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The African National Congress reaffirmed its confidence in former deputy president Jacob Zuma on Thursday, but the party’s national general council (NGC) meeting was instructed by President Thabo Mbeki not to discuss Zuma’s dismissal or the charges against him.
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday cited fears about the ”diminution” of Afrikaans as an issue that the ruling African National Congress should address in leading the country’s social transformation.
Steps will be taken to boost the government’s ability to execute growth and development strategies, Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said on Monday. ”We need to focus on the ability to implement,” he told reporters in Pretoria.
Four white Waterkloof youths are spending the lunch hour behind bars after being convicted in the Pretoria Regional Court on Tuesday of murdering a black man and assaulting another in December 2001. They face a minimum sentence of life imprisonment for committing a murder with common purpose.
Describing corruption as a ”pervasive and insidious evil”, Durban High Court Judge Hillary Squires sentenced businessman Schabir Shaik to an effective 15-year jail term for fraud and corruption on Wednesday.
Hundreds of disabled, destitute and elderly people, children and volunteer welfare workers marched through the streets of Pretoria on Wednesday to press for increased government subsidies. Chanting ”Welfare is bleeding, the nation is dying”, the protesters made their way along a few blocks to Strijdom Square in the city centre.
The goal of reducing electricity consumption by 153 megawatts yearly in a bid to conserve dwindling resources was exceeded by about 30% last year, Eskom said on Thursday. Eskom MD Johnny Dladla was speaking at a function in Pretoria to showcase energy-savings efforts undertaken at the 1 Military hospital.
A body of African municipal structures was launched in Pretoria on Monday with calls for a renewed focus at the lowest level of government on improving the lives of indigent Africans. African Union chairperson Olusegun Obasanjo said he hopes the congress marks the beginning of strong local governance structures.
Students who fail perpetually should not be allowed to continue their higher education studies indeterminately, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said on Friday. The minister sought to explain a draft proposal she has submitted to the higher-education sector for consideration.
The Competition Tribunal gave the go-ahead on Tuesday for mining company Harmony’s hostile takeover of rival Gold Fields — provided it caps retrenchments arising from the merger at 1 000. The figure includes contracted employees, and retrenchments have to be confined to management and supervisory posts.