President Thabo Mbeki’s government has approved the disbanding of the elite Scorpions crime-fighting unit, bowing to pressure from supporters of rival Jacob Zuma who accused it of political abuse. Mbeki’s Cabinet adopted two Bills last week paving the way for the end of the Directorate of Special Operations.
If farmers think they have a tough time producing enough rice, wheat and other grain crops, global warming is going to present a whole new world of challenges in the race to produce more food, scientists say. Farmers will have to change crop management practices, grow tougher plant varieties and be prepared for constant change in the way they operate, scientists say.
South African athletes continued to dominate the 16th African Athletics Championships on another windy day in Addis Ababa on Saturday. Three more gold medals by Chris Harmse, Hennie Kotze and Sunette Viljoen, in the hammer throw, 110m hurdles and javelin respectively, brought the team’s golden haul to nine.
China and India and are moving toward becoming the biggest economies in the world: with 2,4-billion people, or 40% of the world’s population and annual GDP growth rates of between 8% and 10%, experts say that they could one day overtake the United States.
The establishment of a media tribunal in South Africa should not be viewed as interfering with press freedom, the African National Congress (ANC) on Saturday. Spokesperson Jessie Duarte said the ANC was only making a proposal and that it was open to public debate.
Three decades have passed since the movie Jaws sent terrified bathers scrambling out of the ocean. But as any beach lifeguard knows, there’s still nothing like a gory shark attack to stoke public hysteria and paranoia. In the first four months of this year, there were four fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared with one in the whole of 2007.
The Ginwala commission set up to inquire into the suspension of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Vusi Pikoli said on Saturday it was aware that Pikoli is allegedly being blackmailed by a hacker. Commission spokesperson Lawson Naidoo said the commission had been notified by Pikoli’s lawyers.
With what constituted a classic Roy Of the Rovers underdog success, lower division MP Black Aces qualified for the lucrative Nedbank Cup final at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Saturday afternoon after gaining a 1-0 victory over Free State Stars.
BUrma’s military government declared disaster areas in five states on Sunday after a large tropical cyclone pounded the Irrawaddy delta region and killed at least four people in Yangon, state newspapers said. Cyclone Nargis, which was packing 190km per hour winds when it hit on Saturday, left the streets of Burma’s main city littered with debris from fallen trees and battered buildings.
After a day of top level meetings, Zimbabwe’s main opposition party on Saturday failed to make a decision on whether it will take part in presidential run-off elections scheduled for next month. Observers now fear that there is a fierce dispute within the Movement for Democratic Change over whether to boycott the second round of voting that was announced on Friday.