A crowd of taxi drivers and operators besieged the Western Cape transport ministry building on Tuesday to protest against a proclamation closing several violence-wracked taxi routes. The proclamation, in effect since midnight on Monday, was issued by the provincial transport minister after months of shootings between rival taxi associations.
South Africa is one of three countries lagging behind as the World Health Organisation tries to get anti-retroviral drugs to three million people with HIV/Aids by the end of 2005. Of the 20 countries that have the highest ARV need, only Botswana and Brazil have met the interim goals of ”3 by 5”, with South Africa faring the worst.
Another two MPs pleaded guilty and were convicted of defrauding Parliament in a summary trial in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday. The two African National Congress MPs — Nozabelo Ruth Ntshulana-Bengu and Increase Zandisile Ncinane — signed a plea bargain with the National Prosecuting Authority.
A leading children’s rights organisation is concerned that two proposed laws on child protection could result in duplication and a waste of resources. A child’s general right to health care has been reduced in the Children’s Bill, and the right to health care after sexual assault has been removed from the Sexual Offences Bill.
A shark-attack victim is recovering well in the Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic after four hours of surgery to his right leg and foot. Chris Sullivan (32), a British tourist on holiday in Cape Town, was attacked, presumably by a great white shark, at Noordhoek beach on Monday.
Prison reformers are calling for the Department of Correctional Services not to punish consensual sex between prisoners and for eventually allowing such sex in prisons. This seemingly far-fetched proposal is even suggested by the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons, a statutory agency tasked with making recommendations on correctional services.
Union members spared Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour any discomfort on Tuesday when he addressed a range of issues at a community imbizo (meeting) in Mitchells Plain. ”We don’t want to speak, we would be guillotined back at work,” said a Prisons and Police Civil Rights Union member.
Five MPs were convicted of fraud and sentenced in the Cape Town Regional Court on Friday morning. The MPs pleaded guilty to fraud and were the first of 23 MPs implicated in Travelgate, the multimillion-rand travel-voucher scandal, to be criminally convicted. They were sentenced as part of a plea agreement with the Scorpions
Attorneys representing ousted Independent Democrats Western Cape leader Lennit Max have queried the independence of the Scorpions in the latest development surrounding his disciplinary hearing. ID leader Patricia de Lille has testified that she became aware from a source in the Scorpions that criminal charges were being investigated against her.
About 20% of South African children are obese or overweight, a fact the authors of a charter for physical activity want to change. ”It is hoped the document would become government policy and eventually lead to physical education being reintroduced as a compulsory subject in all schools,” said Dr Karen Sharwood, an exercise physiologist driving the initiative.