A French trade union leader on Tuesday warned that the Rugby World Cup could be disrupted by industrial unrest unless the government changes a Bill intended to limit the impact of transport strikes. Bernard Thibault, of the General Labour Confederation, said the Bill was an ”intimidatory measure” because it restricted the right to strike.
Zimbabwe’s central bank on Tuesday introduced yet another higher denomination banknote as it grappled with runaway inflation that is rendering lower-value banknotes useless. The new ZÂ 000 bearer cheque is the latest addition to a series of temporary bank notes introduced as a stop-gap measure at the height of a critical shortage of bank notes.
A policy review process, which includes questions on whether provincial government should even exist, was launched by Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi in Pretoria on Tuesday. ”We have to have a re-look at the way powers and functions have been distributed across the three spheres of government,” Mufamadi said.
About 11Â 000 South African miners working for De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond company, planned to launch an indefinite strike on Tuesday in a dispute over pay, their union spokesperson said. "The strike action will go ahead as planned," National Union of Mineworkers spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said.
The JSE was firmer at midday led by the resources sector which was being driven by stronger precious metal prices. At 12.03pm, the all-share index was up 1,39% as resources added 1,80%. The platinum mining index climbed 1,29% and the gold-mining index gained 1,03%.
AngloGold Ashanti posted a worse-than-expected 17% fall in second-quarter adjusted profit, hit by stronger currencies and more exploration costs, and said its chief executive Bobby Godsell would retire. AngloGold, the world’s third biggest gold producer, said on Tuesday Mark Cutifani from Brazil’s CVRD Inco would become new chief executive.
Springbok loose-forward Pierre Spies has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup in France following the detection of blood clots in his lungs. Springbok team Doctor Yusuf Hassan said late on Monday the player may not participate in any contact sport for a period of between six and eight months.
A South African union said it had launched a strike over wages at Chevron’s 100 000-barrel-per-day refinery in Cape Town and PetroSA’s 36 000 bpd Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid plant. Welile Nolingo, secretary general of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union, said the strike would continue until the union’s demands are met.
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones’s defection to the Springboks has upset his former protégés but they remain upbeat about their prospects for the World Cup, coach John Connolly said on Tuesday. Connolly and new captain Stirling Mortlock admitted that seeing Jones in a South African tracksuit was an unpleasant surprise.
The United Nations Security Council reached broad agreement on a draft resolution to authorise up to 26Â 000 troops and police for Sudan’s Darfur region, with a vote anticipated this week. Britain and France distributed a fourth revised text late on Monday to be sent to governments of the 15 council members.