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/ 22 January 2008
Researchers from the University of Cape Town have developed two test HIV vaccines — the first wholly South African-developed products to enter the human clinical-trials phase, the Herald Online reported on Tuesday. The vaccines are just months away from being assessed in human clinical trials, the report said.
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/ 26 December 2007
Another illegal dumping ground of tens of thousands of defective condoms has been found in KwaZulu-Natal, the provincial department of agriculture and environmental affairs said on Wednesday. Locals found the condoms strewn on the road near a primary school on the main road to Indwedwe on Christmas Day.
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/ 23 December 2007
Dancing to traditional drums behind an elephant draped in purple, Sri Lankan cinnamon growers are offering part of their crop to pagan gods in thanks at a steady recovery from the 2004 tsunami. ”The tsunami took everything away. My wife, my daughter … goats, cows and my cinnamon,” said wizened Anthony Silva.
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/ 30 November 2007
The R22-million allocated for special wildlife projects was not unaccounted for; it was just not recorded on the annual financial statement, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife board chairperson Patrick Sokhela said on Friday. He was speaking at a media briefing in Pietermaritzburg.
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/ 19 November 2007
European Union agriculture experts have recommended a ban on South African ostrich meat, but the Department of Agriculture says it has no official knowledge of this threat to the R1,2-billion export industry. ”As I speak now, I don’t have any official correspondence [from the EU],” the department’s chief communications director said on Monday.
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/ 11 November 2007
Top Land Bank officials have siphoned off more than R2-billion — meant for farmers — to fund their close friends’ and associates’ ventures, the <i>Sunday Times</i> reported. The money was reportedly used for luxury golf estates, a sugar mill, equestrian estates and residential developments. The fraud was revealed in a forensic audit by Deloitte, which was handed to the Cabinet this week.
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/ 7 November 2007
A forensic audit report into the financial management of the Land Bank is to be referred to the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions for ”further investigation”, the Land Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday. This was among recommendations made by the Cabinet after consideration of the report, it said in a statement.
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/ 6 November 2007
Ithafa Secondary School in Ermelo has won R60 000 in an annual Mpumalanga schools’ competition on global warming and climate change, the province’s department of agriculture and land administration said on Tuesday. Learners were competing in areas such as poster design, drama production and a model design.
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/ 6 November 2007
Ithafa Secondary School in Ermelo won R60 000 in the annual global warming and climate change schools’ competition in Mpumalanga. The school’s winning model was an energy efficient kitchen that used solar energy to heat water, said the province’s department of agriculture and land administration.
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/ 31 October 2007
The European Union is threatening to ban the import of South African animal products because the government has failed to meet certain requirements agreed on five years ago, the Democratic Alliance said on Wednesday. The ban would cover South African beef, mutton, pork, chicken, ostrich and game products, among others.
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/ 26 October 2007
South Africa’s lack of support for farmers is worrying and will have negative consequences for the agriculture sector if not addressed, a farm expert said on Thursday. Farmers have raised concerns over a lack of support from the government, which has seen farmers’ fortunes take a dive after a cut in state subsidies.
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/ 23 October 2007
The Green Scorpions have shut down ArcelorMittal operations at its Vaal waste site over its dumping of hazardous waste and air and water pollution, it was announced on Tuesday. The move followed numerous ”futile attempts” at getting the steel company to clean up its act, Gauteng’s department of agriculture, conservation and environment said in a statement.
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/ 14 October 2007
Following a tip-off from a member of the public, about 100 000 unused defective condoms were found scattered at an illegal dumping site in the Ntande area near Etafuleni in Inanda, north of Durban, on Saturday, the provincial department of agriculture and environmental affairs said.
A swoop by environmental inspectors on the giant Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation’s Vanchem plant outside Witbank in Mpumalanga has uncovered shocking levels of air, ground and water pollution. Environmental management inspectors, better known as the Green Scorpions, carried out a compliance inspection at the plant at the end of August this year.
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/ 10 September 2007
The present vice-chairperson of the University of Pretoria’s student representative council (SRC), Cobus van der Linde, will not be a candidate in Tuesday’s elections for next year’s SRC. Pretoria High Court judge Lettie Malopa on Monday dismissed Van der Linde’s urgent application to remain on the candidates list.