MEDIA ALERT
The Member of the Executive Council for Conservation and Environment, Mr Aboo Khan, will be joined today (Tuesday, 04 June 1996) by the Gauteng Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs), the Premier and other MECs, in posing for a group photograph in observance of World Environment Day.
Members will gather on the Ceremonial Staircase on the first floor at 13H00, for a 13H30 media photo opportunity, wearing T-shirts that proclaim the theme "Open Space! A way to a cleaner, healthier and safer Environment". World Environment Day is scheduled for Wednesday, 05 June 1996, and the event today is intended to mobilise public awareness and consciousness about the importance and value of the environment, and with the help of the media.
Journalists will be served refreshments on the foyer of the Staircase on the first floor, between 13H00 and 13H45.
This will be followed by the Sitting of the House at 14H15 in Selborne Hall, which will consider Vote 8 (Housing and Local Government) of the Provincial Appropriation Bill The Democratic Party (DP) will pose two Interpellations and two Questions Without Notice, to the Premier. The Freedom Front will ask two Oral Questions to the MEC for Education and Culture, and the DP one to the MEC for Health.
Seating is available in the Media Gallery on the second floor, where the day's speeches and copies of Written Replies by the Premier and MECs, will be distributed.
MOEMISE MOTSEPE (Media Liaison Officer)
(Issued by the Communication Department of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature)
@ YOUTHDAY
PRETORIA June 4 1996 Sapa
SPECIAL STAMP MADE TO COMMEMORATE YOUTH DAY
The South African Post Office will on Saturday issue a standard postage stamp and commemorative cover to commemorate Youth Day on June 16, Sapo said in a statement on Tuesday.
The stamp, which has been made to honour the youth of South Africa, contains elements of the Nelson Mandela Children Fund emblem and depicts children playing under a large sun.
The stamp will be available at post offices and the commemorative cover at post offices with philatelic counters.
They can also be ordered from Philatelic Services, Private Bag X16, Hatfield, 0028. The fax number is (012) 324-0264.
Youth Day commemorates the education unrest of June 16, 1976 in Soweto.
@ ZIM-SINGAPORE
HARARE, June 4 1996 Sapa-AFP
SINGAPORE'S FOREIGN MINISTER HOLDS TALKS WITH MUGABE
Singapore's Foreign Minister Shunmulgam Jayakumar held talks on trade and other bilateral issues Tuesday with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Jayakumar told reporters afterwards that he hoped each country could be a regional gateway for the other - Singapore to southeast Asia and Zimbabwe to southern Africa.
"My visit to Zimbabwe is intended to keep up momentum of the good bilateral relations between Singapore and Zimbabwe, a relationship which has been given tremendous impetus by the visit to Singapore last November by President Robert Mugabe," he said.
"I also emphasised during our meeting the desire by Singapore to step up trade between the two countries."
Jayakumar, who arrived on Sunday at the head of a five-member delegation including senior trade officials, has also held meetings with Zimbabwe's ministers of foreign affairs, tourism and energy.
He is due to leave Zimbabwe Wednesday.
@ FISHING-DEV
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
FISHING INDUSTRY RESTRUCTURING DEALT WITH EXPEDITIOUSLY
The Fishing Industry would be restructured expeditiously yet cautiously to try to address past imbalances, Environmental Affairs Minister Dr Dawie de Villiers said on Tuesday.
This might involve appointing a government-approved facilitator to reach an acceptable agreement with the various parties, he said after receiving the Fishing Policy Document in Cape Town.
"Interim Relief" would also receive priority once the Rudi van der Elst report had been evaluated.
"I am satisfied that the draft document meets the objectives of the mandate given to the Fisheries Policy Development Committee, as sensitive issues such as access rights, institutional structures and labour have been dealt with comprehensively."
A committee of two or three would be appointed soon to compile a White Paper for comment after which the final Policy document would be taken to Cabinet for final approval, De Villiers said.
@ GAMING ASSOCIATION RESPONDS TO GAMBLING BILL
Issued by: Integrated Communications
The Gaming Association of South Africa (GASA) strongly condemns yesterday's passing of the National Gambling Bill by the Senate. The Bill, which provides a framework for the regulation of gambling, permits up to 40 casinos to be legalised nationally and allows for a specialised gambling inspectorate.
However, according to GASA's General Secretary, Peter White, the Bill does not recognise any of GASA's efforts towards a self- regulated and strictly controlled gaming industry, nor does it acknowledge GASA's recommendations for structuring the industry.
"We will challenge Government on the terms of the Bill, and this morning we have appealed to President Mandela's office for interven- tion at the highest level, to ensure that any legislation concerning the gaming industry is fair and democratic. Should we receive no positive response from the Office of the President, the Senate or the Ministry of Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development, our members will have no choice but to take legal and mass action."
GASA's goal is to contribute positively to a regulated, orga- nised gaming industry in a transparent and democratic spirit so that all stakeholders enjoy a fair and equitable share in the open eco- nomy. Industry regulation will ensure formal employment for the 30 000 people already working in the gaming industry and has the potential to create thousands of new job opportunities. Allied to that, a legislated gaming industry has the potential to contribute to the economy over R350 million per annum in potential taxes and levies.
"Before the Bill reaches the National Assembly for final legi- slation, we will continue to vigorously defend our members' rights to earn a legitimate living, and will persist in fighting to gain recognition for the gaming industry and for a proper understanding of what GASA and its members stand for," concluded White.
ISSUED BY : INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT : JENNIFER STEIN TELEPHONE NUMBER : (011) 880 8820 ON BEHALF OF : THE GAMING ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA CONTACT PERSON : PETER WHITE TELEPHONE NUMBER : (011) 673-4925
@ NAMIBIA-DROUGHT
WINDHOEK June 4 1996 Sapa
PLANS TO COPE WITH NAMIBIA'S DROUGHT PROBLEMS
Namibian President Sam Nujoma has declared the country drought stricken and outlined measures that will cost ND159,34 million this year to deal with the situation.
He told a media conference at State House in Windhoek on Monday about 180,000 people would need drought relief food aid.
Namibia this year experienced one of its worst rainy seasons ever, with very few parts of the country receiving 50 percent of normal rainfall.
Nujoma said grazing conditions in most sectors were "very poor" and serious water problems were being experienced in many areas, including Windhoek.
"The situation can indeed be described as serious and, if not addressed now, will become more acute and lead to the disruption of normal economic and social activities."
The goverment would spend ND159,34 million for drought relief and water provision and the money would come from the State Revenue Fund by paring down on other expenditure. However, external financial assistance of ND171,3 million for additional water projects was needed.
Farmers were being encouraged to reduce livestock and would be assisted financially to restock later.
Help would be given with emergency grazing, communal farmers would get financial help to buy fodder and subsidies would be provided to karakul farmers.
Agricultural Bank loans and seeds for the new planting season for poorer farmers were among the measures to assist during the drought, Nujoma said.
The government was busy with a programme that included upgrading boreholes, tanker services, exstracting water from an old mine and providing piplelines to alleviate water shortages.
@ ANGOLA-BROKE
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
ANGOLAN GOVERNMENT STIFFS CONSULATE STAFF OF PAY
Employees at the Angolan consulate in Johannesburg have not been paid for up to five months, leaving many scrambling for handouts, vice consul Narciso do Espirito Santos said on Tuesday.
The cash-strapped Angolan government owes some South Africans employed by the consulate three months in wages while regular staff members, including the consul and vice consul, are owed about four months of pay.
"This isn't a secret for anybody," Santos told Sapa.
"It is quite a few months they (the government) are in arrears for our salaries," he said through an interpreter.
He said they had contacted the Angolan government two weeks ago but only got loose guarantees they would be paid soon.
"It could be tomorrow or next week or in the near future when we get paid but I am confident the issue will be resolved."
About 11 employees at the consulate - a barren office in the Johannesburg city centre - are owed money.
Some, who asked not to be named, told Sapa they could barely feed their families and were depending on handouts.
"It's hard," said a security guard at the consulate. "Right now, we are talking strike."
Santos said the consulate staff tried to help where they could, but they had to wait for real financial help from the government.
"The consulate knows that it is difficult to work on an empty stomach. Now and then we give them a little financial help."
An employee at the Angolan Embassy in Pretoria who requested anonymity also said he was owed money in unpaid salaries. The embassy was recently moved to a less expensive area of Pretoria from its upmarket location at Brooklyn.
Officials at the embassy were not available for comment on Tuesday.
"Angola is going through a transition period but I believe it will only be for a short period of time," Santos said.
Meanwhile, in a bid to save a weak economy battered by nearly 20 years of war, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos sacked his government on Monday and suspended all foreign currency deals.
In February this year more than 45 sickly Angolans getting medical treatment in South African hospitals were booted out of a hotel because they owed more than R1,6 million in accommodation bills.
Under its socialised medical system, Angola pays for citizens suffering from critical ailments to be treated in other countries.
Madelaine Hotel owner Chuchu Weinbeck on Tuesday said the Angolan government still owed her R600,000 in unpaid bills. "They have told me they will pay but I just don't know."
@ ANGLICANS-ARCHBISHOP
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
ANGLICANS VOTE FOR NEW LEADER
Anglican clergy and laity from southern Africa met in Cape Town on Tuesday to elect a successor to Archbishop Desmond Tutu as the church's head in the sub-continent.
The candidates are Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman Winston Ndungane, and Bishop of Johannesburg Duncan Buchanan.
The new archbishop will be elected by 575 church representatives from the region in a lengthy election process that may take until Wednesday or Thursday.
Proceeedings started with a eucharist on Tuesday, followed by a discussion of the merits of the two candidates.
Thereafter, the voting process starts with the clergy and the laity voting separately.
The new archbishop must get a two-thirds majority in each of these sectors. If not, another round of voting starts, without further debate, until the two-thirds majority in each sector is obtained.
If after seven rounds the necessary majority is not obtained, the debate is re-opened and new candidates can be nominated.
If an absolute deadlock is reached, the matter can be referred to the bishops in the Province, who will then appoint a new archbishop.
@ POWER
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
HOSTEL RESIDENTS BEAT DEADLINE FOR POWER CUTS
Hostel residents at Vosloorus on the East Rand have begun paying part of their outstanding electricity bills, SABC radio news reported on Tuesday.
This came hours before a deadline for hostel residents to pay the arrears or face electricity cuts. But the electricity supply could still be cut should the Boksburg Town Council insist that the residents pay the new R55 rate.
Residents are paying R20 and refuse to pay more unless the council provides individual metre readings for each hostel room.
@ ZIM-LAND
HARARE June 4 1996 Sapa
MUGABE ASSURES INVESTORS OVER LAND ISSUE
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday said his government's controversial land acquisition policy was not designed to deter foreign investors, but to correct past injustices against the majority black population, the news ageny Ziana reported.
Opening a two-day trade and investment conference in Harare, Mugabe said the policy did not restrict industrial and commercial land ownership and foreign investors had nothing to fear.
It was only enemies of Zimbabwe, he said, who were misleading people into believing government was grabbing investors' property for purposes of land redistribution.
The conference, organised by the Standard Chartered Bank, is being attended by over 200 businessmen and government representatives from Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Zambia and South Africa.
"Our laws do not prohibit, neither do they restrict, foreign ownership of industrial and commercial properties, including land.
"The Land Acquisition Act only deals with agricultural land which for clear historical reasons needs to be redistributed in a fairer and more equitable manner if the peace and social harmony we currently enjoy is to be sustained for future generations," Mugabe said.
The Act allows for the designation of and compulsory acquisition of agricultural land for resettlement purposes.
It angered many commercial farmers whose land was acquired under its powers, some of whom have taken the government to court to test the constitutionality of the act's provisions.
"Our detractors may wish to mislead you into believing that we are bent on dispossessing investors of their property, especially in relation to the Land Acquisition Act. I would like to dispel any such misconceptions," Mugabe said.
He said it was a matter of maintaining political stability to allow indigenous people to have a stake in the economy.
Mugabe said government would do its utmost to reduce the high budget deficit and cut escalating interest and inflation rates so as to restore investor confidence in his country's economy.
@ EDUC-PASO
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
PASO CALLS FOR BENGU'S RESIGNATION
The Pan Africanist Students' Organisation on Tuesday accused Education Minister Prof Sibusiso Bengu of failing to transform education and called for his resignation.
Addressing a media briefing in Johannesburg, Paso spokesman Clarence Hadebe said the Bengu was not pro-active in transformation, yet was very vocal when any crisis resulted in violence.
"Bengu is a spectator in the battle of transformation, while students are persecuted and harassed by the security forces," Hadebe said.
