South Africans’ dental IQ is very low in comparison with the rest of the world and many people do not replace their toothbrushes as often as they should, according to the South African Dental Association. But what if it were possible to get the same oral hygiene provided by toothpaste and toothbrushes from cheap sticks, stems and roots?
South Africa is making good progress in improving the lives of all its citizens, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. ”[The Reserve Bank’s 2006 annual economic report] says that we are making steady progress towards the achievement of our objectives, based on the healthy economic fundamentals that we need to enable us to move forward,” he said in his weekly newsletter.
United States Senator Barack Obama, visiting his father’s homeland, praised Kenya’s democratic achievements during a meeting on Friday with President Mwai Kibaki. Obama’s visit — his first since becoming a US senator last year — has dominated the front pages of newspapers and television stations.
Eastern Cape Police have questioned eight people after discovering an investment scam in Grahamstown which used Oprah Winfrey’s name to target hundreds of people. Captain Mali Govender said on Friday people were told: ”You pay R10 and [US talk-show queen] Oprah Winfrey is going to pay you R1 200 a month for 10 years”.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is focusing on the achievement of an umbrella customs union for the 14-member states by 2010, and the matter of monetary regional integration has received "a high level of attention" at its most recent meeting, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa said on Friday.
The Film and Publications Amendment Bill, which this week received the nod from the South African Cabinet, has crucial long-term implications for the future of the free exchange of ideas in South Africa, says official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. He said the Bill "is a proposed amendment to the Film and Publications Act — always an arena of controversy in a country with a .. history of censorship".
Iran is ready for unconditional talks over its nuclear programme but rejects the West’s ”language of force” over the issue, one of the Islamic republic’s religious leaders said on Friday. Iran also said that it will soon announce new nuclear successes in its quest for nuclear power that the West fears is aimed at acquiring atomic weapons.
Immigration officers belonging to the Public Servants Association (PSA) will go on strike from the beginning of September, the union said on Friday. ”The strike will adversely affect all South African points of entry and international airports, and the department [of home affairs] should accept full responsibility for the situation … ,” PSA deputy general manager Manie de Clercq said.
A 20-strong alliance of opposition parties denounced on Friday what they called the slow rate of preparations for staging Angola’s first elections since the end of the civil war four years ago. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in power since 1979, has pledged to stage the historic ballot before the end of next year.
A multimillion-rand scam has been uncovered in which expired food products have been sold from the shelves of major supermarkets, Dispatch Online reported on Friday. The scheme has been run for years by an East London food distributor, operating out of a back-street warehouse in Quigney, East London.