The South African government will look more closely at crimes against women, President Thabo Mbeki told a national Women’s Day event in the Northern Cape on Thursday. Mbeki said the government and the Presidential Women’s Working Group had agreed to look at the issue in a ”more detailed and specific fashion”.
Thousands of women gathered in Kimberley on Thursday for national Women’s Day celebrations, some bussed in from as far as Pampierstad. Groups of singing women had been arriving at Galeshewe Stadium throughout the morning. Many were dressed in the green and black colours of the African National Congress Women’s League.
It’s back to business on Monday for the Springboks and England as they prepare for the second Test in Pretoria this coming Saturday. With the first Test behind them, both teams will be more settled and focused for their second encounter, which could be a whole new ball game.
The refurbishment backlog of South Africa’s electricity networks at all levels could be as big as R7-billion, the National Electricity Regulator of South Africa said on Thursday. A new report estimates a backlog as at the end of 2005 for utilities audited — 11 big municipalities — of R431-million.
Radio Pretoria, a radio station catering specifically for ”boere-Afrikaners”, on Friday asked five appeal judges to order the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to reconsider an application for a four-year community broadcasting licence. Judgement was reserved.
Judgement was reserved on Thursday on further applications made in an interdict to suspend the election of new office bearers by an African National Congress (ANC) regional conference. Judge Corne van Zyl in the Bloemfontein High Court reserved judgement until April 4 after hearing argument on an application by 17 people wanting to join the original applicants in the matter.
The first farmland-expropriation exercise by the government, to be effective on March 15, was overshadowed by ”outstanding issues” among claimants of the Pniel farm in the Northern Cape. The land will now first be kept in curatorship by the state before it will be handed to the claimants, the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights said on Saturday.
South Africa should not see itself as the ”criminal skunk” of the world, because many other countries in transition had the same high crime prevalence, a criminologist said on Wednesday. Dap Louw, a psychology professor at the University of the Free State, said South Africans should also not develop a ”learned helplessness syndrome”.
The crime most feared in South Africa is housebreaking, according to a survey recently conducted for the National Prosecuting Authority. ”The reason is the fear that the burglary will take place while the residents are on the premises,” said Andre du Toit, acting director for public prosecutions in the Free State.
Controversial South African police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi received praise in glowing terms on Monday for his role in international policing. As Interpol president, Selebi has ”ensured that Interpol and its member countries remain at the cutting edge” in several respects, said Interpol secretary general Ronald K Noble.