JOHANNESBURG: President Jacob Zuma yesterday expressed a nation’s sadness after eight South African teenage girls died in a bus crash while returning from an annual reed dance which celebrates virginity.
“We are shocked and saddened by this tragic and horrific loss of life in this manner following a successful cultural event that promotes self-confidence among young women,” Zuma said in a statement.
Two adult females who accompanied the girls also died when the bus overturned on Sunday in the southern Kwa-Zulu Natal province.
Police said 28 others were hurt in the crash.
Zuma joined the chorus of condolences that have poured in including from his own ruling African National Congress party, the transport ministry and trade unions.
Ousted cardinal lashes out at Vatican ‘moles and vipers’
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis’ “prime minister” Tarcisio Bertone has lashed out against Vatican “moles and vipers” after it was announced he is being replaced with a top diplomat.
Secretary of State Bertone has been a powerful and divisive figure at the top of the Vatican hierarchy.
His tenure coincided with dark moments for the Catholic Church, like the explosion of revelations about child abuse by priests and damaging leaks that pointed to intrigue and corruption in the Vatican.
The comments from the 78-year-old Italian cardinal, who was appointed by the previous pope Benedict XVI, were quoted by Italian media on Monday.
The Vatican said on Saturday he would be replaced on October 15 by veteran diplomat Pietro Parolin, who is currently the Vatican’s envoy to Venezuela.
“Of course there were a lot of problems, particularly in the last two years and some accusations were levied against me,” Bertone said.
New Senegal prime minister seeks to form government
DAKAR: Senegal’s new prime minister, Aminata Toure, held consultations yesterday to form a government that will have to tackle the country’s economic problems, media reports said.
Toure, 50, was appointed Sunday to replace Abdoul Mbaye, 60, after his government was dismissed and she immediately started meeting prospective ministers.
No reason for the dismissal was given but many Senegalese say Mbaye, during his 17 months at the helm of the government, failed to improve the lives of the country’s 13 million people, with the cost of living rising in a difficult international economic and financial environment.
Given the situation in Senegal, “Mbaye should have quit long ago,” editorialist and political scientist Abdoulaye Bamba Diallo said.
President Macky Sall “had to change policy and to change policy you must change the people” in charge, he added. Agencies
