Criminals are using xenophobia as a ”perfect excuse” to commit crime, KwaZulu-Natal safety and security minister Bheki Cele said on Friday. ”I am just concerned that criminals are using xenophobia as an excuse to commit crimes … Why else would they steal the foreigners’ belongings?”
Twelve pedestrians were knocked down and injured by a police vehicle in Berea in Johannesburg on Thursday, ER24 emergency services said. Spokesperson Riana Beech said the accident happened at the corner of Tudhope and Soper Streets at about 4.30pm.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Angola on Friday in a bid to improve relations following an arms scandal that provoked tensions between the two countries. Sarkozy was to hold talks with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Friday morning at the presidential palace.
Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad will not be available to serve in public office after next year’s elections, a media report said on Friday. Pahad is the latest government figure to announce his intentions after Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin went public about his resignation, also planned for after next year’s elections.
World food prices are likely to stay high and volatile for the foreseeable future despite some record crops this year, according to a report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation on Thursday. Food import bills around the world are expected to total more than a trillion US dollars in 2008.
He has been a near-constant presence at hundreds of Barack Obama rallies across the United States over the past 15 months. David Axelrod, a melancholy, dishevelled figure with a drooping moustache, is Obama’s campaign strategist, and has overseen his rise from political obscurity to the verge of the White House.
Democratic party officials disclosed on Thursday that Barack Obama has sanctioned a hunt for a vice-presidential candidate, a further sign that he regards the battle with Hillary Clinton as being over. Time magazine, in a report in its next issue, quotes a friend of Bill Clinton saying he wants his wife to be the vice-presidential candidate.
At about 4pm last Sunday, Orlando Pirates were 2-0 up against AmaZulu in their last game of the season, thanks to goals by Gilbert Mushangazhike and Rudzani Ramudzuli. The fans at home and at the Johannesburg Stadium were happy that their beloved team were finally finding the form that had eluded them at important times of the season.
The Sichuan earthquake is the biggest disaster for the world’s children in seven years, an international charity organisation said yesterday, as the overall death toll jumped above 51 000, with 29 000 more still missing. Save the Children said three million babies, infants and teenagers were among the worst affected by the quake.
Cape Town police and refugee organisations are on full alert after two Somalis were robbed and shot dead in Durbanville last weekend. As reports of these killings trickled in from across the Cape peninsula, the top three Western Cape policemen ordered every station commander in the city to an emergency meeting on Tuesday.