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/ 17 January 2008
British national Anthony Cooper was on Thursday found not guilty of causing the fire on Table Mountain that allegedly caused the death of British tourist Janet Chesworth. Cooper appeared in the Cape Town Regional Court, charged with culpable homicide, as well as contravening the National Forestry Act.
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/ 16 January 2008
British national Anthony Cooper on Wednesday told the Cape Town Regional Court of his frantic efforts to put out a veld fire on the slopes of Table Mountain — caused by a cigarette he allegedly flicked from his fingers as he stood smoking near his car. Cooper has been charged with culpable homicide.
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/ 16 January 2008
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille has requested an urgent meeting with President Thabo Mbeki to discuss what she calls ”the growing perception of a constitutional and moral crisis” in South Africa. ”The implication of the police national commissioner and the ruling party’s presidential candidate in corruption cases is but one reason for this perception.”
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/ 16 January 2008
The Finance Ministry has invited all South Africans to send tips on how the country’s finances should be run to the annual "Tips for Trevor" campaign. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel plainly takes some notice of what the public tells him since he often refers to these tips during his budget speech in Parliament.
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/ 16 January 2008
Suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has objected to government’s request for an extension to file its submissions to the Ginwala Commission of Inquiry. A copy of a letter, sent by Pikoli’s law firm Denys Reitz to inquiry head Frene Ginwala, was released to the media late on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Ginwala herself criticised government for its ”slow response” and failure to deliver its submission on time.
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/ 15 January 2008
The Ginwala Commission of Inquiry into suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has criticised the government for its ”slow response” and failure to deliver its submission on time. In a statement on Tuesday, inquiry head Frene Ginwala said she had ”reluctantly” granted the government a 10-day extension.
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/ 15 January 2008
Opposition parties on Tuesday voiced their concern over Eskom’s inability to avert a power crisis in the country, with the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) calling for the appointment of a multiparty task team to handle the situation. FF+ spokesperson on energy Willie Spies said it was evident that the government did not have the capacity to deal with the current power crisis.
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/ 15 January 2008
The Cape High Court on Tuesday again postponed the Delft eviction case — the application will now take place on January 29. The court furthermore urged Democratic Alliance city councillor Frank Martin to engage a lawyer to represent him in proceedings.
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/ 15 January 2008
President Thabo Mbeki should explain to Parliament why he is reluctant to reinstate suspended National Prosecution Authority head Vusi Pikoli, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. ”President Mbeki needs to clarify his position on the DA’s call for him to brief Parliament on his refusal to review his decision to suspend advocate Vusi Pikoli,” the DA said.
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/ 14 January 2008
With 24 hours to go before deadline, the Ginwala Commission of Inquiry into suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has yet to receive the government’s submission on the matter. According to the commission rules and timeframes, Pikoli has until January 31 to make his submission.
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/ 14 January 2008
The timetable for hearings into the City of Cape Town’s spy-allegation controversy will be released to the public on Tuesday, the Erasmus Commission of Inquiry said. Commission spokesperson Zithulele Twala on Monday said the commission had already finalised the timetable.
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/ 14 January 2008
The Irish government has approved a €5-million grant (about R50-million) for building township houses in South Africa. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern announced details of the grant in Cape Town on Monday during an official visit aimed at, among other things, monitoring projects funded by Irish Aid, a government development agency.
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/ 12 January 2008
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Judicial autonomy in South Africa’s young democracy will be put to the test as politicians and judges eye each other with growing distrust ahead of the graft trial of African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma. His backers say there is no chance of Zuma getting a fair trial from a judiciary which is still largely male and white.
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/ 12 January 2008
Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi has quit as head of international crime-fighting body Interpol, the organisation said on Sunday. The news follows President Thabo Mbeki’s announcement on Saturday that Selebi, who faces allegations of corruption, fraud, racketeering and defeating the ends of justice, was going on extended leave of absence.
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/ 11 January 2008
In his first weekly online newsletter to African National Congress (ANC) members, Jacob Zuma, the new party leader, insisted on Friday that there were no fundamental policy differences among any members or leaders of the ANC. ”The vibrant debate that is sometimes misconstrued as division is merely differences of opinion,” he wrote.
