The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday it would table new questions in Parliament aimed at establishing who was ultimately responsible for the Oilgate scandal. This follows a report that African National Congress (ANC) funder Sandi Majali had threatened to ”spill the beans” about the transfer of R11-million to the ANC.
Judgement in the baby Jordan murder trial in the Cape High Court was adjourned to Monday after Judge Basheer Waglay reached page 82 during his reading of the 150-page document. In the dock is Dina Rodrigues and four accomplices — Sipho Mfazwe, Mongezi Bobotyane, Zanethemba Gwada, and Bonginkosi Sigenu — accused of the murder of baby Jordan-Leigh Norton in June 2005.
Murdered Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, whose death shocked the cricket world, was cremated on Friday after a private family ceremony near Cape Town. Woolmer (58) was murdered on March 18 in mysterious circumstances shortly after Pakistan were eliminated from the World Cup following a shock defeat by Ireland.
The government’s invitation extended by Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas to visit South Africa has evoked mixed emotions from the South African society. The move was strongly condemned on Friday by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, while the Congress of South African Trade Unions backed it.
Outgoing official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon bid farewell in his final internet column, <i>SA Today</i>, which since its launch in February 2003 has focused largely on the state of democracy, including critiques of the ruling African National Congress and its governance.
Things looked dark for baby murder accused Dina Rodrigues at the end of the first day of a marathon judgement in the Cape High Court on Thursday. Judge Basheer Waglay told a packed courtroom that he accepted expert evidence that her thumbprints and handwriting were found on a waybill left at the scene of the June 2005 killing of baby Jordan-Leigh Norton.
Science graduate Michael Barend van Zyl was on Thursday convicted in the Cape High Court of the axe murder of his former partner. Van Zyl wept during the two-hour judgement, especially whenever Judge Daniel Dlodlo referred to his gay relationship with his victim, estate agent Andre Weitz.
The Cape Town High Court heard on Thursday that eight members of the Fancy Boys gang should be given sentences that reflected how seriously society condemns organised crime. The trial that is believed to be the first to see a conviction for membership of a criminal gang under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
A Cape High Court judge has accepted evidence that two thumbprints from Dina Rodrigues were found on the back of a courier waybill discovered at the scene of the murder of six-month-old baby Jordan-Leigh Norton. Judge Basheer Waglay made the finding when the court resumed after lunch on Thursday.
The South African government on Thursday hit out at reports casting doubt on its ability to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said that ”sensationalist headlines” misrepresented Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s remarks that other countries were ready to take over.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Vusi Pikoli has warned against ongoing ”attacks” on the NPA by the African National Congress (ANC) and its affiliates. NPA spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi said in a statement on Thursday that Pikoli had issued his warning during a briefing to the National Assembly’s justice committee on Wednesday.
Judgement gets under way in the Cape High Court on Thursday morning in the trial of alleged baby-murder mastermind Dina Rodrigues and the four men the state claims she hired as hit men. Rodrigues, Sipho Mfazwe, Mongezi Bobotyane, Zanethemba Gwada and Bonginkosi Sigenu stand accused of murdering six-month-old baby Jordan-Leigh Norton.
The Independent Democrats (ID) on Wednesday became the first and to date only political party to support the salary increases for MPs proposed by the Moseneke Commission. ”A caucus meeting attended by ID members of Parliament decided to support all the recommendations of the Moseneke Commission regarding MP salary increases,” ID leader Patricia de Lille said.
No policy has been adopted to detain multi- or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) patients, acting health minister Jeff Radebe said on Wednesday. He was replying to a written question from Democratic Alliance health spokesperson Gareth Morgan.
The concept of opposition has yet to take root in South Africa 13 years after the birth of multiracial democracy, says the outgoing leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance. Tony Leon’s main task in eight years as official opposition leader was ”to get the very concept itself accepted on the stony soil of South African ground”.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Tuesday, Workers’ Day, urged trade-union leaders at the Athlone Civic Centre in Cape Town to play a meaningful role in skills development and job creation. Meanwhile, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana told a Workers’ Day rally in Johannesburg that employment equity is here to stay.
