The deadline for public comments on Eskom’s proposed massive tariff hike is April 29, and there will be a public hearing a month later, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa said on Wednesday. Eskom, which was granted a 14,2% increase at the end of last year, is now seeking a 53% hike.
African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Gwede Mantashe has agreed to meet the Democratic Alliance (DA) to discuss the future of the Scorpions, DA leader Helen Zille said on Wednesday. ”Unfortunately, Mr Mantashe’s letter indicates that [ANC president] Jacob Zuma will not be attending the meeting, as I originally requested,” she said in a statement.
Shortages of steel and massive price hikes mean that there will be a delay in moving thousands of Delft evictees to temporary homes, Cape Town mayoral committee member for housing Dan Plato said on Wednesday. He said the ”three- or four-week” time frame that the city originally set for the move had already lapsed, and that it could now take months.
A Cape Town councillor who allegedly encouraged the invasion of new homes at Delft on the Cape Flats is to go before a disciplinary committee, city speaker Dirk Smit said on Tuesday. Smit said in a statement that he had completed his own probe into whether the councillor, Frank Martin, had breached the councillors’ code of conduct.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma’s allies have rallied to his defence in the wake of University of South Africa rector Barney Pityana’s indictment of his character on Monday. The Young Communist League said it had noted the ”disrespectful and dastardly remarks made by the deplorable” rector.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma has failed to inspire confidence during his first few months at the party’s helm, says University of South Africa rector Barney Pityana. ”We now enter a new era. It is a time shrouded in anxiety and uncertainty with the looming presidency of Jacob Zuma and a new assertive leadership of the ANC,” he said on Monday.
Siyabonga Nqakula was on Monday effectively given a sentence of a R10Â 000 fine or six months in prison on a charge of drunken driving. Nqakula’s father is Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula and his mother Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
The Department of Education is to investigate the extent of racism and other forms of discrimination in higher education, it said on Monday. A ministerial committee is expected to look into discrimination based on gender, ethnicity and disability, with a particular focus on university residences, said spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele in a statement.
South Africa plans to boost livestock and crop production by up to 15% in the next two to five years and help tame soaring food inflation, an agriculture official said on Monday. Priscilla Sehoole, chief communication officer at the Department of Agriculture said the government was ”confident” it would achieve its expansion targets.
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille on Monday again asked African National Congress president Jacob Zuma for a meeting to discuss the Scorpions’ future. ”In a press interview published on the weekend, Jacob Zuma declared that he is willing to ‘debate anything’ — even the future of the Scorpions,” said Zille.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday called for a constitutional amendment to grant school principals the power to appoint teachers. Presenting proposals on education, party spokesperson George Boinamo said school principals could only be held accountable for the performance of their schools if they were given the power to hire and fire teachers.
Siyabonga Nqakula, son of the Minister of Safety and Security, was on Monday found guilty in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. The charge stemmed from a late night head-on collision in the Cape Town CBD in March last year.
The Presidency and the African National Congress moved on Friday to dispel Democratic Alliance (DA) allegations over President Thabo Mbeki’s refusal to release the Khampepe commission’s report on the Scorpions. There was no intention to ”cover up” the report as alleged by DA leader Helen Zille, the Presidency said.
President Thabo Mbeki and African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma have established a ”solid working relationship”, the ANC said on Friday. ”Contrary to some expectations, a solid working relationship has been established, with the president of the Republic interacting regularly with the officials,” ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said.
In the aftermath of his failure to become the president of the South African Rugby Union (Saru), Mike Stofile said the elections at the annual general meeting held on Friday proved there was no place for black people in South African rugby. Stofile, the former deputy president of Saru, was the only candidate opposing Oregan Hoskins for the top post.
Those persisting with efforts to move a motion of no confidence in Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse do not have the interests of transformation at heart, the African National Congress’s (ANC) Butana Komphela said on Friday. The ANC’s parliamentary sport and recreation study group rejected the idea of a motion of no confidence, Komphela said.
