Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana has appointed advocate Edwin Molahlehi, former Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration director, as the chairperson of the Essential Services Committee. The essential services refer to those services the interruption of which endangers life, personal safety or health.
The Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday reserved judgement in an application by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to broadcast the upcoming appeal hearing of Durban businessman Schabir Shaik on television and radio. The public broadcaster seeks to record and broadcast the five-day appeal hearing with live visuals and sound for television and radio.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe on Monday warned new black farmers to either produce food on farms taken from whites or have the land seized by the government. Speaking at a Heroes’ Day celebration, the long-time Southern African leader also warned that ”economic saboteurs” and illegal money changers will be harshly punished.
A KwaZulu-Natal man was jailed for 18 years for killing a three-year-old girl and eating parts of her body, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Monday. Eric Delani Chala (29) was sentenced by the high court sitting at Ramsgate on the South Coast.
South Africa has urged all parties to the Middle East conflict to ”maintain the cessation of hostilities” and work towards a solution. In a statement on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the United Nations Security Council resolution adopted on Friday, which called for an immediate end to hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.
Singer Boy George tried to perform court-ordered community service on Monday but found a major obstacle when a throng of news photographers prevented him from sweeping the streets of Lower Manhattan. ”It’s supposed to me making me humble. Why don’t you just let me do it,” George told photographers.
Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan welcomed a new board — nine women and 15 men — to the National Arts Council (NAC) at a ceremony in Newtown in Johannesburg on Monday. ”We see the appointment of the new board as a significant development in creating a stronger NAC that will make it easier for our artists to pursue their chosen professions,” said the minister.
A growing number of HIV-positive people in South Africa are living normal lives in one of the countries worst hit by Aids. But this maturing stage in the epidemic brings new policy dilemmas for officials seeking to track Africa’s expanding Aids crisis and to make long-term plans to treat millions of infected people.
Sri Lankan cricket officials said security concerns following Monday’s bombing in the capital won’t stop the cricket tri-series, but South Africa indicated they may pull out of the tour. At least seven people, including four army commandos, were killed and several others were wounded when a rickshaw packed with explosives blew up.
Management of the University of Pretoria are to meet student leaders on Monday afternoon to try resolve the impasse over the future of the university’s Mamelodi campus, vice-chancellor Calie Pistorius said. Students have damaged property in protests against the announcement, at the end of last month, that the university planned to phase out undergraduate programmes at the campus.