Paul Mashatile's re-election as the ANC's Gauteng chairman at the weekend is a slap in President Jacob Zuma's face

Mashatile's remarks that there is a better alternative to e-tolls in Gauteng signals he is ready to oppose the national leaders of the ANC. File photo
Image by: Loanna Hoffmann / Gallo Images

Mashatile spearheaded the failed mission for regime change in Mangaung, where Zuma was re-elected as president of the ANC in 2012. The relationship between the two soured when Zuma elevated Nomvula Mokonyane as premier and ignored Mashatile, who was then Gauteng chairman.

Mashatile's remarks that there is a better alternative to e-tolls in Gauteng signals he is ready to oppose the national leaders of the ANC. His bitterness after being demoted from minister of arts and culture to an ordinary MP makes matters worse.

Gauteng said it will support Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed Zuma, who is said to prefer a woman to take over from him.

It is likely Zuma will get a hostile reception whenever he visits Gauteng - and it may get worse than the booing he suffered from the crowd during Nelson Mandela's memorial service.

Zuma-backer Gwede Mantashe has recently been at loggerheads with his deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, over e-tolls. The issue has the potential to deepen the division between the Gauteng executive and the national executive.

It is the people of Gauteng who will choose to vote for or against the ANC in future, not the national leadership. If Pretoria fails to strike a deal in favour of Gauteng's taxpayers, the party could lose its majority in the province.

Mashatile's popularity will grow as Zuma's fades. Mashatile will be out to prove he has the interests of Gauteng's people at heart, and is likely to mount challenges on other issues too.

Zuma's failure to show up at the Gauteng conference to deliver the closing remarks at the weekend indicates he wanted to avoid possible embarrassment.  

Four EFF members have handed themselves to police after six houses, some belonging to Nala municipality councillors, were burnt down, Free State police said on Tuesday

22 July 2014. Economic Freedom Fighters' members, stormed into the Gauteng legislature during their march in Johannesburg CBD. File photo
Image by: MOELETSI MABE

"They are EFF members. They were wearing the T-shirts of their organisation when they handed themselves over yesterday [Monday] to Bothaville police," Captain Stephen Thakeng said.

Economic Freedom Fighters' spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi could not immediately be reached to verify if the four were party members.

They were charged with public violence, arson, attempted murder, and malicious damage to property, and would appear in the Bothaville Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

On Friday, six houses were torched in the township of Kgotsong, four of them belonging to councillors. A library was also set alight.

Twelve people were subsequently arrested and appeared in court on Monday. They are Sam Ndlovu, 31, Koos Motsili, 29, Jona Mabunda, 28, Carlos Machava, 31, Sello Malefane, 42, Mokete Namola, 41, Moses Xaba, 30, David Schalkwyk, 24, Serame Khumalo, 24, and Motlalepule Chaana, 18.

The other two, Godfrey Tsoai, 51, and Plaatjie Ndisisa, 30, appeared separately.

Their case was postponed to October 13 for a bail application.

EFF gives Ramaphosa the finger

Julius Malema (Picture: AP)

Cape Town – It was another dramatic day in Parliament as EFF MPs Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu were ordered out of the National Assembly, but not before Shivambu gave Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa the finger.

Speaker Baleka Mbete told Malema and Shivambu to leave the House on Wednesday when they refused to withdraw a statement that Ramaphosa had blood on his hands for the deaths of 34 mineworkers in Marikana two years ago.

Ramaphosa, who was answering questions about the Marikana shooting, was labelled by the EFF leader as a “murderer”.

Sapa reported that Malema went on the offensive while Ramaphosa was answering questions related to the 2012 killing of 34 Lonmin mineworkers.

"Why is the deputy president not accepting responsibility for the death of 34 mineworkers that died? You killed them because you are driven by profit," Malema said.

“Stop this thing that we must all take responsibility... we can’t take responsibility...you are the one who wrote e-mails and instigated the killing of 34 people. You are responsible. Your hands have got blood of innocent people who died in Marikana. A lot of blood..."

Malema's question to Ramaphosa about former mineral resources minister Susan Shabangu's testimony before the Farlam Commission of Inquiry that the deputy president had lied under oath went unanswered.

Ramaphosa, who sat on the Lonmin board during the unrest, testified last month that Shabangu had agreed with him that the unrest at the platinum mining house was a "criminal act" and not just a labour dispute. Shabangu disputed this two weeks later.

