By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

VENTERSDORP, South Africa – Racial tensions mounted on Tuesday in front of the Ventersdorp courthouse where two men accused of killing a white supremacist were scheduled to appear.

Eugene Terreblanche was beaten to death on Saturday night in bed.  A 15-year-old and his 28-year-old coworker are suspected of killing Terreblanche because he hadn’t paid them in months.

Eugene Terreblanche Killed (Source:CNN)

The proceedings will not be made public and the police have not released either suspect’s name because the younger of the two is a minor.

Nearly 2,000 people faced off outside the courthouse located nearly 100 miles west of Pretoria.  The groups, split along racial lines, were there in support, the white group supporting Terreblanche’s family and the black group supporting the suspects’ families.

The situation escalated into a confrontation when a middle-aged white woman sprayed a drink on the group of black people who were singing the Zulu choruses of the country’s national anthem.  Just before the confrontation, a group of white militants sang “a rendition of the apartheid-era anthem” in Afrikaans and “waved old flags signifying white rule.”

Police rushed in and used coils of razor wire to separate the groups.

After the groups were pacified, Pieter Steyn, AWB provincial leader, apologized for the woman’s actions, explaining that AWB condemns violence and pulling away from threats that the militants would “avenge Terreblanche’s death.”

According to Steyn, threats were made “in the heat to the moment.  We have spoken to every one of them and told them to be calm.”

The AWB blames the African National Congress Youth League leader Julius Malema, saying that his “public performances of an anti-apartheid song that includes lines about killing white farmers” was the cause of Terreblanche’s death.  Malema maintains that the song is “part of its heritage.”

Regional Director of the South African National Civic Organization Bomber Matinyane called Malema’s song the equivalent of the display of old flags, and said both contributed to escalated racial tensions.

Terreblanche was a white supremacist and the founding militant leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging movement (AWB), which fought against abolition of apartheid.

He was once convicted of beating Paul Motshabi, a former security guard, so badly that he was left brain damaged, paralyzed, and unable to speak for months.  He was sentenced to six years in jail, but was released after serving three.

Brenda Abrams, a black businesswoman outside the courthouse Tuesday, noted the “big fuss” over Terreblanche’s death.

“But nobody says anything when black farmworkers are killed,” she said.

For more information, please see:

AFP – White Supremacists Rally at S.Africa Court – 06 April 2010

AP – Tensions Rise in SAfrican White Supremacist Case – 06 April 2010

CNN – S. Africa Murder Suspects to Face Court – 06 April 2010

Guardian – Terre’Blanche Murder Suspects to Face Charges as Tensions Rise Outside Court – 06 April 2010

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NIAMEY, Niger – Niger is in need of at least $190 million in international assistance in order to meet the food needs of its people.  In a matter of weeks that number has risen more than $65 million.

Poor harvests have left the people of Niger in desperate need of food.  Half of Niger’s population are already vulnerable to food shortages and that number only increases as food shortages increase.  Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable and more likely to succumb to malnutrition.  Relief officials scrambled to prepare an emergency action plan.

These severe food shortages are also causing children to stop going to school.

“Because of the food insecurity that prevails in our country, cases of mass abandonment have been registered in some schools,” said a government statement.

Abandonments came specifically in the central southern Zinder region.  The government has called this a “very worrying” situation, adding that “the departures are the consequence of the exodus of families” facing this crisis.  The food crisis has had the worst impact on the Zinder region this year.

According to Oxfam International, almost 10 million people can be affected by this crisis.

Today, UN aid agencies and organizations in Niger appealed for $132 million to support West African humanitarian programs.  The total amount of aid needed is $190.7 million.  $57.8 million has already been secured, leaving a shortage of $132.9 million.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a revised emergency humanitarian action plan that estimates 4.7 million people so far have fallen victim to malnutrition.

Later this month, OCHA will conduct a comprehensive humanitarian survey, which could cause funding requirements to increase depending on the findings.

The humanitarian team in Niger has aligned its priorities with those of the government, prioritizing “food security and nutritional aid, and support in health, water, sanitation, hygiene, and logistics.”

Food shortages also fuel the country’s political instability.  Niger’s military rulers, who staged a coup and took charge in February, understand the risk of famine and are afraid that famine may disrupt future plans for elections.  The military government has appealed for international assistance.

While Lo N’Diaye and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon both acknowledge the importance and necessity of resolving the government’s political crisis, they agree that the food shortage crisis is a top priority.

“The main focus for the UN is to save lives in Niger… this support would go directly to the population and allow them to participate fully in the democratization process,” said Lo N’Diaye.

Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), Josette Sheeran, called the food crisis a “major humanitarian challenge.”

The WFP has already increased its food aid to more than double.

For more information, please see:

UN News Centre – UN Appeals for More Funds to Assist People Facing Food Crisis in Niger – 05 April 2010

AFP – Famine Closes Schools in Southern Niger – 02 April 2010

ReliefWeb – Niger Emergency Humanitarian Action Plan: Food Crisis – 02 April 2010

VOA – Humanitarian Need in Niger Growing – 31 March 2010

ReliefWeb – Press Conference by Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator on Situation in Niger – 30 March 2010

UN Dispatch – Niger: Can Political Changes Help Alleviate Food Crisis? – 26 March 2010

VOA – People in Niger Heading Toward Capital in Search of Food – 26 March 2010

Oxfam – Failed Rains Put 10 Million People at Risk of a Food Crisis Across West Africa – 17 March 2010