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/ 10 December 2004
On the African continent, growth is projected to accelerate to 4,5% in 2004 — the highest since 1996, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) says in its latest quarterly economic bulletin released on Friday. The SARB said global output growth gained momentum from about mid-2003.
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/ 10 December 2004
”What about the MPs?” was the question on Monday when the seven travel agents arrested in connection with the R16-million Travelgate — Parliament’s travel voucher scam — appeared in court. Almost six months after the travel agents’ arrests, Travelgate remains a tangle of legal proceedings — from liquidations of the four implicated agencies, to high court action by Parliament to reclaim owed monies.
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/ 10 December 2004
Lindiwe Mvula is eighth in line, waiting with her trolley outside a recycling plant in Johannesburg’s Newtown. She’s there to sell the used cardboard and plastic she collects and she isn’t pleased with her haul. At the rate of 25c a kilo of cardboard she reckons it’s worth about R20 — not a lot for a hard day’s work. Mvula is just one of many who collect Jozi’s consumer cast-offs to make a living.
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/ 10 December 2004
Digital music players have gotten smaller and sexier this holiday season, hidden in gold necklaces, tucked into sweaters, and squeezed into earpieces for swimmers. The market for flash cards that store everything from text and photos to music has blossomed this holiday shopping season, with companies offering ever more novel products in the fiercely competitive digital music business.
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/ 10 December 2004
An unprecedented agreement among tertiary institutions will see all higher education institutions implement a single entrance exam by 2008. This could soon clear up widespread confusion about what entry requirements school leavers need for higher education, raise the quality of tertiary graduates, and in turn enable higher education to address the dire skills shortages far more effectively than it now does.
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/ 10 December 2004
South Africa ranks low in the bribery stakes, according to an international survey published by Transparency International — but it joins the majority of surveyed countries in the consensus that political parties are most affected by corruption. The survey was conducted among 50 000 respondents from 62 countries.
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/ 10 December 2004
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, is facing yet another blow to his faltering career at a time when he is battling for his political life. Having failed to secure election to the central committee of the ruling Zanu-PF last week, Moyo is now likely to be barred from taking part in the forthcoming primary elections.
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/ 10 December 2004
For those not keen on the fa-la-la-la school of Christmas music, a slew of albums this holiday season offers every conceivable take on Yuletide themes, from rap to reggae and Christ Child’s Lullaby to Santa Was a Black Man. For the record companies, the Christmas market offers a short sales window with the possibility of a long-term payoff.
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/ 10 December 2004
The stabilisation of the rand during October and November 2004 can be attributed to expectations of significant future foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, a possible improved international credit rating of the country by international ratings agencies and US dollar weakness, the South African Reserve Bank said in its December quarterly bulletin, released on Friday.
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/ 10 December 2004
A group of high-profile South Africans, including former president Nelson Mandela, have condemned attempts to force United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to resign. Mandela, Graca Machel — a member of the Board of the United Nations Foundation and chairperson of the Board of the Vaccine Fund — Bishop Desmond Tutu, author Nadine Gordimer and human rights lawyer George Bizos signed an open letter sent on Thursday.