The South African Communist Party (SACP) may decide to withdraw from the coalition that has ruled since the end of apartheid, threatening to shatter cooperation between leftists and moderate black nationalists. The SACP’s provincial council in Gauteng voted in favour of a go-it-alone approach last week.
An Israeli was charged with burglary after laundry left in a washing machine he was trying to sell showed it had been stolen. The man raised the suspicions of detectives who spotted him attempting to peddle the appliance on a street in the southern city of Beersheba. They found he was not a resident and discovered clothes inside the machine.
The launch of South Africa’s first state-owned satellite from a Russian submarine — planned for next month — has been postponed indefinitely, it was reported on Wednesday. ”It has been postponed because official documentation still needs to be arranged to issue a decree for the launch,” said Nhlanhla Nyide, spokesperson for the Department of Science and Technology.
The Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change’s economics spokesperson, Eddie Cross, says that judging from his own bakery business, the country’s inflation rate now exceeds 10 000%. He said on Wednesday that he was told by a supplier that flour for his bakery would now cost Z 000 for a 50kg bag, which cost Z 000 just recently.
Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday 150 000 barrels per day of production at a key Nigerian oil terminal were cut after villagers sabotaged pipelines. A Shell spokesperson said community members attacked some oil pipelines connected to the Bonny Light crude terminal on Tuesday.
Are you someone who gives a loose doo-doo (a limp handshake) with a frozen wrist (covered in diamond jewellery)? Have you ever visited Chocolate City (Washington DC)? Are you a hog (boss) who likes to game with Fred, Bob and Isaac (the FBI)?
South Africa’s targeted CPIX inflation quickened to 6,3% in the year to April, breaching the central bank’s 3% to 6% target for the first time since August 2003. Figures from Statistics South Africa also showed that the all-items consumer price index increased by an annual rate of 7% in April, compared to 6,1% in March.
Russia on Tuesday threatened a new arms race with the United States by announcing that it had successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile tests follow months of anger in Moscow over the Bush administration’s determination to install parts of a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe.
Africa is to enter the era of rolling news this week when CNBC launches the first 24-hour information network dedicated to coverage of news and business on the continent. CNBC Africa is to go on air from Friday from its main studios in Johannesburg and will also take feeds from bureaus in Lagos, Nairobi and London.
South Africa again rejected calls for tough action against Zimbabwe on Tuesday ahead of a visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is expected to press the issue. Britain and other Western powers have accused Mugabe of widespread human rights abuses and mismanaging the economy.