Water levels are falling in some parts of flood-hit Pakistan, enabling rescuers to reach areas cut off for days, but more bad weather is on the way, officials said on Monday. Pakistan has been battered by early rainy-season storms and flooding. More than 650 people have been killed across the region in the past 10 days.
The Gauteng department of health believes that the chances of recovering at least 40% of R426-million in outstanding patient fees is ”doubtful”, the department said on Monday. Steps taken to recover the money include having a credit bureau verify patient details because some patients avoid providing the correct details to evade payment.
Clear differences emerged on Monday among African leaders over their visions for the continent’s system of governance as they gathered behind closed doors to thrash out how to forge a closer union. Heads of state began a debate in which they split over whether to create a United States of Africa or simply upgrade existing institutions.
A meeting between the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and the Premier Soccer League has been postponed to Tuesday. ”It was postponed because people who are dealing with the matter are busy with other issues,” SABC spokesperson Kaiser Kganyago said on Monday. He said the postponement was a joint agreement between the two parties.
A Paarl local councillor was stabbed in the cheek with a screwdriver on Monday after cornering an alleged cellphone thief, the Independent Democrats said. Conrad Poole, newly elected ID councillor for Amstelhof, chased the man through the streets of his ward, the party said in a statement.
Chadian rebels fighting a hit-and-run guerrilla war against President Idriss Déby Itno said on Monday that failure to clinch a deal at peace talks in Tripoli would mean a return to all-out hostilities. Libya brokered the talks to try to end an insurgency by a coalition of rebels fighting government forces in eastern Chad.
A meeting to resolve a continuing pay dispute and prevent a possible action at Eskom will take place this week, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Monday. Three unions together representing over 20 000 Eskom employees have threatened industrial action should the parastatal fail to meet their 12% wage demand.
Six more youths have lost their penises as a result of bungled circumcisions in the Eastern Cape, the provincial health department said on Monday. Spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said 18 would-be initiates were admitted to hospital in Port St Johns last week, of whom four had to have their septic penises amputated.
Climate change in South Africa could drive thousands of species to extinction in the next 50 to 80 years, Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi Mangena said in Port Elizabeth on Monday. Mangena was opening the annual conference of the Society for Conservation Biology, an organisation that advances the science and practice of conserving biological diversity.
Cuba has sent about 60 doctors to Angola to reinforce the African nation’s crumbling health system and strengthen ties between the two Cold War allies, Angola’s state-run news agency said on Monday. The surgeons, paediatricians and other specialists who make up the Cuban group began arriving in Luanda on Saturday, Angop reported.