Millions of South Africans do not enjoy freedom of expression because their languages do not have the same status as English or Afrikaans, Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan said on Wednesday. Jordan was speaking at a language conference in Woodmead, Johannesburg.
The government is considering the division of South Africa into two time zones. This is according to Portia Molefe, Director General of Public Enterprises, who was on Wednesday briefing the minerals and energy committee in Parliament on the present electricity crisis.
Incandescent lamps will be exchanged for energy-saving lamps in all provinces from April onwards, Eskom said on Wednesday. The exchange programme for compact fluorescent lamps is already under way in several of the country’s provinces and has seen more than 12-million lamps distributed in three years.
The trial of an ex-bouncer on a charge of murder will continue in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday with the state calling for ballistic evidence to be presented. Jonathan Street stands accused of killing Kyle Norris on November 19 2006 at a night club in Edenvale, Johannesburg.
Simba Makoni’s decision to enter the presidential race is a ploy by former colonial power Britain to divide Zimbabweans, a state-controlled newspaper reported President Robert Mugabe as saying on Wednesday. Mugabe told ruling Zanu-PF supporters at a rally that voters have to ”bury British regime-change schemes”, the Herald reported.
Sudanese authorities have found a body that they believe is that of a French European Union soldier missing after a clash near the Chadian border on Monday, a spokesperson for the EU military force in Chad said. ”The arrangements for the formal identification and recovery of the remains are being organised,” Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Poulain said on Wednesday.
More than one million people in eastern Ethiopia’s drought-hit Somali region face critical water shortages, the United Nations said on Wednesday. ”A joint multi-sectoral Drought Emergency Response Plan … has been released by the regional government. The plan indicates that more than one million people are currently facing critical water shortage,” the UN said.
Eskom may delay approval for connecting new construction projects that are bigger than a residential home to its grid for up to six months in a bid to alleviate a power crisis, it said on Wednesday. The crisis forced a shutdown of crucial mines for five days in January and since then mines have been operating with only 90% of their power.
Business confidence recovered slightly in February with the index measuring 94, up from a four-year low of 93,8 in January, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) said on Wednesday. Although there was a slight improvement, SACCI warned that overall business conditions were likely to remain under pressure.
Packages for the 2010 Soccer World Cup will go on sale in South Africa in June, sales agent Match Hospitality announced on Wednesday. ”We want to give priority to the domestic market,” the company’s chief operating officer, Pascal Portes, said at the launch of the hospitality programme in Johannesburg.