Click on image for full-size view.
United States football star Michael Vick pleaded guilty and publicly apologised on Monday for his role in a dog-fighting case that will land him in jail and already has prompted his suspension from the sport. Standing ramrod straight, Vick said ”guilty” when asked by US District Judge Henry Hudson how he would plead.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday welcomed the dismissal of Central Karoo district municipality manager Truman Prince, saying it had lost confidence in the controversial politician. DA Western Cape chairperson Theuns Botha said the party was glad Prince has been ousted.
Two Labour Department inspectors were arrested after allegedly receiving a bribe from a construction-site employer on Monday, the Department of Labour said. ”The suspects were extorting R3 000 from a construction employer whom they had found to be unlawfully employing illegal immigrants,” said a spokesperson.
The withdrawal of charges against retired mining mogul Roger Kebble is provisional and does not indicate the matter has been abandoned, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Monday. Five charges of tax fraud against Kebble were withdrawn in court.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union has called off its planned strike in Cape Town following a Labour Court ruling on Monday that the action would be unlawful. The strike, in protest against what the union claimed was unilateral staff restructuring by the city, was to have started at midnight.
Thousands of Greeks threatened by towering walls of fire fled their homes on Monday as strong winds fanned blazes that have devastated the country and killed 63 people in four days. Greek authorities dispatched helicopters to winch trapped people out of blazing hamlets, impossible to reach by land.
Confusion and a lack of communication among prison officials on Monday led to a delay in the start of former Hard Livings gang leader Rashied Staggie’s murder trial in the Cape High Court. The chaos also caused a frustrated Judge Nathan Erasmus to warn all involved that he would not tolerate unnecessary delays.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) launched a fund on Monday to provide short-term financial assistance to axed deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, who was sacked earlier in August, partly because she travelled to Spain to an HIV/Aids conference without authorisation from President Thabo Mbeki.
Tuareg rebels from a new group that has reneged on a peace accord with Mali’s government kidnapped 15 soldiers from an eastern town and fled in the direction of Niger, Malian security officials said on Monday. Several security sources said Tuareg leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga was behind the kidnapping.