An urgent bid to free right-wing leader Eugene Terre’Blanche after an alleged parole violation over the weekend was proceeding in the Pretoria High Court, his lawyer said on Monday. Lawyer Gerrie Basson described Terre’Blanche’s arrest as "blatant harassment" by the Department of Correctional Services.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=120860">Terre’Blanche spends night in jail</a>
An academic in Australia said on Monday she plans to teach quantum physics to children as young as five through a new series of books. Through characters such as Ellie the Electron, Yvette Hancock from Monash University in Melbourne said young children might be able to grasp the bizarre concepts involved. In fact, she said, they might be better at it than adults.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance says the near-record current account deficit recorded in the second quarter of 2004 of R49-billion — 3,7% of gross domestic product — "is cause for concern". Shadow finance minister Raenette Taljaard said there are at least four reasons for this jump in the figures.
The South African rand was slightly stronger against major currencies in early trade on Monday, continuing a move that began on Friday afternoon when the local unit failed to sustain a move weaker that started on the back of poor preliminary current account figures.
South African information technology group Datatec on Monday announced that it has acquired United States group Solution Technology for a maximum consideration of $15,7-million. The group is funding the acquisition using group cash resources and may issue Datatec ordinary shares to the Solution Technology vendors.
Two South African men being held in Pakistan have apparently told investigators that they received ”basic al-Qaeda training,” ThisDay newspaper reports on Monday. The newspaper said that Fordsburg doctor Feroz Ganchi and Laudium student Zubair Ismail had both admitted that they were recruited in South Africa and had travelled to Pakistan for training.
The media love a soft target. And Marthinus van Schalkwyk has been the perfect repository for all manner of ridicule and vitriol in the past two weeks. Much of the commentary has been as asinine as it has been predictable. Yes, he’s effectively ended the life of the party he leads — hardly the orthodox objective of political leadership. But look at the big picture.
Police arrested hundreds of people during crime prevention operations on the East Rand over the weekend, a spokesperson said on Sunday. Sergeant Prudence Mvelase said 454 people were arrested for a variety of crimes, ranging from armed robbery to shoplifting to liquor-related offences.
South Africa must have the biggest mall culture in the world. I discovered this on arrival. If you want to check out what the different classes and cultures of South Africa feel like, go hang out in the mall. Any mall. (Well, any northern suburbs mall. The malls in Soweto and the southern suburbs are a bit different, of course.) Everything happens in the mall.
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, has rejected a request from Equatorial Guinea for the extradition of 70 alleged mercenaries accused of plotting a coup in the West African country. Mugabe and Kembo Mohadi, his home affairs minister, met with two envoys sent by Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Equatorial Guinea’s president, the government-controlled Herald newspaper reported over the weekend.
‘Coup’ trial to start on Monday