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/ 23 September 2005
When ministers, spin doctors and police officers talk about crime, one is often struck by their tone of exasperation. They have what they believe to be a genuinely good news story — that crime is coming down — but the public simply refuses to believe it.
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/ 23 September 2005
"I experienced an epiphany half way through my first drive in the Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 recently. Cruising along the highway with the climate control helping me keep my cool and the radio turned off so that I could listen to the lovely V6 exhaust note, I suddenly found a most uncharacteristic thought ricocheting around in my skull," writes Gavin Foster.
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/ 23 September 2005
The <i>Mail & Guardian</i> is being investigated by police national headquarters in an apparent bid to out the newspaper’s sources of information that Oilgate company Imvume Management diverted R11-million in public funds to the African National Congress.
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/ 23 September 2005
Like exhausted but triumphant climbers, pudgy Chinese officials wheezed between smiles atop Kunlun mountain pass before their oxygen-outfitted locomotive whisked them southwards along bare-backed snowy peaks to the Tibetan border. At 4Â 780m, Kunlun in China’s western Qinghai province is one of the highest passes along the new Tibet railway that is rapidly nearing completion.
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/ 23 September 2005
San Bushmen living in the new settlement of New Xade outside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) say they feel cut off from their homeland and from the tourism dollars flowing to one of Botswana’s top destinations. About 2 000 Bushmen have resettled in New Xade, set up in 1997 west of the reserve, living in wooden huts and small houses.
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/ 23 September 2005
The Electronic Communications Bill, the new name for the contentious and extensively deliberated Convergence Bill, has been redrafted to mixed reaction from media industry stakeholders.
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/ 23 September 2005
The party the South African banks have enjoyed over the past three years may have reached heady heights, but looks to be far from over. Figures released by FirstRand last week, and the boundless optimism expressed by the likes of Investec, suggest that good times lie ahead for a while yet.
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/ 23 September 2005
When the government considers the merits of giving debt amnesty as part of its deliberations on the National Credit Bill, it needs to distinguish between people who are victims of unscrupulous lending practices and lack financial knowledge, and those who are repeat offenders, warns T-Sec economist Mike Schussler.
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/ 23 September 2005
In a surprise announcement, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) says it will pay R1,67-billion for the 20% stake in Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) previously held by international airports company ADR. Acsa’s annual results released last week showed profits before tax up 22% to R593,2-million.
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/ 23 September 2005
Details of how three senior Saambou officials set up elaborate operations involving a string of companies that received payments and loans to buy shares and improve Saambou’s capital position are contained in the charge sheet against the three. These transactions were initiated after Saambou was unable to secure funding in the marketplace to cover bad debts.