The South African Rugby Union’s disciplinary inquiry into corporate mismanagement allegations against its former president, Brian van Rooyen, started in his absence in Bloemfontein on Tuesday. Neither Van Rooyen nor any of his legal representatives were present when the proceedings started.
His is not a name that has been heard too often outside swimming circles, but George du Rand’s silver medal at the recent Commonwealth Games may change all that. On Wednesday, Du Rand and three other swimmers will head to Bratislava in Slovakia where they will be competing from May 26 to 28.
Gay and lesbian people on the conservative Indian Ocean island of Mauritius said on Tuesday they want protection against discrimination built into new human rights legislation. Although Mauritian law does not explicitly outlaw homosexuality, gay people here complain of rampant social discrimination.
The Department of Correctional Services is to introduce compulsory rehabilitation programmes soon, Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour said on Tuesday. ”The days of voluntary engagement in rehabilitation programmes are numbered,” Balfour told MPs in the National Assembly during debate on his budget vote.
Johannesburg International airport is to spend R3,4-billion upgrading facilities and security over the next four years — and at least another R8-billion in the next decade. The upgrades include readying the airport to handle the giant Airbus A380, accommodating the Gautrain and building a 25km concrete perimeter wall.
Major changes to the management of the awaiting-trial detention system are on the cards, Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour said on Tuesday. Speaking during debate on his budget vote in the National Assembly, Balfour said this remained one of the key challenges facing the criminal-justice system.
The Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday authorised a warrant for the arrest of British tourist Anthony Cooper, who allegedly started a massive fire on Table Mountain during last-year’s festive season. He is also charged with drunken driving and failed to appear in court on that charge on Tuesday.
Kimi Raikkonen is pinning his hopes of launching a belated assault on this year’s drivers’ world championship on securing a second emotional triumph on the world’s most-famous street circuit in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. The 26-year-old Finn has endured a near-disastrous start to the 2006 season.
Montenegro’s independence could open a Pandora’s box for other separatist movements in Europe and the former Soviet Union, with some already claiming the right to follow the same path. Separatists in Spain’s Basque and Catalan regions were among the first to welcome Montenegro’s independence vote as a positive omen.
Fresh insurgent attacks across Afghanistan have claimed nearly 20 more lives, including three police officers and 12 Taliban fighters, officials said on Tuesday. About 300 people have already died in recent days in some of the heaviest fighting since the radical Islamic Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001.