Absa, South Africa’s largest retail bank in terms of customers at 6,96-million, has announced bank-fee increases of between 4% and 7% for 2005, which will become effective from April 1. "These fees were determined in response to the additional needs of our customers," Absa said.
Amid a backdrop of buoyant consumer and government spending, higher international commodity prices, lower inflation and stable interest rates in 2004, the South African Reserve Bank quarterly bulletin reviewing macroeconomic activity in 2004 paints a very positive picture of an economy experiencing accelerating growth.
Listed sugar, aluminium and property development group Tongaat-Hulett is expected to accelerate its earnings growth in 2005 through both incremental growth and investment opportunities, after posting a turnaround in 2004.
Domestic employers, seasonal employers, farmers and their workers contributed R40,9-million to the Unemployment Insurance Fund during the 2003/04 financial year, according to Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana. This figure has already jumped to R68-million for the categories of employers and workers in the period from April 1 2004 to January 31 2005.
When a small piece of South African history was made recently in the coastal city of Cape Town, it looked as if the boys would have the last laugh. ”Girls can’t play! Girls can’t play!” several onlookers roared after every goal. But by the end of the game on Rocklands sports field the smirks were gone.
Allan Gray Limited, one of South Africa’s top unlisted asset-management groups, has announced a series of transactions and initiatives that will result in a 25% black empowerment (BEE) shareholding in the company, the launch of a focused effort to encourage black entrepreneurship and the acceleration of the internal transformation of the company.
A shark-attack victim is recovering well in the Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic after four hours of surgery to his right leg and foot. Chris Sullivan (32), a British tourist on holiday in Cape Town, was attacked, presumably by a great white shark, at Noordhoek beach on Monday.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) on Thursday condemned the unilateral decision by its employers to terminate the union’s ”organisational rights”.
The decision by the South African Local Government Association (Salga) affects the right of the union to meet with members during working hours, among others.
Global banking group Barclays is expecting the rand to strengthen again to below R6 per dollar in the coming months and bond yields to recover on the back of continued strong commodity prices, low inflation and lower interest rates in 2005, according to a recent research report by Barclays Capital.
Listed hotels and gaming group Sun International plans to dispose of its 38,6% stake in fellow hotel group City Lodge Holdings for R627-million, equating to R38,50 per share. Once the transaction is completed, BEE individuals and groupings will hold more than 25% interest in Sun International and its subsidiaries.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has welcomed the appointment of a one-person commission, to be headed by Judge Sisi Khampepe, to make recommendations on the future of the Scorpions. However, it has backed the incorporation of the unit into the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Education is one of the most important ”deposits” the government could make in building human capital and ensuring a better life for all, Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool said on Wednesday, ”because it is through education that we give people the resources and the skills to make something of their lives and, in doing so, to contribute to the lives of those around them”.
It was supposed to be all the fun of the fair, but the match between Western Province-Boland and the Lashings World XI fizzled out as a contest long before the visitors were eventually dismissed in Cape Town on Tuesday. After a solid total had been posted, the home team’s seamers exploited the conditions beautifully and a well-controlled spell from Paul Adams mopped up the tail.
Prison reformers are calling for the Department of Correctional Services not to punish consensual sex between prisoners and for eventually allowing such sex in prisons. This seemingly far-fetched proposal is even suggested by the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons, a statutory agency tasked with making recommendations on correctional services.
Union members spared Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour any discomfort on Tuesday when he addressed a range of issues at a community imbizo (meeting) in Mitchells Plain. ”We don’t want to speak, we would be guillotined back at work,” said a Prisons and Police Civil Rights Union member.
The Department of Health has directed its provincial counterparts and local authorities to remove various chilli powders and chilli-powder products from shop shelves and detain them for further analysis for the Sudan Red colourant. The colourant could increase the risk of cancer if consumed over a long period in large quantities.
The African Champions league match won 5-3 in a penalty shootout by Ajax against ASFA Yennenga of Burkina Faso in Cape Town on Sunday ended as a disgrace for South African soccer when a fight broke out among several players on the side of the field during injury time.
