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/ 23 November 2003
South Africa’s exporters went into worry mode again this week as the rand hit a 42-month high against the dollar amid indications that the currency is set to strengthen even further. Nearly all exporting businesses have been reporting sharp losses this year due mainly to the rand’s ongoing strength.
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/ 22 November 2003
Exactly 12 years after Queen’s lead singer, Freddy Mercury, told the world that he was dying from Aids, his band members arrived in Cape Town to prepare for the 46664 Aids Awareness Concert. Both artists expressed their admiration for Mandela, who has given his prison number 46664 to the campaign.
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/ 21 November 2003
South Africa’s International Marketing Council, which has been given the task of promoting a positive international image for the country through an international marketing campaign, will spend about R50-million a year, according to Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad.
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/ 20 November 2003
The Department of Labour will next week conduct a national blitz to target employers who have not reported their employment equity figures, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Thursday in a written reply to a parliamentary question.
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/ 20 November 2003
The decision by the South African government to approve a comprehensive roll-out of anti-retroviral drugs to treat HIV/Aids is a bittersweet victory, says opposition leader Tony Leon. "It comes after over a million lives have been lost to the disease — unnecessarily," he said in his newsletter this week.
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/ 20 November 2003
The parliamentary joint committee on ethics and members’ interests has apparently cleared Deputy President Jacob Zuma of all charges of alleged non-declaration of benefits required in terms of South Africa’s parliamentary code of conduct. The charges concerned amounts amounting to more than R1-million.
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/ 20 November 2003
The National Assembly has given the nod to 12 names recommended by the communications portfolio committee to serve on the new board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The Democratic Alliance, New National Party and Inkatha Freedom Party opposed the recommendations.
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/ 19 November 2003
The African National Congress will win a two-thirds majority in next year’s general elections, in the process increasing its seats in Parliament from the current 266 members to 271 in 2004. This was the prediction from the Human Science Research Council on Wednesday, when a comprehensive survey was unveiled.
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/ 19 November 2003
A comprehensive HIV and Aids treatment plan was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday. It seeks to provide at least one anti-retroviral service point in every health district within a year. A long-term aim is to give all South Africans requiring treatment access to the programme in their local municipal area within five years.
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/ 19 November 2003
At least 51 people sustained serious and minor burn wounds during a gas explosion at Ratanga Junction theme park in Cape Town on Wednesday, Western Cape police reported. The blast occurred moments after a chef noticed a gas leak in one of the kitchens.
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/ 19 November 2003
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has introduced legislation in the National Assembly that provides greater flexibility for foreign corporate reorganisations. The current system of foreign taxation has "the unintended consequence of discouraging the repatriation of dividends", he said.
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/ 19 November 2003
The National Council of Provinces, the second House of the South African Parliament, on Tuesday gave the controversial National Health Bill the green light. One of the most controversial elements of the Bill is the requirement that the government regulate where private doctors can practise.
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/ 17 November 2003
A rare new ”super” strain of tuberculosis that is costly and time-consuming to treat has been identified in South Africa’s Western Cape province, a leading scientist said on Monday. A team of scientist has found that the strain, DRF150, is resistant to almost all antibiotics used to treat tuberculosis.
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/ 17 November 2003
The Democratic Alliance has criticised President Thabo Mbeki for saying he does not plan to raise the topic of French company Thales’s involvement in South Africa’s controversial arms deal. Mbeki, currently in France on a state visit, said he would not discuss the issue with French President Jacques Chirac.
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/ 17 November 2003
The SA government’s proposed Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill 2004 would have far-reaching and negative impacts not only on the tobacco industry and millions of smokers, but also on social and economic conditions in the country, say British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA).
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/ 15 November 2003
From centuries-old shipwrecks to ancient Stone Age middens and fish traps, South Africa’s coastline is a treasure-trove of historical gems and archaeological riches. Little information is available on the exact location and condition of these sites — but now the country’s first long-term underwater heritage survey has been launched.
