* Liberia. Feu vert aux Casques bleus — Le 19 septembre, le Conseil de sécurité de l’Onu a adopté à l’unanimité une résolution mettant en place la Mission des Nations unies au Liberia, qui pourra compter jusqu’à 15.000 Casques bleus. En plus des soldats, la résolution autorise le déploiement de 1.115 officiers de police civile, 250 observateurs militaires et 160 officiers d’état-major pour une durée de 12 mois. La mission, qui ne devrait pas être opérationnelle avant 3 ou 4 mois, intégrera d’ici le 1er octobre une partie des forces de l’Ecomil, la force ouest-africaine d’interposition déjà déployée dans le pays. L’Ecomil est parvenue à apaiser la situation dans la capitale, Monrovia, mais pas dans les campagnes. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 19 septembre 2003)

* Liberia. UN peacekeeping force approved — 19 September: The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved a force of up to 15,000 peacekeepers for Liberia. The resolution, proposed by the United States, sets up a UN mission in Liberia to monitor last month’s peace agreement between the government and rebels. The main task of the force will be to restore security and to devise a plan to disarm more than 30,000 militiamen, including child soldiers, who are still active in the countryside. In August, Liberia’s two main rebel groups signed a power-sharing deal with the interim government to end four years of bitter civil war. Nigeria has been the main player in peace efforts in Liberia, where its troops make up most of a 3,500-strong West African peacekeeping force —Ecomil. Its peacekeepers have helped subdue violence in the capital, Monrovia, but not in rural areas. More than 1,000 civilian police will be included in the UN peacekeeping mission. No countries have yet committed troops to the proposed force, but the UN envoy to Liberia is currently holding discussions with several European governments. The 15-member Council created the mandate for a year, subject to renewal, but it is expected to be three to four months before the force is deployed. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 19 September 2003)

* Liberia. Le butin de Taylor — Selon une enquête du bureau des Nations unies à Monrovia, l’ancien président Charles Taylor, en exil depuis le 11 août dernier au Nigeria, aurait détourné près de 100 millions de dollars des caisses de l’Etat pendant les quatre dernières années de sa présidence. L’argent provenait notamment du registre maritime libérien et des exportations de bois. Des membres du gouvernement Taylor ont confié aux enquêteurs qu’il utilisait les ressources publiques pour acheter illégalement des armes, mais aussi des maisons, des voitures... et des partenaires sexuelles. Dernière escroquerie de Taylor: le détournement des 3 millions de dollars alloués par Taiwan pour le désarmement et la démobilisation de ses milices. (J.A.I., France, 21-27 septembre 2003)

* Liberia. Liberians used as forced labour — 23 September: The United Nations have accused rebels in Liberia of using civilians as forced labour. The UN‘s Humanitarian Affairs Agency (OCHA) says members of the main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), are forcing women to harvest rice for them in the northern town of Gbarnga, which is suffering food shortages. According to OCHA, recent fighting between LURD and the government has forced more than 5,000 civilians to flee into nearby Guinea between 29 August and 18 September. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 23 September 2003)

* Liberia. Travaux forcés — Les deux mouvements rebelles au Liberia utlisent des civils comme travailleurs forcés, ont dénoncé les Nations unies le 23 septembre. D’après le Bureau pour la coordination des affaires humanitaires (Ocha), des commandants locaux des Libériens unis pour la réconciliation et la démocratie (Lurd) ont notamment forcé des femmes à travailler pour eux dans des rizières à Gbarnga (centre). Les rebelles du Mouvement pour la démocratie au Liberia (Model) utilisent également des civils comme main-d’oeuvre forcée à Buchanan, second port du Liberia. (La Libre Belgique, 25 septembre 2003)

* Libye/Espagne. Visite de M. Aznar — Le jeudi 18 septembre à Tripoli, au terme d’une visite de deux jours en Libye, le Premier ministre espagnol José Maria Aznar a qualifié de “fructueux et constructifs” les entretiens qu’il a eu avec le colonel Kadhafi. Ces entretiens ont porté notamment sur la consolidation des relations libyo-espagnoles, ainsi que sur les moyens de consolider la coopération entre les deux rives de la Méditerranée et entre l’Union africaine et l’Union européenne. M. Aznar a indiqué que sa visite en Libye, la première d’un responsable européen de haut rang depuis la levée vendredi dernier des sanctions imposées à Tripoli par le Conseil de sécurité de l’Onu, avait pour objectifs principaux la consolidation des relations entre la Libye et l’Espagne dans tous les domaines, et la contribution au retour entier de la Libye au sein de la communauté internationale. (D’après PANA, Sénégal, 18 septembre 2003)

