The Department of Arts and Culture has received ”hundreds” of submissions on the proposed renaming of Johannesburg International airport to OR Tambo International airport, the department reported on Monday. The deadline for submissions is at midnight on Monday. Ministry spokesperson Sandile Memela said that submissions were streaming in ”every moment of every hour”.
<i>Mail & Guardian</i> editor Ferial Haffajee took top honours at the MTN Women in the Media 2006 awards ceremony in Johannesburg on Friday, claiming the overall award. The awards honour women in the South African media industry who have excelled in their careers.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will ask the government to withdraw its ambassador from Israel in solidarity with the people of Palestine, its president, Willie Madisha, said on Wednesday. He was speaking after Cosatu held a meeting with Palestinian activist Leila Khaled in Johannesburg.
African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma’s family reacted with shock on Tuesday to reports that his first wife’s name has been used in a 419 scam e-mail. Nephew Michael Zuma, in Nkandla, said: ”What? She doesn’t even have a computer. She has a phone, but she can’t even send SMSs.”
The editor of the Mail & Guardian newspaper, Ferial Haffajee, was elected chairperson of the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) at its annual general meeting in East London on Monday. Thabo Leshilo, editor of the Sowetan newspaper, was elected deputy chairperson.
The South African Medical Association has called for an investigation into the release — by the director general of health — of a consignment of anti-Aids food supplements from the Dr Rath Health Foundation. The <i>Mail & Guardian</i> reported on Friday that the consignment allegedly contained a scheduled substance.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) defended its withdrawal of an "unauthorised" documentary on President Thabo Mbeki in a full-page newspaper advertisement on Saturday. "At no stage was any pressure, political or otherwise, exerted on our editorial or legal staff," read the public broadcaster’s advert.
A huge fire engulfed the cargo section of Istanbul’s international Atatürk airport on Wednesday. Black smoke billowed high into the air, television footage showed. The fire caused panic at the airport, and authorities were trying to evacuate hundreds of people from nearby terminals.
Nineteen South Africans have been arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) alongside three Americans and four Nigerians on allegations of ”destabilisation of government institutions”, the South African Department of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday.
The new R55-million Baramall shopping centre was officially launched in Soweto on Wednesday. The centre is fully let and anchor tenants include Shoprite, OK Furnishers, Jet Stores, PEP Stores, Diskom and Dunns, while financial institutions include Absa, African Bank, First National Bank and Standard Bank.