The Gauteng department of education has threatened to close down 200 badly performing schools, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. Spokesperson for the department Panyaza Lesufi said the department has given principals until the end of January to present plans to turn their schools around.
Somalia’s army, backed by Ethiopian forces, on Sunday extended their grip over remote regions in the far south of the country where Islamist fighters had been holed up for days, a commander said. Commander Abdulrasaq Afgebub said the joint forces were in control of Ras Kamboni, a scrubland area on the border with Kenya.
President Thabo Mbeki should appoint a judicial commission to investigate the 1999 arms deal, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday in the wake of new revelations on the affair. The media reported on the weekend that Britain’s Serious Fraud Office is investigating alleged ”substantial payments” from BAE Systems to a senior South African Defence Ministry official.
The African National Congress (ANC) said on Sunday it considers as inappropriate and irregular public pronouncements of an official of the South African Human Rights Commission regarding the minister of justice and constitutional development and applications for a presidential pardon by prisoners aligned to the Inkatha Freedom Party.
South African Airways (SAA) said on Sunday it strongly objected to news reports headlined ”SAA Sex-Pest Shock”. A Sunday newspaper had made a number of highly defamatory and untrue allegations, and its article was riddled with errors, the airline said in a statement.
Businessman Tokyo Sexwale has been approached by senior Cabinet ministers to run for the position of African National Congress president later this year, a move which would pave the way for him to become the president of South Africa when Thabo Mbeki retires in 2009, the Sunday Times reported.
The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) is investigating charges of defeating the ends of justice after claims of a cover-up in the Robert McBride car-crash investigation, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Sunday. Witnesses said McBride appeared to be drunk, and that they were intimidated and assaulted.
A Labour Court judge has slammed former justice minister Penuell Maduna in a landmark ruling in favour of a whistleblower he fired, the Sunday Times reported. Maduna and current Scorpions boss, Vusi Pikoli, formerly director general in the Department of Justice, were taken to court by the former deputy director general in the department, Mike Tshishonga.
Fiji’s Vijay Singh stayed steady on another windy day on the Kapalua Plantation course on Saturday, opening a three-shot lead after three rounds of the United States PGA Tour season-opening Mercedes Championship. Singh nabbed five birdies with two bogeys in a three-under-par 70. That gave him a 54-hole total of 11-under 208.
The selectors have named an unchanged squad for the three-Test series against Pakistan, which starts with the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday. Convenor of selectors Haroon Lorgat said on Saturday that he was very pleased with the way South Africa had performed in the last two Tests against India. South Africa won the series two-one.