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/ 30 November 2007
The Committee of Traders of Greenmarket Square (CTG) launched an urgent application in the Cape High Court late on Friday to stop the City of Cape Town from taking over control of the square. The CTG’s lawyers said the threatened takeover of control, if not stopped, would effectively halt the informal trading at the flea market.
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/ 30 November 2007
The African National Congress (ANC) must defend its principles and values without hesitation or ambiguity, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Some people seemed very keen to denounce any restatement of the most basic ANC positions as constituting an attack on ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, he said in his weekly online newsletter.
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/ 30 November 2007
The Aids crisis, already one of enormous proportions, is forecast to get even bigger, says Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille. ”Though a slight decline was experienced this year, analysts still predict South Africa’s HIV infection rate to increase from its current 10% to 18% by 2025,” she warned in her weekly online newsletter, SA Today, on Friday.
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/ 30 November 2007
Thabo Gazi, the chief inspector of mines, has briefed the Chamber of Mines and labour unions about the health and safety audit of mines ordered by President Thabo Mbeki. Meanwhile, the National Union of Mineworkers said on Friday that more than 40 000 mineworkers will gather ahead of next week’s safety strike.
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/ 30 November 2007
Schoolchildren in grade three and above are to be tested annually for the next three years to ensure their reading skills are up to par, the Department of Education said on Friday. Education Minister Naledi Pandor would gazette a three-year ”foundation for learning strategy … that will involve annual testing”, the department said.
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/ 29 November 2007
Hundreds of people gathered in a Cape Town church on Thursday to remember Ian Smith, Rhodesia’s widely reviled former prime minister, as a kind, stubborn and misunderstood son of the soil. The hall of the St John’s Anglican Church in Cape Town overflowed with well-wishers — all but a handful of them white and many ex-Rhodesian.
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/ 29 November 2007
Controversial Cape Town councillor Badih Chaaban is adamant he will not relinquish control over Greenmarket Square without a fight. According to recent reports, Chaaban has held a lease on Greenmarket Square for 15 years. The Cape Town council took a decision at the end of June to terminate Chaaban’s lease and regain control over the square.
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/ 29 November 2007
The Cape High Court on Thursday found former Old Mutual actuary Fred van der Vyver not guilty of the murder of his girlfriend, Inge Lotz. The acquittal brought to an end a dramatic trial that had lasted nine months, which Judge Deon van Zyl described as ”long and emotion-packed”.
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/ 29 November 2007
In a rare public-health success story on the world’s most beleaguered continent, Africa has slashed deaths from measles by 91% since 2000 thanks to an immunisation drive. Worldwide measles deaths fell to 242 000 between 2000 and 2006, a reduction of 68% made possible by the remarkable gains in Africa.
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/ 28 November 2007
Despite police warnings that he had no obligation to say anything about a fire he had allegedly started on the slopes of Table Mountain, British national Anthony Cooper told the flying squad it had been an accident, the Cape Town Regional Court heard on Wednesday.
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/ 28 November 2007
The South African National Defence Force Union on Wednesday threatened to lay a criminal charge against Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota for contravening the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The union also wants the Labour Department to take action against the South African National Defence Force for non-compliance with health and safety legislation.
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/ 28 November 2007
Former South Africa batsman Gary Kirsten said on Tuesday he has been offered the job as India coach. ”They have offered me the job,” Kirsten said from Delhi. ”I asked them for some time to consider it and they were very obliging, but it’s an extremely exciting prospect and, provided a few details can be worked out, I’m looking forward to the challenge,” he said.
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/ 27 November 2007
Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool has apologised to the provincial legislature for ”incorrect” statements made before it on overspending. ”To bring finality and closure to an unfortunate episode, I apologise for anything I said that led to the conclusion of the ad-hoc committee,” he said in Cape Town on Tuesday.
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/ 27 November 2007
Western Cape provincial minister for local government Richard Dyantyi’s announcement that he intends to probe spy allegations against the City of Cape Town is an African National Congress (ANC) ploy to divert attention from Premier Ebrahim Rasool’s woes, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Tuesday.
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/ 27 November 2007
The commission appointed to investigate whether National Prosecution Authority head Vusi Pikoli was fit to hold office on Monday held a meeting with Department of Justice and Constitutional Development officials and Pikoli in a bid to expedite the investigation, the commission said on Tuesday.
