Cape Town

Consideration of legislation by South African members of Parliament to provide Fifa with a legislative platform to manage South Africa’s hosting of the World Cup in 2010 began at Parliament on Tuesday — with a discussion whether previous versions of the South African flag should be banned during the staging of matches.

Police investigating the hijack bid by University of Cape Town student Tinashe Rioga have given up trying to trace the person who sent him the a series of threatening SMS messages, the Bellville Magistrate’s Court heard on Monday. This emerged in evidence at Rioga’s bail application, on which Magistrate Suzette Marais is to rule on Thursday.

The Zimbabwean student accused of trying to hijack a domestic Johannesburg-bound aircraft last month has alleged he was not informed of his rights, the Bellville Magistrate’s court heard on Monday. However, the investigating officer, Superintendent Lungisile Manyana, denied this under cross-examination.

Thirty-eight people, including trade union officials, appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday in connection with the May 16 rampage through Cape Town by striking security guards. The cases were postponed to August 25 for further investigation.

The government has politicised policing to the detriment of South Africans, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said on Friday. ”Far from removing policing from the party political arena, this government has actually aggravated the politicisation of policing to the detriment of the safety of its citizens,” he wrote in his weekly newsletter on the DA website.

The Democratic Alliance has challenged Education Minister Naledi Pandor to back its private member’s Bill defining ”basic education”. The Bill in the name of DA MP George Boinamo was submitted to National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete on Thursday.

Images of the terrorist attacks on September 11 in the United States flashed through the minds of police when they heard of an attempted hijacking of a South African Airways (SAA) flight on June 17, the investigating officer testified in Cape Town on Wednesday. ”At the airport everybody was emotional and worried,” said Superintendent Lungisile Manyana.

The National Lotteries Board has denied responsibility for the alleged delay in appointing distribution agencies. The board was responding to media reports alleging that charity organisations depending on funding from the lottery were in difficulty as money due to them had not been forthcoming.

It is an awe-inspiring sight, watching a nine-tonne attack helicopter perform a loop and barrel rolls, the aeronautical equivalent of Luciano Pavarotti performing a perfect pike on the diving board. But this is exactly what Denel Aviation’s CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter can do, although it is not part of its operational flying capabilities.

Auditor General Shauket Fakie’s latest performance audit of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has revealed serious financial and administrative inefficiencies. The audit tabled in Parliament on Tuesday identified financial and administrative inefficiencies in the management of moneys in trust. It revealed that maintenance and inheritance moneys intended for the poor were not being effectively managed.

A University of Cape Town academic has been temporarily suspended from his research duties and his laboratory closed after an international journal associated him with a herbal tonic touted as an HIV/Aids treatment. ”The University of Cape Town is aware of the report … We regard the allegations in the report in a very serious light,” said spokesperson Skye Grove on Monday.

It seems the African Union (AU) is repeating the ”sad past” of the old Organisation for African Unity, particularly with regard to Zimbabwe and Sudan, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has again outwitted President Thabo Mbeki, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the AU, DA foreign affairs spokesman Douglas Gibson said.

South Africa’s revised Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations came into effect on Monday, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism announced. ”It’s all systems go … we are happy that the new regulations are now law in this country,” department spokesperson JP Louw said. The new regulations had been revised to be quicker, simpler and better, and resulted from a substantial consultative process.

Former president FW de Klerk was discharged from hospital on Monday morning following surgery to remove a malignant colon tumour and subsequent respiratory complications. With the aid of a cane, he walked out of the Panorama Medi-Clinic to a waiting car. De Klerk told journalists he was going to rest for a bit and then start working again.

Western Province carried on from where the Stormers left off by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory as they went down 28-25 to the Sharks in their Currie Cup match at Newlands on Saturday. The Sharks were heavily favoured going into the match and seemed well on their way as they took a 10-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Springbok flyhalf Meyer Bosman was recalled to the South African Tri-Nations squad on Friday after Andre Pretorius failed to recover fully from a thigh injury. Bosman, who was initially called up for Springbok duty at the start of South Africa’s international season, was excluded from the South African under-21 side for the recent world championships in France.

Foreigners will no longer need to apply for transit visas for South Africa, the Department of Home Affairs announced on Thursday. Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said in a statement that she will commission a study into international best practice relating to transit visas.

The alleged blacklisting by the state broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), was an ”internal matter”, the South African Cabinet said on Thursday. The SABC has appointed a commission of inquiry into the allegations that a number of commentators including Business Day‘s Karima Brown and author William Mervin Gumede had been ”banned”.