A deluge in the drought-stricken Western Cape has been both welcomed and cursed, as early-morning traffic was severely disrupted on Monday. A weather forecaster said a black south-easter, caused by a ”cut-off low pressure system”, had brought heavy rainfall to the region over the 24 hours to 8am on Monday.
In an attempt to quell violence, the Western Cape transport department will close certain taxi ranks and routes in the Cape Town area from 4pm on Monday. The measure follows unsuccessful attempts at resolving a dispute between rival taxi associations. At least three people have died in shootings related to the dispute.
Saxophonist Robbie Jansen is in a stable but critical condition in the Tygerberg hospital after collapsing into a coma on Monday. Jansen, considered by many to be a guru of Cape jazz, is affectionately known as the Cape Doctor — after the south-easter — for his blowing skills.
President Thabo Mbeki called on South Africans on Friday to ”declare war against these parasites” guilty of social grant fraud and corruption. Writing in the African National Congress’ online publication, ANC Today, he referred to Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya’s announcement that more than 37Â 000 civil servants were already under investigation.
The health department met its target of establishing at least one service point for HIV and Aids care in all 53 districts in the country by the end of March, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Friday. The department had also appointed seven companies to provide sustainable supplies of anti-retroviral drugs over the next three years.
A now cash-flush South African National Treasury may well decide, as one of the options available to it, to reduce the amount it planned to borrow offshore this year given that it has a much lower Budget deficit to fund after getting an extra R10-billion in the tax coffers than expected.
The Western Cape government was on Thursday finalising plans to close certain taxi routes and ranks to quell violence. The provincial transport minister said on Thursday that following an unsuccessful meeting with taxi associations, he ordered the closure and suspension of routes in Kraaifontein, Brackenfell and Bellville.
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Based on the present evidence and analysis of the Southern African Development Community guidelines, Zimbabwe’s elections cannot be pronounced free and fair without qualification, a South African observer consortium says. The consortium said it had requested, but was not afforded, observer status.
The leader of South Africa’s parliamentary delegation to Zimbabwe’s March 31 elections has accused the Democratic Alliance of abusing the mission for its own interests. But the DA member who was part of the delegation responded that there were no agreed-to guidelines by the participating parties prior to their departure for Zimbabwe.
Conceding a goal in each half saw Cosmos remain in the relegation zone when they went down 2-0 to Ajax in a Castle Premier League game played at Newlands Stadium on Wednesday night. Ajax can thank their goalkeeper, Moeneeb Josephs, for the three points. Josephs had an outstanding game.
Cape Town police were monitoring taxis in the city on Thursday following a decision to close some ranks to quell recent violence. Certain ranks were ordered closed on Wednesday, with the South African Broadcasting Corporation reporting that this was related to at least four recent deaths linked to disputes among local taxi organisations.
The Western Cape agriculture department will on Wednesday announce quarantine measures and other plans to curb the spread of the blue-ear virus among pigs, the department said on Wednesday. Western Cape agriculture spokesperson Ali van Jaarsveld said an assessment would be done on Wednesday to establish the exact area to be quarantined.
The South African Revenue Service is targeting a total tax revenue cake of R372,8-billion in the 2005/06 financial year, with corporate tax representing a slightly lower figure than the provincial outcome for the 2004/05 financial year, according to figures provided on Wednesday to Parliament.
Big business has urged the South African government to be bolder about economic growth at a meeting of the two parties held at Tuynhuys in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Working in a partnership — of business and the government — Africa will be highlighted "as a place to do business", said Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa.
Government is poised to start preparing the public and business sector to deal with climate change, which is expected to have a major impact on South Africa’s economy over the next few decades. Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the effect of climate change on maize production alone would have massive knock-on effects.
Government is to take further action to ensure that employers comply substantively with the Employment Equity Act, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana announced on Tuesday. He said that those opposed to the act could shout as much as they wanted to but that employment equity was here to stay.
