The African Christian Democratic Party has suspended five of its candidates who allegedly offered the African National Congress control of the Theewaterskloof municipal council, in Caledon, in exchange for a list of demands. They fell for an ”age-old trap” when they responded, in writing, to the ANC after it asked what they would want in return for their cooperation in controlling the council.
Australia dominated the first day of the first Castle Lager Test at Newlands on Thursday. They dismissed the home team for 205 forty minutes after tea, and at the close were 63-1 in reply. Australia seam bowler Stuart Clark started his Test career in the best possible way, with a five-wicket haul.
Identifying with the lead character in the Oscar-winning local film ‘Tsotsi’, former president Nelson Mandela proved a masterful storyteller.
Confidence in South African business conditions remained high, but could be dented by electricity supply problems and the recent Transnet strike, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) said on Thursday. The most recent RMB/BER business-confidence index showed a reversal of the one-percentage point decline of the previous quarter.
Sasol Mining’s black economic empowerment (BEE) ownership component will reach about 20% by 2009 and full compliance with the Mining Charter by 2014, the company said on Thursday. The wholly-owned coal-mining business of Sasol Limited said the first phase of its empowerment strategy entailed the formation of Igoda Coal.
Journalist Lynda Loxton, parliamentary correspondent for Business Report, died in a Cape Town hospital on Wednesday evening. Business Report editor Alide Dasnois said Loxton had been in a coma for several weeks, following an accident boarding a suburban train in the city last month.
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The African National Congress was left licking its wounds after surrendering control of the city of Cape Town when Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate Helen Zille won a closely fought election on Wednesday. ”We need to sit down and analyse what went wrong,” ANC provincial chairperson James Ngculu said.
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Smaller political parties, including the African Christian Democratic Party, were meeting on Wednesday morning to cobble together a deal ahead of a council meeting which will elect the Cape Town mayor and executive committee. ”After this meeting we will definitely know. There will be some clarity,” said ACDP mayoral candidate Pauline Cupido.
South Africa’s euphoria after their victory in what has been hailed as the greatest one-day game of all time was officially declared over by coach Mickey Arthur ahead of the first Test against Australia starting at Newlands on Thursday. ”We spent the morning talking about it,” said Arthur on Tuesday.
Australia vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said on Tuesday that Australia had much to take out of Sunday’s defeat by South Africa in the final Standard Bank one-day international at the Wanderers. ”We have a lot that we can be proud of,” he said. ”We all know that we took part in something unique.”
The Democratic Alliance has presented Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula with a nine-step plan for turning her department into a functional and accountable branch of government. DA spokesperson Sandy Kalyan said the department was in a state of crisis, and nothing was being done about it.
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The Independent Democrats may fulfil its pre-election prophecy of being the king-makers in the City of Cape Town on Wednesday, when the first council meeting elects the new mayor. ”If there is no resolution, the ID has to decide if it will vote for Nomaindia Mfeketo [incumbent ANC mayor] or not,” said the Democratic Alliance.
A Tornado fighter jet refuelling a Cheetah fighter in mid-air and the SAS Amatola replenishing at sea were some of the high points noted by task-group commanders in a military exercise involving South African and German forces. Exercise Good Hope II took place around the Cape of Good Hope recently.
SABMiller, one of the world’s largest brewers, has received permission from the Slovak competition authority to acquire Slovakia’s third-largest brewery, Topvar, in a deal worth an estimated value of $15-million (as measured by net-asset value). SABMiller confirmed this to I-Net Bridge on Tuesday
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is to visit Zimbabwe in a further attempt to resolve that country’s problems. Briefing the media in Cape Town after discussions with President Thabo Mbeki, Annan said Zimbabwe had great potential and an important role to play on the continent.
Convicted German confidence trickster Jurgen Harksen’s controversial senior counsel Johan van der Berg was struck from the roll of advocates in the Cape High Court on Monday. This was on five charges brought by the General Council of the Bar, including excessive fees he made from the Harksen saga.
President Thabo Mbeki has shared the writings of Deng Xiaoping with his spy service, intoned Duke Ellington to oil executives, astounded astronomers with Shakespeare and preached the Bible to lawmakers. Presidential spokesperson Murphy Morobe puts it mildly: ”He is extremely well read.”
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/262374/vote-box_blue.gif" align=left>The African National Congress and the Independent Democrats are keeping mum on an apparent deal that has been struck with a third smaller party for control of the Cape Town metropolitan council, according to the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has asked the Cape High Court to dismiss with costs an application forcing the government to spell out what it intends doing about prison overcrowding. A prisoner and an NGO want the court to rule that prison overcrowding is unlawful and a violation of constitutional rights.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in South Africa on Monday morning for a three-day visit that will include talks with President Thabo Mbeki on the global body’s reform. Annan’s visit is his first official one to South Africa since assuming leadership of the UN in 1997, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
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South Africa has taken a giant step towards the goal of gender equality and the emancipation of women in the recent municipal election, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. The election results show the success the African National Congress has achieved to increase the numbers of women in the municipal system, he said.
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There was still no agreement by late on Friday afternoon over who will govern Cape Town. Talks between political parties were set to take place over the weekend in a bid to reach a settlement. ”We are waiting on various parties to get back to us on a variety of options and proposals,” said Ryan Coetzee of the Democratic Alliance.
Wine consumers were expected to bear the brunt of a white wine shortage, the chairperson of Wine Cellars South Africa said on Friday. ”Due to the exhaustive drought experienced last year, the crop was 11% down on that of 2004, resulting in a colossal shortage of white wine for the domestic and export markets,” Henk Bruwer said in a media statement.
Former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s behaviour as a former leader of the government’s campaign against HIV/Aids as well as the moral regeneration movement ”is testimony to the sad state of leadership in South Africa today”, says Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon, who has also criticised the Koeberg ”sabotage” debacle.
South African wine producers fear that weeks of power cuts in the Western Cape, South Africa’s wine-making region, may have spoiled production of its white wines. The Western Cape has been hit by blackouts since December when an electricity generating nuclear plant in Koeberg outside Cape Town broke down.
A ”moving” building has got a Southern Cape motorist off the hook on a speeding charge, Die Burger reported on Thursday. It said Dr Helena Bruwer of Knysna challenged five summonses that claimed she exceeded the speed limit in an 80km/h zone in the Storms River area.
Vitamin salesman Matthias Rath on Wednesday renewed his offensive against Aids lobby group the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), saying it should be banned. The attack comes less than a week after a full bench of the Cape High Court granted the TAC an interim interdict against Rath and the foundation.
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The big wait continued on Wednesday as parties carried on the behind-the-scenes negotiations that will determine who will govern Cape Town, where no party won a clear majority in last week’s local government polls. ”Talks are continuing, progress is being made. But it all takes a long time,” a Democratic Alliance spokesperson said.
Listed financial services group Sanlam has reported a 99% increase in headline earnings per share for the year to the end of December 2005 to 229,8 cents from 115,3 cents a year earlier. The company declared a total dividend for the year of 65 cents per share, a 30% increase on the 50 cents per share distributed in 2004.
HIV/Aids and human rights activists have called for commercial sex work to be decriminalised as a means of tackling the spread of HIV/Aids.
Retail-sales data for December released earlier on Wednesday by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) show that growth in sales over the Christmas spending season was "phenomenal", and the spending spree is likely to continue, according to Standard Bank.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been urged to probe the financial links between its youth league and the late Brett Kebble. Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson Ian Davidson said a scandal had erupted from court papers filed by Randgold & Exploration that implicated Kebble and at least three ANC Youth League heavyweights ”in outright fraud”.