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Last Update: February 25, 2002 |
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Savimbi's death sparks hope for peace The reported death of Jonas Savimbi, leader of the Angolan rebel movement Unita, has raised hopes throughout Angola and the region of an end to the devastating civil war that has dragged on for 27 years. Angola's government announced on Friday that its troops had shot dead the elusive 67-year-old guerrilla warrior during fighting the same day in eastern Moxico province near the border with Zambia. Many Angolans danced in the streets of Luanda, sounded hooters and fired off guns and firecrackers on Friday evening to celebrate Savimbi's death, believing it would bring an end to the civil war he has waged against the MPLA government since independence from Portugal in 1975. Savimbi's body has been shown to the press, the official Angolan news agency Angop said on its website on Saturday. The body was shown to journalists in the rural village of Lucusse, about 700km south-east of Luanda. Unita did not immediately react but an unofficial Unita contact in Lisbon, Rui Oliveira, told Reuters: "We are waiting for our forces in the interior to get in contact with us, only after that can we talk. "Savimbi has died many times before. Let us wait and see," said journalist and civil activist Rafael Marques from Luanda on Friday. The government announced that it would bring the body from Moxico and display it publicly to prove his death. State media reported Savimbi's body, pocked with 15 bullet wounds, was being kept in a government building in Lucusse, near where the army killed him, Angop said. The report of Savimbi's death comes as the United Nations was trying to revive peace talks between the MPLA government and Unita forces. The Angolan government announced that it would now implement the terms of the 1994 Lusaka Protocol signed with Unita, including elections. The South African government and other analysts believe Savimbi's death will improve the chances for peace in Angola, though some cautioned that it might instead fragment Unita's military wing and lead to "warlordism" of the Sierra Leone variety. Aziz Pahad, the deputy foreign minister, said that South Africa's embassy in Luanda was certain Savimbi was dead. "Our view is that this must be an opportunity seized by all to find a political solution to the war which has gone on too long. More than a million Angolans have been killed and over 400 000 displaced." Pahad said South Africa acknowledged Savimbi's early contribution to Angolan independence. However, since the Unita leader had had gone back to the bush after losing the 1992 elections he had become the main cause of the continuing conflict. "His going has to affect the capacity of Unita to sustain the onslaught," he said. But Pahad also cautioned that it was unclear what impact the death of Savimbi would have on Unita's leadership. He said Unita operated in small units all over the country of unknown strength and these could continue fighting. Johan Smith, a South African-based expert on Angola, agreed that Savimbi's death would probably bring peace closer but also warned that with no natural successor in Unita, it could break up the organisation and cause " a lot of warlordism". Smith, who knows Unita intimately after having served as South African military intelligence liaison officer with the rebel movement during the 1980s, said Unita vice-president Antonio Dembo and Savimbi's close aide Paulo Lukamba Gato would not serve under each other. Former South African foreign minister Pik Botha, once Savimbi's greatest ally, said: "It is a great pity that he did not use the opportunity in 1992 to start governing Angola jointly with President [Jose Eduardo] Dos Santos." "That would have avoided the loss of a large number of lives and the destruction of Angola to the detriment of all of us in Africa." But Smith added that Savimbi's death could ironically also force splits in the ruling MPLA, which had held together because of the common enemy. Marques said that if Savimbi was dead, the government would have no more excuses for its corruption, incompetence, its continual postponement of overdue elections and its failure to deliver social services to its people. Jakkie Cilliers, the head of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, said Savimbi's death, if confirmed, would be generally good news and would "break open the impasse in the peace process". Cilliers said this was especially so since Dos Santos had recently announced that he would retire soon. He said the Angolan war had become too much of a personal contest between these two leaders and so the departure of both should help bring peace. But he also warned of the danger of Angola going the way of Sierra Leone if moderates failed to seize control of Unita. Smith said his sources told him that Savimbi had