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/ 31 January 2006
The disputed Palestinian film Paradise Now, the tale of two childhood friends who volunteer to be suicide bombers, was nominated on Tuesday for a best foreign language Oscar. The film, by director Hanny Abu-Assad, is competing against, among others, the South African crime drama Tsotsi, by Gavin Hood.
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/ 31 January 2006
Transnet workers in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State ended their second day of strikes on Tuesday with unions claiming success. ”No matter which way you try and spin it, there’s no doubt the strike has been effective,” the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union’s (Satawu) Randall Howard said.
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/ 31 January 2006
Sri Lanka’s batting went from sizzle to fizzle as South Africa all but ended their hopes of playing in the limited-overs triangular series finals with a five-wicket win at the Waca ground on Tuesday. After an opening partnership of 94 off 97 balls between Sanath Jayasuriya and Jehan Mubarak, Sri Lanka lost their last eight wickets for 85 runs.
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/ 31 January 2006
Parliament’s axed chief financial officer, Harry Charlton, is to approach the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration for his reinstatement. The man who helped expose Parliament’s Travelgate scam is also planning to sue for defamation, saying ”that his good name, standing and reputation have been called into question”.
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/ 31 January 2006
A mysterious skin-worm sickness has hit several villages around Mafikeng in the North West, health officials said on Tuesday. ”People come to clinics complaining that their body is itching. Within three days small sores develop. A yellow spot then develops from each sore as it gets ripe. Once the sore is expressed a worm comes out of it,” said provincial health spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane.
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/ 31 January 2006
As platinum quickly becomes the world’s leading commodity, the Bakwena ba Magopa royal family in the North West is being rocked by a protracted succession dispute that has turned violent. The royal homestead has been torched and the new regent, Motlalepule Mathibedi, has flown their Bethanie headquarters as different factions fight for control.
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/ 31 January 2006
To describe Niko Shefer as a shady businessperson is arguably an insult to trees everywhere, but the convicted fraudster has always had a reputation for chutzpah.
This, after all, was the man who reportedly boasted, in a 1999 interview about his innovative methods when conducting business in Africa: ”I move with cash. I can buy the president a Mercedes 600.”
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/ 31 January 2006
A South African mission appointed by President Thabo Mbeki arrived on Tuesday in Abidjan for consultative talks with President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, officials said. The South-African delegation, led by Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and the deputy minister of foreign affairs, Aziz Pahad, were to enter into talks with Gbagbo first before meeting Banny.
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/ 31 January 2006
Convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik’s legal team will appeal a Durban High Court ruling on Tuesday that he must pay back R34-million to the state, said to be proceeds of crime, media reports said. The state believes the money was involved in Shaik’s ”generally corrupt relationship” with former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
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/ 31 January 2006
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced on Tuesday plans to sell seven European hotels, continuing its policy of asset disposal to concentrate on management and franchising. The group said it also intended to sell some mid-range European hotels which it expected to remain under the IHG brand.