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/ 8 September 2004
A British-built robot generates its own power by gobbling flies, but it has a stinky downside — it needs human sewage as bait to catch the insects and then digest them. EcoBot II, made by robotics experts at the University of the West of England in Bristol, tucks into the flies in eight microbial fuel cells which are loaded with human sewage.
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/ 8 September 2004
A number of cannabis plants have been found, and destroyed, in the park surrounding the Norwegian royal palace which is home to King Harald and Queen Sonja, official sources said on Wednesday. ”There were some hash plants. We have no idea who might have put them there,” said palace spokesperson Wenche Rasch.
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/ 8 September 2004
Thousands of municipal workers will go on strike across Gauteng on Thursday, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said on Wednesday. Members of Samwu, the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union and the Anti-Privatisation Forum plan to stage marches.
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/ 8 September 2004
South Africa’s state-owned arms manufacturing and marketing company, Denel, "is practically at the doorstep of bankruptcy", CEO Victor Moche told MPs on Wednesday. However, he said there is light at the end of the tunnel if the entity focuses on research and development and balancing its budget.
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/ 8 September 2004
Business Banking, a division of Nedbank Corporate servicing medium-sized businesses, has shown a strong commitment to black economic empowerment (BEE) with the national roll-out of its empowerment strategy — driven by Portia Nondo, head of BEE at Business Banking.
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/ 8 September 2004
Only one day into school and Armando Smiricic Runka is already the teacher’s pet. Little wonder, as he is the only pupil in his class on Premuda — a mid-Adriatic island of just 52 mostly ageing residents. But that has not deterred the government from ensuring that a teacher from the mainland arrives daily.
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/ 8 September 2004
Botswana’s diamond mining company and union leaders have failed to make any progress in wage talks as employers refuse to reinstate workers sacked during an illegal strike, officials said Wednesday. Debswana, a joint venture between the Botswana government and South Africa’s De Beers group, and the 6 000-strong Botswana Mining Workers Union were locked in talks the whole of Tuesday and decided to take a break until Friday.
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/ 8 September 2004
About 1 000 workers at Sasol’s Secunda plant were on strike for a second day on Wednesday over a pay increase, the trade union Solidarity said. Sasol has offered a 6,5% salary increase, and Solidarity’s members are demanding 10%. The union said on Tuesday that employees were tired of ”Sasol’s management style, which toys with the lives of workers”.
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/ 8 September 2004
The Department of Health hit out on Wednesday at pharmacies charging medical schemes an across-the-board administration fee rather than billing them for services actually rendered. Some pharmacies charge a fee of 10% upwards of the cost of medicines prescribed, departmental spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said.
Healthcare Funders settle dispute
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/ 8 September 2004
A second settlement has been reached for alleged irregular transactions in Cadbury Schweppes shares, the Financial Services Board’s insider trading directorate said on Wednesday. ”The directorate now reports that, as is provided for in the Insider Trading Act, a settlement has been reached with Mr Laurence Benjamin Gottlieb who has agreed to pay an amount of R619 170 to the directorate,” chairperson Rob Barrow said.