Monday, December 8, 1997

Madiba, US boxers breakfast together

PRETORIA -- President Nelson Mandela took time off from matters of state on Saturday morning to breakfast with former world heavyweight boxing champions Smokin' Joe Frazier and Michael Spinks at his Pretoria residence, Mahlamba-Ndlopfu.

Other guests included boxing promoter Butch Lewis and actor Leon Robinson of Waiting to Exhale fame.

The group is in South Africa as guests of the African National Congress and were the star attraction at a fund raising dinner at Midrand on Saturday night.

Mr Mandela thanked Lewis for his financial contribution to the ANC's 1994 election campaign.

He noted that governments ran the risk of forgetting "old friends" and that he wished to thank the group for supporting the liberation struggle. -- Sapa

Wild Coast land ownership an issue

By Zama Mpondwana

EAST LONDON-- The issue of land ownership emerged as one of the critical problems that could make development difficult, especially along the Wild Coast, a Coastal Development Regional Visioning Workshop heard here at the weekend.

The workshop was hosted by Coastal Management Policy Programme regional managers Larry Field and Siyabulela Manona to assess regional coastal management issues and to develop a regional development vision.

Mr Manona said the final outcomes of the coastal management programme will be forwarded to a national workshop in February to produce a national policy for coastal management by the end of 1998.

He said the vision was to develop a policy for the next 20 years based on what people would like to see happening.

Various role players and participants gave their perspectives and vision for the region.

A number of issues pertaining to coastal management were identified, including institutional, administrative, conservation and economical issues.

Priority issues identified included safety, conservation law enforcement and fishing regulations.

Other problems which were identified were related to segmentation and capacity of various government authorities concerned with coastal management.

Delegates argued that people see land reform as a critical element for a coastal management programme.

Another issue which emerged was the need to address poverty, although there should be no intensive agricultural activities in the coastal zone, but rather inland.

Strong support for nature conservation, which was said to be in disarray at the moment, emerged at the workshop.

The government was criticised for devoting inadequate resources to nature conservation.

Delegates also argued that people want nature conservation to be community-based rather than having a top-down approach and that coastal resources should directly benefit coastal communities.

Mr Field said representatives at the workshop were from Mkambati, Port St Johns, Kei Mouth and East London.

Various regional and provincial organisations were represented, including the provincial Environmental Affairs Department.

Mr Field emphasised that the coastal management policy programme was not just a conservation programme, but also aimed to achieve balance between development, human use and conservation.

LOOKING AHEAD: Mr David Shandler addresses a workshop on coastal development management held in East London over the weekend. Picture by FANISILE MAZWI

MEC pumps
iron - govt needs workout!

I HAVE sympathy for the reasons which the Constitutional Court advanced when it imposed the death sentence on Thiagraj Soobramoney, the chronic kidney patient who pleaded for free renal dialysis treatment. Instead of treating someone merely to prolong his life, many other lives can now be saved by this very costly treatment.

That is why I am in favour of the death sentence. Not because it is a deterrent. I don't have figures to substantiate that it is a deterrent. Neither, I think, do the opponents of the death sentence have figures to show that it is not.

What I do know is that when you remove a killer from society, who has shown no mercy for fellow man, he or she will kill no more. Many killers walk out of jail, just to kill again at the first opportunity. Some even do it as soon as they get into jail. Natural-born killers.

That is one reason why I want the death sentence back. The other is that I strongly object to the fact that my hard-earned money is used for taxes to feed and care for people who are nothing more than animals in their approach to human life.

I object that I have to pay for them to visit the Garden City Clinic for kidney or whatever treatment while others die because they cannot afford treatment. The court is correct in that scarce dialysis equipment should, in the first instance, be put at the disposal of patients who have a chance of being cured.

At the same time, the removal of heartless killers from society will save thousands of rands in state-sponsored health care, to benefit others.

Many killers -- released after serving probably reduced sentences -- will kill innocent people again and again. They deserve no place in society.

