The Congress of South African Trade Unions is actively considering boiling down its 21 industrial affiliates into four ”super-unions”. The plan, to be debated at Cosatu’s central executive committee meeting next week, is partly prompted by the ongoing membership bloodbath caused by retrenchments. The federation has lost more than 130 000 members in the past four years.
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CNN’s Larry King arrived on Thursday to testify for the defence at Michael Jackson’s molestation trial. King was outside the courthouse more than a half-hour before the trial was to resume. The defence has said the talk-show host will testify that an attorney who has represented the family of Jackson’s accuser had expressed doubts about their credibility.
A new version of the Netscape browser, the early leader in the internet field, was launched on Thursday with new updates aimed at fighting viruses, spyware and other security problems. Netscape takes a page from the growing Firefox browser, with which it shares many technical origins.
Dialogue across political extremes continued on Thursday between the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurverenigings and the African National Congress Youth League. The two bodies agreed in Johannesburg to focus future talks on the economy and language issues, said FAK spokesperson Johann Rossouw.
Archaeologists have uncovered a 5 000-year-old chamber believed to have been used for the burial rituals of Egypt’s first major pharaoh and found a cache of 200 rough ceramic beer and wine jars, Egyptian authorities said on Thursday. ”It is a very important discovery,” said Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Kaizer Chiefs is ending the season the way Orlando Pirates started it. On Wednesday night, Supersport United inflicted the most pain on Orlando Pirates after they lost 1-0 to Kaizer Chiefs. This was the second time United denied Pirates happiness. The first time was when Supersport United came back from a 4-1 drubbing to beat Pirates 4-3.
United Cricket Board chief executive Gerald Majola confirmed on Thursday what has been an open secret for several days — that Warriors coach Mickey Arthur has been appointed coach of the South African national team until after the World Cup in the West Indies in 2007. Arthur said he feels honoured and privileged to become coach.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini on Thursday said the drafting of a constitution for KwaZulu-Natal is intended to ”culminate in the restoration of the monarch to its [sic] rightful position and status”. He was speaking to members of a constitutional ad hoc committee in Durban.
Absa joined other major banks on Thursday in warning its clients against an internet ”phishing” scam. The phishing (fishing for information) scam entails an e-mail, with an internet link to a lookalike bank website, being sent to clients, prompting them to reveal personal information.