Police officers are not allowed to go on strike, the Johannesburg Labour Court ruled on Friday. Meanwhile, protesters barged through the gates of the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council, in Centurion, ahead of further public-service wage talks between government and union negotiators.
Eleven people were killed in and around the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, during a surge in violence overnight, including two people found beheaded and eight killed in a shootout, police said on Friday. Three people — including the two who were beheaded — were found slain in Banana Hill on the outskirts of Nairobi.
An uneasy calm settled over a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon on Friday after the Lebanese army declared victory in 33 days of fighting against al-Qaeda-inspired militants. The battle for Nahr al-Bared camp in which 172 people were killed was Lebanon’s worst outbreak of internal violence since a 1975 to 1990 civil war.
South Africa lacks women in high positions, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has found. A lot still needed to be done to empower women, the PSC said in a report released on Friday. ”Critical in this endeavour is the creation of an enabling environment to ensure that women’s talents and potential are harnessed …,” it said.
Blackburn Rovers are the latest English Premiership side to come under the scrutiny of foreign ownership, press reports said on Friday. The Sun reported that South African billionaire Johann Rupert had teamed up with the owner of NFL team Miami Dolphins to piece together a potential bid for the Lancashire side.
One of President Thabo Mbeki’s VIP protection-unit bodyguards has appeared in court in Cape Town after allegedly shooting a man dead in a shebeen on the weekend. The Western Cape head of the Independent Complaints Directorate, Thabo Leholo, confirmed on Friday that Sergeant Sabata Vula faced charges of murder and attempted murder.
It doesn’t get much bigger for local musicians than sharing the same stage on an international billing with the Rolling Stones. And for Arno Carstens and his band, New Porn, what to many rockers is just a dream will become reality on Saturday as the local lads play main support to the Stones in San Sebastian, Spain.
Under-fire defending champion Floyd Landis will be among the notable absentees when the 94th edition of the Tour de France kicks into gear on July 7. Landis’s future is still in limbo following his positive test for testosterone, which brought the Tour to its knees only days after he had sealed a spectacular yellow jersey triumph in Paris last year.
Ask most top female tennis players anything remotely personal and they are likely to steer the conversation towards their forehand or the latest handbag they have designed. But Justine Henin does not deal in handbags: she deals in real life. And what a complex and eventful life it has been.
”We may be Americans but we’re not stupid,” Alexi Lalas says wryly as, in his role as president of LA Galaxy, he leans back in his boardroom and strokes the smooth and gleaming jawline that used to be covered by the most famous ginger beard in world football.