Writing in his weekly newsletter, President Thabo Mbeki has accused Business Day newspaper of publishing a ”wholly fabricated story” alleging Southern African Development Community leaders were divided over Zimbabwe, and describing a discussion at last week’s SADC summit ”that never took place”.
Two bogus police officers arrested on Friday have been linked to a gang that follows travellers home from OR Tambo International Airport and robs them, police said. Captain Jethro Mtshali said crime-prevention officers on patrol in Kempton Park arrested two men aged 19 and 21 at about 2am, near Kemstar Mall.
Crime fiction is given short shrift by the literati. Yet the genre sharply examines societies in transition and pressing human issues. Darryl Accone investigates.
It is disturbing that public servants who blow the whistle on corruption, maladministration and other abuses risk being fired and sued, the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) said on Friday. Further evidence of this trend is provided by a defamation suit filed recently by the correctional services minister, it said.
Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher will lose 60% of his match fees at the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup after criticising the move to drop star batsman Jacques Kallis, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Friday. A disciplinary panel found Boucher guilty of three breaches of CSA’s code of conduct.
The General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB) has questioned the purpose of a Bill that, if enacted, would require retired judges to obtain permission from the justice minister to undertake paid work. The GCB has expressed its concerns to Parliament about the proposal.
Cheslyn Williams, the former boyfriend of Idols winner Karin Kortje, appeared again in the Bellville Regional Court on Friday, charged with the murder of a Durbanville guest-house owner. Prosecutor Herculene Swart told magistrate Johan Vermaak that the trial was expected to start before him on September 26.
The Sunday Times was overstepping ”in every direction the bounds of propriety and decency” in publishing of the health minister’s hospital records, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Friday. The minister’s lawyers were asking for an interdict to prevent the Times further commenting on or publishing details of the records.
Lonmin, the world’s third-largest platinum producer, on Friday told employees taking part in a strike at its Marikana operations in the North West to return to work or face dismissal. The company said in a media statement that it had issued the ultimatum on Friday morning.
Nigerian Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa on Friday froze a plan announced last week by the central bank to re-denominate the naira currency, saying the bank had violated the law. Aondoakaa said Central Bank Governor Chukwuma Soludo should first have sought President Umaru Yar’Adua’s written approval.