Bengu had also failed to address the financial backlog faced by predominantly black tertiary institutions, some of which faced closure.
Paso would oppose the final report of the National Commission on Higher Education if the submission date was not extended from July to December, Hadebe said.
"The haphazard consultation of the commission will impact on the final report to the Education Ministry," Hadebe said.
- Paso is holding an education policy conference from June 28 to July 1 at the Transkei College of Education in Umtata.
@ EDUC-DAVEYTON
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
PARENTS, PUPILS, TEACHERS MEET TO RESOLVE SEX DISPUTE
Parents, teachers and pupils at Daveyton's Hulwazi School on the East Rand on Tuesday called an urgnt meeting to resolve an impasse between pupils and teachers, SABC radio news reported.
The confrontation followed allegations of sexual harassment of female pupils by male teachers.
Classes have been suspended at the school since pupils went on the rampage last week, allegedly setting alight the headmaster's car and assaulting teachers.
Teachers have denied the sexual harassment claims.
@ EDUC-FREESTATE
BLOEMFONTEIN June 4 1996 Sapa
FREE STATE TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST HEADQUARTERS' MOVE
About 6000 teachers from eastern Free State towns on Tuesday demonstrated outside the Ladybrand district education office, SABC radio news reported.
The teachers were protesting against the Free State education department's plan to move the eastern Free State district headquarters from Ladybrand to Thaba Nchu.
The teachers said the move would cause problems in obtaining furniture and stationery.
@ TRUTH-BUTHELEZI
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
END IFP BOYCOTT OF TRUTH BODY, TUTU TELLS BUTHELEZI
It was crucial that the Truth Commission hear Inkatha's side of the story on past human rights abuses, Truth Commission chairman Desmond Tutu told Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Tuesday.
The two met for more than 90 minutes in Buthelezi's ministerial office in Cape Town along with commission deputy chairman Dr Alex Boraine and IFP council member Joe Matthews.
The long-awaited meeting was the last in a series which the commission has held with party leaders to explain the aims and work of the 17-member panel which is probing three decades of human rights abuses.
Buthelezi read out a prepared statement committing his party to the "notion of a nation-wide truth-finding exercise", but rejecting the structure of the commission as a "recipe for great evil".
He also criticised the 17-member panel appointed by President Nelson Mandela, saying many commissioners were known to have ANC leanings.
He also stressed that while the commission had been established to probe past human rights abuses, the IFP was still party of an ongoing "tragic and bloody conflict" with the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal.
"Just now the IFP leadership is still waiting with bated breath as the ANC-led government has stated its intention to charge some senior members of the IFP's national council."
In these circumstances the IFP did not see the point of "prematurely" involving itself in the work of the commission.
Addressing a media briefing afterwards, Tutu repeatedly emphasised the importance of the IFP appearing before the commission.
"Whatever the IFP may feel about the commission it is important that their story must be told if we are going to have a reasonable full account of the past conflict."
The IFP has said it will encourage its members to apply for amnesty and for reparations as victims of human rights abuses.
However, at Tuesday's meeting Boraine told Buthelezi IFP members would be unable to claim reparation unless they first appeared before the commission's human rights violations committee.
Buthelezi said this issue would be discussed at the IFP's next council meeting on June 15.
The council has already decided that the party should make a submission to the commission giving its version of the apartheid struggle.
Tutu, who described the discussions as "full and frank", said he still hoped the commission's display of independence and even-handedness would persuade the IFP to drop its opposition to the body.
The meeting got off to an auspicious start with Tutu saying a brief prayer and Buthelezi showing him a framed photograph of the two men taken a decade earlier.
However, in the four-page statement he then read out, Buthelezi said the IFP doubted whether the commission would be able to promote national unity and reconciliation.
He rejected the commission's powers to grant amnesty, saying only the judiciary had the administrative capacity and the skill to handle the amnesty applications in an objective and technical fashion.
"More importantly, the IFP has always believed that the combination of amnesty, compensation and truth finding is a recipe for great evil."
Circumstances of history had created conditions to transform the commission into a political vehicle for the ANC to "sanctify" the actions committed by ANC members during the armed struggle.
"In fact the commission may be used to simplify politics in the apartheid- era as a simple battle between the ANC-United Democratic Front righteous anti-apartheid forces and all the other political parties and movements depicted to varying degrees as agents or surrogates of apartheid.
"One of the main goals of this effort will be that of continuing to discredit and demonise me and all that I did during my 40 years of political commitment to the cause of freedom, democracy and pluralism."
@ TRUTH-CONTEMPT
PORT ELIZABETH June 4 1996 Sapa
FORMER POLICEMAN APPLIES FOR COURT ORDER AGAINST TRUTH BODY
Former policeman Gideon Nieuwoudt on Tuesday filed an application in the Port Elizabeth Supreme Court against the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Niewoudt claimed the commission disregarded a negotiated agreement between himself and the body, SABC radio news reported.
In terms the agreement no evidence relating to Nieuwoudt would be heard by the commission's Human Rights Abuses Committee without informing him.
However, Niewoudt said people testifying before the committee subsequently had identified him by referring to Mr X or "the man we may not name".
The commission's legal representative, Hanif Vally, said he received copies of the application filed on Tuesday and the commission would defend the application, which is to be heard in the Port Elizabeth Supreme Court next week.
The application follows the commission's hearings in the city in which witnesses are alleged to have blatantly ignored a court order preventing them from naming Nieuwoudt without prior warning.
@ SPORT-TSHWETE
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
PLANS FOR NEW SPORT DRUG BODY: TSHWETE
Cabinet was discussing plans for a statutory body to combat the use of banned drugs, Sport Minister Steve Tshwete said on Tuesday.
There were reservations about the cost of setting up the body to be known as the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport, he told the National Assembly's committee on sport.
However this kind of reasoning was "out of order". South Africa was one of the few countries world that did not have this kind of state-supported facility.
The private sector should feel free to contribute in cash and kind, and if they did, the financial hurdle could be overcome easily.
"Money should not be an issue," he said.
The institute, with a staff of about five, would provide leadership in developing a national strategy on drugs in sport.
It would set up a centralised drug sampling and testing programme to subject all competitors to spot drug testing in and out of competition.
The institute would encourage sports federations to adopt uniform sampling and testing procedures, and would work to develop laboratories that would be accredited by the International Olympic Committee.
He hoped legislation on the new body would be passed by Parliament this year.
Dealing with his recent proposals for legislation to force general television broadcasts of sport events of national interest, Tshwete said his department was not averse to self-regulation, as had been suggested by M-Net and the Independent Broadcasting Authority.
However an ad hoc arrangement could be abrogated at any time.
"We might consider self-regulation, but if we believe it's not in the interest of public viewership we'll have to come back to this piece of legislation," he said.
The Bill had not yet gone before Cabinet.
@ SARAFINA-GINWALA
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
SARAFINA REPORT SHOULD NOT DOMINATE HEALTH BUDGET: GINWALA
The Public Protector's report into the Aids play Sarafina II debacle should not be allowed to dominate the Health Budget debate in Parliament this week, National Assembly Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala said on Tuesday.
Asked why the report was not included in the Health Budget debate, she said the report was handed to her at noon on Monday.
The plan was to debate the report once it was tabled.
"Certainly in my view to allow this to dominate the Health Budget debate is not going to be helpful to anybody," she said.
Ginwala said she had been asked to move the Budget debate "but then that would have been manipulating the ... process".
The debate on the public protector's report on the controversial R14,2 million play will take place at 3pm on Wednesday.
Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma will then make a formal statement on the report which is embargoed until then.
Referring to the breach of the embargo by several newspapers, Ginwala said ways would be investigated to prevent embargoes on future reports to be tabled in Parliament being broken.
"We need to discuss how embargoes on reports are going to operate, because in an open Parliament we also need to function by way of trust," she said.
Public protector Selby Baqwa said on Monday he was concerned at the extensive media coverage his report had received in Sunday newspapers.
@ NGUBANE-ARTS
PRETORIA June 4 1996 Sapa
OFFICIALLY APPROVED ART BELONGS TO THE PAST: MINISTER
The political manupulation of artists and the notion of officially approved art belonged to the past, Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Minister Ben Ngubane said on Tuesday.
Launching the draft White Paper on Arts and Culture in Pretoria, he said the proposed new national arts council would function at arms-length from the government.
"It will act as a safeguard against politicians and bureaucrats setting themselves up as arbiters of cultural taste," Ngubane said.
"The political manipulation of artists, the deadening effect of officially approved art and the ever-present dangers of censorship will be a thing of the past."
The national arts council is central to the draft new government policy on arts, culture and heritage outlined in the White Paper. It is to be a statutory body, receiving a parliamentary grant through the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology.
The council's main task will be to distribute public funds to artists, and cultural and non-government institutions.
"Through this council, the government hopes to produce conditions based on equality of access across all art forms," Ngubane said.
The four existing performing arts councils would be restructured over three years in terms of the draft White Ppaper.
Ngubane said companies associated with these councils would, like all other arts organisations, be able to apply to the proposed new national council for grants. Such requests would be assessed by a panel experts in a particular art form.
"This will allow for all companies to compete on an equal basis," Ngubane said.
The launching ceremony at the Union Buildings included performances by a string sextet and traditional dancers.
The closing date for public comment on the draft document is July 5, after which a final White Paper will be drawn up. Legislation to put the new arts dispensation into practice will be tabled during the current parliamentary session.
@ PHOSA-OFFICIALS
NELSPRUIT June 4 1996 Sapa
PROVINCES ENTITLED TO DISMISS NP POLITICAL APPOINTEES: PHOSA
Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa on Monday said provincial governments were entitled to dismiss government officials who were National Party political appointees.
Phosa said this situation was precipitated by Deputy President F W de Klerk's decision to pull the NP out of the government of national unity, African Eye News Service reported on Tuesday.
Phosa was speaking in the Mpumalanga legislature after announcing a provincial executive committee reshuffle.
"The withdrawal, by implication, means that we now have a situation of winner takes all. Let me say again that it isn't a situation of our making but was instead created by Mr de Klerk. One is either in or one is out."
Stressing that those affected would only be political appointees and not "normal" public servants, Phosa said the NP's move spelt disaster for the careers of many competant officials.
"To argue that the NP's withdrawal is conditional and only valid for some levels and institutions of government is clearly opportunistic. How can one expect to withdraw from a marriage and still enjoy the benefits of the marriage?" Phosa asked.
Phosa also said the NP had clearly not considered or discussed all the implications of its decision.
@ CASINOS-TAX
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
W CAPE GOVT APPROVES TABLE OF FEES, TAXES FOR CASINO OPERATORS
The Western Cape government has approved a table of fees and taxes payable by licensed casino operators, SABC radio news reported on Tuesday.
In terms of provincial gambling laws casino operators will have to pay an annual licence fee of R100,000 plus a board investigation fee of R10000. In addition they will have to fork out R2000 per year per gambling table and R1200 per slot machine.
Casinos with a turnover of more than R50 million will have to pay R5,3 million in tax plus 17 percent of the turnover above R50 million.
@ SANITATION
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
PROPER SANITATION NEEDED TO COUNTER POOR HEALTH: ZUMA
Proper sanitation, especially for the rural poor, would restore their dignity as human beings, Health Minister Dr Nkosazana Zuma said on Tuesday.
Her department was also concerned about the burden of ill health on the under-privileged due to lack of access to basic sanitation.
Addressing a national sanitation policy conference in Cape Town, she said it was estimated that 21 million South Africans lacked adequate sanitation.
Although the exact economic impact of the situation had not been quantified in South Africa, the World Health Organisation had estimated that in similar circumstances poor environmental health conditions accounted for up to 80 percent of the total national disease burden.
Diseases of concern were diarrhoea, intestinal infestations and related malnutrition, schistosomiasis and skin and eye infections.
These significantly increased morbidity and mortality rates in South Africa, especially among children.
The National Sanity Policy Paper being discussed at the conference therefore represented a vital link between her Department's mission and the 1994 Department of Water Affairs and Forestry's White Paper on Water Supply and Sanitation, Zuma said.
The policy acknowledged that sanitation was fundamentally about health.
Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Kader Asmal told the conference the simple building of toilets did not serve the purpose of effective sanitation.
"The legacy of the previous government's `toilet in the veld' policy should convince us all of that."
Effective sanitation was not only about infrastructure but very centrally about health, hygiene education, sharing of knowledge, and people.
Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu said his Ministry supported the upgrading of sanitation facilities at all schools.
This should be complemented by educational health and hygiene programmes.
Only through a collective effort would goals be achieved and "we can only achieve this if we can educate people of the need for proper sanitation in our country".