not been killed on Friday as the government had announced, but earlier in the week. The Angolan government had only announced the death on Friday as a propaganda ploy to coincide with Dos Santos's departure for Washington to meet President George Bush on Monday. Smith said Savimbi and his top generals had been surrounded by government forces east of the Moxico provincial capital Luena and that several had been killed or captured. The Angolan government will undoubtedly boast that Savimbi's death has vindicated its controversial strategy over the past few years of refusing to negotiate with him and instead seeking to destroy his military capability. A growing civil society movement in Angola led by the Catholic church had become increasingly strident in its demands that Luanda negotiate with Savimbi to end the suffering of the Angolan people. The South African government had also tried to persuade the MPLA to negotiate with Savimbi, causing strains in the relationship between the two countries Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnKytie Koekblik Washington D.C. - Kytie Koekblik se kop is blank. Daar is niks in haar kop waarin sy dink nie, sy sien niks raak nie, sy worry net. Op Februarie die 13de het sy presies een jaar oorgehad op haar visa. Ek kry e-mails uit Suid-Afrika en al my vriende van varisty het die posh-ste jobs in Suid-Afrika losgeslaan. Een girl staan deesdae bekend as Nicole Fox, DJ op 5Fm; die ander maak movies en ander werk vir Carte Blanche en ander vat drama produksies na die Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees toe en ander ry steeds met hulle Beetle’s na musiekfeeste toe in die uithoekies van die land tussen berg, bos, son, sand en klip en hulle groove op die tunes van die nuwe Suid-Afrika waar rock beats en township jive jou op die maag kielie. En ek lees die e-mails en ek weet Kytie Koekblik kan nie terug gaan nie want ek het te agter geraak. My bandjunkie vriende en die Ambisieuse Ice Children en die Movers en Shakers en Slapgatte het almal lewens vir hulleself geskep en ek is nie meer deel van My Crowd nie. Kytie Koekblik, eens van Kuilsrivier en toe befaamde musiekgroupie en journalist wannabe en queen of dreams is soos ‘n boek met stof op wat lank laas gelees is. Want die tyd het aangestap. Of liewe aangehardloop. En i.p.v. rockspider is ek deesdae ‘n Cosmopolitan chic met ‘n hart wat na die laslap kleure van die Wes-Kaap verlang as DC te grys word. Maar my lewe is hier. Die tyd hardloop aan deur koue winters-oggende en louwarm winterdae in Februarie a.g.v global warming en ek weet dat ek weet: Hier in die Verenigde State van Amerika is my lewe wat ek vir myself geskep het met my deurmekaar aksent waarin jy skoolslengAfrikaans en Rhodes Engels en dramadepartment foefies en Amerikaanse r’re en surfer-rising-infleksies kan hoor; my lewe is hier en nou in Washington DC in die historical Disctrict of Mount Pleasant en ek kan uitkyk op Rock Creek Park en snags kan ek die maan sien al sien ek geen sterre nie en ek kan op die National Mall gaan ysskaats en voel asof ek regtig in die hart van die magtigste stad in die wereld is. Ek bly in ‘n groot wit kamer en my meubels het ek persent gekry het en ander ou meubels wat ek op die straathoeke gaan oplaai as ander mense dit nie wil he nie. So ek het hierdie random kamer met African memorabilia soos alle expats nou maar eenmaal het en en niks pas by niks nie, maar ek is happy. Ek luister na my Cuban CDs en my Koos Kombuis tracks en ek kyk Winter Olympics op die charity-TV wat ek by die Big Cheese gekry het en ek tik Kytie Koekblik sages en romans op die computer wat ek ook by die Big Cheese gekry het. Al wat aan my behoort is 1)Nelson. My videokameratjie waarmee ek die hondjies laasjaar afgeneem het en gelukkig net betyds, want Rokkie het nie geleef tot my volgende trip home nie. 2)my rollerblades wat ek vir myself gekoop het laasjaar. Ook maar goed, want dit het gehelp om die Misterieuse Rollerblader te catch. 3)Michaelangelo. Die leftie kitaar wat die Misterieuse Rollerblader vir my vir ‘n verjaarsdag persent gekoop het. (Die boyfriend se middelnaam is Michael. En ek was mos ‘n angel toe ek hom opgetel het by ‘n Halloween party. Michael en die Angel word toe Michaelangelo.) 4)My bokse vol papiere en musiek. 