When Mbete asked Malema to withdraw his statement, he said: "I am not going to withdraw that."

Mbete said that the remarks were unparliamentary and ordered the EFF MPs to leave the National Assembly.

Before the pair left, Shivambu showed Ramaphosa the middle finger and said: "He is a murderer of workers. It is a fact."

Maimane questions Ramaphosa

Earlier DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane tried to get Ramaphosa to concede that his e-mail characterising the unrest as a criminal act had inflamed the situation.

Maimane wanted to know if Ramaphosa would resign should the Farlam commission find him guilty of wrongdoing.

"I had wanted earlier to actually say that I think it will be incorrect to begin here to address the substantive issues that are being dealt with by that commission," Ramaphosa replied.

"I sat in that commission for two solid days and...I volunteered to go because I wanted to tell the truth."

Ramaphosa said commenting on the possible outcome of the commission would be "almost tantamount to contempt of that commission".

DA MPs pushed for a direct answer, but Mbete again intervened, stopping the line of questioning.

"You cannot push the deputy president further than what he has said to the House... because I as the Speaker... am not prepared no matter how much you scream... I'm not going to do what you push me to do simply because you are screaming at me," an irate Mbete said.

The Farlam Commission of Inquiry was appointed to probe the deaths of 44 people during a violent strike at Lonmin's platinum mining operations at Marikana, near Rustenburg, North West, in August 2012.

Thirty-four people, mostly striking mineworkers, were killed by police, about 70 wounded, and 250 arrested on 16 August 2012. Ten people, including two policemen and two Lonmin security guards, were killed in the previous week.

Is this the beginning of the end for Zuma?

President Jacob Zuma (Picture: Sapa)

A series of setbacks in beleaguered President Jacob Zuma's battle against corruption allegations has sparked fresh speculation that he could be forced out of office.

Controversy over millions of dollars of taxpayers' money spent on his Nkandla home and the dropping of graft charges against him, returned to haunt Zuma with renewed force over the past week.

On Thursday he lost a five-year court battle to keep secret the so-called "spy tapes" that got him off the hook on more than 700 charges of fraud and corruption in 2009, shortly before he became president.

The Supreme Court of Appeal ordered that the tapes, which allegedly showed political interference in the prosecution process, be released to the DA within five days.

This could possibly lead to the charges against him being reinstated.

On the same day, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela told a news conference she would press ahead with demands that Zuma refund some of the R246m spent on "security upgrades" at his private home.

That amount of money would buy several mansions in the best suburbs in Johannesburg or on the beachfront in Cape Town, and Madonsela's report on the issue sparked widespread outrage.

'Pay back the money'-

This took its most visible form last week when Zuma hedged his answers on the scandal in Parliament, leading to chaotic scenes as EFF members jumped to their feet and yelled repeatedly: "Pay back the money!"

That unprecedented outburst was described by veteran commentator Allister Sparks as "a catalytic event that is going to have a transformative impact on our national politics.

"It could well mark the beginning of the end of Zuma's presidency," Sparks wrote in his syndicated column.

He was not alone in this assessment.

"Are we building up to the removal of President Jacob Zuma?" asked an editorial in The Times on Friday.

The paper referred to the ousting by the ANC of former president Thabo Mbeki from its leadership in 2007, which paved the way for Zuma to take over the presidency.

Business Day said the ruling on the tapes was an opportunity for the ANC to "consider having a discussion with Zuma over an exit strategy - he is too much of a liability".

Mysterious visit

While all this was going on, Zuma was on a mysterious week-long trip to Russia, where his only major engagement was a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

Although the trip was billed as a bid to promote trade, none of the relevant ministers travelled with him, and he was said to be having "rest periods".

Zuma's health has also been under scrutiny. In June he was hospitalised for two days for fatigue and tests before taking a week off.

But Zuma has weathered storms before, earning the sobriquet "Teflon president" - nothing sticks - for having remained in office despite all the allegations against him.

And there could still be long legal battles ahead, with analysts cautioning that the appeal court's decision on the "spy tapes" would not necessarily lead to the reinstatement of the corruption charges against him.

But if he is seen as a liability by his own party, which has retained power with a reduced majority in May's election, he could be ousted - as Zuma ousted Mbeki - through an internal leadership election.