Deputy Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development Minister Valli Moosa said the conference was significant to millions of South Africans in that it marked the end of the old era in sanitation and the start of a new one.
More than 30 percent of R1,3 billion appropriated to his Department for the provision of basic municipal infra-structure services would be spent on sanitation projects and 50 percent on water projects within the next 18 months.
"These percentages indicate that hese two core municipal services are in greatest demand of communities."
Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi-Nkondo said the Government had through its housing subsidy scheme helped provide sanitation facilities to about 300,000 low income households over the past two years.
@ DIEPSLOOT-SQUATTERS
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
SQUATTERS TOLD TO LEAVE DIEPSLOOT
A delegation from Johannesburg's eastern metropolitan sub-substructure on Tuesday met 150 squatters at Diepsloot north-west of Johannesburg to discuss their relocation problem.
The squatters were not allocated sites as part of the Far East Bank, Alexandra relocation programme.
They have been accused of forging registration for relocation at Diepsloot and have been told to return to their original place of residence.
The chairman of the EMSS executive committee, Nkele Ntingane, said the squatters were told to resolve their problems with ward councillors in Alexandra.
@ MPUMALANGA-PARKS
NELSPRUIT June 4 1996 Sapa
MPUMALANGA PARKS BOARD TO RETURN SOME PARKS TO GOVERNMENT
The Mpumalanga Parks Board plans to hand back several nature and game reserves to the provincial department of enviromnent affairs.
Board spokesman Gary Sutter on Monday said the move was deemed necessary to ensure the MPB's self-sufficiency was not compromised, African Eye News Service reported.
Sutter said the board would probably have to be cross-subsidised if all Mpumalanga parks were kept under its jurisdiction.
"We'd rather develop a few reserves to their full potential than not do the job properly," he said
Sutter denied the handover was a result of financial shortages within the MPB, explaining that some reserves could not be developed by the MPB at all because they were ecologically sensitive.
"Some (such as some wetland reserves) are just too sensitive to put up tourist lodges ...," he said.
Sutter said the parks board still had the option of reintegrating the reserves at a later stage.
He confirmed that approximately 500 parks board employees - mostly junior staff and labourers - would return to the environment affairs department.
@ ZIM-LD-LAND
HARARE June 4 1996 Sapa
MUGABE PROMISES FOREIGN INVESTORS FULL CO-OPERATION
President Robert Mugabe, trying to boost investment in Zimbabwe's troubled economy, on Tuesday promised foreign business his government's full co-operation in easing the path of their ventures.
He told a gathering of delegations from Europe, the Far East and southern Africa at a trade and investment conference in Harare the government "has the will and determination" to deal with its high budget deficits, soaring interest rates and crippling inflation.
Mugabe said the state had to provide a conducive climate for investment and "government will go out of its way to promote greater co-operation between the public and private sectors in a team approach to the development of the country".
Mugabe's assurances followed growing concern over his government's dealings with business, marked last week by the announcement that the immigration department had expelled nine South African technicians hired by Australian international mining conglomerate BHP.
The technicians were apparently critical to the establishment of the company's US310 million platinum mine near Harare, the biggest investment in the country in the last 25 years.
Malcolm Williamson, group chief executive of Standard Chartered, the British-based bank organising the conference, told the gathering the loosening up of work permits for expatriates was necessary, and foreign investors did not "expect to face complex regulation or approval processes" for getting the go-ahead on business ventures.
Also this week, International Monetary Fund African department director Evangelos Calamitsis made it clear the bank expected Mugabe's government to take vigorous action to halt its free-wheeling spending habits and the unrestrained borrowing which have wreaked havoc with the country's economic reforms.
In September, the IMF cancelled the last tranche of US60 million of a major loan, after the government's budget deficit overshot its mark of US380 million by double the amount.
The IMF and the World Bank have repeatedly accused the Zimbabwean government of dragging its feet on vital fiscal and economic reforms.
Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa admitted to the conference that the business climate was still not up to the standards of new foreign investors.
Mugabe said on Monday the last five years, in which the governemnt embarked on IMF and World Bank inspired changes "have witnessed fundamental changes that have transformed a highly regulated and controlled economy into a market driven one".
The second phase of the reform programme "will make our investment environment even more attractive," he said.
Mugabe promised this phase would also see the government "shed off some of its traditional functions and responsibilities that can be performed better by the private sector".
He was referring to the sale of state assets such as parastatal companies which operate at a loss, a move the IMF has long been pressing for.
Mugabe insisted that black Zimbabweans be given preferential deals in buying the assets as part of government policy of "indigenous economic empowerment" and that this was "imperative" for political stability.
@ HOME-LEAVE
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY June 4 1996 Sapa
EMIGRATION DROPPING, SAYS BUTHELEZI
Although South Africa's expert-drain continued last year, it was nevertheless promising that emigration was decreasing, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Tuesday.
Speaking during debate on his budget vote, Buthelezi said that during 1995 8725 people left the country, while 5064 foreigners settled here.
This was a net loss of 3661 people compared with a loss of 3837 in 1994. The net loss of persons in professional, semi-professional and technical occupations was 882 compared with 857 during 1994.
It was envisaged that during 1996 the "brain drain" may continue to decrease, Buthelezi said.
"A growth in the economy, stability in the country and the region as a whole and coming to terms with violence and crime are but a few of the matters being attended to which, with positive results, should turn the scale towards not losing our own," he said.
@ HOME-ALIENS
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY June 4 1996 Sapa
TIDE OF ILLEGAL ALIENS CAN BE STEMMED, SAYS BUTHELEZI
The Department of Home Affairs was confident that the influx of illegal immigrants who posed a threat to the RDP and the prosperity of citizens could be stemmed, the Minister, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, said on Tuesday.
This could only be done if the central and regional governments and political parties were willing to support the department in its application of strict control measures and intensified law enforcement actions, Buthelezi said during debate on his budget vote.
This was a matter that should be depoliticised in every respect.
There were indications that there may be as many as 2,5 to 4,1 million illegal aliens in the country, Buthelezi said.
The effect that these illegal aliens could have on the infrastructure and services of the country should not be underestimated.
In spite of their being only 464 immigration officer posts for law enforcement to trace and remove illegal aliens, 157084 people had been repatriated to their countries of origin last year.
@ HOME-CONTROL
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY June 4 1996 Sapa
SOME ILLEGALS FROM SADC STATES TO GET RESIDENCE EXEMPTION
The Aliens Control Amendment Bill would be implemented on July 1, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi announced on Tuesday.
Now that the country had a sound legal base for effective aliens control, he could announce details about exemptions for residential permits to people from SADC states who had lived in South Africa for a long time, Buthelezi said during debate on his budget vote.
However, they would have to comply with certain conditions:
- They would have to be able to prove they had been continually resident in South Africa for five years or longer before July 1 1991;
- They must not have a criminal record and must be desirable inhabitants of the Republic;
- They must be engaged in productive economic activity or maintaining a relationship with a South African partner or spouse, or have dependent children born in or living lawfully in South Africa; and
- These applications have to be submitted between July 1 and September 30.
Buthelezi appealed to members of the public not to ask for application forms before July 1.
No applications from people from countries other than the SADC states would be accepted.
@ HOME-AFIS
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY June 4 1996 Sapa
AFIS COULD SAVE SA BILLIONS, SAYS BUTHELEZI
It was estimated that more than R1bn a year would be saved through the detection of fraudulent payments once a proper Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) was in place, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Tuesday.
Speaking during debate on his budget vote, Buthelezi said an AFIS had become imperative to replace the present manual identification system operated by the department.
In addition to this, and as a result of the fact that the identity document in its present format had become obsolete, it was also envisaged to implement an identity card simultaneously.
A reliable document that the public and private sector could depend on had become an urgent need.
"Precautionary measures will for example include the introduction of a photograph on the card by computer and the incorporation of one or more fingerprints on the reverse side of the card which will be machine-readable."
Cabinet approval had already been obtained to approach the Department of State Expenditure to get funding for the projects and Home Affairs was awaiting its response, Buthelezi said.
Expected capital expenditure was estimated at R407 million during the first eight years.
"When implementing the AFIS priority will be given to the needs of the Departments of Welfare and Transport and the savings that may be derived by these departments could be substantial."
The department had concluded its investigations and although consultations with other institutions were continuing, the department was compiling a final tender document. It was anticipated that the tender would be awarded during the last quarter of this year, to be implemented early next year, Buthelezi said.
@ CHALKER-SA
HARARE June 4 1996 Sapa
CHALKER TELLS SOUTH AFRICA TO CO-OPERATE
British Overseas Development Minister Baroness Lynda Chalker on Tuesday said South Africa should start co-operating with other southern African countries to achieve sustained economic growth in the region, Zimbabwe's Ziana news agency reported.
Addressing delegates to a two-day trade and investment conference in Harare, Chalker said South Africa should work with other Southern African Development Community states to boost trade and investment flows in the region.
"We are encouraging South Africa to look sympathetically at the needs of Zimbabwe and other SADC countries for fairer trading arrangements," she told the conference.
She cited reducing impediments to free trade, such as import tariffs and export subsidies, in the interests of the long-term prosperity of southern Africa's economy as a whole.
"In southern Africa, South Africa clearly has an important role to play in constructing an open trading position and in working with regional partners to boost trade and investment flows within the region."
Chalker said the European Union was negotiating a free trade agreement with Pretoria, which she believed would lead to new trading opportunities and contribute to sustainable economic development and political stability in the region.
She said the agreement contained an explicit commitment to regional economic co-operation and integration.
The agreement, Chalker said, also encouraged South Africa to provide improved market access opportunities to her neighbours.
@ MEC PLEDGES TALKS TO RESETTLE TSOLO REFUGEES
Issued by: East Cape News Agencies (Ecna)
EAST LONDON (Ecna Tuesday 4 June 1996) - Eastern Cape agriculture MEC Ezra Sigwela said today he was desperately trying to find land to end the "sickening" saga of Tsolo's refugees.
Sigwela told Ecna he was "bothered" by the Justice department evicting the 80 refugees from their temporary refuge in Tsolo's magistrates court building last month. More than 300 people have been killed in the violence-wracked area in the last two years.
Police last month twice ferried the refugees to distant Mjanyane, near Encgobo, only to be twice turned away and returned to the overcrowded court building.
Sigwela laid the blame on poor communication, but said he had met Justice Minister Dullah Omar and was now searching for more suitable land for the refugees.
Sigwela said: "It is not justice to say 'get away you rubbish'. The grounds for justice is people and their circumstances."
He said Omar had agreed that the problem could not be resolved "overnight" and said Sigwela should find suitable land in consultation with communities.
"If I was not considering the attitudes of people, those refugees could be on land now, today, but we need to speak to people. We can't just bring the refugees in quietly and put them on land and expect communities not to react.
"The past government just decided where people would be placed and if anyone created any nonsense, they would be put in prison. But now we are in a democracy and whatever we do, we have to consult with people."
Sigwela said if the refugees had been settled at Mjanyane, the community there could have reacted violently to the newcomers. He had spoken to traditional and political leaders in the Engcobo area, but was told the refugees would not be welcome.
Sigwela then visited the refugees themselves to "talk to them about their own idea of what should happen and how they see their own future".
"I asked them why they were displaced and they said they were accused of stocktheft and witchcraft. But they couldn't imagine there were thieves or witches among them.
"What puzzled them as well was that the people who accused them of stocktheft had hardly any stock or decent homes."
Sigwela was concerned the refugees had been tagged as thieves.
"I am a person who believes in law - I don't believe people are guilty until it is proven by a court of law.
"People use stereotypes in times of conflict - they rake whatever they can to throw at their adversaries."
He said this stigma was making communities suspicious of the refugees and sometimes unwilling to accommodate them.
He said he would in future meet with Tsolo district leaders about the possibilities of allowing the refugees to settle there permanently.
"It may be possible by constant discussion with the adversaries to forge peace.
Sigwela said the refugees were "normal people in normal families but whose lives have now been shattered - it is sickening".
He said they were mostly religious people who depended largely on 17 old age pensions for money. Most of the group's children had been taken into schools by concerned groups, but four pupils had not been able to write their matric last year because they were displaced.
"All of society should be committed to changing the lives of these people. Subsidiaries like churches should be assisting the government." - Ecna
@ NAMIBIA-LOME
WINDHOEK June 4 1996 Sapa
EU UPS AID TO NAMIBIA
The European Union has increased its financial assistance to Namibia by 15 percent to ND286 million for the next five-year period.
EU ambassador Roger Leenders told President Sam Nujoma in Windhoek on Monday the assistance, under the renegotiated Lome IV Convention, had been increased as Namibia served as a model for implementing democracy and respecting human rights, news reports said.