On this subject Finance MEC Shepherd Mayatula says no Christian could support the death penalty. I wonder, does that apply to abortions too?

No business

CELEBRATING its birthday and the success of the recent investment conference, the Centre for Investment and Marketing in the Eastern Cape (Cimec), invited Economic Affairs MEC Enoch Godongwana.

Godongwana arrived, drinking Energade from a bottle, fresh from a workout in the gym. What do they say about a healthy body ... Hope our economy is also getting to a healthy state.

Someone high up told me at the birthday bash that it would be to East London's advantage if Billiton takes its zinc refinery to Coega. (So far the shallowest deep-sea port in the world.)

The reason being that the presence of a zinc refinery would discourage the high-tech industrials from nations such as Singapore and Malaysia from coming to the West Bank.

Talking about Cimec. I attended a working lunch hosted by the Border-Kei Chamber of Business for the visiting Rolls Royce technical experts last week. Also present was the Eastern Cape Black Empowerment Consortium's Sam Tuntubele, the main force behind Rolls' presence here. Tuntubele was less complimentary about what Cimec was doing for them.

On the grapevine I even heard that Cimec was specifically not invited to the luncheon with Rolls.

Let's wait for round number two.

In two courts

Many of our budding sport stars are lucky to get tennis and other scholarships. Hope they study too. It's good to have something to fall back on. Like Ashley Hobson, son of my tennis-playing friend Mike Hobson.

Young Hobson graduated with an LLB from Rhodes. But you won't find him in a dreary court room. Hobson is director of tennis coaching with the Hong Kong Tennis Association. With 30 coaches working under him, he looks after the fortunes of Hong Kong's Davis and Federation Cup teams as well as a group of promising youngsters.

This year Hobson travelled to 13 countries, including Mexico and mainland China. All because of tennis.

TV has made sport into big business. As for the players, the promoters and the administrators, the business of sport has opened lucrative careers to the likes of Ashley Hobson.

Had money in sport been such a factor years ago, I just wonder where someone like his father would have been.

This year Mike Hobson won four tennis tournaments. He's 67.

Open account

THE concept of transparency or openness runs the risk of becoming a nice excuse for negligence. An agitated school principal last week complained that the cut in his school's electrical supply without warning was not in line with the policy of openness or transparency.

Shame, how could they do it when the school was so open about not paying its bills.

Smoke signal

SMOKERS and the industry face a barrage of attacks by the non-smoking lobby. And as a smoker I have sympathy with the rights of non-smokers.

But when the SABC TV news -- whose coverage has reached an all-time low -- devotes a great deal of its time on steps to have cannabis -- dagga -- legalised, no word is heard from Nkosazana Zuma and her cronies (among them cigar-smoking Cubans).

PS. Good for Gauteng who will ban the lighting of firecrackers in residential areas. Pleeze Mayor Nazo, do something here.

Cyclist knocked down, dies

QUEENSTOWN -- A Middelburg man who was knocked off his bicycle by a passing car died of his injuries in Middelburg Hospital at the weekend, police said yesterday.

Mr Sam Baartman died of head injuries shortly after he was admitted to hospital, Inspector Merleen von Caues said.

Mr Baartman's bicycle was allegedly hit from behind by a motorist overtaking another vehicle three kilometres outside the town on the road to Rosmead. ­ DDR

Stabbed man collapses, dies

QUEENSTOWN -- A badly injured Molteno man collapsed and died shortly after knocking on the door of a friend's house in the town in the early hours of Saturday, police said yesterday.

Mr Buthyi Veteza, who had several stab wounds, fell into the house as the door was opened and died on the scene at 4 am, said police spokesman Inspector Merleen von Caues.

The friend, who has only been identified as "Sigumba", was also attacked and stabbed by two men when he went to investigate.

He was admitted to Molteno hospital.

A suspect has been arrested on a murder charge. -- DDR

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