At only 25 years of age Thuthukile Zuma became the youngest chief of staff of a minister’s office ever appointed in South Africa.

The appointment of Thuthukile Xolile Nomonde Zuma, the daughter of President Jacob Zuma, as the chief of staff in the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services raised eyebrows in South Africa recently.

At only 25 years of age Thuthukile Zuma became the youngest chief of staff of a minister’s office ever appointed in South Africa.

Thuthukile Zuma was born on 28 April 1989, and is the youngest of president Jacob Zuma’s four daughters with ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

She matriculated from Westerford High School in December 2006. In 2011 she graduated from Wits University with a BA in anthropology, and followed it up with an honours degree at the same institution at 2012.

In 2013 she joined the ministry of state security as a public liaison officer (age 24). In May 2014 she was appointed as the chief of staff in the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services at the age of 25.

Very fast professional rise

Many people questioned Thuthukile Zuma’s rise from an entry-level position of public liaison officer to chief of staff – earning nearly R1 million annually – in only one year.

The Mail & Guardian reported that this meteoric rise “raised concerns about political nepotism at the renamed Department of Telecommunications and Postal services”.

The new minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Siyabonga Cwele, was also the minister of state security where Thuthukile Zuma previously worked.

Thuthukile Zuma versus other ministerial chiefs of staff

MyBroadband selected a few ministerial chiefs of staff from other departments to see how their age and qualifications compare with that of Thuthukile Zuma.

What we found was that all of the surveyed chiefs of staff had a tertiary education, and were all between the ages of 40 and 65 (except for Thuthukile Zuma).

Ages of Government Department Chiefs of Staff

Thuthukile Zuma versus other graduates

To assess how Thuthukile Zuma’s professional progress compares with other BA Hons in anthropology graduates in South Africa, MyBroadband looked at the current positions of some of her peers.

To protect their privacy, the identities of people listed in the infographic below are not exposed. Market related salaries were used for their current positions.

Employment levels and annual salaries of 2012 BA Hons graduates

Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services explains

MyBroadband asked the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services whether Thuthukile Zuma was the best choice available for the position of chief of staff.

MyBroadband also asked the department how Thuthukile Zuma was able to gain the needed experience to become chief of staff so fast.

Department spokesperson Siyabulela Qoza said that her contract appointment in the ministry was consistent with the rules and regulations governing the appointment of people in government ministries.

“She holds an honours degree. Ms Zuma has worked with the Minister before. The Minister only considered her capacity to the job and her qualifications. Her genealogy was never a consideration,” said Qoza.

“Ms Zuma, just like all citizens, enjoys the freedom to participate in any economic activity, including being employed in government or the private sector.”

South African Presidents Qualifications & BRICKS Leaders Qualifications - Worrying Trend 😏

You can comment, just give your thoughts about the importance of education to head a big organization or to be the leader of the country. 

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is assessing complaint on 25 year old Zuma's daughter's Chief of Dept Position that gives her 1m a year managing 4.1m budget

Thuthukile Zuma (Picture: Facebook)

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's office is assessing a complaint about the appointment of President Jacob Zuma's daughter to a top post in the telecommunications and postal services department, a spokesperson said on Friday.

"Once the assessment team has done its assessment of the complaint, it will be sent to her for a decision," Madonsela's spokesperson, Kgalalelo Masibi, said.

The assessment team would decide if Madonsela should investigate Thuthukile's appointment as the department's chief of staff.

The complaint was lodged on Tuesday but Masibi could not divulge the person's identity.

"The complainant is asking the protector to find out whether the post was advertised, how many people applied for the position, and which qualified candidates were rejected," she said.

"The complainant wants to know about the processes followed in the appointment, and whether she has the required qualification for the position."

Masibi said the complaint was based on a report by the Mail&Guardian newspaper last week that Thuthukile, 25, had landed the job and it appeared that the post was not advertised. She would earn almost R1m a year.

The newspaper reported that she previously worked with Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele at the State Security Agency, and followed him to her new post after the May elections.

She is the youngest of the president's four daughters with his ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a former Cabinet minister who is currently African Union Commission chairperson.

Thuthukile has an honours degree in anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand.

According to the 2014 Estimates of National Expenditure, the chief of staff will manage a R4.1m budget in the department.