* Libya. Spanish PM visits Gaddafi — The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi basked in a landmark visit by the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, the first by a western leader since the UN lifted two weeks ago the sanctions imposed for the 1988 Pan Am Lockerbie bombing. Colonel Gaddafi, dressed in purple and gold robes, held court inside a white tent and surprised Mr Aznar by presenting him with a horse. The prime minister held a press conference outlining his two-day visit without Col Gaddafi. While the Libyan leader declined to talk publicly about the lifting of sanctions, he revelled in the publicity provided by the dozens of journalists accompanying Mr Aznar. After waving goodbye to Mr Aznar at his residence at Tripoli’s Bab al-Aziziya barracks, the style-conscious Col Gaddafi unfurled a white parasol, walked a few paces and climbed into a new Volkswagen Beetle. Thirty-four years after coming to power in a coup, and after being treated as a pariah for years because of alleged terrorist involvement, Col Gaddafi hopes to «rejoin the international community», according to one Spanish source. To fully return, though, he must convince Washington to lift its sanctions, including its ban on imports of Libyan oil. (The Guardian, UK, 19 September 2003)

* Libya. Seeking to open dialogue with Washington — Libya is expecting to open talks with the US soon, in the hope of paving the way for a normalisation of relations with Washington. Abdurrahman Shalgam, the country’s foreign minister, said that bilateral talks had already been discussed in the meetings that led to agreement over compensation and the assumption of responsibility by Libya for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. In an interview with the Financial Times on 20 September, he said that the first round of talks with the US could be as early as next month. «We have a target and that is to normalise bilateral relations. We’re completely open and ready to discuss any issue [with the US]. The main obstacle to talking in the past was Lockerbie.» (Financial Times, UK, 22 September 2003)

* Libye. Pour la levée des sanctions — La Libye espère entamer dans les prochaines semaines des négociations avec les Etats-Unis en vue de la normalisation de leurs relations diplomatiques, après le succès récent des discussions sur la levée des sanctions internationales contre la Libye. Les discussions pourraient débuter dès le mois d’octobre. Jusqu’à présent, les Etats-Unis voulaient s’assurer que Tripoli ne cherche pas à se doter d’armes de destruction massive et ne soutient plus le terrorisme. - D’autre part, le 22 septembre, quelque 200 Libyens ont manifesté devant le siège de l’Onu à Genève, pour réclamer des réparations à la suite de la mort de proches lors des bombardements américains de Tripoli et Benghazi, en 1986. Cette action fait suite à l’accord sur l’indemnisation des victimes des attentats commis par la Libye. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 23 septembre 2003)

* Malawi. Concern over illiteracy — Despite Malawi’s introduction of free primary education which nine years ago saw over 3 million children enroling for primary education, there are reports that 58% of its 10 million people cannot read and write. Speaking on the occasion of International Literacy Day, Malawi’s Minister of Gender, Alice Sumani, expressed concern that with the high illiteracy rate, the government is finding it tough to promote issues dealing with health and social development. Most of the 58% are women. (Frank Jomo, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 12 September 2003)

* Malawi. Clues to past lie in lake of stars — Scientists are preparing to drill deep into the great African lakes — which contain some of the richest archives of the planet’s development — to extract secrets about the ice ages, global warming and human evolution. Advance teams with specialised equipment will soon start setting up a base on the shores of Lake Malawi, a seven million-year-old, 750-metre-deep geological treasure trove. Technology designed for the mining industry has been adapted for the drilling, which is intended to solve riddles such as whether our ancestors evolved in forests or savannah-land, and whether the Earth’s climate engine was driven by the ice sheets or the tropics. The scientists hope the answers will guide policymakers struggling to respond to melting icecaps, rising sea levels, floods and droughts. «This should provide first-level input to the climate modellers,» said Andrew Cohen, professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona. After Lake Malawi, a separate drilling project is due at Ghana‘s Lake Bosumtwi and eventually the scientists hope to explore the ultimate prize: Tanzania‘s Lake Tanganyika, which is 1,500 metres deep, and which promises to offer up a much longer record, of several million years. (The Guardian, UK, 20 September 2003)