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/ 11 January 2008
The deepest divisions in the African National Congress were driven not by ideology, but by greed and lust for power, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Friday. Writing in her first online newsletter of the year, she said that given the richness of the spoils on offer, it was not surprising that bitter rivalries had developed between factions.
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/ 11 January 2008
The Umkhonto weSizwe Veterans’ Association (MKVA) has condemned what it says is the ”demonisation” of former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni by ”certain elements in the media and elsewhere”. ”Comrade Tony Yengeni never stole any money nor killed anybody,” the MKVA said in a statement on Friday.
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/ 11 January 2008
Tax collectors from 39 countries around the world meeting in an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development-sponsored conference on Friday agreed to support a further conference specifically on taxation in Africa. The conference will be hosted by the South African Revenue Service, and will take place in May this year.
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/ 11 January 2008
The African National Congress (ANC) needs to get back to the business of government, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Friday. He said politicians might all be talking in hushed tones about competing centres of power, but most South Africans ”are fretting about rising food prices and high interest rates”.
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/ 11 January 2008
Patricia de Lille’s Independent Democrats (ID) on Friday called for the government to regulate bread prices. Rising bread prices were hurting the poor and the unemployed the most, according to Rodney Lentit, the ID’s local government liaison officer. Bread prices were deregulated in 1991.
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/ 11 January 2008
The infrastructure of the Transkei is collapsing, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa has told President Thabo Mbeki in an open letter. ”When Transkeians supported change … they had a legitimate expectation that misery will, for the first time, be a thing of the past,” he said in the letter.
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/ 10 January 2008
The Western Cape does not have problems with either teacher numbers or places for pupils, provincial education minister Cameron Dugmore said on Thursday. He was speaking following reports of shortages in both areas in some inland provinces where schools opened this week.
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/ 10 January 2008
Talks are under way to explore the possibility of South Africa being invited to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) — the so-called "rich man’s club" of nations. The 30 OECD countries have already given the green light for the start of accession talks with five prospective new members.
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/ 10 January 2008
Kagiso Trust announced on Thursday the death of its chairperson, Yunus Mahomed. He was 57. He died on Sunday. Kgotso Schoeman, chief executive of Kagiso Trust, said: "Yunus, or YM as he was affectionately known, was a passionate and consistent leader."
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/ 10 January 2008
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Thursday that he did not have any concerns about the direction fiscal policy might take following the victory of Jacob Zuma at the African National Congress’s leadership conference in Polokwane last month. He said fears about fiscal policy were just so much hype.
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/ 10 January 2008
Helen Zille, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance and mayor of Cape Town, has called on President Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, the leader of the African National Congress, to convene an urgent meeting to discuss how they plan to prevent their conflict from paralysing the government.
Peter de Villiers made history on Wednesday by being named as the first black coach of the world-champion Springbok rugby team, before making clear he would pick his teams based on merit, not colour. De Villiers, currently coach of the Under-21 side, was the surprise choice of the South African Rugby Union to succeed Jake White.
A British citizen working as a radio DJ in Taiwan conned three accommodation establishments during a short holiday in Cape Town, cheated a jeweller and a cellphone business, and ended his spree trying to take the police for a ride as well. This was heard in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
The Erasmus commission, set up to probe Cape Town’s ”spy” saga, has extended the deadline for submissions to the end of this month. Announcing this on Wednesday, commission secretary Zithulele Twala said the extension had been requested by the City of Cape Town and private investigators George Fivaz and Associates.
The Statistics Council has not questioned the scientific basis of last year’s Community Survey, council head Howard Gabriels said on Tuesday. He said the fact that it had recommended that Stats South Africa issue a cautionary notice on the reliability of some of the data was standard scientific practice.
The statistics council has not questioned the scientific basis of last year’s Community Survey, council head Howard Gabriels said on Tuesday. And the fact that it had recommended that Statistics South Africa issues a caution on the reliability of some of the data was standard scientific practice, he said.
The new coach of the World Cup-winning Springboks is expected to be named on Wednesday. The technical committee appointed to interview the four short-listed candidates for the vacant South Africa rugby coaching position wrapped up their task of finding a successor to Jake White on Tuesday.