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/ 13 December 2005
Sanlam, one of South Africa’s largest life insurers, on Monday confirmed the cost to it of the announced joint settlement agreement between the life-insurance industry and National Treasury at R600-million (pre-tax). Sanlam CEO Johan van Zyl earlier on Monday said that the post-tax cost would be R500-million.
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/ 12 December 2005
The Democratic Alliance believes the Cabinet failed to muster a pass in 2005 and performed, on balance, worse than last year, party leader Tony Leon said on Monday. In the DA’s assessment, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was again the worst performer, while Finance Minister Trevor Manuel performed the best.
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/ 12 December 2005
The state has failed to prove its corruption case against former Western Cape premier Peter Marais, his lawyer told the Bellville Regional Court on Monday when applying for his client’s discharge. Marais’s co-accused, former Western Cape environment minister David Malatsi, has also applied for his discharge.
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/ 12 December 2005
Satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys, whose alter ego is Evita Bezuidenhout, has sent a Christmas message to South Africa and President Thabo Mbeki. He has played on the words of the Lord’s Prayer in what he described as a festive-season message of good hope for South Africa.
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/ 12 December 2005
The share price of hotel and gaming group Sun International jumped as much as 4,6% or R3,50 on Monday morning after the company said it expects adjusted headline earnings per share for the half-year ending December 31 to be between 30% and 40% higher than those of a year earlier.
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/ 11 December 2005
Fuel tanks were still dry at Cape Town International airport on Sunday, South African Airways said. Tanks ran dry on Saturday, causing airlines and passengers major inconvenience — Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan apparently suffered a delay of six hours on a flight to Johannesburg.
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/ 11 December 2005
Dynamos earned three valuable points when they beat high-riding Ajax Cape Town one-nil at a windy Athlone Stadium on Saturday night. The only goal was scored in the 35th minute. Ajax were all over the visitors but poor passing and shooting saw them finish goalless.
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/ 10 December 2005
The Department of Health has finished revising its proposed tougher anti-smoking legislation — and has not backed down on the massive fines lawbreakers will face. Departmental spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said the Bill has been cleared by the department’s legal unit and will be submitted to Cabinet for approval early next year.
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/ 10 December 2005
A 49-year-old man arrested in connection with murders and rapes on farms around Philippi in the Western Cape was released on Friday. No evidence could link the man to the incidents, said police spokesperson Captain Elliot Sinyangana. ”He could, however, be re-arrested if new evidence emerges,” he said.
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/ 10 December 2005
A suspected arsonist was arrested on Friday afternoon not far from the blaze that had been raging across the Oudekraal area on the Cape Peninsula since early on Friday morning, Working on Fire spokesperson Val Charlton said. She said a member of the public spotted the man trying to start a bush fire.
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/ 9 December 2005
The fire which broke out on Friday on the back slopes of Table Mountain is still raging out of control and has damaged buildings in a youth camp. Cape Town fire control officer Mark Bosch said the fire was now burning on two fronts. There had been reports that the south easter, which is driving the flames, was reaching 45kph, he said.
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/ 8 December 2005
Old Mutual will not raise its offer price for Swedish insurer Skandia, the company said on Thursday. Miranda Bellord, head of media relations at Old Mutual in London, was responding to earlier media reports that the company was considering lifting its R38-billion offer for Skandia in order to persuade some reluctant Skandia shareholders to accept its bid.
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/ 8 December 2005
The South African Cabinet this week considered a detailed presentation of the Gautrain Rapid Rail link project and gave a green light to it going ahead, government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe reported on Thursday. The project, which is expected to cost at least R20-billion rand, got the thumbs down recently from the National Assembly transport portfolio committee.
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/ 8 December 2005
Santos registered their 12th draw of the season when they held SuperSport United to a 2-2 result after leading 1-0 at the interval in a Premier Soccer League match played at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. In the 2nd minute Mngomezulu Sipho’s hard drive was brilliantly saved by Santos goalkeeper Brenden Wardle.
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/ 7 December 2005
Table Mountain’s beloved, squat silhouette dominates every aspect of South Africa’s Mother City. But its reputation for sunset spectaculars and blooming biodiversity has been tarnished by a spate of muggings that has sent jitters through visitors and tourism authorities ahead of the busy Christmas season.
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/ 7 December 2005
The government’s black economic empowerment policies were not responsible for the enrichment of a few individuals in the private sector, President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday night. ”All the big names that you know, who are cited [as] the big black economic empowerment actors, none of them have got to that position as a result of government intervention,” he said.
