Johannesburg International airport is to spend R3,4-billion upgrading facilities and security over the next four years. The upgrades include readying the airport to handle the giant Airbus A380, accommodating the Gautrain and building a 25km concrete perimeter wall. The wall will cost about R25,5-million.
Israel’s supreme court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by Palestinians living on the outskirts of East Jerusalem against the construction of a new section of its West Bank barrier. Residents of al-Azaria, a Jerusalem suburb which is technically in the West Bank, had filed a petition against building work on the barrier.
Cellphone service providers who fail to keep information on their clients could be fined R100 000 for each day of non-compliance, according to draft interception legislation introduced in Parliament. In turn, customers who sold their cellphones could be imprisoned for up to 12 months for failing to relay the recipient’s personal information to a service provider.
Absenteeism due to flu and respiratory illness has not increased significantly in South Africa in the past five years, a study has found. Research released by absenteeism management specialists CAM Solutions has found that for every 100 employees, 66 are taking time off for flu every year.
Two senior United Nations officials arrived in Sudan on Tuesday to discuss the planned deployment of peacekeepers from the world body in the war-torn western region of Darfur. The envoys "will discuss the UN resolution on Darfur with the Sudanese authorities," UN spokesperson Bahaa Elhoussy told Agence France-Presse.
A sex-crimes trial against a Pretoria advocate was postponed in the city’s high court on Tuesday for two weeks due to her ill health. Proceedings were to have continued for the trial against Cezanne Visser in connection with alleged sexual offences, but she was found not to be in an ideal psychological or physical state to consult with lawyers.
One of the four men who were thrown out of moving trains in Johannesburg on Monday has died, police said. Superintendent Andy Pieke on Tuesday said the man, who was seriously injured after being thrown out of the train, was declared dead at Natalspruit hospital on Monday night. Meanwhile, the three others are in a serious condition at the same hospital.
Heavy rain around Port Elizabeth has cut off a residential area, flooded shops and houses and turned roads into rivulets, the Nelson Mandela metro said on Tuesday. However, spokesperson Lourens Schoeman said the downpour has brought hope to the drought-stricken city where severe water rationing has been in place.
At least 2 148 people were executed in 2005 despite the majority of the world’s countries having abolished the death penalty in law or in practice, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. Among those put to death were children and people with mental disabilities.
An Ethiopian court on Tuesday postponed its verdict in the marathon genocide trial of former dictator Mengistu Haile Miriam until next year, saying it had to consider new defence evidence. After 12 years of hearing testimony and evidence, the court heard that the long-awaited ruling would be delayed until January 23 2007.