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Sabina Mugabe, sister of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, has died at the age of 76, after a long illness.
She was one of Mugabe’s few confidantes, and as one of the country’s former lawmakers, she was also one of his closest political allies until her retirement in 2008.
A party spokesman of ZANU-PF has announced that she will be laid to rest at Heroes Acre alongside other politicians and guerrillas who fought to liberate Zimbabwe from white rule.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is retiring from public life, he announced in Cape Town today…while also praising South Africans for their contribution to the world.
“We surprised ourselves in how we accomplished the World Cup with panache,” said Tutu, during a press briefing today at Cape Town’s St George Cathedral where he announced that he intends to retire from public engagements when he turns 79 on October 7.
“We really are amazing. Apart from welcoming the world as we did and being able to be so efficient, despite and what many could say, because of our history which has made us reach out to others, that has left them breathless and I think the world needs that,” he said.
“If we were a film, we would be shooting for an Oscar,” said Tutu, whose only hope before he dies is to see South Africa become a “winning country”.
“I long so much that we will become the country we have it in ourselves to become, a caring, not hugely successful, but one in which every South Africans feels they matter,” he said.
“I would go to my grave lightly if we become a country that is caring, compassionate, gentle, sharing,” he said.
Tutu who retired in 1996 as Archbishop of Cape Town, said the time had come to devote his time to quiet reflection, his family and reading.
“On the whole I will shut up, but sometimes I might not be able to resist, so bye bye,” he quipped.
He emphasised that he would honour all existing appointments but would not add any new engagements to his schedule. He would limit his time to one day a week in the office until the office wound down in February next year.
While continuing with his involvement with the Elders and Nobel Laureate Group and with his support of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, he will however, step down from his positions as Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape and as a representative on the UN’s Advisory Committee on the Prevention of Genocide.
“I think I’ve done as much as I can, and I really do need time for other things that I have wanted to do. I really want a little more quiet,” said Tutu, adding that there were “superb” people that could takeover from the advocacy work he had done.
He said the time has now come to slow down, sip Rooibos tea with his wife in the afternoon, watch cricket and travel to visit his children and grandchildren rather than to conferences and conventions and university campuses.
Tutu said he would remember the day he had introduced former President Nelson Mandela as the South Africa’s newly elected president as one of his best day’s ever. About that day, Tutu said: “I said God if I die now I really don’t mind”.
He said while former President Thabo Mbeki would be remembered for his involvement in peacemaking in Africa, there were hopeful developments in President Jacob Zuma’s administration in the battle to tackle HIV and AIDS.
Turning to his health, he said though he still had prostate cancer it was at a mild stage. “I am as fine as one could hope to be. I don’t propose to climb Table Mountain, but I’m not likely to keel over,” he joked.
He said his only “little panic” was that he once wanted to be a physician and added that he always wanted to know what it was like to be taller.
Source – BuaNews
Four grandchildren of former President Nelson Mandela were attacked by armed men outside their home on the day the world was celebrating the 92-year-old’s birthday.
According to police, the children had just returned to the Athol residence with a driver and were getting out of the car when they were approached by two armed men on Sunday evening.
“The men ordered the children and the driver to lie down. The suspects then decided to leave but changed their minds and went back to search the children and the driver. One of the suspects fired a shot and the driver returned fire. The suspects then fled the scene,” police spokesman Brigadier Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said.
Fortunately no one was injured in the incident and police said nothing was taken from the children or the driver.
No arrests have been made as yet.
“We are busy with investigations. We are investigating a case of attempted murder,” Mariemuthoo said.
Sunday’s incident comes just a month after the Mandela family had to deal with the loss of one of the former President’s great grandchildren.
Thirteen-year-old Zenani was killed in a car accident after attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup Kick-off Concert in Orlando, Soweto. - BuaNews
Eish! A breaching whale came crashing down on a yacht sailing just off Cape Town. All those involved (the whale and those on the yacht) survived in tact…and are currently making headlines around the world.
The incident happened on Sunday when Ralph Mothes and Paloma Werner, both of Please Login or Register to see the link. were making their way to Robben Island on their yacht, the Intrepid. The two are both used to open sea adventures as it’s part of their business, but this is the first time they’ve had such a close shave with a whale. The 40-ton whale landed on the deck of their boat!