"Namibia did very well up to now," Leenders said.
The funds for the national indicative programme exclude those made available under various sub-programmes.
During the first financing round of the convention, the EU made ND800 million available to Namibia, ND247 million under the NIP.
The new allocation would be for education, agriculture and production. Additional funds could be made available on request, reports said.
Leenders said "the image of Namibia must be preserved" so that donors, and the EU in particular, could see that all measures were taken to allow money and aid to go where it was meant.
Nujoma told a briefing that the Office of the Prime Minister had laid criminal charges following the reported theft of drought aid from the Council of Churches in Namibia.
The CCN, which was tasked with distributing relief supplies, had dismissed the person concerned.
"We were not very pleased with the solution and therefore the Prime Minister's Office has laid charges," the president said.
@ NZO-NIGERIA
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
SA FOREIGN POLICY TEMPERED BY AFRICAN SOLIDARITY ETHOS: NZO
South Africa had backed off from its hard-line stance against Nigeria after its OAU allies accused it of acting against African norms and solidarity, Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo told the National Assembly's foreign affairs committee.
South Africa had been the only African country to demand penalties against Nigerian dictator Gen Sani Abacha's government accused of human rights violations, he said.
It had also been the only OAU country to withdraw its High Commissioner in Lagos after the execution of Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.
But pressure from OAU allies, especially the West African nations, had necessitated a rethink on South Africa's policy towards Nigeria, Nzo said.
Without the backing of its African allies, South Africa ran the risk of the situation being regarded as a conflict between it and Nigeria.
Before an OAU council of ministers's meeting, Nigerian Foreign Minister Tim Ikimia had lobbied numerous countries and accused South Africa of acting against African solidarity.
Nzo said he had been "forced to make a statement" in the OAU that South Africa was committed to African solidarity and that it would remain in the fold.
African solidarity was important to South African foreign policy.
After his address to the committee, he told a press briefing that it was important "for us to go along with other countries", but that in principle South Africa had not retreated from it's call for Nigeria to embark on a democratic transformation.
Delegations from West Africa had told him that should SA persist in calling for economic sanction it would destroy Nigeria, and "we will destroy all the West African nations", Nzo said.
It was in South Africa's interest to avoid being isolated from Africa as it had in the past.
"That is why it was important for South Africa to work within such structures (the OAU and the Southern African Development Community).
"It's important for us to go along with other countries, but principally we have not retracted from our call for Nigeria to embark on democracy."
@ CABLES
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
TELKOM DEPLOYS SECURITY FORCES TO DETER CABLE THIEVES
Telkom said security forces were going to patrol areas where telephone cable theft was prevalent, SABC radio news reported on Tuesday.
Company spokesman Fanie Bothma said the move was part of an effort to combat the increasing incidence of cable theft in the Witwatersrand area.
He said Telkom had lost more than R7 million since last year because of theft.
A special investigation team had been appointed to find solutions to the problem.
@ SWAZI-LD-TB
SWAZILAND June 4 1996 Sapa
161 PEOPLE DIE FROM TUBERCULOSIS IN SWAZILAND
The number of tuberculosis cases in Swaziland has reached epedemic proportions with 161 deaths between January and March, according to Dr Casphina Mabuza, medical officer in charge of the kingdom's TB control programme.
Mabuza on Tuesday said 480 new cases of TB had been reported so far this year.
Last year 2050 cases were reported and 219 people died from the disease.
"Official figures of TB cases and deaths are no doubt just the tip of the iceberg," she said, adding that the increase of TB cases was in proportion to the increase of HIV and AIDS.
"People can protect themselves against TB by avoiding long hours in crowded public places where coughing and sneezing spreads such diseases. (We must) educate people to cover their mouths when coughing, but the best protection is natural resistance to the disease - a healthy body. The recipe is a balanced diet and fresh air".
She said unless people protected themselves from contracting HIV during sex, all other preventative measures to fight TB would be useless.
@ MEC APPEALS TO FARMERS TO APPLY FOR DROUGHT AID
BISHO (Ecna Tuesday 4 June 1996) - The Eastern Cape government was prepared to help drought-stricken farmers with relief funding, provincial Agriculture MEC Ezra Sigwela said today.
Responding to reports of desperately dry conditions on Eastern Cape farms from Tsitsikamma to Alexandria, Sigwela said there was money left over from R19-million allocated to drought relief last November.
"Just about then, rain started falling, creating floods. Advice from the national department was that drought relief could be switched over to disaster relief since the floods came with a lot of hail."
Sigwela said districts all over the province benefited from the aid. He could not say how much of the R19-m was left, while his director of economic and marketing planning was not available with the figure.
Sigwela assured farmers: "It is policy when there are disasters that we are always ready to assist where there are funds. Where there are no funds, we are ready to help farmers access funds."
He advised farmers who had been struck by disaster to contact his office.
East Cape Agriculture Union manager Rory O'Moore said yesterday that drought conditions along the coast were not critical, but farmers further inland were carting water and fodder for stock.
Patensie Citrus Co-operative general manager Binky du Preez said the lack of good late summer rains in the prime Gamtoos Valley area had resulted in poor quality "creased" fruit which was only suitable for making fruit juice.
He said a decline in fruit exports was expected as a result of the drought. - Ecna
@ ZAMBIA-LD-TREASON
LUSAKA, June 4 1996 Sapa-AFP
ZAMBIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS CHARGED WITH TREASON
Eight members of former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda's United National Independence Party, including its vice president, were charged with treason Tuesday over a string of bombings.
They have been accused of forming a group calling itself Black Mamba, which has claimed responsibility for the recent bomb attacks.
Treason is punishable by death in Zambia.
The previously unknown group surfaced in response to a new constitutional amendment which effectively bars Kaunda from running for re-election later this year because his parents were not born in Zambia.
UNIP vice president Inyambo Yeta, former finance minister Rabson Chongo and Kaunda aide Muhabi Lungu appeared with five others - including three former army officers - in the Lusaka magistrates court in connection with four counts of treason.
Kaunda defied a heavy police presence to address a crowd of about 700 UNIP supporters outside the court, accusing the government of President Frederick Chiluba of trying to create a state of emergency.
"We are dealing with little frightened criminals," the former president said, claiming that the government was trying to block an opposition rally scheduled for this weekend.
The eight men have been accused of involvement in a bomb blast which damaged a wall at State House two weeks ago, planting a bomb at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka and the bombing of the government-owned Times of Zambia newspaper offices in the town of Ndola last week.
They were all arrested Sunday and Monday and UNIP officials say they expect more of their members to be picked up in the next few days.
The eight UNIP members were not asked to plead and were remanded in custody until a High Court hearing expected next week.
@ NZO-CUBA
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
NO HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN CUBA TO WARRANT SANCTIONS AGAINST IT:NZO
South Africa's foreign policy on Cuba was based on the notion that there were no human rights violations which would warrant sanctions against it, Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo said on Tuesday.
Nzo was questioned about the new South Africa's ties with Cuba, Iran and Libya by Parliament's foreign affairs committee before which he was appearing.
On the perception that South Africa was cozying up to these countries at the risk of alienating itself from countries such as the United States, Nzo said South Africa had established diplomatic relations so that it was in a position to engage constructively and be in a position to censure them where necessary.
He did not believe that South Africa's continued ties with Iran would result in deteriorating relations with the United States which is about to pass the Iran Foreign Sanctions Bill.
On human rights violations in Iran, he said South Africa was monitoring developments "very closely". A United Nations report had been published earlier this year which indicated that Iran had made progress in certain instances.
However, the government believed more should be done to address the human rights situation in Iran.
"For this reason, we have thus far supported the United Nation's General Assembly resolutions condemning the human rights violations of the Iranian government.
"This forms part of South Africa's principled approach with regard to all country-specific resolutions at the United Nations, demonstrating South Africa's commitment to the protection of fundamental human rights."
Asked by Dr Boy Geldenhuys (NP) why if South Africa actively supported the United Nations resolutions it did not support similar regulations against Cuba, Nzo said:
"We are acting on the basis there is no such violations of human rights which would warrant such action against Cuba."
@ COMMISSION ON REMUNERATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Issued by: Office of the President
The Commission on Remuneration of Representatives will conduct public hearings on Wednesday, 5 June 1996 starting at 11:00 at Room 102, Good Hope Building, Stalplein, Cape Town. The following persons will testify before the Commission and elaborate on their written proposals on the remuneration of elected representatives:
Mr R Calland
Delegation of speakers forum
I Olivier SECRETARY COMMISSION ON REMUNERATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Date: 4 June 1996
Contact person: Mr I Olivier Tel: (021) 45 2225
@ MASSIVE POLICE CRACKDOWN ON PE TAXI WAR
Issued by: East Cape News Agencies (Ecna)
PORT ELIZABETH (Ecna Tuesday 4 June 1996) - Heavily armed police swooped on Port Elizabeth taxi ranks today after yet another shooting incident in the ongoing taxi war that has left 10 dead.
Police, moving in a large convoy from rank to rank in the city centre, searched drivers and passengers in a bid to end the two month-old conflict over routes and ranks.
One driver from the Uncedo taxi association was detained after police confiscated a gun.
The raids on the ranks followed an order from provincial police Commissioner Gerrie Bezuidenhout to "restore public safety".
At the city centre's main Strand Street rank this morning, shots were fired at a group of taxis affiliated to the East London-based Border Alliance Taxi Association (Bata).
No one was injured during the incident. Last week, however, two passengers were injured when gunmen opened fire on the same rank from an overhead freeway.
At the weekend, seven people were injured when gunmen, allegedly armed with AK-47 rifles, fired on commuters in Walmer Township.
Ten people have been killed and dozens more injured since taxi associations took their differences over the city's routes and ranks to the streets in open warfare in March.
"The only way to stop the violence is to have one association with one administration," said Ntsikelelo Makanyena, a Bata spokesman.
He said an agreement had been reached between the associations not to operate while negotiations were underway.
Late yesterday, Uncedo members began operating from a city taxi rank as the near month-long taxi standstill, aggravated by a commuter boycott, began to take its financial toll.
Said one Uncedo driver during the police search: "We are only trying to deliver the people". - Ecna
@ MUSEUM
BLOEMFONTEIN June 4 1996 Sapa
UOFS' KHOTSENG APPOINTED TO BOARD OF NATIONAL MUSEUM
Prof Benito Khotseng, general manager of strategic and student programmes at the University of the Orange Free State, has been appointed by the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology to serve on the Board of the National Museum in Bloemfontein.
UOFS said on Tuesday that Khotseng's appointment was for three years.
@ COURT-KHOZA
NELSPRUIT June 4 1996 Sapa
FORMER MPUMALANGA PROTOCOL OFFICER IN COURT ON ATTEMPTED MURDER
Former Mpumalanga chief protocol officer and prominent Nelspruit African National Congress leader, June Khoza, on Tuesday appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on a charge of attempted murder, the African Eye News Service reported.
The State alleges Khoza attempted to murder James Muwane and Joseph Seshaba during an argument in KaNyamazane on September 16, 1995.
He was not asked to plead and the hearing was postponed to July 19.
Khoza is also appearing in court on a separate charge of sexually assaulting a woman colleague in premier Mathews Phosa's office earlier this year.
The sexual abuse case will be heard on Wednesday in the Nelspruit Regional Court.
Seshaba is one of the bodyguards of Mpumalanga safety and security MEC Steve Mabona.
@ MPUMALANGA-FARMERS
DELMAS, Mpumalanga June 4 1996 Sapa
PHOSA CALLS ON COMMINUTY TO FIGHT ATTACKS ON FARMERS
Mpumalanga premier Matthews Phosa on Tuesday called on the community to help the government fight attacks on farmers.
Addressing farmers in Delmas, Phosa said the farming community was important to the province's economy and farmers could not be expected to be productive while living in fear for their lives, SABC radio news reported.
The gathering, also attended by several farmers' unions and Mpumalanga safety and security MEC Steve Mabona, was called to highlight the increase in stock theft.
Farmers in the province claim the increase has resulted in some farmers selling most of their livestock.
@ RATTE
PRETORIA June 4 1996 Sapa
RIGHTWINGER RATTE HAS LOST 8KG: SOURCES
Rightwinger Willem Ratte has lost about 8kg in body weight since embarking on a hunger strike 30 days ago in Zonderwater prison north of Pretoria, government sources said on Tuesday.
They said Ratte appeared to be bent on persisting with his protest action. "This thing could drag on for very long," sources said.
Ratte, a member of a group calling itself the Boere Kommando, was earlier this month jailed for five-and-a-half years on charges arising from the seizure of Fort Schanskop in Pretoria in 1993. He has been refusing food since the beginning of his sentence on May 6.
