Transformation and black economic empowerment (BEE) in South Africa’s financial sector must not jeopardise ongoing financial stability, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel cautioned on Monday. He was speaking at the start of the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition Conference in Cape Town.
At least five people have been killed and 31 injured in a series of hand-grenade attacks in eastern Ethiopia that may have been politically motivated, police and diplomats said on Monday. The attacks took place in Somali state, where parliamentary elections are to be held next month, they said.
The HIV/Aids pandemic, which has affected millions of people in Southern Africa and around the world, often takes a back seat to dramatic news events and political scandals. In South Africa, the recently launched <i>Journ-AIDS</i> aims to assist journalists writing about HIV/Aids.
The British press on Monday questioned the police handling of investigations into the July bomb attacks on the London transport system in the wake of the fatal shooting of an innocent Brazilian man. Lawmakers also joined the debate about the police shoot-to-kill policy after 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead on Friday by police who mistook him for a possible suicide bomber.
Donovan Moodley pleaded guilty to the murder and kidnapping of student Leigh Matthews at the Johannesburg High Court on Monday. He also admitted to extortion. His fiancée, Yeshika Singh, was in the court room, as well as his father, Stephen, and his sister.
Springbok coach Jake White and his assistant Gert Smal on Monday said something has to be done about the way the Wallabies manipulate the scrums. The Boks conceded two free kicks to the Wallabies at scrum time during Saturday’s Mandela Challenge Plate Test at Ellis Park, won 33-20 by South Africa.
Municipalities are to take control of taxi ranks and their management, as some taxi associations have taken to charging operators for using them, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe said on Monday, adding that the government has committed R2,5-billion to increase its capacity to enforce public-transport laws.
The Democratic Alliance on Monday announced it has ”declared war” on tik, the highly addictive methamphetamine drug. DA leader Tony Leon said his party has developed a five-point plan to rid communities of the drug. On the Cape Flats, tik is responsible for some of the fastest addiction rates ever seen among youngsters.
The stepfather of two children found hanged in a cemetery in Western Australia pleaded guilty to murdering them when he appeared in court on Monday, a report said. The bodies of the 14-month-old boy and his four-year-old sister were found in Pioneer Cemetery at Derby, 2 400km north of Perth, on April 23 this year.
The Scorpions have arrested a senior elected Mangaung official, his wife and four other officials, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Monday. The six were arrested in the morning. Scorpions and NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said a seventh arrest in Johannesburg is imminent.