Click on image for full-size view.
A judge on Wednesday wrapped up hearing an opposition petition demanding the immediate release of Zimbabwe’s presidential election results and said he would deliver his judgement on Monday. ”Conscious of the urgency of the matter, I should be ready for a judgement on Monday afternoon,” Justice Tendai Uchena told the High Court in Harare.
The African National Congress’s (ANC) national working committee (NWC) will discuss its youth league’s recent national congress in Bloemfontein next week, spokesperson Jesse Duarte said on Wednesday. ”We will speak at the NWC meeting on Monday,” Duarte said.
Claims by chairperson of the Forum for Black Journalists (FBJ) Abbey Makoe following a South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) finding against the FBJ — which Makoe labelled a ”judicial ambush” — are mischievous and untruthful, the SAHRC said on Wednesday.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has questioned Eskom’s insistence on keeping secret sections of its application for tariff hikes. ”Eskom seeks to destroy the public’s right to know about matters that will significantly increase the cost of electricity,” Sanef said on Wednesday.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday it was time to remove former South African president Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) from a US blacklist drawn up during the apartheid era. ”I really do hope that we can remove these restrictions on the ANC,” Rice told a Senate committee.
After a decade of optimism and growth, many South African cities now face new challenges compared with competing international locations, Cape Town mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday. These include perceptions of instability and uncertainty, growing urban poverty, increased crime, conflict and corruption, she told the United Nations.
Gerhard Zandberg’s African record-breaking performance in the 100m backstroke, plus speedy times set by Cameron van der Burgh and Jessica Pengelly, gave the South African team much to cheer about on the opening morning of the Fina World Short-Course Swimming Championships on Thursday.
Theatre personality Taliep Petersen and his wife, Najwa, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering him, were a loving couple, the Cape High Court was told on Wednesday. However, at the time of his death they were sleeping in separate bedrooms, and he was talking about ”getting another place”.
The Zimbabwe opposition’s bid to build up pressure on President Robert Mugabe after disputed polls bore fruit on Wednesday as plans were unveiled for a weekend summit to discuss the crisis. The president of neighbouring Zambia said he would gather his peers for talks on Saturday, aimed at breaking the deadlock that has persisted since the March 29 polls.