Cape Town

The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday called the asset forfeiture unit’s reported intention to confiscate vehicles of drivers caught travelling at 30kph over the speed limit ”disproportionate”. ”The possibly unintended consequences of such confiscations should not punish innocent people, the DA said in a statement.

The Department of Health has rejected media speculation that it is backtracking on its intention to appeal in the Constitutional Court a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal voiding its medicine-pricing regulations. On Monday, the Department of Health gave notice it intends to take its fight further to maintain the regulations.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=177004">’The judgement was wrong'</a>

The Department of Health said on Monday it intends to take its fight further to maintain controversial medicine-pricing regulations, following the Supreme Court of Appeal’s voiding of the regulations. The court found the fixed dispensing fees are inappropriate as they fail to consider the viability of the dispensing industry.

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher arrived in South Africa at the weekend to spend Christmas with her son Mark who cannot travel as he is charged with bankrolling an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. This is Thatcher’s 10th annual visit to Cape Town since her son bought his plush Cape Town home.

The Table Mountain rapist licked his victim’s private parts in the belief that she would enjoy it, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard on Friday. Jeremia Lebogang Bhengi (25), of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to one charge of indecent assault, one of rape and one of attempted murder when he appeared in court.

The Mental Health Care Act has been promulgated by President Thabo Mbeki and comes into effect immediately, the Department of Health said on Friday. The measure seeks to realign mental health-care service with the National Health Care Act by emphasising the protection of patients’ rights, equity, affordability and access to quality health care.

Lawyers in South Africa for Mark Thatcher have appealed against a decision that would force the Briton to answer questions about his alleged role in a coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, his legal counsel said. His lawyers have repeatedly denied his involvement in the alleged coup.

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk told delegates to an international conference in Buenos Aires on Wednesday that temperatures could rise between 1% and 3% by 2050 in South Africa. He was speaking at the 10th conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Democratic Alliance, the official opposition, has asked that Parliament be reconvened in a special session to debate what it calls the ”secret arms deal”. On Tuesday, DA leader Tony Leon said: ”DA chief whip Douglas Gibson, MP, has written to the Speaker of Parliament to ask that Parliament be reconvened.”

Responding to a Pretoria High Court judgement on Tuesday awarding limited legal costs to the organisation, the Treatment Action Campaign said the court’s decision sends a ”very strong signal” that the government should ”act in a constitutional manner” and not ignore calls for access to information.

Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan has dissolved the board of the National Arts Council (NAC) with effect from December 14, he announced on Monday. He said the NAC as presently constituted has lost the confidence of the arts community and is not in a position to carry out the responsibilities assigned to it.

Cape Town’s water-resource situation remains of crisis proportions, despite the city’s water-restrictions campaign entering its third month. The city will be intensifying measures to ensure that the targeted water savings are achieved through measures including heightened awareness and media campaigns.

Resolution of South Africa’s ”national question”, centred on building a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa, is essential to avoid conflict, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. The controversy relating to the operations of the South African National Blood Service has highlighted the racist legacy that continues to blight South Africa.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African Security Association both came out in defence on Thursday of the SAPS’s decision to employ private security companies for guard duties at police premises. ”It is much cheaper and cost-effective to utilise private security services,” said SAPS communications head Joseph Ngobeni.

The Cape Bar Council has entered the fray over the medicine-pricing case with a firm rebuke to Cape Judge President John Hlophe. Hlophe in a judgement last week rebuked a senior member of the Cape Bar, senior counsel Jeremy Gauntlett, for allegedly going over his head in approaching the Supreme Court of Appeal on the matter.

Crime will continue to be a lucrative business in South Africa until the massive shortages of personnel and resources in the South African Police Service’s detective service are addressed, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday. The average case load per detective in South Africa is about 100 dockets.