African press review 15 May 2013

Pigs are making front page news in Kenya.

According to the Standard, which is published in Nairobi, civil society activists blocked the main entrance to parliament yesterday during a protest against MPs' demands for higher salaries. On Tuesday, the protestors dumped a huge boar and dozens of piglets and poured gallons of animal blood outside the gates of parliament.

The Standard reports that the pigs ignored clashes between police and protestors, despite the use of tear gas and water cannon, and subsequently evaded attempts by the long arm of the law to take them into custody. Less fortunate were ten human protestors who were successfully arrested. As for the ultimate fate of the pigs, The Standard, deplorably, remains silent.

On a more serious note, sister paper the Daily Nation reports that the National Assembly on Tuesday cleared President Kenyatta’s 16-member Cabinet for appointment in a session overshadowed by a fight over Mrs. Phyllis Chepkosgey Kandie.

Parliament’s committee on appointments rejected her nomination, describing her as unsuitable for the position of Cabinet Secretary for East African Affairs, Tourism and Commerce.

Her appointment became the subject of an acrimonious debate that lasted the better part of the afternoon session. Mrs Kandie's nomination was finally accepted and she will be sworn in with her cabinet coleagues later this morning.

Mining unrest once again dominates the news in South Africa. The main story in the Johannesburg-based financial paper, BusinessDay, reports that unofficial strikers brought platinum miner Lonmin to a halt on Tuesday, as members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union began a final push to get the rival National Union of Mineworkers out of the volatile sector.

The standoff threatened a rerun of the rivalry between the two unions that brought the mining sector to its knees last year, warns BusinessDay, tarnishing South Africa’s image as a major mining investment destination.

The Star reports that fear has again gripped residents of Marikana outside Rustenburg in Northwest Province, following a bloody weekend in which twin brothers linked to the National Union of Mineworkers and an Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union regional leader were murdered.

Seven hours after the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union’s regional organiser, Mawethu Steven, was gunned down at Billy’s Tavern near Photsaneng shaft number 2 on Saturday, five unidentified men stormed a room at Wonderkop’s Dikhibidung informal settlement and shot and killed 24-year-old twin brothers Andile and Ayanda Menzi. The Menzi killers said they were looking for a family member who is a National Union of Mineworkers official at Lonmin.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange platinum index fell to its lowest level in more than seven years on Tuesday, as investors unloaded stocks against a background of soaring labour tensions across the platinum belt.

In a separate article, BusinessDay warns that unrest in the mining sector could take a toll on South Africa’s export earnings, deter capital inflows and tarnish investor perceptions of the country, raising the spectre of further credit rating downgrades.

Mining sector wage talks are due to begin next month, with the unions saying they are determined to negotiate a double-digit pay rise.

The main story in this morning's East African is devoted to the building tragedy in northern Rwanda.

Around 100 people are feared trapped after a four-storey building under construction collapsed in the northeast of the country, the government said on Tuesday.

"So far, the tentative information we have indicates that debris fell on about 100 people. We are yet to come up with the exact figures," according to Rwandan Minister of Disaster Management, Seraphine Mukantabana.

Police spokesman Theos Badege said that three people were confirmed dead and 21 people had been taken to hospital.

Those trapped are believed to include both construction workers, as well as passers-by.

The building, in the town of Nyagatare, some 100 kilometres northeast of the capital Kigali, collapsed on Tuesday afternoon.