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INSIDE AFRICA
South Africa in Aftermath of Terrorist Attacks on United States
Aired October 6, 2001 - 12:30:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TUMI MAKGABO, CNN ANCHOR: This week on INSIDE AFRICA, fallout from the U.S. terrorist attacks through the eyes of South Africans. Also...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Islam has nothing to do with it -- killing and maiming of innocent people and destruction of property. Islam condemns those things and forbids them.
MAKGABO: Islam, on the continent. We'll look at concerns of Muslims, as a global coalition is built to fight terrorism; plus refugees in their own country, the wounds of ethnic clashes in Nigeria.
MAKGABO: Hello, I am Tumi Makgabo. Welcome to INSIDE AFRICA as we take a look at news and life on the continent. We begin with a focus on how Africa, particularly, South Africa is dealing with the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the United States.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault has the picture from Johannesburg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Tumi, it's often said that when the rest of the world catches a cold, Africa comes down with pneumonia. Now, in the wake of the terror attacks on the United States, Africans are worried, and that's fueling fear as well as anger.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER-GAULT (voice-over): In the streets of South Africa, the only sign of terror is on the faces of mothers like these who can't find work. But that kind of terror is fuelling anger among some South Africans, especially those whose memory runs to the apartheid days, when whites suppressed blacks and denied them rights, often violently. South Africans like David Masondo, who was 17 when his father was killed in the apartheid violence he was fighting to end. Now, David sees the terror that struck America through a different prism -- American foreign policy coming home to roost.
DAVID MASONDO, SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY: So the foreign policy of America, even during the Cold War -- it has -- it had an, I mean it did a lot of wrong things in terms of suppressing democratic processes in different countries. And they trained some of the people, bin Laden again too.
Now that the Cold War is over, and some of these people who were trained by America to push terrorist terrors during the Cold War are turning against America, its (INAUDIBLE) at the end of the day is that it's the poor people who will suffer.
HUNTER-GAULT: Masondo's concerns are shared by many South Africans who had hoped the west would help in the grinding poverty that is passed from generation to generation has prolonged with the anger, fear that any resources that might have come from the west won't come now.
MASONDO: I see is that a lot of resources are going to be spent on the wars instead of putting a lot of money into development and project, because some of the problems that come out -- they come out as a result of poverty...
HUNTER-GAULT: And even as there was condemnation of the terror attack and the loss of life, also, in a rare show of unanimity among political parties, blame.
MAVIS MAGAZ, AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS: The undeniable truth is that the foreign policy of the United States is highly problematic for the most countries in the development.
BANTU HOLOMISA, UNITED DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT: For example, the Clinton administration received our cooperation in the (INAUDIBLE), but they reneged on their promise of lifting the sanctions against Libya. In the process, former President Mandela credibility was damaged.
M. S. MAGOBA, PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS: The people of Africa, through their own experience, can relate to the grief felt by many American families. Their lands, their minerals, and all their wealth were seized from them by force. This terrorism reduced Africans to subhumans whose resources and labor were used to develop foreign countries, which terrorized the African people.
HUNTER-GAULT: The South African government officials have consistently argued that failing to resolve the Palestinian issue has fueled terrorism. Many blamed the United States for being too pro-Israel.
AZIZ PAHAD, DEP. MINISTER FOREIGN AFFAIRS: September 1882, the (INAUDIBLE) movement in Lebanon carried out an orgy of killing and rage in the (INAUDIBLE) city like Kemps (ph) in Lebanon. This followed the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which was designed to drive the PLO out of the country, which resulted in the death of almost 17,000 Palestinians and Lebanese, almost all civilians. And that sort of terrorism gave rise to the Black September Movement. So we must not ignore these issues.
TONY LEON, DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE: That kind of double talk, that perniciousness should be stopped immediately. The view has been expressed even by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs that policy should be altered, in the Middle East and elsewhere, as a consequence of this event. To now alter a standpoint, whatever the merits of alteration might be, as a consequence of terror attack, is with respect to encourage further attacks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER-GAULT (on camera): It's a message that's resonating well on the African continent, where even it may be anger and the fear, there remains hope.
Africans say that by remembering the forgotten continent, the world would take one giant step towards bringing the kind of peace and stability that could end the terrorism that has convulsed the world -- Tumi.
MAKGABO: Charlayne, thank you very much. Well, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is pledging to stand by Africa. In his speech to the Annual Labor Party Conference, Mr. Blair called on the international community to back a partnership for the continent.
Here's Tim Lester.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM LESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a conference hall on the south coast of England, an unexpected clarion calls to Africa.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world. But if the world as a community focused on it, we could heal it.