5)My klein girls bike wat ek vir $60 by ‘n thrift store in South East DC gekoop het. Ten spyte van my min aardse besittings, my ou uitgewaste bellbotom jeans, my enigste business suit, my sokkies vol gate, my gehawende skoene en vuilwit flip-flops en ‘n job sonder benefits of paid leave en my temporary immigrant insurance policy wat basically my dek om my corpse Suid-Afrika toe te stuur sodat my ma’le nie in rande moet opdok nie , en my een gym outfit waarin ek soos ‘n tough tank girl die wereld aandurf, is dit my lewe. Ek het dit vir myself geskep. Ek het oorgenoeg free meals omdat ek soveel vriende het. Ek het genoeg fun gehad met freebies as journalist en genoeg free-alles in die dae toe ek die trick or treating van Dating in hierdie land geleer het. Ek worry oor my eie audits, betaal my rent, eet een dollar McDonalds menus as my min geld op raak, ek betaal my taxes, bounce my eie checks, het geen credit history nie, het nie ‘n bestuurslisensie nie, en ook nie ‘n kar nie. Ek het blase op my voete omdat my skoene gaar is en blase op enkels omdat ek nog spaar om vir my nuwe ysskaatse te koop. Ek ysskaats elke ander aand by die outdoor ice rink waar ek ‘n Rink Guard is met ‘n Rooi Baadjie en ek is die enigste rink guard in die geskiedenis van die ysskaatsbaan wat twee $20 dollar tips gekry het van ouers wat te bly was dat ek hulle kinders in Olimpiese skaatsers gaan verander. En ek het ‘n boyfriend wat God’s gift to Kytie Koekblik is. En soms skryf hy vir my e-mails wat saam met my e-mails van regoor klein dorpies in SA en ander plekke in die wereld in my Inbox land en sy subject heading is South Africangel. Oor naweke kan ek in die Latino breakfast dive gaan sit saam met my boyfriend wat glo soos John Travolta of Val Kilmer lyk en dit voel asof ons in ‘n ander vreemde land van ons eie is. So Kytie Koekblik is happy. Maar ek resent die magtige hand van INS wat gaan bepaal of ek hier bly of nie. Ek worry oor werkspermitte en die Big Besluite wat ek hierdie jaar moet neem en die Groot Geld wat die Big Besluite my gaan kos so ek spaar dat dit klap en weet ek gaan nie hierdie jaar Suid-Afrika sien of my ma se groenboontjies eet of op Blouberg se strand stap nie en ek hoop net ek maak die regte besluite en ek hoop ook die Misterieuse Rollerblade se my nie af nie want wragtig ek moet nou hom ook so soortvan in my onmiddellike future in calculate en ek hoop net als werk uit want soms is dit maar moeilik om so ‘n Independent Woman te wees sonder kind of kraai of ma of pa of skouers om op te huil nie. Kytie K. Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road. You can contact her here. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] Zim's Tsvangirai charged with high treason Harare - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who stands against President Robert Mugabe in presidential elections in 12 days, was charged with high treason on Monday, over a allegations he had plotted to kill Mugabe. The charge came after Tsvangirai was interrogated at police headquarters in Harare, over a controversial Australian television documentary which alleged it had filmed him discussing plans to assassinate Mugabe. The charge carries a maximum penalty of death. Tsvangirai went to police voluntarily after being asked to make a statement and was released in the company of his lawyer, Innocent Chagonda, after two hours and 15 minutes. "They are charging him with high treason," said Chagonda. "Presumably they will issue a summons and call him to appear in court." "We are denying the charge completely, and we are saying it's a pure set up which was done by Zanu-PF." "There is no case to answer," Tsvangirai told reporters earlier. "It's a conspiracy. Of course, it's to divert the people. My campaign will continue." The documentary was screened last week and contained footage of Tsvangirai in a meeting in Montreal with officials from a Canadian political consultancy. Ari ben Menashe, a former Mossad agent who runs the Montreal company, Dicken and Madson, said they had secretly filmed the meeting. Tsvangirai has confirmed he was at the meeting, but said he was discussing possible developments after the elections on March 9-10. In the video he speaks of Mugabe being "eliminated," in answer to a question from a Dicken and Madson official who used the same word. The Zimbabwe Media Monitoring Project, a civic group which scrutinises the local media, said that there was evidence that the video had been heavily doctored to put words in Tsvangirai's mouth to try and incriminate him. It has also emerged since that ben Menashe's company is contracted to Mugabe's government, though Intelligence Minister Nicholas Goche. Ben Menashe has also been widely accused for publicising reports that turn out to be seriously inaccurate. John Barry, a senior Newsweek magazine correspondent, last week told how he had been asked to investigate the credentials of Ben Menashe, going back to his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal in former United States president Ronald Reagan's administration in the late 1970s. He said he concluded that Ben Menashe was "delusional" and that anything he claimed to be the uncovering of a conspiracy, would e "not so much a plot as a prima facie scam". Ben Menashe spent the weekend in Harare where he gave a statement to police over his involvement in the allegations, and flew out on Sunday. Tsvangirai's visit to police station on Monday was the third time he has been ordered to make a statement in just over the last year. In January last year, he was interviewed on allegations of "incitement to violence" after he told a rally four months earlier that if Mugabe did not resign, "we will remove you violently." However, the charges collapsed after the supreme court in Harare ruled that the laws under which the 49-year-old former trade union leader was being charged, violated the constitution. In December police staged a midnight raid on his home in which they conducted an extensive search. They confiscated a hand-held radio from one of Tsvangirai's security guards. He was then charged with failing to produce a licence for the radio. Analysts say Tsvangirai holds a strong chance of defeating Mugabe in the presidential elections. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] 'Curry Mafia' boss, sidekick slain by hitmen The infamous "Curry Mafia" which operated out of Pietermaritzburg was dealt a double blow when two prominent members were shot dead in separate incidents at the weekend. But police say it is too early to determine whether the killings were part of an attempt to systematically bring down the mafia. On Friday, Surie Maharaj - who was widely known as the Curry Mafia boss - was shot dead in his office in Pietermaritzburg by a man believed to be a contract killer. Maharaj was shot six times before his attacker escaped on an unregistered motorcycle. Police at the scene of the shooting said that so many people had grudges against Maharaj that it was going to be difficult to narrow down a single suspect who might have killed him. A day after Maharaj's murder and minutes after his cremation at the Mountain Rise Crematorium, his colleague John Viljoen, 34, was shot dead as he left the crematorium. He was shot five times. Mourners attending the cremation gave chase but the man jumped over a concrete wall and escaped. In his escape, the shooter dropped a 9mm pistol which police believe was the murder weapon. Viljoen died at the scene. Investigating officer Inspector Swami Pillay said the motive for the killings was still unclear, but they were believed to be linked. There have been no arrests for either of the murders and police are looking for witnesses. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Nel's KitchenRagel Nel Ragel Nel Washington D.C. - The 19th Winter Olympic Games has just glided to a halt on the other side of the United States in that high altitude Mecca for all Mormons: Salt Lake City, Utah; and frankly, I’m relieved that it’s over. Make no mistake; I thoroughly enjoyed watching the sexy Swedes and hunky Italians flexing their muscles in those unitards. But during the female events, when the above mentioned distraction wasn’t available and I was forced to concentrate on the actual events rather than the competitors, I realised that I didn’t have a CLUE what they were doing most of the time. So I’m rather relieved that I’ll have four years until the next Winter Games is held in Italy to figure it all out. I do at least grasp the concept of figure skating and downhill skiing, yes, but some of those other events simply baffle me. Perhaps my upbringing in a snow free South Africa is largely to blame for my ignorance about winter sports. (But then again, that excuse didn’t prevent the Jamaicans from forming their own bobsled team AND qualifying for the Olympics. No mon!) I really think that classifying some of these events as sports is pushing it though. Take curling, for example. (A bizarre event during which ice skaters use what looks like a broomstick to, in short, manic bursts, beat what resembles a bucket across the ice rink.) If you’ll allow me to quote a typical American phrase here: PUH-LEEEAASE! Last week an American comedian said he refuses to watch the Winter Olympics because he didn’t consider the competitors to be real athletes. What they do doesn’t require much stamina, because it’s mostly gravity that does the work, he said. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh and unfair (but you have to admit, it’s pretty funny). I assume that it must take SOME athleticism to twist your body into a koeksister* (AND manage to untangle yourself again!) like those figure skaters or snowboarders. I also think that a lot of it has to do with being fearless and a little insane. What else could possibly possess people to summersault down a steep and slippery, snow-covered hill at breakneck speed? Or to assume what seems to me to be a highly uncomfortable position on a sled and hurtle down and around an icy maze of twists and turns reminiscent of a bobsled track (which is what they do during the luge. Then some clown – possibly when he became bored with the luge, thinking that it wasn’t quite dangerous enough – decided to turn himself around on the sled and go down the same maze, headfirst this time, and call it (very aptly, if you ask me) the skeleton. (For that is all that will be left of you if you dare to twitch the wrong muscle during your death defying run.) In fact, I think