Mikhail Khodorkovsky, jailed owner of embattled oil giant Yukos, on Wednesday asked shareholders to remove Viktor Gerashchenko, recently appointed in an attempt to end the firm’s ongoing feud with the state. Gerashchenko’s efforts to end the deadlock in negotiations with Moscow have been largely ineffectual.
The JSE edged down on Wednesday due to the rand firming against the United States dollar in quiet trade. The all share index closed 0,73% down, resources fell 1,36% and the gold mining index inched down 0,49%. The stronger rand also pushed near-dated futures to close in negative territory.
The Freedom Front Plus has called for a national debate on the future of affirmative action in South Africa. The party says that studies carried out in other parts of the world show that quotas based along racial lines do not work, and that an alternative must be sought and implemented.
The African National Congress has added its voice to pleas for the return of Leigh Matthews, abducted last week and held to ransom. ”The nation must reject this with the contempt it deserves. The trauma and anguish that Leigh’s parents are going through is unwarranted and unnecessary,” the ruling party said in a statement on Wednesday.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was not responsible for failures of British intelligence about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction ahead of the war to oust Saddam Hussein, an official inquiry reported on Wednesday. Iraq most likely possessed no useable weapons of mass destruction before the conflict, the inquiry concluded.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday his coalition has averted a full-blown government crisis and vowed to remain in power until the next general election. Berlusconi was speaking in the Senate after holding days of emergency talks with his centre-right allies.
Tempers flared as disgruntled residents of Protea Glen, Soweto, were prevented from entering Lenasia by police during a march against evictions in the township. The group, demonstrating against the eviction of bond defaulters, planned to picket outside the office of the sheriff in Lenasia.
President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday that the increasing levels of tax compliance amongst South Africans gives government more resources to improve the lives of the poor. The South African Revenue Services received 1,9-million tax returns after last week’s deadline.
The banking industry was more stable in 2003 after the turbulence of the previous two years, the South African Reserve Bank’s supervision department said on Wednesday. Registrar of banks Errol Kruger was speaking at the release of the bank supervision department’s 2003 annual report in Johannesburg.
Gideon Nieuwoudt’s amnesty hearing was adjourned on Wednesday because convicted murderer Eugene de Kock was too tired to testify, SABC radio news reported. The former Vlakplaas commander had driven from Pretoria by road, leader of evidence Mokotedi Mpshe told the Port Elizabeth High Court.