The government must tackle muti killings and ritual murders even though some might want this problem to remain hidden, an expert said on Monday. Professor Thias Kgatla, professor of religious studies at the University of the North, said a repeat of a successful campaign in 1994 against the practice is needed.
The Red Cross on Monday appealed to the international community for ,7-million to help 200 000 Kenyans facing starvation. ”We have a disaster on our hands and we need everyone’s solidarity,” Wilfred Machege, assistant minister in the Office of the President, told a press conference in Nairobi.
The Soweto actress arrested in connection with allegedly killing her toddler son because he was possessed has been transferred to Sterkfontein hospital for psychiatric observation, police said on Monday. On Sunday morning the woman’s housemate found her child’s badly mutilated body on the floor.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=120422">Child’s ‘brains on the floor'</a>
A Malawian court on Monday sentenced the former general manager of the state-run petroleum commission to six years in prison over a  000 (about R160 000) bribe he took from a Britain-based company. ”I think a term of six years will be appropriate … corruption retards economic development,” the judge said.
Telkom on Monday confirmed that it has been requested to postpone planned retrenchments until it has concluded consultation talks with labour unions on the rationale to reduce staff numbers — but added that it will be able to start such retrenchments on September 14.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=120444">Unions draw battle lines with Telkom</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=120408">Telkom backtracks on retrenchments </a>
Less than a fifth of all pupils who passed the senior certificate examination in 2001 studied at technikons and universities in 2002, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) said on Monday. ”Only 14% of learners who wrote the senior certificate examination (grade 12) in 2001 enrolled in higher education institutions in 2002,” the HSRC said in a statement.
South African exports will get a boost from a weaker rand after the Reserve Bank unexpectedly cut its prime lending rate last week but economists say the move holds no long-term guarantee to save jobs. The rand has been powering ahead for the past three months, breaking the six-rand-to-the-dollar threshold in July as the mining and textile sectors complained that the strong currency was hurting their business.
Some of the Boeremag treason-trial accused feel so aggrieved about media reports on their trial that on Monday they threatened to apply for an order to have journalists barred from court. The men complained about an Afrikaans radio talk show on radiosondergrense on Friday in which they claim they were ridiculed.
Women in uniform greet patrons from behind a reception desk while others rush back and forth with drinks. Men in waistcoats talk frantically into their lapel microphones, ensuring their guests have everything they need. Is it a smart restaurant? No. Espace Tower, a stone’s throw from Shinjuku’s notorious red-light district, satisfies a much more urgent need among Tokyoites than a mere meal.
A British archaeologist is set to reveal what he believes to be the location of John the Baptist’s cave to the west of Jerusalem, the Times reported on Monday. Shimon Gibson (45) has found a cave with a ritual baptism pool, rock carvings and pottery, which he linked to John the Baptist and his followers, the newspaper said.