The Western Cape government has been asked to airlift food parcels to thousands of families affected by torrential rains in the Overberg region, particularly Arniston and Napier. Rivers burst their banks and towns were cut off from the outside world in Sunday and Monday’s deluge, with Bredasdorp among the worst hit.
Most Gauteng school buses were running again on Tuesday after a one-day strike left 66 000 children stranded on Monday. Only the Diepsloot-Honeydew-Zandspruit area was still affected, with the bus operator there continuing to refuse to ferry children, said Gauteng education department spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi.
Water may have to be taken from the ”haves” for redistribution among the ”have-nots”, Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Buyelwa Sonjica said on Tuesday. To address inequities in access to water, ”it may be necessary to reallocate water between users”, she said at the launch of a draft position paper on water-allocation reform.
Jazz musician Robbie Jansen was in a critical but stable condition on Tuesday after he collapsed at home last week from lung problems, his brother said. ”They have been trying to wean him down [from the ventilator] from Saturday, but they put him back on it last night because he is still too weak,” he said.
South Africans involved in the export market could "no longer rely" on a weak currency to drive their businesses, South African Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa told parliamentarians on Tuesday. He said his department was "very aware that important sectors are facing a crisis and decline, particularly those that have significant employment and social implications".
If you have a cool -million to spare, you might want to take a look at one of the most intriguing and unique property deals on the planet. Biosphere 2, the audacious attempt by Texas billionaire Ed Bass to build a structure that would replicate the entire ecosystem of planet Earth, is up for sale.
An evangelist church pastor in New Zealand has apologised for making flippant remarks about Pope John Paul II to parishioners during his sermon on the day he died, The Nelson Mail newspaper reported on Tuesday. Pastor Brent Liebezeit, of the Annesbrook Church, in the South Island city of Nelson, said: ”He looked pretty much dead when he was speaking for years, really.”
South African batsman Jacques Kallis has been cleared of any wrongdoing following a misconduct hearing in Trinidad with International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Jeff Crowe on Sunday. Kallis had been charged of breaching the section of the ICC Code of Conduct that relates to showing dissent at an umpire’s decision.
Golfing order was restored at Augusta National on Sunday. Tiger Woods is Masters champion, for a fourth time, and back on top of the world rankings. Suddenly all the early season talk of the ”Fab Four” — Woods, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els — is all sounding a bit hollow.
Several Stormers are recovering well from injury. Hanyani Shimange, who has a rib cartilage injury, is expected to be fit for the match against the Blues on April 23. Joe van Niekerk, who has an injury to the cartilage in his left knee, is expected to be fit for the Crusaders game on Saturday.