The concentration of power in South Africa is the biggest threat to its democracy, the front-runner to assume the leadership of the country’s main opposition party said on Monday. The challenge for the Democratic Alliance is to lure more black voters and help break traditional racial voting patterns, Cape Town mayor Helen Zille said.
Nine families on a farm near Saron in the Tulbagh area were spared from eviction on Monday for a few more days after the Black Association of the Wine and Spirit Industry secured a court date to try to postpone the eviction order. A Bawsi representative said the eviction order was a result of a dispute over the ownership of Ertjiesfontein farm.
Embattled medical scheme Pro Sano spent more than R17-million on advertising and marketing campaigns in just more than three years, with no net gain in membership. Its reserves of R314-million could be depleted within three years if current losses continue, curator Joe Seoloane said in a report to the Cape High Court.
The family of slain Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer met undertakers on Monday to discuss his funeral, but details of the ceremony are being kept under wraps. The family has decided to keep it a ”totally, totally private affair”, said Theo Rix, Western Cape manager for Doves funeral parlour.
Two men under police investigation for murder and armed robbery appeared in court on Monday for the murder of the detective who had investigated the two charges. They are charged with the murder of Detective Inspector Lourens le Roux, who was gunned down outside the Woodstock police station on April 12.
Instead of engaging foreigners, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula should explain crime to South Africans, the Freedom Front Plus said on Monday. ”Mr Charles Nqakula should rather explain crime in South Africa, here at home, than explaining it in foreign countries,” said the party’s spokesperson on safety and security.
Embattled medical scheme Pro Sano spent over R17-million on advertising and marketing campaigns in just over three years, with no net gain in membership. And its reserves of R314-million could be depleted within three years if current losses continued, curator Joe Seoloane has said in a report to the Cape High Court.
Workers’ Day celebrations will mean very little to many unemployed South Africans, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. Speaking on the eve of the public holiday, the party’s labour spokesperson, Mark Lowe, said the government has failed to respond to the challenges faced by the unemployed.
The South African Department of Labour is on a national drive to stamp out child labour, according to a government news agency. At the last count in 1999, over 4,8-million of South Africa’s 13,4-million children between the ages of five and 17 were involved in some form of economic activity, which is illegal in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
The body of Bob Woolmer, the murdered coach of Pakistan’s cricket team, arrived in South Africa on Sunday morning, six weeks after his body was discovered in a Jamaican hotel room. A casket bearing Woolmer’s embalmed body arrived at Cape Town International Airport shortly before 10am on a South African Airways flight from London.
Top South African long-distance swimmer and Olympic Games hopeful Tyron Venter (21) beat his closest rival by 14 minutes to win the 7,5km Cadiz Vista Nova Freedom Swim from Robben Island to Big Bay, Bloubergstrand, on Saturday. Natalie du Toit came in fourth. She was the first woman home in 1:57.
Gordon Igesund’s Sundowns have now lost all three games this year against Ajax when they went down by two goals to one in a Premier Soccer League match in Cape Town on Saturday. Ajax attacked from the start, and in the second minute Calvin Marlin brought about a good save from Tembi Santini.
The Stormers piled the misery on the bottom-of-the-log Reds by thumping them 37-24 in a one-sided Super 14 match at Newlands on Saturday. Captain Luke Watson and left wing Brent Russell both scored a brace of tries in a match where the final score line did not reflect the home side’s dominance.
For six weeks, Andre van Zijl has been pumping petrol around the clock at a petrol station in Knysna. Why? To raise awareness about HIV/Aids. The 57-year-old Aids campaigner aims to log 1Â 000 working hours this week in his latest publicity stunt to highlight the devastating scale of the Aids epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.
Cape Town’s disaster risk-management centre is on full alert following a severe weather warning from the South African Weather Service on Thursday. All city departments that may be required to respond to flooding, storm damage to infrastructure or disruption of services will maintain adequate standby levels during this period, the council said in a statement.
A man accused of killing his former gay partner with an axe pleaded temporary incapacity in the Cape High Court on Thursday while the prosecution argued that it was a premeditated murder. Judge Daniel Dlodlo and two assessors heard closing argument in the trial of BSc graduate Michael van Zyl, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering estate agent Andre Weitz.