* Maroc. “Le plus vieux dinosaure du monde” — Le 22 septembre, les autorités marocaines et une équipe de paléontologistes internationaux ont annoncé la découverte du squelette fossilisé d’un dinosaure vieux de 180 millions d’années, le “plus vieux au monde”. L’animal ressemblait sans doute à un gros rhinocéros avec un très long cou et une longue queue. Baptisé “Tazoudasaurus naïmi”, du nom du village de Tazouda où il a été découvert, dans les montagnes du Haut-Atlas, ce dinosaure d’environ 9 mètres de long serait l’ancêtre des sauropodes d’Amérique du Nord, “seulement” vieux quant à eux de 140 millions d’années. A l’ère secondaire, l’océan Atlantique n’existait pas et l’Afrique du Nord et l’Amérique étaient soudées en un “supercontinent”, a rappelé le paléontologiste Philippe Tacquet. Le squelette a été découvert à 1.500 mètres d’altitude, à 70 km de Ouarzazate. (AP, 22 septembre 2003)

* Morocco. Three sentenced to life imprisonment — 18 September: A Moroccan court sentences a French national and two Moroccans to life imprisonment for planning terrorist attacks in an attempt to overthrow the state. The court also gave a variety of other sentences of up to 30 years to 30 other defendants in the case. Two of the accused are found innocent. Frenchman Pierre Robert, 31, has denied all the charges and claimed he had been tortured in custody. His trial was the most high profile of a series of cases of suspected Islamic militants arrested in the aftermath of the suicide bombings in Casablanca in May which killed 45 people. Robert and the other defendants were not accused of carrying out the Casablanca attacks, but of plotting similar bombings in the northern city of Tangiers where they lived. @CITA_1 = (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 18 September 2003)

* Maroc. Perpétuité pour Pierre Robert — Le 18 septembre, l’islamiste français Pierre Robert, poursuivi au Maroc dans le cadre de l’enquête sur les attentats suicides du 16 mars à Casablanca, a été condamné à la réclusion criminelle à perpétuité. Le parquet avait réclamé la peine de mort. Robert, 31 ans, était accusé d’avoir planifié les attentats et d’avoir organisé et participé à des entraînements pour l’utilisation d’armes à feu au Maroc, ce qu’il a toujours nié. Originaire de Saint-Etienne, converti à l’islam à l’âge de 17 ans et marié à une Marocaine, il avait été arrêté en juin dernier dans le cadre de coups de filets opérés dans les milieux islamistes. Deux autres accusés ont été condamnés à la prison à perpétuité, un à 30 ans de prison, les autres condamnations vont de trois mois à 20 ans de prison. Un prévenu a été acquitté. - Si ce procès vient de se terminer à Rabat, une douzaine d’autres se poursuivent dans le royaume. Plus de cent islamistes sont actuellement poursuivis devant diverses chambres criminelles, le plus souvent sous l’accusation d’appartenance à l’organisation intégriste Salafia Jihadia et de préparation d’actes de terrorisme. — Le 23 septembre, Pierre Robert a décidé de se pourvoir en cassasion devant la Cour suprême marocaine. Le décision de la Cour pourrait intervenir dans deux ou trois mois, a indiqué son avocat. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 23 septembre 2003)

* Maroc/USA. Sahara occidental — Le 23 septembre, le président américain Georges Bush a affirmé au roi du Maroc Mohammed VI que Washington “n’imposera pas de règlement” sur la question du Sahara occidental, a indiqué un responsable américain. Au cours d’une réunion privée en marge de l’assemblée générale des Nations unies à New-York, M. Bush a assuré le souverain qu’il savait “combien le sujet est sensible au Maroc”, tout en invitant le monarque à voir “si une solution acceptable pour le Maroc pouvait être trouvée”. Le Conseil de sécurité avait approuvé, le 30 juillet, le plan de James Baker prévoyant que le statut définitif du Sahara occidental, annexé par le Maroc en 1975, serait décidé d’ici cinq ans par référendum. Le Maroc avait rejeté cette résolution. Initialement prévu en janvier 1992, le référendum a été reporté d’année en année. (AFP, France, 23 septembre 2003)

