Richard Davies
Guest Author
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/ 13 September 2005

Mlambo-Ngcuka dodges land price question

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has dodged giving a definitive answer on whether government will pay a market-related price for land it might appropriate under its land reform programme. Speaking in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday, she said the answer to this question was ”a yes and a no”.

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/ 23 August 2005

‘We never fought to make a few black people wealthy’

South Africa’s transition to democracy over the past decade has proved a disaster for the country’s poor, Congress of South African Trade Unions Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich said on Monday. Speaking in Cape Town’s City Hall at the launch of a grassroots coalition to tackle poverty in the province, he harshly criticised the government’s failure to stem job losses.

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/ 2 August 2005

How SA is losing its cultural treasures

Valuable South African cultural treasures, including art works, firearms, furniture and archaeological artefacts, are being smuggled out of the country for foreign collectors. According to South African Heritage Resources CEO Phakamani Buthelezi, the value of objects taken ”ranges between R500 to R50 000, even to R100 000”.

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/ 30 May 2005

Govt unveils policy on fishing rights

The government on Monday unveiled its final policy on the allocation of long-term marine fishing rights, despite trade-union calls for a moratorium on issuing it and threats of strike action. The document’s release comes after a night in which a group of about 50 trade unionists and fishermen chained themselves to the gates of Parliament.

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/ 24 May 2005

Parliament hears of tik ‘devastation’

The spiralling use of the drug ”tik” in South Africa, especially among the youth, came under the spotlight in Parliament on Tuesday, with Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour vowing to ”break the back” of those peddling the deadly substance. He also spoke about the issues of prison gangs and overcrowding.

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/ 19 May 2005

Rural areas’ water quality questionable

Almost two-thirds of South Africa’s municipalities cannot say whether the water they supply to consumers meets specified standards, Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Buyelwa Sonjica told MPs on Wednesday. Director General of Water Affairs and Forestry Mike Muller said the problem is confined to rural areas.

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/ 17 May 2005

Language issue hijacks education debate

Jeers and cries of disbelief greeted a remark by Minister of Education Naledi Pandor in the National Assembly on Tuesday that the government is not against any language in South Africa. Pandor told MPs the time has come to ”make the learning of an African indigenous language compulsory in our schools”.

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/ 5 May 2005

Climate change threatens SA

South Africa will pay dearly for global industrialisation and other activities that generate greenhouse gases, a new study revealed on Thursday. A report by the South African National Biodiversity Institute, released in Cape Town, warns that rising temperatures will change the face of the country by 2050.

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/ 6 April 2005

Govt to start preparing public for climate change

Government is poised to start preparing the public and business sector to deal with climate change, which is expected to have a major impact on South Africa’s economy over the next few decades. Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the effect of climate change on maize production alone would have massive knock-on effects.