No image available
/ 8 February 2008
The African National Congress parliamentary caucus was full of praise on Friday for President Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation address, while opposition parties expressed optimism about the future of the Scorpions detective unit following the president’s address.
No image available
/ 8 February 2008
South Africa remains on course to become a winning nation, said President Thabo Mbeki on Friday during his State of the Nation address in Parliament — but, "I am aware of the fact that many in our society are troubled by a deep sense of unease about where our country will be tomorrow". He spoke at length on the electricity crisis and the war on poverty, among other thorny matters.
No image available
/ 7 February 2008
The Erasmus commission appointed to look into the Cape Town city council ”spy” saga is ”unlawful and unconstitutional”, city mayor Helen Zille said on Thursday. Zille said she had written a letter to Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool asking him to reconsider the commission on the grounds that it was a ”gross abuse of power”.
No image available
/ 7 February 2008
There is a greater public sense of anticipation about what President Thabo Mbeki will say in his State of the Nation address on Friday than before any previous such speech he has delivered since assuming office in 1999. This is in part due to the recent dramatic twist in Mbeki’s political fortunes.
No image available
/ 7 February 2008
Despite an undertaking by President Thabo Mbeki, the South African government continues to undermine traditional leaders, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Thursday. Buthelezi accused the government of paying ”lip-service” to the African renaissance programme.
No image available
/ 7 February 2008
South Africa’s Parliament on Thursday approved legal changes to make abortions easier to obtain, despite criticism from opponents who said the law was already too lax. The changes will provide for 24-hour abortion facilities, do away with pre-approval procedures and permit all nurses — instead of just midwives — to terminate pregnancies.
No image available
/ 7 February 2008
Zimbabwe’s draft mining Bill will not force firms to give a stake to the government for free as previously feared, and will be debated by Parliament after elections next month, a senior official said on Thursday. The government of President Robert Mugabe, who is running for another five-year term, published the Bill last November.
No image available
/ 7 February 2008
While it was designed to cut costs and reduce bureaucracy, a new video-conference facility launched in Parliament on Thursday gave MPs the chance to see what their colleagues in the provinces look like. National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete hoped the project would one day link the government to rural areas.
No image available
/ 7 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday vowed to continue engaging traditional healers on health issues, saying they were important partners in the fight against HIV/Aids. ”Some people might be resisting traditional healers, but I believe we are on the right track,” she said.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
The Chevron Refinery in Cape Town is set to resume production of liquid petroleum gas, bunker gas oil (ship’s fuel) and jet fuel from Thursday evening. ”These products will again be available for sale by the end of the week,” the refinery said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
An interim report on crime-related violence is expected to be handed to the government before the end of the year, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Wednesday. He was speaking after the signing of a bilateral agreement on policing between South Africa and The Netherlands.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
Pandemonium broke out in the Cape High Court on Wednesday after Judge Deon van Zyl granted an order for the eviction of people illegally occupying houses still under construction in Delft on the Cape Flats. The homes are intended for residents at the Joe Slovo informal settlement, who are to be relocated to Delft.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
Over half of South Africa’s public dams, including the biggest — the 5,3-billion cubic metre Gariep Dam — do not fully comply with modern-day safety standards, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Wednesday. ”As at October [last year], 160 of the 294 dams do not comply with current dam safety standards,” the department said.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
Child rights organisations on Wednesday intensified calls for Parliament to increase the age at which a child can be held responsible for criminal conduct to 12, saying the current cut-off age of 10 proposed in the Child Justice Bill is too low. The organisations were briefing the National Assembly’s justice committee.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday lauded the decision by the chairperson of Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), Themba Godi, to place the DA’s request for Scopa to reopen the arms-deal probe on the agenda.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
Any move by Britain to impose visa requirements on South Africans will have a serious effect on business and travel links between the two countries, the Democratic Alliance (DA) warned. British legislators were now examining evidence that might lead to such a visa requirement, the DA’s Tony Leon said.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
Results of the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence for the first half of 2008 show that consumer confidence in South Africa remains optimistic, despite a minor decrease from last year. Out of a possible score of 100, the South African index score decreased from 86,5 for the first half of 2007 to 83,7, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
The new leader of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, will be one of the principal dignitaries at the opening of Parliament on Friday, when his predecessor Thabo Mbeki will be making what could be his last speech on the state of the nation.
