Sometimes referred to as the Sea Robbers, a discordant Orlando Pirates dutifully stole away with a 2-0 victory at Athlone Stadium on Sunday afternoon after being outplayed for most of the SAA Supa8 game by Ajax Cape Town. Late second-half goals against the run of play earned the Buccaneers a place in the semifinals alongside Mamelodi Sundowns, Jomo Cosmos and SuperSport United.
Jazz guitarist Johnny Fourie (70) was a ”rare and dedicated” musician, friends said in a tribute following his death in Johannesburg on August 19, just months after releasing his debut album, Once upon a Time. ”His family, students and fans will sorely miss him,” they said in a statement.
A plane belonging to Taiwan’s China Airlines exploded and caught fire soon after landing on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa on Monday, but officials said all 165 people on board had escaped safely. The Boeing 737-800 plane, which had just arrived from Taipei, was already being evacuated when the left engine exploded.
Hurricane Dean buffeted Jamaica’s southern coast on Monday, flooding the capital and littering it with broken trees and roofs after killing nine people earlier on its run through the Caribbean. Dean was an ”extremely dangerous” category four hurricane, the second-highest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
Armed with pistols and hair-trigger tempers, South Africa’s minibus taxi drivers are the undisputed kings of road rage, swerving through traffic and ignoring red lights as nervous motorists get out of the way. In a country struggling to prove its crime-ridden streets are safe before the 2010 Soccer World Cup, drivers often get caught up in gangland-style turf battles.
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African National Congress (ANC) members should not be misled into believing that the media would assist and find solutions for the many challenges facing the organisation, party deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Sunday. He said the media’s only objective was to sensationalise ANC problems.
South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande on Sunday said he never received an alleged R500 000 cash donation for the party, which is said to be missing. ”I wish to place it on record that I have never received the alleged R500 000 from any person, as is alleged,” Nzimande said in a statement.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s office on Sunday described a media report that she was an alcoholic and convicted thief as ”false, speculative and bizarre allegations”. ”As it did last week, the Sunday Times has yet again made false, speculative and bizarre allegations designed to demean the minister,” said Sibani Mngadi in a brief statement.
In its 60th year as an independent nation, India has just elected its first woman president. Yet the ascent of the demure Pratibha Patil may not necessarily be a victory for Indian women. Today, in India, "women’s empowerment" is a government slogan; it is a feature of every party manifesto. There is a ministry for women and child development.
Last week we commemorated the brave women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 to protest against the discriminatory policies of apartheid. But, after the marchers have gone home and the banners are packed away, how free and equal are South Africa’s women really?