South Africa’s gold production fell by 7,4% in 2007 compared with an average decline of 6,3% per year for the last decade, the Chamber of Mines said on Monday. Production for members of the chamber dropped by 6,7% to 219 223kg, the Chamber said in a statement.
A ”virulent and vicious” smear campaign is being waged against Zimbabwe over the list of observers invited to witness the country’s elections on March 29, the country’s ambassador to South Africa, Simon Moyo, said on Monday. The campaign is being driven by the West and certain sections of the South African media, he said in a statement.
Siyabonga Nqakula, son of Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula, dozed off behind the steering wheel of his mother’s car before landing up on the wrong side of the road and smashing head-on into an oncoming car, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard on Monday. Nqakula testified in his own defence on charges of drunken driving and reckless driving.
Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana is studying a response from Eskom regarding allegations about a contract awarded by the electricity utility to a company linked to African National Congress investment firm Chancellor House. Mushwana’s office said he had noticed reports stating that Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille intended lodging a complaint.
A 57-year-old German tourist died at St Francis Bay when he apparently choked on his food at a restaurant, Eastern Cape police said. Victor Bhor was at a restaurant on Sunday when the incident occurred, said Inspector Gerda Swart. She said Bhor’s friends, who accompanied him to dinner, tried to assist him but were not successful.
Escalating banditry has forced the World Food Programme (WFP) to halve food deliveries in Darfur, and without immediate cash the United Nations agency will ground its humanitarian flights at the end of the month. So far his year, hijackers have attacked five WFP passenger vehicles and 45 WFP-contracted trucks, the agency said in a statement.
Seven French electricity experts visited South Africa last week to assist Eskom in dealing with the electricity crisis facing South Africa, the French embassy said on Monday. During his state visit to South Africa on February 28 and 29, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that France would be sending engineers to work closely with their South African counterparts.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma on Monday sought to ”clarify” recent statements of his, which he said had been misrepresented in the media, and denied having been ”summoned” by the Congress of South African Trade Unions to explain some of them.
Leaders from 10 Central African nations began summit talks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday regarding developments in Chad in the wake of a failed rebel offensive. President Joseph Kabila of the DRC welcomed six other heads of state, including Chad’s President Idriss Déby Itno.
Foreign nationals arriving at OR Tambo International Airport will not be required to furnish customs officials with their addresses, the border control operational coordinating committee said on Monday. Committee chairperson Humbulani Ravele told a press briefing: ”As a precautionary measure, customs officials removed the address fill-ins on the forms.”