British Airways (BA) is to increase its London-to-Cape Town schedule by an additional two flights a week this summer to offer a total of 12 weekly services to the Mother City. The additional flights will boost much sought-after capacity on the popular route by almost 12 000 seats over the peak summer period.
Border police in Benin have rescued 27 children from traffickers after they attempted to croos the border into neighbouring Togo. Four adults were arrested in what a police officer described as a new war against child smuggling. Most trafficked children are put to work in cocoa or sugar plantations.
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.