The African National Congress’s national executive committee (NEC) has begun debating the future of South Africa’s nine provinces, in line with a resolution at last year’s national general council that the party should "review [the] provinces in the context of the increasing devolution of powers and functions to municipalities".
Glenn Agliotti, the Brett Kebble associate who is close to Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, has been identified by the Scorpions as a "boss" of "one of South Africa’s most prominent syndicates" smuggling drugs and other contraband. Scorpions Gauteng head Gerhard Nel dropped the bombshell — although under the cover of a code name.
Civil-society organisations in South Africa are preparing to push government to meet its commitment for setting national targets on HIV/Aids, made at the recent United Nations General Assembly Special Sessions on HIV/Aids. The first special sessions on HIV/Aids were held in 2001, when UN member states signed a declaration of commitment on HIV/Aids that recognised the need for concerted action against the pandemic.
The front-runner for president, Jacob Zuma, is charismatic, though damaged by both the corruption trial of Schabir Shaik and his rape trial earlier this year. He was acquitted but in the course of his defence showed his commitment to non-sexism to be paper-thin.
Business is helping tackle crime, with several initiatives by Business Against Crime bearing fruit. Vehicle theft and hijackings are down about 16% over the past five years from about 115 000 in 2001 to 96 000 last year. Even more impressive is the 30% reduction in Gauteng hijackings last year.
A quiet battle is being waged in the African National Congress over the powers of South Africa’s nine provinces, with a sizeable body of opinion coming to the realisation that they represent a huge drain without much gain. Look at the figures. In the past seven years, provinces have underspent — yes, underspent — by R4,7-billion.
The news on the inflation front may not be good, but there is no immediate reason for Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni to activate his itchy trigger finger. Inflation is on the up and levels of indebtedness are at an all-time high, at least measured by one influential economic research body, but incomes have also been increasing.
A male news anchor appears on screen from the safety of Arabic station al-Jazeera’s studio in Doha as two female correspondents in full war gear report live from both sides of the Lebanon-Israel front line. This is the new face of war reporting that Arab audiences have been seeing since Israel launched its all-out onslaught on Lebanon on July 12 in an attempt to defeat Hezbollah militants.
Former MP Charles Redcliffe was on Friday slapped with a R70 000 fine or five years’ imprisonment for defrauding the parliamentary travel scheme. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement that Redcliffe was given a further five-year jail term suspended conditionally for five years by Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe.
Good evening. Welcome to the SABC3 Intimate 7 o’clock News Banquet. My name’s Craven Lily and I’m your waitron so let me get your juices running by telling you about this evening’s mind-bending specials. As you probably know, at SABC3 Intimate News Banquets we always start with two or three of our main courses, otherwise known as the “Mbeki Lick-Regulars”.