For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost. 

Making headlines: SACP reaffirms call for inquest into Hani assassination as killer is deported; Kathrada Foundation’s Balton appears in court over apartheid-era case; And, Nigeria's Senate seeks to criminalise corn exports to tackle hunger

SACP reaffirms call for inquest into Hani assassination as killer is deported

The South African Communist Party has expressed displeasure at the so-called “eleventh-hour notification” given to freedom fighter Chris Hani’s family on Thursday night, relating to the deportation of Janusz Waluś.

Waluś, a Polish immigrant, had been on parole since 2022, following his conviction and imprisonment for the assassination of SACP secretary-general Hani in 1993.

Government confirmed the decision to deport Waluś and said the National Commissioner of Correctional Services would formally hand him over to the Department of Home Affairs to carry out the process.

The party said, together with Hani’s family, it had met with a government delegation led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile and three Ministers, where it called for an inquest into Hani’s death, saying that without it, justice was incomplete.

Government acknowledged it received an inquest request from the SACP and the Hani family and said it would be referred to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

Kathrada Foundation’s Balton appears in court over apartheid-era case

Ahmed Kathrada Foundation executive director Neeshan Balton appeared before the Randburg Magistrate’s Court today, in a case relating to the 1989 deaths of two Umkhonto we Sizwe operatives.

Balton was subpoenaed to answer questions about the deaths of Prakash Napier and Yusuf Akhalwaya, who were killed in a limpet mine explosion, on December 11, 1981, before they could carry out a sabotage attack at Park Station, in Johannesburg. They were accompanied by another MK operative, Jameel Chand.

The court proceedings have been postponed to April 2025.

The Hawks are investigating the circumstances around Napier and Akhalwaya’s deaths, including the possibility of murder, following a Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, and believe Balton has crucial information.

Further, the Akhalwaya family said it was not informed of any inquest into the matter and that it did not support one.

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation called the investigation a “fishing expedition” and suggested the possibility of “sinister motives”.

And, Nigeria's Senate seeks to criminalise corn exports to tackle hunger

Nigeria's Senate has passed a bill seeking to make it a crime to export large quantities of unprocessed corn in an effort to alleviate hunger in the West African nation.

Africa's most populous country is grappling with its worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

Economic hardship has worsened since President Bola Tinubu started austerity reforms, including devaluing the country's naira currency and ending a decades-old petrol subsidy, fuelling inflation.

The weak Nigerian currency has spurred informal exports of corn, rice and sorghum to neighbouring countries due to the exchange rate differential with the West African CFA franc.

Corn is a staple in Nigeria that is also used for animal feed, drinks and processed flour.

The Senate bill, which will need the president's assent to become law, will make it illegal to export unprocessed corn from a minimum of 1 metric ton.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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