comic relief....? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 20:39:16 EST From: [log in to unmask] Reply-To: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] Subject: [AfricaMatters] Flip of coin means no beating about the bush Flip of coin means no beating about the bush December 06 2000 at 07:40PM East London [South Africa] - The toss of a two-rand coin secured a candidate his seat on a municipal council on Wednesday. Laurence Jiba, of the ANC, and Pat Puchert, of the Democratic Alliance, each won 2 266 votes - after several re-counts - in East London's Cambridge ward. In line with the Municipal Electoral Act, which even defines which side of a coin is heads and which tails, they then presented themselves to the electoral officer in charge, along with a neutral umpire. Jiba, by virtue of the ANC's alphabetical superiority, had the privilege of calling. He chose heads - and heads it was. Puchert said the idea of tossing a coin had come as a shock to her. "I didn't know we could decide a vote on the toss of a coin - I'd never heard of it. But I've accepted it," she said. She will still have a seat on the council, though, from the DA's proportional representation list. The Democratic Alliance's provincial chairman, Athol Trollip said the outcome was a "huge disappointment" to his party. However it was also a testament to political tolerance and the maturity of democracy in South Africa. He did not believe that sort of outcome would have been accepted anywhere else in the world. - Sapa-AFP -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> eGroups eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! http://click.egroups.com/1/9698/1/_/192352/_/976153165/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> To the extent possible, please keep postings concise. Our archives are at : http://www.egroups.com/group/us-afr-network . To Post a message, send it to [log in to unmask] . Tell others to subscribe by sending a blank message to [log in to unmask] . To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------