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.
Communist Alert! Johannesburg’s Top Star drive-in has closed after 48 years and will literally vanish without a trace over the next three years. Remember, without eternal vigilance, it can happen here. Joe Bob Briggs, the cult drive-in movie critic of Grapevine, Texas, concluded his reviews with a paragraph like that whenever a drive-in died to make room for a “six-screen indoor-bullstuff puke-plex”.
One of South Africa’s contributions to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s elections has been shrouded in controversy. Air charter company Adagold Aviation charged the Department of Defence over R20-million more than its competitors to fly ballot papers from South Africa to the DRC.
Tucked away at the end of City Press‘s Sunday scoop on Cyril Ramaphosa entering the succession race, the line ”Additional reporting by Wikipedia” tweaked the Oom’s interest. A visit to Cyril’s entry turned up a curious final paragraph: ”Many people in South Africa, both prominent voices and ordinary citizens, view Ramaphosa as the next president of the country.”
The irony is almost beyond belief. Since the capture of an Israeli soldier, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to a large-scale military operation, what Israel calls ”Summer Rain”. Because Israel bombed the power plant, and the area needs electricity to pump water, most of Gaza now has almost no access to drinking water.
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”.
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.