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/ 21 September 2007
Lawmakers in crime-ridden South Africa approved a Bill on Thursday making it harder for rapists to argue for reduced sentences. The Criminal Law Sentencing Amendment Bill bars judges and magistrates from considering a rape victim’s sexual history or an apparent lack of physical injury to justify lessening minimum jail terms.
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/ 20 September 2007
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Pakistan laboured to a four-wicket win over Bangladesh at Newlands on Thursday to earn themselves a Twenty20 World Championship semifinal date at the same ground this weekend. Pakistan’s win ensured they finished top of group F in the Super Eight stage with three wins in three matches.
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/ 20 September 2007
Najwa Petersen, widow of slain musician Taliep Petersen, is to launch a fresh bail application next month based on ”new facts”, the Wynberg Regional Court heard on Thursday. She and three men whom she allegedly hired to murder her husband are to go on trial in the Cape High Court on a date still to be fixed.
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/ 20 September 2007
The Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism’s new dedicated research vessel, the Ellen Khuzwayo, was launched by Environment Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk in Cape Town on Thursday. The ship will be used mainly for inshore research, including work on crayfish, linefish, seabirds, marine mammals and sharks.
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/ 20 September 2007
A group of Richtersveld residents is to challenge a settlement agreement with the government when the document goes before the Land Claims Court in Cape Town next week for ratification. The agreement followed a 10-year court battle by the Richtersvelders for the restoration of land taken by the state for diamonds mining.
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/ 20 September 2007
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Openers Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist continued their prolific form to take Australia into the Twenty20 World Cup semifinals after a 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Newlands on Thursday. Hayden lashed 58 from 38 deliveries with seven fours and two sixes while Gilchrist remained unbeaten on 31 from just 25 balls.
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/ 20 September 2007
FirstRand Bank has lost a court bid to prevent noseweek magazine publishing the names of clients involved in allegedly shady offshore tax dodging schemes. Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso on Thursday dismissed the bank’s application with costs, saying she would give her reasons later.
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/ 20 September 2007
The South African Cabinet has welcomed the recent breakthrough by the collective leadership of Zimbabwe on draft constitutional amendments. Zimbabwe’s main political parties have reportedly agreed that President Robert Mugabe should no longer be allowed to handpick members of the lower house of assembly.
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/ 20 September 2007
A man facing three charges of possession of stolen property believes the media have turned his case into a high profile one due to his family connection to Najwa Petersen, the woman accused of murdering her husband, Taliep Petersen. Achmat Rylands was on Wednesday released on R10 000 bail.
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/ 19 September 2007
The legality of a FirstRand Bank offshore tax scheme came under scrutiny in the Cape High Court on Wednesday when the bank sought an urgent interdict to stop noseweek magazine from publishing the names of clients involved in it. Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso will give her ruling on Thursday morning.
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/ 19 September 2007
Construction of Cape Town’s 2010 stadium at Green point has ground to a halt again over a labour dispute. The city council said in a statement that some workers downed tools on Tuesday and were still not working on Wednesday. The construction site had been ”closed down temporarily”.
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/ 19 September 2007
Auditor General (AG) Terence Nombembe will conduct an audit next year to assess station-level performance within the South African Police Service (SAPS). The special audit will examine, among others, uneven service delivery at station-level across the country, which affects the way that are opened and recorded, and crime statistics compiled.
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/ 19 September 2007
Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa needs to explain the ”confusion” between his department and the National Lotteries Board (NLB), the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday. While the department denied involvement in the 42,4% increase in performance bonuses at the NLB, board spokesperson Sershan Naidoo had contended Mpahlwa authorised the bonuses himself.
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/ 19 September 2007
Judge Jeanette Traverso, hearing FirstRand’s urgent application for an interdict against the satirical magazine <i>NoseWeek</i> in the Cape High Court, said on Wednesday that there seemed to be little doubt that the tax-avoidance scheme at the heart of the case "is suspect".
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/ 19 September 2007
Having for the first time in a decade halted the draining away of freight transportation from the railways to the roads, Maria Ramos, the chief executive of Transnet, is aiming to win back a large slice of the business. "Not all cargo on the roads is suitable for rail," Ramos explained in Cape Town on Wednesday, "but we are targeting the container traffic aggressively."
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/ 18 September 2007
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England captain Paul Collingwood apologised on Tuesday for visiting a lap-dancing club one day before playing South Africa in Twenty20 World Championship. ”It’s obviously unacceptable and I’ll have to learn from that,” Collingwood said. ”I made a mistake.” Collingwood visited the club in Cape Town after England had lost to Australia on Friday by eight wickets.
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/ 18 September 2007
There is a ”massive” service crisis within rail-passenger company Metrorail, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. There are also concerns about the Transnet division’s readiness for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, DA MP Mpowele Swath said in a statement. Responding, Metrorail on Tuesday denied the claims that it was experiencing a service crisis.
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/ 18 September 2007
Despite the Western Cape having scored the highest matric pass rate in the country last year, only half of its learners reach matric, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Tuesday. Addressing a sitting of the provincial parliament on expenditure trends and service delivery, Manuel said the high number of learners who dropped out of school was a cause for concern.
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/ 18 September 2007
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
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 R99Â 625 to R115Â 492.
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/ 17 September 2007
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
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
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
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
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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 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
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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/ 16 September 2007
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Fast bowler Brett Lee took the first hat-trick in 20-over internationals as Australia crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets in their Twenty20 World Championship Super Eight match at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday. Bangladesh were restricted to 123-9 after being sent in.
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/ 15 September 2007
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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
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
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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
The African National Congress (ANC) has issued a sharply worded statement attacking opposition parties for failing to turn up at scheduled meetings of Parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members’ interests. The committee is responsible for issuing the annual statement of the interests of members of both houses.