Cape Town

The judges hearing Mark Thatcher’s Cape High Court application on Wednesday subjected the state’s legal team to some tough questioning on Thatcher’s constitutional rights. Thatcher is seeking to overturn a subpoena ordering him to answer questions on an alleged coup bid in Equatorial Guinea.

Politicians and economists have reacted to Tuesday’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, tabled by Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel in Parliament on Tuesday. George Glynos, market analyst at Econometrix Treasury Management, said: "One has to say that it was a relatively optimistic and fair speech."

The attorney general of Equatorial Guinea lied when he applied to the South African government for Mark Thatcher to undergo questioning, the Cape High Court heard on Tuesday. Advocate Peter Hodes was arguing Thatcher’s bid for the overturn of a subpoena ordering him to answer questions on an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.

In a precedent-setting judgement, a full bench of the Cape High Court ruled on Monday in favour of the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) request to televise Mark Thatcher’s civil case on Tuesday. Thatcher has been implicated in a botched coup in Equatorial Guinea and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

General Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement says Deputy President Jacob Zuma should ”vacate” his position and thereafter he should be prosecuted. At the party’s national council in Pretoria at the weekend, the party passed a resolution noting the trial of Zuma’s business adviser Schabir Shaik.

The spat between President Thabo Mbeki and the Democratic Alliance over his reply to a question in the National Assembly on Thursday continued on Friday, with both Mbeki and DA leader Tony Leon referring to the matter in their respective weekly newsletters.

Small retail pharmacies will soon be extinct in South Africa unless new regulations governing medicine pricing and dispensing margins are changed, according to the group leader of listed health and beauty retailer New Clicks Holdings, Trevor Honneysett. He also said the legislation has not succeeded in reducing medicine prices.

A group of handicapped South Africans has threatened legal action against a local airline for charging extra fees to passengers who need assistance boarding, an MP said on Wednesday. The South African-based Nationwide Airlines will answer to complaints of discrimination before the Equality Court, a Cape Town-based tribunal.

Although ”elements” of al-Qaeda have been detected in South Africa, the terrorist organisation has established no networks here, Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils said on Tuesday. Speaking at a Cape Town Press Club luncheon, he described al-Qaeda as ”a huge international threat”.

The Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa has welcomed the introduction of professional service fees that may be levied by pharmacists. The new fees mean pharmacists may now charge up to R60 for their ”time and skill” in preparing certain products, and as much as R24 for a ”consultation” with a customer.

The African Christian Democratic Party has called on President Thabo Mbeki to respond to claims he is breaking international law by allowing deposed Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide to incite violence, from South Africa, among his followers in his homeland. The Democratic Alliance also called on Mbeki to respond to the allegations.

National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has granted permission for Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille and the former chairperson of the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), Gavin Woods, to appear in court as state witnesses in the trial of Schabir Shaik.

Cape Town conservation authorities are increasingly considering capturing a young hippopotamus that has been on the run for a couple of weeks after escaping from the Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve. The hippo has captured the public’s imagination. So far, passive capture methods have proved unsuccessful.