Recent electricity failures posed no crisis but an opportunity for economic growth through infrastructure expansion, President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday. There was no reason for investors to worry, he told the National Assembly. ”We shouldn’t frighten ourselves too much,” Mbeki said in response to parliamentary questions.
Minister of Public Works Stella Sigcau dared an opposition party member on Wednesday not to hide behind parliamentary privilege in accusing her of unethical conduct. During the Department of Public Works’ budget vote, Democratic Alliance MP Sydney Opperman expressed concern about government graft.
Auditor General Shauket Fakie relied on flawed data in finding that several Cabinet ministers and deputies failed to declare business interests, Parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members’ interests said on Friday. The committee said Fakie failed to verify the accuracy and completeness of his data.
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/ 24 February 2006
Sharks president Oregan Hoskins has been elected president of the South African Rugby Union, defeating incumbent Brian van Rooyen at the annual general meeting held on Friday. Former vice-president Mike Stofile was elected deputy president and Western Province’s Koos Basson has been appointed as vice-president.
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/ 3 February 2006
President Thabo Mbeki was criticised for glimpsing over Aids, Zimbabwe and corruption in his State of the Nation address on Friday, but praised for his focus on social upliftment based on economic growth. His announcement of a review of the government’s willing-seller, willing-buyer approach to land reform also drew mixed response.
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/ 1 February 2006
Parliament’s public spending watchdog declined a request on Wednesday for a special probe into Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s recent taxpayer-funded holiday plane trip. A proposal to the standing committee on public accounts was opposed by its African National Congress members.
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/ 27 January 2006
The fire that ravaged the lower slopes of Table Mountain’s Camps Bay side since Thursday afternoon was mostly contained by Friday morning, but the wind was key to winning the final battle, officials said. The fire, which broke out at about 4pm on Thursday, has so far destroyed 700ha of vegetation
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/ 16 January 2006
No malice was intended when gazetting draft constitutional amendments for public comment over the Christmas holiday period, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said on Monday. The draft document, which proposes changes to the judicial system, was published for comment on December 14.
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/ 12 December 2005
As motorists struggled to find petrol on Monday, the government denied any fuel shortages inland. The situation inland constituted ”an inconvenience rather than a crisis”, and motorists should not wait for their tanks to empty before filling up, Minerals and Energy Minister Lindiwe Hendricks told reporters in Pretoria.
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/ 2 December 2005
The dues of African Union member states, notoriously in arrears, should be collected through a ”community levy”, the Pan African Parliament (PAP) proposed on Friday. The resolution is an attempt by the PAP to ”support the AU in the provision of necessary resources for the realisation of its dreams and vision”.