A Correctional Services spokesman on Tuesday would not confirm or deny Ratte's weight loss.
"I can go no further than reporting what the prisoner's private doctor told us: Mr Ratte is only taking fluids and he is still clear and ambulent," the spokesman said.
"We respect his physician's independence and are following his instructions."
Several rightwing leaders have called for Ratte's release, contending that his crime was politically motivated. Some also warned the former Reconnaissance Unit soldier would not give up his hunger strike.
Ratte served in 32 Battalion of the old SA Defence Force during the bush war in former South West Africa.
In a book on the battalion, former commander Col Jan Breytenbach described Ratte as a crack Recce commander.
"Willem, to say the least, is unorthodox and eccentric. When planning operations he seemed to be forever turning things over in his mind, to the extent that he became oblivious to all else around him.
"Once deciding on something, though, he would follow it through and nothing would budge him," Brytenbach said in the book.
@ HEALTH-PSYCHIATRIC
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
19 PERCENT OF CHILDREN IN KHAYELITSHA HAVE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
About 19 percent of children and adolescents in informal settlements in Khayelitsha have diagnosable psychiatric disorders, according to a study by University of Cape Town researchers.
These disorders included depressive, anti-social and anxiety disorders, researcher and clinical psychologist Karen Ensink said.
The percentage in unserviced areas without shacks, running water or sanitation was higher.
The study, highlighted in the Medical Research Council annual report tabled in Parliament this week, showed an urgent need for mental health services in informal settlements, she said.
Only overcrowded day hospitals provided these services now.
The research indicated that 65 percent of children in the area suffered from symptoms associated with psychiatric disorders and while they had one or two symptoms and it not be called a disorder, she said.
Twenty-one percent of children between six and 16 were not receiving any schooling.
A total of 24 percent of families urgently needed food and 29 percent of the children in these families needed psychiatric help.
This constituted a larger percentage than in those which had food.
This reflected the importance of psychiatric services in informal settlements.
Mental health services in these areas were radically underdeveloped, she said.
Contrary to expectation, only three of the 500 people interviewed made use of traditional healers.
This was mainly because they were very expensive and because people did not commonly consult traditional healers for child mental health problems, Ensink said.
Psychiatric disorder research had never been done on white South African children, project leader and University of Cape Town Professor of Psychiatry Brian Robinson said.
Following their research, UCT's psychiatric department arranged for R500,000 of British government funding to start the Empilweni project in Khayelitsha. It trains community members to provide child mental health services and informs people where they are available, he said.
Empilweni - started in 1994 - was a three-year "demonstration" project, at the end of which it would have to prove it had delivered a valuable community service to get the British to continue funding it.
@ WCAPE-KRIEL
SENATE June 4 1996 Sapa
NO QUICK FIX FOR SA SAYS KRIEL
The major mistake South Africa was making was to think it could rectify all the mistakes of the past in five years, Western Cape premier Hernus Kriel said on Tuesday.
Speaking in a special debate on his province, he said this would result in such a lowering of standards that South Africa would not even be known as a banana republic.
The Western Cape's problems were reflected in its education, health and housing budgets. The method of calculating allocations from central government was wrong.
"You can't just count heads," he said. "You must look at peoples' ability to use the money."
Other problems in the province included low productivity, strikes and a lack of investor confidence.
Foreign investors were looking for a reasonably strong currency, political stability, a responsible trade union movement, productivity, a trained work force and reasonable taxation.
"Unless we meet these demands we will not be in a position to really grow in the Western Cape or South Africa."
@ IFP-SOWETO
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
IFP BITTER OVER HOSTEL RAID, THREATEN MASS ACTION
Inkatha Freedom Party supporters, bitter over an "unfair" police raid on their hostel in Soweto on Friday, on Tuesday threatened mass action if they received no response from Gauteng premier Tokyo Sexwale within a week.
SABC radio news reported that about 200 IFP supporters from Soweto's Merafe Hostel marched on the Protea police station on Tuesday to present a memorandum to the police.
They claimed R31000 was lost during the raid and threatened mass action if no response was received within a week.
@ FOREIGN-POLICY
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
NZO RELEASES DISCUSSION DOCUMENT ON FOREIGN POLICY
Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo has released a discussion document on South Africa's foreign policy to ensure broad consultation and greater transparency.
Appearing before the National Assembly's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday, he said its members and other concerned sectors of society had been "clamouring for the publication of a green paper" on South Africa's foreign policy.
Nzo, who has been under increasing criticism for his department's apparent lack of any co-ordinated policy on international relations, said the 33-page document had been correctly designated as a discussion document "precisely because foreign policy is not static, it is a process that is in a state of dynamic motion".
"Our foreign policy is therefore forever evolving".
It had to be borne in mind that the country was no longer an island surrounded by a hostile world as it perceived itself in the past, Nzo said.
Since the 1994 democratic elections, South Africa had been pursuing a policy of good neighbourliness through the South African Development Community, the Organisation of African Unity, the Non-Aligned Movement, the United Nations and several other regional and international organisations.
"South Africa intends to do its utmost to work in concert with these various fora."
Nzo said he hoped the various experts on foreign policy, "be they from the media, academic, political and other circles, would take the opportunity to constructively contribute to the positive evolution of our foreign policy which has to take into account the world we live in and the complexity of international relations".
The document had been designed to stimulate a debate to assist government in the formulation of its foreign policy and was the result of policy planning sessions both in South Africa and overseas.
As circumstances changed, existing priorities and goals had to be continually addressed and adapted, Nzo said.
@ TRUTH-AMNESTY
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
TRUTH BODY RECEIVES 600 AMNESTY APPLICATIONS
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee had received about 600 applications for amnesty so far, committee chairman Judge Hassen Mall said on Tuesday.
Newspaper reports evidence."
In terms of the legislation governing the commission, the committee is obliged to hold hearings where the act, omission or offence constitutes a gross violation of human rights.
December is the cut-off date for amnesty applications.
The Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act provides for the committee to grant amnesty to persons who make a full confession of the abuses they committed.
Applicants are also required to show that the offence was associated with a political objective.
Mall said his committee had not yet begun considering the evidence presented at the amnesty hearing of convicted murderers Boy Diale and Christopher Makgale in Phokeng earlier this month.
It was still waiting for a transcript of the evidence to be made available.
Makgale and Diale were jailed for lengthy terms of imprisonment for the murder of an unpopular Bafokeng tribal councillor appointed by former Bophuthatswana president Lucas Mangope.
Meanwhile, the committee is expected to hear 12 cases at its next sitting in late July in the Free State town of Kroonstad. It will hear a further nine cases when it moves to the Eastern Cape the following week.
@ HOME-MADUNA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY June 4 1996 Sapa
BUDGET CUT WILL AFFECT HOME AFFAIRS SERVICES, SAYS MADUNA
Although the reduced Home Affairs budget allocation would affect it, the department would still be in a position to render the basic services - although not to the extent it would wish, Deputy Minister Penuell Maduna said on Tuesday.
Communities in remote areas would still be at a disadvantage and, considering the ever increasing population, "one must expect waiting times at counters where services are rendered to increase", Maduna said during debate on the department's budget.
The department had only been able to earmark R2 million in the 1996-97 financial year for mobile units for the rural and previously disadvantaged communities, especially in the remote areas, although there was a substantial need for them, Maduna said.
@ NZO-RADIO
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
CHANNEL AFRICA TO CLOSE DOWN
The Department of Foreign Affairs would no longer fund the SABC's external service Channel Africa and the station was likely to close down soon, Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Nzo said on Tuesday.
In an interview with SABC radio news, Nzo said Channel Africa which broadcasts to other African countries, had played an important role in informing listeners about political and other developments in South Africa.
However, there was simply not enough money to continue funding it, he said.
@ NORTH-HOUSING
Pietersburg June 4 1996 Sapa
NORTHERN PROVINCE TO IMPROVE HOUSING POLICY
The Northern Province's housing policy had not yet made an
impact on the grassroots needs of the people, and its subsidy system would have to be simplified, the provincial legislature was told on Tuesday.
This was one of several recommendations made by the finance committee in a report tabled during a debate on the province's appropriation bill.
Chairman Manie Kriel expressed the committee's concern about the province's development corporation having shares in various business concerns, and called for a full investigation into the matter.
The committee also felt too little was being done by the agriculture department for black farmers, and recommended the Zebediela citrus estate and other strategic enterprises be assisted financially.
The health department had presented excellent budget proposals, including a realistic business plan, which showed they had freed themselves finally from the apartheid era, Kriel said.
The second reading stage of the appropriation bill was conditionally approved by the legislature. Further debate has been scheduled for the rest of this week.
@ COURT-SABADIA
PRETORIA June 4 1996 Sapa
SABADIA'S HOUSE TO BE SOLD TO PAY OFF HIS DEPTS
A provisional sequestration order was on Tuesday granted in the Supreme Court against the estate of Dr Omar Sabadia, 44, accused of abducting and murdering his wife, Zahida, earlier this year.
A final-year medical intern, she disappeared on February 11.
Sabadia at first told police his wife had been abducted by car hijackers in front of a fast-food outlet in Garankuwa, but weeks later took the police to a spot near Garankuwa where her badly decomposed body was found hanging from a tree.
The sequestration order was granted by Justice S W McCreath after an urgent application by Laudium attorneys Ebrahim & Associates, to whom Sabadia owed more than R6000 for outstanding legal fees.
Rashida Ebrahim, sole proprietor of Ebrahim & Associates, said in an affidavit Sabadia had in January this year told her he could not pay her.
He used to have a flourishing practice, and a substantial portion of his income was derived from medical aid funds. He also used to reside in a palatial home.
She said Sabadia had not applied for bail after his arrest on March 4, leaving his home without occupants. His three children now lived with their grandparents in Louis Trichardt.
Ebrahim said it appeared that he was indebted to numerous creditors, which included R1,5 million owed to Absa Bank for a bond on his house. The bond payments were in arrears and the bank had received instructions from Sabadia to sell the house on auction on June 8.
Sabadia owed her brother, Dr S Ebrahim, more than R40000, the New Republic Bank more than R48000 and Formation Design CC more than R66000.
She said Sabadia was now represented in his criminal trial by a pro deo advocate after two previous attorneys and an advocate withdrew because he was unable to pay them.
She said it would be to the advantage of the general body of creditors if Sabadia's estate was sequestrated, as a trustee might be able to sell his home in excess of the outstanding bond amount, and would be able to take control of his assets immediately and start investigating any further assets he may own.
@ HOLOMISA-NP
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
MANDELA AND MBEKI MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN SIGCAU AND HOLOMISA: NP
The time had arrived for President Nelson Mandela and his deputy Thabo Mbeki to choose between Public Enterprises Minister Stella Sigcau and Deputy Environmental Minister Bantu Holomisa, the National Party said on Tuesday.
Holomisa's loyalty was to the ANC was suspect, and actions like his would increasingly undermine the authority of the party, NP spokesman Dr Johan Steenkamp said in a statement.
He was reacting to a statement by the Deputy Minister which the NP said was an explicit challenge to the wisdom of Mbeki wanting to regard a R50,000 cut to Sigcau from a R2 million bribe to her predecessor Transkei Prime Minister George Matanzima as "water under the bridge".
"He (Holomisa) brutally states that nothing has happened to change his view on this matter - not even Mr Mbeki's elaborate explanations.
"Nor does Mr Holomisa accept that `there was no further need for additional investigation concerning Minister Stella Sigcau' as concluded by Mr Mbeki," Steenkamp said.
It was clear that Holomisa was explicitly of the opinion that Mbeki was wrong and Sigcau corrupt.
"If this view resulted in him being sacked. `Let it be so!'. He has thrown down the gauntlet."
Steenkamp was referring to Holomisa's message to DP MP Douglas Gibson who called for his sacking in which the deputy minister said:
"If what I have said in the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) in Port Elizabeth on May 22 1996 regarding Minister Stella Sigcau's R50,000 from the R2m bribe by (Sol) Kerzner, is being constructed by Mr Douglas Gibson and others as ill-informed or malicious on my part, questions my sincerity and integrity and that such a behaviour warrants my sacking from the government: Let it be so! Who cares. Surely that would not be the end of the road for Holomisa."
It was clear that President Mandela's government faced its biggest palace revolution yet, Steenkamp said.
"In order to restore what remains of its credibility and international standing either Holomisa or Sigcau has to go - if not both.
"The truth must now be established expeditiously and the culprit must leave, Mr Mbeki cannot afford more bungling."
