The Democratic Alliance has backed Springbok rugby coach Jake White’s call on the South African Rugby Union to clarify the position regarding his team-selection obligations. At the same time, DA spokesperson Donald Lee urged politicians to stick to ”more pressing issues” rather than meddle in sport.
South Africa’s Parliament said on Wednesday that it would be unwise and "incorrect" to comment on the court processes concerning MPs charged in the Travelgate scam. In a statement Parliament said: "Parliament … notes the Democratic Alliance’s concerns in their recently published media release."
The decision on whether the name of Johannesburg International airport will change to OR Tambo International airport will be announced later this month, the Ministry of Arts and Culture said on Wednesday. ”Minister [of Arts and Culture Pallo] Jordan will make an official statement on the status of the … name change … in mid-August,” it said in a statement.
A South African Law Reform Commission report has proposed that legislation should be adopted to deal with victims of crime. Official opposition Democratic Alliance safety and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard said on Wednesday that it appeared that Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla was sitting on the report.
Parliament’s planned discussion on floor-crossing, called for by President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation address earlier this year, will take place from September 19. The chairperson of Parliament’s standing committee on private members’ legislative proposals and special petitions, Vytjie Mentor, said there was no way discussions could take place without public hearings on the matter.
South Africa’s Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) reported on Wednesday that a raid took place last week by four Zimbabwe police officers on the office of its counterpart, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Cosatu said the policemen confiscated over 2 000 flyers which contained information about the ZCTU’s campaign against high taxation.
South Africa’s official opposition Democratic Alliance is holding simultaneous public events outside five South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) provincial offices as part of its nationwide campaign to highlight what it views as television-news reporting bias. In a statement, spokesperson and MP Donald Lee said on Tuesday: ”The DA will erect posters and distribute stickers outside each provincial SABC office.”
Former magistrate Ian Yuill is to investigate allegations of poor management, negligence and transgressions of the law by metro police members serving Cape Town’s Helderberg region. ”Yes, [the brief] is fairly far-reaching, but it’s important to be as wide as possible,” said Yuill on Tuesday.
The biggest population of foreign nationals engaged in crime in South Africa hailed from neighbouring Zimbabwe and Mozambique, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula told journalists on Tuesday. He also said the violent nature of crime in the country is to be investigated as part of a revamped crime-fighting plan.
The Department of Arts and Culture has received ”hundreds” of submissions on the proposed renaming of Johannesburg International airport to OR Tambo International airport, the department reported on Monday. The deadline for submissions is at midnight on Monday. Ministry spokesperson Sandile Memela said that submissions were streaming in ”every moment of every hour”.
Legal representation and a mooted separation of trials both need to be finalised before Parliament’s so-called ”Travelgate” saga can proceed to trial, the Cape High Court heard on Monday. Cape Judge President John Hlophe acceded to a defence proposal to postpone the matter to October 17, granting the 28 accused an ephemeral reprieve.
South Africa’s language education policy has after nine years not yet been put into effect ”convincingly”, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday. ”Resources have not been made available in amounts that would give effect to the policy,” Pandor told the Language Colloquium in Cape Town.
South Africa’s official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will try to establish exactly which Members of Parliament are — or were — indebted to Parliament for the improper use of air travel vouchers. Chief whip Douglas Gibson said it appeared that some thought the scandal should be swept under the carpet.
Cape Judge President John Hlophe on Monday acceded to a defence proposal to postpone Parliament’s Travelgate trial. Hlophe postponed the case to October 17. Twenty-eight people — 23 current and former MPs and five travel agents — are in the dock for the alleged defrauding of Parliament of about R24-million.
Presidency official Titus Mafolo was free to join "any organisation" of his choice as a citizen, says South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Responding to a question from Democratic Alliance MP OM Thetjeng on Monday who asked whether the "Native Club" was a presidential initiative or was government funded, she said the club was not an initiative of the president.
