7A INTERNATIONAL / The Charlotte Post Thursday, October 2,1997 Winnie Mandela makes another comeback By Gumisai Mutume INTERNATIONAL PRESS SERVICE JOHANNESBURG, South Afl-ica - Outspoken politician W^inie Madikizela-Mandela has of^n had her back to the wall, whenever analysts have pre- di^d her pohtical demise, she has been able to bounce back. She faces another battle and the outcome need not be different frton previous occasions. Madikizela-Mandela is sched- ulgd to appear before the Truth aiji Reconciliation Commission — a body set up to investigate apartheid-era human rights vio lations — to answer allegations o^er her role in 18 human rights ^uses, including eight murders, ^t the same time, she has been nrfcinated by the African National Congress Women’s League of which she is president, as its candidate for the ruling party’s deputy presidency, to be contested at its December confer ence. Madikizela-Mandela’s latest battle involves an allegation that she killed 14 year-old activist Seipei Stompie. The claim was made by Katiza Cebekhulu in the book “Katiza’s Journey” by joumahst Fred Bridgland. Cebekhulu is a former member of the Mandela United Football Club, a group of Soweto youths who served as Wiimie Mandela’s bodyguards at the height of her anti-apartheid activities. The man jailed for Seipei’s murder, Jerry Richardson, alleged recently in a South African Broadcasting Corporation interview that he killed another activist, Kuki Zwane, on the orders of Madikizela-Mandela. And anoth er former member of Winnie Mandela’s entourage, Nicholas Dlamini, claimed that he mur dered Dr. Abu Baker Asvat — who examined Seipei before his death — on her instructions. 'The TRC will also examine whether Madikizela-Mandela had a hand in the murder of MUFC members who had fallen out with her. TRC investigative head Dumisa Ntsebeza has said that the hearing wiU only tiy to estab lish whether there were any human rights violations and if there were, the commission would then proceed with investi gations. However the hearing will not be conducted on camera and evidence will not be made public despite calls by Madikizela-Mandela for a public hearing so that she can absolve herself. She alleges it is all a ploy by people within the African National Congress to scuttle her bid for the vice-presidency. It would not be the first time Mandela has been the target of alleged dirty tricks. In a post-1990 operation, police agents set out on an anti-Winnie campaign in which they planted both fact and fiction in the local and foreign media about criminal activities of the MUFC. Former policeman Paul Erasmus went pubUc in June last year and claimed that he co-ordi nated the campaign, which may have contributed to her divorce in early 1996 from President Nelson Mandela, to whom she had been married for 38 years. On the political front she man aged to sail past opponents and be re-elected president of the ANCWL in July this year despite a crisis that came to a head in 1995, when 11 members of the league’s national executive, led by ANC veteran Adelaide Tambo, walked out in protest at her lead ership. Issues that emerged during that time were the question marks hanging over a check for 350,000 rand that she received from Pakistan as head of the women's league and allegations that she was involved in dubious diamond-dealing in Angola. Mandela had made a dramatic comeback in the ANCWL before. In 1992, she had been forced to withdraw from her position in the women's league provincial office, and all other posts she held in the ANC following allegations that she had abused party funds. By December 1993, she was back as ANCWL president. CHARLOTTE POST CLASSIFIED CALL 376-0496 FAX 342-2160 African Hair PROFESSIONAL 10% OFF To First 50 Callers Specializing In: Box Braids • Micro Braids • Corn Rows • Weave Corkscrew • Silky Dread • Dread Lock Invisible Braids • Goddess Braids Senegalese Twist • Crochet Braids “THE BEST IN TOWN” and more... More... MORE... FOR LESS The Satisfaction of the customer is my priority! Open 6 Days A Week at 9;00am For Appointment Call: 393-0396 5028 Timber Brook / Charlotte Qhana leader opposes USA’s embargo against Cuba PAN-AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY CAPE COAST, Ghana - Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings has lashed out at the United States’ embargo against Cuba, saying it is “morally wrong.” He said to deny a sover eign state the benefits derived from external trade is indefensi ble. Rawlings’ remarks came dur ing the second Africa-Cuba soh- darity conference at the University of Cape Coast. The four-day conference, under the theme “Free Trade and National Sovereignty,” was attended by delegates from several countries, including Angola, Cuba, Moeambique, Nigeria, South Africa and U.S. Rawlings said attempts by the U.3. to broaden the embargo to covfer trade between Cuba and othj^r countries has generated legitimate international concern. GJiana is against the Helms- Bufton embargo, which forbids U.S overseas subsidiaries to trade with Cuba and threatens to punish any coimtiy that trades with the island nation. Ghana is gainst any law that violates two injportant principles of intema- tid&al law - non-interference in the internal affairs of another and the right of all nations to determine their o^ paths of social development. Increasing opposition to the tightening of the embargo against Cuba, he said, has weak ened the U.S. position because its own allies — the European Union, Canada, Japan and several Latin American states - consider it vriffiout any basis in intemation- al'few. AIDS screening called unfair IJUSAKA, Zambia — Human ri^ts activists in Zambia are angry over requirements by many coimtries that immigrants and visitors imdergo mandatory Hly testing, calhng the practice “inhuman” and discriminatory. The situation was highhghted in a recent case involving three Zambian journalists who were refused entry into Canada after testing positive for HIV. Human rights activists have called on wgrdd bodies to take up the situ ation as a human rights issue and are demanding redress. Countries feel that by not admitting people who are HIV positive they will be able to reduce the rate of infection. However, the World Health Organization has denormced this practice, saying that it is not the way to reduce HIV transmission. The mandatory testing have made some Zambians more cau tious when choosing cormtries for advanced studies. “We now take into considera tion the coirntrys pohcy regard ing HIV/AIDS testing. For exam ple, I have accepted that I will not even apply to the United States or Canada for training - not because I am HIV positive, but becairse I refuse to be forced to undergo a test,” said Martin Mwamba, a physiotherapist. BRIEFS Some Zambians see the practice as having racial overtones. Winston Zulu, an AIDS activist, says it is strange that it is mostly the developed cormtries where a majority of the population is white that are insisting on this compulsory testing, while devel oping countries “meekly allow their people to be led like rabbits” to the laboratories for testing. VETERANS Borrow Up To $203,000 ^|( With No Money DownI!! Call Gary Landin, VA Mortgage Specialist, today for more information on how you may be eligible to finance your new home Charlotte.NC p^Q MONEY DOWN! 1 -800-614-5672 1 Sunbelt NationaJ Mortgage Leake School Board Dictrict 2 NOVEMBER 4TH A Poem Does it hurl us to be kind Or is there more satisfaction in doing crime That only leads to the brothers making time Pathways to find, like working a job from 9 to 5 Will help our brother stay alive and out of trouble Because only the strong can survive Too many of our love ones have died Too many in the grave Many, many more to save No more mistakes to be made Got to learn how to behave and Stop going around making waves We’ve become no belter than our relatives who were enslaved Don’t you listen to those fools out there Become dead, broke with a sad prayer and never never have bus fare Stay in school or learn a trade You don’t always have to go to college to get that knowledge Do it right see the light Go to bed and have a good night Kill the hate before it’s too late We need an international day of prayer To let others know we care It is not all about us Then perhaps that will guiet some of the fuss Let’s kill the hate before its too late by Carolyn Blakeney-Saunders This Is A Paid Advertisement WAREHOUSE - BLOWOUT ALL REMNANTS 50% OFF REG. 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