LeisureNet accused Rodney Mitchell assigned completely arbitrary values to the work in progress of an architectural firm the LeisureNet group was buying out, the Cape High Court heard on Wednesday. Architect Dawid Rabie, formerly majority shareholder in the firm Keystone was the first witness called in the trial of Mitchell.
Inefficiency and negligence at the Commission for Occupational Injuries and Diseases has caused a multimillion-rand backlog in the payment of claims to doctors who treat workers, the Democratic Alliance charged on Wednesday. Claims are being processed by the commission at an ”absurdly slow pace”.
With smiles all around and a well-timed pat on the back, the two most powerful figures in British politics made a carefully choreographed attempt on Wednesday to dispel talk of a bitter rift between them. Prime Minister Tony Blair and his heir apparent, Gordon Brown, put on a show of solidarity as they launched the start of the Labour Party’s campaign for the May 4 local-council elections.
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Jacob Zuma was surprised that the woman who accuses him of rape left his bedroom after they had sex, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Wednesday. He agreed with prosecutor Charin de Beer that he thought the woman would spend the rest of the night in his bed.
A 24-year-old man tried to sell his soul on China’s most popular auction website and managed to get 58 bids before operators pulled his ad, he told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday. "It was just an impulse," the seller, who requested anonymity, said from Shanghai. The man posted the announcement on Taobao last week, asking a starting price of 10 yuan ($1,23).
Former deputy president Jacob Zuma was playing with fire when he had unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman, says the CEO of loveLife, South Africa’s national HIV-prevention programme for youth. Zuma has been accused of raping an HIV-positive woman and is currently on trial in the Johannesburg High Court.
Johannesburg residents were left high and dry for about 24 hours this week, but the city’s water agency says the infrastructure is in "fairly good" shape. On April 1 pressure from a burst water pipe at the corner of Mooi and Anderson Streets in central Johannesburg caused the road to crack open and sent water gushing into the air.
The South African wine industry marked a milestone on Wednesday with the launch of Women in Wine, the country’s first wine producing company that is owned, controlled and managed by women, during the second day of Cape Wine 2006, the industry’s bi-annual international trade exhibition.
Global truck giant AB Volvo has acquired a 13% stake in truck manufacturer Nissan Diesel Japan but the transaction will leave the South African operations unchanged, the Swedish firm said in a statement on Wednesday. Following the conclusion of the deal, AB Volvo has become Nissan Diesel’s single largest shareholder with Nissan Motor retaining a 6% share.
At least 36 people were drowned when their boat capsized during a heavy storm on Lake Victoria, Tanzanian officials said on Wednesday. Ignas Mbinga, the regional police commander for western Tanzania, said only nine people survived the accident, which occurred when heavy winds and waves swamped and caused the fishing boat to keel over.