many of these events probably originated by accident. Take ski jumping for example. (For those who don’t know, it’s an event during which skiers jump from a platform without their ski poles. As if that isn’t insane enough, during the fall, they tilt their entire bodies forward – until it looks like they are going to hit the slope below flat on their noses – and then somehow still manage to land on their feet.) Now, I don’t have any inkling how that was "invented", but I can just imagine… I assume that Klaus the German hit the Swiss Alps one fine December day for a fun day of conventional skiing. But then his plans went terribly awry halfway down the slope when he heard the roar of an avalanche behind him… He got such a fright, he tripped over an overturned tree stump, lost his ski poles and went flying down a cliff… and managed to, miraculously, land on his feet. With typical German resilience, I assume, he probably dusted himself off promptly (I don’t know what he would dust, seeing that he landed on his feet and all, but somehow it seems fitting in this image.) and declared: "Ag zo! Zat is very interesting! Let us make zis into a new zport calling it … eh … ski jumping, ja?" Or perhaps Klaus wasn’t alone. Perhaps he was with his friend Hans and they had too much Gluh Wein the previous evening, and due to the lingering effects of the juice and the thin mountain air, weren’t quite in full possession of their perfectionist German minds yet. So Klaus pointed rather recklessly at the cliff and dared Hans to chuck his poles and go for it. "I bet your BMW zat you vill not do such a thing!" Klaus egged him on. "Und vhy vould you think such a horrible thing?" Hans possibly demanded to know, getting hot under his helmet. "Because you are a chicken!" Klaus said (apparently in perfect English this time, because I have no idea how to turn this last bit into English with a heavy German accent.) which of course, must’ve been the last straw for Hans who listened to Klaus after all and went for it… And the rest, as they say, led to endorsements by Mercedes, BMW and – what the hell – probably McDonald’s too. (And of course, Olympic glory and even more money and medals. And miraculously enough, despite a few unfortunate fractures, bruises and bumps along the way; most winter sport practitioners seem to survive!) By the way, I used the Germans as an example not only because of their great accents, but they also won the most medals at Salt Lake: a whopping 35. Perhaps I won’t even begin to grasp any of the concepts behind many of these sports during the next four years. But even so, I still look forward to seeing Klaus, Hans and the rest of the guys in their unitards in 2006. As long as ve are all having fun, ja? *Koeksister: A sweet South African delicacy made of twisted dough, fried in oil and dipped in syrup. Here’s another bit of useless information (which seems to be my speciality.), even though it comes a bit after the fact. Recently there was a unique wrinkle in time. Last Wednesday night, February 20th, 2002, at two minutes past eight (according to military clocks, in which case the time would be read as 20:02) a symmetry took place, because at that moment, the date, time and year all said the same thing backwards and forwards. The last time this occurred was in the year 1111 and it will only roll around one more time: in the year 2112. © RSA-Overseas [ Top ] Donald retires from Test cricket South Africa's top fast bowler, Allan Donald, announced on Monday that he was retiring from Test cricket with immediate effect. Donald made the announcement at a media conference in Bloemfontein. Donald (35) pulled up with a hamstring strain during the first Test match against Australia at the Wanderers at the weekend. "I have reached a stage where I am tired of letting myself, my team and my country down with my injuries," Donald said on Monday. "I have decided to retire from Test cricket, but will certainly be available for one-day internationals and my goal at the moment is to play limited-overs cricket for my country." Donald added: "I would like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout my Test career. It has been a privilege to represent South Africa in Test cricket." Donald made his Test debut for South Africa against the West Indies in Barbados in 1991/2. He played 72 Tests for South Africa and reached the milestone of 300 Test wickets against New Zealand in Bloemfontein last season. During his career he took a total of 330 Test wickets at an average of 22.25. Gerald Majola, the CEO of the UCBSA, said he accepted Donald's decision. "Allan has been a great servant of the game and we hope he will continue to shine in one-day international cricket. We accept Allan's decision and his current contract, which expires in April, remains intact." Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] |
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