NO DEAD END: VAN SCHALKWYK.

New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk has dismissed suggestions that his acceptance of the premiership of the Western Cape is a dead end for the party. Van Schalkwyk, chosen unanimously on Wednesday by the NNP's provincial head council, will be the troubled province's third premier in six months. He is also the first white premier since Hernus Kriel stepped down in May 1998 from the leadership of the province, which has an overwhelmingly coloured electorate. Van Schalkwyk is to be sworn in later this month in place of the controversial Peter Marais, who bowed out last week under a cloud of sexual harassment claims. The Democratic Alliance said in reaction that his …