on them from all directions. (Search for the missing persons continued at the time of writing.) The processionists had marched to the Collectorate to demand an early solution to long-pending wage-related disputes in a tea estate at Manjolai in the district and the release of 652 estate workers who were lodged in jail following a demonstration by them before the same Collectorate on June 8. They also demanded that the State Government take over the administration of the tea estate, run by the Bombay Burmah Trading Company.

Besides resorting to lathi-charge, the police fired two rounds in the air and indiscriminately used a new weapon in their armoury - stones and bricks. "It is something unheard of: policemen pelting people with stones," said S. Balakrishnan, Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The Tamil Maanila Congress(TMC) leader led the procession, along with Dr. K. Krishnaswamy, president of Puthiya Thamizhagam (P.T.), which spearheads the estate workers' agitation for over one year, and the local leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India. These leaders themselves became the target of police attack, but party volunteers formed a human shield around them in order to protect them. However, V. Palani, district secretary of the CPI(M), received serious head injuries. He was among the 15 persons injured. (According to CPI(M) sources, Palani was injured in the stone-throwing and lathi-charge. He fell unconscious and a Dalit youth, who was also injured in the attack, took him to the hospital with the help of a Dalit woman. He regained consciousness after about 30 hours and has been declared out of danger.) Also injured were two mediapersons, Antony Xavier and Ramalingam.

The shocking incident drew instant protests from major political parties in the State. While Krishnaswamy and Balakrishnan likened it to the brutal killings at Jallianwallabagh by the British, general secretary of the TMC, Peter Alphonse, said that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was going the (former Chief Minister) Jayalalitha way. "The high-handed police action at Tirunelveli only reminds us of the anti-people stance adopted by Jayalalitha in the last phase of her government," he said. N. Sankariah, St ate secretary of the CPI(M), appealed to all democratic forces to rise as one man against the police attack. These leaders and CPI State secretary R. Nallakannu demanded an inquiry by a High Court judge into the incident. Krishnaswamy, who described the police action as "pre-planned and politically motivated", has demanded an inquiry by a Supreme Court judge.

The State Government, however, appointed K. Karthikeyan, a retired district judge, as a one-man commission to inquire into "the incidents near the Tirunelveli Collectorate" and submit its report within three months. Karunanidhi in a statement was highly critical of the demonstration. He castigated the leaders of the TMC, without naming them, for joining hands with "instigators of violence", the reference apparently being to Krishnaswamy, whose party has been championing the cause of Dalits. In what is interpreted as an attempt to belittle the workers' demand, he stated that all problems had almost been solved except one that related to "half a day's wage". (The workers, on the other hand, demanded that the 50 per cent cut in their daily wages effected by the management for the past four months as penal action be withdrawn as it cut into their paltry earnings.) Relying on information fed by the district administration, Karunanidhi said that the police only retaliated when the crowd turned violent and threw stones at them.

Balakrishnan has denied this version. He told Frontline over telephone from his residence at Paramakkudi in Tirunelveli district on July 25, that the police pelted with stones the open jeep that carried the leaders and that a section of the processionists retaliated. He said that the participants had been peaceful all along.

Balakrishnan said that the police action appeared to be pre-meditated and pre-planned. The plan, according to him, was perhaps to injure the leaders and put the blame on the workers. "Their strategy, however, did not work," he said.

Balakrishnan said that the sordid drama could have been avoided had a senior official from the Collectorate met the leaders, six of whom were legislators, and allowed them to meet the Collector. Had the police stopped the procession elsewhere, there could have been more exit points for the crowd to disperse. What happened was that the demonstrators were chased and beaten by policemen who came from all directions. Moreover, there were few senior police officers present on the occasion, which meant loss o f control over the constabulary.

Here is a detailed eye-witness account of the incident:

Besides the P.T., the TMC, the CPI(M) and the CPI, the Thamizhaga Muslim Aikkiya Jamaath participated in the agitation. Among those who led the procession were four MLAs - M. Appavu, J. M. Haroon, P. Velthurai and R. Easwaran - besides Balakrishnan and Krishnaswamy.

