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/ 23 October 2007
Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Tuesday failed to appear before the portfolio committee on home affairs in Parliament to answer allegations of misconduct by her staff. Committee chairperson Patrick Chauke told the committee he received a fax on Monday informing him that she would not be available.
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/ 23 October 2007
The news that the case file for the PetroSA claim against Imvume Management cannot be found is further evidence of a justice system in a state of advanced decay, according to Hendrik Schmidt, who speaks for the Democratic Alliance (DA) on minerals and energy affairs.
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/ 22 October 2007
The funeral of slain reggae singer Lucky Dube will be a private affair, family spokesperson Arnold Mabunda said on Monday. ”The family requested that the funeral be a private matter due to Lucky’s beliefs and the church’s request. ”They have requested that it not be turned into a circus, so media will not be allowed,” he said.
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/ 22 October 2007
The government needed to take a series of firm and decisive steps to attract the direct foreign investment needed for job-creating economic growth, the Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson on trade and industry, Dr Pierre Rabie, said on Monday. In a statement, Rabie listed ten ”action steps” needed to make the South African economy more competitive.
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/ 22 October 2007
A call for further cuts in corporate taxes was among a number of proposals made by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday — aimed, it said, at growing the economy and encouraging foreign direct investment. Pierre Rabie, who speaks for the party on trade and industry, quoted the World Bank survey <i>Doing Business 2008</i>.
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/ 22 October 2007
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They may be the world champions, but the Springboks have few illusions that their new status will stave off a new push by the government to overhaul the team’s racial composition. Meanwhile, Springbok wing Bryan Habana was on Sunday named the International Rugby Board player of the year.
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/ 19 October 2007
A disciplinary committee of the Cape Town city council has recommended that controversial councillor Badhi Chaaban be removed from office. The disciplinary hearings — which Chaaban claimed were a kangaroo court — followed claims that he sought to bribe councillors to cross the floor to his National People’s Party.
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/ 19 October 2007
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South Africa’s politicians are not immune to Rugby World Cup fever, with a fair number already in or on their way to Paris for Saturday’s final against England at the Stade de France. Leading the way, President Thabo Mbeki left for France on Friday morning, sporting his Springbok jersey and cap.
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/ 19 October 2007
The news of the death of South African reggae star Lucky Dube in a botched hijacking attempt in Johannesburg has drawn strong reaction from around the world. As he was leaving for the World Cup in France, President Thabo Mbeki made an appeal to South Africans to confront the ”scourge” of crime together.
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/ 19 October 2007
Instead of trying to impose racial quotas on rugby, the government should be looking at ways of nurturing young black talent for the sport, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Friday. In her party’s weekly newsletter, SA Today, she said the Springboks’ prowess in the international competition confirmed what should be self-evident.
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/ 18 October 2007
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) fears party politics was behind the suspension of National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, it said on Thursday. The way in which he was suspended raised ”serious suspicion” that the government may have intervened for ”narrow political reasons”, said spokesperson Patrick Craven.
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/ 18 October 2007
The National Assembly on Thursday adopted a motion of full confidence in Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, thereby rejecting the original motion by the Democratic Alliance, which called for a special committee to probe her fitness to hold public office.
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/ 18 October 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will not be able to pursue its threat of legal action to force Frene Ginwala’s recusal from heading the inquiry into suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, it emerged on Thursday. The DA has previously stated it would be prepared to fight her appointment by President Thabo Mbeki.
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/ 17 October 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng on Wednesday criticised Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang for threatening to take action against nurses who placed babies in a cardboard box at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, the party said. DA spokesperson Jack Bloom accused Tshabalala-Msimang of a display of ”arrogance and an evasion of blame”.
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/ 16 October 2007
African National Congress chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota in the National Assembly on Tuesday defended the decision to suspend National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, as well as the police probe into the alleged theft of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s health records.