LESTER: To Mr. Blair, the events of September 11 should herald new partnerships.
BLAIR: On our side, provide more aid untied to trade, right off debt, help with good governance in infrastructure, training to the soldiers with U.N. blessing and conflict resolution, encouraging investment, and access to our markets so that we practice the free trade we're so fond of preaching.
LESTER: But in return, he says there must be true democracy, a crusade against corruption, and no tolerance of the sort of bad governance that allowed the farm invasions in Zimbabwe. The new deal that Mr. Blair outlines means a common defense of civilized values. In his words, the world could never again stand aside and allow genocide in Rwanda or mass starvation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But is this ambition matched by political will? In its early months, the Bush administration offered a most selfish definition of America's interests from global warming to missile defense. Now a more multilateral approach is heard. Washington consents, as the UN Security Council lifts sanction against Sudan.
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The administration made a huge switch on American policy towards Sudan last week, when they allowed the sanctions on travel by Sudanese officials to be lifted by the U.N. without American opposition now. That was because Sudan is where Osama bin Laden had been hiding up until 1996 or '98 when under American pressure, he left Sudan and took off for Afghanistan again.
LESTER: There is also a talk of the world trade negotiations due to take place next month as being a motto for development. The suggestion seems to be: if you're with us, there's a dividend. But the short-term economic aftershock of the attacks will be less favorable to Africa. The World Bank forecasts that another 10 million people, one-fifth of them in Africa, will be driven below the poverty line. Commodity prices will fall. Overseas investment in Africa is expected to decline by about one-third this year. The promise of a New World order may take longer to materialize than the threat of a global recession -- Tim Lester, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO: Now, if you have access to the Internet and you would like to go online for more information, the web address is cnn.com/insideafrica. You can take part in our quick vote and post your votes on our message board, and then be sure to join me for a live online chat session on Wednesday at 1500, Greenwich Mean Time, and just go to cnn.com/chat. Now time for us to take a quick break. Now, there is a lot more ahead on INSIDE AFRICA, including a look at an ancient religion, and how Muslims are reacting to recent events. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MAKGABO: Welcome back. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world and it's expected to be the largest soon, but it's hardly monolithic; varied people practice it in varied ways.
Kelly Callahan (ph) has a look at Islam in Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY CALLAHAN (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One quarter of the world's one billion Muslims live in Africa. They are widest one of populations in the North, in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Luciana, and to some extent Sudan. Islam began to take root on the continent more than a thousand years ago. And while the religion has evolved with society, the basics remain -- the worship of god, and adherence to the five pillars: Belief, worship, fasting, giving alms, and pilgrimage to Mecca. And in Africa, the teachings are often interwoven into the fabric of indigenous cultures.
But since the terrorist attacks on the United States, September 11, there have been reports of Muslims under attack, or at times under suspicion while abroad. At the United Nations this week, Sudan, once home to Osama bin Laden, announced support for a Security Council resolution to crack down on terrorist cells and deny them money and sanctuary.
ELFATIH MOHAMED AHMED ERWA, SUDANESE AMB. TO U.N. (through translator): What happened on the 11th of September is an act of terrorism that has nothing to do with Islam whatsoever. My delegation would like to express its profound appreciation for the wise statements and assurances made by President Bush and other members of the American administration and European states that warn against terrorism, and that in no way means war against Islam.
CALLAHAN (ph): During a separate interview, Nigeria's president echoed those sentiments.
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, NIGERIAN PRESIDENT: Not a religion of violence, this is a religion of peace. It's not a religion of revenge; it's a religion of friendship. It's not a religion of retaliation; it's a religion of a compromise, and this, I believe, is true.
CALLAHAN (ph): And one Muslim leader in Kenya says, "The ideal of holy war has been taken entirely out of context."
AHMAD KHALIF, SUPREME CO. OF KENYAN MUSLIMS: Holy wars are only resorted to by Muslims when they are prosecuted. When they're refused to, you know, to practice their religion and faith. So, we are not condemning what happened in the United States of America; we are condemning it, on the contrary.
CALLAHAN (ph): One Islamic expert, who just returned from the Middle East, says, "Recently, so many Muslims are treading carefully.
MARY JANE DEEB, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: There is an anxiety, there is a fear, there is a resentment, and that policies that would be adopted in the future will target Arabs and Muslims, not only in the Muslim world, but when they travel, when they find themselves abroad, and they feel they would be profiled, discriminated against because of the religious and ethnic background.
CALLAHAN (ph): And the professor of African studies says, "While there were some extremist Islamic groups in Northern Nigeria that initially cheered on the attacks against the United States -- those groups in Africa are small and go against the majority."
