While it can hardly be denied that striking public-service workers are struggling to make ends meet, is the government justified in stonewalling their demands?
President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday dismissed reports he has ”rejected” the recommendations of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers chaired by Justice Dikgang Moseneke. The Presidency appealed to all South Africans to familiarise themselves with the commission’s processes as laid down in legislation.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has concluded a deal worth well in excess of R1-billion over five years with SuperSport, giving the pay channel exclusive TV rights on all their fixtures. The bombshell announcement was made by PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza at the league’s Parktown offices on Thursday.
A suspected dagga dealer, fearing arrest, tried to get rid of a bag of dagga by throwing it over his fence — where it landed on the bonnet of a police car, Grocott’s Mail reported on Thursday. The Port Alfred man then ran away, but was arrested after a brief chase.
Deaths in South Africa are on the increase, with 590Â 000 in 2005 — 3,3% up on the previous year, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) figures on mortality and causes of death. ”The overall number of deaths shows a continuous increase from 1997 to 2005,” Stats SA said in a statement on Thursday.
Hamas was poised to seize full control of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, overrunning key security strongholds of the rival Fatah movement after days of ferocious gun battles in the chaotic territory. The Palestine Liberation Organisation called on president Mahmoud Abbas to sack the teetering coalition government and declare a state of emergency.
South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could become an engine of growth for Africa, visiting DRC President Joseph Kabila said on Thursday. ”The opportunities for growth that present themselves to us are huge,” he told a joint sitting of the South African Parliament.
Kurt Waldheim, the former United Nations secretary general and president of Austria whose reputation was tarnished by revelations over his Nazi past, died on June 14 at the age of 88, his family said. The former statesman suffered a heart attack in May and had been ailing ever since.
South Africans were willing to pay for subscription television services, research by Telkom Media revealed on Thursday. Spokesperson Chris Van Zyl said the market potential for satellite subscriptions could be as high as 2,3-million by 2012. This would be more than double the current number of households with access to pay television.
Key government departments are doing nothing to stop drug addiction, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. DA spokesperson on social development Mike Waters said a reply to a DA question showed that 10 government departments had not yet submitted reports on drug-addiction strategies.