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/ 10 November 2006
Former Limpopo premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi received a R100Â 000 payment from a businessman whose company won multimillion-rand tenders from his government, the Scorpions have alleged. This is just one of a range of cash benefits that allegedly flowed to him after a R750-million pensions administration contract was awarded to Cash Paymaster Services.
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/ 10 November 2006
Was the government swayed by diplomatic expediency and ruling-party funding needs when it granted strategic mineral rights to an African National Congress business front and Russia’s third-richest man? Vicki Robinson and Stefaans Brümmer report.
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/ 10 November 2006
Viktor Vekselberg, the 48-year-old Russian oligarch, is not known for his corporate ethics. Described by <i>Forbes</i> as a "deal junkie", Vekselberg is ranked the third-richest Russian and the 44th richest person in the world by the magazine. His net worth is about $10-billion, accumulated predominantly through metals and oil.
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/ 10 November 2006
Education Minister Naledi Pandor has asked the department of education to draw up a plan that will subsidise well-to-do schools to enrol poor learners.
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/ 10 November 2006
South Africa is among the world’s worst when it comes to road accidents – a fact that is emphasised every year during the holiday periods when the number of accidents rise.
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/ 10 November 2006
Right-hand-driven Cadillacs will officially be available for sale in South Africa from February 2007, motor vehicle giant company General Motors South Africa (GMSA) has announced. GMSA plans are to release three new marques, the BLS mid-size sedan, SRX Crossover SUV and the STS full-size sedan.
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/ 10 November 2006
Strings of diamonds, cascades of champagne and tens of millions of dollars worth of gifts would be con-sidered ostentatious at any wedding. But in Burma, one of the poorest countries in Asia, the luxury on display in a video of the wedding laid on by the head of the junta, General Than Shwe, for his daughter, has left people up in arms.
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/ 10 November 2006
Sitting in the waiting room of my aroma-chiropodist the other day, I picked up a recent copy of what used to be that excellent British magazine <i>The Spectator</i>. It had an interesting front page. In enormous letters it announced THE END OF SOUTH AFRICA — Rian Malan Mourns the Collapse of His Homeland. That’s going to be worth a read, I thought, but I turned first to a favourite part of the “Speccie”, the weekly literary competition under the byline Jaspistos.
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/ 10 November 2006
It is predicted that by the end of the century, a barrel of water will cost more than a barrel of oil. In cities such as Dar es Salaam and Delhi, the taps often run dry and women spend hours every day looking for water to buy from tankers and vendors. In the rural areas this is often not an option, and available water must be harvested from rainfall or rivers without wasting a precious drop.
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/ 10 November 2006
A small but increasingly vocal group of United States parents and educators is pushing for homework to be abolished for younger children on grounds that it serves no purpose. According to two new books on the subject, American children are being robbed of time to enjoy hobbies, sports and even family time because of too much homework.