SULAYMAN NYANG, HOWARD UNIVERSITY: These pockets of dissatisfaction and discontent among the Muslims in Africa side of the Sahara are people who have been - somehow, they become the victims of manipulation and exploitation by some of the groups from outside, because many of these African Muslims are very materially impoverished and, of course, they have been exposed to these kind of rhetoric.
CALLAHAN (ph): And as the United States and its allies build a coalition, they are joining Muslim leaders to make certain that a war on terrorism does not become a war on Islam.
Kelly Callahan (ph) for INSIDE AFRICA.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO: And now for a look at conflict related to religion in Africa is Femi Oke, with a focus on Nigeria -- Femi.
FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Tumi. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and the two major religions Christianity and Islam. Now I was looking at a calendar of public holidays for 2001 in Nigeria, and maybe I should say "holy days", because eight are religious days, four Christian, four Muslim. And if you look at this list - what a good model for religious toleration, but unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily work that way.
Jeff Koinange reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what's left of John Ballansun's house, and this is what's left of his family possessions. Now he, his wife, and six children are homeless, forced to flee with the clothes on their backs along with thousands of other Nigerians -- victims of the country's latest ethnic clash, this time, in the sleepy city of Jos, a three-hour drive north of the nation's capital, Abuja.
JOHN BALLANSUN, ETHNIC CLASHES VICTIM: We are now living as displaced families, but we are trying to say we're a group.
KOINANGE: His son, Victor, (ph) recounts what happened the day the family's lives changed forever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was much chaos in the area, and the whole area was being deserted, and everybody was running helter-skelter, so I have to take my sisters from there to a safety place. So before I could come back, the whole place was ablaze.
KOINANGE: They are refugees in their own country, sharing a one-room shack between eight of them, thanks to the kindness of strangers.
(on camera): By the time the army had been called in to restore semblance of law and order in this strife-torn nation, part of the city of Jos lay in ruins, with property worth millions of dollars up in flames. The official death toll stands at about 500, although locals say that number is much higher. Close to 3,000 men, women, and mostly male children.
(voice-over): Ballansun knows he is one of the lucky ones. His family is shaken but in good spirits. He says they'll recover as long as they're alive.
BALLANSUN: When there's life, there's hope.
KOINANGE: Nigeria's history is tainted with the blood of its citizens in everything from civil strife to military coups to ethnic skirmishes among the country's 200-or-so tribes. Today, it's a confrontation between the country's two main religions: Christianity and Islam. From Lagos to Kaduna, from Nasarava (ph) to Zamphara (ph), all these citizen states have one thing in common: death, destruction, and a general breakdown in law and order.
MARY ANFANI-JOE, PEOPLES MESSIANIC ASSOC.: If we're not careful, this country will go into religious crisis. I am worried about the bloodshed, I'm worried about the losses, you know, I'm worried not for me really but for the future of these young ones. I am worried about them, yes.
KOINANGE: Many blame the clashes on a system of governance adopted in over a dozen Muslim-dominated Nigerian states, mainly in the country's north. It's called Sharia, meaning law in Islam, and is loosely based on the teachings in the Koran, calling for among other things, a complete commitment to its teachings.
SHEIK ABDALAHI DANLADI, CENTER OF ISLAMIC STUDIES: My idea on Sharia, it is a legitimate demand of the Muslim, because Muslim's religion will be incomplete without Sharia, and this Sharia, it is the Muslim property; it does not belong to any other person. So I cannot see any reason or justification for another people who are not Muslim to deny to save that what belongs to Muslim.
KOINANGE: Among other complaints, Christians say Sharia denies all its citizens due process, and because the courts are dominated by Muslims, Christians are unduly punished. And that division is behind wide-ranging religious conflict across the country, the kind that ended in the burning of Jos, a Christians dominated town in a region dominated by Sharia. Christian minorities in such states say Sharia will inevitably lead to more ethnic tensions.
ANFANI-JOE: Oh, I believe that - we'll just not lie, sit down and lie low, you know, to look at things happening the way they are. I'm not sure Christians will tolerate that; I'm not sure. I think that people will resist as they (INAUDIBLE). There will be a resistance, you know.
DANLADI: I remember the president himself made a declaration that anybody who felt that he was aggrieved by Sharia, let him go to court and challenge it rather than shedding blood, destroying people's property.
KOINANGE: This stalemate has caused hatred to simmer, and every once in a while, boil over into the streets of once peaceful cities like Jos, where Muslims and Christians lived side-by-side for decades. Now, residents are worried it could easily happen again.
