Grade 11 pupils will write a nationally set end-of-year examination in 2007 to prepare them for the new National Senior Certificate (matric) exams to be introduced in 2008, the Department of Education said on Tuesday. Schools have already received a national examination for Grade 10 pupils this year, but it will only be used as example for teachers to set exams.
Tropical Storm Ernesto weakened further on Wednesday as it swirled over southern Florida, where residents heaved a sigh of relief it had not regained hurricane strength. Contrary to expectations, Ernesto did not strengthen after leaving the Cuban coast, and remained a weak tropical storm when it hit Florida late on Tuesday.
Only 45% of workers support the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) remaining part of the tripartite alliance, a survey has shown. Most workers surveyed felt that the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and Cosatu should work harder to overcome their disagreements, Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said on Wednesday.
A newly formed action group is calling on South African businesses and private individuals to donate money to take out a full-page advertisement in a national newspaper protesting against the lack of alternatives in the country’s telecommunications sector. The group says a full-page advert in a national newspaper such as the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> will require approximately R50 000.
The Department of Correctional Services on Wednesday rejected a Durban High Court judge’s assertion that it is responsible for a potentially ”grave constitutional crisis”. ”The department does not agree that the decision to appeal against the orders of the Durban High Court was intended to create a constitutional crisis,” the department said in a statement.
South African industrial group Imperial Holdings on Wednesday reported a 26,1% rise in headline earnings per share to 1 222,1 cents for the year ended June from 968,8 cents a year ago. Diluted headline earnings per share were also up 26% at 1 148,3 cents.
Israel rejected a call by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday to lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, saying it will only end the seven-week-old siege once all aspects of a ceasefire are in place. Israel also will not withdraw its troops fully from southern Lebanon until the full implementation of the ceasefire.
South African mobile operator MTN on Wednesday reported a 27,5% increase in adjusted headline earnings per share to 278,5 cents for the six months ended June from 218,4 cents for the six months ended September 2005. MTN also advised that its subscribers were up 9,4% to 25,4-million for the six months to June.
More than 40 people were killed in bomb attacks in Iraq on Wednesday morning, including 24 at a busy market in Baghdad where insurgents seem intent on defying a major United States-backed security clampdown now in its fourth week. A further 35 people were wounded in the attack on the Shorja wholesale market in central Baghdad, police said.
Support for Jacob Zuma was support ”for the revolution” and not just an individual, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Wednesday. Vavi said the country’s leadership had claimed great progress while ignoring the principal economic challenges that faced working people.