A British man was cleared on Friday of murdering his father after a court accepted his excuse he was sleepwalking at the time, a highly unusual defence seen just a handful of times in the country’s legal history. Jules Lowe was facing life imprisonment for killing his 83-year-old father in a savage beating at their house in Manchester.
South Africa’s socio-economic problems require systematic interventions by the government, but the policy of an independent Reserve Bank has come to dominate the macroeconomic landscape. Increasing tensions between its tough inflation targets and the growth targets of the National Treasury have worrying implications for the pace of development.
Now in its 10th year, Working for Water is a successful public works programme. Launched in 1995 to control invading species, it is a multidepartmental initiative led by the departments of water affairs and forestry, environmental affairs and tourism and agriculture. It has 300 projects nationwide.
A young black man is painted red and beaten after caught indiscreetly fondling a bottle of Klipdrift brandy in a liquor store in Johannesburg’s notoriously naughty Hillbrow area. What is the pathology behind this? What is going on? What is the hidden symbolism that links violent, pathetic gestures such as the Hillbrow incident?
As the 15-member United Nations Security Council keeps dragging its feet over a proposed military and economic embargo aimed at punishing Sudan for mass killings in Darfur, the 53-member African Group has expressed reservations over ”the increasing trend in the application of UN sanctions — especially on African countries”.
Libya is breaking out of its political and diplomatic isolation from the Western world and attracting kudos for its macroeconomic policies. Last week, the oil-rich North African state got what amounts to the good housekeeping seal of approval from the International Monetary Fund after an investigation earlier this year.
Japan on Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of a gas attack that killed 12 people and injured about 5 500 on the Tokyo subway as the cult responsible apologised anew for the worst terror act in the country’s modern history. The Aum Supreme Truth released nerve gas on five trains during the morning rush hour on March 20 1995.
The Brumbies were given a major scare by the Cats in a pulsating Vodacom Super 12 encounter at Ellis Park on Saturday night, but they managed to hold on in the dying seconds for a narrow 34-29 win. The Australians certainly were worried as the Cats took the game to them throughout and particularly in the closing five minutes.
The Leopards pulled off a superb 48-41 (half-time 27-20) victory over the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday, with Leopards wing Ronnie Cooke scoring a hat-trick as his team ran in seven tries against the competition’s defending champions. In another matches on Saturday, the Pumas beat the Eagles 55-21 in George.
No one among the stunned crowd of 26 000 spectators at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Saturday night could have expected such a bad start for the beleaguered Sharks in their Super 12 rugby match against the Highlanders from New Zealand as they reeled back from three hammer blows within the first 11 minutes.