A motorist was slightly injured when her car was stoned, then overturned by a rioting mob just off the R511, in Diepsloot, on Sunday night, said Netcare 911. She was taken to hospital with a laceration to her head, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Mark Stokoe.
South Africa has blamed Britain for the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe by accusing the United Kingdom of leading a campaign to ”strangle” the beleaguered African state’s economy and saying it has a ”death wish” against a negotiated settlement that might leave Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF in power.
Xstrata this week reaffirmed its acquisitive streak with a $1-billionoffer for South African platinum miner Eland, and the purchase of 50% of a thermal coal mine in Australia. The news came as the Anglo-Swiss mining giant posted a 20% rise in first-half sales to $14,2-billion, with a 27% increase in profit before interest and tax to $4,7-billion.
Capetonians cannot boast endlessly only about their beaches, mountains and winelands. They can be justifiably proud of their economy too — the Western Cape has the highest growth rate of all the provinces, as well as the lowest unemployment figures.
British mining giant Anglo American has been accused of profiting from the persecution, intimidation and killing of miners in Colombia who oppose the company’s operations. The international charity War on Want says in a report released this week that Anglo American and its subsidiaries benefited from army operations in areas where the company is prospecting, which have forced families off their land and intimidated community leaders.
Householders have been warned to expect a big rise in home insurance premiums after Britain’s two biggest insurers said they would increase rates to cover the impact of this summer’s flooding — predicted to cost £3,3-billion. Britain’s largest insurer, Norwich Union, said it was planning to introduce 10% increases — typically £35 to £40 a year — in buildings and contents premiums on all renewal notices sent out after August 6.
A week after the Kenyan Parliament passed a law compelling journalists to disclose their sources, pressure is mounting for President Mwai Kibaki to reject the punitive legislation. The new Kenya Media Bill, which was passed last week by 27 votes instead of the mandatory 30-member quorum, has come under heavy criticism from both the industry and the public, which perceive it as a deliberate attempt to gag the media, which has openly criticised the government for corruption.
With the spectre of price controls on private hospitals looming, market leader Netcare has called for self-regulation by the industry to ward off moves by government to set prices. Netcare found itself in the eye of a storm recently amid accusations that it benefited from non-transparent pricing and for not passing on rebates from suppliers to its customers.
Could one of the inventors of the webcam transform the economics of computing for the poor? In 1991, when he was a doctoral student at Cambridge, Quentin StaffordFraser hooked up a camera to monitor the department’s coffeepot so his fellow workers would know when it was fresh.
Last month Bidvest Bank was launched officially in South Africa, the latest project of diversified industrial giant Bidvest. Brian Joffe’s company appears to have taken the view that there’s nowhere to go but up, although Bidvest is taking a conservative approach. Joffe founded his empire 18 years ago with one acquisition, Chipkins, a catering services company.