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/ 15 February 2008

Mourners pay last respects to slain schoolgirl

South Africans ought to be angry at the violent and senseless loss of precious lives affecting the country, Father Owen Franklin told mourners at the funeral of slain schoolgirl Emily Williams on Friday. The 12-year-old was killed by a bullet fired in a stand-off between robbers and security guards at a house in Fairlands, Johannesburg, on Tuesday morning.

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/ 15 February 2008

Concern over media bias in Zimbabwe

With only weeks to go before the Zimbabwean elections, there has been no let-up in the slanted coverage of the campaign by the country’s public broadcaster, according to the independent Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe. It said that it noted with concern that the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation showed no sign of observing Zimbabwean law.

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/ 15 February 2008

Mbeki on tightrope as left’s influence rises

South Africa’s left is riding high as the government prepares to unveil a budget that is expected to raise spending on social programmes and shift policy more towards fighting unemployment and poverty. Powerful trade unions and the South African Communist Party have recently seen their influence within the ruling African National Congress rise.

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/ 15 February 2008

Eskom calls for cogeneration proposals

Eskom on Friday put out requests for proposals for cogeneration projects as part of its plan to bolster faltering electricity supplies. Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger explained that ”cogeneration” is when industrialists sell waste by-products that can be used to generate electricity.

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/ 15 February 2008

Jeppestown case postponed

The Jeppestown massacre trial was postponed in the Johannesburg High Court on Friday to allow a defence attorney to recover. The court had to adjourn on Thursday morning after defence counsel Sibusiso Mbatha complained of pain. He had fallen down the stairs at his house on Wednesday night.

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/ 15 February 2008

Power cuts hamper Harmony’s production

The world’s fifth largest gold miner, Harmony Gold, said on Friday that its production for the March 2008 quarter would decrease. ”In the light of Eskom’s electricity-supply disruptions and with mines operating only at 90% of Harmony’s previous power supply, the company’s production for the March 2008 quarter will decrease,” it said in a statement.

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/ 15 February 2008

AfriForum fumes over Stofile attack

Sport Minister Makhenkesi Stofile’s attack against former Springbok rugby players is an attempt to distract attention from the government’s ”transgression of international sports regulations”, AfriForum said on Friday. Stofile on Thursday sharply criticised AfriForum after a group of former Springbok rugby players called for an end to ”racial discrimination in rugby”.