On a vast rubbish-strewn field in a mining area east of Johannesburg, hundreds of destitute Africans who have fled their makeshift homes in nearby slums shiver in the morning cold. The land, covered in white tents donated by aid groups, resembles the all-too-familiar refugee camps seen across this violence-hit continent.
Eskom has no power cuts planned, the power utility said on Monday. However, demand and supply remained tight and any technical difficulties could result in emergency cuts, said spokesperson Fani Zulu. ”One you have technical problems, they quickly take you to load-shedding,” he said.
Somali gunmen hijacked a Dutch-owned ship as it travelled from Kenya’s Mombasa port to Romania in the latest act of piracy off the lawless Horn of Africa nation’s coast, a maritime official said on Tuesday. The MV Amiya Scan, managed by the Dutch Reider Shipping BV, was seized on Sunday while it passed through the Gulf of Aden.
South Africa’s biggest cellphone operator, Vodacom, reported a rise in annual profit as it boosted subscriber numbers, parent company Telkom said on Tuesday. Telkom, Africa’s largest fixed-line telephone operator, said Vodacom had increased its total subscribers by 12,7% to 34-million in the year ended March.
Springbok captain John Smit joined the Springbok training session in Stellenbosch on Monday morning just hours after stepping off the plane from France, where he had been playing for Top 14 club Clermont. The arrival of Smit was greeted with great relief by Springbok coach Peter de Villiers. ”We could not do our planning fully without him,” De Villiers explained.
World leaders are to meet next week for urgent talks aimed at preventing tens of millions of the world’s poor dying of hunger as a result of soaring food prices. The summit in Rome is expected to pledge immediate aid to poor countries threatened by malnutrition as well as charting longer-term strategies for improving food production.
A former senior manager at Siemens on Monday admitted building up an elaborate system of slush funds and shell firms at the request of his superiors to help Europe’s biggest technology group win overseas contracts through bribes. Reinhard Siekaczek told a Munich court that he had informed his entire divisional board about the system.
Britain’s first interfaith game show is to be launched, pitting Jews against Muslims, Sikhs against Christians and Hindus against Buddhists, with contestants competing for cash prizes. Faith Off, the working title of a series on the Islam Channel, will attempt to promote good relations and mutual respect between Britain’s religious communities.
Fraud convict Schabir Shaik has been admitted to the critical care unit of Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital, his brother, Mo, said on Monday. Mo said this was because of fears that his high blood pressure could lead to heart problems. chabir was first admitted to the hospital on April 1 and has been there ever since.
Foreign aid workers on Tuesday pressed into Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta, testing the junta’s pledge to open up areas where one million people have yet to receive aid three weeks after the cyclone. Six foreign staff based in Rangoon with the United Nations Children’s Fund were allowed to join teams of mainly Burma workers.