A reduction of crime since 2006 was the result of a clamp-down conducted by the Johannesburg metro police and the South African Police Service, metro police said on Wednesday. Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said more than 1 000 illegal firearms had been confiscated and armed robbery in the inner-city had been reduced by 63%.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha has made public affadavits telling his side of the story relating to the missing R500Â 000 donation to the South African Communist Party (SACP). Madisha and a witness say they delivered the money to SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande in 2002.
<b>Laying down the law</b>:The HIV-prevalence rate in Madagascar may be lower than that in Southern Africa countries, but the levels of stigma and discrimination are just as high. Activists and government officials are hoping that a recently introduced law will alleviate the problem.
The findings of the first clinical trial of the traditional African medicinal herb Sutherlandia could bring succour for people living with HIV/Aids, but probably not for beleaguered Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. The trial, which will begin in September, was announced this week with the results expected in August 2009.
A race for succession is taking shape in the IFP with progressive members of the party’s youth wing calling for it to formulate a succession plan ahead of the anticipated resignation of president Mangosuthu Buthelezi when his term ends in 2009. Buoyed by a belief that the term ending in 2009 might be Buthelezi’s last as party president reformists within the party and its youth wing have begun lobbying for a deputy president.
Two security guards at Gauteng finance minister Paul Mashatile’s Johannesburg home threatened Mail & Guardian photographer Lisa Skinner when she took pictures of the property. Skinner this month visited the well-protected house in Kelvin, north of Johannesburg, to take pictures for a story the M&G is investigating.
Plans to open up parts of Tsitsikamma — South Africa’s premier marine protected area — to recreational fishing appear to have been shelved for the moment. The proposal drew criticism from environmental groups such as the WWF, which called it a ”parochial and political decision to appease highly vociferous local stakeholders”.
At Ibadan Polytechnic in Nigeria, Jonathan Adejunmobi has a hard job teaching journalism. For a start, there’s not even water to flush the toilets. Then, the school he heads has only a pair of ancient computers, and the electricity supply is more off than on. In such conditions, how do his students go on to become journalists for Nigeria’s vibrant media?
Click on image for full-size view.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula was on Wednesday given two weeks to comply with a court order that the shacks of a group of Pretoria squatters be rebuilt — or face arrest. Pretoria High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo condemned the failure of Nqakula’s department to comply with an urgent court order, granted more than a week ago.