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/ 16 January 2004
President Thabo Mbeki on Friday tried to address the negativity expressed by South Africans about South Africa. Writing in his weekly online letter Mbeki said South Africa’s democracy was less than ten years old and confronted by serious poverty that would take a great deal of time and effort to eradicate.
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/ 16 January 2004
The Inkatha Freedom Party and its leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, enter the coming election fighting to keep control of KwaZulu-Natal, and their future as a national political force.
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/ 15 January 2004
The official opposition has proposed a tax rebate system for both individual taxpayers and corporates to boost employment levels and spur economic growth. The Democratic Alliance’s leader, Tony Leon, introduced a "solutions at work" document on Thursday.
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/ 15 January 2004
Listed health and beauty retailer New Clicks Holdings has reported an 11% rise in its sales for the four months from September 1 to December 31 2003, compared with the year-earlier period. The New Clicks group includes the store brands Clicks, Discom, Musica, CD Wherehouse and The Body Shop.
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/ 15 January 2004
Police from the Netherlands joined a manhunt in South Africa on Wednesday for a 24-year-old Dutch woman who went missing shortly after Christmas. The Dutch detectives were assisting in the search for exchange student Marleen Konings, who had been due to meet a friend in Cape Town on December 28, but did not arrive at the rendezvous.
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/ 14 January 2004
The African National Congress leadership in the Western Cape said on Wednesday it is aiming for a 51% majority in the forthcoming election, irrespective of a coalition agreement between itself and the New National Party. ANC provincial chairperson Ebrahim Rasool said his party has no ”election pact” with the NNP.
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/ 14 January 2004
The issue of identity documents is a cause of concern for election authorities in the Western Cape, with many prisoners eligible to vote lacking them, and thousands of documents remaining uncollected at the home affairs department. The Independent Electoral Commission on Wednesday started registering inmates in the region.
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/ 13 January 2004
About 1Â 800 workers employed at Parmalat SA factories have an anxious six months to wait as the Food and Allied Workers Union joins forces with the senior management of the South African subsidiary in a bid to stave off job losses. The union and top management met for the first time on Tuesday.
Parmalat SA: ‘Even the cows are happy’
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/ 13 January 2004
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille has called on President Thabo Mbeki to make an announcement on the national and provincial election date. But a spokesperson for the presidency, Bheki Khumalo, said it was the president’s ”prerogative” to call the election.
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/ 12 January 2004
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress cannot claim to have a well-managed economy in place although economic fundamentals on a macro-level have improved, says opposition Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, reacting in a statement to the weekend ruling party’s election campaign launch.
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/ 12 January 2004
Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court number one was packed on Monday for the appearance of a 15-year-old and two co-accused appear in connection with the vicious gang-rape and murder of a Cape Town Aids activist. Luyanda Zono (18) and Ncedile Ntumbukana (20) and the juvenile were arrested in connection with the murder in December of Lorna Mlofana.
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/ 12 January 2004
South Africa’s largest opposition party, the Inkatha Freedom Party, will launch its national election campaign in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on Sunday January 18. The pro-free-enterprise party is expected to underscore the importance of fast-tracking privatisation of state-owned enterprises.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=29555">DA eyes KZN, Western Cape</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=29493">ANC kicks off election battle</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=29547">SA economy ‘not well-managed'</a>
An inquiry must be launched into the impact the Zimbabwean banking crisis will have on South African banks that have major equity stakes or subsidiaries active in Zimbabwe, the Democratic Alliance said. ”Minister [Trevor] Manuel must break his silence on the economic consequences of quiet diplomacy,” a DA spokesperson said.
Shares in South African retailer Woolworths lost ground in morning trade on Thursday after the group released a trading update for the six months to July showing a disappointing performance from its Australian subsidiary and slightly softer-than-expected sales for the Christmas period.
The man at the centre of a Western Cape shark-baiting controversy on Wednesday explained his motives and actions in a letter to a local newspaper, saying they were misunderstood by the public. ”My motive and intention was to attract the large white shark out to the open sea away from the beach area,” he said.
