Traditional circumcision rites have killed 83 initiates in the Eastern Cape alone between 1996 and 2005, public hearings into initiation schools were told on Wednesday. There had been 19 more deaths in the province this year. Another 63 initiates had to undergo amputations, while 562 were hospitalised, Eastern Cape department of health officials said on the second day of the hearings.
South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs will meet with Indian police for questioning over his involvement in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal. Since 2000 Gibbs has declined to tour India over fears of being detained by police. South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said on Wednesday Gibbs would hold a brief meeting with police on arrival in Delhi.
President Vladimir Putin warned Georgia on Wednesday not to provoke or blackmail Russia as Moscow tightened the screw on its southern neighbour. Discussing a dispute with Georgia over the arrests of four Russian officers, who were later released, Putin told lawmakers: ”I would not allow anyone to talk to Russia in the language of provocation and blackmail.”
Militants freed about 25 kidnapped Nigerian oil workers on Wednesday but seven abducted expatriates were still missing in another part of the Niger Delta after an unprecedented attack on a residential compound. Heightening security concerns, the United States consulate in Nigeria warned that militants may target Bonny Island, a major oil and gas export hub in Africa’s top oil producer.
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) on Wednesday welcomed a proposed meeting between the government and labour unions to discuss unemployment, poverty reduction and globalisation. ”We view the government’s commitment to engage with labour … in a very positive light,” said Fedusa’s general secretary, Dennis George, in a statement.
Researchers have received a R1,5-million grant to explore methods of nutritionally enhancing maize and sorghum without inserting foreign genes into the plant, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said on Wednesday. The two-year grant will allow biotechnologists to conduct research on the modification of maize and sorghum by exposing the plant material to radiation.
The International Cricket Council warned the Indian cricket board on Wednesday that its refusal to sign a commercial document for global events could jeopardise its joint World Cup planned for 2011. The cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India is refusing to sign a Members’ Participation Agreement needed from national boards for finalising the ICC’s sponsorship deal.
Seven of the 18 people arrested after the Jeppestown shootout were refused bail by the Roodepoort Regional Court on Wednesday. The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that the accused said the state did not have sufficient information for a successful prosecution.
”Train surfing” by youngsters is an abhorrent and totally disturbing activity, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe said on Wednesday. He was referring to the dangerous game of climbing on the roofs of moving railway carriages, or climbing in and out of trains while in motion. Radebe was addressing reporters at the launch of the railway safety regulatory inspection body in Johannesburg.
On Wednesday promoter Branco Milenkovic wrote a letter to the IBF in which he informed the New Jersey-based world boxing body that he was withdrawing his charge Vusi Malinga from his bout against Russian fighter Dimitry Kirilov. Malinga and Kirilov were scheduled to collide for the IBF junior bantamweight title eliminator in Los Angeles in America on November 2.