A convoy of cars, their roof racks piled high with boxes and bags, inches along the hairpin bends of the mountain road, passing men on foot bent double under the weight of sacks of belongings. Passengers point at piles of rubble where their homes stood before the Pakistani earthquake ripped them apart six months ago.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on Saturday as he wound up a three-day state visit to South Africa and headed home to face factional violence in Gaza. Abbas paid tribute to the African National Congress veteran as the ”father of all liberation movements”.
The African National Congress has accused the Democratic Alliance of illegally trying to purge Cape Town city manager Wallace Mgoqi from his post. ”It has been clear from [mayor Helen] Zille’s media comments that she is determined to fire Dr Mgoqi by any means,” Matthew Parks, an ANC deputy secretary in the metro, said on Saturday.
More than a month has passed since authorities in Kenya pledged a fresh drive against high-level graft in the corruption-riddled East African country, but no assets have been seized, as promised. The first group of high-profile Kenyans suspected of looting public coffers recently appeared in court on related charges.
An African National Congress meeting at Schweizer-Reneke in the North West was abandoned after an exchange of blows among branch members, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Saturday. The meeting was about the election of a mayor who has been surrounded by controversy, the station said.
Rivers swollen by recent rain and melting snow flooded towns in the Czech Republic and Germany, and forced evacuations of thousands people from their homes on Saturday. Eight cities in Germany were affected by floods, with 1 300 people forced to leave their homes.
Employers in the private security industry reached a three-year wage agreement on Saturday night with 14 unions from the sector, parties said in a joint statement. Negotiations began last year and resulted in a two-day strike in March. According to the agreement, there will be a 26% increase in benefits over a three-year period.
African leaders have the capacity to assist the African masses, despite systematic distortions of African history, President Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday. Delivering a lecture on perspectives on Africa, Mbeki said this capacity could see Africans analyse their collective strengths and weaknesses and plot a way to a better future.
Two people involved in post-production of the Oscar-winning Tsotsi and the Leon Schuster comedy Mama Jack have been arrested for producing and distributing pirate copies of the movies, the Sunday Times reported. The suspects are in prison and will face charges of fraud, theft and corruption.
Australia, led by middle-order batsman Michael Hussey, fought back magnificently after tea on the second day of the third Castle Lager Test at the Wanderers on Saturday. At close of play, Australia had 246 for seven. South Africa resumed play on their overnight score of 238 for six, with one over to go before the new ball was taken.