Does the Constitutional Court have the stomach to take on the president? That is the stark question raised by the application of sacked intelligence boss Billy Masetlha, who is asking the court to overturn his suspension and dismissal by President Thabo Mbeki.
Tumi Makgetla suggests that whistle-blowers need better protection (”Fidentia: what took so long?”, March 2). They do indeed. The department of justice was aware of the limitations of the Protected Disclosures Act (PDA) and asked the Law Reform Commission to look into the matter, writes Alison Tilley, chief operating officer, Open Democracy Advice Centre, Cape Town.
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Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga took four wickets in four balls before South Africa scrambled a one-wicket win in their World Cup Super Eight match at the Guyana National Stadium on Wednesday. South Africa were heading for a comfortable win, with four runs needed and five wickets in hand when Malinga yorked Shaun Pollock with the fifth ball of his eighth over.
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Glenn McGrath was on the verge of making more cricket history as world champions Australia got their Super Eight campaign off to a winning start with a 103-run defeat of World Cup hosts West Indies on Wednesday. McGrath was left one wicket shy of Pakistan great Wasim Akram’s World Cup record of 55 wickets.
Telkom has put contingency plans in place ahead of a planned strike in its maritime radio division, the parastatal said on Wednesday. It was reacting to a claim by trade union Solidarity that the strike, due to start at midnight on Wednesday, could cripple the monitoring of shipping emergency messages.
Zimbabwe police said on Wednesday they had arrested 10 opposition supporters during a raid on the offices of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) but denied leader Morgan Tsvangirai had been detained. ”We never arrested him,” police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena told reporters after the MDC said Tsvangirai been arrested.
Faye Turney, the female British sailor who Iran said on Wednesday it will release shortly, says she always understood the risks she was taking when she joined the armed services. The 26-year-old gave a series of interviews to British media in the days before she and 14 other sailors and marines were seized in the Gulf last Friday.
Elements in the African National Congress (ANC) are planning another bid to make Cape Town ungovernable, city mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday. Tabling the city’s R20-billion budget, Zille said Cape Town might declare an intergovernmental dispute over the R500-million it spends every year on unfunded mandates — functions the province should be performing.
As opposition parties on Wednesday urged stronger action against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the government called on Mugabe to create a climate conducive for political dialogue. ”The current Zimbabwean situation is a manifestation of the absence of open political dialogue..,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sue van der Merwe said.