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/ 27 November 2007
More than 28 000 animals were stolen from farms around the country over the past 18 months, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. Less than 40% of the stock — including game, cattle, sheep and goats — was recovered, DA rural safety spokesperson Ryno King said in a statement.
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/ 26 November 2007
The Highveld regions of eastern Gauteng and western Mpumalanga, including towns such as Witbank, Standerton and Boksburg, have been declared air-pollution hot spots. ”There is little doubt that people living and working in these areas do not enjoy air quality that is not harmful to their health and well-being,” the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said on Monday.
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/ 26 November 2007
The African National Congress (ANC) parliamentary caucus has dismissed ”malicious” media reports alleging that President Thabo Mbeki used a caucus meeting last week to launch a veiled attack on ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma.
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/ 26 November 2007
Exchanges on Monday between Najwa Petersen’s senior counsel and Najwa’s sister-in-law, Tagmieda Johnson, during cross-examination in Najwa’s bail application provided lively scenes in the Wynberg Regional Court. Najwa is in custody, awaiting trial, for the alleged murder of her entertainer husband, Taliep.
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/ 26 November 2007
Manenberg police station in Cape Town is one of the best-run in the country, while those at Verena in Mpumalanga, KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal, and Inyibiba and Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape are among the worst. These are the findings of a Democratic Alliance study highlighting South Africa’s police stations and the service they offer.
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/ 26 November 2007
Denel group chief executive Shaun Liebenberg will not renew his contract when it expires on May 31 next year, the company said on Monday. Liebenberg was appointed in 2005 to manage Denel’s turnaround. While the company posted a loss of R549,1-million for the financial year ended March 31 2007, gross profit rose to R754-million.
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/ 26 November 2007
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African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma leads the race for nominations for the post of party president with five provinces supporting him, to President Thabo Mbeki’s four, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Sunday.
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/ 26 November 2007
Severe floods along South Africa’s southern coast killed two people and caused millions of rand in damage near one of the country’s top tourist attractions, officials said on Monday. Police said a 62-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy drowned as rivers burst their banks and roads were washed away in Eden District municipality.
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/ 23 November 2007
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South Africans must speak up if they want the death penalty back, African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Friday. Speaking to about 250 people at an anti-crime rally at Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats, he also called for ”extraordinary measures” against crime.
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/ 23 November 2007
A gay psychology student who in July allegedly shot dead both his parents to spare them the grief of his own suicide, is to go on trial in the Cape High Court next year on two charges of murder. Grant Harris (23) on Friday made his seventh appearance in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court, before magistrate Hafeeza Mohamed, since his arrest in August for the double murder.
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/ 23 November 2007
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African National Congress president Thabo Mbeki and his deputy, Jacob Zuma, are both unimpressive candidates for the ANC leadership, with a tendency to flout democratic principles, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said in her weekly online letter on Friday
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/ 22 November 2007
Minutes before being shot dead in an argument over a baseball cap, Godfrey Hendricks challenged his two alleged killers to take the cap from him by force. The two men then fetched a firearm from their car parked nearby. Two shots were fired, leaving Hendricks lying dead on the ground, the Cape High Court heard on Thursday.
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/ 22 November 2007
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The African National Congress (ANC)’s December national conference will serve as a springboard to propel the party to new heights, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Thursday. Speaking during the launch of the ANC parliamentary caucus website in Cape Town, Mlambo-Ngcuka said the party would surprise its critics.
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/ 22 November 2007
A final decision on which country will host the giant Square Kilometre Array radio telescope is now expected in 2011, the Cabinet announced on Thursday. South Africa was confident it would win the bid, government communications head Themba Maseko told a media briefing at Parliament on Thursday, following the Cabinet’s fortnightly meeting the day before.
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/ 22 November 2007
Four government departments are collaborating to produce a ”comprehensive electricity master plan” for South Africa, says the Cabinet. Such a plan was long overdue, government communications head Themba Maseko told a media briefing at Parliament on Thursday, following the Cabinet’s fortnightly meeting the day before.
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/ 22 November 2007
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The battle for the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) moves one step closer this week to a head-to-head clash between Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. While there has been talk of a compromise candidate, one commentator believes that time has run out for that option.
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/ 21 November 2007
President Thabo Mbeki’s announcement on Wednesday of a ”window of opportunity” for people convicted of alleged political offences before June 16 1999 has been warmly welcomed by most political parties. Pan Africanist Congress leader Motsoko Pheko hailed Mbeki’s announcement as an act of courage against odds.