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Weekly anb01098.txt #9

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 09-01-2003      PART #8/9
* South Africa. Self-defence killings divide S. Africa - South African police and legal experts have reassured citizens that under certain circumstances they have the right to kill criminals, following an outcry over the arrest of a couple who repeatedly stabbed a man who broke into their caravan. The couple from Carletonville, near Soweto, are in jail facing murder charges after killing an intruder who tried to rape the woman. It is the latest in a spate of killings considered excessive force by the police but seen as justifiable self-defence by vocal members of the public. Paula Nothnagel, a police spokeswoman, said people had the right to defend themselves using reasonable force and that the police were not carrying out a witch-hunt to arrest innocent people. "People need to employ the "reasonable man" principle when protecting themselves. Would a reasonable man stab another person several times?" According to radio phone-ins and newspaper letters pages, a reasonable man was entitled to stab an attacker many, many times, then bash him with the nearest heavy object before reaching for a revolver. "If my girlfriend was about to be raped before me, I would also stab the perpetrator repeatedly... Actually, I'd keep going until he stopped moving. I would not stab him once and then nicely ask him if he would like to fight some more," one letter in the Johannesburg daily Star said. South Africa's annual 21,000 murders and 55,000 rapes gives it one of the highest crime rates in the world, but even those figures are seen as an understatement. The police claim crime has stabilised but the perception that thieves and rapists act with impunity is widespread and there are calls for capital punishment, abolished after apartheid, to be brought back. A 16-year-old boy who beat a man to death with a cricket bat after the family farm near Pretoria was attacked by a gang armed with spades and knives, leaving eight people wounded, may be charged with murder. The police are also reportedly considering charging a woman who squeezed the testicles of a man who allegedly tried to rape her; he then lost consciousness and reportedly died of complications. Over Christmas, several shopkeepers were arrested for murder after shooting would-be robbers. (The Guardian, UK, 7 January 2003)
* South Africa. Road deaths hit record level - Nearly 1,210 people have died on South Africa's roads since the start of the festive season on December 1 -- a record toll. The number rose over last weekend as millions of people travelled back to the big cities from their rural villages or from coastal resorts after Christmas and New Year celebrations. The transport department reported last week that December's death toll of 1,111 was 25 per cent higher than last year, when 839 people lost their lives. It is the highest number of deaths for 11 years and is an embarrassment for the department. The road death toll for the same period in Australia, where traffic volumes, weather and road conditions are comparable to South Africa's, was 66. Drive Alive, a non-profit South African road safety organisation, last week described the number of deaths on the roads as a national disaster and urged the government to appoint a road safety minister. The high-profile "Arrive Alive" campaign, which focuses on speeding and drink driving, has had some success in recent years, but Drive Alive said there were not enough traffic officers and too many unroadworthy vehicles were being driven. They also allege many of the 8,000 traffic officers are inexperienced, insufficiently trained, and often corrupt and easily bribed because they are poorly paid. Dullah Omar, the transport minister, blamed drivers. "About half of the victims in our mortuaries have blood-alcohol levels that exceed the legal limit for drivers," he said. He said this season's figures were not higher but simply more reliable. In past years many fatal crashes had gone unreported, he said. (Financial Times, UK, 7 January 2003)
* Afrique du Sud. Collision ferroviaire - Le 7 janvier, un train de voyageurs et un convoi de marchandises sont entrés en collision dans la région du Cap, faisant onze morts et plusieurs blessés. L'accident s'est produit dans une zone rurale située à une cinquantaine de kilomètres de la ville du Cap. Selon un témoin, le train de voyageurs semblait s'être cassé en deux sous l'impact. Trois personnes grièvement blessées ont été extraites des débris. Une quarantaine de passagers ont reçu des soins pour blessures légères. (Reuters, 7 janvier 2003)
