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/ 16 October 2007
The upcoming summer season will have unusual weather conditions, and farmers need to have contingency plans, the Agriculture and Land Affairs Department said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Steve Galane said wet and warm conditions are expected over South Africa’s summer rainfall areas.
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/ 16 October 2007
Eritrea has taken over from North Korea as the country in the world where press rights are least respected, the Paris-based campaigning group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said on Tuesday. North Korea and Turkmenistan are runners-up in RSF’s annual poll of shame of 169 countries.
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/ 15 October 2007
The new National Lottery operator, Gidani, has recorded eight million ticket transactions despite all the hiccups that saw the game suspended for more than seven months. "This was clearly a sterling performance," Gidani’s public affairs corporate executive Thembi Tulwana said Monday.
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/ 14 October 2007
Following a tip-off from a member of the public, about 100Â 000 unused defective condoms were found scattered at an illegal dumping site in the Ntande area near Etafuleni in Inanda, north of Durban, on Saturday, the provincial department of agriculture and environmental affairs said.
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/ 13 October 2007
The editor of the <i>Sunday Times</i> and one of its journalists will be arrested this week to face charges of being illegally in possession of the health minister’s medical records. Editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker will be hauled to Cape Town in connection with charges of theft and contravention of the National Health Act.
Harmony Gold’s Elandsrand mine near Carletonville has been shut down for up to six weeks after the mine’s main exit was blocked, trapping 3 200 miners underground, the Minerals and Energy Department said on Thursday. About 800 miners remained trapped more than 2,2km underground by 4pm on Thursday.
Protesting students stormed into lecture theatres at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg on Wednesday, disrupting classes and chasing away lecturers. ”We have called police back to campus in a bid to have order restored,” management spokesperson Shirona Patel said.
So-called surprise visits by businessman Tokyo Sexwale to branches of the South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) have raised the ire of the student body. ”We demand a public apology from Mr Sexwale for bringing the name of our organisation into disrepute,” said Sasco president David Maimela on Wednesday.
Whether suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli had taken "national security interests" into consideration in decisions he made will be one of the main issues in a hearing to determine his fitness to hold office. President Thabo Mbeki on Wednesday approved the terms of reference for the inquiry.
Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi has been investigated but no decision has been made on prosecuting him, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, President Thabo Mbeki was caught off guard on Tuesday when asked questions by the media about the possible arrest of Selebi.