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/ 5 November 2004
Six of 10 departments in the Free State provincial government are without permanent heads of department as fed-up senior managers leave in droves. Morale in the provincial government has dipped to an all-time low, staff say. Two heads of departments have resigned recently because of dissatisfaction with Premier Beatrice Marshoff. Two other heads, unhappily redeployed in September, are fighting the move in court.
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/ 5 November 2004
Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula denied this week that the government has a policy of xenophobia, but acknowledged that police action was often a problem. She also denied that inmates of Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp were ever tortured to death.
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/ 5 November 2004
President Thabo Mbeki and sections of the African National Congress this week repeatedly lashed out at the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu),
labelling its trip to Zimbabwe last week "adventurism". But Cosatu and the South African Communist Party are refusing to buckle, insisting that there is space for a different tactical approach.
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/ 5 November 2004
Yasser Arafat was close to death in a French hospital on Thursday night after repeatedly losing consciousness, but doctors denied reports that he was already dead. The Percy military hospital, near Paris, said Arafat was moved to the intensive care unit after his still undiagnosed condition deteriorated critically.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=125024">Who will succeed Arafat?</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=125008&t=1">Palestinians prepare to grieve</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=124991">Arafat ‘will not recover’ </a>
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/ 5 November 2004
It was most inspiring last week to see President Thabo Mbeki dishing out awards and encomia to South Africans who have contributed to this country’s cultural, social and political tapestry. Never mind the 100 greatest South Africans, these were the real thing. As I watched the awards — and despite my wracking sobs of patriotic gratitude — a thought came to me … Let’s widen the scope of the awards to include areas of human endeavour.
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/ 5 November 2004
The boneheads have it. And what is truly frightening is that — in marked contrast with the last United States election — the boneheads have it by a clear majority. Despite the developing disaster in Iraq, the tattered state of trans-Atlantic relations and the perception among 70% of American voters that the US economy is in a mess, George W Bush has the most ringing electoral endorsement since the Reagan years.
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/ 5 November 2004
The proposed R15-billion merger between Sasol, Petronas of Malaysia and Engen may be good for the country, but it has reportedly alarmed other oil majors and fuel retailers. Last week the petrochemical giants released long-awaited details of their proposed merger to create Uhambo Oil, a liquid fuels monolith with operations in 14 sub-Saharan African countries. It is still to be scrutinised by the Competition Commission.
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/ 5 November 2004
The landslide victory for Festus Mogae in last Saturday’s general election hides a veritable cauldron of infighting in his ruling Botswana Democratic Party. On the face of it, Botswana has everything going for it: it is a homogenous country that has become the world’s richest source of uncut diamonds. The peaceful — not to say boring — nature of the elections underlines the country’s political stability.
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/ 5 November 2004
George W Bush’s return to the White House has profound consequences for the world — not all of them as disastrous as they might appear at first glance, especially for progressive forces and governments. The dangerous men and women around him will regard the election result as nothing less than a ringing endorsement of their attitude to the rest of the world.
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/ 5 November 2004
Two weeks ago, it seemed that — once again — Arsenal were going to be simply unstoppable this season. However, their past two Premiership outings have cast some doubt on this dominance. First there was the defeat to Manchester United, which brought to an end a remarkable unbeaten record.