Crude futures rose on Tuesday over Iran concerns after United States President George Bush warned that nations worldwide will not back down from their demand that Tehran suspend uranium enrichment. Worries over Iran’s nuclear ambitions have clouded the outlook for the nation’s oil exports.
The Department of Transport is committed to the introduction of a nationwide, integrated fare-collection system that would include the taxi industry in the taxi-industry subsidy net, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe reported on Tuesday. The ticketing system is included in the department’s 2006-to-2009 strategic plan.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) on Tuesday said it was upset at the African National Congress’s response to its critique of the state of the tripartite alliance. The response, titled Does the Alliance Share Common Objectives?, was given at a bilateral ANC national working committee/SACP politburo meeting on Monday.
Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald said on Tuesday he would not withdraw a remark — accusing Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula of being a racist — and was asked to remove himself from the National Assembly. This follows a recent clash in the assembly in which Groenewald accused the minister of undermining democracy.
Invalid decisions by the Free State premier, unlawful payments by two Northern Cape municipalities and problems at the Commission on Gender Equality were the major focus of reports released by Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana on Tuesday. He has also completed his probe into Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s controversial trip to the United Arab Emirates.
German state prosecutors said on Tuesday two neo-Nazis were being detained after a weekend attack in which a teenager of Ethiopian origin suffered a fractured skull. The attack in Schoenefeld, on the south-eastern outskirts of Berlin, was clearly motivated by xenophobia, said prosecutors in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin.
Primary school pupils at around 250 schools in South Africa are reading hot-off-the-press world news in their own newspaper sent to them via e-mail. Created by Johannesburg journalist Duncan Guy, The Times I Am Living In also serves as a source of general knowledge, challenges pupils with quiz questions and provides a glossary.
Representatives of security guards and employers will return to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration on Thursday, hoping to seal a deal to end a long pay strike. Until then, guards will be informed of the draft settlement, which will replace the previous offer signed earlier this year by 14 of the 16 unions representing guards.
The Commission on Gender Equality has structural problems, which has strained relations between its CEO and its commissioners, the Public Protector said on Tuesday. Mabedla Lawrence Mushwana released a report on his investigation into various allegations made against the commission, including abuse of power and mismanagement.
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Angola are aiming to create the biggest surprise of this World Cup when they take on Iran on Wednesday with an outside chance of reaching the second round. Written off as no-hopers when they arrived, a gritty performance to force a goalless draw with Mexico has given the Southern African nation a shot at finishing in the top two of Group D.