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/ 6 December 2005
The African National Congress in the Western Cape says it has not decided whether to investigate rumours that two senior newspaper journalists were secretly being paid to boost provincial premier Ebrahim Rasool’s image. ”Maybe we can consider that, but we have not taken such a decision,” provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha said in response to questions at a media briefing on Tuesday.
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/ 6 December 2005
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has called its top decision-making body, the national working committee, to a meeting on Tuesday evening "to consider matters pertaining" to the charge brought against former Deputy President Jacob Zuma.
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/ 5 December 2005
Swimming sensation Roland Schoeman has rejected a multi-million dollar offer from the Gulf state of Qatar and opted to continue swimming for South Africa. Qatar, known for offering athletes lucrative packages to become adopted citizens, had approached Schoeman earlier this year but the Pretoria swimmer declined.
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/ 5 December 2005
A bomb threat, which caused Parliament to shut down on Monday afternoon, was a hoax, police said. Superintendent Vish Naidoo said the threats were made at about 1.50pm and Parliament was immediately evacuated. The disruption to Parliament was minimal as MPs were currently away in their constituencies.
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/ 5 December 2005
Women were the most likely target of contact crimes in South Africa, with one woman or child raped every 10 minutes, South African opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon said on Monday. As part of the 16 days of activism against women and child abuse, the DA hung up 22 486 pairs of girls’ underwear to represent the number of reported child rapes in 2004/05.
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/ 5 December 2005
Responding to a recent survey, the chairperson of an ad hoc committee on corporate governance on Monday expressed concern at the poor state of workplace ethics in South Africa. It is reported that 68% of 237 companies surveyed in a fraud and misconduct survey expected an increase in fraud going forward.
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/ 5 December 2005
The Democratic Alliance hung up thousands of pairs of children’s underwear in the Cape Town suburb of Nooitgedacht on Monday to draw attention to the rape of 22 486 children in South Africa last year. He said that 60% of all contact crimes in South Africa were committed against women, and on average one woman or child was raped every 10 minutes.
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/ 5 December 2005
The share price of Cape Town-based black economic empowerment group Sekunjalo Investments hit 80 cents in early trade on Monday, gaining eight cents and approaching a four-and-a-half year high of 82 cents. This follows the group’s announcement late on Thursday of a 303% rise in headline earnings per share to 4,76 cents for the year ended on August 31.
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/ 2 December 2005
The Western Cape government is not investigating claims that two senior Cape Town newspaper journalists have been secretly working for the premier’s office. The two journalists have been suspended by their employer, the Cape Argus, pending the outcome of an investigation launched by its editor, Ivan Fynn.
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/ 2 December 2005
Four men appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town on Friday for allegedly robbing a trio of German tour operators. The men, aged between 17 and 20, were arrested on Thursday, a day after the robbery. Police spokesperson Superintendent Billy Jones said the case was postponed for a bail application, and the men would remain in custody.
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/ 2 December 2005
The proposed R38-billion takeover of Swedish life insurer Skandia by South African financial and insurance giant Old Mutual plc has been approved by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, Old Mutual said in a statement on Friday. The group hopes to have all of the necessary regulatory approvals in place by mid-January.
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/ 2 December 2005
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has changed his tune about the dangers of an economic underclass in South Africa, says official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. He noted on Friday that Manuel said Cape Town would one day see the kind of riots that gripped Paris and other cities across France in November.
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/ 1 December 2005
One of three men convicted of murdering retired Durbanville NGK dominee Pietie Victor was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Cape High Court on Thursday. Rashied Naidoo, who moved to Cape Town from Durban a few years ago, received an additional 16 years — including one year for the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
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/ 1 December 2005
Controversial Christian evangelist Peter Hammond confirmed on Wednesday that he has been charged with assault following what he said was a Halloween ”accident” with a paintball gun. ”It was meant to be a joke: nobody was meant to get hurt,” he said. ”I laid down a few ground rules: we were just going for teenagers, no kids.”
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/ 30 November 2005
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The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has filed an urgent application in the Cape High Court for an interdict against the activities of controversial vitamin entrepreneur Matthias Rath. It has also asked the court to find that Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and her department have a duty to stop Rath.
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/ 30 November 2005
Cell C, South Africa’s unlisted third cellphone operator, has posted a 54% rise in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to R134,5-million in the third quarter of its financial year to the end of September 2005 versus R87,7-million in the second quarter of the year, the group said on Tuesday.