Bate Felix
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/ 31 October 2007

Cops probe abuse allegations at Oprah school

South African police are investigating alleged abuses at billionaire United States television magnate Oprah Winfrey’s all-girl leadership academy, a police spokesperson said on Wednesday. Rapport newspaper has reported a matron at the school allegedly fondled one of the pupils, and grabbed a girl by the throat and threw her against a wall.

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/ 29 October 2007

Ramaphosa’s the man, says Kader Asmal

Senior African National Congress (ANC) member Kader Asmal on Monday called on hundreds of the ruling party’s influential branches to back business tycoon Cyril Ramaphosa as the next president of the ruling party and the country. Ramaphosa has said he has no interest in becoming South Africa’s next president.

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/ 15 October 2007

Burundi rebels to rejoin truce team

Burundi rebels will rejoin a truce-monitoring team they quit in July, the facilitator, South African Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula, said on Monday, boosting efforts to bring a lasting end to a decade of conflict. ”The stalled Burundi peace process will be resumed on Saturday October 20,” Nqakula told a news conference.

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/ 19 September 2007

Vavi predicts union backing for Zuma

The head of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Wednesday the union federation is likely to name controversial politician Jacob Zuma as its candidate to head the ruling African National Congress. ”I must say that he has become a very important symbol among workers,” Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said.

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/ 31 August 2007

Zimbabweans flee to more misery in SA

Crispin Mutamba fled exhausting bread and fuel queues in Zimbabwe for wealthy South Africa, only to find himself stuck in another one for three months outside Home Affairs in Pretoria hoping to get permission to stay. The chances are slim. Mutamba can’t find a job or a home, and, like many Zimbabweans, he feels like a pariah.

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/ 28 August 2007

SA recalls 20-million risky condoms

South Africa’s Health Department said on Tuesday it has recalled 20-million potentially defective condoms approved by an official accused of taking bribes from a manufacturer. Unsafe sex is especially risky in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest HIV infection rates with an estimated 12% of its 47-million people infected with the virus.

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/ 30 July 2007

SA church shelters Zimbabweans

His name is ”Average” and the story of his desperate flight from the wreckage of President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe is an increasingly common one. The tall 34-year-old, slouching exhausted in a Johannesburg church that has become a de facto transit camp, is one man in a tide of migrants washing up in South Africa.

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/ 21 June 2007

Wage talks: ‘It’s still touch and go’

South African government and union negotiators postponed until Friday talks aimed at ending a costly three-week civil servants’ strike to enable labour unions to consult members, officials said. ”We are coming back on Friday. Labour requested more time to get a mandate from their members,” said Lewis Rabkin, spokesperson for the Public Services and Administration ministry.

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/ 4 June 2007

Aids seen as new threat to African democracy

Aids may be killing elected officials in some Southern African countries faster than they can be replaced, creating a new threat to democracy and governance in the region, a new study said. The Institute for Democracy in South Africa said a study of mortality patterns in Southern Africa indicated Africa’s HIV/Aids crisis was reaching deep into elected governments.