The large 17,5% year-on-year drop in the number of people employed in the formal building industry in September 2003 highlighted the problem South African statistical authorities have in collecting credible employment data given the increase in casualisation in jobs, which is a global phenomenon.
Zimbabwe’s finance minister has denied claims that he violated Zimbabwe’s currency laws when buying a seaside mansion in Cape Town, countering allegations in South Africa media that the real estate deal was illegal, a government newspaper reported on Thursday. Reports of the minister’s property have been the talk of Harare’s business and social circuit.
Dutch authorities on Thursday cleared Amsterdam’s central train station and the station in Roosendaal near the border with Belgium after receiving two bomb alerts, a spokesperson for the Dutch railways said. All train traffic to and from Amsterdam was halted.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=33168">Terrorist plan to attack Milan revealed</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=33154">Fear of attacks on French railways</a>
The Passion of the Christ has already outgunned blockbusters such as Titanic and Harry Potter in South Africa. But while some religious leaders welcome the movie, others call it sensationalist. Is Mel Gibson’s new film a cheap portrayal of the Saviour or the moral regeneration SA has been waiting for?
To the extent that the ANC will continue to dominate South African politics in the foreseeable future, there has not been any electoral contest since 1994. Predictably and understandably, this raises the ire of opposition parties. After all, they don’t want to be seen to be cheering the ANC by conceding this point. But without realising it, they are propping up the ANC in power.
![]()
South African Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande says the alliance of the Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party represents the most backward elements created by apartheid. ”These two parties represent not only the interests of beneficiaries of apartheid but are reluctantly part of the new order,” he said.
Special Report: Elections 2004
South African parastatals and their employees will be required to contribute to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) from April 1, the Labour Department said on Thursday. Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said that only public service workers would be exempted from contributing to the UIF.
Police, security and intelligence agencies across Europe will have authority to hold and exchange data on individuals — and detain them — under a draft declaration on combating terrorism to be agreed by EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
A United States military lawyer representing a detainee at Guantanamo Bay said on Wednesday that his client could not receive justice under the existing system of military commissions. ”The system is not set up to provide even the appearance of a fair trial,” said Major Michael Mori, who was appointed by the Pentagon to defend the Australian detainee David Hicks.
Fear that the French rail network has become a target for terrorists was raised again on Wednesday night after a track worker found an explosive device half-buried on the main line from Paris to Basle in Switzerland.