SUNDAY BABALOLA, CHRISTIAN RESIDENT, JOS: Any moment would (INAUDIBLE). I have never seen this type of thing before. And what to do, we are just praying that such will not happen again, because it's sad to see things like this happen in Jos.
SANNI MOHAMMED: A lot of things are been destroyed. These type of things have not been happening in Jos. It's only God that could come, able to help us. It's a politics, not religious -- not religious as the (INAUDIBLE). It's not a religious matter.
KOINANGE: Meanwhile, John Ballansun tries to put up a brave front in front his family; privately he is angry -- angry that the Federal Government stood by, while the town he grew up in went up in flames.
BALLANSUN: This is not easy. It's not easy; it's not. It's not.
KOINANGE (on camera): President of Lucibuna Basenzo has condemned the violence saying his government won't tolerate any ethnic clashes. But other than stopping the violence like in Jos after they started, not much is being done to prevent it or to bring the two religious communities together. If any thing, they are drifting further and further apart.
In Abuja, Nigeria, I'm Jeff Koinange for INSIDE AFRICA.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEMI OKE: And finally, there have been a number of special editions, although in South Africa, since September the 11th, when production teams are down this week to plan today's show, they were intrigued at how many of the reports still reflected the major issue that were covered in the news right now. It just goes to show what a unique view of the world that you get from INSIDE AFRICA.
I'm out of time, two minutes to get out. See you soon - Tumi.
MAKGABO: Indeed, Femi. Thank you very much. And when INSIDE AFRICA continues, the rock bottom Rand. How low can South Africa's currency go? We will find out after the break.
MAKGABO: And welcome back once again. South Africa's Rand has taken a beating lately. The currency has been affected by turmoil in neighboring Zimbabwe, emerging market jitters, and general global economic unease.
Paul Tilsley brings us the business outlook from Johannesburg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL TILSLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The financial news out of South Africa continue to bring little cheer for supporters of the Rand this past week. The SABC's business news tell the same story on its breakfast show every morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fine performances by the South African bond, equities, and futures markets yesterday were overshadowed by the ailing Rand. The local currency tested new fresh levels against many of the major currencies yesterday and has weakened further this morning.
TILSLEY: The U. S. crisis is affecting the market, but there are other issues, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: South Africa was going to attract this year, substantial inflows of foreign direct investment via privatization inflows. Those have now unfortunately been put on hold on account of what has happened to the national telecom's market, in particular, our telecom company won't -- that won't occur as soon as we hope. And also, of course, commodity prices have weakened, and South Africa still remains a substantial commodity exporter. And we have seen that correlation, therefore, between the currency and commodity prices impacting on us as well.
TILSLEY (on camera): Some analysts claim that the Rand is undervalued, and that would be a saving grace, we (INAUDIBLE) you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I certainly would agree with that. I would reckon 30 to 35 percent times lower that it really should be. It is enormously expensive abroad for South Africans and enormously cheap in South Africa for foreigners.
TILSLEY (voice-over): Indeed, that dynamics can feed exports, and some analysts point to Japan, which kept the Yen weak for over 20 years to encourage the economy.
MAJAKATHATA MOKOENA, MOHUDI INVESTMENT ADVISORS: But it's not that bad, because normally a weak currency means that the products coming out of the country of origin are cheaper than other products that are coming out of other place. So that then in this case, it could actually help, in fact, boost the South African economy in the sense that suddenly you're selling more BMWs into the United States than we did before, simply because they're suddenly cheaper because they're made in South Africa.
TILSLEY (on camera): South Africa is fortunate in that it has enormous wealth in the form of precious metals. These continue to stabilize this week, with Deutche Bank declaring that gold is exactly where they wanted, and platinum sat fair for the long term.
Paul Tilsley, for Inside Africa, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO: And now, taking a look at other stories making news inside Africa. A senior member of the South African Ruling Party resigned Thursday after his arrest on corruption charges.
Tony Indiani (ph) turned himself into investigators looking into a multibillion dollar arms acquisition deal. Arrest charges for the AIC's chief would range from fraud to forgery. Indiani (ph) says he is innocent of all charges.
In Togo, a new stumbling block in attempts to establish democracy. The electoral commission has postponed an October 14 parliamentary election. The election was supposed to replace a 1999 election, which was boycotted by the opposition over alleged government misconduct. There's also growing political unease over pressure to amend the Constitution to allow President Gnassingbe Eyadema to run for a third time in 2003. Mr. Eyadema is Africa's longest-serving ruler.
And that's INSIDE AFRICA from this week. I am Tumi Makgabo.
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