Cape Town taximen have been deliberately sabotaging the city’s rail services in order to gain customers, the commission of inquiry into violence in the Western Cape minibus taxi industry heard on Friday. Metrorail’s regional manager handed the commission a document he said contained ”very sensitive information” on the issue.
Women who plan to testify against actor and comedian Bill Cosby in another woman’s sex assault lawsuit will not have their identities shielded by the court, a judge ruled. A former Temple University employee is alleging that Cosby drugged and then fondled her. The other women make similar allegations.
The African National Congress’s policy-making body had been correct to express its support for former deputy president Jacob Zuma "during these trying and painful times", wrote President Thabo Mbeki in his internet letter on Friday. "[Zuma] should have an opportunity to defend himself against whatever accusations have been made against him," said Mbeki.
Group of Eight (G8) leaders have agreed to boost development aid to Africa by -billion as part of a package to fight poverty in Africa, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Friday at the end of the three-day G8 summit in Gleneagles.
Following the bombings in London on Thursday, in which more than 50 people died and about 700 were injured, Johannesburg residents can rest assured that there are preventative measures in place in the city if ever it should experience a sudden urban terror attack, a police spokesperson told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday.
South African Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan has commended the National Arts Festival for its celebration of excellence, writes Helmo Preuss.
<b>CD OF THE WEEK:</b> To love <i>Extensions</i> you have to be into that overproduced Latin whispering, a sound that is pretty enough to sell expensive cars in commercials, writes Matthew Krouse.
<b>NOT THE MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> <i>War of the Worlds</i>, is commended for sticking to something like HG Wells’s ending, though that’s about all the movie can be commended for, writes Shaun de Waal.
By publishing 16 essays on the works of the Indian diaspora by Indian and foreign critics, the editors of <i>Indias Abroad: The Diaspora Writes Back</i>, highlight the longing for the motherland by the dislocated Indian writers, writes Kalpana Rangan.
<i>What Happens After Mugabe?</i> is a thought-provoking book that draws on research from a battery of independent-minded commentators and diplomats across several continents, writes Nazeem Dramat.