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/ 22 February 2008
South Africa’s privately owned Samancor Chrome, the world’s second-biggest producer of ferrochrome, said on Friday it had shut a furnace at its plant after a worker was killed in an explosion on Sunday. Sunel Pretorius, a spokesperson at Samancor, said she could not yet say how much output had been affected by the closure of the furnace.
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/ 22 February 2008
A month-old peace accord in east Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faced a fresh hitch on Friday when Tutsi rebels halted participation in a ceasefire commission in protest at United Nations allegations they had massacred civilians. The move announced by renegade Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda posed a potential threat to the January 23 ceasefire.
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/ 22 February 2008
Controversial businessman Charles Modise was denied bail in the Kimberly Magistrate’s Court on Friday. Modise is being investigated by the Scorpions and faces various charges, including fraud, forgery and corruption in the Northern Cape. Magistrate Andre Williams postponed the matter to July 9 for further investigations.
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/ 22 February 2008
The assault of a woman at a taxi rank for wearing a miniskirt indicates just how necessary it is for the taxi industry to transform, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Friday. ”Unfortunately, this very sad incident has reinforced the view that taxi drivers are a law unto themselves,” said Radebe in Durban.
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/ 22 February 2008
A cyclone that swept across Madagascar this week killed 29 people and left nearly 70 000 homeless or otherwise affected, local authorities said on Friday. Dia Stivanley, spokesperson for the National Office for Management of Risks and Catastrophes, said 12 of the island’s 22 regions had been hit by Cyclone Ivan, a category-three storm.
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/ 22 February 2008
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) on Friday criticised the proposed school pledge as a ”top-down approach” by the government. ”It endangers the chance of a buy-in from all stakeholders and we call for meaningful engagement with the Minister [of Education Naledi Pandor],” Sadtu said in a statement.
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/ 22 February 2008
The City of Cape Town has begun providing water and toilets for evicted occupants of homes in Delft, and has earmarked a site for them to move to, mayoral committee member Dan Plato said on Friday. Many of them have been living and sleeping in the open since the evictions on Monday.
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/ 22 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Friday said her efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle — including responsible drinking habits — among South Africans were not hypocritical. Speaking to the media at the launch of ”the Healthy Lifestyle Day” in Port Shepstone, she questioned why the media linked her recent liver transplant to her promotion of a healthy lifestyle.
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/ 22 February 2008
Convicted killer Steve Wright was told by a judge on Friday that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars for his six-week ”targeted campaign of murder” against five prostitutes. Wright (49) killed the five drug-addicted women around the city of Ipswich in late 2006.
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/ 22 February 2008
Sri Lanka’s chances of reaching the tri-series finals were dealt a serious blow when Australia beat them by 24 runs in a rain-shortened one-day match on Friday. The visitors’ gamble to bowl first — expecting the match to be shortened by the weather — looked to have paid off and they restricted the hosts to just 184-7 from their 50 overs.