AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS HUMAN Rights Commission chairman Barney Pityana was appointed as a part-time member of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on Friday. The Commission is affiliated to the Organisation of African Unity, and Pityana has been signed on for the next six years.
ALDWORTH FINED BOB ALDWORTH, the Absa bank executive who admitted last month to a fraud involving R414 000, was sentenced in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Friday. Aldworth was fined R100 000 or six years imprisonment.
SEX CRIMINALS REGISTER ALL criminals convicted for sexual crimes against children, including rape, child abuse, and child prostitution, will soon be listed on a register, to be available to all institutions which are responsible for looking after children. The register is an attempt to prevent criminals from being employed in schools or creches.
BUSHBUCKRIDGE PROTESTS DEMONSTRATORS in Bushbuckridge set fire to a school and a truck, and burnt a poster of President Nelson Mandela on Friday in the ongoing border dispute in the region. President Nelson Mandela reiterated last week his party’s decision not to incorporate the area into Mpumalanga, despite the protests of the past two months.
IBA REHIRES COUNCILLORS TWO of the five councillors who resigned earlier this year from the Independent Broadcasting Authority were reappointed to their positions on Friday. Felleng Sekha and Lutando Mkumatela resigned amidst allegations of financial mismanagement. The pair reapplied for their jobs, along with more than 100 prospective councillors. Sekha said the reappointment means ”a fresh start”.
SHIP SINKS IN STORM TWELVE Romanian sailors were rescued 15km off Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, after their cargo ship, the Calarasi, sank in a storm on Friday. The men were airlited to safety by the SA Air Force.
1 000 TO QUIT SABC MORE than 1 000 SA Broadcasting Corporation staff will leave the state broadcaster at month’s end, after having either resigned or accepted voluntary retrenchment packages, while a further 400 face the possibility of forced retrenchment. SABC representative Nombuyiselo Maloyi confirmed on Thursday that 770 voluntary severance packages had been approved and more than 200 staffers had resigned.