The Economic Community of West African States called for innovative solutions to unblock the stalled peace process in Côte d’Ivoire as heads of state launched talks on Friday aimed to map a new route to elections in the world’s top cocoa grower. Time is running out in the war-divided country to decide a new transition arrangement.
Two men who threatened to hijack a Kulula.com airliner on Friday were arrested after the aircraft returned to the Cape Town International airport. When the flight reached 15 000 feet, a cabin controller was threatened by a passenger who said he was going to hijack the plane, Stuart Cochrane, spokesperson for the airline, told the Mail & Guardian Online.
Our relationship with India dates back to when Indians came to South Africa as indentured labourers to work in the sugar plantations. Today, South Africa has the highest population of Indians outside of India. Many Indians played a leading role in the struggle for liberation and are part of our continuing struggle for economic development. They are an integral part of the South African mosaic.
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There is hardly any light in the house at 11am. Pieces of cardboard patch broken windows, there are plates and cups piled high in the sink and a thick layer of dust covers the floral pattern of the main bedroom’s duvet. "We use [our parents’ bedroom] to keep stuff in … no one sleeps there anymore," says Thando*, twin sister of Thabo*, who at 14 is an orphan and the head of her household in the dusty township of Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
South Africa has a long way to go in having indigenous languages recognised as a medium of instruction, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said in Pretoria on Thursday. ”The ministerial committee reported a startling but not surprising finding that the future of African languages as a medium of instruction is bleak if nothing is done immediately,” she said.
A plague of rats that is haunting the east of Johannesburg is being combated by the Ekurhuleni department of health and environment. Between April 2004 and September 2005 more than 75 000 rats, some weighing up to half a kilogram, have been captured and killed. Director Jerry Chaka on Thursday said this was part of their holistic approach to dealing with the problem.
The United States on Thursday called emergency UN Security Council consultations after Sudan warned nations considering troops for Darfur that their action was a ”prelude to an invasion”. The letter from Sudan’s mission to the UN was sent to dozens of states who attended a meeting on September 25 on potential troop contributions to a future UN force in Darfur.
South Africans will have to pay more for electricity as Eskom plans to increase prices in the next three years to pay for infrastructure, said company chief executive Thulani Gcabashe. He was addressing the Johannesburg Press Club on Thursday. ”We expect prices to go up as investments are made in infrastructure,” he said.