@ EDUC-VISTA
PRETORIA June 4 1996 Sapa
STUDENTS AND MANAGEMENT AT VISTA HOLD POSITIVE MEETING
Students and council members at Pretoria's Vista University met on Tuesday and ended talks on a positive note after months of sour clashes, SABC radio reported.
Student spokesman Dumisane Zwane said communication channels between the two parties would stay open and a decision would be reached soon on disbanding the university council.
He said two council officials allegedly misused more than R3 million belonging to the university.
@ SOEKOR-RIG
PAROW June 3 Sapa
RIG ARRIVES FOR E-BT OFFSHORE OIL PRODUCTION
Production of South Africa's first offshore oil from the E-BT oilfield will come a step closer on Thursday with the arrival of the offshore drilling rig Sedco 1 in Simonstown, after completing an 1800nm tow from Ponte Noire in the Congo.
The Sedco 1 is jointly owned by Soekor E and P (80 percent) and Energy Africa Bredasdorp (20 percent), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Africa. While in Simonstown the rig will be both upgraded and converted for use as a floating production facility.
It is expected tha the rig will remain in harbour until late October. She will then be towed to the E-BT oil field, approximately 140km south of Mossel Bay.
The rig will initially re-enter three existing boreholes. Two of these will be used as production wells, while the third will be used for hgigh-pressure sea water injection.
The Sedco 1 will play a pivotal role in the production of South Africa's first offshore oil - scheduled to commence in February 1997.
@ KWANATAL-TLC
PIETERMARITZBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
UNDERPERFORMING KWANATAL LOCAL AUTHORITIES MAY BE PENALISED
The KwaZulu-Natal government may have to start penalising local government authorities throughout the province in order to improve the standard of community service, provincial local government MEC Peter Miller said on Tuesday.
Addressing the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Pietermaritzburg, Miller said his department was determined to establish financially viable local authorities that served their communities properly.
"Unless local authorities start collecting their rates and service charges, they will be penalised by a reduction in their inter-governmental grants and other financial assistance from my department", he said.
Many local authorities had failed to prepare proper budgets and to collect rates and service charges, including arrears. Many had also failed to maintain proper billing and metering mechanisms, Miller said.
These shortcomings placed a financial strain on the local government department, he added.
"My department estimates that the income levels of the majority of the disadvantaged areas that have been absorbed into the newly constituted TLCs averaged only about 10-11 percent of the actual expenditure over the past year.
"This represents a crisis-in-the-making if the situation is allowed to continue," Miller said.
He said financial woes of most TLCs were related to inadequate services and uneconomic tariff structures. These two factors prompted many people to continue "the cancerous" culture of non-payment (of rates and service charges).
Miller also pointed out that the Masakhane campaign, which was launched to persuade disadvantaged communities to start paying rates and service charges, appeared to have failed.
"The campaign has not been a stupendous success... it will only succeed if it is devolved to municipal level," he said.
@ FISHING-POLICY
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
APPLICATIONS FOR FISHING RIGHTS MUST BE PUBLIC, COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS
Bodies governing South Africa's fishing industry should be more accountable and all applications for fishing rights must be made available for public scrutiny, a special investigation into the fishing industry recommended on Tuesday.
The 22-member Fisheries Policy Development Committee, chaired by Mandla Gxanyana, general secretary of the Food and Allied Workers' Union, also recommended that an acceptable method of consultation would have to be found to address past imbalances in access rights.
At the same time, initiatives to broaden access without depriving existing employees of their livelihood in the industry would have to be explored carefully.
The committee's final policy document, compiled after lengthy deliberations of more than one-and-a-half years, was released by Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Dr Dawie de Villiers on Tuesday and will form the basis of drafting a government White Paper for public comment.
De Villiers said in an accompanying statement that immediate steps would have to be considered on how access will be broadened and restructured, and who will be responsible for this.
Some felt a commission should be appointed to decide on the issue, while others would prefer the appointment of a high-powered government-approved facilitator to negotiate a compromise.
The latter proposal was favoured by the committee.
De Villiers said more attention should be paid to the plight of subsistence fishermen.
The stance taken by the policy document on restricted access by foreigners in future was encouraging, and will require intense political debate, he said.
The document says the control of access to marine resources is vested in the State and must be exercised by it for South Africans' long-term benefit.
Access to marine resources must be fair and equitable.
Restructuring and broadening of participation must be carried out while maintaining industry stability.
Holdings must be subject to the Maintenance and Promotion of Competition Act to avoid undue concentration.
Holders of fishing rights must provide acceptable conditions of employment for all employees regarding income, health and safety, training, job security, retirement and other employment benefits.
Entrants who can prove that they have been previously disadvantaged should be helped to initiate their ventures, based on detailed conditions and criteria.
The rights of people to recreational fishing must be protected and subsistence fishermen in coastal communities must have access to specific local marine resources for their subsistence needs.
No marine resources or part thereof must be made available for use by foreign interests.
But in cases where there is inadequate local capacity joint ventures with foreign companies should be allowed.
The majority beneficial interest must be South African and the fish must be landed and processed in South Africa unless specific exemption is granted.
At least 80 percent of such companies' employees must be South African.
The allocation of commercial rights will be the responsibility of an independent, statutory Allocation Board, appointed by the Minister through a transparent process.
Structures should be created where labour (including seasonal workers) and industry must negotiate compensation which reflects the economic conditions in the industry.
Among issues to be considered will be end-of-year bonuses; a minimum wage for land-based employees and fair remuneration for sea-going ones; annually-negotiated wages, fixed bonuses and commission system; and an annual bonus system linked to the fishery's performance the previous year.
All vessels and all businesses engaged in the fishing industry must comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Merchant Shipping Act.
Employers must supply safety training and protective and safety clothing free of charge, or reimburse employees through a protective clothing allowance.
All employees on sea-going vessels must undergo survival training and every vessel must have on board a suitably-qualified health and safety representative elected by the entire crew.
@ ELECTIONS-MARYDALE
KIMBERLEY June 4 1996 Sapa
SWING TO NATIONAL PARTY IN NORTHERN PROVINCE MARYDALE
A handful of voters who changed their minds in a by-election in the Northern Cape town of Marydale on Monday caused a two percent swing to the National Party.
In a by-election in the town on Monday the NP won 217 seats compared with the African National Congress's 100 votes, SABC radio reported.
The by-election followed the resignation of NP mayor Jacob Maree.
The recorded swing of two percent means about six voters in the town changed their minds about who to vote for since the elections in November last year.
The NP and the ANC now both hold three seats in the transitional council.
@ MALAWI-POLITICS
BLANTYRE June 4 1996 Sapa-AFP
GOVERNMENT SAYS CAN STILL RULE, DESPITE BREAK-UP OF COALITION
President Bakili Muluzi's government on Tuesday insisted it would continue to function effectively despite the withdrawal of its junior coalition parwill continue to work without any problem. "There are many people in AFORD who are prepared to work with us," Information and broadcasting minister Brown Mpinganjira said in a statement.
He was speaking after the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) ended its coalition with the United Democratic Front (UDF) on Sunday.
AFORD leader Chakufwa Chihana, who stepped down from the post of vice president last month, said the purposes for which the 10-month old coalition had been set had not been achieved.
The coalition was hammered out last year to consolidate democracy and bind the two parties to a coordinated parliamentary relationship after the country's three decades of autocratic rule by ex-dictator Kamuzu Banda.
Relations between the two coalition partners started to cool last December when Chihana accused UDF of lacking transparency and governance, as well as engaging in high-level corruption.
Four AFORD cabinet ministers who have refused to resign their government posts and have been expelled from their party.
These "rebels" will automatically become independent members of parliament until next general elections in 1999.
Muluzi's UDF has 85 parliamentarians, which with AFORD's 35 gave a working majority which bills to be passed without much trouble from the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP).
Apart from the loss of the working majority, analysts also pointed to fears that the break-up would re-kindle tribal and regional feelings in the tiny impoverished southern African state which is split on regional and ethnic lines.
Chihana has claimed that his party is the main unifier and that "without AFORD, Malawi would slide back into chaos and confusion".
@ HEALTH-ODENDAAL
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY June 4 1996 Sapa
ZUMA'S SALARY SHOULD BE REDUCED TO R1: ODENDAAL
The amount of R424000 budgeted for Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma's salary should be reduced to R1, Dr Willem Odendaal (NP) said on Tuesday.
He did not think the South African taxpayer could afford her any longer, Odendaal said during debate on the Health Budget.
"The sheer incompetence of the Minister to apply the most basic managerial techniques and administrative rules in her Department," he said was one of his motivating reasons.
Zuma might be a good doctor, but after two years in the Cabinet she still had to come up with a broad health policy document.
"Her hit-and-run, ad hoc style of political leadership will in future cost South Africa millions of rand in wasted money," he said.
Secondly was her "irresponsible style of decision-making", which was leading to a deterioration of the country's health services.
Thirdly she was "totally inaccessible" to members of Parliament and stakeholders in health care, "except maybe for the small clique of socialists surrounding her".
After two years of trying to secure an appointment with her on behalf of the organised general practitioners' profession, he said there was no other choice for him but to ask President Nelson Mandela to replace Zuma with someone approachable.
The Cuban doctor debacle, he said, was another reason why her salary should be cut.
"I think Minister Zuma is only paying off the ANC war debts to her Cuban masters for sparing its murder squad, Umkonto we Sizwe ... now the txpayers and the ill have to foot the bill for the war debts of the ANC," Odendaal said.
Pieter Grobbelaar (FF) said he was concerned about "these Cuban doctors". Zuma was creating a problem for herself by bringing them to South Africa.
Mike Ellis (DP) questioned whether South Africa could afford funds for free primary health care services to all.
"The Minister and her advisers have devised a system which they indicate the country can afford ... I want to say to the Minister that I, while I applaud the initiative, have serious reservations as to whether her budget plans will work, and consequently she is playing a remarkably dangerous game".
The reasons why the plan would not work was because a projected budget had only been supplied for the next three years, while the plan was being implemented over the next eight.
The budget figures, he said, appeared to be based on "unrealistic assumptions" and if the assessment by the departments proved false the government could be faced with a financial crisis of major proportions.
Jeanette Vilakazi (IFP) said in reference to primary health care, emphasis should be on delivery where people lived depending on the available resources and people's needs.
@ HEALTH-ZUMA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY June 4 1996 Sapa
HISTORY WILL JUDGE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT'S AIDS POLICIES: ZUMA
Only history would make its merciless judgement on the previous government because of its audible silence on the HIV/Aids problem in South Africa, Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma said on Tuesday.
Speaking during debate on the Health Budget in a National Assembly extended committee Zuma said the previous government's budget did not match the enormity of the problem.
"Was it because Aids was going to do to the youth what the apartheid regime had failed to do with their mighty army? Was it because it was a form of genocide against the people that the apartheid regime considered less human?
"Was it a form of genocide that would not attract sanctions and international isolation?
"Only history will make its merciless judgement," she said.
Zuma said it would be mistake to allow those who kept silent on the issue to define whether the present government should do anything about it.
HIV prevalence among pregnant women had increased to 10 percent last year.
To curb the spread of HIV/Aids among the youth a life skills programme, being developed in conjunction with the Department of Education, would be introduced to the curriculum for standards five to seven in the near future.
It would be phased into the curriculum for other standards at the beginning of 1997.
@ NIGERIA-NZO
PRETORIA June 4 1996 Sapa
SOUTH AFRICA CONDEMNS ATTEMPT TO KILL ABIOLA'S WIFE
Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo on Tuesday condemned the attempt to assassinate the wife of imprisoned Nigerian presidential claimant Ashood Abiola, saying it was a tragedy.
"Although details of this horrifying event are still awaited, the minister, on behalf of the government and people of South Africa, wishes to express shock at, and condemnation of this callous act," a ministerial statement said.
The attempt was on the life of Mrs Kudirat Abiola.
"It is all the more regrettable that this tragedy occured while her husband, Chief Abiola, remains imprisoned," the statement said.
"South Africa has repeatedly called for the release of Chief Abiola and others. It would be encouraging if, based on the calls previously made, as well as on humanitarian grounds, Chief Abiola could now be released."
@ HEALTH-TSHABALALA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY June 4 1996 Sapa
DON'T TRAIN DOCTORS FOR OVERSEAS: TSHABALALA
South Africa could not afford to continue training doctors for the health systems of Western countries and Australasia, chairwoman of the National Assembly's health committee Dr Manto Tshabalala said on Tuesday.
Speaking during the Health Budget debate, she said human resource development was one of the sternest challenges facing South Africa's health system.
Although her committee was glad to hear of the successful integration of Cuban doctors and welcomed the announcement that more were on their way, it remained the case that South Africa continued to subsidise the training of medics for the health systems of other countries.
