A Zimbabwe teachers’ union leader was detained by police on Thursday after his organisation publicised a list of attacks on its members since March’s disputed elections. Raymond Majongwe, secretary general of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, was picked up at the Harare High Court where he was attending a case of fellow union leaders.
The South African Revenue Service on Thursday announced details for the 2008 tax season, that for the first time puts specific emphasis on the central role of employers in the personal income tax system. Changes would be introduced that would impact on the legal obligation of employers who administer payroll taxes such as Paye, UIF, Site and SDL.
South Africa’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Thursday wage increases had negative implications for price stability, but it was important to ensure that inflation did not erode workers’ salaries. The central bank has cited electricity tariffs and wage settlements among the key issues its monetary policy committee will monitor closely.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on Thursday reiterated its call for media houses to refrain from accepting any advertising from the City of Tshwane metropolitain council. The ASA said it had come to its attention that media houses were accepting advertising from the city despite its instructions not to do so.
Food prices should stay high for the next two to three seasons but should eventually ease as stocks are replenished, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Thursday. Senior officials from the United Nations agency said corn prices would be supported this year by lower US plantings and by increased demand for ethanol.
It is impossible to have an HIV-free South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and a defence-force policy discriminating against people with HIV is unconstitutional, the Pretoria High Court heard on Thursday. Advocate Gilbert Marcus, SC argued that people should be assessed individually, since an individual who was HIV-positive was not necessarily sick.
Algeria has started negotiations with Russia on receiving SU-30 fighter jets in exchange for a consignment of faulty MiG-29 warplanes it returned in 2006, Interfax news agency reported on Thursday. Long-time Russian ally Algeria sent back 15 MiG-29s for containing sub-standard parts and has now begun talks on replacing them with up to 16 SU-30s.
Anti-whaling campaigners said on Thursday that they had uncovered an embezzlement ring at the heart of the Japanese whaling fleet, accusing crew members of stealing choice cuts of whale meat worth millions of yen for sale on the black market.
Rene Burger, the sister of Springbok rugby player Schalk, has decided to confirm that she was raped last week at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), a family spokesperson said on Thursday. ”She is amazingly brave and courageous,” said Elna Boesak, appointed to speak on behalf of the family.
The horror facing Movement for Democratic Change members in Zimbabwe became apparent this week.