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/ 3 December 2004
Although house prices in South Africa have risen by more than 30% over the past year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff have said, at this stage, there are no clear indications of a bubble having developed. Available data suggest that real estate prices rose from very low levels and there are significant regional disparities.
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/ 3 December 2004
Thousands of civilians on Thursday fled clashes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, amid Western concern over conflicting claims about whether Rwandan troops are operating in the area. Bernard Le Flaive, of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that ”several thousand” civilians were fleeing to Kanya, Kanyabayunga and Kirumba.
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/ 3 December 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/140506/shaik_icon_new.gif" align=left>The trial of Durban businessman Schabir Shaik delivers a daily reminder of how the arms deal continues to rumble across the country’s political landscape, dragging corruption allegations and smashed reputations in its wake. This week the court relived the ignominious process whereby the Cabinet crushed an attempt by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts to flex its oversight muscles in probing the deal.
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/ 3 December 2004
The state’s continued opposition to the rights of same-sex couples is doomed to failure because of the stringent constitutional values relating to equality, say constitutional law experts. This week, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the common law definition of marriage as a union of a man and a woman was unconstitutional.
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/ 3 December 2004
A series of blunders by state-owned rail company Spoornet has brought the $5-billion (R30-billion) revamp of Zambia’s railway infrastructure to a standstill. The fiasco, which has resulted in the suspension of senior Spoornet executives and the institution of a forensic audit, has also raised questions about Spoornet’s capacity to assist the continent to revive its railways, many of which have ground to a halt.
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/ 3 December 2004
Colonel Peter Mbobo was tried for and found guilty of a strange offence this week: setting aside his regular duties to help provide security backup for President Thabo Mbeki. As a result he was charged with 21 days AWOL, subsistence and travel fraud, backdating an order appointing an acting officer in his stead and a catch-all charge of "prejudicing military discipline" for the time he spent away from his normal duties.
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/ 3 December 2004
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Thursday ruled out any regime change in his country and taunted British Prime Minister Tony Blair as he opened his ruling Zanu-PF party congress which is due to renew the party’s top leadership. ”Regime change Mr Blair, who are you to talk of regime change in Zimbabwe?,” said Mugabe.
Mugabe calls for unity
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/ 3 December 2004
Sydney’s Lord Mayor has angered citizens of Australia’s largest city and Prime Minister John Howard by decorating the town hall with a single tree in a modest festive show seen as an effort to avoid offending non-Christian immigrants. The symbol of Sydney’s Christmas is a lonely tree on the town hall balcony.
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/ 3 December 2004
Renewed hostilities between the African National Congress and its left-wing allies are likely to fuel growing demands within the South African Communist Party for the party to stand independently in elections. Support for the go-it-alone strategy grew at SACP provincial congresses this year, where it received majority support in six of its nine provinces.
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/ 3 December 2004
The profiling of donors by the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) smacked of racism, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday. She was referring to an admission by the SANBS that it racially profiled blood donations and that the Health Department was aware of this. Tshabalala-Msimang said she should have been consulted.