The chief of staff post is seen as a powerful position, with the incumbent responsible for the overall management of staff and the office's budget.

The department's spokesperson, Siya Qoza, later told Sapa her appointment was consistent with the rules and regulations, and that the minister only considered her capacity to do the job and her qualifications.

"Her genealogy was never a consideration," he said at the time.

Malema: EFF will take on 'the big boys'

The Economic Freedom Fighters were not frightened of taking on “the big boys” who controlled the South African economy and had robbed some R600bn over ten years through transfer pricing and other financial shenanigans, its leader Julius Malema has told a media briefing at parliament.

Malema said the Financial Intelligence Centre had told the finance standing committee that there were occurrences of transfer pricing in South Africa “coupled with other forms of illicit corporate activities...that cost the South African economy more than R600bn...”.

Blind eye

Malema said despite this reality “there is still no legislation in South Africa which forbids transfer pricing, base erosion and profit shifting by corporate criminals who rob South Africa of massive potential wealth”.

This robbed the fiscus of taxes which could have provided better services to citizens and could have reduced the glaring income disparity of the South African population, the EFF leader, who described himself as a revolutionary during the conference, said.

He accused the ruling ANC and the official opposition DA of either being unaware of these practices “or (they) have deliberately (been) turning a blind eye to these (practices)”.

Malema said he and his party knew they were challenging “the big boys” - the face of international white capital - who had pawns in all the major institutions, including the South African Revenue Service.

Transfer pricing

Floyd Shivambu, an EFF MP and former ANC youth league spokesperson, said that although South Africa had the biggest reserves of mineral wealth in the world, mining only contributed R25bn a year in tax, a small slice of the national economy of some R3trn.

“The mining capitalists are engaged in these practices of transfer pricing... and profit shifting (abroad),” he said.

They take their profits to tax havens such as Switzerland, the Virgin Islands, London and Mauritius, he charged.

“That is how they avoid taxes ... double taxation,” said Shivambu.

“The African continent is being raped by corporate criminals,” said Shivambu.

Malema said his party was aware of the dangers of taking on the big boys. Many big corporates had huge security intelligence agencies which were bigger than that of the government. Nevertheless “we are ready to take on the big boys”.

- Fin24

Overall-wearing EFF barred from legislature

East London - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members in the Eastern Cape legislature were barred from the State of the Province address on Friday because they were wearing red overalls, a member said.

"When we entered the House and sat down, a man, directed by the Speaker, came to us and requested us to go outside and talk," EFF MPL member Siyabulela Peter said.

"He stated that our dress code was not allowed in the legislature and he requested us to go. We were not allowed to participate and we left the House because they called security and we didn't want to fight unnecessarily."

Peter said EFF members argued that their national leadership was allowed to wear the same uniform in Parliament.

He said they were in consultation with the party's national leadership and were considering legal action.

"It is totally unacceptable that they treat us in this manner. The code of conduct states that people dress in a way that is neat and clean. We were neat and clean," said Peter.

The Eastern Cape legislature and office of the Speaker were not available for comment.

Egypt confirms 183 death sentences

(Thomas Hartwell, AP)

Minya - An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed death sentences for 183 Islamists, including Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohamed Badie, a prosecutor said, after a speedy mass trial that sparked an international outcry.

The court in the central city of Minya had initially sentenced 683 people to death, but on Saturday it commuted death sentences of four to life in prison, including two women, and acquitted 496 other defendants.

Since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July last year, hundreds of his supporters and Badie himself have been sentenced to death in trials that have been criticised by Egyptian and global human rights bodies.

EFF donates more cash to Amcu strike fund

EFF leader Julius Malema (Sapa)

Johannesburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters has pledged to donate another R50 000 to union Amcu's strike fund,The Citizen reported on Tuesday.

EFF leader Julius Malema made the announcement at the party's 16 June rally in Freedom Park, Rustenburg.

"We will never retreat from supporting workers. That is why we gave R50 000 to the strike fund, we will put another R50 000 tomorrow [Tuesday]," Malema was quoted as saying.

He called on workers to protect Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union leaders, the newspaper reported.

He said Freedom Park was the home of the EFF and Amcu.

Criticism of ANC

Malema also criticised ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe and said the EFF would teach him how to dress first, the newspaper reported.

"Mantashe, with a scruffy beard, thinks he can intimidate the EFF."

