There is plenty of hope for the future of the fishing industry under certain conditions, despite suggestions to the contrary, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Tuesday. He was speaking at the opening of the I&J Fin-Fish Hatchery at Gansbaai.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has appealed against the Department of Correctional Services’ refusal to allow the party access to Tony Yengeni’s parole or correctional supervision conditions. Under access-to-information laws, the department now has 10 working days to reply, either by granting the request or refusing it for a second time.
Trade union Solidarity on Tuesday called on the Communications Department to investigate the circumstances surrounding the sudden resignation of Telkom’s CEO, Papi Molotsane. The organisation believes that government interference in the management of Telkom could have prompted Molotsane to quit.
The Stormers effectively ended the Lions’ hopes of qualifying for the semifinals of the Super 14 when they trounced them 30-8 in a one-sided match at Newlands on Saturday. Kobus van der Merwe’s team carried a deserved 13-3 lead into the break after dominating the early exchanges and growing stronger throughout the half.
Playing in front of an empty stadium, the standard of soccer was poor in a Premier Soccer League match between Ajax Cape Town and Silver Stars at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday. Ajax dropped to fourth place on the log after they were beaten 2-1 by Silver Stars
One of the last survivors of the Great Escape team of World War II, Ian Tapson, has died in Port Alfred at the age of 84. An essentially modest man, he rarely divulged he was one of five South Africans who were part of the team that planned and executed the escape from a German prisoner-of-war camp.
One of the last survivors of the Great Escape team of World War II, Ian Tapson, has died in Port Alfred at the age of 84. An essentially modest man, he rarely divulged he was one of five South Africans who were part of the team that planned and executed the escape from a German prisoner-of-war camp.
South African media organisations have protested strongly against attempts to restrict media coverage of prominent international sport events this year. The International Rugby Board and the Australian Football League wants to restrict media coverage of Rugby World Cup and Australian Football League games this year.
Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan has paid tribute to renowned academic Professor Archibald Monwabisi Mafeje, who died in Pretoria on March 26. ”The demise of a pioneering intellectual powerhouse will always be a great loss to a nation,” Jordan said in a statement.
PetroSA says it is investigating an incident in which oily water from its Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid fuel plant spilled into a nearby river last month. In a statement issued on Thursday, the parastatal also confirmed a sulphuric-acid spillage in December last year, but said the effects had been largely confined to the plant.
Charges against alleged gang high-flyer Quinton Marinus — known on the Cape Flats as ”Mr Big” — were withdrawn on Wednesday when he and two co-accused appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court. No reasons were given for the withdrawal. The arrest of the three was seen as a major breakthrough in the fight against organised crime.
Slain Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was totally and utterly incorruptible, his friend and sports scientist Professor Tim Noakes told Woolmer’s memorial service in Cape Town on Wednesday. Addressing about 300 mourners in the Wynberg Boys’ High school hall, he said the match-fixing theory was completely and utterly without substance.
Stellenbosch deputy mayor Khulile Shubani has been questioned by police in a probe into a driver’s-licence scam, according to the South African Broadcasting Corporation. It said Shubani confirmed he was summoned to the Bellville South police station to explain how he obtained his licence.
The City of Cape Town says it will fight a bid to block the proposed Green Point stadium and is going ahead with construction. The city’s 2010 spokesperson, Pieter Cronje, confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that its had been served with papers by a civic group seeking to halt the R2,9-billion project.
Alleged threats to withdraw the passports of the South African rugby team heading for the World Cup in France in September and October have been dismissed by the Home Affairs Ministry. Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has no right simply to withdraw passports without valid reasons, her spokesperson, Cleo Mosana, said on Tuesday.
Many MPs are reportedly dismayed over a proposed 5,4% pay increase, but no political party contacted on Tuesday would say how much the MPs should get. The recommended inflation-related increase for MPs was contained in the long-awaited salary review, released last week by the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers.
Lawyers have filed papers with the Cape High Court in a fresh bid to block construction of the Green Point Stadium, the Cape Town Environmental Protection Association said on Tuesday. The association hopes to get an interdict to halt the 68Â 000-seat, R2,9-billion project, which has been dogged by controversy since its inception.