No image available
/ 5 February 2008
The Scorpions are the country’s last effective corruption-busting unit and disbanding them will affect the fight against organised crime, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. ”Every time special units were integrated [into the police] it has impacted on the ability to fight crime in that area,” party spokesperson Tertius Delport said.
No image available
/ 5 February 2008
South Africa’s minister of minerals and energy has asked companies to apply for new mineral rights by the second quarter of next year, and plans to finalise a law to oversee the processing of minerals locally this year. The deadline for companies and others to renew or assert their rights under the review of the sector is April 30 2009.
No image available
/ 5 February 2008
Permanent solutions to South Africa’s energy crisis are being sought, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on Tuesday. "I concede that this situation impacts negatively on planned output of the country’s mining operations," Sonjica said at a mining indaba.
No image available
/ 4 February 2008
African National Congress (ANC) leaders who supported President Thabo Mbeki in the build-up to the party’s elective conference in Polokwane will not be victimised, the party’s newly elected leadership said on Monday. The ANC said fears that there would be a purge were baseless as the party had no intention to change its traditions.
No image available
/ 4 February 2008
The Department of Home Affairs wasted more than R56-million in detaining illegal immigrants who did not exist, according to its 2007 annual report. The department had to pay a contractor for a fixed number of immigrants, regardless of the actual number detained, wrote the Auditor General in the report.
No image available
/ 4 February 2008
The African National Congress was not aware of any imminent visit to its Johannesburg headquarters by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool, a spokesperson said on Monday. Rasool’s spokesperson Shado Twala also said she did know about the reported visit.
No image available
/ 3 February 2008
South African Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande has accused City Press newspaper of adopting an ”extremely hostile attitude” towards African National Congress president Jacob Zuma. Nzimande tears into the paper in an open letter published on Sunday for ”deliberately” writing about the party in a ”provocatively factionalist, divisive and highly subjective manner”.
No image available
/ 3 February 2008
Hundreds of spectators and competitors attending the third of four events in the Billabong ”Girls Get Out There” Summer Surf Series event at Tableview in Cape Town on Saturday enjoyed an ideal beach day with blazing sunshine, light winds and gradually dropping 1m waves.
No image available
/ 1 February 2008
Dealing with poor attendance by African National Congress (ANC) members at parliamentary and caucus meetings would be one of the year’s priorities, the party’s chief whip said on Friday. Nathi Mthethwa said: ”Inculcating a culture of discipline among some of the organisation’s public representatives in this institution will form part of the priorities.”
No image available
/ 1 February 2008
The financial director of Fidentia, Graham Maddock, was on Friday effectively jailed for seven years on 54 counts involving fraud, theft, money laundering, contraventions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act and the reckless or fraudulent conduct of business. Maddock appeared in court in Belville.
No image available
/ 1 February 2008
As long as the government’s priority remains affirmative action instead of quality education, delivery problems such as the current electricity crisis will be unavoidable, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Friday. Zille said the many delivery challenges faced by South Africa could only be resolved if the country’s education system improved.
No image available
/ 31 January 2008
South Africa’s crippling power crisis will not put off investors nor limit its ability to stage the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Wednesday. Rolling power cuts have plagued homes, businesses and the mining industry in South Africa for weeks and are likely to continue for about five years, according to state power utility Eskom.
No image available
/ 30 January 2008
Power failures could be a thing of the past if metropolitan areas cut their electricity usage by 10%, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Wednesday. ”If we can do that, we can avoid even planned load-shedding,” he told MPs during Parliament’s special joint sitting to discuss the electricity crisis.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has done her best to try to bring order and stability into the chaotic Home Affairs Department, MPs heard on Tuesday. ”The political responsibilities have been exercised boldly, and we are working towards an unqualified audit,” Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said.