Britain’s state-owned postal service has found a novel cure for rampant absenteeism among staff, according to a report on Tuesday — tempting malingerers back with the chance of winning a car. Since the Royal Mail started the incentive scheme six months ago, attendance levels have risen by more than 10%.
The Western Cape’s education budget has risen by 10% to R6,5-billion, with the extra money to go to ”human capital”, provincial education minister Cameron Dugmore said on Tuesday. Cameron, addressing the provincial legislature during his budget speech, reflected on past achievements and future challenges.
Authorities declared a state of emergency in western Romania on Tuesday and hundreds of homes were destroyed in the former Soviet republic of Georgia after 10 days of rain left large tracts of land under water. In Germany, a medieval monastery suffered flood damage after a creek burst its banks.
Anthrax has killed at least 43 zebras in a game reserve in western Uganda near another sanctuary where more than 300 hippos have died of the disease since last year, officials said on Tuesday. ”We are trying to contain it before it spreads,” said Dr Nicholas Kauta, the head of Uganda’s anthrax task force.
A 51-year-old alleged drug trafficker appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after the biggest find of the so-called date rape drug Rivotril in the history of KwaZulu-Natal, police said. Yunus Satar Essa was remanded in custody until his next appearance on Friday, police said in a statement.
South Africa are the first of eight challengers for sailing’s most prestigious trophy, the America’s Cup, to build a new boat. Team Shosholoza’s RSA-83 hull, unveiled in Cape Town, is the first America’s Cup boat to be designed and built in South Africa, the America’s Cup website announced.
A Richtersveld elder on Tuesday told how as a young man he laboured for less than 40c a day on the state diamond diggings that his community is now reclaiming. The community is claiming 85 000ha of land and compensation of up to R2,5-billion, including R1,5-billion for diamonds extracted from the ground.
Journalist Charlene Smith shed a tear as she told the Johannesburg High Court she would hate to do anything that brought harm to anyone. She was testifying in a civil case brought by three women who complained that their HIV-positive status was disclosed without their consent in Smith’s book on politician Patricia de Lille.
The United States soldiers who shot and killed an Italian secret service agent escorting a freed female hostage to safety are to be cleared of all wrongdoing, it was reported on Tuesday. Nicola Calipari, who had earlier negotiated the release of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, died shielding her on March 4 when their car was fired on at a US checkpoint.
The last few hundred Syrian troops remaining in Lebanon attended a farewell ceremony on Tuesday to mark the end of Syria’s 29-year military involvement in the country. Analysts said the ceremony provided Syria with an opportunity to put a positive spin on a withdrawal that comes after heavy Lebanese and international pressure.