Israel should seize the opportunity presented by the united Arab peace initiative to begin ”serious negotiations” to normalise its relations with the Palestinians, Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad said on Wednesday. He was opening the United Nations African meeting on the question of Palestine, which will take place in Pretoria over the coming three days.
Higher interest rates do not necessarily result in a rapid slowdown in spending, but some of the ”exuberance” evident in consumer demand has been dampened, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Wednesday. But he warned the South African Reserve Bank would have to raise rates again should consumers continue to spend as they had been doing.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) is urging its members to live a healthy lifestyle, which should include ”at least 30 minutes” of exercise a day. In a document released ahead of the December national conference, entitled Policy Discussion Documents, the ruling party devotes a section to ”healthy lifestyles”.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is to request a special debate in Parliament about the poor performance of the courts, spokesperson Sheila Camerer said on Wednesday. ”Effective and efficient courts are essential in the fight against crime,” she said in a statement. Among other things, court sitting hours had steadily decreased over the past three years.
On some days there are only five to seven ambulances to serve Port Elizabeth’s 1,3-million residents, the media reported on Wednesday. This means one ambulance for 260Â 000 people. The national norm is one ambulance per 10Â 000. Ambulance staff, who asked not to be named, said they were becoming increasingly frustrated.
Motorists issued with traffic fines because the country’s new electronic national traffic information system (eNaTIS) was offline may have them cancelled, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday. Radebe apologised ”unreservedly” for the inconvenience the implementation of eNaTIS had caused.
The election of Cape Town mayor Helen Zille as Democratic Alliance (DA) leader will not bring change to the opposition party, the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) said on Monday. ”The election of Helen Zille as the leader of DA is nothing else but a change of personalities,” spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said in a statement.
Eight months ago, Tumi — a character who represents the financial reality, as well as the hopes and dreams of many of our readers — sought some badly needed financial advice. She had recently had her first child, which had a significant impact on her priorities.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Sunday congratulated Cape Town mayor Helen Zille on her election as head of the country’s official opposition, the Democratic Alliance. ”We wish her the best of times as the new leader of the opposition,” said ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama.
South African businesses on Sunday said several of their employees were missing following the disappearance of a Kenya Airways aircraft. MTN, confirmed that five of its employees were missing. The 737-800 aircraft left Douala in Cameroon at five minutes past midnight on Saturday but failed to arrive in Nairobi, Kenya.