Plastic and steel containers for dispensing condoms in prisons were used by inmates to manufacture lethal weapons, the Jali Commission of Inquiry heard on Wednesday. When cardboard boxes were used instead, the containers and their contents were often destroyed by prisoners, according to Correctional Services health director Maria Mabena.
First it was the fridge mountain, then it was the tyre mountain. Now discarded computers have got environmentalists worried. According to a new study, the world’s relentless appetite for buying new computers — and the ease with which we throw out old ones — is having a major impact on the environment.
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The African National Congress in Gauteng on Wednesday lodged a formal complaint with the Independent Electoral Commission, accusing Inkatha Freedom Party leaders of obstructing it from campaigning for the upcoming election.
Special Report: Elections 2004
The Harare court appearance of 70 men alleged to be mercenaries involved in a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea was called off on Wednesday as new charges under anti-subversion laws were prepared.
Manuel warned a Cape Town hotel – which he did not name but said it was close to Parliament – which was charging R120 for a toasted sandwich that it would price itself out of the tourism market. Addressing pupils from Western Cape schools on Wednesday, Manuel noted that "the balance of payments situation" in South Africa "is not so bad".
The Sectoral Education and Training Authorities (Setas) have until Friday to apply for renewed ”certificates of establishment,” the Labour Department said. The Setas’s current period of establishment ends in March 2005 and the Skills Development Amendment Act required each skills training body to apply for the new certificate a year in advance.
The Greenpoint and Seapoint areas of Cape Town, known as relatively high crime areas in the city, are set to receive eight new CCTV cameras as part of an expansion of the municipal government’s crime-fighting efforts. Western Cape Premier Marthinus van Schalkwyk said that R4,3-million had been allocated for the project.
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana was dismayed at the slow pace of negotiations between striking airport baggage handlers and Equity Aviation Services, his department said on Wednesday. He said the strike had dragged on for too long and should be resolved as a matter of urgency.
Three children and one adult were killed in a series of rocket strikes by insurgents on Baghdad on Tuesday night, a United States army officer said on Wednesday. ”Three rockets were fired. They were from outside the city. One landed in the south, one in the north and one in the city centre,” the officer said.
Meningitis has killed 403 people between 1 January and 7 March 2004 in Burkina Faso, where 2 060 cases of the disease have been reported. According to the Ministry of Health, the disease has reached epidemic proportions in two of the country’s 53 districts -– Diebougou in the south west and Nanoro in the central region.