Tony Leon, the former leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), is writing to the chair of the foreign affairs portfolio committee in Parliament, asking him to summon Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to explain what the government is doing to protect South Africa businesses from being nationalised by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Scrap cars, fridges and burning tyres were used to barricade several Durban roads on Monday as about 500 residents demanded that a local ward councillor leave the area. The residents are demanding that an African National Congress (ANC) ward councillor leave his office and move out of the area as he had ”not kept his word on service delivery”.
The Cape High Court on Monday gave the go-ahead for the eviction of several thousand residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement to make way for a housing development. Hundreds of Joe Slovo residents, who had gathered in the street outside the court, chanted angry slogans after the judgment was handed down.
World 60m hurdles champion Liu Xiang went through two medal ceremonies at the world indoor championships on Sunday when organisers mistakenly played the Chilean national anthem instead of China’s. Chinese star Liu, the Olympic and world 110m hurdles champion, had clinched the gold medal on Saturday.
Security forces armed with loud hailers were deployed in eastern Sri Lanka on Monday to drive away wild elephants blocking access to polling booths, police said. Villagers in Wellaveli told the authorities that they were unable to vote at the first local elections in 14 years because a herd of elephants had blocked their polling booth.
Tropical cyclone Jokwe battered parts of Mozambique for a third day on Monday, killing at least eight people and destroying thousands of homes in the northern Nampula province, Radio Mozambique reported. Four districts were being lashed by heavy downpours and strong winds of up to 200km/h, said the broadcaster.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will ”revisit” its mail handling processes after five staffers became ill after handling a letter delivered to the office of acting head Mokotedi Mpshe, spokesperson Tlali Tlali said on Monday. Mpshe was not affected, but five people had to be treated for headaches and rashes.
Arsene Wenger backed Arsenal to stay on course for the Premier League title after struggling Wigan held the league leaders to a 0-0 draw at the JJB Stadium on Sunday. Having eliminated holders AC Milan from the Champions League in midweek, Arsenal failed to negotiate an awful playing surface at Wigan that is surely the worst in England’s top division.
The JSE continued to be haunted by fears of a United States recession, which sent most heavyweight stocks on a selling spree by midday on Monday. Adding to the negative sentiment was a pull back among local resource heavyweight counters, traders said. By noon, the JSE’s broader all-share index had fallen 1,75%.
SuperSport United continued their rampant run in the Absa Premiership with a convincing 2-0 win over Platinum Stars at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Sunday. SuperSport have won five and drawn two of their seven games since the second round of fixtures got under way in February, and now trail log leaders Ajax Cape Town by a single point.