As another 30 people were arrested in a protest on Tuesday, this time in Sebokeng in the Vaal triangle, political parties urged the government to speed up service delivery to angry communities. ”Is the [provincial minister] going to finally do something about service delivery or are more communities going to have to riot?” asked Paul Willemburg of the DA.
Along the leafy lanes of Moscow’s Bitsevsky Park, Alexander Pichushkin was a familiar figure. The 33-year-old supermarket worker played chess under the trees and even invited his opponents for a drink afterwards. But on Tuesday Pichushkin was in court accused of murdering 49 people and attempting to kill three more.
The prospects of having a little medicinal dram to settle pre-flight butterflies have narrowed with South African Airways’ (SAA) decision to keep their on-flight bar closed until noon. SAA spokesperson Robyn Chalmers said the decision was in line with local and regional trends.
The coach of a six-year-old Indian boy who entered the record books last year when he ran 65km in seven hours was arrested on Monday and charged with torturing the child. Biranchi Das was taken into police custody and faces allegations that he tied up and beat Budhia Singh.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi’s comments on Cabinet ministers who died on duty were never intended to show disrespect to them, it said on Tuesday. ”These comments were in no way intended to show disrespect to those ministers who passed away,” Cosatu said in a statement.
More than R45,6-million was lost by national and provincial government departments due to financial misconduct in the 2005/06 financial year, the Public Service Commission (PSC) said on Tuesday. Releasing the commission’s report on financial misconduct in government departments, PSC chairperson Stan Sangweni said there were 771 reported cases.
South Africa’s economic outlook has improved despite rising inflation and a spate of strikes, the Bureau for Economic Research said on Tuesday, and raised its growth forecasts for 2007. Africa’s economic powerhouse has seen a series of strikes for higher pay in recent months and inflation-beating settlements could add to price pressures.
The Somali government is trying to create a Baghdad-style safe ”Green Zone” in Mogadishu to protect senior officials and foreign visitors from insurgent attacks, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said on Tuesday. In an interview with Reuters, the Somali premier also accused United States-based Human Rights Watch of ”abusing” his government.
Police have made more arrests in connection with violent organised crime in Gauteng in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, provincial community safety minister Firoz Cachalia said on Tuesday. Cachalia said arrests for residential and business robberies, and vehicle hijackings had increased compared to last year.
Legal action will be taken if the Sunday Times does not return medical documents belonging to the health Minister, her spokesperson said on Tuesday. Sibani Mngadi said the Sunday Times had until about 5.30pm on Tuesday to return Health Minister Manto Tshabala-Msimang’s medical documents.