The British press on Monday questioned the police handling of investigations into the July bomb attacks on the London transport system in the wake of the fatal shooting of an innocent Brazilian man. Lawmakers also joined the debate about the police shoot-to-kill policy after 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead on Friday by police who mistook him for a possible suicide bomber.
Donovan Moodley pleaded guilty to the murder and kidnapping of student Leigh Matthews at the Johannesburg High Court on Monday. He also admitted to extortion. His fiancée, Yeshika Singh, was in the court room, as well as his father, Stephen, and his sister.
Springbok coach Jake White and his assistant Gert Smal on Monday said something has to be done about the way the Wallabies manipulate the scrums. The Boks conceded two free kicks to the Wallabies at scrum time during Saturday’s Mandela Challenge Plate Test at Ellis Park, won 33-20 by South Africa.
Municipalities are to take control of taxi ranks and their management, as some taxi associations have taken to charging operators for using them, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe said on Monday, adding that the government has committed R2,5-billion to increase its capacity to enforce public-transport laws.
The Democratic Alliance on Monday announced it has ”declared war” on tik, the highly addictive methamphetamine drug. DA leader Tony Leon said his party has developed a five-point plan to rid communities of the drug. On the Cape Flats, tik is responsible for some of the fastest addiction rates ever seen among youngsters.
China has long resisted strong-arm tactics against ally North Korea despite pressure from the United States, conscious that turmoil in its neighbour could create instability across the border. China’s own interests rather than wider global concerns are at the heart of its decision-making process.
The Scorpions have arrested a senior elected Mangaung official, his wife and four other officials, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Monday. The six were arrested in the morning. Scorpions and NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said a seventh arrest in Johannesburg is imminent.
The stepfather of two children found hanged in a cemetery in Western Australia pleaded guilty to murdering them when he appeared in court on Monday, a report said. The bodies of the 14-month-old boy and his four-year-old sister were found in Pioneer Cemetery at Derby, 2 400km north of Perth, on April 23 this year.
Trading at Pick ‘n Pay’s stores across the country was normal on Monday and the strike action was ”far more orderly”, the retail chain company said in a statement. The group, however, still appealed to the South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers’ Union to ensure that its members obey the law.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has accepted an invitation by President Robert Mugabe to visit Zimbabwe to assess the government’s controversial campaign of shack clearances, the Herald newspaper reported on Monday.