* Mauritanie/Cap-Vert. Frontières maritimes — Le vendredi 19 septembre, la Mauritanie et le Cap-Vert ont procédé à la signature d’un accord de délimitation définitive de leurs frontières maritimes, a-t-on appris dimanche de source officielle à Nouakchott. L’accord a été signé par les ministres des Affaires étrangères des deux pays. (PANA, Sénégal, 21 septembre 2003)

* Mozambique. Cardoso trio face fraud case — 18 September: A court in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, has charged over a dozen people with bank fraud involving millions of dollars that led to the murder of a prominent investigative journalist. According to the Maputo daily paper, Noticias, three of those found guilty and sentenced to over 20 years imprisonment for killing Carlos Cardoso two years ago are to be tried this year in connection with a $14 million fraud in 1996. The judicial court announced that the money disappeared from the former state commercial bank, BCM, prior to its privatisation seven years ago. The trio were among the six men found guilty and sentenced last year to between 23 and 28 years in jail for killing Cardoso. The court named the suspects as Mohamad Abdul Satar, his brother Ayob Satar and former BCM branch manager Vicente. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 18 September 2003)

* Niger. Uranium sous surveillance — Deux ou trois fois par semaine, un convoi de camions chargés d’uranium descend du Niger vers le sud, pour arriver dix jours plus tard au port de Cotonou, au Bénin. Deux gendarmes nigériens munis d’armes légères accompagnent le convoi sur ce trajet de 2.000 kilomètres, mais ils ne disposent ni de téléphones satellites, ni d’autres moyens de communication. La gestion des matériaux radioactifs a été récemment mise sur la sellette au Niger, après que l’administration américaine ait accusé l’Irak d’avoir tenté d’acheter de l’uranium dans ce pays. Dans les mois à venir, une équipe de l’Agence internationale de l’énergie nucléaire (AIEA) prévoit de se rendre au Niger afin de convaincre le gouvernement d’autoriser un contrôle approfondi de ses exportations d’uranium. Sans ces contrôles, l’AIEA ne peut demander au Niger d’accroîre les mesures de sécurité et n’a aucune autorité pour inspecter la production ou les cargaisons nigériennes. (AP, 22 septembre 2003)

* Nigeria. Violence reignites in Niger Delta — 18 September: Several people have died in a clash between security forces and armed youths in three days of fighting near the Nigerian oil city of Warri, police have said. Reports say some of those killed were innocent bystanders. The violence began on 15 September, in Effurun, just outside the Niger Delta river port of Warri after the pastor of a church shot dead a youth who was part of a gang trying to extort money from the clergy. The youths, who were seeking protection money, then took to the streets burning people’s homes. A local police officer, Joseph Abiona, said that the youths engaged a joint patrol team of police, soldiers and navy in «a gun battle and a number of people were killed». (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 18 September 2003)

* Nigeria/South Africa. Anger over stoning case — Pressure is mounting on the Nigerian government to spare the life of a Muslim woman condemned to death by stoning for adultery. An Islamic court in the northern Nigerian city of Katsina will next week rule on whether to acquit 31-year-old single mother Amina Lawal on charges of adultery, or uphold the sentence of death by stoning. Protesters in South Africa and Nigeria have demanded a reversal of the decision first handed down in March last year and unsuccessfully appealed in August. Lawal gave birth on January 6 last year, more than two years after her divorce but only six-and-a-half months after Katsina formally reinstituted Islamic Shariah law. Hundreds of women demonstrated outside the Nigerian High Commission in the executive capital Pretoria, while hundreds more marched to parliament in Cape Town, where President Thabo Mbeki was questioned on the matter. Mbeki has appealed to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to spare not only Lawal, but his new democracy, the blight of such a violent sentence. «Certainly, we need to continue to make our voice heard about this issue but I would think the supreme court of Nigeria would be perfectly conscious of its obligations with the defence and protection of the rights of women,» Mbeki said. In response to a question on the responsibility of the father of Lawal’s child, Mbeki replied: «In defence of Amina Lawal we might have forgotten that it takes two to make a baby». (CNN, USA, 19 September 2003)

