The intense verbal battering of the complainant in Jacob Zuma’s rape trial by defence counsel Kemp J Kemp would have been subject to far tougher restrictions if the long-delayed changes in the legislation dealing with sexual offences was on the statute book.
March 8 is a day of solidarity between women. It is a day when women across our planet unite against misogyny — the unspoken hatred of the female. Misogyny manifests in the horror of infant rape, in the everyday humiliations experienced in sweatshops and offices, in streets and homes. It results in women and girls bearing the brunt of poverty, HIV/Aids and violence.
Jaywalkers in China beware. Crossing the street against the lights could lead to punishments at work, including being overlooked for a promotion and a loss of salary bonuses. China’s law on road safety states that every work unit or company has the responsibility to educate their staff on traffic regulations.
Suspended National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director General Billy Masetlha has accused President Thabo Mbeki of taking sides in the political battle raging in the ruling African National Congress. The claim appears in a hard-hitting affidavit lodged by Masetlha in a high court bid to overturn his suspension.
The African Christian Democratic Party has suspended five of its candidates who allegedly offered the African National Congress control of the Theewaterskloof municipal council, in Caledon, in exchange for a list of demands. They fell for an ”age-old trap” when they responded, in writing, to the ANC after it asked what they would want in return for their cooperation in controlling the council.
Axed parliamentary finance chief Harry Charlton is taking his fight to the Labour Court after an attempt to reach settlement at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration failed. He had been seeking either reinstatement or financial compensation, after the controversial disciplinary process that led to his sacking in January.
Jacob Zuma has learnt that, as in politics, a week can be a very long time when in the dock charged with rape. By the end of last week, Zuma’s defence team was so pleased with themselves that they were contemplating asking the judge to throw the matter out. By Thursday, the pendulum had swung.
The man who based the legacy of his tenure on the 32nd floor of the UN Turtle Creek headquarters on reforming the world organisation has to face up to the reality that it will not happen before his second and final term expires at the end of the year. The momentum built up over years to the special summit has dissipated.
The signature of African National Congress presidency head Smuts Ngonyama on a 2001 friendship pact with Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party — beneath that of Oilgate’s Sandi Majali — cements evidence that South Africa’s ruling party backed Majali’s pledges of political support to the embattled Iraqi regime.
The Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, distanced herself from a controversial herbal "remedy" for HIV/Aids that is taking KwaZulu-Natal by storm, and which she had reportedly endorsed. Ubhejane Immune Booster hit the news recently when Tshabalala-Msimang reportedly recommended use of the substance.