Capetonian Hein Wagner has been given the use of a Maserati GranSport Coupe for his attempt next month to become the world’s fastest blind driver. Viglietti Motors in Cape Town agreed to provide the R1,5-million vehicle for Wagner’s land-speed-record attempt, the National Council for the Blind said on Monday.
No vital information appears to have been lost in the fire that damaged part of the African National Congress’s headquarters in Johannesburg over the weekend, party secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe said on Monday. The fire broke out at Luthuli House in Sauer Street at about 1pm on Saturday, and was restricted to the sixth floor.
Despite international oil prices having surged to fresh record highs on Monday, the situation is not yet a cause for panic, according to Absa industry analyst John Loos. He said petrol prices in Gauteng could reach R6 per litre by October, thus pushing CPIX inflation higher to around 5% in October.
Curtis Brown carries business cards with old pictures of his tumours, including an egg-sized growth on his neck. He says they were each shed after the application of a flesh-eating paste containing the medicinal herb bloodroot. ”I cured myself of cancer,” the cards read.
Tens of thousands of unmarried Swazi girls gathered at the royal residence on Sunday to lay down reeds as part of a week-long celebration of national pride that will culminate in King Mswati III selecting a new virgin bride. The bare-breasted girls in brightly coloured traditional fabric and clutching clumps of reeds, sang and stamped their feet as they edged along a snaking queue toward the thatched dwellings at Ludzidzini.
Eritrean Foreign Minister Ali Said died of a heart attack on Sunday, Eritrean Minister of Information Ali Abdu said. ”It’s a great loss for this country,” he said on Sunday in Asmara, the Eritrean capital. In 1965, Said, the son of a Muslim shepherd, received medical and military training in Syria before joining the Eritrean Liberation Front.
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At least one member of the tripartite alliance has rejected President Thabo Mbeki’s proposed inquiry into an alleged plot against Jacob Zuma, the Witness website reported on Monday. South African Communist Party spokesperson Kaiser Mohau said: ”We don’t need a commission of inquiry; the alliance can address such issues.”
Retail chain Mr Price announced on Monday that agreement has been reached for the sale of The Hub division, comprising 12 departmental stores and two shoe stores. The purchaser of The Hub is a consortium of management and a private investor supported by a leading financial institution.
The Cape High Court was set to be busy on Monday dealing with a wave of legal action ahead of the floor-crossing window that opens on Thursday. The court will hear argument on a bid by United Democratic Movement deputy president Malizole Diko and five other party officials to have their suspension from the party reversed.
Hurricane Katrina claimed its first victims in Louisiana early on Monday as it dumped torrential rain on the southern state and other parts of the United States Gulf of Mexico coast, threatening death and massive destruction. Although slightly weaker, the monster storm forced tens of thousands of New Orleans residents to flee the city.