Staff Reporter
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/ 18 September 2007

Cops lose 3 800 firearms, says report

The police lost over 1 500 more firearms during the past financial year than they did during the previous year, says the Auditor General. In an audit contained in the South African Police Service 2006/07 annual report, he found 3 856 firearms were reported ”lost, stolen or robbed from personnel throughout the country” during the 12 months up to March 31 this year.

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/ 17 September 2007

Let go of that black albatross

A friend commented the other day about the tendency of my writing to be about black people or what is known as the black experience. The easy answer, clichéd as it might sound, is that we write best when we write about what we know best. We internalise those things that matter and have the greatest effect and discard what does not.

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/ 17 September 2007

ASA bans kulula.com advert

A kulula.com email advertisement has been banned because it failed to convey mandatory airport charges in its selling price, the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) said on Monday. ”The selling price must include all necessary costs without which the product cannot be purchased,” said ASA spokesperson Lillian Mlambo.

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/ 17 September 2007

France to invest €400-million in SA

France is to invest about €400-million in the next four years to help South Africa with service delivery, job creation and environmental and sustainable development, French ambassador Denis Pietton said on Monday. ”In terms of service delivery, we will help with providing development assistance,” the ambassador said in Pretoria.

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/ 17 September 2007

Cosatu critical of Madisha statements

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha came under fire on Monday from his own executive for the way he handled the matter of a R500 000 ”donation” to the South African Communist Party. The executive was particularly critical of the public statements he made on the issue, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said.

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/ 17 September 2007

Ambassador condemns Muslim cartoon bounty

Algeria’s ambassador to Sweden on Monday condemned death threats from al-Qaeda in Iraq against a Swedish artist who drew a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad and a newspaper editor who published it. ”I vehemently condemn this kind of practice … Islam has nothing to do with this, by any means,” Merzak Bedjaoui said.

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/ 17 September 2007

Motor-strike talks to resume

Negotiations in a bid to resolve a crippling motor-industry strike will resume on Monday night, the Retail Motor Industry said on Monday. The four-day strike has seen several motoring-manufacturing plants temporarily closing their doors as parts became unavailable.

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/ 17 September 2007

Higher salaries to come for teachers

Proposals are on the table to increase the salary scale of teachers substantially, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday. Speaking in Cape Town after a meeting of the Council of Education Ministers, she said the entry salary for graduates to the profession, for example, will rise from R99 625 to R115 492.