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/ 7 February 2007
South African media firm Primedia has received a takeover proposal from a consortium led by its chief executive, the company said on Wednesday, sending its shares up more than 7%. The consortium has proposed offering R25,50 per ordinary share and R24,50 per N share, valuing the company at almost R6-billion.
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/ 7 February 2007
Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest cellphone operator, has shaken up its senior management and appointed a new business development officer to give its strategy group more time to focus on acquisitions. Vodacom dominates the South African market but lags behind rival MTN in Africa as a whole.
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/ 7 February 2007
Violence last week in the Bas Congo province in western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) left 134 people dead, the United Nations said on Wednesday. ”We estimate at 134 the number of lives lost in these clashes,” Didier Rancher, a military spokesperson for the UN said of clashes between security services and members of the Bunda dia Kongo religious movement.
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/ 7 February 2007
Many Gauteng schools are experiencing a shortage of qualified teachers, the South African Teachers’ Union (SAOU) said on Wednesday. However, the education department has rejected the statement by the teacher body, saying there is no shortage. SAOU provincial spokesperson Carel Cronje said an increasing number of principals are experiencing problems in finding suitable teachers.
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/ 7 February 2007
The productivity of South Africa’s mining sector has not been affected by the Aids pandemic to the extent forecast in some of the ”doom-and-gloom” scenarios of a decade ago, the Chamber of Mines said on Wednesday. The chamber’s chief executive, Mzolisi Diliza, said that intervention strategies now mean that up to 94% of workers being treated are returning to work.
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/ 7 February 2007
People concerned about crime have sent more than 5Â 000 letters to President Thabo Mbeki via a website Solidarity set up, the trade union said on Wednesday. According to spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans, more than 5Â 000 letters were e-mailed to Mbeki’s office within the first 24 hours of the website’s launch on Tuesday.
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/ 7 February 2007
When Marilyn Ward was a girl, church meant starched shirts, disapproving scowls and endless repetition of prayers she didn’t understand. Now the South African spends Sunday mornings whooping it up with hundreds of ”brothers and sisters” who grind their hips to jovial Zulu songs and punctuate the preacher’s sermon with howls of ”Allelujah”.
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/ 7 February 2007
Bafana Bafana’s first training camp under new coach, Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, was a success, the coach told reporters at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Wednesday. ”It was good. The players were committed and dedicated.” Parreira said everything went according to plan, with the only disturbance being the bustling Johannesburg traffic.
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/ 7 February 2007
South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected this week to outline a strategy to cut crime and poverty and prepare the nation to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup in a speech overshadowed by a deep rift in his ruling party. Mbeki’s speech to Parliament on Friday has been preceded by a heightened debate over rampant crime.
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/ 7 February 2007
More than 1 000 villagers have fled a southern Afghan town as Taliban fighters dig in to repel Nato efforts to drive them out, residents and officials said on Wednesday. Helmand provincial governor Haji Assadullah Wafa told Reuters that a military operation would soon be launched to recapture Musa Qala.