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/ 11 February 2004
The National Prosecuting Authority has emerged as a stronger organisation following the Hefer commission, National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka said on Wednesday. ”We faced one of the toughest public tests any organisation can face. This does not happen with many institutions, especially not with organs of state,” said Ngcuka.
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/ 11 February 2004
Africa’s urban poor, often struggling to eke out a living in unplanned and expanding shanty communities, are at the back of the queue for water and sewerage services. But, as recent serious outbreaks of cholera in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe have demonstrated, the lack of access to safe water and proper sanitation are critical public health issues.
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/ 11 February 2004
A moderate earthquake rattled a swath of the Middle East early on Wednesday, sending jitters throughout the region and causing minor damage to Israel’s Parliament. No injuries were immediately reported. High-rise buildings in Tel Aviv, shopping malls and schools throughout the country were evacuated.
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/ 11 February 2004
In the children’s ward at the Samawa hospital in Iraq, the stench of dried sweat and raw waste is almost unbearable. Mothers, dressed head to foot in black robes, sit cross-legged on the floor or beds, cradling children as many drift slowly into death. ”We have nothing. Most children die, especially in winter,” said a junior doctor.
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/ 11 February 2004
A senior Correctional Services health official acknowledged on Wednesday there was a wide gap between policy developed for the treatment of rape victims in jail and its actual implementation. Health care services director Maria Mabena conceded that Correctional Services health care officials were sometimes not informed of such policies.
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/ 11 February 2004
Police were battling to get more information on who had castrated a Katlehong man allegedly caught raping a five-year-old girl, East Rand police said on Wednesday. Gauteng provincial safety and liaison minister Nomvula Mokonyane said: ”We cannot allow having people taking the law into their own hands.”
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/ 11 February 2004
South African Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Wednesday gave the strongest hint that he was unlikely to be reappointed to President Thabo Mbeki’s government after the national election in April. "Should I leave my department, as is likely, I am now confident that it has adequate administrative leadership and a man of integrity at its stewardship," said the minister.
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/ 11 February 2004
Nine Palestinians were killed early on Wednesday during a firefight with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza City. A total of 30 people had also been wounded after soldiers opened fire on a Palestinian security post in the al-Shijaiyeh area near the town centre.
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/ 11 February 2004
The JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (JSE) was weaker in noon trade on Wednesday on the back of basket-selling by futures players. Weakness in resources stocks offshore overnight and continued strength in the rand added to the negative picture.
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/ 11 February 2004
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday said his newly appointed Cabinet remained ”a war Cabinet”, but this time to fight an internal war against corruption. ”It’s still a war Cabinet,” Mugabe told reporters shortly after a ceremony to swear in the newcomers to the Cabinet at State House, his official residence.
Mbeki’s ‘unacceptable’ stance