The Board of South African rugby has approved a Presidents’ Council recommendation to send a fact-finding mission to the Southern Spears franchise to ascertain their state of readiness for participation in the Vodacom Super 14 competition next year. Led by SA Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins, the delegation will visit Port Elizabeth on Friday March 31.
Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi will visit flood-stricken areas in Taung, North West, on Thursday, his office said. Spokesperson Zandile Nkuta said a total of 543 houses were affected in the community of about 182 000 people.
Telkom presented an amended offer on Wednesday to trade unions embroiled in a pay dispute with the company, trade union Solidarity said. ”Telkom’s amended offer is a step in the right direction, but the scheme can be improved even further,” Solidarity deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann said in a statement.
A workshop that went up in flames in Johannesburg on Wednesday, killing 12 people, was not suitable for accommodation and would have been earmarked for closure, a municipal official said. If the building had been inspected, it would have been earmarked for closure, the official said.
Separate reports on the so-called Oilgate scandal, one before Parliament and the other tabled last year, directly contradict each other, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday. The two reports are in ”stark contrast”, said DA MP Anchen Dreyer in a statement.
Some South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) content is tripe. But depending on your view, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. At least, that’s what emerged at a Johannesburg colloquium held by the public broadcaster last week. One speaker referred to tripe as a delicacy in his culture.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert prepared on Wednesday to form a coalition to fix Israel’s final borders after his Kadima party won an election which has dramatically redrawn the political landscape. With nearly all votes counted, Kadima was poised to emerge the largest party in parliament only four months after its creation by Olmert’s coma-stricken mentor Ariel Sharon, although it did not secure enough seats to govern alone.
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Former deputy president Jacob Zuma could take the stand in his rape trial on Monday after the Johannesburg High Court turned down an application to have the case discharged on Wednesday. Asked if his client would take the stand when the trial resumed, Zuma’s lawyer Kemp J Kemp would not give a direct answer.
Saudi security forces discovered and disarmed explosive devices planted in two separate vehicles near Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery, Abqaiq, the Saudi newspaper al-Riyadh reported on Wednesday. The paper said security forces broke into a house in al-Muntaar town on Tuesday to find two booby-trapped cars with the company’s logo on them.
Solidarity and the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) have given Telkom a 4pm (Wednesday) ultimatum to withdraw a plan to give improved profit-sharing only to workers who did not participate in this week’s two-day strike. ”If Telkom fails to heed this notice, court documents will be served on Telkom at 4pm and the trade unions will go to court.”