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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