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The South African embassy in Harare denied knowledge on Monday of alleged brutal treatment of 67 citizens held in prison in that country on mercenary charges. Die Beeld newspaper quoted a friend of one of the alleged mercenaries on Monday as saying the men have been without running water for nearly a month, and were covered in lice.
Deputy Chief Justice Pius Langa expressed his impatience with the speed of transformation of the judiciary during his interview for the post of chief justice in Cape Town on Monday. Quizzed by fellow judges on the Judicial Service Commission and the minister and deputy minister of justice, Langa dismissed reports that he was a transformation ”gradualist”.
The world is undoubtedly a better place for the legacy and the teachings Pope John Paul II has left behind, former president Nelson Mandela said on Monday. Mandela joined the millions of Roman Catholics around the world in mourning the death of Pope John Paul II, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement.
The just-ended Zimbabwean parliamentary elections saw a flurry of humorous SMS messages before, during and after the key vote poking fun at the main parties and players and their policies. Supporters of the country’s main rival parties had their own wordsmiths crafting clever jokes, often taking digs at themselves.
Iran may be on a high after leaping to the top of their World Cup qualifying group, but their Croatian coach has cautioned that it is too early for celebrations. In Asia’s Group B, they are in prime position for a World Cup finals berth — after an away win against North Korea, a home win against Japan and a goalless away draw with Bahrain.
Only 15 of 120 cardinals in the conclave at the Vatican to elect a new pope will be from Africa, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) said on Monday. Speaking to reporters in Johannesburg, the SACBC expressed little hope of Pope John Paul II’s successor coming from Africa, because the church in Europe looked on its African congregation as living half in a pagan world.
Pope John Paul II’s funeral will be held on Friday morning, and his remains will be interred in the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica where popes throughout the ages have been laid to rest, the Vatican said on Monday. Chief spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the announcement after the College of Cardinals met for two and a half hours.
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KwaZulu-Natal finance MEC Zweli Mkhize told the Durban High Court on Monday how fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik financed a cash-strapped African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal from 1994. Mkhize was also questioned about a document dated May 1999 that was presented to the court by Shaik’s defence advocate Francois van Zyl.
Another two MPs pleaded guilty and were convicted of defrauding Parliament in a summary trial in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday. The two African National Congress MPs — Nozabelo Ruth Ntshulana-Bengu and Increase Zandisile Ncinane — signed a plea bargain with the National Prosecuting Authority.