The South African Cabinet has given the nod to the Civil Unions Bill — which effectively allows recognition of same-sex marriages. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko on Thursday said the Bill takes into account the Constitutional Court judgement that found the common-law definition of marriage in the Marriage Act of 1961 was unconstitutional.
Former LeisureNet boss Peter Gardener on Wednesday maintained steadfastly that it never crossed his mind to declare his interest in a multimillion-rand deal he negotiated on behalf of his company. Gardener was being cross-examined for the third day in succession in the Cape High Court.
The South African government on Wednesday acknowledged that it has a major problem in tackling the country’s crime rate ahead of hosting the next Soccer World Cup in 2010. Lawmakers were told during a briefing on preparations for the tournament that a detailed survey of crime-fighting technology is under way in a bid to allay fears.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is remaining tight-lipped hours ahead of a planned international day of action on Thursday. ”It is a secret,” said Rukia Cornelius, the TAC’s national manager, on Wednesday. The day will see protests at South African embassies and government institutions in South Africa, the United States and Europe.
South Africa’s players in the manufacturing or sale of petroleum products have until September 17 — but effectively Friday September 15 — to lodge licence applications with the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs, the chief director of hydrocarbons Nhlanhla Gumede said on Wednesday.
Senior members of the African National Congress in the Western Cape region will accompany politician Tony Yengeni, who has been convicted of fraud, when he reports to Pollsmoor prison on Thursday. ”The ANC provincial leadership will accompany Yengeni. We will be showing our solidarity with him,” said Max Ozinsky, the ANC’s deputy provincial secretary, on Wednesday.
There is no certainty that if South Africa’s petrol price is deregulated that it will stay down, a senior official of the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs told MPs on Wednesday. Addressing the National Assembly minerals and energy committee, the chief director of hydrocarbons, Nhlanhla Gumede, asked the question whether, indeed, the consequence of deregulation would be that the price would go up.
Zackie Achmat, one of South Africa’s top Aids activists, appeared in court on Tuesday on trespassing charges after leading a protest against government policies to fight the disease. A judge ruled that the trial will open formally on September 7. In the meantime, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) vowed to step up its protests.
Opposition parties on Tuesday decried the appointment of Brigadier General Ernest Zwane as the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) director of prosecutions. ”The decision by the SANDF to appoint convicted criminal Brigadier General Ernest Zwane as the new director of prosecutions is disgraceful,” Democratic Alliance spokesperson Roy Jankielsohn said.
Forty-three members of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), including the organisation’s chairperson Zackie Achmat, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of trespassing. The appearance follows last week’s TAC occupation of a provincial government building in Cape Town.
Former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni, due to report to Pollsmoor prison by Thursday, will be treated like any other prisoner and be subjected to a strip search and have his fingerprints taken. ”We don’t have a category of more important or less important inmates,” Correctional Services ministerial spokesperson Luphumzo Kebeni said on Tuesday.
The South African government has been told that progress has been very slow in achieving black economic empowerment (BEE) in South African business, with government itself contributing little in terms of procurement from black business. This emerged in a meeting between President Thabo Mbeki and his economic cluster ministers on Tuesday.
The call by the Independent Democrats (ID) for Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s dismissal is about saving lives, not egos, said ID leader Patricia de Lille on Tuesday. De Lille was responding to the ministry of health’s swipe at her on Monday for urging Tshabalala-Msimang’s sacking.
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) says it has instructed its legal team to take action against public representatives ”who owe the party” following their defection to other parties. Party spokesperson Star Khonco said on Tuesday that the UDM has already ”won its case” against MP Martin Stephens, who crossed the floor to the Democratic Alliance.
Barack Obama, the only black United States Senator, criticised South African leaders on Monday for their slow response to HIV/Aids, saying they were wrong to contrast ”African science and Western science”. Aids activists say Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is creating confusion by pushing traditional medicines and a recipe of garlic, beetroot, lemon and African potatoes to combat HIV/Aids.
