Forty-eight people were arrested while protesting about service delivery in Mamelodi East, near Pretoria, on Wednesday, police said. Spokesperson Captain Julia Claasen said the crowd dispersed peacefully after they had barricaded roads and burned tyres from the early hours of the morning.
Sri Lankan troops killed about 30 Tamil Tigers in a clash overnight in jungle in the island’s restive east, the military said on Wednesday, hours after the navy said it had killed about 40 insurgents in a sea battle. The military said soldiers had captured a rebel bunker line during the fight in a swathe of landlocked eastern jungle called Thoppigala.
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday time may be running out to organise free and fair elections next March. The Zimbabwe government and Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change re holding talks in South Africa seeking to solve the political crisis that reached new heights earlier this year.
While holding elections in Côte d’Ivoire is a priority, this should not be done at the expense of peace in the country, President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday. Briefing the media following discussions with the Ivorian prime minister, Mbeki said the unification and disarmament process currently under way in the West African country was the main priority.
Civil rights group AfriForum is to lodge a complaint with the International Olympic Committee if the South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) refuses to withdraw its ”threat”, made on Tuesday, of sending a 50/50 racial-quota team to the next Olympic Games.
Benoni’s alleged visionary, Francesca Zackey, was handling criticism of her ministry ”very well”, her mother said on Wednesday. The 17-year-old has been inundated with people seeking prayer and healing since she claimed to have started seeing visions of the Virgin Mary some weeks ago.
Cape Town’s renaming panel has recommended that slain musician Taliep Petersen be remembered in a street name, and that a clutch of apartheid-era prime ministers drop off the map. A total of 46 changes suggested by the panel of experts were released on Wednesday.
Trade unions in the gold-mining sector might be headed for strike action following the failure by the Chamber of Mines to meet their demands for a 15% wage increase, the unions said on Wednesday. The National Union of Mineworkers and trade union Solidarity declared a dispute with employers on Wednesday following deadlocked negotiations.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) could match an offer by SuperSport to screen Premier Soccer League matches, the public broadcaster reported on Wednesday. However, it was not prepared to overpay for the broadcasting rights, SABC chief executive Dali Mpofu told MPs.
The unprecedented economic growth in Gauteng is fading following a weakening in business conditions within the province, the Gauteng Business Barometer (GBB) said on Wednesday. In a statement, the GBB said growth levels had tapered off and the economy was set to experience a slowdown that would last until next year before growth accelerates.