Millionaire Italian developer Count Riccardo Agusta doled out donation cheques to senior New National Party members in the Western Cape government after they intervened on his behalf in the Roodefontein development, the Bellville Regional Court heard on Tuesday. This was in testimony from former Western Cape environment and development planning provincial minister David Malatsi.
Spaniard Oscar Freire of the Rabobank team dominated some of the world’s fastest sprinters to win the ninth stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday. After 169,5km of racing from Bordeaux, Serguei Gonchar of the T-Mobile team retained the race leader’s yellow jersey ahead of the first climbing stage of the race, a 190,5km ride from Cambo-Les-Bains to Pau.
A performance audit of the South African Local Government Association (Salga) by Auditor General Shauket Fakie has shown that it was owed 71% of its total levies by municipalities — a total of R135,3-million — by the end of the 2004/05 financial year. At the same time, the organisation hiked its salary budget between 2004/05 and 2005/06 from R39-million to R49,4-million.
At least 135 people were killed in seven explosions on the railway network in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, during the evening rush hour on Tuesday, police said. CNN said hundreds were injured, and reported that the country, including all airports, was put on high alert. Television footage showed railway carriages split in half by the explosions.
Transformation in rugby is no longer a moral issue; it is a strategic necessity if the sport is to survive in South Africa. That is the view of Dr Willie Basson, author of the transformation charter that the South African Rugby Union (Saru) adopted at its latest president’s council meeting. Presenting the charter to the media on Tuesday, Basson said rugby’s traditional resource pool is dwindling.
Syd Barrett, the troubled genius who co-founded Pink Floyd but spent his last years in reclusive anonymity, has died, a spokesperson for the band said on Tuesday. He was 60. The spokesperson — who declined to give her name until the band made an official announcement — said Barrett died several days ago.
No school buses will be running when pupils return to their classes on Monday unless the Gauteng education department comes up with R14-million allegedly owed to operators. The department is not honouring its contractual agreement, South African Bus Operators’ Association executive manager Eric Cornelius said.
Technology can be used to empower individuals, promote economic growth and reduce inequality, former United States president Bill Clinton told a conference in Cape Town on Tuesday. He was speaking on the final day of deliberations at the Government Leaders Forum-Africa conference.
India’s prime minister on Tuesday vowed to "defeat the evil designs of terrorists" after blasts killed scores in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai, and eight others in revolt-hit Kashmir. Manmohan Singh called for calm in Mumbai and Srinagar after an emergency meeting at his official residence with Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
Pakistani officials on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of a terror attack in an airliner crash that killed 45 people, as they sent the plane’s ”black box” for analysis. The ageing Pakistani International Airlines Fokker F27 plummeted to the ground and burst into flames shortly after take-off from the central city of Multan on Monday.