About 700 personnel drawn from the Swift Action Force (SAF), the men's and women's companies of the Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP), the Striking Force, the Armed Reserve Police and the local police had been posted at various points. Three officers in the rank of Superintendent of Police (S.P.), three Additional S.Ps and nine Deputy S.Ps were also on hand. Shylesh Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), along with the Striking Force personnel walked at the head of the procession, in which an estimated 5,000 people participated. The procession was peaceful. All shops in the busy road junction, from where the procession started around 1 p.m., remained closed for a few hours.

There are at least five entry points to the Collectorate and all these were sealed by the police in the morning itself. Demonstrations are usually held in front of the main gate. On July 23, the procession was blocked about 50 metres from the gate. An op en jeep carrying the leaders, which was in the middle of the procession, moved to the front on reaching the Collectorate. Haroon went up to Shylesh Kumar Yadav and pleaded that the jeep be allowed inside the Collectorate so that the leaders could present a petition to the Collector. When the discussion was in progress, about 150 persons, who formed the tail of the procession, got down on to the river bed (three-fourths of the river bed is dry), and moved closer to the main gate. They stood behind the po lice force that was blocking the procession.

These volunteers raised slogans demanding that the leaders be allowed inside the Collectorate. The SAF men suddenly swung into action; they tried to chase them away using force. Noticing this, another section of the processionists, who were standing on t he river bed, began throwing stones at the police. Soon the SAF men and the TSP women rushed inside the Collectorate and hurled stones at the crowd. As the situation was going out of control, the police once again resorted to a lathi-charge and opened tw o rounds of fire in the air. Shylesh Kumar Yadav and a few other officers were seen calling upon policemen to show restraint, but their appeal went unheeded. Hundreds of men and women ran helter -skelter and many of them stepped into the dry river bed. Even at this juncture, the stone-throwing continued. Some of the stones hurled by the policemen hit their own officers.

As the volunteers had fled the scene, the jeep carrying the leaders was abandoned in the middle of the road. Since the SAF and the TSP men continued to throw stones, about half a dozen workers of the P.T., led by T.S.S. Mani, persuaded the leaders not to leave the jeep and shielded them from a possible attack. One stone hit the driver and he almost lost control of the vehicle. The driver recovered quickly and the vehicle sped away. Just then a stone hit Palani on his head and he was injured.

One of the participants of the procession holds the body of a child who was drowned in the river.

Even after the jeep left, a large number of lathi-wielding policemen went into the dry river bed, as some persons were still hurling stones, and started chasing them. The panic-stricken men and women had no other option but to run towards the river. On seeing the police still pursuing them, they jumped into the water. The policemen did not withdraw even at this stage. Some of them jumped into the water and hit on the heads of the volunteers with lathis.

On seeing women and a few others getting drowned, some people attempted to rescue them, but they too were not spared by the police. One person who rescued a woman was severely assaulted by a dozen policemen in the very presence of the officers.

Some policemen managed to reach the opposite bank of the river and continued their attack. Those who jumped into the river were attacked by policemen from both banks. Ramalingam, Abdul Hameed, Arulraj and Murugan, all mediapersons covering the demonstration, rescued at least four women, but, on being challenged by the police they withdrew. Antony Xavier, who was taking pictures of his colleagues' rescue operation, was assaulted on the river bed. The police damaged the camera and threw the film roll into the water.

During the operation that lasted 35 minutes (from 2-40 p.m. to 3-15 p.m.), Shylesh Kumar Yadav was the only senior officer on the scene. District Collector K. Dhanavel later visited the scene. Fire service personnel were summoned and they retrieved three bodies, including the body of jailed estate worker Mariappan's two-year-old son. The body of the child's mother was recovered the next day. Fourteen more bodies were retrieved in the following two days. According to police, 21 police personnel suffered injuries in the stone-throwing. Three of them have been admitted to hospital.

The Collector and T. K. Rajendran, Commissioner of Police (in-charge), who did not come out of their office, denied at a press conference that the police opened fire. They said that the police resorted to only lathi-charge and the use of teargas shells. According to top police sources, the SAF and TSP companies had no proper officers to command them.

MEANWHILE, following a discussion the Collector had with the Chief Minister, papers were presented before the court withdrawing the cases against the 652 estate workers lodged in the Tiruchi central prison. All the 39 persons taken into preventive custody in connection with the July 23 procession were released. Reacting to this, Krishnaswamy said that the bloodshed could have been avoided had the Government acted earlier.

