What’s in a scrum? Put that question to rugby league fans, and the answer would probably be, ”not much”. Ask a rugby union fan, and it would almost definitely be ”everything”. Ask a beneficiary of the Chris Burger/Petro Jackson fund, and it might be a bit of both.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Nigeria’s ambassador on Monday over the kidnapping of six Russian workers in the volatile Niger Delta. ”Today the Nigerian ambassador in Moscow will arrive at the Foreign Ministry for a discussion on this topic,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is on a visit to South Korea, told reporters in televised comments.
Former Johncom boss Connie Molusi has been appointed to chair Telkom Media — one of 17 companies applying for a commercial satellite and cable broadcasting licence, it was announced on Monday. His experience leading one of the country’s largest media organisations made him ”a brilliant candidate” for the position, Telkom CEO Mandla Ngcobo said.
Richard Sterne’s second European Tour victory at the Wales Open has earned the South African a place in next month’s British Open at Carnoustie. Sterne also climbed to fourth in the order of merit after scooping the first prize of 000 at Celtic Manor on Sunday.
The Jali Commission into prison corruption has left prison staff demoralised, the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) said on Monday. ”… the public [and honest, hard-working officials] had to endure revelation after revelation of dishonest, criminal and corrupt acts by officials of the [Department of Correctional Services],” the CSPRI said in a statement.
Three miners died in a mud rush at Rustenburg Platinum mine on Monday morning, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said. It said the men were all from the mine’s Paardekraal shaft. ”The miners were swamped in an underground mud fall, apparently caused by water that flowed down the shaft,” NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday hailed the opening of the landmark trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor on war-crimes charges as "an important day" for the fight against impunity.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has renewed a call for victims of violent crime to have more say in the justice process and be compensated for crime’s economic and social impact on their lives. ”The justice system needs to change its focus to include providing victims of crime with their rights as a major priority,” the DA said in a discussion document released in Parliament on Monday.
Union negotiators boycotted talks to end South Africa’s nationwide public-sector strike on Monday after police used stun grenades to crack down on nurses demanding a living wage. The Congress of South African Trade Unions said in a statement that police fired rubber bullets that injured striking nurses at a hospital in Durban, calling it a ”brutal” attack.
Dalene Swanepoel, gold medal winner in the javelin at the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, died on June 2 2007 at the age of 76. Swanepoel had the unique distinction of placing first, second and third at the two Commonwealth meetings she attended.