Hundreds of Kenyans have fallen ill after a chemical consignment was dumped on the roadside near the port city of Mombasa, officials said on Thursday. According to a local official, up to 1 500 people have sought treatment at local hospitals, complaining mainly of chest pains and respiratory problems.
Solidarity on Thursday welcomed a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) ruling on a charge of unfair racial discrimination in the trade union’s favour. Solidarity declared a dispute with South African Airways Technical in February and referred the matter to the CCMA.
Trade conditions appear to be out of negative territory after the Trade Activity Index (TAI) increased for the third month in a row, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Thursday. The TAI, which measures the view of business on current trade activity, increased from 44 in December last year to 48 in January and 50 in February
United Nations peacekeeping troops are heading for ”Iraq-style disaster” in Darfur as long as talks between the government and rebel groups remain stalled and the United States maintains its hostile stance, Sudanese officials and regional experts warned on Wednesday.
Durban’s disaster-management team and city officials are busy calculating the cost of damage caused during a heavy downpour on Tuesday night that continued into the early hours of Wednesday. Two oil refineries, hospitals, courts, homes, shacks, railway lines, buildings and roads were affected by the overnight storm.
World markets continued to weigh on the JSE on Thursday — pushing the bourse down 0,93% by midday. At noon, the JSE’s bank index fell 1,87%, financials gave up 1,61% and industrials were 1,4% lower. The platinum mining index declined 1,41%, resources shed 0,38% but the gold mining index advanced 1,69%.
The African National Congress would campaign against the death penalty if a referendum was held on the issue, the party’s secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday. Mantashe’s remarks follow last week’s statement by party president Jacob Zuma that a referendum should be held if enough South Africans wanted it.
New Zealand Rugby Union boss Steve Tew was forced into the role of moderator on Thursday as Australian counterpart John O’Neill espoused a radical plan to revamp Super 14 rugby. O’Neill said ”high level discussion” had begun on a plan to expand the tournament to six-and-a-half months from February to August.
Five men robbed a family at Hennopsriver in the Erasmia area, burning the mother and father with an iron. Constable Patricia Simelane said the men demanded money — saying that they had been told there was money in the house — and ”they burnt the mother and father with an iron three of four times on the upper body”.
A third person has been arrested in connection with the murders of 18 people in the Mzamba area in the Eastern Cape, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Wednesday. A special police task team set up to investigate the murders arrested the man in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.