G.K. Moopanar, TMC president, who visited the spot on July 25, expressed the view that the police action was unwarranted and unprovoked since there appeared to be no evidence of any violence from the side of the processionists. He said that the Chief Min ister, who held additional charge of the Home Ministry, should own responsibility for the incident. Significantly, this has been the first time that Moopanar has been critical of the State Government after his party snapped its ties with the ruling Dravi da Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

The ghastly incident has thrown up certain questions concerning the DMK Government's crisis-management system and its approach to issues raised by political parties, trade unions and social groups.

The Chief Minister's statement on the incident raises doubts about the Government's seriousness in considering the demands of the demonstrators. While it is essentially a labour dispute involving 2,000 estate workers, an attempt is made to give a caste colour to the demands, simply because Krishnaswamy happens to be a Dalit leader championing the cause of Dalits. The Chief Minister's statement indirectly questions the wisdom of TMC leaders joining hands with "casteist elements".

The administration, which had mobilised the police forces in strength in tune with its approach to caste-related agitations, does not appear to have taken care to provide proper guidance to the police. The number of police officers present during the incident was not proportionate to the large presence of the police force at the spot.

Such a policy of deploying the police force on a menacingly large scale whenever oppressed sections seek to exercise their legitimate democratic rights may at times lead to unintended consequences. It has the potential of sending out dangerous signals to social groups that are in conflict with each other, particularly in places where caste-related violence erupts very often, and encourage them to take advantage of a volatile situation.

Source: Frontline

Maduna's 'secret' links to fuel bosses

Penuell Maduna established "secretive channels of communication" with selected senior fuel industry officials shortly after becoming Minerals and Energy Minister in 1996. The claim emerged during Maduna's third day on the witness stand in Public Protector Selby Baqwa's inquiry into alleged irregularities in Strategic Fuel Fund finances, and whether or not Auditor-General Henri Kluever's reports on them were "correct and proper".

Maduna, now Justice Minister, was being questioned by Pearce Rood, counsel for Roy Pithey - former chairman of the Central Energy Fund, which oversees the Strategic Fuel Fund. Maduna said he had communicated with the officials privately to glean information about suspicious-seeming payments in an oil deal. Rood gave notice that he would make submissions on the "propriety of the secretive channels of communication" between Maduna and certain senior Strategic Fuel Fund officials, including Brian Casey and former general manager Kobus van Zyl.

Payments of a 7,5 cents-a-barrel premium to an Egyptian oil trader had been brought to Maduna's attention by Essop Pahad, then Deputy Minister in the Office of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki. "I was expected to find out what the justification for these payments was," he said. An acquaintance put him in touch with senior Strategic Fuel Fund official Brian Casey, with whom he had several private meetings in a bid to find out more about the premium payments.

When asked why he had not approached Pithey, who had a statutory obligation to answer such questions, Maduna said: "I cannot give a reason." When pressed on this by Baqwa, who wondered if it was "not incumbent" on him to approach Pithey, Maduna said, "Well, the fact is, I did not, and I cannot provide a reason." He said he had been in the Cabinet for only three-and-a-half months and may not have been "aware" of the statutory relationship between himself and the Central Energy Fund chairman. However, while he could not give a reason why he did not discuss the premium payments with Pithey, he was getting information from other officials such as Van Zyl and Casey. He added, "Perhaps it was because I thought he (Pithey) was implicated in these payments (of a 7,5c-a-barrel premium) that I decided not to go straight to him." When Baqwa asked him why he thought this, Maduna said, "Well, the suggestion had been made that he (Mr Pithey) had been told about the payments and had done nothing about them."

The two-and-a-half-day cross-examination of Maduna by counsel for Auditor-General Kluever, Eberhard Bertelsmann SC, ended on Thursday, but the Justice Minister will return to the witness stand when the hearing resumes on Monday for further cross-examination by counsel for other parties involved.

Source: IoL

Probe into R2m paid to 'phantom' staff

Judge Willem Heath's special investigating unit is probing a scam involving 15 000 "ghost" workers in Northern Province, in an attempt to recover over R2-million paid out to non-existent staff last year. The ghost workers were first identified during an independent audit of the province's 125 000 listed public servants last year. The phantom workers were identified in six of the province's 10 departments, with health and welfare having the most problems.