"Quite simply we cannot afford to do so and firm direction on this matter is urgently needed".
Patterns of training should be reshaped to produce the skills and categories of professional that would be needed in future.
In an apparent reference to the controversy over Sarafina II, she said it was imperative that the National Aids Strategy be "refocused".
Her committee said in a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday that it was concerned that the European Union seemed to be withdrawing its funding for health in the wake of Sarafina II.
It was known that many health non-government organisations had closed or were facing closure because of a lack of funds, and this should be of greater concern to the health department than seemed to be the case.
@ ZIM-ENVIRONMENT
HARARE June 4 1996 Sapa
ZIMBABWE LAUNCHES ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTORY
Researchers would be able to find out about Zimbabwe's rich environment and ways to preserve it through a new directory, the Ziana News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The directory, which took two years to produce, carries reports on environmental assessment and strategies for conservation.
"Countries can now plan from common experiences, common problems and find common solutions to environmental issues in the region," Tourism and Environment deputy minister Edward Chindori-Chininga said in a speech.
The directory was launched in Harare on Tuesday, one day before World Environment Day.
@ CHIMPANZEE
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa-AP
SURGEONS CLAIM WORLD FIRST WITH HEART OP CHIMP
South African veterinary surgeons claimed a world first Tuesday after successfully completing a four-hour heart operation on a chimpanzee.
Jacqui Thompson, a curator and the Johannesburg Zoo, said the surgeons removed a diseased section from the female chimp's aorta in what was believed the first operation of its kind.
Josephine, the matriarch of a group chimpanzees at the zoo, was doing well after Monday's surgery.
"However, the post operative period is the most critical and Josephine is under 24-hour care and surveillance," Thompson said.
The chimp has lived at the zoo for 30 years and is a grandmother. She was in sterilized care and could not immediately be photographed.
Thompson said zoo officials recently noticed Josephine lost weight and was coughing frequently.
Tests showed a huge aneurism in the major blood vessel from her heart, blocking blood flow to her legs.
The diseased section, 14 centimeters (6 inches) long and 4.5 centimeters (2 inches) wide, nearly four times the aorta's normal width, was replaced with the material used in underwater dive suits.
Thompson said a full recovery was expected within about 14 days.
@ ZIM-WATER
BULAWAYO June 4 1996 Sapa
PATIENTS BRING OWN WATER TO DRY ZIMBABWE MISSION HOSPITAL
Patients in arid northern Zimbabwe are carrying their own water to a mission hospital after boreholes broke down, Ziana news agency reported on Monday.
The situation at Pumula mission hospital in Tsholotsho is so bad that patients suffering from dehydration cannot be be resuscitated.
There was no immediate information on the number of patients at the hospital. Local authorities have not been helpful, refusing to help because the institution is a mission hospital.
In a bid to alleviate a food crisis in government hospitals, Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Emmerson Munangagwa said on Tuesday the prisons service might supply food to affected hospitals.
"As an agrarian society, we engage prisoners in several food production activities mainly in livestock production and cropping and we are looking at having prisoners supply food to hospitals as a form of assistance," he told reporters.
He pledged his ministry would not contravene the International Labour Organisation's convention which bans the use of prisoners as cheap labour.
@ TRADE-ERWIN
SENATE June 3 Sapa
INVESTOR CONFIDENCE IN SA NOT A PROBLEM: ERWIN
Statements by the SA Chamber of Business that international investors felt South Africa was "a hopeless case" were unfounded, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said on Tuesday.
He was satisfied and encouraged by the flow of long term investment into the country, saying it was this type of investment which would create jobs.
"I disagree that international investors say this is a hopeless case," he said.
Investors' funds did move back and forth but this did not indicate an investor confidence crisis, Erwin said during debate on the Trade and Industry budget. The business confidence index was much higher than previously.
Erwin acknowledged there were problems, including an insufficient growth rate, but it did not help to "start screaming" about it. Research indicated a growth rate of six percent was possible. "The facts say we can get there."
The large trade surpluses South Africa had with its neighbours were unhealthy and needed to be reduced, Erwin said.
"It does not help any of us to enter into arguments with our neighbours about retaliatory trade measures."
Ways had to be sought to expand trade and develop common industrial and development strategies.
The government had to "keep a cool head" about privatisation and ensure it got value for money if it sold state assets. Serious problems had been uncovered in the valuations of these assets.
"We have no problem with the pace we are moving," Erwin said.
The government would restructure assets in consultation with all interested parties and needed to win over people who did not agree with its policies.
With regard to long-awaited government's Growth and Development Strategy Erwin said it had not been easy to move from the broad policy framework of the Reconstruction and Development Programme to the more detailed implementation of that policy.
The government had "done its homework" and would come up with a statement about its macro-economic policy soon.
@ TRADE-GEIS
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
`GEIS UNSUSTAINABLE AT 12 PERCENT'
The Department of Trade and Industry did not have the budget to sustain the General Export Incentive Scheme at a level of 12 percent, director general Dr Zav Rustomjee said on Tuesday.
GEIS was always understood to be dependent on the capacity of the department's budget to sustain it, he told the National Assembly's Trade and Industry committee.
"In the past what used to happen with GEIS is that if R2 billion were allocated and come January we had spent that R2 billion, we would continue to pay GEIS claims by issuing promissory notes. At the beginning of this budget year we had to pay out R422 million on promissory notes we had issued in the past budget year."
The Department of State Expenditure had ruled that no more promissory notes could be issued in the current financial year, Rusomjee said.
There were still about 2500 GEIS claims, valued at about R500 million, which had not been paid.
"We were forced to reduce GEIS from 12 percent ... to six percent. As accounting officer my hands were tied. There's no other responsible route I can take," he said.
Money could not be reallocated to GEIS from the department's other programmes.
It was fairly well-known South Africa's economy was relatively uncompetitive, and there had been "very little evidence of firms using the GEIS payment to become more competitive", he said.
It also could not be shown GEIS necessarily resulted in increased exports, which was its original intention, nor that it contributed towards addressing South Africa's high levels of unemployment.
As a result the department had adopted an approach of identifying programmes which were more effective in contributing towards growth and development, and would contribute towards a sustainable increase in competitiveness.
Some R181 million had been allocated to be used for supply side incentives in the current financial year. These incentives would encompass some measures the department already had in place, Rustomjee said.
Areas which would be targeted included human resource development, technology enhancement, reorganisation of production processes and marketing assistance.
@ MALAWI-LD-POLITICS
BLANTYRE June 4 1996 Sapa-AFP
COALITION BREAK-UP GOOD NEWS: PRESIDENT
Malawi's President Bakili Muluzi welcomed Tuesday the collapse of the coalition government he formed last year with the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) party.
"On behalf of the United Democratic Party (UDF), I accept and am happy to see the marriage between us and AFORD end," Muluzi said in his first reaction to the break-up of the 10-month-old partnership.
AFORD leader Chakufwa Chihana pulled his party out of the government at the weekend.
Chihana, who resigned as vice president last month, has been critical of the Muluzi administration, accusing it of lacking good governance and vision and of rampant high-level corruption.
By law, AFORD was supposed to have given a month's notice to terminate the coalition, but Muluzi hinted it could even end without those formalities.
Muluzi said: "No thank you. We will not force them to stay with us. It's the end of the marriage thank you."
"I'll make sure democracy is nurtured. We want peace and nobody will spoil our democracy," he added.
The coalition's collapse leaves Muluzi's governing party four seats short of a parliamentary majority, but he promised to work with opposition parties.
@ COURT-TELKOM
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
R20,000 BAIL FOR TWO TRUNK CALL SCAM ACCUSED
A Johannesburg Regional Court magistrate on Tuesday granted R20,000 bail each to two Pakistani fraud suspects believed to be part of a trunk call scam which cost Telkom about R800 million.
Tasmin Sayed and Imran Kharullah were ordered to return to court on June 10 to plead to charges of defrauding Telkom, alternatively contravention of the Post Office Act.
Magistrate Mr A Roux on Tuesday also presided over other hearings where 13 other Pakistanis faced similar charges.
Prosecutor Mr R Krause obtained postponements to June 12 for accused represented by Krugersdorp attorney Mr C Erasmus.
Two other cases were postponed to June 18 and 23, and charges against two other suspects were dropped.
While a further 58 accused must still stand trial in Johannesburg, trials of even more suspects are also continuing in Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Pietersburg and Durban, where the accused are believed to have been senior syndicate members.
Alleged Telkom employee collaborators who are on bail on charges including corruption, are to have their trial date set at their next appearance at the end of September.
@ COURT-MABENA
JOHANNESBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
SUSPECTED SUICIDE INQUEST DOCUMENT TO BE FORWARDED TO POLICE
Johannesburg inquest magistrate W Ewart on Tuesday ordered the inquest document of a "suspected suicide" be forwarded to the police regional commissioner for investigation of a forged natural causes death certificate.
Ewart returned a "no finding - possible suicide" verdict in respect of Phirika Billy Mabena, 38, who died on August 7, 1993.
The magistrate noted that the cause of death could not be ascertained as no post mortem was done on the body because a false provincial death certificate form was issued indicating Mabena had died of natural causes.
Mabena, a divorced father, was found in a closed motor vehicle parked in Bez Valley, Johannesburg. A pipe was running from the exhaust into the car. His son, Willie Mabena, later identified the body at the state mortuary to a Sgt T Schutte.
In documents before the court Mabena's sister, Monica Mabena, 39, said her brother had insurance policies with the Old Mutual and Sanlam.
"We put in a claim but they (the insurance companies) want the post mortem (results) but a post mortem was not performed because of the fake death certificate," she said.
In a written statement police investigating officer, Sgt R Baloyi, said "the doctor had informed me it was not his signature on the provincial death certificate".
He added that there was no record of the doctor who checked the body.
"According to the file the person who had to hand the body to a doctor was Sgt Schutte and at the moment he is on suspension and his whereabouts unknown," Baloyi said.
Sgt Tjaart Schutte was recently convicted by the Johannesburg Regional Court of corpse violation and two charges of corruption involving the sale from the government mortuary of a human heart and three gall stones and is serving a house arrest sentence.
@ ECAPE-DEADLINE
EAST LONDON June 4 1996 Sapa
E'CAPE GOVERNMENT MAY NOT MEET AUGUST RATIONALISATION DEADLINE
The Eastern Cape provincial government looks set to miss a third deadline this year to complete the streamlining of its bloated civil service.
This was according to the general secretary of the South African Public Service Association, Soniwabo Joyi, who said on Tuesday he did not expect the Eastern Cape legislature to beat the August deadline.
"The government is not going to make it by August," Joyi said commenting on a claim by the government that its latest deadline had been realistically set.
The first deadline expired at the end of March and was extended to the end of April.
Joyi claimed that several departments, including those of health and welfare, public works and finance had not yet issued "letters of absorption to a single person."
He said these departments faced massive tasks in rationalising their staff and as most of the available posts had been advertised externally, were still in the process of interviewing applicants.
Although he could not speculate on what deadline would be more realistic, Joyi said the process would still take a "long time" to complete.
In response, Cinga Nokwe, spokesman for Public Service and Administration MEC Mandisa Marasha, said the provincial government would have to "see when we get there", but would "strive with all means possible to reach the deadline."
Nokwe said he could rule out any possibility that external interviews would "prohibit us from reaching the deadline".
As the Central Bargaining Chamber's decision to rely on a voluntary rationalisation was in the interest of both civil servants and the government, the government did not foresee any difficulty in getting civil servants to accept voluntary severence packages, he said.
Nokwe emphasised that the government remained committed to its undertaking not to retrench any civil servants. Those who chose to remain in the public service would be placed on a national re-deployment data base - at full pay.
This would allow workers to be transferred to other areas or provinces where they were needed. However, workers could refuse to be relocated, positioning themselves to draw salaries without being re-assigned to other duties.
In such cases civil servants would have to furnish tangible reasons why they could not be relocated. If the provincial government found these unacceptable, the Public Service Act provided means by which this problem could be solved.
In a worst-case scenario a worker who could not justify not being relocated, could be dismissed, he said.
Commenting on whether civil servants would accept the severence packages, Joyi said many in the province were still unaware of the packages.
As the circular on severence packages was only been issued on May 22, spreading the news of the packages was still a question of time. The union had, however, already received a number of enquiries.
Joyi said although the transfer of civil servants to other regions could result in a great deal of suffering, the time had come for workers to accept that if they refused to be transferred, they would in essence be retrenching themselves.
