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/ 27 October 2006

Scorpions accused may challenge dismissal

Cornwell Tshavhungwa, the disgraced former deputy director of the Scorpions in Gauteng, is threatening to take Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla to court to challenge the decision to terminate his contract. Tshavhungwa spent over a year in jail after he was charged with fraud and corruption for allegedly accepting bribes from government officials to divert investigations against them.

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/ 27 October 2006

Taxi drivers disrupt traffic

Disgruntled taxi drivers were blocking roads and causing a major traffic congestion in the Pretoria city centre, Tshwane metro police said on Friday morning. ”All roads leading into the city centre have been blocked by a massive entourage of taxi drivers going in and taxi drivers are ignoring all traffic signals,” said spokesperson Mel Vosloo.

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/ 27 October 2006

Wolfowitz shows lighter side in malaria campaign

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz bumped and wriggled to an African beat on Thursday, showing a lighter public side as he danced with South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka in a campaign against malaria. Wolfowitz joined Chaka Chaka in the atrium of the bank as their audience of African ambassadors, private sector officials, and World Bank and congressional staff cheered and clapped.

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/ 27 October 2006

Ancient brothel restored

The ”wolves’ lair” — ancient Pompeii’s biggest, best planned and most richly decorated brothel — on Thursday reopened to the public after extensive restoration. The two-storey building, which was built at about the time Spartacus was leading his slaves’ revolt, had been closed for almost a year.

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/ 27 October 2006

After war, Goma yearns for peace

Few of Goma’s long-suffering residents imagined that life could get much worse after the fall of Zaire’s kleptomaniac president, Mobutu Sese Seko, who amassed billions while driving his people ever deeper into poverty and despair before he was toppled nearly a decade ago.

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/ 27 October 2006

Beach snapper back on the beat

The eThekwini Municipality’s policy on informal business may need reviewing after the Durban High Court allowed photographer Khehla Vilakazi to continue snapping tourists on the city’s beaches to provide for his wife and five children. The case turns a particularly harsh spotlight on the city’s Public Realm Management Plan, introduced last year.

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/ 27 October 2006

Durban fires blanks on report

EThekwini municipal manager Mike Sutcliffe is sitting on a damning Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) report detailing "lax control" of hundreds of firearms and ammunition issued by the state to the Durban Metro Police Service. The report lists 66 state-issued firearms as missing and being investigated by the police.

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/ 27 October 2006

Liberalise to grow: heads butt over Asgisa

Cut trade barriers, unclog the labour market and boost competition: the national treasury wants more aggressive liberalisation of the economy to boost growth, rather than protective tariffs, quotas and industrial incentives. This approach has put team finance at loggerheads with other government departments.