The value of fraudulent claims submitted to the life insurance industry during the first half of this year dropped by almost 76-million rand compared with the first half of last year, from R175,2-million rand to R99,5-million. Lerato Mametse, communications manager at the Life Offices Association, says the reduction in claims fraud from January to June this year was a welcome respite.
About 11 white students painted their faces black in a bid to be classified as Africans at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday. The group, led by AfriForum CEO Callie Kriel, handed a memorandum to a representative of the President’s office, Elisa Ndlovu. Kriel said the students’ tongue-in-cheek action carried a very serious message.
The Airports Company South Africa says work on all its projects at Johannesburg International airport is in full swing and it is confident that by 2009 all the construction work will have been completed to ensure that there is no construction activity during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. As part of its R5,2-billion infrastructure development programme, Acsa is spending about R3,5-billion rand at the airport.
The United States military denied on Thursday reports it had killed the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and Iraqi officials said they were awaiting the results of DNA tests on several suspects killed in a raid. US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said US forces had conducted a raid ”recently” on an al-Qaeda cell in which suspected insurgents were killed.
Michael Schumacher is counting on all his years of experience to make the difference in his neck-and-neck Formula One title battle with Renault’s Fernando Alonso. ”I’ve been in this situation for many, many years so I know pretty much how to handle it,” the Ferrari driver said on Thursday.
South Africa’s business confidence dipped in September, on high crime and expectations interest rate hikes may subdue business activity, the South Africa Chamber of Business (Sacob) said on Thursday. Sacob’s Business Confidence Index slipped to 97,7 in September from 99 in August — falling to its lowest level in 2006 and off a peak of 103,1 reached in April.
A spokesperson for Madonna on Wednesday denied claims by officials in Malawi that the pop star had adopted a one-year-old orphan boy there. Spokesperson Liz Rosenberg called the report ”completely inaccurate” but said Madonna was not bothered by it because it would draw attention to the problems of children in the impoverished African nation.
A fire ravaged a home owned by Teazers strip club boss Lolly Jackson in Johannesburg on Thursday, he told media. The damage to the home was estimated to be about R3-million, excluding damage to the personal belongings of the Romanian women living on the property.
Film ciritc William Pretorius looks at the works in competion at the recent Apollo Film Festival in the Northern Cape.
The Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) has agreed in principle to sell 25,1% of its shares to SA Rugby, a move that could effectively give the national body control over the floundering Southern Spears franchise. The decision to sell the shares was made at a meeting held at the EPRU Stadium on Tuesday night.