@ ZIM-TRASH
MUTARE June 4 1996 Sapa
ZIMBABWE TOWN COUNCIL FINES BIG FOR PEOPLE TRASHING CITY
A Zimbabwe town council has cracked down on litterbugs and has fined 29 people a total of ZD1450 (R491) for throwing trash in the streets, the Ziana news agency reported on Tuesday.
The town council in Mutare, in eastern Zimbabwe, started the fining system after a massive anti-litter campaign.
The city's chief hygiene and administrative officer, Simon Mashababe, told Ziana 14 of those fined were employees of various shops in the central business district, nine were individuals and six were travellers on long distance buses.
From the statistics, he said, most offenders were in the city's commercial area where 16 people were each fined ZD50 (R23) for violating Mutare's public health by-laws, while 13 committed the offence at a busy bus terminus.
"We want to restore the image of Mutare to what it was some 15 years ago," he said.
"Therefor, we want the residents to help us keep the city clean by placing litter where it belongs, that is in dust-bins."
@ NPROV-PREMIER
PIETERSBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
NPROV GOVERNMENT TO CLAMP DOWN ON CIRCUMSION SCHOOLS
The Northern Province government intended to clamp down on circumcision schools within its boundaries in an effort to curb the many deaths and health violations reported at existing schools, Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi told the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
Introduced by Ramatlhodi, the Northern Province Circumcision Schools Bill would require that schools obtai permits in order to function legally. They would also have to conform to minimum health requirements.
Ramatlhodi said strict control measures were needed to monitor the acitivities of the schools and to bring them in line with the provisions of the constitution.
He added that an ethos of respect for human life and dignity had to be impressed on rural communities.
@ NIGERIA-MANDELA
CAPE TOWN June 4 1996 Sapa
MANDELA SHOCKED AT ABIOLA'S WIFE'S DEATH
President Nelson Mandela had "learnt with shock' of the death of Kudirat Abiola, wife of jailed Nigerian political leader Moshood Abiola, presidential aide Parks Mankahlana said on Tuesday.
Mandela, who is on holiday in rural Transkei, was shocked at the "heinous act" and had sent his condolences to Abiola's family.
Asked whether South Africa's policy towards Nigeria would be affected, Mankahlana said the government was keeping a close watch on the Nigerian situation.
Kudirat and her driver were shot dead by gunmen in an attack near her home on Tuesday.
@ COURT-SDU
PIETERMARITZBURG June 4 1996 Sapa
ANC LEADER PRESENT SHORTLY BEFORE KILLINGS, SUPREME COURT TOLD
African National Congress leader Sifiso Nkabinde was present at a Richmond people's court shortly before four suspected police informers were killed, the Pietermartizburg Supreme Court heard on Tuesday.
This was evidence given by Vusi Njilo, 22, who is now in a police witness protection scheme, in the trial of three self-defence unit members for the "people's court" murders of four suspected police informers near Ndaleni school on March 20, 1994.
Mzo Mkhize, 20, Muzi Ximba, 20, Mfaniseni Latha, 19 and Blessing Mbongwe, 25 were allegedly chased and gunned down in an ambush when they arrived at the school for what they thought was to be a local ANC meeting.
Njilo said the accused, Musa Mkhize, 25, Mxolise Dlamini,28 and Mashe Mngadi, 25, had all participated in the running attack on the deceased.
Shortly before the attack occurred, a red minibus stopped outside the school and two men carrying three AK47s and a R1 rifle got out.
A while later, a white Toyota Cressida with tinted windows arrived, the window was rolled down, and Njilo said he could see Sifiso Nkabinde inside the vehicle talking to the two armed men outside.
@ LABOUR-ECAPE
EAST LONDON June 4 1996 Sapa
EASTERN CAPE WORKERS ENTER SECOND DAY OF STRIKE
Work on the Duncan Village water and sewerage pipe installation project came to a standstill on Tuesday as workers entered the second day of a strike.
About 160 employees of Stocks and Stocks Civils embarked on a strike on Monday demanding reinstatement of seven retrenched workers and full wages for employees.
A spokesman for the strikers, Wiseman Gomba, said workers had not received their full fortnightly wages since work on the project started on April 17. Stocks management claimed they were working too slowly.
Gomba said instead of getting a full wage, many of the workers earned as little as R70 at the end of each fortnight.
He said contractors had retrenched seven workers last Friday. All workers had been employed on a six month contract to dig holes for the installation of water and sewerage pipes.
Gomba said the community leadership had not been informed about the retrenchments, although it was responsible for the selection of workers.
The strikers also demanded the provision of free safety shoes, saying the company made them pay R66 each for their safety shoes.
"We demand the re-employment of the retrenched workers and the money the management owes us," Gomba said.
The workers vowed not to go back to work until their demands had been met.
A Stocks and Stocks spokesman, Willem Fourie, declined to comment on Tuesday, while a municipal spokesman was not available for comment.
@ ZIMBABWE-AID
HARARE June 4 1996 Sapa
CHALKER LAUNCHES RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN ZIMBABWE
British Minister for Overseas Development Baroness Linda Chalker on Tuesday launched a rural district council development project under which Britain will provide ZD150 million for disbursement to 57 rural district councils over the next six years.
It is a capacity-building project initiated by the Zimbabwean government and is designed to improve the performance of the rural councils in promoting sustainable development and reducing poverty.
The project builds on an earlier UK-funded pilot support project which ran in Mberengwa and Gokwe districts in the Midlands province from 1989-95.
@ SINGAPORE-VISIT
PRETORIA June 4 1996 Sapa-AFP
SINGAPORE'S FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS SOUTH AFRICA
Singapore's Foreign Minister Shunmugam Jayakumar will arrive in South Africa Wednesday for a two-day visit aimed at boosting economic and trade links between the two countries, Singapore's high commission here said.
Jayakumar, heading a five-member delegation including trade officials, has also talks with government officials in Harare during a three-day visit to Zimbabwe that ends Tuesday.
In South Africa, Jayakumar is scheduled to meet several government ministers as well as the Speaker of the National Assembly, Frene Ginwala.
The high commission said in a statement that it is confident that Jayakumar's visit will "further enhance existing warm and friendly relations between South Africa and Singapore."
@ TODAY IN HISTORY (June 11)
Highlights in Southern African history:
JUNE 11:
1879 - The coffin of the Prince Imperial of France is taken on board the Boadicea in Durban Bay from where it will be shipped to England. The prince was killed when he and a party of British troops were ambushed in the vicinity of Itelezi Mountain and Ityotyozi River by Zulus.
1940 - South Africa declares war on Italy.
1951 - Mozambique and Angola each become an Overseas Province of Portugal.
1987 - As the state of emergency reaches its one-year expiry date, State President P W Botha proclaims another, and a new set of regulations is gazetted.
1987 - The SADF rejects a claim made at the Conference of Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned countries in Harare, Zimbabwe, that six of its battalions had penetrated 250km into Angola.
1988 - A massive concert in London marks the forthcoming birthday of jailed ANC leader Nelson Mandela. An estimated 1000 million viewers watched a BBC transmission of the concert, amid protests by the South African Government and some British MPs.
1990 - A Johannesburg newspaper reports that the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was party to the arrest of Nelson Mandela in 1962. Mandela was allegedly arrested after CIA agents tipped off the South African authorities.
1991 - Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans announces a R4 million sponsorship for a programme to prepare "liberation" movements for "sound economic managment in a post-apartheid South Africa" of which R220,000 is to go to the ANC. The ANC has received total pledges of R35 million from the Australian Government.
1992 - American businessman James Guerin is sentenced in Philadelphia to 15 years' imprisonment after being found guilty of smuggling weapons worth US dlrs 50 million to South Africa, and laundering US dlrs 958 million.
@ OZ-GEMS
PERTH, Australia, June 5 Sapa-AFP
ARGYLE-DE BEERS DEAL TO END, SAYS PAPER
Australia's Argyle Diamonds is expected to announce as early as this week an end to its 12-year sales contract with South African diamond giant De Beers' Central Selling Organisation(CSO), a news report said Wednesday.
The West Australian newspaper said the Argyle board was to meet here Thursday, with marketing was believed to be a key item on the agenda.
The present contract expires at the end of this month, but Argyle and the CSO are believed to be no closer to agreeing to new terms than they were three months ago, the paper said.
The managing director of Ashton Mining, John Robinson, whose company owns 40 per cent of Argyle, was reportedly not commenting on the fresh speculation about Argyle's marketing plans.
But Robinson said publicly two weeks ago preparations were under way for direct marketing.
Argyle operates the world's biggest diamond mine in the remote Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia.
The companu has said publicly it will sign a new five-year contract with the CSO only if it is on much better terms.
It believes it can achieve a better deal by selling direct.
Argyle has been hurt by the CSO's decision to defer buying 15 percent of the contracted volume, which has forced it to stockpile diamonds.
The company's profitability has also been hit by the CSO's imposition of an 11 percent reduction in price at the lower end of the market, which includes the bulk of Argyle's output.
Under the present arrangement, Argyle sells 78 percent of its diamonds through the CSO international cartel.
If Argyle withdraws, all products will be marketed through its own office in Antwerp.
@ KERB
WASHINGTON June 5 Sapa
US JOINS SA AS HOME FOR SELF-APPOINTED KARNING ATTENDANTS
There is at least one industry in which South Africa is light-years ahead of in the US - that of self-appointed kerbside parking attendants, Johannesburg-style.
This week the Washington Post reported as news the appearance in the US capital's streets of homeless entrepreneurs collecting tips for pointing drivers to vacant parking spots.
The Post says some Washingtonians are grateful, others regard the practice as a form of extortion. Johannesburg drivers should have little difficulty sharing such sentiments.
@ NDUNGANE-TUTU
JOHANNESBURG June 5 Sapa-DPA
WINSTON NDUNGANE CHOSEN AS SUCCESSOR TO ARCHBISHOP TUTU
A successor to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 64, has been elected to take over as head of the Anglican Church in southern Africa, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported Tuesday.
Winston Ndungane, formerly Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman, in South Africa's arid northwest, was elected by more than 500 church representatives in Cape Town late Monday, the SABC said.
Tutu, who received the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his opposition to apartheid, is to retire as head of the Anglican Church in southern Africa in September.
He will, however, continue as chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Morning stories from South Africa
@ PERMITS
CAPE TOWN: South African Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi has announced details regarding residence permits for people from Southern African Development Community countries.
Addressing Parliament, Dr Buthelezi said that such people would have to comply with certain conditions. They would have to prove they had been living in South Africa for at least five years before July 1991; they should not have a criminal record; and they should be engaged in productive economic activity or maintain a relationship with a South African partner or spouse; or have dependent children born in or living lawfully in South Africa. Dr Buthelezi said applications for residence permits should be submitted between the beginning of next month and the end of September.
@ DOC
CAPE TOWN: South Africa's Parliamentary Health Committee says that the country cannot afford to continue to train doctors for the health systems of other countries.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Dr Manto Tshabalala, said that human resource development was one of the sternest challenges facing South Africa's health system. She said the Committee had been pleased to hear of the successful integration of Cuban doctors in South Africa, and welcomed the announcement that more were on their way. However, South Africa continued to subsidise the training of doctors for the health systems of other countries. She said that firm direction on this matter was needed urgently.
@ ERWIN
CAPE TOWN: South African Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin says warnings that international investors regard South Africa as a hopeless case are unfounded.
Mr Erwin said he was satisfied and encouraged by the flow of long-term investment into South Africa. He said it was this type of investment which would create jobs. Mr Erwin acknowledged that there were problems, including an insufficient growth rate, but said research had indicated that a growth rate of six per cent was possible.
@ HEART
JOHANNESBURG: South African veterinary surgeons are claiming a world first after performing a four-hour heart operation on a chimpanzee.
A spokesperson for the Johannesburg Zoo, Ms Jacqui Thompson, said the veterinarians had removed a diseased section of the female chimp's aorta in what was believed the first operation of its kind in the world. Ms Thompson said that Josephine, the matriarch of a group of chimpanzees at the zoo, was doing well after the operation. However, the post-operative period was the most critical, and Josephine was under 24-hour care and surveillance. The chimp has lived at the zoo for 30 years, and is a grandmother. Ms Thompson said zoo officials had recently noticed that Josephine had lost weight, and that she was coughing. She said a full recovery was expected within about 14 days.
@ CIRCUM
PIETERSBURG: A Bill that provides for the control of circumcision schools in South Africa's Northern Province has been tabled in the provincial legislature.
The Bill empowers Premier Ngoako Ramathlodi to issue permits or to reject applications for circumcision schools. More than 60 youths, some of whom had been abducted from their homes, died at such schools last year. In terms of the Bill, the police will be able to enter circumcision schools to remove those who have been taken there by force.
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