A two-day judicial inquest to determine who, if anybody, could be held responsible for the plane crash which claimed the life of Hansie Cronje starts in the Cape High Court on Monday. Cronje, the former captain of the national cricket team, died on June 1 2002, when the Hawker Siddeley 748 aircraft he was travelling in crashed near to George aerodrome en-route from Bloemfontein.
Tiger Woods withstood a late challenge from Jim Furyk to secure his 50th career title at the Buick Open on Sunday. Fresh from his British Open victory, Woods made it back-to-back wins after carding his fourth consecutive round of 66 to finish three shots clear of Furyk with a total of 24-under 264.
South Africa’s gold and foreign exchange reserves edged up during July, but at a slow pace, showing that the country’s central bank was inactive in currency markets while the rand remained volatile. Figures from the South African Reserve Bank showed that net reserves rose to ,447-billion at the end of July from ,185-billion at the end of June.
Muttiah Muralitharan equalled his own world record of four consecutive 10-wicket hauls as Sri Lanka were set 352 to win the second cricket Test against South Africa in Colombo on Monday. The prolific off-spinner, who claimed five wickets in the first innings, finished with 7-97 in the second as South Africa were bowled out for 311 in the first hour of the fourth day’s play at the Sara Oval.
With every rasping breath Priscilla Govender takes the pain is visible on her face. The air clanks in her lungs as it struggles to move through the mucus in her respiratory system and she can barely speak. For a 47-year-old, she is frail, looking and moving like someone almost twice her age.
Conflict between North West Premier Edna Molewa and senior cabinet members over alleged corruption in the provincial government has been highlighted in confidential documents leaked to the Mail & Guardian. In one she questions former minister of agriculture Ndleleni Duma’s authorisation of a corruption investigation into the North West’s crisis-ridden agriculture department.
Israeli air strikes killed 14 civilians in Lebanon and Hezbollah battled Israeli ground troops on Monday as the United Nations Security Council failed to agree on a draft resolution seeking to end 27 days of fighting. Opposition from Lebanon caused the United States and France to delay a vote on the resolution also aimed at setting terms to settle the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
The death toll from flash floods in eastern Ethiopia has risen to at least 190, with 39 children among the victims, an official said on Monday. Floods tore through the eastern town of Dire Dawa early on Sunday, and as many as 10 000 people have been displaced in and around the town.
Work on three of South Africa’s new stadiums for the 2010 soccer World Cup can be completed in three years, though such a tight timetable would not have been feasible in bureaucratic Germany, says a German architect involved in the project. ”By 1999, we were already planning for the Olympic Stadium. That’s seven years before the event took place,” he told journalists in Berlin.
Stressed-out Chinese can now unleash pent-up anger at a bar that lets customers attack staff, smash glasses and generally make a ruckus, a Chinese newspaper reported on Monday. The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar in Nanjing, capital of the eastern province of Jiangsu, employs 20 muscled young men as ”models” for customers to punch and scream at.