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/ 11 January 2008
Dressed in dark cotton robes, a bracelet of prayer beads hanging from his wrist, Gugan Taguchi certainly looks the part. But, as he kneels to chant a sutra before an altar in the corner of the room, the people around him continue to chat and his rhythmic prayers can only just be heard above a Blue Note jazz track.
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/ 11 January 2008
The significant other and I found ourselves owning two cars with a combined engine capacity of 7,2 litres. Bought before 2000 when oil was below $20 a barrel, these beasts were hardly fuel-efficient or modest about contributing to a warming planet. After some research we bought a 2,5-litre Subaru Forrester, but delayed selling one or both of the beasts as I probed our best option.
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/ 11 January 2008
Scores of Kenyans living in South Africa handed a petition to the Kenyan High Commission in Pretoria this week demanding that President Mwai Kibaki stand down. <i>M&G</i> reporters Warren Foster, Nosimilo Ndlovu, Zodidi Mhlana and Surika van Schalkwyk spoke to some of the petitioners to get views.
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/ 11 January 2008
Gold prices soared to new records trecently, on the back of oil’s surge, helped by geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. The oil price hit $100 a barrel in trading last week, having increased 57% last year, according to Fortune magazine. This puts oil within reach of its all-time inflation-adjusted high of $102 a barrel.
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/ 11 January 2008
The appointment of ANC national chairperson Baleka Mbete to run the political committee in Parliament will be the first step in winning over ANC MPs to support the quest to defend ANC president Jacob Zuma. Mbete will replace Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, who is the current chairperson of this powerful committee.
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/ 11 January 2008
Private hospitals in South Africa could be facing demands to repay about R1-billion they allegedly charged medical schemes over the past three years for overpriced theatre gases that were not used on patients. Trustees of the medical schemes were reminded that they could be held accountable if they fail to retrieve any funds that were paid erroneously to hospitals.
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/ 11 January 2008
”When the going gets weird,” the late father of gonzo journalism Hunter S Thompson once wrote, ”the weird turns pro”. On Wednesday Thompson’s words came to life in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, where Gauteng Scorpions head Gerrie Nel was granted bail of R10 000 he was arrested, handcuffed and detained on two to five charges — depending on who you ask.
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/ 11 January 2008
The ANC national executive committee (NEC) decision to investigate the arms deal as part of a support strategy for Jacob Zuma represents an attempt to find a political solution to an intractable problem — the criminal charges hanging over the person nominated to lead the country.
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/ 11 January 2008
Can a quality school be created in a poverty-stricken area? Is it possible when school fees are R50 a year? The answer is: ”Yes!” Many schools in informal settlements are giving learners an excellent education. These schools have a guiding principle: quality.
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/ 11 January 2008
When Baldev Singh arrived to open his car parts showroom last September he found not customers but officials from Delhi’s municipal council at his doorstep. Part of a drive to clean up Delhi in advance of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Singh was forced to close his business — sacking 12 of his staff. Officials told him that zoning laws, previously ignored, were now to be zealously enforced.