A national warning was issued by the South African Weather Service on Monday morning with regards to a strong cold front affecting the country this week. Already prevalent in the south-western Cape, the cold, windy conditions are expected to sweep across the central interior of the country on Tuesday.
A committee of the Western Cape legislature has cleared former provincial transport and public works minister Mcebisi Skwatsha of claims that he failed to disclose an interest in two companies. Skwatsha is the African National Congress’s Western Cape provincial secretary.
The African National Congress (ANC) is set to confront growing disquiet about the gap between rich and poor at a policy conference this week amid the biggest bout of worker unrest since apartheid. With the ANC due to elect a new leader at the end of the year, the four-day meeting will be partly seen as a test of strength between left-wing and pro-business elements.
All permits are in order at the Heilbron game farm in the Free State where a Bengal tiger attacked a child and her father over the weekend, environmental officials said on Monday. ”There is no problem with the camps, fences or permits,” said Werner Boing, spokesperson on biodiversity compliance at the local department of environmental affairs.
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor failed to appear in court on Monday when his war-crimes trial resumed, saying through an official the court did not give him adequate funds to assemble a strong defence team. Taylor, who is charged with instigating murder, rape and mutilation during Sierra Leone’s civil war, boycotted the start of his trial in June.
Kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston has appeared in a frightening new video, saying he is wearing a bomb belt that his Gaza captors will detonate if there is any attempt to rescue him. ”As you can see I’ve been dressed in what is an explosive belt …,” says Johnston, wearing a number of packages strapped around his chest.
The JSE remained lower across the board at noon on Monday on inflation worries ahead of data releases later in the week. Weaker overseas markets — after a sharp fall in New York on Friday — added to the bearish undertone. At noon, the all-share index was off 0,72%. Resources fell 0,76%, the gold- and platinum-mining indices gave up 0,25% and 0,99% respectively.
Lawyers for Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool on Monday called for the recusal of most of the members of a special committee probing whether he misled his legislature. The committee, which was to have begun formal hearings on Monday morning, was postponed indefinitely following the application.
A group of women on Monday staged a peaceful demonstration outside the South African embassy in Harare to demand the inclusion of civic rights groups in South African-mediated talks on the Zimbabwe crisis. The women hung posters on the security fence surrounding the embassy in northern Harare.
Twelve years ago, Hulamin was valued at R600-million within the Tongaat-Hulett Group, as it was known then. On Monday, the specialised aluminium manufacturer listed as a standalone entity on the JSE with a market capitalisation of more than R8-billion. The listing also signals a new beginning for Tongaat Hulett