Zaphanias Mathe, the father of prison escapee Annanias Mathe, was released from jail after the state withdrew all charges against him on Tuesday. An attorney at the Oliveira Serrao law firm, Nereyde Namitete, said the toxicology report found that the substance that the older Mathe tried to smuggle inside the C-Max prison in Pretoria contained nothing illegal.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua came to power under the shadow of disputed elections and an overbearing predecessor, but his first two months in office have shown evidence that he is quietly asserting his authority. The soft-spoken former state governor was plucked from obscurity by former president Olusegun Obasanjo to run for the top job.
South Africa midfielder Steven Pienaar has completed his move to Everton after being granted a work permit. The 25-year-old moves from Borussia Dortmund on a season-long loan and has already joined up with his new teammates for their pre-season tour in America.
Two trade unions in a drawn-out wage dispute with Eskom stood back on Tuesday as a third union announced it had signed a deal with the national power utility. Earlier this month, the electricity supplier declared a dispute with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, the National Union of Mineworkers and Solidarity.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will be asked to explain last year’s blacklisting of political commentators and analysts to an Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) hearing on Wednesday. The Freedom of Expression Institute has complained that the blacklistings constituted a violation of the SABC’s licence conditions.
A number of people were being held hostage at a supermarket in Mthatha on Tuesday afternoon, Eastern Cape police said. Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela said police believed two armed men, part of a gang that robbed the store at about 1pm, were holding staff at gunpoint by 4pm.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday said Britain and its Western allies had ”redoubled” efforts to topple him, accusing them of sponsoring violence to destabilise his inflation-ravaged nation. Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, also defended a new policy that forces stores to cut and freeze prices.
Snowfall and thunderstorms are expected in the southern and western parts of the country, said the South African Weather Service on Tuesday. A cold front over the Western Cape on Tuesday night is expected to result in heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms in the extreme south-western parts of the province.
It will be the last flight for the South African Airways (SAA) Supa8 competition after the national airline announced at the launch of the coming season’s competition it would not be renewing a five-year sponsorship. Symbolically, perhaps, holders Chiefs were absentees from the seeded draw by virtue of not finishing among the top eight teams in last season’s Premier Soccer League.
Tony Blair said on Tuesday there was a new ”moment of opportunity” in the Middle East but cautioned in his first visit as an international envoy against expecting any peace breakthrough soon. Blair, in his first public remarks since starting his mission on Monday, said he came ”to listen and to learn and to reflect” in talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.