Much tighter control of the spies at the National Intelligence Agency is needed to prevent them from abusing their broad domestic security mandate, civil society and media groups have told a ministerial review commission, set up by Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils in the wake of the ”hoax email” and illegal surveillance scandals.
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Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Wednesday called for a deepening of corporate governance and accountability, saying it was necessary to understand that sound corporate governance was not enough. Manuel was addressing a conference of the International Corporate Governance Network in Cape Town.
A part of the eNatis website appears to have been hacked, according to media reports. However, the Transport Department’s spokesperson Collen Msibi played down the supposed breach said this would not affect the functioning of the controversial electronic National Transport Information System (eNatis) system.
The Afrikaner enclave of Orania and the Northern Cape government have agreed that Orania’s quest for self-determination should be discussed at all government levels. Chairperson of the Orania representative council Prinsloo Potgieter said this was the outcome of a meeting between the council and premier Dipuo Peters.
There are no major safety concerns about nuclear waste management in South Africa, the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) said in Cape Town on Wednesday. NNR Nuclear Technology and waste programme manager Thiagan Pather was speaking at a public participation forum.
The only people who said crime was out of control in the Western Cape were the Democratic Alliance, Western Cape provincial community safety minister Leonard Ramatlakane said on Wednesday. He said calls for him to step down were ”frivolous” and something to which he would not respond.
While many people dread Friday the 13th, for father and son Norman and Patrick Pieterse it may just be their lucky day. On July 13, Cape Town Regional Court magistrate Johnny Vermeulen is to pronounce them guilty — or not -– of aggravated armed robbery.
Construction of the R25-billion Gautrain project is on schedule, the Bombela Civils Joint Venture said on Wednesday. Project director Charles-Etienne Perrier said construction of the 10 stations that will link Pretoria and Johannesburg as well as Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport, is on schedule despite a ”few difficulties”. The airport-Sandton link will be completed by mid-2010.
A two-year-old who got lost on a farm near Jansenville in the Eastern Cape survived a night alone in the snow and rain, police said on Wednesday. Ronaldo Spogter toddled along behind his deaf grandfather, who was unaware of him, climbed over two barbed-wire fences and spent a mid-winter night outside.