Poor infection control at dental, maternity and paediatric facilities is possibly contributing to the spread of HIV/Aids, statistics showed on Tuesday. The findings were in a study commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council and released at an international Aids conference in Cape Town.
South Africa is one of three countries lagging behind as the World Health Organisation tries to get anti-retroviral drugs to three million people with HIV/Aids by the end of 2005. Of the 20 countries that have the highest ARV need, only Botswana and Brazil have met the interim goals of ”3 by 5”, with South Africa faring the worst.
The separation of state-owned South African Airways (SAA) from its parent company, Transnet, should be completed by the end of the year, says Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin. The minister briefed members of the National Assembly public enterprises committee at Parliament on Tuesday on his upcoming budget vote.
Diversified industrial group Imperial Holdings has concluded a black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction in which it will sell a 7,25% stake in the company to Lereko Mobility, a BEE company owned 51% by a broad-based BEE consortium, for the equivalent of R96,85 per Imperial share, or a total of R1,4-billion.
SA Rugby has confirmed that two referees will be brought before a disciplinary hearing following remarks made about an administrator. The two top rugby referees allegedly brought the game into disrepute after criticising Griquas president Baby Richards in a newspaper article.
Deputy Chief Justice Pius Langa expressed his impatience with the speed of transformation of the judiciary during his interview for the post of chief justice in Cape Town on Monday. Quizzed by fellow judges on the Judicial Service Commission and the minister and deputy minister of justice, Langa dismissed reports that he was a transformation ”gradualist”.
Another two MPs pleaded guilty and were convicted of defrauding Parliament in a summary trial in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday. The two African National Congress MPs — Nozabelo Ruth Ntshulana-Bengu and Increase Zandisile Ncinane — signed a plea bargain with the National Prosecuting Authority.
Western Province-Boland (WP-Boland) recovered from their defeat on Friday to entertain a Sunday crowd of about 7 000 in their Standard Bank Pro20 cricket match against the Warriors at Newlands on Sunday. They were kept on tenterhooks for a long time as the local batsmen again struggled against the slow bowlers.
Solutions to Africa’s problems will work only if they reflect the will of the continent’s people, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Writing in the African National Congress’s online publication, ANC Today, Mbeki said the Pan African Parliament confirms the determination of the peoples of Africa to promote and achieve continental unity.
More than 97Â 000 hectares of state-owned forest land in the Garden Route area around Knysna managed by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has been formally transferred to South African National Parks as the basis for the new Garden Route National Mega Reserve.
Old Mutual Healthcare, a division of London- and Johannesburg-listed Old Mutual plc, has dominated the results of the annual TWIG SA research into service levels across South Africa’s health-care industry, being ranked by medical providers as first in terms of overall service.
A leading children’s rights organisation is concerned that two proposed laws on child protection could result in duplication and a waste of resources. A child’s general right to health care has been reduced in the Children’s Bill, and the right to health care after sexual assault has been removed from the Sexual Offences Bill.
A goal in each half gave Santos a 2-0 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic in a Castle Premier Soccer league game played at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday. Santos took the lead in the second minute when a cross from the right was headed down by Jean-Marc Ithier to Carlo Scott, whose shot went into the top right-hand corner.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/199502/Zim_icon.GIF" align=left>The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) expressed alarm on the eve of parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe that the country’s government "has failed to lift all restrictions on journalists and media, especially foreign media", adding that "these actions do not bode well for free and fair parliamentary elections".
The reinstatement of an African National Congress official recently implicated in a television documentary on child prostitution has been met with howls of outrage.
Political parties have strongly condemned the move by the ANC council, saying it amounted to condoning the actions of those who abuse children.
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Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused South Africa’s government-aligned observers to Zimbabwe’s elections of wanting to ”rubber-stamp” the outcome. It said it has lost faith in Minister of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s capacity to act impartially.