The Aids pandemic carries the face of a woman, former president Nelson Mandela told thousands of people gathered at Fancourt, George, on Saturday night for his second Aids benefit concert. The purpose of the 46664 concert was to give a voice to the women of Africa in the fight against Aids, he said.
Situated in a large, old, red two-storey Victorian mansion in the Cape Town suburb of Claremont, the world’s only college of magic may lack the flying broomsticks of Harry Potter, but the school still evokes the atmosphere of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dozens of children gather at the college each week to learn about magic.
Former president Nelson Mandela flew into the South African town of George on Friday to talk with local people about HIV/Aids issues ahead of the second star-studded 46664 Aids benefit concert, organised by his global fund-raising and awareness campaign. The concert is scheduled to take place on a fairway at the Fancourt Golf Estate.
The ruling African National Congress will initiate "relevant organisational disciplinary processes" against its MPs convicted of fraud, says its national spokesperson, Smuts Ngonyama. Meanwhile, official opposition Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson said the MPs "should do the honourable thing and resign".
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The initial impressions of the Democratic Alliance’s observers to Zimbabwe’s March 31 elections so far have been alarming, party leader Tony Leon said on Friday. Writing in his weekly newsletter on the DA’s website, he said the observers reported widespread intimidation of opposition members and supporters.
President Thabo Mbeki took issue on Friday with former president FW de Klerk and two journalists on their assertions that minority rights in South Africa are being sidelined in favour of the majority. The president was writing in the African National Congress’s online publication, ANC Today.
Western Cape police were on Friday hoping someone will come forward with information on the murder of University of Stellenbosch student Inge Lotz. ”Nothing was taken, there was no forced entry and there are no leads,” Superintendent Billy Jones said. ”We are relying on someone to come forward with information.”
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/199502/Zim_icon.GIF" align=left>The Independent Democrats has withdrawn from the multiparty South African parliamentary observer mission to monitor the March 31 election in Zimbabwe. In a statement released by MP Vincent Gore, ID member of the team, he said his party believes the "entire observer mission is a farce and a waste of taxpayers’ money".
Five MPs were convicted of fraud and sentenced in the Cape Town Regional Court on Friday morning. The MPs pleaded guilty to fraud and were the first of 23 MPs implicated in Travelgate, the multimillion-rand travel-voucher scandal, to be criminally convicted. They were sentenced as part of a plea agreement with the Scorpions
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has the authority to take a decision on the Barclays bid to buy a majority share in Absa — but he may wish to put the matter to Cabinet before the announcement is made, said government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe on Thursday following Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
League champions Kaiser Chiefs kept the pressure on log leaders Orlando Pirates when they were fortunate to beat Santos 1-0 in a Castle Premier League match played at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday. The goal came in the 68th minute when Santos goalkeeper Brenden Wardle spilt a shot from John Moshoeu and Collins Mbesuma was on hand to tap the ball in.
Former Labour Party leader and later African National Congress MP Reverend Allan Hendrickse died suddenly on Wednesday afternoon, his family confirmed. Hendrickse’s son, Peter, also an ANC MP, said his father suffered a fatal heart attack at the Port Elizabeth airport at about 2pm on Wednesday.
Fiery Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille clashed with the lawyer of former ID Western Cape leader Lennit Max when Max’s disciplinary hearing resumed on Wednesday. She repeatedly told the lawyer, Leon van Rensburg, to ”keep quiet” as he cross-examined her, and told him she was laughing at his ”silly remarks”.
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has told the National Assembly that the secondary tax on companies (STC) "will not disappear as long as the African National Congress is in government". The official opposition Democratic Alliance has called for "the usefulness of the secondary tax to be reassessed".
South Africa’s film industry has exploded on to the world stage with a spate of award-winning movies in the space of a few weeks. The domestic audience, though, remains in Hollywood’s thrall. Yesterday, the poignant tale of a woman infected with the Aids virus, narrowly missed out on an Oscar for best foreign language film. It was the first South African film to be nominated for an Oscar.