Banks and financials helped the JSE advance further by midday on Wednesday as they cheered the move by the United States Federal Reserve to raise liquidity in financial markets. At noon, the JSE’s broader all-share index had gained 1,35%. Financials collected 1,94%, while banks were up 1,67%.
Games such as ”hit me, hit me” and ”rape me, rape me”, where schoolchildren chase each other and then pretend to hit or rape each other, are being played at South African schools, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said in a report on school-based violence, which was presented in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
South Africa’s business confidence fell sharply to a seven-year low in the first quarter of 2008, as the sector fretted about an uncertain economic and political outlook, a survey released on Wednesday found. The Business Confidence Index, sponsored by Rand Merchant and the Bureau for Economic Research, fell by 19 index points to 48.
Asian and European equities surged higher on Wednesday, mirroring an overnight rebound on Wall Street after major central banks announced a massive cash injection for stressed financial markets. However, dealers voiced scepticism over whether the concerted central bank action would head off the global credit crunch and bring stability to choppy world stock markets.
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A state lawyer accused African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma in court on Wednesday of trying to delay justice through his attempt to block the use of seized documents at his upcoming corruption trial. The trial, due to start in August, could ruin Zuma’s hopes of succeeding President Thabo Mbeki in 2009.
A recent spate of taxi violence in Gauteng is ”senseless barbarism” that will not be tolerated, the Department of Transport said on Wednesday. It has forged relations with law-enforcement agencies to ensure those responsible face the full might of the law, spokesperson Collen Msibi said in a statement.
Inter Milan’s ill discipline cost them again as Liverpool won 1-0 at the San Siro on Tuesday to progress to the Champions League quarterfinals 3-0 on aggregate. Nicolas Burdisso was sent off just five minutes into the second half of the second-round, second-leg tie to scupper the Italian champions’ hopes of reaching the next round.
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Warrants issued to allow the Scorpions to conduct search-and-seizure raids on the properties of African National Congress president Jacob Zuma, his attorney and French arms manufacturer Thint were specific, the Constitutional Court heard on Wednesday.
South African prima ballerina Phyllis Spira has died at the age of 64 in Cape Town, news reports said on March 12. She died in Claremont’s Kingsbury Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. Spira had been admitted to hospital earlier in the week for a routine vascular operation and complications set in after the surgery.
A study has found that home-based ARV therapy provided by trained counsellors could be the best option for HIV-infected people living in remote areas.