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/ 18 September 2007

Children’s Bill: Christians back corporal punishment

Christian parents are required by God to use a rod on their children if they are defiant or rebellious, MPs heard on Tuesday. ”We do not have the option … this is a command of God,” George Raath of Life Enrichment Ministries told members of Parliament’s social development portfolio committee on Tuesday. The committee is holding public hearings on the Children’s Amendment Bill.

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/ 17 September 2007

Higher salaries to come for teachers

Proposals are on the table to increase the salary scale of teachers substantially, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday. Speaking in Cape Town after a meeting of the Council of Education Ministers, she said the entry salary for graduates to the profession, for example, will rise from R99 625 to R115 492.

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/ 17 September 2007

SA concerned at N Korea’s nuclear activities

South Africa remains concerned that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is still unable to draw any conclusions regarding North Korea’s nuclear activities, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on Monday. ”It is our hope that [North Korea] will return to the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty],” she said during the 51st session of the IAEA general conference.

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/ 17 September 2007

National parks get R500m energy-efficiency boost

The Environmental and Tourism Affairs Department has secured R500-million for the installation of energy-efficient facilities in the country’s national parks. Speaking at the launch of South Africa’s National Parks week, Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said the funds would ensure that the country’s national parks were projected as exemplary sites for energy efficiency.

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/ 17 September 2007

Parties urge action on HIV-baby reports

As opposition parties called for urgent action to address the ”crisis” of HIV infection in babies attending state hospitals, the Health Department took steps on Monday to get to the bottom of the matter. The department was concerned at media reports ”alleging there have been cases of HIV infection as a result of inadequate infection-control measures”.

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/ 17 September 2007

DA wants probe into Lotto bonuses

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday lodged a complaint with the Public Services Commission over what it said were ”unjustified” performance bonuses being paid to National Lotteries Board (NLB) officials. Staff performance bonuses at the NLB soared by R42 4% to more than R1,3-million for the past financial year

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/ 16 September 2007

Morkel helps SA to comfortable win

Albie Morkel hit three massive sixes off successive balls and then took two wickets as South Africa beat England by 19 runs in a Twenty20 World Championship Super Eight match at Newlands on Sunday. Morkel’s lower-order hitting enabled South Africa to score 154-8 after a stuttering top order performance.

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/ 16 September 2007

Ajax scrape home against Cosmos

Ajax Cape Town’s Brazilian defender Edwardo Ferreira scored the lone goal in his side’s victory over Jomo Cosmos in a Premier Soccer League game at Newlands on Sunday. Ferreira was also a tower of strength in the Ajax defence, working well with Clayton Jagers, Bryce Moon and Brett Evans.

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/ 16 September 2007

Zille almost in trouble … again

Cape Town mayor and Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille’s Sunday march against drugs almost landed her in trouble with the police again. Zille, who was leading a community march targeting at drug lords in Atlantis outside Cape Town, was denied permission to march in a street whose residents were said to be mostly drug lords.

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/ 15 September 2007

South Africa cruise against Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s batsmen launched a ferocious attack on South Africa’s bowlers but were unable to bat out their 20 overs in a Twenty20 World Championship match at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday. South Africa cruised to a seven-wicket win after Bangladesh were bowled out for 144 in 19.3 overs after being sent in.

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/ 14 September 2007

ID tops in last-minute floor-crossing flurry

The Independent Democrats (ID) came out winners on Friday in a last-minute flurry of applications to the Cape High Court by ID defectors to retain their seats. The party said bids by four former ID local councillors in the Western Cape to keep their seats were rejected by the court with costs. Two of the four were members of the Cape Town city council.

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/ 14 September 2007

Australia bounce back to crush England

Australia bounced back from the embarrassment of defeat against Zimbabwe to crush England by eight wickets in a Twenty20 World Championship match at Newlands on Friday. Needing a win to advance past the group stage, Australia produced an emphatic performance, bowling out England for 135 and then racing to victory in 14.5 overs.

