African Briefs

Zim man in court over cyanide HARARE – A manager of a local transport company has been charged for delivering cyanide to the main water treatment works in the capital Harare, state media reported on Saturday.

Farai Muchenje, 37, a manager at Pair Trade Investments, was charged with contravening the Water Act and Environmental Management Act after his company delivered sodium cyanide – a deadly chemical – to the Morton Jaffrey water treatment plant by mistake, The Herald newspaper reported.
A truck driver transported 20 000 kilogrammes of the chemical from Mozambique to Zimbabwe on July 19. It was destined for use in gold processing and industries.
But the consignment accidentally ended up at the water plant, which serves the city’s population of over two million people.
None of it was used in water treatment, the paper said. The driver is still on the run.
Muchenje was freed on N$12 150 bail.

NPA checking Ravalomanana
JOHANNESBURG – The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is investigating former Madagascan president Marc Ravalomanana for alleged crimes against humanity, according to report yesterday.
The NPA confirmed on Saturday that initial material it had obtained suggested “reasonable evidence” that crimes against humanity had alleged occurred, the Sunday Times reported.
Ravalomanana fled to South Africa in 2009, after weeks of tension in Madagascar, exacerbated by his guards opening fire on peaceful protesters killing around 40.
A Malagasy group, called the Association of Martyrs of Antananarivo Merina Square, laid a complaint with the NPA through a South African attorney four months ago.

Sudan, South Sudan strike deal
ADDIS ABABA – Sudan and South Sudan have hammered out a deal over oil, resolving a key part of a bitter dispute that brought the rivals to the brink of all-out war earlier this year.
“The parties have agreed on all of the financial arrangements regarding oil,” African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki said two days after a United Nations deadline for the neighbours to resolve arguments over oil and borders expired.

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