Malawi's president has lashed out at anti-government demonstrators as two days of protests have left at least 10 people dead in unprecedented levels of unrest in the southern African country.

Reports from Agence France-Presse have put the number of deaths at 18.

Hospital officials and activists said on Thursday the victims had been shot with live ammunition, and that at least 44 others in the northern city of Mzuzu alone were being treated for gunshot wounds.

President Bingu wa Mutharika vowed to "ensure peace using any measure I can think of" as protesters gathered for a second day in the impoverished state roiled by fuel shortages and price hikes.

"If you break shops and banks will you have fuel? You demonstrated yesterday and throughout the night until today, but is there fuel today because of the demonstrations?" he asked.

"I think God will do something to help us, will bless us, because these people are not being led by God, they are being led by Satan," the president said.

Mutharika first came to power in a 2004 election, and he was re-elected in May 2009. The state has enjoyed relative peace and stability in the past decade but tensions have been growing this year over worsening fuel shortages. High unemployment alongside a deteriorating economic situation also threaten to reverse development gains made in the early years of Mutharika's presidency.

On Wednesday, protesters attacked businesses belonging to the president's political allies. Looters in the capital of Lilongwe had targeted shops belonging to ruling party officials, witnesses said.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said eight journalists were beaten by police during Wednesday's protests, and a female radio reporter was seriously wounded.

Amnesty researcher Simeon Mawanza said the president's regime is becoming increasingly intolerant of dissenting voices.

"The tension there won't die down just because of yesterday's events," he said. "It could intensify, as people died at the hands of police."

The situation was tense but calm on Thursday amid a heavy military and police deployment on the streets in the country's two main cities.

Tim Hughes, a political analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said the unrest is wholly uncharacteristic of Malawi.

"Certainly since democracy in 1994 -- while there's been sporadic outbursts of inter-party violence -- there's never been a violent protest like this on the streets," he said.

"This form of public protest, taking on the state, expressing this degree of frustration -- it's a new phenomenon," he said.

Hughes believes the wave of protests is spurred by a sharp decline in the Malawian economy.

"Global factors have kicked in," he said. "The country is now running short of scarce foreign exchange, and imports such as fuel are limited."

Foreign donors are also now becoming sceptical and cautious of a possible democratic reversal in the country, resulting in the severing of diplomatic ties, and a cut back in aid, Hughes added.

Former ruler Britain already has indefinitely suspended aid to the country, citing concerns about economic management and a crackdown on human rights.

On Thursday, Britain's Minister for Africa, Henry Bellingham, said the situation was "worrying" and appealed to Mutharika to rein in security forces and loyalists.

"The ongoing violence and reprisals by elements connected to President Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party underline the concern that the UK has expressed about the state of democratic governance and human rights in Malawi," he said in a statement. "The rights of free assembly and expression guaranteed under the Malawian Constitution must be respected. The UK utterly condemns the threatening behaviour of machete-wielding DPP activists and the violent attacks on demonstrators and the media."

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon also expressed concern.

"He is saddened by the loss of life and reiterates his call for all differences to be resolved through peaceful means," UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said in New York.

Elections are not due again in Malawi until 2014, and Mutharika is barred from seeking a third term.

Mutharika, a 77-year-old former World Bank economist, had won widespread praise from international institutions and donor governments for pushing through economic reforms and clamping down on corruption. But he also has alienated many former allies including his predecessor, whom he accused of plotting to assassinate him.

Malawi, which gained independence from Britain in 1964, is among the world's least developed nations and UNAids estimates there are 920 000 people living with HIV/AIDS here.

Madonna, who has adopted two children from the country and plans to build schools there, said on Wednesday she hoped Malawi would find a peaceful way out of its troubles.

"I am deeply concerned about the violence today in Malawi, especially the devastating impact on Malawi's children," the star said. "Malawi must find a peaceful solution to these problems that allows donors to have confidence that their money will be used efficiently."

Pretoria - A witness watched as schoolgirl Masego Kgomo was mutilated, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Thursday.

Albert "Nono" Mathebula was testifying in the trial of Brian Mangwale, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering and raping the 10-year-old Masego and selling her body parts for muti.

Mathebula was initially also arrested in connection with Kgomo's murder.

He testified on Thursday that he was smoking dagga with friends on the night of December 31 2009 when Mangwale arrived in a car with a man named Jan, a woman in sangoma's clothing and a young child.

He and two of his friends accompanied them to a sangoma's house in Soshanguve.

Mathebula went inside with the woman, who carried the child. His friends stayed in the car.

He told the court that he and Mangwale were given cooldrink which contained something that made him feel dizzy, out of control and hear voices in his head.

