The Cape High Court ruled on Thursday afternoon that it would accept the late filing of an affidavit by Matthias Rath in opposition to an application by the Treatment Action Campaign. The affidavit, which stretches with annexures to 2 709 pages in nine lever-arch files, was lodged about 13 months after deadline.
South Africa’s strong economic growth of the past decade masks a series of ”major structural weaknesses” needing urgent attention if this is to continue, warned Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon on Thursday.
Politicians running local governments across the country have been read the riot act by Finance Minster Trevor Manuel, who says that the argument about capacity constraints 13 years into democracy in South Africa is wearing thin. South Africa’s councillors have been urged to spend the available resources of local government wisely.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) on Wednesday added more than 1 000 new applications to the small-business tax-amnesty process through an extensive registration campaign across the country. Several thousand Sars and police officials visited 4 160 small businesses in 30 towns and cities.
The late judge Wally van Deventer — who said life was too short for ”bad books and bad wine” — was remembered by his colleagues at the Cape High Court on Wednesday. Judge Deon van Zyl told the packed courtroom how Van Deventer’s interest had switched from law to business and then back to law.
The state has not responded to a settlement offer in a court case in which it is cited alongside controversial vitamin entrepreneur Matthias Rath, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said on Wednesday. The matter is set down for hearing before Judge Burton Fourie on Thursday, but could be postponed.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation has threatened legal action against those illegally exploiting the former president’s name and image. ”We wish to reiterate Mr Mandela’s own words: his image and name is not for sale,” foundation chief executive Achmat Dangor said in a statement on Wednesday.
The serious side-effects of a popular anti-malaria medicine were listed on Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of murdering his lover with an axe. Michael van Zyl, a BSc graduate, has pleaded not guilty before Judge Daniel Dlodlo to the murder of estate agent Andre Weitz, at the latter’s home at Thornton in Cape Town two years ago.
The South African Weather Service has warned beach revellers to brace themselves for chilly conditions over the country’s coastal areas during this long weekend. Mark Todd, a forecaster from the National Forecast Centre, said on Wednesday that it was going to be cold and windy over the Southern parts [of the country].
About 30 fires were ignited in mountain ranges across the Western Cape by a lightning storm in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Spokesperson for Working on Fire, Val Charlton, said on Tuesday afternoon that the outbreak of these fires after lightning and thunder was ”a perfectly natural event”.
The African rebirth will be moral and peaceful and lead to a better world, South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma assured delegates to the African Union-Caribbean Diaspora conference on Tuesday. ”The people of African descent have to show … a new world order where diversity is celebrated and harnessed,” Dlamini-Zuma said in her speech to the conference.
Two men accused of manufacturing the potentially lethal drug cat in a luxurious flat in Sea Point made a routine appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Jacobus Johannes Venter (43) and Jacques van Rensburg (36) were arrested in June last year after police swooped on the flat.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is doing very little to help the poor access their rights, the ad hoc committee on the review of Chapter Nine institutions heard on Tuesday. Deputy Justice Minister Johnny de Lange said the SAHRC has failed to fulfil its mandate.
Sex workers’ advocacy group Sweat said on Tuesday that the legal action it has launched to stop police harassing prostitutes is a last recourse. ”Bringing this legal action is not a step that Sweat has taken lightly,” the organisation said in its first substantive comment since it filed papers in the Cape High Court last week.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) says that President Thabo Mbeki is quite right to criticise ruling party African National Congress (ANC) councillors for not doing their jobs — but it argues that words must be turned into action. On Tuesday, DA local government spokesperson Willem Doman said: "A year after the local elections it is clear that many councillors are not effective."
The prospect of President Thabo Mbeki staying on as African National Congress (ANC) head would harm the country, official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon said on Monday. At a farewell meeting in Port Elizabeth the DA leader said an anointed presidential successor would become a ”puppet president owing his or her position to Mbeki”.