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/ 14 November 2003
The Department of Defence has allocated about R205-million to provide spares needed for the first three years of operation of the South African navy’s new corvettes — the first of which arrived in Cape Town last week from Germany. The four corvettes have been priced at just short of R6-billion.
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/ 14 November 2003
South Africa’s crime prevention system has undergone a radical transformation since 1994, effectively ending political violence, dealing with urban and right-wing terror and taking important steps to stabilise crime, the ruling African National Congress has reported. But aggravated robbery has persistently increased.
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/ 13 November 2003
The government and the Big Business Working Group have agreed to set up a joint working team to consider ways of managing the impact of the strong rand, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Valli Moosa said on Thursday. Nail CEO Saki Macozoma said the most important thing was the rand’s stability.
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/ 13 November 2003
After receiving what he described as ”significant interest” in the government’s Exchange Control Amnesty, South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has extended the due date of the amnesty from November 30, 2003 to February 29, 2004.
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/ 12 November 2003
South Africa’s parliament will amend a controversial law to allow nationals living abroad to vote in general elections next year. ”We will be taking up this matter as their (opposition parties’) concerns are reasonable, and I’m sure steps will be taken to ensure that the necessary amendments will be done to afford people the opportunity to vote,” President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday.
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/ 12 November 2003
Total expenditure in response to HIV and Aids, including amounts directly spent by provincial health departments, will exceed R3-million in 2004/05, says Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel. In his mini-Budget speech in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Manuel said R1,1-billion of this would be in the national Department of Health.
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/ 12 November 2003
The South African government’s expansionary Budget policy for the next four years would not have an inflationary impact on the economy, according to South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni. He said that he was confident there would be no "fiscal dominance" arising out of the higher budget deficits projected through 2006-07.
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/ 12 November 2003
The African National Congress in the Western Cape is in the process of lodging complaints with the Human Rights Commission and the City of Cape Town following allegations of racism against two Democratic Alliance councillors.
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/ 12 November 2003
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has won two municipal by-elections – in the Western Cape at Breede River/Robertson municipality and at Dealesville in the Free State unopposed — while the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has won a seat at Phillipstown in the Northern Cape unopposed.
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/ 11 November 2003
More than 60 witnesses are expected to be called by the prosecution in the corruption trial of politicians Peter Marais and David Malatsi, which gets under way next week. ”Everybody is very positive about the fact that they would like the matter to proceed and be brought to finality as soon as possible,” Scorpions prosecutor Bruce Morrison said.
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/ 11 November 2003
There has been encouraging response to a call for expressions of interest in developing a new ship repair facility at Cape Town, says port planner Billy Cilliers. The facility, to be sited at the eastern end of the harbour, is expected to reaffirm the port’s position as the leading ship repair centre in Southern Africa.
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/ 11 November 2003
A wide range of organisations have gathered in Cape Town to ask Parliament not to pass the Communal Land Rights Bill, which they claim gives too much power to traditional leaders to the detriment of the rural poor. However, the groups differed on how to lobby government to accede to their demands.
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/ 10 November 2003
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s lemon, garlic and olive-oil diet for people with HIV/Aids has been given a firm thumbs-down by the South African Medical Journal. The editorial of the latest issue of the journal says there is currently no convincing evidence that these foods alter the course of the disease.
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/ 10 November 2003
Conservation bodies have strongly criticised plans to mine heavy metals and build a toll road along part of the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast, calling for a rethink before government gives the go-ahead. The World Wildlife Fund said projects ”pose an inherent threat to the region’s natural environment and its people”.
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/ 10 November 2003
A trio of top doctors have called on the government to set up an alcohol injury fund, bankrolled by taxes on booze, for victims of alcohol-related injury. They say the fund could also be used for trauma equipment and to finance substance abuse treatment centres.
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/ 7 November 2003
The South African Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence has objected to subpoenas being issued to South Africa’s intelligence and security services compelling them to provide classified or sensitive information.