The leadership ills of South African rugby are a product of the weakness of the sport’s organisation at provincial level, Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile said on Tuesday. ”I have never seen such weak provinces [and] provincial leaders as we have today. I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
A Capetonian hopes to become the world’s fastest blind driver by setting a land-speed record next month. Accompanied by a navigator, Hein Wagner is to attempt the feat at a Mafikeng airstrip on September 8 — hoping to make his way into the Guinness World Records book.
Loch out! Hundreds of stunned tourists were duped into thinking they had seen Scotland’s famous Loch Ness monster, the television pranksters behind the stunt revealed on Tuesday. The legendary creature, said to live in the Highland lake’s murky depths, has attracted Nessie-hunters to the shoreline for decades.
A day after failing to meet their deadline, Iraqi leaders expressed confidence on Tuesday that they will overcome differences over key issues such as the role of Islam and the power of regional governments and finish the new Constitution by next week. Negotiators now have until August 22 to try to draft the charter.
Ruling-party legislators in Zimbabwe are pushing constitutional amendments critics say will strengthen President Robert Mugabe. A Bill before Parliament will establish a 40-seat Senate, strip land owners of all rights of appeal if their property is seized and allow the government to deny its critics passports, lawyers say.
Two top United Nations officials based in war-ravaged Côte d’Ivoire Tuesday solidly backed South African President Thabo Mbeki’s mediation after talks in Pretoria, and warned that any group trying to disrupt presidential polls set for October could face sanctions.
Fines imposed on teachers who helped Mpumalanga matric pupils to cheat are ”absurdly” low and not a deterrent, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday. ”Instead, it will make it clear to all teachers that the consequences of helping children to cheat are negligible,” DA education spokesperson Helen Zille said.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will call for Jacob Zuma to be reinstated as deputy president of South Africa, Cosatu said on Tuesday. Its central committee also resolved to ask President Thabo Mbeki to ensure the withdrawal of the corruption charges against Zuma.
A burglar who broke into an office in Portugal last week, making off with a portable safe that contained just €10 (about R79), returned over the weekend to leave a note apologising for the theft, the Lusa news agency reported on Sunday. The envelope with the note was slipped into the mailbox of the office.
About 1 000 pupils — somewhat short of the 100 000 promised by the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) — marched through central Cape Town on Tuesday to protest violence at schools. The march went off without incident, despite an earlier police warning to shopkeepers and vendors.