The government is ”paranoid and overreacting” in enlisting the help of the National Intelligence Agency and bringing sedition charges against protesters trying to highlight their plight, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Wednesday. ”The government seems to want to criminalise them,” said a Cosatu spokesperson.
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) was firmer at midday on Wednesday, with a softer rand giving heavyweight resources and dual-listed stocks a lift. By 11.57am, the all-share index added 0,6%. Resources rallied 1,42%, the gold-mining index jumped 2,49% and the platinum-mining index perked up 0,88%.
The Springbok coaching staff of Jake White, Gert Smal and Allister Coetzee declared themselves satisfied after the national squad had a good workout against the Shimlas rugby team of the University of the Free State on Tuesday. A few hundred rugby enthusiasts, including learners and students, turned to out to view the Boks in action.
South Africa’s Black Management Forum wants the government to set up a commission of enquiry into racism and unfair discrimination in the workplace. Such a commission should be given a one-year mandate "to review incidents and cases of racial discrimination in the workplace", it said.
Francesco Totti signed a new five-year contract on Tuesday with AS Roma to make him the fifth-highest-paid player in the world. The deal is worth €10,4-million (R87,1-million) annually and expires on June 30 2010. Roma’s captain will earn an additional €520 000 (R4,3-million) per season through image rights.
Mary Pierce took a moment to absorb what was happening on centre court, because she knew that one day it would make a beautiful memory. The crowd was chanting ”Ma-ry”. She was beating top-ranked Lindsay Davenport in the French Open quarterfinals. And all the while, she felt some magic was on her side.
AltX-listed branded food producer All Joy Foods has reported a dip in its headline earnings per share for the year to the end of February 2005 to 6,3 cents, from seven cents a year earlier. No dividend was declared for the year. At the same time, All Joy said it has agreed to acquire 100% of the operations of Retailer Brands.
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Judge Hillary Squires was preparing on Wednesday morning to deliver the last 114 pages of a 165-page judgement in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in the Durban High Court. Squires’s secretary Margaret Parker said she was hoping the judge’s voice ”holds up”.
The motor industry denies it is guilty of anti-competitive practices, as alleged in a report released by the Competition Commission on Tuesday. BMW SA, Volkswagen South Africa and Subaru, among others, all denied any wrongdoing. BMW SA also vowed to contest any action brought against it.
A media scare in Swaziland about an imminent cut-off of the country’s electricity by foreign suppliers has highlighted its near-total dependence on external power sources and jump-started contingency plans to expand domestic power production. Debate about power supplies has also been sparked by concerns as to how the growing needs of companies will be met.