Zimbabwean police threatened on Monday to deal ”ruthlessly” with anyone who joins a general strike called to protest against a government demolition campaign that has left about 200Â 000 of the urban poor homeless in the middle of the Southern African winter.
Reports of chaos at train stations around South Africa were exaggerated, Metrorail said on Tuesday as a wage strike against the rail operator entered its second day. Metrorail spokesperson Thandi Mlangeni said while the service had been disrupted, its updates at 7am were ”showing a very positive picture”.
A pastoral delegation from the South African Council of Churches met Deputy President Jacob Zuma in Midrand on Monday evening to discuss the implications of his financial adviser being found guilty of fraud and corruption.
In the running for the prize are eight United States presidents, two legendary civil rights activists, several of the most famous innovators in history and, er, a talk-show host. After Britain opted for Winston Churchill and the French plumped for Charles de Gaulle, the US has been asked to choose the greatest American ever.
The International Criminal Court said on Monday it was considering bringing charges of genocide against government officials in Sudan because of the atrocities that had occurred in the western region of Darfur.
If the Reserve Bank believes it has conquered inflation and is more concerned about socio-political holy grails of growth and employment, it should cut interest rates next week, according to Mandla Maleka, chief economist at Eskom Treasury. This in a week when French idiosyncrasies wreaked havoc on local currency.
As violent protests over lack of housing and service delivery erupt in Cape Town, it is useful to contrast the city’s experience with that of Durban. Cape Town’s problems can be understood from various angles. It is no worse off than Durban in terms of human settlement needs — indeed, in terms of absolute numbers, its problems pale in comparison.
Last year R20,5-billion worth of individual life investment products were surrendered before maturity. This represents a staggering 26% of the R74-billion the life companies received from total individual premium income last year. When one compares this figure with individual premium income from new business last year, for every R2 of new business written, R1 was lost to surrender.
A group led by current CEO James Whitehouse has been selected to buy movie company Sasani’s remaining assets for around R130-million. The deal still requires regulatory and shareholder approval but could be concluded shortly. Sasani announced recently that the Whitehouse consortium was the preferred bidder for its assets.
The new SABC chief will be either Sentech head Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane or Altron executive Dali Mpofu, Afrikaans Sunday paper <i>Rapport </i>said on the weekend. Without citing any sources, the newspaper said the shortlist of possible replacements for Peter Matlare had been narrowed to those two names and that the SABC board would have to choose between them.