South African aviation security does not fully conform to international security standards. This much is admitted by the Civil Aviation Authority, whose website notes that a national aviation safety plan, effective since 2004, is not compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s standards.
There is no evidence of any organised group of any sort being the agent of an act of sabotage at Koeberg — which led to the shutdown of the nuclear plant earlier this year — South Africa’s Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin told Parliament on Thursday. Erwin was speaking after months of controversy over remarks he made the day before the local government elections on March 1.
The economic collapse of South Africa’s neighbouring state, Zimbabwe, is stripping South Africa of economic growth of about 2% per year, yet South African President Thabo Mbeki has "handed over the baton" to others to resolve the political impasse in that country, Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) policy adviser Eddie Cross said on Thursday.
South Africa is pressing ahead with a law to ban mercenaries, clouding the prospects of thousands of South Africans now fighting for foreign armies or working for security companies in Iraq. But critics say the draft law will have far-reaching consequences for South African soldiers fighting for legitimate foreign forces.
South Africans are heading to the point where the country will be as wealthy as it was in 1981 — a 25-year gap of economic decline and claw-back — with a per capita income per head of about R24Â 000 a year, futures trend analyst JP Landman told the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday.
South Africa’s National Assembly has given the nod to an ad hoc committee recommendation that Terrence Mncedisi Nombembe, the current Deputy Auditor General, be approved as the new auditor general. The current Auditor General, Shauket Fakie, retires at the end of November.
Detailing the suffering of a late Durban Westville prisoner, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) chairperson Zackie Achmat on Wednesday called for homicide charges to be instituted against two Cabinet ministers. Achmat, supported by a group of TAC activists, made the call after occupying the offices of the South African Human Rights Commission in central Cape Town.
A sum of  000 deposited in an offshore trust set up by LeisureNet boss Peter Gardener was cash for a joint investment in property, not an extortion payment, the Cape High Court was told on Wednesday. Gardener, former joint chief executive of the now-defunct group, was in the witness stand for the third day in succession.
The African National Congress in the Western Cape on Wednesday condemned overtures allegedly made to disgraced former party members, Truman Prince and Jeffrey Donson, by the Democratic Alliance. ”The ANC removed both Donson and Prince because they were an embarrassment to the ANC and the councils they lead,” Max Ozinsky, the ANC’s provincial deputy secretary said.
Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is welcome to continue his exile in South Africa as long as necessary, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Dlamini-Zuma on Wednesday said that the open invitation was part of the international process to create ”peace and stability in Haiti”. Aristide fled Haiti in February 2004 amid violent unrest.
The Boland Rugby Union has served charge sheets on the two clubs involved in the match in which Riaan Loots was fatally injured earlier this year. Attorney for the union Chris Faure said on Wednesday that charge sheets had also been served on five players, one spectator and seven officials.
Further work is required on the accrual accounting format that is being adopted by the South African government, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel said on Wednesday. He was replying to a question from official opposition Democratic Alliance finance spokesperson Ian Davidson.
South Africa’s Parliament approved legislation on Tuesday for the 2010 World Cup, with lawmakers showing rare unanimity that South Africa will be ready to host soccer’s biggest event. ”The World Cup offers us an opportunity to present ourselves to the world for what we really can be,” Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile said.
Former LeisureNet boss Peter Gardener on Tuesday denied that the purchase of a R7-million home at Hermanus by an offshore trust he set up was an attempt to launder money. In the witness box in the Cape High Court for the second day in succession, Gardener also denied that he was dishonest with his tax return in concealing a R6-million payment into the trust.
The South African Observer Mission (SAOM) to the July 30 Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) presidential and parliamentary elections says it is happy with progress made in capturing the results, despite difficulties at the start of the process. The 108-member SAOM to the DRC elections was the largest ever to be dispatched by the South African government.
A contentious South African draft Bill to prevent nationals from working as hired guns abroad on Tuesday came a step closer to being promulgated into law after its approval by a parliamentary committee. The draft law was approved by Parliament’s defence portfolio committee with a majority vote by members of the ruling African National Congress. But opposition lawmakers called it flawed, sloppy and unconstitutional.