"On entering, we found initiates. They were dressed in sangoma clothing," Mathebula testified.

"... The lady came in with a cloth. The child was not crying. It appeared she was also made to eat or drink something. When Jan cut her open, she did not scream.

"... I did not see the other parts. I only saw the internal organs. When she was cut open I looked so I could see what it is inside a woman's body.

"Jan continued to cut open the child. When they were removing the organs I vomited," he said.

Mathebula said the child's body was later put into the car boot and he and his friends were dropped off at a party.

"My friends asked me what happened with the child. I did not tell them. I was afraid," he said.

Mangwale’s trial was previously postponed for judgment, but Judge Billy Mothle called Mathebula and two other witnesses to shed more light on the killing.\

The other witnesses, a magistrate and a senior policeman, testified that Mangwale made confessions and a pointing-out to them in March last year about the alleged murder and mutilation of another young girl.

They said Mangwale told them how the girl was lured into their car and taken to bushes near a river, where a sangoma called Jan Maleka cut out her tongue and cut off both her breasts before removing her womb.

The sangoma took the body parts with him when they left the child's body behind in the bushes.

Mangwale told them he was paid R4 500 for the job.

They said Mangwale showed no signs of having been tortured or forced to make the statement and told them he wanted to clear his conscience.

Mangwale has claimed that he was tortured by the police and was forced to confess to Kgomo's murder and that of another young girl, which he could not have committed as he was in jail at the time.

A number of confessions, in which he has given different versions of the murder, have been admitted as evidence against him.

Mothle criticised the State and police for the way in which the case had been presented, saying it had been left up to him to go and find the witnesses.

He said it was clear that a number of people had been involved in the murder and he wanted to know why the others had not been charged.

Prosecutor MJ Makgwatha said the only evidence against other possible perpetrators was contained in Mangwale’s confessions, which could not be used as evidence against them.

Other accused might still be charged if new evidence emerged, but it was possible that they might never be brought to justice.

She said the State did not want to call any of the alleged accomplices as witnesses because the national prosecuting authority was not prepared to offer them indemnity from prosecution.

The trial was postponed to August 8 for possible new witnesses, failing which Judge Mothle would give judgment.

Bloemfontein - Managers and officials of the Setsoto local municipality could face criminal and disciplinary charges over allegations of theft, fraud and corruption, the Free State government said on Thursday.

Free State Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Mamiki Qabathe ordered a probe into the municipality after protester Andries Tatane died in service delivery protests earlier this year.

In an executive summary of its report released on Wednesday, it found that the municipality was in total disarray with no proper management and financial control.

It was totally unstable because of widespread theft, fraud and corruption.

The investigation found that supply chain management department staff were often coerced by senior managers into making orders that were against policy.

It recommended that the municipality's director of corporate services be suspended and investigated over alleged illegal staff appointments and the unauthorised buying of vehicles.

The chief financial officer should also be suspended and disciplined for allegedly buying 90 desktop computers at inflated prices.

The municipality’s IT officer should also face disciplinary charges over the employment of his fiancée at the municipality.
The investigators also recommended that two demand and acquisition clerks be suspended pending criminal investigation of fraud and corruption.

Another clerk in the same department should be sent on precautionary leave pending a forensic investigation.

Co-operative governance spokesperson Ntai Mokhitli said the full report could not be released because of the pending disciplinary charges against some officials.

In the summary, investigators indicated that the Meqheleng Concerned Citizens (MCC) group under whose leadership most of the protests were conducted had some "personal interests" in the Setsoto local municipality.

One of the findings was that the MCC wanted "our comrades" to be appointed at the municipality.

The investigators said that in a letter from the MCC to the municipality on March 25, a request was made for "intervention and collaboration in the filling of the vacant advertised posts".

In the letter, the MCC said it would be "appropriate" for the accounting officer to give 18 of "our people" employment in the municipality.

"All this will count in your favour as the municipality," the MCC wrote.

"We’ll provide you with the list of all our comrades today, March 25 2011."

Earlier, MCC spokesperson Sam Motseare said this allegations and others were not true.

"It's a blatant lie," he said.

The Setsoto municipality covers the towns of Ficksburg, Senekal, Clocolan and Marquard.

Mokhitli said the report and recommendations were tabled before the Setsoto municipal council last week.

The department would closely monitor the implementation of the recommendations.

Cape Town - A farmer accused of assaulting University of Stellenbosch academic Professor Anton van Niekerk was on Wednesday released on R5 000 bail by the local magistrate's court.

Abel Albertus Malan, 47, is the grandson of Danie Malan, a prominent business executive involved with insurer Sanlam.

