THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, August 6, 2013
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AfricanNews Johannesburg apologises to Mandela for billing blunder ITY of Johannesburg, South Africa has apologised to Nelson Mandela and his family yesterday for mistakenly posting a non-payment notice on the former President’s house warning him his electricity was about to be cut off. The city, which has faced a barrage of complaints from residents for bungled bills, said the notice demanding payment of 6,468.48 rand ($660) was supposed to have been delivered to a different house. “The city wants to convey an apology to the Mandela family for any inconvenience caused by this unfortunate incident,” it said in a statement. Mandela, 95, has spent two months in a Pretoria hospital battling a lung infection that has left him in a critical condition. The location of Mandela’s posh Johannesburg home is one of South Africa’s worstkept secrets. It is frequently visited by media and wellwishers who leave messages for a speedy recovery on painted stones outside the residence.
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Moroccan city’s residents query why child rapist went free Spain arrests paedophile pardoned by monarch S police arrested a A Spanish paedophile who had his pardon revoked by Morocco’s King Mohamed VI after it sparked angry protests in the North African country, residents of the Moroccan city of Kenitra still want to know why the man convicted of raping their children was ever released. Daniel Galvan Vina, who was convicted of raping 11 children aged between four and 15 and sentenced in September 2011 to 30 years in prison in Morocco, was detained in Murcia in southeastern Spain, an interior ministry spokesman said yesterday. Galvan, who lived in the midst of residents in Kenitra for years, was found guilty of raping 11 children aged between four and 15, and jailed for 30 years in September 2011. But last Tuesday, he was among 48 Spanish prisoners pardoned by King Mohamed VI in response to a request from King Juan Carlos, who visited Morocco last month. Galvan was released and
deported back to his homeland, so that by the time the pardon was revoked late on Sunday, he was beyond the reaches of the Moroccan authorities. Spain’s ambassador to Morocco, Alberto Navarro, told the El Pais newspaper
that Rabat can now ask that Galvan serve out the rest of his sentence in a Spanish jail. But for residents of this city of more than 350,000 people, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the Moroccan capital, that prospect is scant consolation. A planned demonstration
in the city centre late on Sunday went ahead despite the announcement that the pardon had been revoked. Primary schoolteacher, Fatima Imelouane, joined the demonstrators with her daughter. “We still don’t understand what is behind this affair,”
she said. “Why this pardon? Why the revocation? Who is responsible and what are the government and the justice minister (Mustapha Ramid) doing?” she asked. “There is so much ambiguity in all of this.”
Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration in Kenitra against the pardon by King Mohamed VI of Morocco of a Spanish paedophile, Daniel Galvan, who raped 11 local children…yesterday. PHOTO: AFP
S’ Africa’s inquiry on arms’ graft adjourned before Zuma testifies Zuma was expected to 1999 that has dogged Zuma PUBLIC inquiry into a man announced a two-week A multi-billion dollar gov- postponement after a brief appear before the commis- and his ruling African ernment arms deal in South first hearing – to allow the sion probing graft allega- National Congress (ANC) for Africa was adjourned yesterday shortly before President Jacob Zuma was expected to testify. The commission’s chair-
replacement of judges and the classification of secret military documents. The inquiry will resume on August 19.
tions against him and several top government officials. The commission is investigating kickbacks in a $3 billion weapons deal made in
a decade. The commission, delayed for five months, has suffered a series of controversial resignations – including the departure of two of the three original judges – throwing its effectiveness into question. The head judge, Francis Legodi, quit last week, citing “personal reasons” and a legal researcher also resigned, saying commission had “incompetent administration.” Security was boosted around the Pretoria Council Chamber where the hearing took place, with police vehicles and fire trucks stationed outside. With less than a year before elections in South Africa, the saga risks undermining the credibility of both Zuma and the African National Congress with voters. Elizabeth Ntsae, a 32-yearold accountant from Pretoria, said government corruption was the reason she would not be voting for the ANC in the election. “Our government failed us, our government failed us,” said Ntsae. “If the head is corrupt, the whole body will be corrupt.” Several ex-government ministers, including former president Thabo Mbeki have been lined up to give evidence.