The Department of Environmental Affairs said it will appoint independent auditors to examine the circumstances around the sale by public auction of one of its marine patrol vessels for about R300Â 000. ”The audit will be completed this week,” department spokesperson Blessing Manale told the South African Press Association on Monday.
Western Cape speaker Shaun Byneveldt on Monday announced the names of members of a multiparty committee that will decide whether provincial Premier Ebrahim Rasool misled the legislature. The six-person committee will be chaired by his deputy, Yousuf Gabru. Byneveldt’s office said in a statement that the committee would begin work after the present two-week recess.
Koeberg ‘s unit two is still down after its turbine tripped while it was in the process of being re-started on Monday morning. Eskom said in a statement that unit two, which shut down last week following an accident with a crane, synchronised with the national grid at 5am on Monday. However, when its power level was being increased, its protection system caused a turbine trip.
The fraud trial of former national cricketer Garth le Roux resumed in the Wynberg Regional Court on Monday, with testimony from an auditor commissioned by the state to examine Le Roux’s books. Le Roux and his accountant, Deon van Heerden, have pleaded not guilty to 48 charges of fraud, and Le Roux to an additional charge of contravening exchange-control regulations.
The Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) decision to appoint President Thabo Mbeki as mediator in Zimbabwe was both lauded and ridiculed on Friday. ”The Inkatha Freedom Party [IFP] welcomes the SADC’s decision to call on President Thabo Mbeki …,” IFP spokesperson Ben Skosana said in a statement.
Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa remained silent on the future of the national lottery on Friday afternoon — with only a day left before Uthingo’s licence expires. Uthingo is the current lottery operator. Save to say the minister would announce his decision before midnight on Saturday, officials of his department still could not indicate when an announcement would be made.
Koeberg power station’s unit two will probably be shut down over the weekend after an incident when a crane came into contact with a line connecting the unit to the transmission system. Eskom initiated a controlled shutdown of the unit after the incident on Thursday and a team was still assessing the damage, the utility said on Friday.
President Thabo Mbeki should get a 57% pay hike, the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers has recommended. This would add R716 962 to the president’s package, bringing it to R1,89-million a year. Mbeki has in past years deliberately not taken the full amount of pay he is entitled to.
Rather than scrapping provinces, South Africa should adopt a ”fully fledged federal system”, acting Democratic Alliance (DA) leader James Selfe said on Friday. In a weekly newsletter published on the DA’s SA Todaywebsite, he said a resurgence of regional identity was one notable feature of a globalising world.
Better pay for public office bearers will help combat corruption, the head of the statutory body tasked with reviewing their remuneration said on Friday. Judge Dikgang Moseneke made the remark as the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers released what it said was a major review, after handing it to President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday.
Amateur radio operators offered on Thursday to step in if monitoring of shipping emergency calls is affected by a Telkom strike. The strike, by staff at Telkom’s maritime radio facility in Milnerton, Cape Town, is set to start at midnight. Hans van de Groenendaal, spokesperson for the South African Radio League, said the league had contacted rescue authorities to offer its services.
The City of Cape Town has approved a change to its fire hazard by-laws that will make it easier to prosecute people who toss cigarette butts out of their car windows. The amendment, passed at this week’s council meeting, means the prosecution no longer has the burden of proving who chucked the butt.
Telkom has put contingency plans in place ahead of a planned strike in its maritime radio division, the parastatal said on Wednesday. It was reacting to a claim by trade union Solidarity that the strike, due to start at midnight on Wednesday, could cripple the monitoring of shipping emergency messages.
Elements in the African National Congress (ANC) are planning another bid to make Cape Town ungovernable, city mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday. Tabling the city’s R20-billion budget, Zille said Cape Town might declare an intergovernmental dispute over the R500-million it spends every year on unfunded mandates — functions the province should be performing.
Lawyers acting for Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown say they are going to keep a close eye on curators as they unravel the affairs of the troubled asset-management firm. ”We intend to watch the curators closely because our client’s sole focus is to ensure that investors are paid in full,” Brown’s Johannesburg-based attorney, John Hunter, said on Wednesday.