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/ 29 January 2008
The mandate of about 1 000 South African soldiers deployed in Burundi under an African Union mandate is to be extended as efforts to get the last remaining rebel group to re-join the peace process gain momentum, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday.
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/ 29 January 2008
ÂProsecutors on Tuesday implicated British tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraaten on pornography charges involving scores of young Zimbabwean women and gave evidence of how he had been trapped in illegal black-market currency dealing. Van Hoogstraaten professes to be a friend of President Robert Mugabe, whom he describes as ”100% decent and incorruptible”.
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/ 29 January 2008
South Africans can expect current load-shedding by Eskom to continue, if not worsen, for at least the next four weeks. Eskom, which met major industrial customers and the six metro mayors on Tuesday, proposed a three-phase recovery period that would include load-shedding, at least in the initial phase.
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/ 29 January 2008
Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest platinum producer, on Wednesday said it was able to operate its mines at full capacity with 80% of its power needs. Spokesperson Trevor Raymond said the company’s smelting and refining operations remained in standby mode.
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/ 29 January 2008
More than 5 000 public servants have been convicted for defrauding the South African Social Security Agency, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Tuesday. In April 2005, Skweyiya tasked the Special Investigating Unit with investigating fraud and corruption which then plagued the social-grant system.
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/ 29 January 2008
An African National Congress MP on Tuesday proposed that prostitution be legalised during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The suggestion of George Lekgetho was met with groans of protest and chuckles from other MPs at the portfolio committee on arts and culture in Parliament.
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/ 29 January 2008
It is critical that South Africans respond to the energy-saving proposals made by the government for industrial, commercial and residential consumers, the African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday. ”The success of the programme taken by the government … depends on the contribution of all South Africans and sectors,” the ANC said.
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/ 29 January 2008
Widespread media attention over the health risks associated with paddling the Hansa Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon has resulted in the appointment of a consultant to oversee actions to be taken in order to make the race safer for canoeists. This was announced on Tuesday by chairperson of the race organisers, Cameron Mackenzie.
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/ 29 January 2008
A Zimbabwean tribunal has begun proceedings to decide whether the nation’s Attorney General should be removed from office for allegedly abusing his power in a case involving a fugitive banker, state media said on Tuesday. Attorney General Sobusa Gula-Ndebele was suspended in December after police charged him with corruption.
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/ 29 January 2008
The Zimbabwean Ministry of Industry and International Trade will within the next 40 days open ”people’s shops” countrywide after the Cabinet last week approved the concept, the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday. The people’s shops ”will provide basic commodities aimed at the very low-income earners”.