Students at the University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi campus were prevented from attending classes on Tuesday by fellow students who were protesting, university authorities said. Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania president Sebei Mametlwe denied, however, that anyone had been prevented from attending class.
An Elsies River resident gave birth to a 7,3kg girl at Tygerberg Hospital on Friday, believed to be the largest in the hospital’s history. The Cape Argus reported on Tuesday that Cathleen Abels said her family members were ”generally big people” — but that even she had been amazed at baby Chesner’s size.
Five men who robbed a bank at the Atlasville shopping centre in Boksburg, Gauteng, on Tuesday afternoon were arrested within minutes, police said. Captain Jethro Mtshali said two men, armed with a 9mm pistol and an AK-47 rifle, went into the Standard Bank branch at about noon and assaulted some of the employees.
Three pupils at an East London school have been suspended after filming themselves performing sex acts in a classroom, the Dispatch Online reported on Tuesday. The 36-second cellphone video was circulated among pupils at Greenpoint High School, as well as at other schools in the city.
Several patients virtually fled an East London hospital after the admission of eight people suffering from extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), the Dispatch Online reported on Tuesday. The patients with deadly XDR-TB were brought in from Jose Pearson TB Hospital in Port Elizabeth.
Fast-food chains in South Africa have grown at an average of 12 units yearly, with four new restaurants opening per year. This is according to the results of the Standard Bank Franchise Factor survey to determine the contribution made by the franchise industry to the economy of South Africa.
South Africa and Qatar agreed to ”remain engaged” with Iran and other parties in dealing with the nuclear situation in that country, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. Qatar, like South Africa, is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged visiting Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Tuesday to keep fighting Israel, state television said. The United States and Israel accuse Iran of ”interference” in Iraq, through backing Shi’ite militias, and of sponsoring terrorism, including the Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah group.
South African high jumper Jacques Freitag and his training partner, Zeegfriedt Veenemans, will have to attend a diversion programme before charges of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm can be withdrawn against them. The two men appeared in the Hatfield Community Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Lloyd Gedye kicks back at the Bohemian in Johannesburg and chats to The Bang and Tidal Waves.