Education Minister Kader Asmal’s intention to appoint a truth commission to deal with the damage of apartheid education would be a divisive step, says Western Cape education minister Andre Gaum. It would merely open up old wounds and not contribute to improving the education system, says Gaum.
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The African National Congress won six of nine municipal by-elections held on Wednesday — just four weeks before the national election for provincial and national government on April 14. Two of the seats went to the ANC, two were won by the official opposition Democratic Alliance and one by the Inkatha Freedom Party.
Special Report: Elections 2004
A decision on whether to prosecute three men arrested following the shooting of an ex-soldier outside former President Nelson Mandela’s home will be made on Thursday. Authorities have 48 hours from their arrests to charge the men, or free them.
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The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, saying she is getting a ”free ride” in the build-up to the April 14 elections.
There were no al-Qaeda cells operating in South Africa, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Wednesday. He was responding to a question from U Managing Conflict director Yvette Geyer at an international criminal justice conference in Cape Town.
The Greenpoint and Seapoint areas of Cape Town, known as relatively high crime areas in the city, are set to receive eight new CCTV cameras as part of an expansion of the municipal government’s crime-fighting efforts. Western Cape Premier Marthinus van Schalkwyk said that R4,3-million had been allocated for the project.
The man shot dead by police at former president Nelson Mandela’s Cape Town home was a former SA National Defence Force member, Cabinet ministers said on Wednesday. He was relieved of his duty earlier this year, the cluster of security ministers said in a statement.
Former president Nelson Mandela was completely shocked to learn about the shoot-out outside his Bishopscourt house in Cape Town on Tuesday that claimed the life of an attacker, said his spokesperson Zelda le Grange.
Education Minister Kader Asmal defended his department’s education policies on Tuesday and praised the progress made since 1994, saying the extraordinary damage done by the apartheid education system should not be forgotten.
The only survivor of the Sizzlers massage parlour massacre held his arms up in victory as he exited the Cape High Court on Tuesday after the two men responsible for the brutal crime were sentenced to nine life sentences. Adam Roy Woest and Trevor Basil Theys were also sentenced to 20 years for the attempted murder of Taylor, the only man to survive.
The poor infection control practices in some of South Africa’s top academic hospitals raise the spectre of ”unexplained” HIV/Aids transmission, an article in the SA Medical Journal says. ”There is an urgent need to re-evaluate and improve infection control practices in health care settings,” the article concludes.
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The DA on Monday called on Deputy President Jacob Zuma to retract and apologise for ”offensive” religious remarks he made while on the campaign trail. The DA said Zuma told a crowd of people ”the ANC will rule South Africa until Jesus comes back”.
The Department of Justice spent over R27-million when it moved into its new offices in Pretoria in February this year, according to Justice Minister Penuell Maduna. In a written reply to a question tabled in Parliament, Maduna said the total cost of the move, which included refurbishing the premises, was R27 733 053.
The mother of one of the men slain in the Sizzlers massacre told the Cape High Court on Monday she would never forgive her son’s two murderers. ”It is awful to think that his life was lost in such a violent crime and [in such a] barbaric manner… I will never forgive,” said Fay Berghaus, mother of Gregory Berghaus.
Black economic empowerment companies (BEE) have improved their share of spending by Old Mutual Properties on outsourced services for buildings in the company’s portfolios to 56% in 2004, according to Richard Murphy, head of the facilities management division.
About 4 000 people have been left homeless by a fire on Sunday that killed six residents of Langa’s Joe Slovo township, Cape Town emergency services said on Monday. Spokesperson Johan Minnie said the homeless are being housed in two halls in the area and a number of NGO’s had donated blankets and food.
Transport Minister Dullah Omar was still in a critical condition at Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic in Cape Town by late Thursday. Medi-Clinic manager Clive Lake said: ”The minister is still critical and he has been in the ICU [Intensive Care Unit] for the past 48 hours.”
The two Sizzlers killers were found guilty in the Cape High Court on Thursday on nine counts of premeditated murder, one of attempted murder and one of armed robbery, all of which carry prescribed minimum sentences. On the murder charges, Adam Roy Woest and Trevor Basil Theys face nine prescribed life sentences.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>The Democratic Alliance has rejected African Christian Democratic Party complaints about the DA’s election radio adverts that urge voters not to waste their vote on one of the smaller parties, saying the ACDP has missed the point.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=32518">ACDP: ‘Greedy’ DA not playing fair</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3_fl2.asp?o=40922">Special Report: Elections 2004</a>
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The Democratic Alliance is showing its ”greed for power” by urging voters in radio adverts not to vote for other opposition parties, the African Christian Democratic Party said on Thursday. ”By telling voters that their vote will be wasted on a ‘smaller’ opposition party, the DA has once again showed its greed for power,” an ACDP MP said.
Special Report: Elections 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>Official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon has taken the New National Party Western Cape premier to task for pledging that he would open a new airport near Atlantis in the Western Cape. "There is no way that Van Schalkwyk can deliver a new airport in Atlantis," Leon said on Thursday.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3_fl2.asp?o=40922">Special Report: Elections 2004</a>
Transport Minister Dullah Omar was in a serious condition in a Cape Town hospital on Thursday, following more than a year of treatment for cancer. Omar was admitted on Tuesday with respiratory problems and was in the intensive care unit on a ventilator, Constantiaberg Medi Clinic hospital manager Clive Lake said.
A mysterious third person may have been involved in the Sizzlers massacre that left nine people dead in January last year, the Cape Town High Court heard on Wednesday. Defence counsel Nehemiah Ballem, representing taxi operator Trevor Basil Theys, said his client was afraid of this third person.
Listed financial services group Metropolitan Holdings expects to return some amount of excess capital to shareholders in its new 2004 financial year, probably via some combination of a share buy-back programme, special dividend and strong dividend policy, according to CEO Peter Doyle.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) announced on Tuesday that it plans to apply for a Cape High Court interdict to stop the sale of the Golden Arrow bus company to black empowerment consortium Hosken Consolidated Investments and Mettle Limited for R270-million.
In a surprise move on Tuesday the state closed its case in the Sizzlers multiple murder trial. The accused, Waterfront restaurant manager Adam Roy Woest and taxi operator Trevor Basil Theys, were prepared for a marathon trial after the judge entered pleas of not guilty to nine charges of murder, among others.
There were great benefits to be had for African countries that opened up their economies for more trade among themselves, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said on Tuesday. He said for Africa’s economy to improve, countries had to start producing more goods and trading these within the continent.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>The African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal is to lay charges of intimidation against the Inkatha Freedom Party and complain to the Independent Electoral Commission following two alleged incidents in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Tuesday.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3_fl2.asp?o=40922">Special Report: Elections 2004</a>
The Democratic Alliance has criticised apparent government plans to do away with visa requirements for about 2,9-billion people, mainly from poorer countries around the world. ”This opens up the serious prospect of millions of people flooding into South Africa to compete for jobs and social grants,” the DA said.
South African Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel says the challenge nations face today is to translate the potential benefits of globalisation into real gains for the poorest in the world. On Monday, Manuel delivered the Oxford University Inaugural Global Economic Governance Lecture in the United Kingdom.
The National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) on Monday rejected claims made by the Democratic Alliance regarding South African arms sales to Haiti. ”Accusations of impropriety by the DA’s [federal council chairperson] Mr James Selfe, as reported in the press, are simply untrue,” an NCACC statement said.
DA calls for arms shipment details
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is in the process of launching litigation against the government, TAC national chairperson Zackie Achmat said on Monday. Achmat said the TAC wants an urgent resolution on government procurement policy for Aids medicines.
W Cape extends Aids treatment