Judge Heath's provincial investigation head, Frank Vos, said the provincial government had provided enough leads for the unit to recover a sizable portion of the loss. "Many of those responsible are actually civil servants themselves and are people who were effectively collecting double or even triple salaries," he said. "They will now have to repay every cent they weren't entitled to, plus interest."The investigation forms part of a broader recovery programme proclamated by former president Nelson Mandela on May 12. Vos said preliminary investigations were proceeding well, with the Auditor-General assisting in several related probes in Northern Province.

Source: IoL

Top drug-cop's property attached

The National Directorate of Public Prosecutions on Wednesday attached property belonging to the former head of the Durban narcotics bureau. Directorate spokesman Sipho Ngwema said the property of Superintendent Piet Meyer was impounded in terms of a provision of the Organised Crime Act. The unit is said to have removed three truck loads of goods from Meyer's house in Umkomaas, south of Durban. Ngwema said Meyer was under investigation on charges of theft, fraud, defeating the ends of justice and racketeering.

Meyer was being investigated in connection with the distribution of R200 000 in forged old bank notes and R10 000 stolen from a safe while he was head of the narcotics bureau.The theft was not reported. He is also being investigated in connection with running a casino. It was also alleged he received R10 000 a month as protection money from illegal casino owners to prevent their operations being shut down.

The head of the assets and forfeiture unit of the directorate, Willie Hofmeyer, said Meyer's expenditure for the past two-and-a-half years came to nearly half a million rand, while his salary was R155000 per annum. The unit attached his 4-wheel drive vehicle, lounge suite, refrigerator and stove, and he was given 14 days to go to court to convince it that he did not receive this property through illegal means.

In a statement, provincial police commissioner Chris Serfontein said the investigation was started by his office in December 1997. "The case was investigated by the South African Police Service for nine to ten months whereafter Bululani Ngcuka was appointed and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions established," Serfontein said.

Source: IoL

Pretoria fraud suspect gets bail

In what could become one of the biggest fraud cases in South Africa, a Pretoria businessman who has allegedly defrauded unsuspecting investors of at least R49,5-million, has appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on charges of transgressing the Banking Act. Johannes Gerhardus Grobler (32), of Amandasig, was arrested early Tuesday morning at his offices in Akasia Medical Centre. He has been released on R100 000 bail.

People who have put money into Emus Property Investment should contact the investigating officer, Captain Hugo Wolmarans, at (012) 329-6860.Grobler is due to appear in court again on October 4.

Source: IoL

Mpapele appears in court on corruption

South African Local Government Association financial manager Carol Mpapele appeared briefly in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on two charges of corruption and was released on bail of R15 000, police said.

Inspector Gideon Thessner said the charges related to an alleged request by Mpapele to contractors supplying computers to the association to inflate their invoices so he could pocket the difference.

He was still being held at the Pretoria Central police cells late on Tuesday following his failure to come up with the bail posted. He will appear in court again on August 13.

Source: IoL

Hammer murderer gets life sentence

Imposing a life sentence for the "callous and cowardly" August 1998 murder of Rosetta farm manager Simon Buntting, who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer, a high court judge said it was a sad reflection on the criminal justice system that the killer and his companion were released on parole a month before the incident. Justice McCall and two assessors convicted Kenneth Gcaleka, 24, of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances for bludgeoning Buntting, 66, four times on his head with a 4lb hammer after breaking into his farmhouse on August 24. His body was found lying under his duvet in his blood-soaked bed the following day. A life sentence for murder accompanied by robbery with aggravating circumstances is now mandatory in terms of the 1997 Criminal Law Amendment Act, unless a court finds there are compelling circumstances which require a lesser sentence. Judge McCall said on Tuesday that in the present case he found a life sentence to be "wholly appropriate". For the robbery, he sentenced Gcaleka to 15 years' imprisonment in terms of the same Act.

Gcaleka's brother, Themba Gcaleka, 21, who was found guilty only of theft of goods from Buntting's home, was jailed for five years. The younger man was not found guilty of the murder and robbery charges since there was no evidence to contradict his own testimony that he had not anticipated resistance, that he did not enter the bedroom where Buntting was killed and had not taken part in the assault, but instead had told his brother to stop "quarrelling" with Buntting.

Source: IoL