* South Africa. Train crash - 7 January: Eleven people are reported killed and at least 30 injured in a train crash near Cape Town. Five coaches were derailed when a commuter train collided with a freight train in the afternoon rush hour. South Africa's commuter rail network has been hit by a series of accidents, but this was described as the worst in the Western Cape for 20 years by railway officials. The accident happened about 50km north east of Cape Town, between Kraaifontein and Muldersvlei at about 1700 (1500GMT). "It appears that a (Spoornet) goods train was standing on the line and the Metrorail train crashed into the back," said South African Transport Minister Dullah Omar. Most of the fatalities occurred when people were thrown from the passenger train by the force of the impact, and then crushed when coaches derailed. 8 January: The South African transport minister, Dullah Omar, is coming under increasing pressure to resign after the train crash. Rail unions are now threatening a strike, describing the situation on the country's railways as a time bomb which has not been addressed by the government. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 8 January 2003)
* South Africa. Mbeki defuses provincial crisis - 6 January: President Thabo Mbeki is holding talks with senior officials in the governing ANC in an attempt to resolve a growing political crisis in the province of KwaZulu Natal. The ANC is strongly opposed to moves by the Inkatha Freedom Party to dissolve the provincial legislature and hold early elections. Fighting between supporters of the ANC and Inkatha in KwaZulu Natal in the 1980s and early 1990s left thousands of people dead. A bitter dispute between the ANC and Inkatha is threatening the political stability South Africa has enjoyed since the end of apartheid. The rivalry has raised memories of the low-level civil war the two parties once fought in the densely populated hills of KwaZulu Natal. It is control of this same province which is at the centre of a new dispute. Inkatha has governed KwaZulu Natal ever since 1994, but now its narrow majority is threatened by new legislation which allows elected representatives to swap parties in the middle of their terms. The ANC believes it has recruited enough defectors in the KwaZulu Natal provincial assembly to wrestle power from Inkatha. Inkatha is desperate to retain control of the province, its traditional stronghold, and is hoping to out-manoeuvre the ANC by dissolving the assembly and holding early elections. 8 January: The disagreement between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has been defused after a compromise is reached. The government has dropped its controversial plan to introduce the new law which would have allowed several IFP members to switch parties, effectively handing control of KwaZulu Natal to the ANC. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 8 January 2003)
* Afrique du Sud. Accord au KwaZulu-Natal - Le 8 janvier, le Congrès national africain (ANC) a évité des élections anticipées dans la province du KwaZulu-Natal en passant, à la dernière minute, un accord avec l'Inkhata Freedom Party (IFP). L'Afrique du Sud a un gouvernement national et neuf gouvernements provinciaux dirigés chacun par un Premier ministre. L'ANC et l'IFP semblaient aller droit à l'affrontement pour le contrôle de la province du KwaZulu-Natal. L'IFP, préoccupé par le fait qu'il pourrait perdre son assise politique dans le contexte d'une nouvelle législation qui autorise les législateurs à conserver leur siège même s'ils changent de parti, avait l'intention de dissoudre l'Assemblée législative du KwaZulu-Natal et d'obliger à une élection anticipée. Mais le parti a reçu des assurances écrites du président Mbeki sur le fait que l'"amendement controversé" sera retiré. (PANA, Sénégal, 8 janvier 2003)
* Soudan. Violations du cessez-le-feu - Les rebelles soudanais de l'Armée populaire de libération du Soudan (SPLA) ont tué trois ouvriers du bâtiment et blessé plusieurs soldats dans une attaque perpétrée le 31 décembre dans le sud du pays, a affirmé un porte-parole du gouvernement. L'attaque a été lancée sur une route entre Ler et Bentiu, une ville pétrolière sous contrôle gouvernemental, située dans la vallée du Nil à quelque 750 km au sud de Khartoum. De leur côté, les responsables de la SPLA avaient accusé les forces gouvernementales et leurs milices alliées de violer le cessez-le-feu (signé le 20 juillet) dans cette région en brûlant les villages et attaquant des maisons de civils. (AP, 2 janvier 2003)
* Sudan. Ceasefire hopes - 2 January: SPLA rebels and the Sudanese Government have accused each other of attacks in oil-producing areas in the south, breaking a truce signed last year. The temporary ceasefire is supposed to last while peace talks continue in neighbouring Kenya. The negotiations over issues such as sharing oil wealth and the distribution of jobs in the federal civil service are set to resume within the next two weeks. Some two million people have been killed in 19 years of war between the northern, Muslim government and rebels from the Christian and animist South. "Government forces supported by militias... are carrying out since 31 December a large-scale attack using tanks and helicopter gunships on our positions... in the Western Upper Nile region," the SPLA said in a statement. 