At a media briefing last week, Mantashe accused the EFF of turning the platinum wage dispute into a political strike.

On Saturday, at a post-election rally in Wonderkop, Marikana, Malema wished President Jacob Zuma suffering.

"Zuma is not sick, he is a troubled man. We do not wish him well, we wish him long suffering," he told supporters.

Amcu members at Impala, Anglo American Platinum and Lonmin went on strike on 23 January for a basic monthly salary of R12 500.

Platinum producers proposed to increase the salary of the lowest paid workers by R1 000 for two years and R950 in the third year. This excluded other benefits.

The proposed settlement was for three years.

The platinum sector eagerly awaited whether the proposed deal to end the strike had been accepted by Amcu.

Zuma told to scrap tolls, address wages

President Jacob Zuma. (AFP)

Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma is expected to report on the minimum wage during his State of the Nation address, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Friday.

"Too many workers and their families are living in poverty. It is totally unacceptable that half of all employed workers earn R3 000 a month or less, meaning that the majority of South African workers can't afford the basic necessities of life," said Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven.

Zuma was expected to deliver the State of the Nation address on Tuesday next week.

"Combating low wages is at the heart of addressing poverty and inequality," said Craven, detailing the federation's expectation from Zuma.

He said Cosatu expected Zuma to reassure the nation that he would stop any move to amend the labour laws to allow government to ban protected strikes.

"Cosatu hopes that the president will announce the scrapping of the privatisation of our public highways in the form of the disastrous e-tolling scheme.

"Thousands of motorists are refusing to buy e-tags or pay their bills and the system is on the brink of collapse. The iniquitous, capitalist 'user-pays' principle must be rejected."

He said Cosatu also hoped Zuma would announce an independent commission of inquiry into the mining industry.

"A special declaration on the Marikana crisis was adopted by Cosatu Congress calling for an independent commission of inquiry into the mining industry, to look at measures to transform the sector.

"Cosatu hopes President Zuma will announce when this will be set up, and that it will lead to the transformation of this economically crucial sector, and lead to a more equitable distribution of the surplus to mine workers, local communities and throughout the economy."

He said Cosatu hoped Zuma would confirm that government was following up on the reports on the Nkandla scandal by the ministerial task team, the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit, and that government would take firm action against those, in both the public and private sectors, found to have been responsible for the gross over-spending on upgrades to the president's residence.

Ramphele opens case with police

Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele (AFP)

Johannesburg - Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele has opened a case of fraud with police to find out who opened an account for the party to receive a refund from the IEC, a spokesperson said on Friday.

This follows a fraud case opened at the Centurion police station by the party's chairperson Mike Tshishonga for the same reason.

"Mamphela also opened a case to find out who opened this account and how it came to be," Agang SA spokesperson Mark Peach told Sapa.

"Mike and Mamphela would both like to know the circumstances around this account."

The "party-political account" was set up to receive a refund from the Electoral Commission of SA following the 7 May general election.

The refund was presumed to be around R200 000.

‘Don’t know who opened account’

"Once police investigate then we will know. Mamphela did not open the account," he said, reacting to reports inThe New Age that Ramphele was believed to be behind the account.

"We don't know who opened the account, and it's too early to say anything. Until an investigation has happened, we simply don't know."

On Thursday, Peach rubbished claims by the newspaper that Tshishonga opened a fraud case against Ramphele for being behind it.

The newspaper at the time reported on its website that Tshishonga accused Ramphele of having direct access to party funds, and that she opened a bank account to access the IEC deposit without a mandate from the party.

Peach dismissed the allegation, and said the signatory to the account was Tshishonga.

However, on Friday The New Age reported that Tshishonga opened the case because his signature appeared on the bank account without his knowledge.

In a statement, Agang SA's Western Cape spokesperson Monica Graaff said no suspect was mentioned in the case opened by Tshishonga. 

No update on Zuma's condition

(AP)

Johannesburg - There was no update on President Jacob Zuma's health on Sunday after he was admitted to hospital for tests and to rest.

Zuma was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on Saturday with instructions to rest following a demanding election and transition to a new administration, Maharaj said at the time.

Doctors were also expected to conduct tests on Zuma, who is 72.

On Friday, the leadership of the African National Congress ordered Zuma to take a break.

Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa said its election campaign was gruelling and Zuma needed a rest. 

