Thursday July 23 2009

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oblems, the SRC would like to hear from them, she said. “I have said that we must go out to these students if they don’t want to come to us,” she said. Moses Masitha,from the University of the Free State (UFS), said some of those in the university community ignored with “reasonable ease” the fact

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THURSDAY JULY 23 2009

that its student profile had changed significantly over the past decade. While some white students felt that their space was being encroached on, black students felt that they were seen as guests “in a space they feel they legitimately occupy”. “I venture to say that the day the black student is granted ownership of the UFS, and not merely treated as a guest, he will contribute posi-

tively,” Masitha said. He also said academic programmes needed to start speaking to prevalent social needs. “Once we all can conceive a space of shared ideals and common humanness, my university will go back to focusing on its core business – that of teaching and learning in an environment conducive for all who inhabit it.” The symposium was hosted

by Stellenbosch University’s Department of Psychology, the Division of Student Affairs and the Office for Employment Equity and the Promotion of Diversity. It was attended by staff and students from several universities and was organised in response to a recently released report on transformation at higher education institutions. The report, compiled by a

committee appointed by former education minister Naledi Pandor, indicated that discrimination, in particular with regard to racism and sexism, was pervasive at higher education institutions. Following the release of the report, Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande asked university councils to respond. [email protected]

Concourt rejects plea on marriages RICHIE DUCHON Staff Reporter

AN APPEAL to the Constitutional Court to force the president, Parliament and others in government to take action towards legalising Muslim marriages through a special law has been dismissed. In a unanimous decision yesterday, the Constitutional Court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to consider an appeal by the Women’s Legal Centre Trust and said the High Court was the proper place to file the motion. Lawyers for the trust had argued that the Concourt was the right place in which to appeal. In not passing a Muslim marriages

bill, the president and Parliament were in violation of the Bill of Rights, they said. They cited a section of the constitution that says “only” the Constitutional Court can decide when the other branches of government had failed to fulfil a constitutional obligation. But Justice Edwin Cameron, who wrote the judgment, said other parties, including ministers and the Law Reform Commission, were necessarily involved in passing a Muslim marriages bill. “The obligations invoked (by the trust’s lawyers) must … focus on the president and Parliament alone. That is not the case here,” he wrote.

The court declined to rule on whether Parliament, the president or cabinet members might be obligated by the Bill of Rights to make Muslim marriages legal. Trust director Jennifer Williams said the ruling would delay matters but was not a setback for the organisation’s agenda. Had it been a favourable ruling it would have meant “our matter would have been before (the Constitutional Court) sooner and we would have had a remedy sooner”. Justice Department spokesman Tlali Tlali said the bill had been submitted to the cabinet for approval by former justice minister Enver Surty.

TYGERVALLEY

DATA DRIVE: Nine-year-old Felisite Kimanuka of Burundi has her photograph taken for United Nations official records yesterday. She was among about 300 refugees escorted by officials working for the UN refugee agency from their Blue Waters camp to a community hall in Samora Machel, where their personal information was collated. PICTURE: HENK KRUGER

WILLOWBRIDGE Butchery

Foreign nationals in about-turn on UN survey Staff reporter

AFTER initial resistance, all the foreign nationals at the Blue Waters camp near Strandfontein have agreed to participate in a protection assessment programme by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On Tuesday morning, the agency sent buses to the camp in the hope of ferrying residents to a community hall in Samora Machel, Philippi, for one-on-one interviews. But they were met with scepticism and only 45 of the 300 residents agreed to board the buses. The others refused, citing concern for their safety in the townships. But the UN officials were not discouraged and yesterday returned to

the camp, and following discussions, those who had initially declined to participate agreed to co-operate. During the afternoon, the officials could be seen interviewing the camp’s residents at the Samora Machel hall. Police maintained a presence at the hall to ensure the safety of the foreign nationals. On Tuesday, the UN agency said it had not been possible to conduct the interviews at the Blue Waters camp because, according to the government, the site had officially been closed. The new programme, which aims to assess about 5 000 foreign nationals across the city by the end of the month, is intended, among other things, to update the agency’s database, confirm its beneficiaries and identify those refugees and

asylum-seekers with special needs. Yesterday one of the leaders at the camp, Dennis Romazani, explained their initial decision to remain at Blue Waters. “We didn’t refuse (to go to the interviews). We had received wrong information, people panicked and thought they were being forcibly moved to the townships,” he said. Romazani said the residents initially had been made to believe that they would have to pay for their own transport and had not been sure of their destination. But most had changed their minds after a report-back by the small group that had gone to Samora Machel, because these people had assured them it was a safe exercise. “We were scared, but now it’s fine.

As long we are in the hands of the UN,” one of the Blue Waters residents said as he waited to be interviewed. Monique Ekoko, senior regional protection officer for the UNHCR, conceded that the exercise had not been communicated very well to the residents. “It was a matter of explaining the intentions,” she said. Ekoko said that about six families from the Blue Waters community, with others at the Youngsfield base in Wynberg, were due to be interviewed today. She said a temporary UNHCR office, which will allow for the assessment of foreign nationals living outside the camp, would be opened in Bellville this week. [email protected]

Irish fair loses its goat

Communities asked to help nab copper thieves STAFF REPORTER THE CITY’s Copperheads unit has vowed to crack down on copper thieves by strengthening their relationships with communities to ensure crimes are reported promptly. Among their recent successes are the arrest of a 67-year-old man with 23m of copper cable following a tip-off;

the arrest of three men who were digging up cabling in the Edith Stephens Wetland Park along Vanguard Drive, also after a tip-off; and the arrest of a man at a scrapyard in Brackenfell for attempting to sell a 60m section of street lighting cable marked “City of Cape Town”. According to Rudolf Wiltshire, chief for specialised services, copper

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DUBLIN: The annual crowning of a goat as king of Ireland at one of the country’s oldest fairs is in doubt after organisers said the heir to the throne may be stopped from travelling to the festival. Traditionally a male goat is caught in the mountains of Kerry and paraded through Killorglin where he reigns for the three days of Puck Fair, a centuries-old festival of drinking, music and dancing. – Reuters

cable thieves are “constantly” adopting new approaches to stay ahead of the law. He appealed to residents of Khayelitsha, Atlantis, Melkbosstrand and Mamre, in particular, to be vigilant and report “suspicious activities”, because thefts affected communities. ● Report offences to the Copperheads’ toll free number, 0800 225 669.

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