The National Prosecuting Authority will focus increasingly on crimes occasioned by greed rather than those arising out of poverty, National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli said on Tuesday. However, this does not mean that poor people committing crimes will not be prosecuted.
Oil prices climbed on Tuesday on persistent fears that the heating oil supply would run short this winter when demand is expected to peak. Ongoing concerns about United States stock levels keep overall sentiment in the market bullish, said Julian Lee, an energy analyst with the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies.
South African Tourism said on Tuesday that it recognises all 10 indigenous languages and that the Democratic Alliance’s complaint of an airport billboard insulting Afrikaners is based on misunderstanding. According to the DA, the advert is insensitive and a ”smack in the face of everyone who spoke Afrikaans”.
The new Prime Minister of Mauritius, former opposition leader Navin Ramgoolam, on Tuesday urged islanders not to fear change after his victory in weekend polls, saying bolstering the country’s ailing sugar and textile industries will be his top priorities. ”The population has voted for change,” Ramgoolam said in a nationally televised address.
There were gasps in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday when it was revealed that the former boyfriend of Cape murder accused Dina Rodrigues will testify that she had paid R10 000 for a contract murder on a baby. ”You told him, ‘I paid R10 000 to sort out the problem,”’ the state prosecutor said.
Empowerment firm Imvume Management is suing the Freedom Front Plus for defamation, the party said on Tuesday. Two months ago, Imvume obtained a court order gagging the Mail & Guardian after the newspaper revealed that Imvume donated R11-million to the African National Congress before last year’s general elections.
A German teenager confessed on the first day of his trial on Tuesday to creating the internet Sasser worm that waylaid millions of computers around the globe last year, a court official said. The Sasser worm had struck on May 1 and in less than a week hit thousands of companies and as many as 18-million computers worldwide.
The country’s first female deputy president had a group of women in the palm of her hand as she elaborated on Tuesday on daily tribulations facing the fairer sex, at a conference on gender issues. There were murmurs of agreement and some giggles as Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka painted a picture of the day in the life of an average woman.
A High Court hearing to sanction a scheme of arrangement for British banking group Barclays to acquire a controlling stake in South African banking group Absa has been postponed to Wednesday after three parties opposed the scheme. The hearing was postponed to allow more time for preparation of arguments.
Although the business confidence index of the South African Chamber of Business increased in June to its highest level so far this year, there are economic developments that could adversely affect future confidence, the chamber said. The index increased to 128,2 in June this year from 127 in May.