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe echoed similar sentiments at a meeting in Irene, saying Zuma was exhausted.

It is his second term as president.

Double car bomb attack kills 7 in Iraq

Iraqis inspect the aftermath of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad. (Ali Al-Saadi, AFP)

Baghdad - A back-to-back car bomb attack in northern Iraq on Friday killed seven people belonging to an ethnic minority, authorities said.

Police officials said the explosion took place in the morning in Tahrawa, a village inhabited by families from the Shabak ethnic group. The village is near the city of Mosul, 360km northwest of Baghdad. Police said 43 people were wounded in the attack.

The Shabak have their own distinct language and belief system, which is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam. Most live in villages east of Mosul, the provincial capital of the ethnically mixed Ninevah province, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim.

The Shabak have been targeted in the past by Sunni extremists, who consider them apostates.

Hospital officials confirmed the toll from the attack. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release details to journalists.

According to UN figures, 8 868 people were killed in Iraq in 2013. The UN mission said that May was the deadliest month so far this year, with 799 Iraqis killed in violence, including 603 civilians.

Iraq is currently grappling with the worst surge in unrest since 2006 and 2007, when a wave of sectarian attacks pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

Boko Haram slaughters hundreds in Nigeria

Boko Haram Islamists leader Abubakar Shekau. (File AFP

Maiduguri - Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered at least 200 civilians in three villages in northeastern Nigeria and the military failed to intervene even though it was warned that an attack was imminent, witnesses said on Thursday.

A community leader who witnessed the killings on Monday said residents of the Gwoza local government district in Borno state had pleaded for the military to send soldiers to protect the area after they heard that militants were about to attack, but help didn't arrive. The killings occurred in Danjara, Agapalwa, and Antagara.

"We all thought they were the soldiers that we earlier reported to that the insurgents might attack us," said a community leader who escaped the massacre and fled to Maiduguri, Borno state capital.

The militants arrived in Toyota Hilux pickup trucks — commonly used by the military — and told the civilians they were soldiers "and we are here to protect you all", the same tactic used by the group when they kidnapped more than 300 girls from a school in the town of Chibok on 14 April.

After people gathered in the centre on the orders of the militants, "they begin to shout 'Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar' on top of their voices, then they begin to fire at the people continuously for a very long time until all that gathered were all dead", said the witness who didn't want to be named for fear for his safety.

State of emergency 

The slaughter was confirmed by both Mohammed Ali Ndume, a senator representing Borno and whose hometown is Gwoza, and by a top security official in Maiduguri who insisted on anonymity because he isn't allowed to speak to the media.

It took a few days for survivors to get word of the massacres to Maiduguri, the provincial capital, because travel on the roads is extremely dangerous and phone connections are poor or nonexistent.

The community leader wasn't shot because "I was going round to inform people that the soldiers had come and they wanted to address us", he said. As people were fleeing, other gunmen lurked outside the villages on motorcycles and mowed them down, he said.

Militants of Boko Haram, which wants to establish Islamic state in Nigeria, have been taking over villages in the northeast, killing and terrorising civilians and political leaders as the Islamic fighters make a comeback from a year-long military offensive aimed at crushing them. 

The death toll from Monday's attacks is among the highest. Thousands of people have been killed in the five-year-old insurgency, more than 2 000 so far just this year, and an estimated 750 000 Nigerians have been driven from their homes.

Nigeria's military has insisted that the big influx of troops and a year-old state of emergency in three states which gives them the power to detain suspects, take over buildings and lock down any area has the extremists on the run.

Incessant attacks 

But while Boko Haram has in large part been pushed out of cities in the northeast, they have been seizing villages with thatched-roof huts in the semi-arid region where they once held sway, boldly staking their claim by hoisting their black flags with white Arabic lettering, and making large swaths of Nigeria no-go regions for the military.

The villages attacked on Monday are in the Gwoza local government, a regional political center whose emir was killed in a Boko Haram ambush on his convoy last week. Emirs are religious and traditional rulers who have been targeted for speaking out against Boko Haram's extremism.

Borno Gov. Kashim Shettima traveled on Saturday to Gwoza to pay his respects to the fallen emir and was quoted as saying it was a terrifying ride.

"If I say I was not petrified travelling through that ... road to Gwoza I would be lying because that road had been designated a no-go area for about two months now due to the incessant attacks and killings that occur there," the governor was quoted as saying by Information Nigeria, a web site.

