African press review 09 July 2016

The Oscar Pistorius trial highlights problems in the South African justice system. And the Egyptian authorities are keen to reassure people that a whale spotted  in a marina resort is not dangerous. All this and more in today's African press.

South Africa's Mail and Guardian carries a disturbing image of young boy walking down a blazing street in Zimbabwe.

The headline reads "Panicked Zimbabwe caught with pants down as fear tactics fail to deter resistance".

The paper reports that the government appears to be in a state of panic as unrest spreads across the beleaguered country with residents protesting about police corruption.

According to the Mail and Guardian, Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF officially dismissed the violent protests as failed attempts by opposition parties at regime change, but behind closed doors the party – and the government – appeared to be verging on panic.

Groups that otherwise appeared poorly co-ordinated uniformly called on President Robert Mugabe to step down.

Several sources, all speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals, said a Zanu-PF politburo meeting this week was dogged by fears that civil unrest could spread.

So far the protests have been limited to the two biggest cities in the country and the border with South Africa.

Spotlight on South Africa's justice system

The Mail and Guardian also features an editorial on Oscar Pistorius who was sentenced to six years in prison this week.

If Pistorius goes to jail for the rest of his life, it won’t fix the broken, failing and unbalanced justice system, it says.

The Pistorius case is unusual because the man who shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp actually went on trial and was convicted, the Mail and Guardian says.

There are no statistics for conviction rates in South Africa but police presentations to Parliament have estimated that only 20 percent of murder cases result in a conviction. Crime statisticians say it’s closer to nine percent.

That’s worth getting angry about, says the editoirial.

Pistorius’s murder trial involved the best legal and forensic minds in the country. Despite that, it soon emerged that the police’s initial handling of the crime scene was shambolic: objects were moved around and one of Pistorius’s watches was stolen.

As a result, the promise of forensic certainty, of something that could be shown to be indisputably true, was lost.

Biafra activists in Nigeria unfazed by coup d'état threats

In the Vanguard, activists for the Sovereign State of Biafra are reported as saying that a coup d'état in Nigeria would not deter them from fighting for the cause of independence.

Biafra activists, known as MASSOB/BIM, are reported as saying that, even if Nigerians wake up tomorrow morning and discover that the military has toppled the present democratic government, the movement would not care because its leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has been wanting to start the current agitations since 1997.

The paper reports that MASSOB/BIM’s information chief Mazi Chris Mocha told members to increase its non-violent activities in south-east and south-south, adding that self-determination is permitted by the United Nations.

Whale in Egyptian marina resort 'not dangerous'

The Egypt Independent is reporting that a whale seen at the marina resort on Egypt's north coast on Tuesday and Wednesday is not aggressive or dangerous to humans.

A team or experts from the Environment Ministry visited the area after reports appeared online that a small whale had been sighted swimming in the waterways of the Marina resort, with some bathers apparently afraid of the creature.

The team explored the area, investigating the whale sighting and gathering data on its species and behaviour, according to the paper. The team also collected video footage taken by visitors and tourists.

The footage shows a fin whale, a particular species of toothless baleen whale that lives in Egyptian waters and is listed as an endangered spices.

Killings in South Sudan

And finally, Kenya's Standard is reporting that five soldiers have been killed in a shootout in South Sudan’s capital Juba yesteday - the latest blow to a shaky peace deal.

The clashes took place two days before South Sudan marks the fifth anniversary of its independence from Sudan. It was believed to be the first time the army and former rebels had clashed in the capital since both established positions there as part of the August 2015 peace agreement.

An army spokesman said the five soldiers, all loyal to President Salva Kiir, were killed and two others wounded in the shootout at a checkpoint in the city’s Gudele neighbourhood.