Malan, from Mbombela, allegedly confronted the professor in his office on July 14 about a letter that appeared in Die Burger newspaper on July 5.

In the letter, which Malan found offensive, the professor wrote that apartheid could never be condoned. In the heat of the confrontation, Malan allegedly toppled the professor's desk onto him.

Malan faces two charges - intimidation for allegedly threatening the professor with assault, as well as assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Malan appeared briefly before magistrate Anita Potgieter, who ordered him to surrender his passport to the police and to be out of Stellenbosch by 20:00 on Wednesday as the conditions of bail.

Other conditions were that he return to court on August 25, when the case would be transferred to the Stellenbosch Regional Court.

Malan was warned not to have any contact, direct or indirect, with Van Niekerk.

He has to inform the investigating officer of any change of address, and may not enter the Stellenbosch magisterial district without permission, except to attend court proceedings.

A final condition was that he report to the Mbombela police every Friday between 06:00 and 20:00.

Malan was warned that he would be taken back into custody, and his bail revoked, if he breached any of his bail conditions.

Pretoria - The correctional services department and police are investigating allegations of torture at Pretoria Central Prison.

Correctional services spokesperson Phumlani Ximiya said on Tuesday that an internal investigation was underway into the conduct of six warders accused of shocking a prisoner with an electrified riot shield.

A criminal case had also been opened with police.

Ximiya said correctional services national commissioner Tom Moyane was "shocked" at the allegations and condemned such behaviour by prison staff.

The investigations follow the smuggling out of prison of a sound recording of what is claimed to be warders shocking a prisoner.

The sound bite was aired on Radio 702. The station quoted police spokesperson Wanda Olivier as saying a case of assault had been opened against six warders and that arrests were imminent.

Olivier could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ximiya said the internal investigation could lead to disciplinary action against the warders. As of noon on Tuesday they were still at their posts.

The National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders spokesperson Jacques Sibomana said while many believed inmates "deserve what is coming to them", the victim in this attack was awaiting trial and had not been convicted of any crime.

"How then can such an environment contribute to changing the criminal behaviour of its inmates, when daily acts of criminality are perpetrated by their guardians?" he asked.

Cape Town - South Africa's fuel workers union has rejected a minimum 8% wage increase and is holding out for a double-digit hike, the union's chief negotiator said on Tuesday.

Talks between the industry and the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union (Ceppwawu) are at a deadlock, Jerry Nkosi, the union's chief negotiator, told Reuters.

"We are not reaching an agreement because the employers are not listening to our demands. We are not happy with the revised offer," he said.

The strike has left filling stations dry across South Africa for more than a week and will likely cost the continent's top economy billions of rand in lost output.

On Monday employers raised their wage offer to between 8% and 10%, depending on the employment level. The previous offer was for a hike of between 4% and 7%, while unions have asked for 13%.

Johannesburg - The SA Revenue Service has not received any requests for a tax audit of ANCYL leader Julius Malema, its spokesman said on Tuesday.

"By the close of business yesterday [Monday], we hadn't received anything," said Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay.

"If we receive a request for an investigation, obviously we will consider it and establish the merits in the claims that the MP will make, and then we will proceed from there."

Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said at the weekend that she would write a letter to Sars requesting that Malema be investigated.

This was after the Sunday Independent reported that Malema was building a R16m mansion in Sandown, Johannesburg, while earning a salary of R25 000 per month.

The house would include a secure basement from where he could hide in case of an attack on him.

Malema told The Star newspaper in a report on Tuesday that he would co-operate if Sars decided to probe him.

"Sars conducts lifestyle [audits] on anybody as and when they wish to do that," he told the daily.

But he did not want to comment on the reports that he was planning to build himself a bunker.

"My life and what I do with my house is not a public issue. I am not a public representative," Malema reportedly said.

Six men have been arrested for allegedly using stickers to rename Nelson Mandela Drive Clive Derby Lewis Drive on directional boards in Pretoria, police said on Monday.

Lt-Col Tshisikhawe Ndou said the six white men were caught on CCTV cameras along Nelson Mandela Drive in Sunnyside on Sunday night.

“The police rushed to the scene and arrested the six who were found with several replacement stickers. They were immediately arrested and taken to Sunnyside police station.”

They refused to explain their actions to police.

The men, aged between 25 and 38, were charged with malicious damage to property and expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. Ndou said they had not been linked to any right-wing movements.

Derby-Lewis, a former Conservative Party politician, is serving a life sentence for his role in the assassination of SA Communist Party secretary general Chris Hani.