Western Province overturned a 22-7 deficit to run out 30-28 winners over the Lions in a scrappy Currie Cup match at Newlands on Saturday. The teams were deadlocked 25-all after an eventful first half that featured seven tries. Mistakes were made and there was some awful defence, but also some good rugby.
The government is confident the elections this weekend in the strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will put it back on the high road towards national reconciliation and development, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday in his weekly newsletter on the ANC Today website.
The African National Congress accused the media on Friday of distorting its policies in a bid to sow racial division among South Africans — particularly residents of the Western Cape. Recent ”gross distortion” of the ANC’s position on equity and restitution had been no innocent mistake, the party claimed in a statement.
South Africa should take a ”rights-based” position over the current conflict in the Middle East involving Israel and Lebanon, official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said on Friday. The sensible position for South Africa to take is, he said, the most obvious.
The South African Cabinet has approved the establishment of the South African Space Agency as an institutional vehicle for the coordination and implementation of South Africa’s national space, science and technology programmes. In a statement on Friday the Cabinet said the agency would conduct ”long-term planning and implementation of space-related activities”.
Malizole Diko, a Member of Parliament who defected from General Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement last year to form the United Independent Front, (UIF) died in the early hours of Friday morning. Colleagues said that he had died after a short illness in Cape Town and had been extremely ill in recent weeks.
South Africa’s weak and poorly resourced Parliament can only find its voice if it is given new powers in the Budget process, and the resources to live up to them, a growing number of MPs and parliamentary officials believe. The engine room of democracy is not a happy or productive place at present.
South Africa’s official opposition Democratic Alliance has released a list of social-grant fraudsters in the public service — although Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya has asked that the information supplied to it remain confidential. The names of over 1 728 public servants were provided by the minister to the DA, which MP Mike Waters released on Thursday.
South Africa’s would-be president and a group of lawmakers appear in court on the same day next week, as two of the most potentially damaging trials of the post-apartheid era put the spotlight on corruption. Some South Africans say the trials underscore the commitment of President Thabo Mbeki to stamp out corruption dogging every level of his government.
Charges of breaking the Boland Ruby Union’s constitution will be laid after the death of a player in a club match in June, the union’s lawyer confirmed on Thursday. ”We hope to serve the charges by Friday next week,” said Chris Faure. He declined to say how many people would be charged, or what the specifics of the charges were.
As the South African Communist Party (SACP) gears up for its 85th anniversary celebration this weekend, the ruling African National Congress has said that it values the relationship it has with its alliance partner. In a statement on Thursday ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said: "This is a relationship that has stood the test of time."
The African National Congress was accused on Wednesday of reintroducing racial categorisation, thereby polarising South African society. The National Democratic Convention (Nadeco) criticised the ruling party for not regarding coloured people as African. ”This … is nothing less than racialism,” the party said in a statement.
Former deputy president Jacob Zuma, in his capacity as deputy president of the ruling African National Congress, will be one of the guest speakers at this weekend’s celebration of the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) 85th anniversary.
A combination of the money to be made in professional sport and the ”winner-takes-all” mentality makes performance-boosting drugs too alluring for some athletes. In South Africa, there has been a rush of athletes, such as Olympic medallist Ezekiel Sepeng, recently falling foul of authorities, despite career-killing censure.
The ad hoc committee on the appointment of the auditor general (AG) has recommended that Shauket Fakie’s current deputy, Terrence Mncedisi Nombembe, should replace him when he retires on November 30. The African National Congress-led committee was reported to have made the recommendation in the announcements, tablings and committee reports.
Five young men have been gunned down in a massacre on the Cape Flats, Western Cape police said on Tuesday. Two men entered the back yard of a house in Langa’s Zone 4 shortly before midnight on Monday and opened fire on a group of 10 people, all of them teenage youths or young men, in a wooden hut there.
Businessman Cyril Ramaphosa has denied having any interest in becoming president of the African National Congress. ”I have not engaged, nor sought to engage others on my behalf, in any campaign with respect to the presidency of the ANC, and have no interest in being a candidate,” he said on Tuesday.