Neither food nor food supplements are alternatives to drug therapy in treating people with HIV/Aids, South Africa’s top scientific advisory panel said on Tuesday, amid a controversy over the nation’s Aids policies. The report by the Academy of Science of South Africa was issued as President Thabo Mbeki faced new criticism over support for his health minister.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Tuesday defended South Africa’s quiet diplomacy toward Zimbabwe, saying that foreign intervention to bring about a regime change risked unleashing turmoil like in Iraq. He told lawmakers that South Africa — the top regional powerbroker — was not in a position to dictate political and economic policy to Zimbabwe.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday proposed a motion of no confidence in Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and called for her dismissal. It said the existence of a conviction against her was never disclosed to the South African public, despite the position of trust she was placed in as minister of health.
A parliamentary committee, in a report tabled on Tuesday, has proposed sweeping and controversial changes to the structure and functioning of institutions such as the Human Rights Commission (HRC), the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) and other constitutional bodies.
Municipal workers will embark on an indefinite strike in Cape Town next week, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said on Tuesday. Samwu said the strike was a protest against the city’s unilateral implementation of new conditions of service. The city had also relocated staff without any agreement with the union. However, the city rejected the union’s allegations.
Reigning champions Western Province (WP) and co-favourites Southern Gauteng both won their opening games at the Spar Women’s Interprovincial Tournament being played at the Hartleyvale Astro in Cape Town on Monday. WP showed their pedigree with a 3-1 win over Northerns, while Southerns beat KwaZulu-Natal 3-0.
Suspected sex blogger Juan Duval Uys of Kroonstad on Monday made his second appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, where he faces a charge of crimen injuria reportedly relating to an allegation that he had stated on a blog that a City of Cape Town mayoral committee member had used Uys’s services as a male prostitute.
Almost two years after arriving in Cape Town, nine containers of clothes donated by Taiwan are finally ready to be given to the needy, mayor Helen Zille said on Monday. The containers of new clothes arrived in Cape Town harbour in November 2005 and were held up by unfinished paperwork and customs processes.
The state was stalling on details of the travel-voucher fraud charges faced by a current and a former MP, their defence teams claimed in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday. Lawyers acting for the two said they wanted the court to rule that prosecutors must provide full answers to their requests for further particulars.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday asked the Public Protector to investigate whether Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang benefited from the inappropriate influence of President Thabo Mbeki. It has been alleged that Mbeki called up surgeons at a medical centre to insist they approve a liver transplant for Tshabalala-Msimang, DA leader Helen Zille said.
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African National Congress (ANC) members should not be misled into believing that the media would assist and find solutions for the many challenges facing the organisation, party deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Sunday. He said the media’s only objective was to sensationalise ANC problems.
The Eastern Cape government has rejected a claim by a suspended hospital official that 200 babies have been dying every month at East London’s two largest hospitals. The former deputy manager of the East London Hospital Complex, Dr Nokuzola Ntshona, made the claim in an interview published in the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>.
President Thabo Mbeki and the opposition leader, Helen Zille of the Democratic Alliance, crossed swords on Friday in the internet letters they send each week to their supporters. Both were talking about sacked deputy minister of health Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.
The African National Congress (ANC) is not a party for the independent-minded, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille. The recent sacking by President Thabo Mbeki of his deputy health minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, illustrated what the ANC had become, she said on Friday in her weekly online newsletter, DA Today.
The treatment of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit has shown that there is no real political will to hold the Zimbabwean leadership accountable for their actions, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Friday.
Najwa Petersen was not mentally ill when she allegedly killed her husband, Taliep, and is fit to stand trial, a Cape Town regional magistrate ruled on Friday. The finding, based on the unanimous reports of three psychiatrists, cleared the way for Petersen and her three co-accused to go on trial in the Cape High Court in February next year.
President Thabo Mbeki has taken issue with those elevating sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge to ”heroine” status. ”Ordinarily, I would not make any further comment on this matter,” Mbeki said in his online newsletter on Friday, ANC Today. However, an ill-founded hue and cry about the dismissal had been raised.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has provided Parliament with inaccurate crime statistics when replying to questions, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. The DA’s Dianne Kohler-Barnard said Nqakula gave two contradicting answers to the same question.
An Independent Democrats (ID) councillor in the City of Cape Town has sworn loyalty to the party after an anonymously sent fax suggested she was planning to defect in the coming floor-crossing window. ID caucus leader Simon Grindrod released copies of the fax at a media briefing on Thursday, saying he believed it was a tactic to influence other councillors.
The National Assembly’s communications committee has shortlisted 37 candidates it plans to interview for a position on the 12-member South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board. The interviews are expected to be held next week, following which a final shortlist will be compiled.
The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) cannot replace its dismissed former president Motsoko Pheko until the outcome of the party’s internal appeal process, the Cape High Court ruled on Thursday. Delivering judgement, Judge Dennis Davis said there was no evidence that Pheko had waived his right to appeal.
A total of 95 Cape Town metro police officers have been suspended in the wake of Wednesday’s protest, council spokesperson Pieter Cronje said on Thursday. The officers face disciplinary and criminal charges after they drove in a cavalcade to the civic centre, causing morning rush-hour traffic jams on the N2.
Springbok fullback Percy Montgomery claimed yet another points-scoring record as the Boks romped to a comprehensive 105-13 win over Namibia in a Rugby World Cup friendly at Newlands on Wednesday evening. Montgomery finished with a new individual haul of 35 points, slotting 12 conversions, two penalties and one try.
A new Bill proposing an integrated system of coastal management will not lead to expropriation of beachfront properties, MPs were assured on Wednesday. But officials who are sponsoring the Bill through Parliament say that it will make it easier for local authorities to remove holiday chalets illegally built on the beach.
Psychology student Grant Harris, charged with shooting dead his parents in July, was on Wednesday referred to the Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital near Cape Town. ”He needs an urgent psychiatric assessment and treatment immediately,” district surgeon Dr S Trope advised the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court.
The Democratic Alliance has asked Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela to place the health department under the administration of the provincial treasury. ”This will allow the province to take proper control of its finances and institute a complete review of all current appointments,” DA spokesperson Mike Waters said.
Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged Southern African leaders to send monitors to Zimbabwe to investigate the clampdown on the pro-democracy movement. On the eve of a key Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit , leading Zimbabwean human rights groups said they held a four-hour meeting with South African mediators.
Veteran Springbok prop Os Du Randt hopes to make his final Test on South African soil a memorable one. ”This is my last season and I want to go out on a high,” the big front-ranker told the media on the eve of the Boks’ Rugby World Cup warm-up Test against Namibia at Newlands on Wednesday evening.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will undertake a major policy review before the 2009 general election, party leader Helen Zille said on Tuesday. Speaking at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for International Political Studies, she said the DA and its predecessors’ major contribution till now had been to keep the idea of opposition alive over decades.
South Africa risks becoming a magnet for paedophiles when it hosts the 2010 Soccer World Cup as rising child-sex tourism blights Africa’s top travel spots, activists said on Tuesday. Every year thousands of children in mostly poor countries fall prey to sex tourists. Activists say South Africa must take steps to guard against child-sex tourism ahead of the Cup.
Bulls and Springbok number eight Pierre Spies was on Tuesday officially ruled out of this year’s World Cup in France. The 22-year-old was given the bad news on Tuesday after learning last week he may still have an outside chance of making it to France, where the tournament kicks off on September 7.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi’s comments on Cabinet ministers who died on duty were never intended to show disrespect to them, it said on Tuesday. ”These comments were in no way intended to show disrespect to those ministers who passed away,” Cosatu said in a statement.