Michael Hamlyn
Michael Hamlyn works from Cape Town. Late middle age journalist
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/ 19 September 2007

Ramos resolves to win freight back from the roads

Having for the first time in a decade halted the draining away of freight transportation from the railways to the roads, Maria Ramos, the chief executive of Transnet, is aiming to win back a large slice of the business. "Not all cargo on the roads is suitable for rail," Ramos explained in Cape Town on Wednesday, "but we are targeting the container traffic aggressively."

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/ 12 September 2007

Floor-crossing Travelgate MP accepted by ANC

In the latest twist in the current floor-crossing saga the African National Congress (ANC), despite all its previous protestations about taking firm action against members of Parliament convicted of fraud, on Wednesday accepted into their ranks Craig Morkel, who was convicted of fraud and theft in the Travelgate debacle.

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/ 11 September 2007

Sentech complains of lack of money to do job

State-owned broadcast signal distributor Sentech is protesting that it simply does not have enough money to do its job properly. Writing in the company’s annual report, chairperson Colin Hickling points out that it has been proved impossible to roll out a national broadband radio network until extra funds are received from the government.

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/ 6 September 2007

DA MPs walk out of National Assembly

The majority of the members of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) walked out of the National Assembly on Thursday after speaker Baleka Mbete officially suspended one of them for five days. Health spokesperson Mike Waters upset the speaker on Wednesday when he challenged her ruling that a question directed to Manto Tshabalala Msimang was out of order.

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/ 3 September 2007

Parliament has ‘cleaned up its act’

Officials of South Africa’s Parliament boasted on Monday that for the first time since 2003/04 the institution had received a clean bill of financial health from the Auditor General. There is, according to the secretary of Parliament, Zingile Dingani, no qualification and no matter of emphasis in the report.

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/ 30 August 2007

Mbeki insists Zim talks will produce a settlement

Despite persistent incredulous questioning by opposition parties, President Thabo Mbeki insisted on Thursday that the Zimbabwean government, the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change and representatives of civil society are engaged in talks that will produce conditions for holding free and fair elections next March in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity.