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
South Africa’s edition of the world-spanning Live Earth concerts, a fund-raising event on July 7 to combat global warming, will be held at the Coca-Cola Dome in Northgate, Johannesburg, not at Maropeng at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site as previously reported.
A suicide bomber killed 18 people and wounded 40 others when he rammed a fuel tanker into protective walls outside a police headquarters in Iraq’s northern oil city of Baiji on Monday, police said. In a separate attack, eight people died and 31 were wounded when a suicide car bomber struck outside the governor’s office in the Shi’ite city of Hilla.
A wind-driven wildfire destroyed at least 165 homes and other structures and scorched 304ha just south-west of Lake Tahoe in California, a spokesperson for the El Dorado county sheriff’s department said. ”This thing is raging out of control, and there’s no estimate as to when that may change,” a police spokesperson said late on Sunday.
Nigeria was slowly returning to normal on Sunday after labour unions and the government reached an accord ending a four-day general strike that had paralysed Africa’s most populous nation. The two labour umbrella organisations called off their strike on Saturday after President Umaru Yar’Adua gave a commitment on fuel prices.
The first round of Congo’s legislative elections was marked by chaos on Sunday, with long delays, protesters crying foul and about 40 smaller opposition parties boycotting the ballot. In neighbourhoods of the capital, Brazzaville, and the economic capital, Pointe-Noire, several polling stations had still not opened by noon.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Indigenisation and Empowerment, Paul Mangwana, has said the government will force foreign-owned mining firms in the country to cede controlling shareholding to indigenous Zimbabweans before the end of the year. He said the new Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill will become law by August.
The Australian Rugby Union said on Monday it is outraged and betrayed by South African Rugby’s decision to send an under-strength squad to Australia and New Zealand for their remaining Tri-Nations Tests. Springbok coach Jake White has opted to rest his big guns for the Australasian leg.