The Congress of South African Trade Unions says the alliance between itself, the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party is stronger than ever, and that differences on how to handle political instability in Zimbabwe will cease to be an issue. The alliance held a two-day summit in Johannesburg this week.
It is the priority of people to make sure that South African children can read fluently by the third grade, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said on Saturday. She was speaking at the launch of the Readathon Campaign 2005 at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. The launch coincided with World Book Day, which was celebrated worldwide.
The United States’s Constellation Brands, the world’s largest winemaker, has called in investment bank Rothschild to advise it on a possible counter-bid for Allied Domecq, the British drinks group that last week agreed to a £7,5-billion takeover from Pernod Ricard of France.
This week, United States bookstores will be hit by Smut, Gil Reavill’s emotional plea to put sex back in the bedroom. The book is all the more remarkable because Reavill made his career as a staff writer on the notorious 1980s sex magazine Screw. He has also written for Penthouse and Maxim.
The United States army investigation into the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib has cleared four out of five top officers of any responsibility for the scandal that shocked the US and the world. This has led to accusations that the investigation, carried out by the army’s inspector general, is a whitewash.
Pope Benedict XVI faced claims on Saturday night that he had ”obstructed justice” after it emerged he issued an order ensuring the church’s investigations into child sex-abuse claims be carried out in secret. The order was made in a confidential letter, which was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001.
The Stormers disintegrated in spectacular manner for the second week running when they blew a 24-0 lead to go down 37-24 to the Blues in their Super 12 match at Newlands on Saturday evening. What made the defeat extraordinary was that the Stormers played champagne rugby in the first 20 minutes.
The South African Super 14 rugby franchises are to be reconsidered at a meeting to be held on May 7, rugby boss Brian van Rooyen revealed on Saturday. He was addressing journalists after an emergency meeting with members of the South African Rugby Union’s president’s council.
Google’s earnings are growing so rapidly that not even the stock-market bulls can keep up. Blown away by the online search engine leader’s first-quarter profit, securities analysts raised their already high expectations for Google and investors scrambled on Friday to buy a piece of the company.
Hundreds from Graeme Smith and Abraham de Villiers put South Africa in a strong position in the third Test against West Indies on Friday. De Villiers was undefeated on 122 and Smith was dismissed for 104 to lead South Africa to 253 for one, replying to the West Indies’ first-innings total of 296, when stumps were drawn on the second day.