Cape Town

The South African government has promised to intensity the fight against diabetes, one of the world’s foremost experts on the disease, Professor George Alberti, said on Thursday. Alberti, a past president of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), is also chairperson of the organising committee of the IDF’s World Diabetes Congress, being held in Cape Town.

South Africa’s Cabinet appears to have poured cold water on a basic income grant — called for recently by Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya — turning instead to ways to find ”exit strategies” to reduce reliance on social grants. Spokesperson Themba Maseko said the Cabinet had noted a proposal for linking social grants to poverty alleviation initiatives and other economic activities.

The South African Cabinet has dismissed opposition parties’ end-of-year report cards on its performance, saying it will not be judged by the wish lists of opposition parties. ”The ‘silly’ season is upon us and with it comes the publication of the so-called ‘score cards’,” government communications chief Themba Maseko told journalists.

Legislation to ensure greater cooperation between the Scorpions and the police will be tabled early next year, government communications head Themba Maseko said on Thursday. The Cabinet had reviewed progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Khampepe Commission regarding the location of the Scorpions, he told a media briefing.

Draft legislation aimed at regulating the sale of coastal land has been approved by the Cabinet, and is now set to be published for public comment. Briefing the media on Thursday, government communications head Themba Maseko said the Cabinet was worried about the proliferation of housing estates along South Africa’s coast that limited public access to the sea.

A South African couple who emigrated to New Zealand 10 years ago were robbed within 18 hours of arriving back for their first holiday here since leaving, News24 reported on Thursday. Ruti and Naomi van der Merwe were asleep at the Cape Town home of friends when thieves made off with their travel documents, a new laptop, a camera and more than R1 000 in cash.

Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel and Minister of Science and Technology Mosibudi Mangena are the government’s top 2006 performers, while Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang continues to languish at the bottom of the class, according to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) end-of-year Cabinet report card.

Amid claims of backstabbing from the African National Congress (ANC), a Democratic Alliance candidate was on Tuesday elected as the new executive mayor of Knysna. Doris Brown takes the place of the ANC’s Joy Cole, who unexpectedly quit last week.

No further information can be released on the Brett Kebble murder case ”at this point”, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula says. He was replying on Tuesday to a written question from Democratic Alliance MP James Masango, who asked why the forensic division did not see Kebble’s vehicle before it was released.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has scored an average of 30% in the past year — down from 38% last year — in the eyes of the average Freedom Front Plus (FF+) supporter, says its leader, Dr Pieter Mulder. On Tuesday, he released the results of his party’s annual ”report card” of the ANC’s performance.

President Thabo Mbeki will join United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and other leaders at the inauguration in Kinshasa on Wednesday of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila. In his weekly newsletter on the ANC website last Friday, Mbeki paid tribute to the various formations and leaders who guided the DRC through its transition.

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has ruled in favour of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) on the party’s complaint against the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) description of Pretoria as Tshwane. The BCCSA on Monday said the FF+ had complained about inaccurate news reporting by the public broadcaster.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) spends 14 times more on peacekeeping operations outside South Africa than it does on supporting the South African Police Service’s fight against crime within the country, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. The SANDF spent R793,3-million on peace support operations during 2005/06, it said.

The world faces a staggering diabetes epidemic as poor diet and inactive lifestyles result in people being afflicted at an ever younger age, a major conference on the disease heard on Monday. ”The biggest challenge of today is to communicate the magnitude of the epidemic throughout the world,” Pierre Lefebvre, outgoing president of the International Diabetes Federation, said.

Opposition parties have renewed their calls for police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s dismissal after further allegations were made against him on Friday. ”If the latest allegations against … Selebi prove to be true, then [Safety and Security] Minister Charles Nqakula has no option but to fire him,” the Democratic Alliance’s Dianne Kohler-Barnard said.

The successful presidential and legislative elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) show Africa is firmly on its way towards its rebirth, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. ”In due course the historic importance of these developments in the DRC will become clear to all of us as Africans,” Mbeki said in his weekly newsletter on the ANC website.

Looking back on 2006 it is instructive to note how far South Africa has come since the dark days of August when the country’s worldwide standing on its HIV/Aids approach reached an all-time low, official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon said on Friday.

Only the Democratic Alliance (DA) stands in the way of a one-party state in South Africa, the DA said on Thursday. ”Were the DA removed from the equation, there would be almost no opposition in Parliament, oversight of the executive would be fundamentally compromised and transparency and accountability severely undermined,” DA chief whip Douglas Gibson said.

South Africa has become the first country on the African continent to authorise marriage for gay and lesbian couples after the controversial Civil Union Bill received the final seal of approval. The legislation was signed on to the statute book by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in her capacity as acting head of state while Thabo Mbeki attends a conference in Nigeria.

Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu said on Thursday he is ”honoured” that the United Nations have asked him to lead a fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, where 19 civilians were killed by an Israeli artillery barrage earlier this month. The mission is meant to address the needs of survivors and make recommendations.