African press review 6 March 2014

This morning's prize for the most striking headline goes to South African financial paper BusinessDay. See if you can make head or tale of it.

On its national politics pages, the Johannesburg-based daily assures us that "Snollygoster leaves National Assembly discombobulated".

According to the small print, a snollygoster allegation left the South African parliament gobsmacked during yesterday’s question time for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson.

Pieter van Dalen of the opposition Democratic Alliance suggested that the minister would be called a snollygoster if the current controversial fishing rights allocation process is not completely scrapped.

The word left almost every other MP dumbfounded.

Joemat-Pettersson perceived it as an insult, reminding the house that Van Dalen had once called her a "bitch".

Inkatha Freedom Party MP Koos van der Merwe asked: "Could someone please enlighten us as to what this ‘snolly golly’ means?"

According to the Collins English dictionary, a snollygoster is US slang for a politician who cares more for personal gain than for serving the people.

Wiktionary says the etymology comes from a Pennsylvanian German term for a mythical beast that preys on poultry and children.

Also in this morning's BusinessDay, platinum sector wage negotiations collapsed yesterday with the world’s three biggest producers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union deadlocked over what the industry can afford.

The negotiations have been adjourned indefinitely.

Meeting the trade union's demand would mean increasing the basic salary for entry-level workers by nearly 150 per cent in an industry where about half the mines are making losses or breaking even.

Lonmin, the world’s third-largest platinum producer, has announced that the company will not meet its sales target this year because of the impact of the seven-week strike.

The striking Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union will march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria today to hand over a petition to the government.

In Kenya the Standard reports that the Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau has said all matatu minibus operators involved in blocking roads will be punished, warning that penalties will including the cancellation of their licences.

Nairobi commuters were forced to walk to work yesterday after matatu operators blocked major routes in protest at increased parking fees.

Late yesterday the National Transport and Safety Authority announced that a deal to end the disupute had been reached after discussions with the county government and the striking public transport operators.

The top story in the Kenyan Daily Nation reports that Angola yesterday announced 7.3 million euros in aid for the Central African Republic.

Joaquim do Espirito Santo, Africa director in the foreign affairs ministry, told Angolan television that the aid was to support the transitional government and to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Making an official two-day visit to Luanda, the Angolan capital, Central Africa's interim President Catherine Samba Panza said there were "still peaks of violence" but that the general situation was beginning to come under control.

Earlier this week UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recommended deploying nearly 12,000 peacekeepers to reestablish order against a background of sectarian killings and chaos which erupted following a coup last March.

In Uganda the Daily Monitor says that a measles epidemic continues to ravage the Bunyoro sub-region. But local medical officials are puzzled why so few members of the affected communities have turned up for treatment.

The district medical officer said an immunisation exercise had been instituted for children aged between six months and five years in the affected villages but few families had turned up for the exercise.

The Cairo-based Egypt Independent gives pride of place to the news that The 6 April Movement has reacted to suggestions that army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi could run for the Egyptian presidency.

The secular youth group said Sisi’s nomination will not advance the revolution's goals but will only aggravate the crisis.