* Nigeria. Actions pour Amina Lawal — Le 18 septembre à Kaduna, vingt activistes des droits de l’homme ont commencé une grève de la faim pour protester contre la menace de peine capitale qui pèse sur Amina Lawal, indique “Kerknet” (Belgique). Le procès en appel contre cette femme, condamnée en première instance à la mort par lapidation pour adultère sur base de la charia, devrait reprendre le 25 septembre. En plus de cette grève de la faim, on a annoncé une campagne de désobéissance civile. A l’étranger également, les protestations s’accentuent. Ainsi, à Pretoria, quelque 300 femmes sud-africaines ont participé à une manifestation. La Ligue des femmes, qui fait partie du Congrès national africain (ANC), a annoncé d’autres actions dans les jours à venir. — La controverse engendrée par cette affaire dans le monde entier semble élever le procès d’Amina à celui de la charia, bien que l’équipe de défense ait veillé à ne pas remettre en cause la stricte loi islamique. Mais même au sein de la communauté musulmane on dénonce l’application de la charia comme une injustice, visant les Nigérians pauvres et peu éduqués, plutôt qu’une élite souvent accusée de corruption. «Si Amina Lawal est lapidée, ce sera simplement parce qu’elle n’est pas assez privilégiée pour “le faire” dans un hôtel à cinq étoiles», a dénoncé le 23 septembre Shehu Sani, un musulman qui dirige le Congrès des droits civils.– 25 septembre. La Cour d’appel islamique de Katsina, dans le nord du Nigeria, acquitte Amina Lawal, jugeant qu’elle n’avait pas pu se défendre de manière suffisante et qu’il y a eu des fautes de procédure: un seul juge était notamment présent lors de sa condamnation, au lieu des trois requis. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 25 septembre 2003)

* Nigeria. Amina Lawal spared death by stoning — A northern Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery has won her appeal against the verdict on a majority decision. Four out of five judges rejected her conviction, saying she was not given «ample opportunity to defend herself». Thirty-one-year-old Amina Lawal was convicted last year in Katsina state. She had been found guilty under the Sharia (Islamic criminal law) which has been introduced into 12 northern states over the last three years. The verdict, which had been expected, was read out to a packed courtroom in the appeal court in the northern town of Katsina. The panel of judges said the decision to acquit Ms Lawal was based on procedural errors at her original trial and the fact that her adultery was not proved beyond doubt. Ms Lawal sat throughout the verdict in the corner of the courtroom, her face hidden by a shawl and her child on her lap. A village woman, she had been convicted of adultery in March last year soon after giving birth to her daughter, Wasila. This was the second time she had appealed against her sentence of death by stoning, with the help of two Nigeria women’s rights groups which took up her case. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 25 September 2003)

* Rwanda. Arrestations avant les législatives — Des arrestations pour “divisionnisme ethnique” ont émaillé la campagne pour les élections législatives au Rwanda, qui auront lieu du 29 septembre au 2 octobre, a déclaré, le 23 septembre, le chef adjoint de la mission d’observation électorale de l’Union européenne, Marie-Violette César. Dans la plupart des cas, les personnes interpellées ont été relâchées rapidement, a-t-elle ajouté. Les arrestations pour “divisionnisme” concernent des personnes officiellement mandatées pour faire la campagne de Célestin Kabanda, qui est l’ex-président du Mouvement démocratique républicain (MDR), la principale formation hutu, dissoute pour “divisionnisme ethnique”. (La Libre Belgique, 25 septembre 2003)

* Senegal. Female Genital Mutilation — 23 September: More than 250 villages from three rural communities have pledged to abandon the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and all other forms of discrimination against women. UNICEF welcomes the decision, but says it will continue to fight for an end to the practice in the entire country. Although the government is opposed to the practice, the tribal custom is deeply rooted in African society. In spite of stringent measures taken by the Senegalese government in recent years against FGM, the practice remains widespread among the Fulani people in the north, the Mandingo and the Jolla of the south; the Jalunges and the Jahangas of the east. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 23 September 2003)

* Sierra Leone. La Minusil prorogée — Le Conseil de sécurité a prorogé de six mois le mandat des forces des Nations unies en Sierra Leone (Minusil). La résolution établit aussi le retrait graduel de ces forces dans le pays (actuellement environ 12.000) et un retrait total d’ici fin 2004. Le Conseil demande également au gouvernement sierra-léonais d’accélérer la consolidation des autorités civiles et des services publics dans le pays, et de continuer à renforcer les contrôles dans les secteurs diamantifères. (D’après Misna, Italie, 19 septembre 2003)

