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A former Blue Bulls player, Warren Brosnihan, uttered a prophetic line last Saturday afternoon. About three hours before the Bulls were due to kick off against the Reds in Pretoria, Brosnihan considered the fact that his former team needed to win by 72 points or more to host a Super 14 semifinal and said, ”72 points? Heyneke Meyer loves a challenge”.
Trade unions on Thursday walked out of the first round of talks on conditions of service in the metal industry. Employers apparently refused to entertain the unions’ suggestions, said Solidarity and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).
Australian Prime Minister John Howard called on Friday for international cricket authorities to take a stand against Zimbabwe as he compared the tactics of President Robert Mugabe to those of the World War II Nazis. The Australian government is considering legal action to prevent the country’s world champion cricket team from touring Zimbabwe in September.
Michael Moore, filmmaker and scourge of the Bush administration, has been handed a timely gift of pre-release publicity for his new documentary, SiCKO, by the United States Treasury Department, which is investigating him for filming in Cuba in violation of a travel ban.
The shipbuilding industry is set to lose a £300-million (R2,8-billion) order to build between 12 and 15 offshore supply vessels because Durban’s shipyard could be engulfed by Transnet’s plans to build a new container terminal, media reports said on Friday.
Jerusalem’s city council plans to build three new Jewish settlements on land it occupied in 1967, in contravention of international law, it was announced on Thursday. The estates will be built on land that has been earmarked for a future Palestinian state, close to Bethlehem and Ramallah.
Sri Lankan children are being encouraged to raid their piggy banks in a bid to end a serious shortage of loose change in a country where inflation is making coins worth more than their face value. State-owned banks are offering colour pencils, felt pens, drawing paper and books to children who part with their savings in exchange for bank notes.
Mamelodi Sundowns may have cruised to the Castle Premiership title this season, but they were taught a footballing lesson by Egyptian side Al-Ahly in the CAF Champions League recently. That should have provided a wake-up call to South Africans who believe that the Castle Premiership sets the benchmark in terms of African league competition.
The South African Revenue Service is hoping that by reducing a normal salaried taxpayer’s tax return from 10 pages to two, more people will submit returns and less will require a tax consultant. However, as one tax consultant puts it, "a simpler tax return form does not simplify tax".