An airliner carrying 175 people crashed and burst into flames on Tuesday in São Paulo after landing at Brazil’s busiest airport in driving rain. The state governor said all aboard were likely dead. The São Paulo fire department said at least 200 people, including some on the ground, were dead at the scene. There was no immediate news of survivors.
Perpetrators of apartheid crimes should be given the chance to tell their stories to enable closure for their victims and for themselves, Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane said on Tuesday at a press conference at the Union Buildings. He criticised those who say the book on apartheid-era crimes should be closed.
South Africa continued to dominate swimming at the All Africa Games, winning five out of six gold medals on Friday. Amanda Loots won the women’s 50m butterfly in 27,60 seconds, Melissa Corfe the women’s 200m freestyle in 2:02,45, and Suzaan van Biljon the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2:32,30.
The acting fraternity was "utterly devastated" by the death of Bill Flynn on Wednesday, said producer Bobby Heaney. "Bill was the most loved actor in the whole country." Flynn’s highly successful career included leading roles in more than 140 stage plays, musicals, 42 films and dozens of television shows.
Orania chairperson Carel Boshoff’s wife, Anna, died on July 10 at the age of 75, the family said. "Tannie Anna, as she was known, was a community person par excellence, and will be remembered for the countless initiatives aimed at maintaining and reclaiming the Afrikaner’s freedom," the family said in a statement.
The latest crime statistics released on Tuesday prove crime is out of control despite government assurances to the contrary, opposition parties said. ”We are alarmed at the increase in murder [2,4%], the 118% increase in bank robberies … and the sharp increase in robberies at residential premises,” Inkatha Freedom Party spokesperson Velaphi Ndlovu said.
South Africa’s high murder rate rose further in the past year while rape figures dropped, according to police statistics on Tuesday. With around 50 murders, 148 rapes and nearly 700 serious assaults committed each day, violent crime is a particular concern.
A blazing Cherokee Jeep smashed into the main terminal building at Scotland’s Glasgow airport on Saturday, police said, a day after two car bombings were foiled in central London. Police said two people were arrested in Saturday’s incident. The airport was closed afterwards. There were no reports of any injuries.
Dina Rodrigues, the mastermind in the June 2005 murder of baby Jordan-Leigh Norton, was on Thursday sentenced to life in prison. Two of her co-accused, Sipho Mongezi Mfazwe and Mongezi Bobotyane, also received life sentences. The packed public gallery applauded the sentences loudly.
The Mail & Guardian on Wednesday faced possible legal action and even an interdict over a new instalment it plans to publish in its series of articles detailing the criminal networks surrounding Glenn Agliotti, a friend of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.