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/ 11 November 2005

Costs soar, confidence plummets

The Gautrain could need as much as R560-million a year in government subsidies, over and above the R20-billion that its construction is currently expected to cost taxpayers. This is despite repeated insistence from project leader Jack van der Merwe that the private consortium that is to build and operate the train would not receive a subsidy on its operating expenditure.

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/ 11 November 2005

Courting compromise

The Cabinet has approved two Bills dealing with the structure and functioning of courts for tabling in Parliament. They are the Superior Courts Bill and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Amendment Bill 14. The announcement suggests that the deadlock between the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the judiciary about planned reforms to the justice system has eased slightly.

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/ 11 November 2005

Diamond deals spark friction

Mining companies are homing in on diamond-rich land under restitution claims in the Northern Cape, fragmenting the recipient communities into warring factions.
Sugar Ramakarane, regional land claims commissioner in the Northern Cape and Free State, said the community of Schmidtsdrift, near Kimberley, had broken into seven factions over which company should partner them in mining the diamonds.

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/ 11 November 2005

Hearts without soul

Graham Rix, then, has arrived in the heart of the Romanovs’ ruthless empire, sidestepping the gore on the Tynecastle carpet. Now, after the departure of the former manager George Burley and the chief executive Phil Anderton, a further apparent shock for Hearts: Vladimir Romanov, the Lithuanian banker and industrialist, is funding the club with loans only.