Hani was assassinated on April 10, 1993 outside his home in Dawn Park, a racially-mixed suburb of Boksburg. Using a gun provided by Derby-Lewis, Polish far-right immigrant Janusz Walus shot him in the head as he stepped out of his car.

Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Friday said new elections were possible this year despite a timeline that put the polls in 2012 at the earliest.

"We still have six months to go and elections can be held this year," Mugabe told a meeting of his Zanu-PF party's central committee.

"The inclusive government was never meant to last forever."

Mugabe said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) wanted to extend the so-called "global political agreement" under which it shares power with Mugabe's party in a tense coalition government.

"When we appended our signatures to the global political agreement it was on the understanding that this was a vehicle for fresh elections which would decide who should govern this country," Mugabe said.

"Having joined government and tasted the warm sweetness of power, the MDC formations no longer want elections. They want elections suspended indefinitely and their governorship extended to infinite."

Negotiators from the rival parties agreed on July 6 to a timeline for election preparations that would put the polls in 2012.

The roadmap set down a timeframe of 45 days to complete new electoral laws, followed by 30 days for voter education and two months to prepare a new voter roll.

No decision was made on the date for a referendum on a new constitution.

Under Zimbabwe's unity accord, signed after violent and inconclusive presidential elections in 2008, a new constitution must be approved by referendum before new general elections.

The constitution-writing process is running a year behind schedule.

Drafters have set September as the target for a referendum, but repeated delays have cast doubt on the date.

With political temperatures among Afrikaners rising on the eve of more radical land expropriation policies from the ruling ANC, an alleged fistfight has broken out in the office of Stellenbosch academic Professor Anton van Niekerk. Mr. Abel Malan, the deputy chairman of Afrikaans organisation Die Verkenners, was arrested by campus police at the University of Stellenbosch after he had apparently overturned Van Niekerk's desk and a hit him in the face.

According to a report in Die Burger, the Cape-based newspaper, Van Niekerk suffered facial bruises and his glasses were broken. Malan had made an appointment to see Van Niekerk about his article alleging that white Afrikaners carried enormous amounts of guilt towards black South Africans, published in both Die Burger and its northern sister newspaper Beeld.

Malan is also a candidate for the Volksraadverkiesingskommissie, holding an alternative Afrikaner election to elect an Afrikaner parliament. Die VVK, as it is known, has issued a statement by Mr. Paul Kruger, stating that “the huge number of traitors in the ranks of the Boer-Afrikaner people, is our biggest enemy in our struggle for freedom, which is centuries old. An example of this is the utterly offensive newspaper article by Anton van Niekerk of Stellenbosch, published in July 2011. One of the candidates in our Volksraad election of September 2011, Mr. Abel Malan, was arrested on 14 July 2011 concerning an incident between himself and Anton van Niekerk. The Central Committee of the Volksraad Verkiesing Kommissie (Electoral Commission for the election of a Boer-Afrikaner People’s Council) stands firmly behind Mr. Malan and we convey our best wishes to him for the upcoming legal proceedings.”

The university's rector yesterday convened a media conference. Professor Russel Botman, the rector and an affirmative-action appointee, stated that Van Niekerk was "also threatened by Malan". Van Niekerk had to see a doctor and a trauma councillor yesterday.

The university had posted a security guard in the office opposite that of Van Niekerk and he was quick to intervene to stop the brawl. Asked whether Van Niekerk had known Malan prior to their meeting, Botman said "no. But that does not mean that Anton van Niekerk had not been receiving threatening phone calls."

Botman further stated that "it was a despicable deed and regrettable within the context of our attempts and striving to create a South Africa in which the rights of all its people are protected".

Mr. Malan has been in police custody since his arrest and is expected to appear in the Stellenbosch magistrate's court today. He is also reputed to have a number of "collaborators" in the Stellenbosch area, as reported by the Beeld newspaper. Beeld also described him in its headline as a "right-winger" but declined to characterise Professor van Niekerk as a liberal or left-winger.

Van Niekerk's opinion piece on white guilt was written after the publication of a philosophical article by Rhodes University academic Ms. Samantha Vice in which she advised white people to be "silent and modest" in responding to black rule in South Africa. Whites should also vacate the public space, not participate in politics and allow blacks to remodel the country to their liking unhindered.

Since the takeover by the black-nationalist African National Congress in 1994, South Africa has become extremely violent with rampant crime and a very radical affirmative-action programme that requires even white-owned family businesses to employ quotas of black people. Various politically connected blacks have also become fabulously wealthy as a result of "black economic empowerment" laws whereby corporations are required to hand more or less free shares to an elite of black beneficiaries.