Ralph has left a ‘stop press’ message on their website saying that “the good news is that we are all ok, the whale is feeling somewhat bruised but otherwise unhurt and Intrepid should be back in business in about 10 days time, ready to resume our teaching schedule. It gives the phrase.’have a whale of a time’ a whole new meaning and both Paloma and I are indeed lucky to be alive and unhurt.”
He promises that they’ll post an account of their experience on their News page soon.
In the mean time, here are some Please Login or Register to see the link. that show the moment just before the whale made impact, as well as the after-effects! The photos were apparently taken by a passenger on a nearby boat.
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Over 600 football fans missed the World Cup semi-final between Spain and Germany because of chaos at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport. A spokesman for Durban airport, Colin Naidoo, blamed the air-traffic chaos on the large number of private planes jetting in carrying celebrities like Hollywood star Charlize Theron and the King and Queen of Spain. (Please see update at bottom of this article.)
The airport was closed temporarily on Wednesday because of the heavy congestion caused by the chartered flights coming in from Cape Town where the first semi-final had been held the night before. The result for non-celeb flyers was delays of more than five hours, near riots and redirected flights away from Durban and the big semi-final they’d come all the way to watch.
Naido acknowledged that “some fans didn’t manage to get to the game because we had to turn those aircraft back. We had lots of air traffic from the two countries that are playing.”
The airport chaos meant that the Moses Mabhida Stadium experienced its lowest attendance of all matches during the World Cup with lots of very obviously empty seats, leaving a public sentiment that greed had led airport authorities to sell too many charter flights to stars at the expense of the fans.
Greg Krumbock, Shadow Minister of Tourism, released the following statement today, 9 July 2010, refuting the ACSA’s excuses:
The Democratic Alliance (DA) rejects the Airports Company of South Africa’s excuse that the recent chaos at King Shaka International Airport can be explained away as being the consequence of a high volume of ‘unscheduled flights’ of private charter planes carrying VIPs and a consequent lack of parking bays. The law requires that every aircraft submit a flight plan. If proper procedures are followed, the flight path should be known well in advance and the appropriate measures put in place to accommodate the aircraft.
It appears that plans to divert the extra incoming flights to the old Durban airport were unsuccessful or not followed through.
The chaos resulted in what ACSA has admitted to 660 – but what the DA believes could be as many as 1800 – international and local tourists missing the World Cup semi-final between Spain and Germany, tarnishing what has otherwise been a very well-organised World Cup.
It is unthinkable that the airport could ‘not have anticipated’ the high volume of flights on Wednesday which led to scheduled flights being diverted or delayed. The DA will be submitting a series of Parliamentary questions to ascertain exactly which unscheduled charter planes caused the problems and how, and under whose, authority, they were given preference over scheduled flights carrying ordinary tourists and commuters. The South African public and ordinary tourists deserve to know what caused the delays what led many World Cup supporters to miss their matches.
This mess follows two recent incidents that caused delays for World Cup supporters.
It is imperative that ACSA cleans up it act and ensure that the management at King Shaka International put in place appropriate measure to prevent a repeat of Wednesday’s chaos ahead of the World Cup final on Sunday. So far, ACSA has shown itself to be incapable of making sensible management decisions, as illustrated by its lavish expenditure for senior staff and ‘stakeholders’ – all of which points to a institutional culture favourable to ‘bending the rules’ when it comes to the rich, famous or politically well-connected. In addition to diverting ordinary flights to accommodate unscheduled VIP charter flights, other recent examples of this include:
The DA will continue to monitor the situation at King Shaka International Airport and make any new information we receive about the causes of delays available to the public.
UPDATE:
ACSA (Airport Company South Africa) has announced it has set aside R400 000 to compensate passengers who missed Wednesday’s semi-final. ACSA Managing Director Monhla Hlahla said:
“ACSA realises that no amount of money could ever adequately compensate the fans for missing the opportunity to watch the second 2010 FIFA World Cup semi-final match on African soil. The question of whether ACSA is legally liable for any loss resulting from this unfortunate event is still to be determined.
“Nevertheless, ACSA has, as a gesture of goodwill, but without admitting any liability, decided to set aside an amount of R400,000, for semi-final match ticket carrying passengers who were on board the six aircraft that were turned back.
“I apologise to all South Africans and, most importantly, all fans who missed the opportunity to attend the semi-final in Durban and for the inconvenience caused.”