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/ 6 December 2004
South Africa’s investigation into the arms deal and its putting into place of mechanisms to deal with unbecoming behaviour by both politicians and government officials are illustrations of the government "setting a good example", says Deputy President Jacob Zuma.
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/ 2 December 2004
South Africa’s Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has called for greater "legitimate" government involvement in the governance of the internet. The minister told the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) meeting in Cape Town that: "We believe that legitimate governments as the true representatives of their country, should have an increased voice in the governance of the internet."
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Business&ao=126444">Convergence Bill set for January</a>
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/ 2 December 2004
South Africa’s long-awaited Convergence Bill will be put to Cabinet in January once issues affecting internet broadcasting have been sorted out in the drafting process of the legislation, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe Casaburri said on Thursday. She said her director general was still "not very happy" that the issue of internet broadcasting had not been fully addressed.
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/ 22 November 2004
Delegates to South Africa’s official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) federal congress in Durban over the weekend were greeted by a flood of posters on just about every lamp post in the area surrounding the International Convention Centre, advertising the candidacy of an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) candidate and a DA candidate for the local municipal ward.
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/ 9 November 2004
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel took aim on Tuesday at excessive fees charged by insurance companies administering retirement funds. Manuel said while the taxation of pension funds remains "an ongoing concern", this is also true for fees charged.
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/ 9 November 2004
Telkom, South Africa’s partially privatised fixed-line telephone company, will announce its proposed tariffs for next year on Monday, says Telkom CEO Sizwe Nxasana. "With inflation being where it is, we can expect Telkom’s tariffs to be even much lower [sic]," Nxasana told the National Assembly communications portfolio committee on Tuesday.
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/ 2 November 2004
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) was to meet later on Tuesday to pass a resolution that backtracks on one passed by the chamber last week — "which regrets the refusal of the president to address the serious crime of rape in our country and to acknowledge the suffering of women and children who are attacked on a daily basis".
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/ 2 November 2004
Privatisation came under fire on Tuesday afternoon in a debate in the National Assembly on the planned retrenchment of 7 600 workers at South Africa’s semi-privatised fixed-line telephone monopoly Telkom. Leading the debate was Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder.
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/ 1 November 2004
Solidarity, the mainly white trade union, and the left-leaning Congress of South African Trade Unions were to work jointly on Monday to protest against retrenchments by fixed-line monopoly Telkom — by posting 25 statements on the door of the National Assembly. The Assembly is to debate the Telkom retrenchments on Tuesday.
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/ 29 October 2004
South Africa will give consideration to reviewing its policy on the ownership by foreign interests of South Africa’s banks, says Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel. In Parliament, he said the current policy "is informed by the view that four major banks is the minimum number necessary to ensure a certain level of competition in the market".
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/ 29 October 2004
White and coloured former Nationalists in the Democratic Alliance have struck a deal ahead of the party’s key Western Cape congress, to defuse leadership tensions in the party and prevent a public display of factionalism. At issue is the Western Cape leadership of the DA, which was being contested by Kent Morkel, son of former National Party premier and former Labour Party veteran Gerald Morkel, and Theuns Botha, the current leader.
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/ 22 October 2004
Foreign business chambers falling under the Bilateral Chamber Consultative Committee — an umbrella body representing 21 private-sector business groupings — have a high level of confidence in the South African economy. This was the message delivered on Friday to the National Assembly trade and industry committee.
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/ 22 October 2004
The South African Presidency is not yet ready to make an announcement on the salary adjustments for judges and MPs, said President Thabo Mbeki’s spokesperson Bheki Khumalo on Friday. This comes amid speculation that the president will not accept the advice of a 7% increase recommended by the Moseneke Commission.
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/ 21 October 2004
President Thabo Mbeki deflected a question about the relationship of rape and the spread of HIV/Aids by accusing a Democratic Alliance MP of not understanding the scourge of racial oppression. In a lively debate in the National Assembly on Thursday, Mbeki repeatedly accused DA health spokesperson Ryan Coetzee of not listening.