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/ 16 October 2007
Gauteng provincial safety and security minister Firoz Cachalia should probe the harassment of two Johannesburg photographers, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. This comes after two photographers from the Star had their equipment confiscated by police in Johannesburg’s Diagonal street.
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/ 16 October 2007
The Department of Education is looking to regulate the responsibilities of senior teaching staff during strikes, says Education Minister Naledi Pandor. ”Currently, I have no plans to declare teaching an essential service,” she said in written reply to a question in the National Council of Provinces by Motlatjo Thetjeng of the Democratic Alliance.
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/ 15 October 2007
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has expressed outrage at alleged political and police action regarding Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker, likening it to apartheid-era conduct.
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/ 15 October 2007
A lawyer for Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker has said they would hand themselves over to police in Cape Town this week, instead of waiting to be arrested for the alleged possession of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records.
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/ 14 October 2007
Opposition parties and the South African National Editors’ Forum have expressed concern at reports of police plans to arrest Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and journalist Jocelyn Maker over the theft of Health Minister Manto-Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records.
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/ 12 October 2007
Pikoli inquiry chairperson Frene Ginwala has dismissed a demand by Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille to recuse herself. Replying to a letter by Zille in this regard, Ginwala said letter had been drawn to her attention on Thursday night, ”though I had learnt of its contents via the media”.
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/ 12 October 2007
Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s refusal to resign is a typical example of persons holding high office refusing to face the consequences of their actions, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille. ”By refusing to step down, contrary to the dictates of good governance, such senior office-bearers undermine our young democracy,” she said on Friday.
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/ 11 October 2007
Expenditure figures for the Department of Housing released by the Democratic Alliance (DA) were ”fabricated and irresponsible”, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Thursday. Sisulu said the DA claimed the department had increased its accommodation and travel expenditure by 153%.
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/ 11 October 2007
The Democratic Alliance has asked former speaker Frene Ginwala to recuse herself from chairing the Pikoli inquiry, and threatened legal action if she does not. Ginwala was appointed by President Thabo Mbeki to probe whether suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Vusi Pikoli is fit to hold office.
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/ 11 October 2007
Positive public response to conserving electricity resulted in no load shedding by Eskom since early on Thursday morning. Eskom officials said if the public continued to intensify their efforts in saving electricity, there may be no load shedding throughout the day.
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/ 10 October 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) got it wrong when criticising Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya for travelling abroad, his department said on Wednesday. The DA overcalculated the number of overseas visits he made, the number of days he was out of the country and the cost, it said in a statement in his defence.
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/ 10 October 2007
Eskom has been caught napping again and has caused massive disruption to the public and the economy, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday. ”Eskom has informed the public too late about load shedding and has caused massive disruptions,” said DA spokesperson on Minerals and Energy Affairs, Hendrik Schmidt.
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/ 10 October 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday expressed shock concerning the Public Protector’s decision to suspend its investigation into allegations of financial misconduct against Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba. ”The DA feels it is far more important that the Public Protector continues his investigation,” DA spokesperson for home affairs Mark Lowe said.
Nine senior advocates from the Cape Bar, some of them former acting judges, have publicly called on Cape Judge President John Hlophe to quit. ”We believe that there cannot be public confidence in the continuation in office now of Judge Hlophe,” they said in a letter published on Tuesday.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday accused Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane of concealing information and deliberately trying to mislead opposition parties. On September 25, Chikane had invited opposition party leaders to a briefing on the controversial decision to suspend the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Vusi Pikoli.
South African President Thabo Mbeki came under mounting pressure over the weekend to explain his suspension of the country’s top prosecutor, a controversial move weeks before a crunch vote on his leadership of the African National Congress (ANC).
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is disgusted by the out-of-hand rejection of MP James Selfe’s draft Bill by the chairperson of the select committee on private member’s legislative proposals and special petitions, Vytjie Mentor. The Bill seeks to expunge from the record crimes committed during the apartheid era that would not be crimes today.