The third round of talks to break the 12-week security strike logjam are under way after third parties, including Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, managed to coax negotiators back to the table.At the same time, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union gave some indication of the costs of strike action for labour.
Former president FW De Klerk was in stable condition after undergoing an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his colon, his spokesperson Dave Steward said on Thursday. ”He is still in intensive care, but his condition is stable,” Steward said.
South African President Thabo Mbeki has relaunched his diplomatic offensive to engage President Robert Mugabe in a bid to resolve Zimbabwe’s escalating political and economic crisis, it emerged on Thursday. Official sources said Mbeki on Thursday dispatched Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils to Zimbabwe.
The façade of legality thrown up around the deportation of Pakistani national Khalid Rashid is crumbling as embarrassing new evidence about his fate trickles out of the Pretoria High Court. Despite repeated assurances by Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, it is now abundantly clear that this was no ordinary deportation.
A clear majority of Russians think Vladimir Putin should serve a third presidential term, and that the Constitution should be changed to allow him to do so, according to an opinion poll. The poll comes amid persistent speculation that Putin could be coaxed into considering another term.
The JSE on Thursday suffered its worst loss since April 17 2000 — the bursting of the internet bubble — when a surprise rate hike locally saw the stuffing knocked out of a market that was already sagging under the weight of weaker world markets and lower commodity prices.
The South African rand was firmer against the dollar in early trade on Friday as the market digested Thursday afternoon’s surprise 50-basis-point rate hike to 7,5% by the South African Reserve Bank monetary policy committee (MPC). The rand’s move came despite weakness in the euro and gold.
Floods caused by summer monsoon rains displaced about 66 000 people in India’s north-east, while heavy rains disrupted traffic in eastern India, officials said on Friday. In north-eastern Assam state, floodwaters from the Brahmaputra river had inundated about 13 000ha of land, the state government said.
Cell C says, "We’ve got you covered." True, says an irritated Richtersveld community — but only if you’re standing on tiptoe. The tiny Richtersveld community of Kuboes complains bitterly that while a Cell C advertisement uses footage of their town to vaunt its extensive geographical coverage, their community has to make do with poor reception from the cellphone operator.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has established a formal commission to review the proposal that it should contest elections — a move that could be the first formal step toward the restructuring of the "tripartite alliance". The establishment of the body is a clear signal that a split between the SACP, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the African National Congress may finally be taking shape.