English is renowned as the world’s most swiftly evolving language, a process highlighted by the raft of sometimes curious new words — ”chav”, ”Asbo” and ”retrosexual” — featured in the latest edition of the Collins English Dictionary published on Thursday.
Two babies are critically ill with the Klebsiella infection that has killed 11 babies in the past two weeks, the KwaZulu-Natal health department said on Wednesday. One is at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial hospital and the other has been transferred to the Mt Edgecombe hospital.
Calm returned to the Putco bus company’s depot in Bloed Street, Pretoria, by Thursday morning after stranded commuters went on the rampage on Wednesday, police said. Commuters infuriated by a bus drivers’ strike, which left them without transport home, torched six Putco buses on Wednesday evening and set fire to a ticket office.
Controversial Beaufort West politician Truman Prince on Wednesday night committed himself to promoting the rights of women after being found guilty by an African National Congress disciplinary committee. The three-person committee sitting in Cape Town suspended Prince’s ANC membership for six months.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court as a witness, testifying against her nephew in a theft case, The Star website reported on Thursday. It said her nephew and former bodyguard, Mzontsundu Madikizela (34), is charged with 97 counts of theft.
The salvage tug Nikolay Chiker was on Thursday morning closing in on the stranded log-carrier Kiperousa, as part of an effort to refloat her, the South African Maritime Safety Authority said. Spokesperson Captain Peter Kroon said the tug would try to refloat her during the high tide on Thursday afternoon.
The body of a 74-year-old woman who disappeared from a ward at the Kimberley hospital this week was found on the hospital grounds on Thursday, Northern Cape health authorities said. Shiwe Selao, Northern Cape minister of health, said hospital personnel found the woman’s body, after an extensive search, early on Thursday morning.
Deputy President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday the media have treated him in a ”grossly unfair” way and used the Schabir Shaik trial for political reasons. Meanwhile, hundreds of youths, participating in a protest against unemployment on Thursday, called for Zuma to become the country’s next president.
The streets of the Zimbabwe capital, Harare, were quiet early on Thursday after civil rights groups and the opposition called for a two-day strike to protest growing social and economic hardships and a crackdown by police against the urban poor.
Swiss luxury goods group Richemont on Thursday reported a 33% increase in earnings per unit for the year ended March 31 to €1,588, from €1,193 a year ago. In rand terms, basic earnings per depositary receipt amounted to 126 cents — a 25% rise from a year ago and in line with expectations.