Most new taxis did not fully comply with safety requirements published last year, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe said on Thursday. However, most ”can be said to substantially meet the basic requirements”, he told an Eastern Cape transport conference in East London.
Sickness prevented Epainette Mbeki from travelling to Pretoria to receive the Order of the Baobab on Thursday, said the chancellor of the national orders, Frank Chikane. Mbeki was to have been conferred with the honour by her son, President Thabo Mbeki, for her ”exceptional contribution to the economic upliftment of the underprivileged communities of the Eastern Cape and her commitment to the fight against apartheid”.
Two pending United Nations decisions could shake up peace talks being held in Nigeria on the conflict in the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur. The United States has proposed UN sanctions against four Sudanese government officials while the UN wants to take over the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur.
China carried out 80% of the world’s 2Â 148 known executions last year, while Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States accounted for most of the rest, Amnesty International said on Thursday. The London-based human rights group said in a statement that these countries bucked a steady two-decade trend towards the abolition of the death penalty.
Super 14 rugby coaches will have their calculators out this weekend as the unbeaten Canterbury Crusaders head a congested pack of 12 teams still in with a chance of making the play-offs with four matches to play. In a battle of former All Black coaches, the Crusaders should be far too powerful for the winless Western Force in Perth.
Criminal charges have been laid against five Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital employees as the Gauteng department of health moves to clamp down on irregular practices in hospitals, the department said in a statement on Thursday. ”The employees have also been suspended with immediate effect,” the statement said.
The JSE was slightly stronger in noon trade on Thursday, with a rampant bullion price boosting gold stocks. Selling of resources heavyweights BHP Billiton and Anglo American pared the bourse’s gains, however. By 11.58am, the-all share index was up a marginal 0,09% at 21 118,77. It earlier touched a record high of 21 184,381.
Fewer South Africans are gambling, according to a new study on the socio-economic impact of the practice in South Africa conducted by the Bureau of Market Research at the University of South Africa. The gambling industry now contributed just under 1% of South Africa’s gross domestic product, while only 1,7% of household budgets was spent on gambling.
Soldiers and police patrolled Nepal’s capital on Thursday as thousands of protesters from surrounding areas marched toward the city limits, where troops had orders to shoot on sight anyone breaking a curfew. Demonstrators were marching toward Kathmandu from several directions.
At least 51 people were killed on Thursday when an overcrowded bus taking them to a wedding skidded off the road and slid into a pond in north-east India, police said. "We have extricated 51 bodies so far. There could be some more people in the pond and divers are at work," a police official told Agence France-Presse.