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/ 14 September 2007

Skwatsha cleared on land deal

The Western Cape legislature’s public accounts committee has cleared African National Congress provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha of wrongdoing in a lucrative Cape Town land deal, the ANC said on Friday. Allegations that Skwatsha had interfered in the sale of a province-owned 2,4ha erf in Tamboerskloof were referred to the committee by the Democratic Alliance.

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/ 14 September 2007

FF+ and FA join forces

The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and Louis Luyt’s minuscule Federal Alliance (FA) have amalgamated, party leaders announced on Friday. At the same time, Luyt also announced his retirement from active politics at the end of September. Luyt and FF+ leader Pieter Mulder agreed that greater cooperation between opposition parties was the only way to challenge the African National Congress.

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/ 14 September 2007

Zille: Cops conducting a smear campaign

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader and Cape Town mayor Helen Zille has accused the police and Western Cape provincial minister of community safety Leonard Ramatlakane of trying to justify their actions by disseminating misinformation and conducting smear campaigns. ”Those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” she said in her weekly online newsletter on Friday.

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/ 13 September 2007

Pietersen sets up England win

Kevin Pietersen lashed 79 off 37 balls as England beat giant-killers Zimbabwe in a Twenty20 World Championship match at Newlands on Thursday. England won by 50 runs as they sent Zimbabwe crashing back to earth after their shock five-wicket win over tournament favourites Australia at the same ground on Wednesday.

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/ 13 September 2007

ANC and ID in floor-crossing spat

The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape has accused the Independent Democrats (ID) of attempting to lure ANC councillors to cross the floor with job offers. ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha told a media briefing on Thursday the ANC was in possession of a letter in this regard, signed by ID provincial chairperson Sakkie Jenner.

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/ 13 September 2007

Cosatu drops proposed boycott of Springbok gear

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has dropped an appeal to rugby fans to boycott shirts supporting the Springboks after the manufacturers agreed that most will in future be made locally, not imported. The move comes during the Rugby World Cup tournament in France. The Springboks, one of the favourites to lift the trophy, take on Cup holders England on Friday.

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/ 13 September 2007

ANC grapples with Biko legacy

South Africa on Wednesday marked the 30th anniversary of Steve Biko’s murder as the country’s current leaders face accusations they have neglected the poor masses. His legacy is a rallying cry for some of the discontented, who believe the ANC leadership have placed the interests of the business community above those of the country as a whole.

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/ 13 September 2007

Mbeki: Crime a symptom of ‘rapacious individualism’

The prevalence of corruption and other forms of crime in South Africa reflected a society that had embraced a culture of individualism, President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday. Delivering the eighth annual Steve Biko memorial lecture at the University of Cape Town, Mbeki said social ills such as corruption represented society’s rejection of positive moral values.

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/ 12 September 2007

Zim shock favourites Australia in Twenty20

Minnows Zimbabwe upset tournament favourites Australia in the first shock of the Twenty20 World Championship at Newlands on Wednesday. Opening batsman Brendan Taylor guided Zimbabwe to a five-wicket win after Australia limped to 138-9 in their 20 overs after choosing to bat on a slow pitch.

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/ 12 September 2007

Minister ‘not contemplating forced removals’

Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu vehemently denied on Wednesday that she was contemplating forced removals from Cape Town’s troubled Joe Slovo settlement. But in the same breath she said she had instructed her department ”to investigate legal avenues to compel residents of informal settlements to make way for housing developments”.

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/ 12 September 2007

ANC gets majority rule — in Morkel family

Thanks to floor-crossing, the African National Congress (ANC) has at last secured a clear two-thirds majority in the Morkel family. The decisive moment came on Wednesday when the last of the Morkel brothers, Craig, joined the party. But the patriarch, former premier Gerald Morkel, has no intention of following in his sons’ footsteps.

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/ 12 September 2007

Floor-crossing Travelgate MP accepted by ANC

In the latest twist in the current floor-crossing saga the African National Congress (ANC), despite all its previous protestations about taking firm action against members of Parliament convicted of fraud, on Wednesday accepted into their ranks Craig Morkel, who was convicted of fraud and theft in the Travelgate debacle.