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/ 18 February 2008

Divisions cause turmoil in Zim ruling party

Zimbabwe’s ruling party, shaken by internal divisions and a potentially strong election challenge to President Robert Mugabe, will expel candidates running against its official nominees in the March vote, the official media said on Monday. An independent observer group, meanwhile, has reported widespread vote-buying attempts.

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/ 18 February 2008

Power crisis likely to wipe out surplus

The goal posts for Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s spending plans in Wednesday’s national budget were carefully placed last October when he revealed his medium-term expenditure framework. However, political change and the dramatic change in economic outlook caused by the electricity crisis have set the posts whirling.

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/ 18 February 2008

Gardener jailed over under-age sex

An Eastern Cape gardener accused of raping an 11-year-old girl was sentenced to 54 months’ imprisonment by a Grahamstown High Court judge on Monday after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of statutory rape. The state initially charged Khulile Ntshabase (24) with raping the girl at a house in Hogsback on August 4 last year.

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/ 18 February 2008

Schools to teach new Bill of Responsibilities

South African schoolchildren will be taught a Bill of Responsibilities along with the Bill of Rights, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said in Pretoria on Monday. Unveiling the Bill of Responsibilities, Pandor said: ”It is to say how we exercise rights, with the understanding that rights come with responsibility.”

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/ 18 February 2008

In league with sustainable cool

Members of the ANC Youth League can’t claim they didn’t anticipate the reaction they got when they announced their campaign to ban the selling of liquor on Sunday. Religious groups, particularly Christians who regard Sunday as the day of worship, have welcomed the campaign. Liquor traders and others inclined towards civil liberties have stopped short of accusing the Youth League of being drunk.

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/ 18 February 2008

Shaka statue to be ‘very high’ but not 106m

A statue of King Shaka Zulu ka Senzangakhona to be built north of Durban will be ”very high” but not 106m tall, the KwaZulu-Natal premier’s office said on Monday. Logan Maistry, spokesperson for Premier S’bu Ndebele, said the exact height and cost of the statue cannot be determined until architects complete the design.