Mining magnate Roger Kebble denied any mystery around his brief appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. He is charged with five counts of fraud. ”It was a simple thing. I went there for a postponement,” said the father of slain businessman Brett Kebble, who managed to evade the media during his appearance.
A fire broke out at a nuclear power plant in western Japan on Wednesday, but there was no radiation leakage, authorities said. Two workers were injured. It took firefighters in protective suits nearly two hours to reach the flames because of thick smoke, and another two hours to put out the blaze.
South Africa appears to be winning the battle to restore its spoiled wetlands, with more hectares being rehabilitated each year than are lost to urban development and poor land management, says the wildlife organisation WWF. The Working for Wetlands programme is rehabilitating about 7 000ha of wetlands each year.
The Democratic Alliance has urged Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel to appoint a special task team to review South Africa’s tax structure. Speaking in debate in the National Assembly on the budget, DA finance spokesperson Ian Davidson said there could be no complaint that the budget’s main impact would be on enhancing the spending power of lower-income groups.
An estimated 90 000 security guards from 13 unions will strike for two days from Thursday, South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) security industry coordinator Jackson Simon said on Thursday. The figure is down from the 150 000 mooted on Wednesday.
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Former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s rape trial will resume in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday after a one-week adjournment. Reports suggest he may apply for the case to be dismissed for lack of evidence, but his attorney Michael Hulley was not immediately available to confirm this.
Photographs of the gruesome scene where a Soweto woman died in an explosion allegedly forming part of the Boeremag’s violent coup plot were shown to the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday. Colour photos of the scene where Claudia Mokone died on October 29 2002 formed part of a bundle of photos handed in by the state.
Mobile service provider MTN and Infront Sports & Media have signed an exclusive agreement for soccer’s showpiece in Germany in 2006. The rights granted are in the category of Mobile Telephony and give MTN the right to provide video material from each match on mobile phones during the 2006 World Cup.
The top 16 floors of a 24-storey office block collapsed in central Lagos on Wednesday, blocking the main commercial street through one of Africa’s biggest cities and leaving at least one dead and 24 injured. The building had been weakened by a fire that swept the structure earlier in the week.
Nigeria’s first national headcount in 15 years headed into a second day on Wednesday amid clashes between police and vigilantes, attacks on counters and protests by disgruntled census workers. Nigeria is recognised as Africa’s most populous country but has never conducted an uncontested census.