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/ 3 February 2006

Oilgate: Did Majali try to bribe Skweyiya?

Sandi Majali’s controversial R65 000 loan for the renovation of Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya’s home was made only four weeks after a consortium, IT Lynx — of which he was a part — demanded that Skweyiya award it a stalled R400‑million tender. This new evidence casts doubt on Majali’s earlier excuse that he had no motive to try to bribe Skweyiya.

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/ 3 February 2006

Mr Third Term

The South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco), a long-standing but lately dormant ally of the African National Congress, has made a political intervention that seeks a constitutional amendment to allow President Thabo Mbeki to serve a third term as the country’s president.

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/ 3 February 2006

What is your house worth?

South African homeowners are rushing to get a free property evaluation courtesy of a new online automated valuation website.Jose Rodrigues, MD of Cerno Cubed, the company behind the website, says the Real Estate Evaluation Portal is one of the most popular websites in South Africa.

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/ 3 February 2006

Me, myself and I

The manne would like to congratulate African National Congress Youth League President Fikile Beebopaloola on his unanimous re-election as President of the International Union of Socialist Youth at its congress in Denmark a fortnight ago. They would also like to ask him if this august appointment is what’s persuaded him to start using the royal plural in his online briefies.

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/ 3 February 2006

New threats in oil wars

Abducting oil workers for ransom has become so common in Nigeria that beer mats in expatriate bars read, "Eat a lot — fat people are harder to kidnap". But for the four foreign hostages released unharmed earlier this week, the ordeal was no laughing matter. The group succumbed to malaria and was held for three weeks.

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/ 3 February 2006

Mboweni holds rates

Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni kept interest rates unchanged, with the repo rate at 7% and in turn a prime rate of 10,5%. And this week the JSE breached the magical level of 20 000 points, and factories showed signs of bleeding because of the strong rand.

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/ 3 February 2006

Altered states

President Thabo Mbeki presents an extraordinary State of the Nation address this year: he is politically weaker than he has ever been, and paradoxically, because of the economy, stronger too. In this context, he should ditch the usual format of his address, lose the PowerPoint presentation of numbers of homes electrified, jobs created and promises kept to focus on the genuine state of the nation.

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/ 3 February 2006

Makgoba should fight for Desai

How easily we forget what makes the present. In the current conflict between Ashwin Desai and Malegapuru Makgoba, old angers take their revenge under cover of procedural technicalities and formal institutional codes. Ten years ago, a similar fight was unfolding at the University of Witwatersrand. Only then, Makgoba was under attack.