* Sierra Leone. UNAMSIL‘s mandate extended — On 19 September, the Security Council unanimously agreed to extend for six months the mandate of the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone and stressed the importance of continued support to the West African country’s government in consolidating stability, reintegrating ex-combatants, repatriating refugees and respecting human rights and the rule of law. The Council endorsed a recommendation by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to extend the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL)’s mandate beginning this 30 September, given the need to continue the gradual drawdown of the peacekeeping force without jeopardizing the security situation in the country torn apart by a decade-long civil war. In adopting the resolution, the 15-member body welcomed the increasing security in Sierra Leone and encouraged «further progress towards strengthening the capacity of the Sierra Leone Police and armed forces to maintain security and stability independently.» It commended UNAMSIL for the progress made to date in the adjustments to its size, composition and deployment and welcomed the Secretary-General’s intention to continue with these adjustments. (United Nations, New York, 21 September 2003)

* South Africa. The Durban Accord — 17 September: Conservationists from around the world have agreed upon a 10-year plan to increase and improve the protection of the earth’s most sensitive and important environmental areas. The Durban Accord was signed by more than 2,500 delegates from 170 countries on the last day of the World Parks Congress in South Africa. Securing the future of marine areas has been highlighted as the biggest challenge for the next decade. The World Parks Congress started off by reflecting on the last decade of conservation, praising what has been done in the past. But the meeting also looked towards the priorities for the next 10 years. One key challenge highlighted in the Durban Accord and the Durban Action Plan — two documents signed by the delegates — is the protection of coastal areas. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 17 September 2003)

* South Africa. Zuma resignation calls rejected — 18 September: South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki has emphatically rejected calls for the resignation or suspension of his deputy, Jacob Zuma, over allegations of involvement in a corrupt arms deal involving billions of dollars. Mr Mbeki told parliament that public officials could not be expected to relinquish their positions on the basis of allegations. He said that the government respected the rule of law and due process, and would not take disciplinary action, or any other action, against Mr Zuma. Mr Zuma is alleged to have solicited a $68,000 bribe from a French company which won a lucrative contract in the multi-billion dollar deal to buy weapons for South Africa’s army and navy. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 18 September 2003)

* South Africa. Are school uniforms outdated? — The South African Education Department is concerned about the cost of school uniforms to the majority of parents in the country. There has been considerable media speculation about the possibility of scrapping school uniforms altogether. However, the Department is clear that it does not intend introducing new regulations at present. A departmental statement said they would «ensure that individual parents have a direct say in the type and form and ultimately the cost of the school uniform they want to prescribe. What we cannot countenance is that learners are denied access to their constitutional right to education because of restrictive school policies such as those concerning expensive school uniforms». For this reason, the Department said unique school uniforms might be prescribed at schools where the majority of parents could afford it, provided that schools found ways of assisting those who could not afford it. «This does not mean we will do away with school uniforms but we might look at innotive ways to lower prices». (BBC News, UK, 22 September 2003)

* South Africa. Promoting 11 official languages — South Africa is to introduce legislation to promote equal use of its 11 official languages and redress the dominance of English and Afrikaans. Adriaan van Niekerk, an MP driving the new legislation, said its essence was to empower the people of South Africa by promoting multi-lingualism. Under the proposed law, South Africa’s 11 official languages will be categorised into six language groups because some of the languages are so similar. Government departments would then be required to communicate with the nation in the six language groups. No legislation will be signed by President Thabo Mbeki unless it is translated into the six language groups. At present, South Africa’s laws require legislation to be translated from English into at least one other language before it is signed into law. The other language has been mainly Afrikaans. Under the proposed law, each government department will have a language committee to implement the policy and monitor the implementation of the proposed legislation. It has been estimated that the cost involved in implementing the new policy will be 1 per cent of the budget of each government department. Professor Niekerk said a recent survey had shown that only 20 per cent of South Africa’s 45 million people understood the Executive when it communicated in English. He said it was unfair that anybody should be expected to do business in their second or third language. He dismissed suggestions that the new policy was not practicable or too difficult to implement. «Those who say multi-lingualism is very costly have never calculated the cost of mono-lingualism,» he said. (The Independent, UK, 24 September 2003)