Cape Town

The five Democratic Alliance MPs who defected to other parties during the 15-day floor-crossing period earlier this month actually lost their seats, the Cape High Court heard on Monday. DA counsel Jan Heunis said the floor-crossing legislation requires a minimum of 10% of a party’s MPs should leave their party ”in a bloc”.

The health ministry has responded angrily to Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi’s criticism of its Aids policies, labelling remarks by the trade union leader at the weekend as ”irresponsible” and saying he needs to get his facts straight. Vavi accused the government of a ”lack of leadership” when it comes to managing HIV.

The Democratic Alliance is to raise questions in the Limpopo legislature asking for a full list of officials who participated in an African National Congress fund-raising dinner that it has dubbed ”Dinnergate”. The ANC reportedly offered business people and potential donors the opportunity to dine with high-profile government department and parastatal heads — at a price.

There is still very much to play for in the 2005 Absa Currie Cup premier division and with three rounds of action remaining, the tension is beginning to mount as the leading contenders battle it out for semifinal places. Six teams still have a realistic chance of making the last four.

It is clear many South Africans, including some in the African National Congress, appear to think their new democracy gives them the freedom to engage in corrupt practices, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. He said the party, government and people are deeply concerned about the incidence of corruption in South Africa.

The roll-out of the taxi recapitalisation project has entered "a critical stage" and the Transport Department has targeted the scrapping of "at least" 10 000 old taxi vehicles from December 2005 to December 2006, says Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe.

Just hours after Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula told the nation that burglaries at commercial and residential properties were down, his own party’s caucus was bemoaning the fact that there had been ”a spate of burglaries at parliamentary residential villages” in Cape Town.

National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has rejected the Democratic Alliance’s bid to reverse its loss of five seats in the House during the 15-day floor-crossing period. The DA contends the five MPs are now ”beached whales” because the defection law says not less than 10% of a party’s MPs must defect before even one may do so.

Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon has accused the African National Congress of trying to force taxpayers to service the party’s debt, using floor-crossing to maximise the amount of money it will receive. The amount of public money given to political parties is to increase, based on the number of MPs parties have in Parliament.

The Democratic Alliance has asked National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete to reverse its loss of five seats in the House during the floor-crossing window period. A letter by DA chief whip Douglas Gibson, delivered to Mbete on Friday morning, also threatened court action should the party’s bid fail.

South Africa’s black economic empowerment (BEE) efforts are set to receive a boost in the form of a multimillion-dollar investment from the New York Common Retirement Fund. South African President Thabo Mbeki will be briefed later on Friday on the intention of the fund to increase its current levels of investment in South Africa to support BEE.

The Democratic Alliance suffered its first losses in the National Assembly on Thursday when five of its MPs used the floor-crossing window to defect to other parties — only hours before the window closes at midnight. Four DA MPs — Bheki Mnyandu, Enyinna Nkem-Abonta, Richard Ntuli, and Dan Maluleke — joined the African National Congress.

Marine biologists on Wednesday decided to blow up the skull of a beached whale at Mnandi beach along False Bay after numerous attempts to refloat it failed. A Marine and Coastal Management spokesperson said the whale, 10m long and weighing close to 11 tonnes, had beached after apparently making a navigational error.

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has dodged giving a definitive answer on whether government will pay a market-related price for land it might appropriate under its land reform programme. Speaking in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday, she said the answer to this question was ”a yes and a no”.