The Western Cape is losing its tag as the murder capital of the country, provincial minister of community safety Leonard Ramatlakane said on Tuesday when announcing the intensification of a provincial crime-combating strategy. ”We are making a dent, an impact … We are winning the battle,” an upbeat Ramatlakane told reporters. He said Capetonians could look forward to the release of crime statistics in September.
This week’s Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state summit will have to look at how to revitalise the implementation of the economic-integration agenda of the region, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. South Africa’s predominant position in intra-regional trade will also have to be a matter of discussion, he said.
South African economic relations with Iran were "on the increase", but peace and stability in the Middle East was key to the relationship, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. Addressing a media conference in Cape Town, he said that a joint commission would be held in Pretoria on Monday and Tuesday next week.
The Addo Elephant National Park is set to become the third-largest national park in the country, according to South African National Parks. The park’s new southern access road was officially opened by the minister of environmental affairs and tourism on Tuesday, coinciding with the park’s 75th-anniversary celebrations.
The South African government has no plans to change its policy of allowing the market to determine the level of the exchange rate, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Monday. She said that currency volatility "tends to occur when inflows and outflows are large and one-way".
The development of a massive dam in water-scarce Limpopo province raises concerns the government is compromising principles of sustainable development for economic progress. And while the construction of large dams has undoubtedly fuelled industrial growth, it has come at a cost to the environment and taxpayers, displacing communities and even changing local climates.
Former joint chief executive of the defunct LeisureNet group Peter Gardener on Monday defended his non-disclosure of a substantial interest in an offshore company that the group entered into multimillion-rand deals with. He has taken the stand in the Cape High Court to rebut multiple charges of fraud, money laundering and contraventions of the Companies Act.
South Africa has urged all parties to the Middle East conflict to ”maintain the cessation of hostilities” and work towards a solution. In a statement on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the United Nations Security Council resolution adopted on Friday, which called for an immediate end to hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.
A growing number of HIV-positive people in South Africa are living normal lives in one of the countries worst hit by Aids. But this maturing stage in the epidemic brings new policy dilemmas for officials seeking to track Africa’s expanding Aids crisis and to make long-term plans to treat millions of infected people.
South Africa’s official opposition Democratic Alliance has welcomed the indication from the South African Communist Party (SACP) that it may go it alone in the next election. DA finance spokesperson Ian Davidson was reacting to reports following the 17th plenary session of the SACP’s central committee held in Johannesburg at the weekend.
Pilot error caused the air crash that claimed the life of former South Africa cricket captain Hansie Cronje, an inquest unanimously concluded on Monday. The presiding officer, Judge Siraj Desai, said it was the court’s view that the death of Cronje was brought about ”by an act or omission prima facie amounting to an offence” on the part of pilots.
Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin "must apologise publicly" for misleading the South African public about sabotage at Koeberg power station, says the official opposition Democratic Alliance. Minerals and energy spokesperson Hendrik Schmidt said in a statement on Monday that this week he would introduce a motion in Parliament to censure Erwin "for this gross lack of discretion".
It is time Africans take responsibility for how their continent is portrayed, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Writing in his weekly newsletter on the African National Congress website, Mbeki said every day the African and global media publish articles about Africa.
Early indications are that flood damage in Nelson Mandela Bay could total as much as R120-million, the municipality said on Friday. It said in a statement that newly appointed municipal manager Graham Richards had told a special council meeting that there was extensive damage to roads, storm-water drainage and other municipal infrastructure.
About 20 women whose loved ones died violent deaths demonstrated outside Parliament for tighter gun controls Friday in one of the world’s most crime-ridden countries. Shaheema Langeveldt said she still grieved over the murder of her 13-year-old son, shot to death eight years ago as he tried to give evidence to police about another murder.
Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon on Friday accused the African National Congress of deliberate sabotage of the parliamentary process through the passage of the new anti-mercenary Bill, resulting in President Thabo Mbeki’s Africa policy being undermined.