Media organisations have slammed threats by the government to clamp down on journalists, saying stricter laws would cause a local and international backlash. Tusi Fokane, director of the South African branch of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, said it would be very difficult to pass strict media laws in South Africa.
A hearing to decide whether Harmony Gold may go ahead with a hostile takeover of rival mining house Gold Fields is scheduled for next week, but a last minute court application could stall the inquiry. The Competition Tribunal said the hearing would start on Tuesday, but Gold Fields has applied for an interdict to prevent any implementation of Harmony’s offer pending a hearing to have the deal nullified.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions says the alliance between itself, the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party is stronger than ever, and that differences on how to handle political instability in Zimbabwe will cease to be an issue. The alliance held a two-day summit in Johannesburg this week.
It is a typical day in the middle of Cape Town: two brothers from Côte d’Ivoire sit in a patch of sun in a garden while a Dutch couple take photographs of a squirrel climbing an oak tree. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, Europeans and North Americans tourists have been buying up some of the city’s most valuable properties. But Cape Town is also becoming home to many African immigrants.
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/ 16 January 2004
Spotters for abalone poachers in the small tourist town of Hermanus on South Africa’s southernmost coast spot the police from afar and often mock them as they try to clamp down on the burgeoning illegal trade. ”Afternoon inspector — there are perlemoen (abalone) poachers down there inspector, you must go look,” one of the men says mockingly.
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/ 21 December 2003
South Africa’s inflation rate hit a 44-year low in November with consumers paying less than one US cent more than last year on an average basket of goods and services. Statistics South Africa said annual growth in consumer price inflation slowed to 0,4% in November from 1,5% in October this year.
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/ 30 November 2003
South Africa’s economy is bleeding jobs as the powerful
commodity-driven rand hurts exports and cuts growth, analysts say.
”The strength of the rand and a global economy that is not yet back at full steam leads us to caution against expectations of a speedy return to GDP growth in excess of three percent in 2004,” said John Loos, an economist with Absa bank.
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/ 23 November 2003
South Africa’s exporters went into worry mode again this week as the rand hit a 42-month high against the dollar amid indications that the currency is set to strengthen even further. Nearly all exporting businesses have been reporting sharp losses this year due mainly to the rand’s ongoing strength.
Southern African leaders said on Monday economic growth in their region can only be achieved by creating peace and stability, as they kicked off a two-day summit in Tanzania.
Justice Minister Penuell Maduna has called on Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon to apologise for remarks he made about Judge Siraj Desai.