All veld fires that raged through Mpumalanga recently have been brought under control, the department of local government and housing said on Tuesday. ”Although the fires have been brought under control, fire fighters and the provincial disaster-management team are still monitoring the situation,” the department said in a statement.
The National Lottery, stopped at the end of March, appears set to start up again within the next fortnight. Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa will announce the name of the preferred bidder to run the operation in Pretoria within days, his spokesperson, Vukani Mde, told the South African Press Association on Tuesday.
Legislation paving the way for regulating interactive gambling, such as on the internet, has been tabled in the National Assembly. According to a memorandum attached to the draft National Gambling Amendment Bill, the interactive gaming industry in South Africa is unregulated.
Police have closed their investigation into the rape of a student at Johannesburg’s Chris Hani-Baragwanath hospital because they do not have enough information to continue, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. Confirming a report in the Star, Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said: ”We don’t know where the scene of the crime is and don’t have witnesses or physical evidence.”
Hammer-murder accused Fred van der Vyver could have been tipped over the edge by a quarrel with his girlfriend, a Cape High Court judge said on Tuesday. Judge Deon van Zyl made the remark in a ruling rejecting Van der Vyver’s application for discharge at the end of the state’s case.
Ethiopia’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday said government troops had killed 200 rebels and captured hundreds in the restive predominantly Somali southern region of Ogaden over the past month. "Over 200 anti-peace elements have been killed by the military," the ministry said in a statement, adding that militants had "been destroyed" in a successful operation.
Sudan should grant refugee status to tens of thousands of mostly Arab Chadians who have fled into Darfur to escape violence in their country, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday. But the UN urged Sudan to clarify land issues so Chadians do not settle on property abandoned by Darfuris who have themselves fled conflict for shelter in refugee camps.
The doors to the biggest pub in the world swung open on Tuesday as bartenders at the 30th Great British Beer Festival poured the first of 340 000 pints from across the globe. The annual five-day bash, which raises a toast to finelycrafted ales — and hurls bland, fizzy lager straight out with the slops — promises to be the biggest festival yet.
The Tshwane/Pretoria name change ”is neither here nor there”, said the Gauteng African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday. ANC Gauteng secretary David Makhura told a press conference the party believed Tshwane was the capital. But it was still a ”matter of process” to make this ”attitude” a reality.
Full investigations into apartheid-era atrocities are needed, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) urged President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday. ”As the PAC we feel that we should have full investigations into unclosed chapters of the past,” PAC president Letlapa Mphahlele told reporters after meeting Mbeki at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.