Staff Reporter
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/ 24 October 2006

Hearings into alleged French role in Rwanda genocide

Rwanda on Tuesday opened public hearings into an alleged French role in the 1994 genocide that left at least 800 000 people dead in the Central African nation. A former senior Rwandan official testified that Paris had indeed supported the perpetrators of the genocide in order to protect a French-speaking nation from rebels backed by an English-speaking country.

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/ 24 October 2006

Drawing for the destitute

Night of 1 000 Drawings, taking place in Johannesburg in November, is based on a concept first implemented in New York. It is a one-night-only exhibition for which anyone, famous or not so famous, can donate drawings. These will be sold to the public for R100 each, with proceeds going to an organisation taking care of the city’s homeless.

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/ 24 October 2006

SA IT industry faces skills shortages

South Africa’s information technology industry (IT) will need 115 000 professionals ahead of the World Cup in 2010 with Microsoft Certified System Engineers (MCSE) in critical short supply, local IT group said on Tuesday. IT Intellect’s Cape Town branch manager, Shaun Quin, said the mindset that the IT industry was flooded with MCSE’s was wrong as many of them had never been re-skilled on new software.

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/ 24 October 2006

Mbeki offers condolences to Mathosa family

President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday expressed his condolences to the family of singer Lebo Mathosa following her death in a car accident. ”Mathosa’s … death constitutes a profound loss to the entire nation as she was one of the pathfinders of post-apartheid cultural expression,” the Presidency said in a statement.

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/ 24 October 2006

Public transport gets boost in Jo’burg

Johannesburg’s public transport system received a boost on Tuesday when Daimler Chrysler handed 38 new buses to Metrobus. Daimler Chrysler president Wolfgang Biez said the buses would form part of the World-Class Public Transport Programme, which would play a vital role during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

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/ 24 October 2006

Search under way for missing miners

Rescue workers are searching for five mine workers missing after a fall of ground at the Tautona mine near Carletonville, AngloGold Ashanti said on Tuesday. The fall follows two ”seismic events” that happened about 25 minutes apart on Monday afternoon, said spokesperson Steve Lanahan. Two other miners were rescued soon after the incident.

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/ 24 October 2006

Hillbrow crime blitz nets dozens of offenders

Twenty-seven people were arrested for various crimes in Hillbrow during a crime-busting operation in the area, police said on Tuesday. Among those arrested were four men caught trying to break into vehicles on Monday night, said spokesperson Inspector Kriban Naidoo. ”Some people were also arrested for loitering, possession of illegal firearms and armed robberies,” he said.