Former LeisureNet bosses Peter Gardener and Rod Mitchell were on Monday jailed for an effective eight and seven years respectively. ”You let society down very very badly,” said acting Judge Dirk Uijs as he handed down the sentences in the Cape High Court.
Outgoing Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon on Monday dismissed as ”distorted and inaccurate” media reports alleging a plot against Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille. Leon said he met on Monday morning with Zille and DA Western Cape leader Theuns Botha ”to discuss certain media reports …”.
The Stormers came back from 0-10 down to comfortably beat the Blues 33-20 in their Super14 match at Newlands on Saturday. Kobus van der Merwe’s men led 20-13 at half-time and the victory over New Zealand’s semifinal contenders did the Sharks and the Bulls a huge favour.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will ask prosecuting authorities to investigate arms-deal corruption allegations against Chippy Shaik after the Public Protector refused to investigate. ”The DA agrees with the Public Protector that the best oversight agency to investigate the allegations … is the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA),” said spokesperson Eddie Trent.
A draw to determine the order in which candidates’ names will appear on the ballot for a new Democratic Alliance (DA) leader was held at the party’s parliamentary offices in Cape Town on Friday. Top spot was won by DA federal chairperson Joe Seremane.
South Africa’s state-owned airline, South African Airways (SAA), sub-leases four B737-800 aircraft to its low-cost Mango airline on commercial terms, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said in a reply to a parliamentary question on Friday.
The multiparty committee investigating whether provincial Premier Ebrahim Rasool misled the legislature has appointed a constitutional labour expert to help it in its task. This is according to an official in the speaker’s office. The committee met for the first time on Friday morning and decided to appoint advocate Halton Cheadle as a consultant.
A gripe over pension legislation favouring women appears to have led to Thursday’s hostage drama at the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) Cape Town office. SAHRC chief executive Tseliso Thipanyane said the hostage-taker earlier lodged a complaint with the commission about the legislation.
Correctly applied, affirmative action is not about discriminating against white people, said public service commissioner JD Squire Mahlangu on Thursday. He was speaking at a Cape Town conference on human-resource management in the public sector. The conference, the first of its kind, has drawn about 250 delegates from all over the world.
Mvelaphanda Group chairperson Tokyo Sexwale has joined the prestigious Brookings Institution’s International Advisory Council. Founded 90 years ago in Washington DC, the Brookings Institution is known for independent research and influential advice to policymakers in the United States and around the world, his office said in a statement on Thursday.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) will on Friday finalise the order in which the names of candidates will appear on the ballot-papers that will be used during the election process at the party’s congress in Gauteng in May. This will be done by means of a draw.
Police have confirmed that a senior Human Rights Commission official was held hostage at the organisation’s offices in the Absa Bank building in Cape Town on Thursday. Captain Elliot Sinyangana said police were still investigating the cause of the incident. ”It was a Human Rights Commission official who was held hostage. It seems as if there was a dispute about pension,” he said.
Santos joined Mamelodi Sundowns, Silver Stars and Ajax Cape Town in the lucrative Absa Cup semifinals when they beat Benoni Premier United 1-0 at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. The goal was scored in the 68th minute by Eleazar Rogers. Santos can thank long-time stalwarts Musa Otiena, Edries Burton and Sebastian Bax, who chased everything and did not give the visitors space.
The office of the ombudsman for long-term insurance has begun a form of naming and shaming of companies slow to respond to complaints logged with it. Deputy ombudsman Jennifer Preiss told reporters in Cape Town on Wednesday that the office felt it was sending out too many reminders to insurance companies not responding to complaints.
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk has rejected a claim he is doing nothing concrete about climate change, saying plans by the government to deal with the threat of global warming are well in hand. Earlier on Wednesday, the Democratic Alliance claimed the minister was not doing his job in this regard.
Former LeisureNet joint chief executives Peter Gardener and Rod Mitchell should not be sacrificed on ”the altar of deterrence”, their advocate, Francois van Zyl, told the Cape High Court on Wednesday. He was responding to a comment by acting Judge Dirk Uijs, who last month found them guilty of fraud involving a total of R12-million.