The credibility of Tony Yengeni’s claim that former prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka promised him a R5 000 fine in exchange for pleading guilty to fraud was questioned in the Pretoria High Court on Monday. Had such an agreement existed, one would have expected Yengeni to protest immediately at his prison sentence, one of the judges stated.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is to submit a list of issues that it would prefer to be discussed behind closed doors at the Khampepe commission into the future of the Scorpions. Judge Sisi Khampepe requested the list after hearing submissions on Monday on whether the commission’s proceedings should be held in camera.
India has cancelled all deals with South African state arms manufacturer, Denel. Indian media reports say the South Asian country’s government decided that the South African company had violated contractual clauses by using undue influence and agents or agency commissions to win a contract for 400 anti-material rifles.
The growing maturity of mobile and wireless data solutions helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) enhance their productivity and efficiency, Nashua Mobile MD Mark Taylor noted on Monday. "People can carry all the tools they need to stay in touch with them in their pockets or briefcases," he said.
Aisha Gadaffi, the daughter of the Libyan leader, declared her support for insurgents in Iraq last week. Opening a conference on human rights in Tripoli, she said: ”Freedom is taken by force and not granted, and the rights of people are taken by their own hands … What is happening in Iraq cannot be ignored by any honest person.”
Former Greek Defence Minister Yannos Papantoniou said on Monday that he would take legal action against an allegation that French defence group Thales was prepared to pay him an illegal sales commission. Papantoniou, now a Socialist opposition member of Parliament, was responding to allegations made by a former executive at Thales, Michel Josserand.
Cape Town High Court Judge Burton Fourie dismissed the Democratic Alliance’s floor-crossing appeal with costs on Monday. This means the DA has lost its fight to have the National Assembly seats of Dan Maluleke, Richard Ntuli, Enyinna Nkem-Abonta, Bheki Mnyandu and Craig Morkel retained by the party.
At least 18 people were killed and scores injured on Monday when a speeding passenger train derailed and slammed into a brick cabin at a railway station in central India, police and railways spokespersons said. ”Casualty figures will increase as we find more bodies,” a railways spokesperson said.
A United States offensive aimed at al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents in western Iraq entered its third day on Monday, with air strikes in a town on the banks of the Euphrates River, witnesses said. At least 36 militants have died since the fighting began, officials said. No serious US casualties have been reported.
The validity of an alleged sentencing agreement between former prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka and politician Tony Yengeni was questioned in Yengeni’s Pretoria High Court appeal bid on Monday. Presiding judges Ferdi Preller and Eberhard Bertelsmann questioned whether such an agreement would have been enforceable.