Listed fashion retailer Truworths International has concluded an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Young Designers Emporium (YDE) for an undisclosed sum, with effect from December 1 2003. The YDE chain has 10 stores across South Africa in the country’s premier shopping malls, as well as a factory shop outlet.
There were scenes of jubilation and tears of joy on the steps of the Cape High Court on Wednesday when a group of Seven-11 franchisees celebrated a judgement effectively holding the mother corporation liable for about R50-million in claims. The case was described as a ”landmark” for the South African franchise industry.
South Africa’s opposition political party the Democratic Alliance wants the government to do away with the country’s current centralised national matriculation (senior certificate exam) system, according to DA MP and education spokesperson Willem Doman.
Economists are predicting that this election year will be a stable one, with the rand/dollar exchange rate hovering between R6 and R8, and the interest rate remaining steady. Standard Bank economist Monica Ambrosi said on Tuesday the rand would end the year on an annual average of R6,60 to .
South Africa’s Department of Transport has reiterated its appeal to motorists to reduce their speed on national roads in anticipation of traffic exodus at the end of the holidays, government news agency BuaNews reported on Monday.
The United States consulate in Cape Town will be the first in a South African city to implement a new visa security measure designed to better track visitors to the US. The visa office will begin collecting biometric identifiers or fingerprints for all visa applicants between the ages of 14 and 79 from January 12.
US to fingerprint millions
The Democratic Alliance has urged Tourism and Environmental Affairs Minister Valli Moosa to put a stop to the proposed N2 toll road that will run through the Wild Coast between East London and Durban. DA transport spokesperson Stuart Farrow said he had sent another request to Moosa urging him to reconsider the decision.
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/ 30 December 2003
South Africa’s 2003 national matriculation pass rate has improved by 4,4% to a total of 73,3%, Education Minister Kader Asmal announced on Tuesday, up from 68,9% in 2002, 61,7% in 2001 and only 48,9% in 1999. Asmal said the results ”clearly show that the tide has turned” for South Africa’s education system.
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/ 30 December 2003
KWV International, the export subsidiary of KWV Ltd, one of South Africa’s largest producers of wine and spirits, has continued to see its export volumes grow in the first half of its financial year, but financially the strong rand is having a negative impact on the group, according to managing director Vernon Davis.
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/ 29 December 2003
As a South African team hastens to assist tens of thousands of Iranians reeling from an earthquake, what could South African citizens expect the government’s response to be in the event of a major catastrophe at home? New disaster management legislation will possibly come into effect in early 2004.
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/ 29 December 2003
South African President Thabo Mbeki has arrived in the Bahamas as part of a state visit aimed at forging closer relations with the countries of the Caribbean Community, as well as strengthening and consolidating bilateral political and economic relations between South Africa and the Bahamas.
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/ 24 December 2003
Two men whose disruptive begging at Cape Town’s premier shopping complex, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, led to a court battle, have been given the city’s High Court’s permission to go back, but have been ordered to behave with the requisite decorum.
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/ 24 December 2003
Risk, auditing and financial services consulting group RisCura has released the results of its monthly investment performance survey, RisCView, to the end of November 2003. The surveys assess the risk and performance of retirement fund products offered by the largest fund managers in the local South African market.
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/ 23 December 2003
Frogs. Most of us have caught them, some of us even reared them from their infant tadpole stage in glass containers, only to crudely dissect them on tables. A comprehensive frog atlas compiled by the University of Cape Town’s avian unit is currently at the printers and sounds a warning to all frog lovers of the dire straits these amphibians are in.
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/ 19 December 2003
The Democratic Alliance on Friday criticised President Thabo Mbeki for his continued stance of ”appeasement” towards Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. However, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane took an opposite view and congratulated Mbeki on his new initiative.
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/ 19 December 2003
South Africans who have been searching for loved ones who went missing during the apartheid era have appealed directly to President Thabo Mbeki on Friday to help locate their family members.
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/ 18 December 2003
President Thabo Mbeki needs to ”talk straight and hard” with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Robert Mugabe, during his current visit to that country, the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday. ”The suffering people of Zimbabwe are looking to South Africa to come to their rescue,” said a DA spokesperson.