Three Cabinet ministers and two deputies were nominated for the central committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) at the party’s 12th national congress on Saturday. Meanwhile, ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma told the congress that the ”revolution is going through a test”.
Two thousand Indian schoolchildren began a televised battle on Saturday night to win five scholarships to English universities, in the first instalment of a new prime-time show tipped to grip the nation this summer. Broadcasters expect <i>Scholar Hunt: Destination UK</i> to attract large Saturday-night audiences.
The main beneficiaries of economic transformation are white capitalists who remain the ”induna [chief]” while the black middle class holds jobs in human resources, Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told the national congress of the South African Communist Party on Saturday.
Police arrested seven protesters at Soweto’s Jabulani hostel alone on Saturday for public violence in a demonstration over housing. Arrests were also made elsewhere in Soweto and in Alexandra, but the exact numbers were not yet known. Metro police fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters from the Nancefield and Dobsonville hostels.
Russia suspended its participation in a key pact limiting military forces in Europe on Saturday, fulfilling a threat after months of verbal sparring with the West. The suspension comes amid worsening relations with Europe and Washington on a range of fronts, including United States plans for a missile shield in Eastern Europe.
The town of Franschhoek, a tiny outpost of French Huguenot heritage near Africa’s southern tip, splashed out in blue, white and red on Saturday to mark Bastille Day. The normally sleepy settlement east of Cape Town came to life for a merry, two-day street festival, attracting hundreds of visitors with French-style wine, cheese and bread.
Anti-apartheid activist Nan Cross died peacefully at Nazareth House, in Yeoville, Johannesburg, in the early hours of July 14 at the age of 79. A founding member of the Conscientious Objector Support Group, Cross was active in the End Conscription Campaign and Conscription Advice Service.
Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank Governor said on Saturday he is not opposed to President Robert Mugabe’s controversial price controls that have wreaked havoc on the country’s battered economy. However, Gideon Gono repeated his call for measures to be taken to stabilise prices in the country’s hyper-inflationary environment.
Three converted tries in the final 12 minutes carried the All Blacks to a 33-6 win over the Springboks in their Tri-Nations rugby Test in Christchurch on Saturday. The win put New Zealand level with Australia at the head of the championship and set the stage for a classic showdown when the two teams meet in Auckland next week.
Johannesburg metro police fired rubber bullets at Soweto hostel dwellers protesting on Saturday against a lack of service delivery. Protesting residents of the Dobsonville and Nancefield hostels took to the streets at 4.30am on Saturday along with Jabavu hostel dwellers, blockading roads with stones.