Oregan Hoskins was re-elected on Friday to a further two-year term as president of the South African Rugby Union (Saru), narrowly beating his deputy, Mike Stofile, at Saru’s annual general meeting. Saru did not issue an official confirmation of the voting tally, but it is understood that the closeness of the vote saw auditors call for a recount.
South African rugby bosses have given new Springbok coach Peter de Villiers the final say on selection matters. The move required a change in the South African Rugby Union’s constitution, which specified that selections were decided by a majority of a three-man selection committee, including the national coach.
First National Bank’s (FNB) ”million-a-month account” competition is an illegal lottery, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruled on Friday. The SCA dismissed the bank’s appeal against a Pretoria High Court declaratory order, according to which the bank’s competition was a lottery prohibited by the Lotteries Act.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Friday lambasted United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa for ”exploiting” the concerns of Joe Slovo residents. The residents are facing eviction to make way for the flagship N2 Gateway housing project. ”It is unfortunate that far from offering sound advice, he sought to exploit the people’s concerns,” she said.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Thursday added his voice to calls for a judicial inquiry into the multibillion-rand arms deal. In the text of his speech for the Dullah Omar memorial lecture at the University of the Western Cape, he said South Africans could not pretend corruption was no longer a serious problem.
Releasing the Khampepe commission’s report on the Scorpions at this juncture will ”cause prejudice” to South Africa’s national security, says President Thabo Mbeki. In a letter faxed to the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday night, Mbeki’s office refused the DA’s request in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act for access to the report.
Cape Town is holding fire on a decision on the renaming of streets and public places, mayor Helen Zille announced on Thursday. A list of proposed changes that would see apartheid-era names such as Hendrik Verwoerd Drive replaced by those of struggle heroes, was on the agenda for approval at Thursday’s council meeting.
The provincial government’s claims that the City of Cape Town was underspending on its budget were ”outright lies”, mayor Helen Zille said on Thursday. ”I am deeply concerned at this pattern of dishonesty coming from the provincial government,” she told a city council meeting.
Due to South Africa’s sustained economic growth the country was in good shape to deal with the electricity crisis, according to a ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) report released on Thursday. The Treasury had estimated that the power constraints would knock 0,6% off the country’s growth in 2008, a figure S&P said was ”plausible”.
Construction of the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town is on schedule and the city is in the process of selling naming rights and finding a long-term operator for it, mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday. The stadium is being built in preparation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, and has been earmarked for a semifinal.
Cape Town’s director of health, Dr Ivan Toms, died of meningitis, city manager Achmat Ebrahim said on Wednesday. Toms, an anti-apartheid and gay rights activist, was found dead in his Mowbray home on Tuesday morning. The estimated time of death was late Monday afternoon or early Monday evening.
Building costs for poor households have increased by 25% year-on-year, mainly due to the cost of serviced sites going up, the Banking Association of South Africa said on Tuesday. The increase was primarity due to the increase in the cost of serviced sites, said managing director Cas Coovadia.
Cape Town’s director of health, former anti-conscription campaigner Ivan Toms, was found dead in his home on Tuesday morning, police said. Police spokesperson Superintendent Billy Jones said foul play was not suspected at this stage. He said police used a key from a neighbour to gain access to Toms’ Mowbray home at about 9.30am.
As it did at last week’s national track and field championships, the notorious Cape Doctor had the final say in the outcome of the 56km Two Oceans ultra-marathon in Cape Town on Saturday. At times on the southern part of the course the south-easter wind gusted at more than 40km/h.
A South African court has dismissed a bid by a group of fishermen to overturn an official ban on commercial abalone fishing, the Environmental Affairs and Tourism ministry said on Thursday. Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk ordered the indefinite ban to protect existing natural stocks of the shellfish
A decision on what disciplinary measures, if any, will be taken against Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy over the Browse Mole report is expected ”soon”, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said on Thursday. ”A recommendation has been made to the minister and she will act,” said spokesperson Zolile Nqayi.