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/ 31 October 2007
The government’s key Working for Water programme, aimed at eradicating invasive alien plants that cause billions of rands’ damage to the economy each year, appears set to fall further and further behind in its efforts to contain the problem. Alien plants have so far invaded about 8% of the country.
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/ 31 October 2007
The European Union is threatening to ban the import of South African animal products because the government has failed to meet certain requirements agreed on five years ago, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday. The ban would cover South African beef, mutton, pork, chicken, ostrich and game products, among others.
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/ 31 October 2007
Botswana police and wildlife guards are torturing Bushmen arrested for hunting, Survival International claimed on Wednesday. They made three Bushmen run through the desert in blistering heat for hours while chasing them in vehicles, Survival said in a statement.
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/ 31 October 2007
According to research, 70% of young children who have a parent in jail develop emotional problems, the Wynberg Regional Court heard from a psychiatrist on Wednesday. Rosa Bredenkamp was testifying before Western Cape Regional Court president Robert Henney in support of Najwa Petersen’s second bail application.
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/ 31 October 2007
A toy gun was used in a six-hour hostage drama in Lenasia on Wednesday, police said. ”The gun that was used looked very real,” said police spokesperson Captain Julia Klaassen. ”Negotiators did their job well. We are just thankful and relieved that the situation is now over.” The hostages’ ordeal occurred when a 20-year-old Durban man held up the family of four at their home.
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/ 31 October 2007
The Turkish army on Wednesday said it killed 15 Kurdish separatists near the Iraqi border, as ministers discussed possible economic sanctions against Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish government. The latest fighting took place in the Cudi Mountains in Sirnak province, where helicopters and artillery have been pounding Kurdish rebels since Monday.
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/ 31 October 2007
KwaZulu-Natal opposition parties on Wednesday accused the ruling African National Congress of ignoring the wishes of the residents of Matatiele and forging ahead with the district’s incorporation into the Eastern Cape. The Democratic Alliance (DA) accused the ANC of ”totally ignoring the wishes of the people of Matatiele Maluti”.
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/ 31 October 2007
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) army on Wednesday exchanged artillery fire with renegade troops led by dissident sacked general Laurent Nkunda, the military and the United Nations observer mission said. "There was fighting this morning but the situation has calmed down," the commander in Nord-Kivu province, General Vainqueur Mayala, said.
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/ 31 October 2007
Publication of the fact that a person is a client of a specific bank does not infringe privacy rights, according to Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso. She made the finding in a written judgement, handed down this week, on a bid by FirstRand to prevent magazine noseweek publishing the names of clients involved in an allegedly dodgy tax scheme.
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/ 31 October 2007
Zimbabwe has registered a 2,5% decline in the prevalence of HIV to 15,6% of the population, the authorities revealed in Harare on Wednesday. The latest decline is from 18,1% of the population in 2006 to 15,6% this year, or one in every seven people, Health Ministry officials were quoted as saying.