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/ 18 October 2004
The South African government has taken "strong exception" to reported comments attributed to the interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, accusing President Thabo Mbeki of failing to respect international law by allegedly "allowing a person in his territory to organise violence in another country".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=123896">’Mbeki not respecting international law'</a>
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/ 13 October 2004
South African transport utility Transnet is not a job creation agent and the best contribution it can make is not to grow its number of jobs, says Transnet CEO Mario Ramos. She was addressing the National Assembly public enterprises portfolio committee on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe’s official opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has hinted strongly that it will participate in the forthcoming March national election — even though conditions at present appeared to indicate otherwise. The party argues that South Africa is losing up to half of its economic growth due to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Tony Leon is assured of continued leadership of the official opposition Democratic Alliance because there is no one else in the party ready — or willing — to fill his shoes. This is the overwhelming consensus among public representatives after former Western Cape education minister Helen Zille had been approached by public representatives to run against him. But she’s made it clear she would not stand.
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/ 15 September 2004
Black economic empowerment company Akani Leisure Investments has taken over the Halcyon Hotels Group — which includes in its portfolio the prestigious Bay hotel and Blues restaurant in Camps Bay. The acquisition represents the first major empowerment transaction at the top end of the Western Cape hospitality industry.
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/ 14 September 2004
The government, led by Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, is set to carry on negotiations with public-sector unions on Tuesday evening, following a failure to reach agreement over Thursday’s threatened public-sector strike. The minister said the government is doing everything in its power to avert a strike.
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/ 9 September 2004
A free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States will have a range of benefits for ordinary South Africans and would also make the country "more attractive" as a foreign investment destination, said John Taylor, the US Under Secretary for International Affairs in the Treasury.
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/ 8 September 2004
South Africa’s state-owned arms manufacturing and marketing company, Denel, "is practically at the doorstep of bankruptcy", CEO Victor Moche told MPs on Wednesday. However, he said there is light at the end of the tunnel if the entity focuses on research and development and balancing its budget.
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/ 2 September 2004
The Department of Housing is to collapse the current housing subsidy system and provide a full housing subsidy of R25 800 for the "hardcore poor", which includes the unemployed and the elderly. The new plan aims to "obliterate" informal household structures within 10 years.
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/ 1 September 2004
National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, speaking to the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday, said the amount owed to Parliament through the irregular use of parliamentary travel vouchers has risen to R17-million. Previous figures provided by Parliament amounted to between R13-million and R14-million.
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/ 1 September 2004
The African National Congress has snatched an overall majority in the 200-member Cape Town Unicity Council following the defections of 23 of the 32 New National Party councillors. Among the councillors to cross was Cape Town deputy mayor Gawa Samuels.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=121445">Freedom Front Plus scoops 10</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=121453">De Lille welcomes floor-crossers</a>
The minister of communications has announced that the licence to provide public switched telecommunications services — the second national operator (SNO) — will be granted on September 17. WIP Investments Nine and Two Telecom Consortium will each hold 24,5% of a new company, SepCo, which will hold 51% of the equity share capital of the SNO.
South African Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has been urged not to wait until the medium-term budget policy statement in October to announce a relaxation of exchange controls. Democratic Alliance finance spokesperson Raenette Taljaard said important initiatives "should be announced when the market is ready for them".
The minister of health has played down the target of rolling out anti-retroviral treatment for HIV victims by the end of the year — saying most South Africans prefer to consult traditional healers first before going to a Western health facility. The government had set itself a target of treating 53 000 Aids patients this year.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which has been meeting with African National Congress representatives in Cape Town, says it virulently opposes relaxation of exchange controls — and "speed bumps" should be put in place to protect the economy.
South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says the burden of the funding for the African Union — including the Pan African Parliament — will fall on the biggest economy in Africa, South Africa. Asked about funding problems for the Pan African Parliament, she said there is "always a shortage of funds".
Parliament started to suspect that something was wrong with the travel-voucher system at the end of 2002 when its finance staff realised that one MP, whose home was in Vrede, was "supposedly" repeatedly travelling to Umtata, said Speaker Baleka Mbete on Tuesday during the debate on the so-called Travelgate scam.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=121014">Scam probe ‘taking too long'</a>
The travel scandal which has been dubbed "travelgate" by some politicians is turning out to be a complex web of intrigue with differing ticket names, different amounts claimed and a strong suggestion of cross-party bartering taking place. There are a number of instances where ANC MPs — or their agents — appear to have used the names of other ANC MPs in the scam.