3 January: The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) says it is expecting the next phase of talks aimed at ending their country's 19-year civil war to resume on schedule, despite the recent hiccups, with the two warring sides accusing each other of breaking the terms of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) they signed in November. Samson Kwaje, the SPLM/A's senior spokesman in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, says he expects the negotiations, convened under the auspices of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and adjourned in Kenya's southern town of Machakos in November, to resume in mid-January as planned, even though the Khartoum government is "polluting the atmosphere" of the peace talks. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 3 January 2003)
* Sudan. Six die in tribal riots - Six people were killed in fresh tribal rioting in Sudan's Red Sea town of Port Sudan, a day after officials imposed a state of emergency and curfew to halt clashes, newspapers said on 7 January. Demonstrations clogged the main streets of the port city on 6 January, and protesters besieged a university and attacked a hotel and a market, the daily Akhbar al-Youm reported. The clashes were sparked by the murder of the leader of the local Beni Amir tribe by a member of the rival Hadandawi tribe on Sunday. The governor of Red Sea state imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew, while federal ministers belonging to the two tribes appealed for calm. Three of those killed in the violence were members of the Beni Amir, while the other three were from the Hadandawi tribe. Authorities have arrested seven people, papers said. The governor, Hatim al-Wasila, said the violence had not affected shipping in Port Sudan, the country's main port which is located some 700 km northwest of Khartoum, the daily al-Ayam reported. (CNN, USA, 8 January 2003)
* Swaziland. New lobby group calls for political reform - The Swazi government is on a collision course with the judiciary says an influential new organisation dedicated to good governance. At issue is the rule of law, or its alleged absence, in the kingdom. Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini, an appointee of absolute monarch King Mswati III, has ignored a high court order demanding that he provide an assurance that the government would adhere to court decisions. Instead, in a newspaper statement published today, Dlamini says: "Two recent appeal court judgments will be addressed through consultation between the government and its advisors, in addition to the head of state [King Mswati]. Legal experts will be included in the consultations." An Mbabane attorney and member of Lawyers for Human Rights Swaziland has told IRIN: "Instead of honouring court decisions, government intends to debate them. This is not what the judges want to hear." High court justices Josiah Matsebula, Stanley Maphalala and Thomas Masuku had indicated that if they were not satisfied with the government's commitment to the rule of law, the court would no longer accept cases presented by the authorities. (IRIN, Kenya, 3 January 2003)
* Tanzanie. Un bateau disparaît - Un bateau transportant 40 personnes a disparu en début de semaine, alors qu'il faisait route entre Tanga, dans l'est de la Tanzanie, et l'île de Pemba, dans l'océan Indien, a-t-on appris le vendredi 3 janvier de source policière. La police de Tanga a déclaré qu'elle n'avait aucune certitude sur ce qui s'est passé, car aucun corps n'a été retrouvé. Mais les vents ont pu, selon elle, pousser le bateau au-delà des eaux tanzaniennes vers le Kenya. (Le Figaro, France, 4 janvier 2003)
* Tanzania. Fears rise for missing ferry - 3 January: At least 40 people are feared dead after a ferry disappeared off the coast of Tanzania. Most of the passengers on board the overloaded Shukuru ferry were returning from a wedding party on the mainland. The newly-married couple was also on the ship. The ferry left Tanga, on mainland Tanzania, for the island of Pemba, in the Zanzibar archipelago on Tuesday and has not been seen since. Police say they do not know what happened as no bodies have been found. The ferry may have been swept away towards Kenya or the Comoros islands. A relative of one of the passengers, Amour Nassor Omar, is quoted as saying that the ferry had capsized during a severe storm. Local facilities make it impossible to launch a search and rescue operation, police say. "We don't have any boats to launch a rescue operation, so we can't say exactly where the boat disappeared, or if anybody survived," Pemba North police chief Ali Mbilikila says. 5 January: Fishermen off the Tanzanian coast have rescued two men from the sea four days after a boat carrying at least 40 people capsized, police say. Hopes are now fading that any other survivors will be found. The body of a man also believed to have been aboard the ferry was recovered. The two survivors were too weak to speak after four days in rough seas. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 January 2003) 

Weekly anb0109.txt - #8/9