 A local journalist who was in the convoy that was escorted by 150 soldiers counted at least 16 towns and villages that were deserted along the 135km route, according to the local media report.

SACP wants DA's MP Waters to resign over racist tweet

(via Web)

The SA Communist Party on Thursday said DA MP Mike Waters must resign over a picture he tweeted.

"[The SACP] calls on Mike Waters to resign, failing which the DA must show seriousness and remove him as a public representative," SACP spokesperson Alex Mashilo said in a statement.

"Our Parliament is not a place for racism and racists," he said.

On Monday, Waters posted a picture, on social network Twitter, of dogs queuing to urinate on a photograph of president Jacob Zuma propped up against a tree.

A caption on the picture reads: "Voting Day. Make your Mark".

Responding to the SACP's call, Democratic Alliance Chief Whip John Steenhuizen said the tweet was "certainly regrettable and ill-advised".

He said Waters had acknowledged this, deleted the tweet, and apologised.

"We believe the matter rests there. We don't think it is in the purview of other organisations to tell us who we should be hiring and firing."

Mashilo said the Democratic Alliance's "automatic acceptance" of an apology by Waters was "a whitewash and smokescreen for racism".

He said the SACP would complain to the SA Human Rights Commission about the tweet.

On Wednesday, the ANC laid a formal complaint with the commission about material, including the tweet, that it deemed racist and insulting, and which it believed denied ANC voters their rights.

Previously, ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said the tweet indicated the DA saw blacks as "sub-human... dogs".

Dozens more killed in Nigeria

Bomb scene in Jos, Nigeria. (Stefanos Foundation, AP)

Maiduguri - Suspected Islamist militants killed dozens of civilians in three villages in remote northeastern Nigeria, continuing a pattern of almost daily deadly violence, a security source and a relative of one of the victims said on Wednesday.

Gunmen in combat clothing riding on army trucks entered the villages of Attagara, Agapalawa and Aganjara, in the Gwoza area along the Cameroon border, on Tuesday. Gwoza is the main stronghold of militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

They opened fire on villagers and burned houses and churches to the ground. Dozens of people were killed in each attack, the security source said, but did not yet have precise figures.

Teacher calls black people demons - report

(File)

Johannesburg - The Gauteng education department is investigating allegations that a teacher at the National School of Arts in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, called black people "demons".

"We have initiated an independent investigation," spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyane told Sapa on Tuesday.

She did not provide further information.

The Star reported that a Grade 8 history teacher allegedly told her class last Thursday that the reason government was failing was because it was led by black people.

A 13-year-old girl sent an SMS to her mother saying the teacher was out of hand after telling the class black people were stupid for voting for the African National Congress and that in the Western Cape people were "more than happy" with the Democratic Alliance, "thanks to white people", according to the newspaper.

According to the report, more parents were expected to complain.

The school said its governing body would make a statement in due course. 

ANC condemns DA MP's 'racist' tweet

SAY NO TO RACISM 

Johannesburg - The ANC on Tuesday slammed DA MP Mike Waters for posting a "racist" tweet and labelled the DA as a collection of racists.

"We are neither shocked nor surprised by this behaviour from a member of the DA as the party proves on a regular basis that it is nothing but a collection of bigoted racists who continue to regard black people as sub-human... dogs," said spokesperson Zizi Kodwa.

On Monday, Waters posted a picture on social network Twitter showing a pack of dogs lining up towards a tree, underneath which was a picture of President Jacob Zuma.

Kodwa said Waters likened people who voted for the ANC to dogs.

"They [DA] have failed to convince the electorate of their policies. They have nothing to offer except to continuously insult the intelligence of people of this country and attack their leadership," Kodwa said.

Apology

Waters has since deleted the tweet and apologised on the social network.

Democratic Alliance spokesperson Phumzile van Damme said the party had accepted Waters's apology.

"Mike has unreservedly apologised for the tweet. He is not a racist person and has acknowledged that the picture is offensive and distasteful, and we have accepted that," Van Damme said.

She said the party would soon review its social media policy.

Michael Waters @MichaelWatersMP

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Hi all. If I offended anyone in any way I apologise.

4:14 AM - 3 Jun 2014 Cape Town, South Africa

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Cape Town, South Afric