Staff Reporter
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/ 30 January 2008

Limpopo flood victims receive aid by helicopter

A South African National Defence Force helicopter from Pretoria was expected to deliver food parcels to flood victims in Limpopo on Wednesday, the province’s housing and local government department said. ”Those residents are cut off from the outside world. We can only access them by air,” said a departmental spokesperson.

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/ 30 January 2008

No bail for Boeremag suspect who found religion

The Pretoria High Court refused bail on Wednesday to one of the accused in the Boeremag treason trial, Kobus Pretorius. Pretorius (34), whose father and brother are on trial with him along with 17 other accused on 42 charges including high treason, terrorism and murder, said he had experienced a religious conversion while in jail.

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/ 30 January 2008

Pistorius not giving up on Olympic dream

South African ”Bladerunner” Oscar Pistorius vowed in an interview with Italian television on Tuesday to continue his fight to have an Olympic ban overturned. The disabled sprinter, who runs with carbon-fibre blade attachments, wants to be allowed to compete in the normal Olympics as well as the Paralympics.

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/ 30 January 2008

Strong quake rocks Indonesia’s Maluku

A strong 6,6-magnitude earthquake rocked the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku on Wednesday, prompting the issuing of a tsunami alert, the meteorology and geophysics office said. The earthquake, which struck at 7.32am GMT was centered 300km north-east of the East Timorese capital Dili, about 23km under the floor of the Banda Sea.

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/ 30 January 2008

Trade union to launch own medical fund

Trade union Solidarity is introducing its own medical fund in a move against what it called "high medical rates", it said on Wednesday. "It’s a non-profit service. We don’t want to make millions out of the sick, but make private healthcare more accessible to the people of South Africa," said Jaco Kleynhans, Solidarity spokesperson.