Property group Gilboa Properties plans to change its name to Absolute Holdings and transfer its listing from the main board of the JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) to the Alternative Exchange (AltX) in 2005, in line with its change in focus from a property-development company to tile wholesaling and retailing, as well as mining.
Air traffic at Cape Town International airport was delayed on Tuesday afternoon after an ex-military fighter jet jettisoned about 3 000 litres of fuel following an engine failure shortly after take-off. The drama unfolded at about 3pm when one of the two-seater aircraft’s two Rolls Royce engines failed.
Musica, the retail chain offering music and other gaming, DVD and lifestyle products that is owned by listed health and beauty retailer New Clicks Holdings, plans to open its first store selling only DVDs (excluding CDs) on a trial basis in Cape Town in early January, the company revealed in its 2004 annual report.
South African health and beauty retailer New Clicks Holdings is forging ahead with its plans to include pharmacy dispensaries in many of its Clicks stores in the new year, as well as expanding its Hyperpharm brand, despite the current legal and regulatory uncertainties surrounding medicine pricing and pharmacy fees.
About 20 circumcision initiates in Port Elizabeth turned on their traditional nurse and killed him, an Eastern Cape health department official said on Monday. Sizwe Kupelo said the incident occurred on Friday, when the unnamed nurse was assaulted with sticks and died from his injuries.
In his New Year’s message, President Thabo Mbeki has taken note of South Africa’s good economic performance in the past year and says the country has established itself "as one of the best-performing economies in the world". "We are therefore well set to achieve new successes in the new year," he said.
Supermodel Kate Moss — whose career was severely dented after news reports claimed she was a regular user of cocaine — is in Cape Town, media reports said on Friday. But the slinky model didn’t appear to be the world’s happiest catwalk queen as she verbally attacked photograhers who approached her for a picture at a hotel in the city on Wednesday.
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/ 29 December 2004
The 2004 matric class has achieved a pass rate of more than 70% for the third year in a row, says Education Minister Naledi Pandor. The official results in eight provinces were released during a media briefing at Parliament, but the results in Mpumalanga have been withheld because some are under investigation.
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/ 29 December 2004
The City of Cape Town is set to impose stricter water restrictions on residents, effective from New Year’s Day, but has stopped short of moving to level-three restrictions, which would have seen the use of hosepipes for watering gardens banned completely.
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/ 28 December 2004
The KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape coasts have experienced unusual tidal activity and sea currents in the wake of the earthquake that struck south-east Asia at the weekend which sent giant waves across large areas of the Indian Ocean. In the PE area one person is missing, believed drowned, as a result of higher than usual swells
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/ 25 December 2004
A ”vital” media briefing by the City of Cape Town on new emergency water restrictions was cancelled only hours before it was set to take place on Friday morning to allow the authorities more time to consult the national department of water affairs. Water restrictions have been in place in Cape Town since October, with residents facing stiff penalties should they waste water.
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/ 23 December 2004
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille opened her personal bank account records to members of the media on Thursday to refute claims by former ID Western Cape leader Lennit Max that she pocketed about R400 000 meant for party coffers. De Lille has rejected Max’s allegations, saying the ID is very open and transparent.
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/ 22 December 2004
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.
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/ 21 December 2004
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>
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/ 20 December 2004
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.
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/ 20 December 2004
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.
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/ 18 December 2004
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.
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/ 17 December 2004
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.
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/ 16 December 2004
The safety of single-dose nevirapine is not in question, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) reiterated on Wednesday, following comments by the Department of Health. The Aids action group was concerned that ”misleading” comments by the department could result in people discontinuing their treatment, and suffering harm.
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/ 15 December 2004
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.
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/ 15 December 2004
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.
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/ 15 December 2004
A number of measures have been put in place to increase security on Table Mountain — where tourists have recently been mugged, stabbed and raped, the city of Cape Town and the Table Mountain National Park said on Tuesday. ”We are putting in place a range of immediate measures to address security threats that exist, and we are asking residents and visitors to work with us to address the problem,” the city’s executive mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo said.
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/ 14 December 2004
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.”
Suspend ‘secret’ arms deal, says DA
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/ 14 December 2004
Eastern Cape emergency workers struggled to clear a scene of carnage on Tuesday after a runaway truck ploughed through a taxi rank in the town of Flagstaff, instantly killing four and injuring 10 others, two critically. It appears the articulated truck was speeding through the town centre when it lost control.
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/ 14 December 2004
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.
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/ 14 December 2004
A day after the official opposition Democratic Alliance gave President Thabo Mbeki a ”D” in its ”report card”, a national survey suggested that 2004 had in fact been the president’s personal best, with an average of 58%. According to Research Surveys, for three years — 2000 to 2002 — the president’s approval rating was generally in the low 30s.
DA rates Cabinet with ‘report card’
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/ 13 December 2004
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.
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/ 13 December 2004
The Democratic Alliance has released its ”report card” assessing the performance of Cabinet ministers since they assumed office after the April elections, saying the overall record has been passable but lacklustre. The best performer was Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who scored 8/10, while the worst performer was Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who scored 1/10, said DA leader Tony Leon.
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/ 13 December 2004
The city of Cape Town is in the process of formulating a policy that deals with applications for the closure of existing public roads in order to create gated communities, the city announced on Monday. In a statement by council spokesperson Lisle Brown, it noted that there was an increasing demand for the establishment of gated communities in South African cities.
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/ 12 December 2004
Three people burnt to death in a shack fire that broke out in Nyanga, Cape Town, shortly after midnight on Saturday. Western Cape police spokesperson Inspector Elliot Sinyangana said 68 shacks burnt down before emergency services workers put out the fire.
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/ 11 December 2004
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.
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/ 10 December 2004
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.