Cape Town

The qualified audits received by more than a third of all government departments are not a sign of below-par performance, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts heard on Wednesday. ”We need to have targets in place to actually say whether we are succeeding or not,” newly appointed Auditor General Terence Nombembe told the committee.

A search involving boats and aircraft is under way for two missing crewmen from a fishing vessel that sank about 20 nautical miles off Cape Point, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Wednesday afternoon. NSRI media spokesperson Craig Lambinon said a ”40-foot sport fishing vessel” had been reported overdue at 11am.

The Independent Democrats (ID) has reached an agreement with the Democratic Alliance (DA) regarding the governance of the City of Cape Town, it confirmed on Wednesday. Under the agreement, the ID will become part of the DA-led multiparty coalition, ID council caucus chairperson Simon Grindrod told reporters.

Cape Town’s share of the considerable Fifa 2010 Soccer World Cup benefits depend entirely on the new Green Point Stadium, mayor Helen Zille warned on Wednesday. ”Residents, and specifically objectors to the stadium, must be quite clear about the choices we face,” she told a special council meeting.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad of not giving ”an honest answer” to a parliamentary question. The question was whether the Presidency had commissioned a R1-million corporate sponsorship for author Ronald Suresh Roberts to write a book about President Thabo Mbeki. In a written reply, in November 2004, Pahad said it had not.

The future of the Cape Town government will be decided in talks on Wednesday, the city’s executive mayor, Helen Zille, said. ”As this morning dawns, I am at the head of a minority government in Cape Town, which is never a comfortable place to be,” she told SAfm presenter John Perlman. ”Today will be decisive. There are lots of talks ongoing and we will see what emerges. At the end of the day we will know.”

The Democratic Alliance-led coalition in the Cape Town city council has approached the Independent Democrats (ID) to join them, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Wednesday. Cape Town ID caucus leader Simon Grindrod told the broadcaster that a proposal had been forwarded to the party’s leaders.

The Democratic Alliance-led Cape Town multiparty coalition government suffered a major blow on Tuesday when it lost a key partner on the council. The African Muslim Partyis no longer part of the of city’s government after one of its members, with the approval of his party leadership, was found to have engaged in ”secret talks” with the African National Congress, mayor Helen Zille said.

President Thabo Mbeki has a personal prerogative on whether to take a public HIV test, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in Pretoria on Tuesday. An individual’s state of health — including that of the president — was highly sensitive and a private matter, she told a select group of journalists.

The African National Congress was still united and meeting challenges, President Thabo Mbeki said. Speaking in an interview on South African Broadcasting Corporation television on Monday, Mbeki said: ”The ANC is doing very well. We are making good progress with the challenges before us.”

South Africa’s best-known tannie (aunt), Evita Bezuidenhout, has been overwhelmed with messages of support and calls for more information since announcing plans to make herself available as a compromise choice for president of South Africa in 2009.

South Africa’s decision to join China and Russia in voting against a UN Security Council resolution has been questioned by the DA.

There is ”no activity” in ruling party structures over the matter of leadership of the African National Congress at present, its deputy president, Jacob Zuma, told the South African Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday night. He said during an interview that the discussion about potential leaders has been manufactured by the media.

Cape Cobras coach Shukri Conrad was left speechless after a disastrous batting performance by the home batsmen in the Supersport Series. The Cobras were routed in just 24 overs in their second innings to leave the Warriors an easy victory target as the match ended in just two days.

Africa has no choice but to help bring peace to war-torn Somalia, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday, but did not pronounce on whether South Africa was to contribute troops to any such effort. ”For the sake both of Somalia and our continent as a whole, Africa has no choice but to come to the aid of this sister African country,” he said in his first weekly newsletter for 2007.

The 2010 Soccer World Cup will be a ”monumental flop” if South Africa does nothing to counter international perceptions that the country is a criminal haven, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi warned on Friday. ”South Africa, unfortunately, is perceived in many parts of the world as a criminal haven,” he said in his weekly message.

A strong south-easter did not deter Santos, who ran out 2-1 winners over Black Leopards in a Premier Soccer League match at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. Santos led 1-0 at half-time. Santos could have been two goals up in the opening minutes.

The Muslim Judicial Council has urged the South African government to intervene in what it called ”Ethiopia’s American-backed invasion of Somalia”, saying the attack was criminal and a violation of law. ”The lawless and shameful killing and bombing of a large number of ”Islamic extremists” … is criminal, and a violation of any legal process,” the organisation said in a statement on Wednesday.

Allegations of negligence on the part of guides conducting tours around the Cango Caves are to be investigated by management and the Oudtshoorn municipality, the Herald Online reported on Tuesday. This follows an incident at the tourist attraction last Sunday, in which three foreign tourists and one local tourist were left stranded underground in the dark.