Vlakplaas, the notorious farm used covertly by the apartheid state for murder and torture, will be turned into a national centre for healing, the Science and Technology Department said on Thursday. ”What is happening is that Vlakplaas … will be turned into a national centre for healing,” department spokesperson Nelvis Qekema said.
The National Assembly’s communications committee has shortlisted 37 candidates it plans to interview for a position on the 12-member South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board. The interviews are expected to be held next week, following which a final shortlist will be compiled.
The Public Protector will launch an investigation into service-delivery protests, he announced on Thursday. Advocate Lawrence Mushwana said the investigation will focus on specific municipalities and will try to establish if public-service protesters have legitimate complaints.
Nigerian troops and gangsters fought gun battles in the oil city of Port Harcourt on Thursday, killing several people, army and private security sources said. The army launched a dawn raid on several criminal hide-outs after six days of street battles between rival gangs last week, and the gangs responded by staging an armed assault on the state government headquarters.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) opted on Thursday to increase its key repo rate by 50 basis points to 10%, its monetary policy committee said. The repo is the rate at which the SARB lends to commercial banks, whose prime lending rate will rise — also by 0,5 percentage points — to 13,5%.
The Public Protector is at an "advanced stage" in a reinvestigation of the so-called Oilgate scandal, originally uncovered by the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>. Advocate Lawrence Mushwana says his office is finalising its investigations and a report will be tabled in Parliament soon.
Eskom, the government and the electricity regulator are identifying weaknesses in power-supply systems in the nine 2010 Soccer World Cup host cities. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Joe Phaahla, director general of the 2010 unit, pointed out that the event would be held in winter when demand would be at its peak.
Sheffield United announced on Thursday they plan to sue West Ham for the cost of their relegation from England’s Premier League. The Yorkshire side have already failed in their High Court bid to force new Premier League disciplinary action against West Ham over the Carlos Tevez affair but now plan to take a new course of action.
The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) cannot replace its dismissed former president Motsoko Pheko until the outcome of the party’s internal appeal process, the Cape High Court ruled on Thursday. Delivering judgement, Judge Dennis Davis said there was no evidence that Pheko had waived his right to appeal.
The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) posted an ”outstanding” set of results on Thursday, which were underpinned by strong economic growth. Passenger growth in 2007 at Acsa’s airports was 10,8% and was expected to average 8% in 2010, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe told the results presentation in Johannesburg.