Former LeisureNet boss Peter Gardener on Monday conceded that he should have disclosed his interest in a German gym operation that LeisureNet bought out. Gardener was being cross-examined in the Cape High Court on issues of corporate governance in LeisureNet and its previous incarnation, the Health and Racquet Club Group.
Former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni is to begin serving time in prison for fraud this week after his final bid to challenge his 2003 sentence failed on Monday. The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein dismissed his application for leave to appeal against the four-year prison sentence.
Lack of access to finance, poor business management and a dearth of skills are some of the challenges women face in the construction sector, Minister of Public Works Thoko Didiza said on Monday. Didiza was addressing the start of a two-day conference aimed at levelling the playing field for women in the construction sector.
The disciplinary hearings of former Bitou mayor Euan Wildeman and suspended municipal manager George Seitisho got under way in Plettenberg Bay on Monday morning, as a new row erupted over Seitisho. The Democratic Alliance has laid a criminal complaint against Seitisho after allegedly finding him and his lawyer making photocopies in the municipal offices on Sunday night.
While the health ministry attacked Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille for urging Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s dismissal, others backed the call for the minister’s head on Monday. The ministry said in a statement it was disappointed by the level of ignorance demonstrated by De Lille during a radio interview.
The revelation that the official opposition Democratic Alliance allegedly received a donation from slain businessman Brett Kebble points to the need for serious reform in the party political funding regime in South Africa, says Independent Democrats MP Lance Greyling.
Western Province kept up their charge at the top of the Currie Cup table with a sixth consecutive victory as they downed the Pumas 43-10 at Newlands on Saturday. It was a largely scrappy encounter and WP seldom moved out of third gear as they dominated almost every facet of the game.
Black people and women are just as capable of excelling at mathematics or science as men and whites, said Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel on Friday. Quoting statistics from the directors of the top 100 companies in South Africa, Manuel said there are 2 489 directors, of whom 202 are women — 105 white women and 97 black women.
Cellphone giant Vodacom has withdrawn a claim that it offers the lowest call rate in South Africa, following a challenge by competitor Cell C. The Advertising Standards Authority said it had been asked to rule on an advertisement for Vodacom’s new monthly packages, which claimed: ”Lowest call rates in South Africa. Calls from 90c per minute or 1,5c per second.”
The National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) has welcomed a landmark United States court finding that the tobacco industry has lied for decades about the harmful effects of smoking in order to protect its profits. NCAS director Dr Yussuf Saloojee said the judgement had exposed the ”rotten core” at the heart of the tobacco industry.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has condemned the ”deplorable behaviour” and what it described as ”abusive utterances” of members of the HIV/Aids lobbyist group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) at the Aids conference in Toronto, Canada.
The remaining two of 11 suspects initially implicated in the murders of actor Brett Goldin and fashion developer Richard Bloom were on Friday remanded to November 3 in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town. Clinton Davids (22) and Shavaan Marlie (25) appeared briefly in court and were remanded in custody.
Forty-four Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) members who occupied provincial government offices in Cape Town on Friday to call for the arrest of Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang were themselves arrested. The protesters, who included TAC chairperson Zackie Achmat, were charged with trespassing and warned to appear in court on Tuesday.
South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki cannot demand a new positive image of Africa while continuing to condone the flagrant abuse of office and squandering of public money that typifies so much of the continent, says official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon.
South Africa’s Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang will appear in a live television debate with the shadow health minister Gareth Morgan on Sunday August 20 on SABC TV1. The show will debate the fact that the number of cases of tuberculosis (TB) in South Africa has increased by 400% between 1995 and 2004, and the link between HIV/Aids and TB.
Israel’s action in the Middle East has triggered "unprecedented anti-Americanism" and restiveness on the streets, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Thursday. Noting that the international community now needs to resolve the situation, he said: "I want to warn that the potential for increased terrorism is greater today than it has ever been."
Pre-HIV test counselling may be a luxury South Africa can no longer afford given the scale of the pandemic, according to Judge Edwin Cameron. Cameron, himself HIV positive, said in an article in the latest newsletter of the South African HIV Clinicians’ Society that Aids is now a medically manageable disease, and no longer a necessarily fatal condition.