With pressure mounting on banks to make their products more comparable, a website that capitalises on the Competition Commission’s recommendations has been launched. The site, www.thinkmoney.co.za, reviews banking products and calculates comparative pricing based on the individual’s banking behaviour.
The United Nations resident representative in Sierra Leone on Tuesday warned that the war-scarred West African country cannot afford to fail to organise credible elections, ahead of weekend polls. Sierra Leoneans will vote on Saturday for the first time in five years, and only the second elections since the country emerged from a decade of war.
The discovery of a mutilated body on the N1 highway near Vanderbijlpark seven years ago resulted on Tuesday in three former police officers and a former reservist going on trial on charges of kidnapping and murder. The four have pleaded not guilty in the Pretoria High Court to charges of kidnapping and murdering 29-year-old Sandy Botomane in May 2000.
All veld fires that raged through Mpumalanga recently have been brought under control, the department of local government and housing said on Tuesday. ”Although the fires have been brought under control, fire fighters and the provincial disaster-management team are still monitoring the situation,” the department said in a statement.
The National Lottery, stopped at the end of March, appears set to start up again within the next fortnight. Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa will announce the name of the preferred bidder to run the operation in Pretoria within days, his spokesperson, Vukani Mde, told the South African Press Association on Tuesday.
Police have closed their investigation into the rape of a student at Johannesburg’s Chris Hani-Baragwanath hospital because they do not have enough information to continue, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. Confirming a report in the Star, Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said: ”We don’t know where the scene of the crime is and don’t have witnesses or physical evidence.”
Hammer-murder accused Fred van der Vyver could have been tipped over the edge by a quarrel with his girlfriend, a Cape High Court judge said on Tuesday. Judge Deon van Zyl made the remark in a ruling rejecting Van der Vyver’s application for discharge at the end of the state’s case.
Legislation paving the way for regulating interactive gambling, such as on the internet, has been tabled in the National Assembly. According to a memorandum attached to the draft National Gambling Amendment Bill, the interactive gaming industry in South Africa is unregulated.
Ethiopia’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday said government troops had killed 200 rebels and captured hundreds in the restive predominantly Somali southern region of Ogaden over the past month. "Over 200 anti-peace elements have been killed by the military," the ministry said in a statement, adding that militants had "been destroyed" in a successful operation.
Sudan should grant refugee status to tens of thousands of mostly Arab Chadians who have fled into Darfur to escape violence in their country, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday. But the UN urged Sudan to clarify land issues so Chadians do not settle on property abandoned by Darfuris who have themselves fled conflict for shelter in refugee camps.