Donwald Pressly
Guest Author
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/ 28 May 2007

Botha takes over the Leon mantle

Free Stater Sandra Botha, a former caucus chairperson of the opposition DA, has narrowly won the race for leader of the official opposition by 31 votes to 25 over former National Party minister Tertius Delport. She is the first woman to hold the post of leader of the opposition in South Africa. Past holders of the post have included Jan Smuts, Sir De Villiers Graaf and Dr Fredrick van Zyl Slabbert.

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/ 18 May 2007

Mbeki calls for patriotic public service

South Africa must do much more to train and create a public service that meets the highest professional standards and ”that is proud of the fact that it exists to serve the people”, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. While he does not refer to the upcoming national strike, he clearly has this in mind when he refers to the need for public servants to be ”patriotic and selfless”.