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/ 24 October 2003

How Essop Pahad was suckered

I must admit feeling a touch nervous as I dare to question the analytical powerhouse that is Essop Pahad, minister of no defined portfolio in the Presidency. I hope, nonetheless, he will forgive me my audacity in telling him that in the matter of the bitchy little spat that, for the last few weeks, has been going on between him and the serried ranks of Pieter-Dirk Uys, he’s been hopelessly wide of the mark.

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/ 24 October 2003

‘Minorities must not be sidelined’

Western Cape Premier and NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk remains unconcerned about calls for his resignation by the DA, which has asked the Scorpions to probe his role in the Count Agusta bribery saga. Marianne Merten spoke to Marthinus van Schalkwyk about scandal, the ANC, the future of the NNP and those posters.

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/ 24 October 2003

R1,5bn goes up in smoke

State-owned PetroSA has suffered an estimated R1,5-billion loss, allegedly caused by a technical foul-up that shut down the company’s Mossel Bay oil-from-gas plant on July 3 this year. Thus far PetroSA has refused to quantify publicly the cost of the breakdown, caused by the failure of all three steam-generating units.

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/ 24 October 2003

Zuma: Watchdogs aren’t barking

Deputy President Jacob Zuma is well on his way to getting the all-clear from the state’s ethics watchdogs, even though interest declarations he has made are beset with controversy. Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana’s report on Zuma’s interests, released by Parliament last Friday, substantially clears him, but only on allegations Mushwana chose to investigate.

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/ 24 October 2003

Officials ignorant of the law

The Executive Members Ethics Act and the provisions of the Code of Ethics are not being implemented consistently by Members of Provincial Executive Councils (MECs) and the Presidency, says a new report by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa).

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/ 24 October 2003

Breaking Africa’s silence

A grassroots news agency, Simbani, will begin providing community radio stations next week with information produced by Africans about Africa. Launched late last week, Simbani African News Agency — meaning talk in ChiChewa, which is spoken in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique — is an Amarc Africa initiative, says Gilles Foadey, the agency’s editor-in-chief.

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/ 24 October 2003

Clinton seals deal for cheaper Aids drugs

Listed South African pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare has entered into an agreement with the US-based Clinton Foundation for the manufacture of anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines. Clinton announced in New York that his foundation has reached an agreement with Aspen on a major reduction in the price of HIV/Aids medicine.