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/ 29 November 2007

State allocates extra R87m for the poor

An extra R87-million has been allocated to help people living in extreme poverty, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Thursday. The money was in addition to funds already given to provinces for relief, he told reporters after meeting provincial ministers of social development in Durban.

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/ 29 November 2007

Arrows, Royal Zulu play to 1-1 draw

The KwaZulu-Natal derby between Thanda Royal Zulu and Lamontville Golden Arrows petered out to a 1-1 draw in their Premier Soccer League clash at Absa Stadium in Durban on Wednesday night. Arrows led 1-0 at half-time. Arrows took the lead when Siyabonga Sangweni blasted a low shot that beat Royal keeper Aime Kitenge in the 26th minute.

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/ 29 November 2007

Two in court for Austrian’s murder

Two men are expected to appear in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in connection with the murder of a former Austrian footballer on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast. Police spokesperson Superintendent Zandra Hechter said three men had been taken into custody — one of whom was arrested on Saturday for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm.

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/ 26 November 2007

SA passes test to get Cup running

South Africa passed the first big test of its ability to stage the continent’s first World Cup finals with a successful preliminary draw that gets the campaign to reach the 2010 finals off in earnest. South Africa will be thankful they do not have to qualify as hosts. The African part of the draw doubles as a qualifying competition for the 2010 African Nations Cup.

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/ 25 November 2007

SA win as New Zealand drop catches

South Africa celebrated Graeme Smith’s 100th one-day international as captain by squeaking home by two wickets in the first MTN one-day international at Kingsmead on Sunday, with Andre Nel snatching the winning run off the last ball of the match. Man-of-the-match AB de Villiers made 91 for South Africa.

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/ 25 November 2007

Ajax maintain top spot

Ajax Cape Town registered a 1-0 win against Amazulu in an entertaining Premier Soccer League match at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Sunday. The score was 0-0 at half-time. In other matches, Free State Stars moved to position two on the log against Platinum Stars and Lamontville Golden Arrows beat Black Leopards 1-0.

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/ 25 November 2007

Durban’s Absa Stadium the new home of tennis?

Durban’s Absa Stadium — the home of the Super 14 Shark franchise — could become a tennis stadium or part of a ”high-performance centre”, it was announced on Saturday. The head of strategic projects at the eThekwini municipality said the plan is for the 2010 Moses Mabhida Stadium to host rugby, soccer and athletics.

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/ 24 November 2007

Pirates, Chiefs finish on level score

The sultry Durban weather did not deter Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs from entertaining a capacity crowd with four fantastic goals in a pulsating Premier Soccer League match at the Absa Stadium on Saturday. Chiefs striker Mabhudi Khanyeza scored one of the quickest goals, in 17 seconds, to be seen in South Africa.

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/ 24 November 2007

Good news for SA soccer fans

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is confident the World Cup 2010 stadiums will be ready on time, and the workers building them will get a bonus if they don’t go on strike again. Also, local fans discovered on Saturday they will get cheap and even free tickets to the games.

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/ 24 November 2007

Fifa chief savours Africa’s first World Cup

With South Africa set to stage the qualifying draw for the 2010 World Cup, Fifa president Sepp Blatter is claiming a personal victory. ”I am very happy to be here in Durban, South Africa — [in] my continent,” he said. The Fifa leader claims credit for making sure Africa finally gets to host soccer’s biggest championship.

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/ 23 November 2007

Soccer was more than just a game on Robben Island

While sporting attention is turned to the draw for the preliminary round of the 2010 Soccer World Cup this weekend, a different view of soccer in South Africa is being premiered in front of a celebrity audience on Friday. Director Junaid Ahmed’s film More Than Just a Game tells the story of how political prisoners on Robben Island used soccer as one of the means of survival.

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/ 23 November 2007

Record TV audience expected for World Cup draw

A record television audience is expected to watch the 2010 Soccer World Cup preliminary draw when it takes place in Durban on Sunday afternoon. World Soccer governing body Fifa spokesperson Nicolas Maingot said on Friday that while television viewer figures would be hard to estimate, there would be 34 television channels broadcasting the draw live.

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/ 23 November 2007

SA looks to silence sceptics at World Cup draw

South Africa’s ability to stage the world’s most widely watched sporting event will undergo intensive scrutiny on Sunday when it hosts the qualifying draw for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Thousands of football administrators and journalists will be present in Durban, with hundreds of millions more watching on television, for an extravaganza designed to silence the sceptics.

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/ 23 November 2007

Prison escapee dies in shoot-out

A Qalakabusha prison escapee died on Friday morning after a shoot-out with law enforcement officials, KwaZulu-Natal police said. Police spokesperson Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said the incident took place at 2am in Mtubatuba. Xolani Ngobese and nine other convicted criminals escaped from the prison in northern KwaZulu-Natal on August 4 this year.

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/ 22 November 2007

Blatter touches down for World Cup draw

Fifa president Sepp Blatter arrived in Durban on Thursday amid tight security. His arrival ahead of the 2010 preliminary draw came on the same day that 2010 South African local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan unveiled the 2009 Confederations Cup emblem at Durban’s International Convention Centre.

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/ 22 November 2007

Fifa ‘concerned’ over stadium preparations

World soccer governing body Fifa was concerned about 2010 stadium preparations, its general secretary, Jerome Valcke, said on Thursday at a media briefing in Durban. Stadium workers in Nelspruit, Durban and Cape Town recently staged strikes for better wages and this raised concerns that South Africa would not be ready to host the World Cup.

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/ 22 November 2007

Engen: Refinery fire won’t affect fuel supply

Officials at Durban’s Engen refinery on Thursday reiterated that a fire that resulted in millions of rands’ worth of petrol going up in smoke would not have an impact on fuel supply. ”We don’t believe that this will have any significant impact in the short- or long-term,” Herb Payne, speaking on behalf of Engen general manager Willem Oosthuizen, said on Thursday.

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/ 19 November 2007

Durban 2010 strike comes to an end

The two-week long strike by construction workers building Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium came to an end on Monday after workers accepted an offer made by the Group Five-WBHO consortium. National Union of Mineworkers regional coordinator Bonginkosi Mncwabe said workers would return to work on Tuesday morning.

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/ 17 November 2007

Stadium strike: Draft agreement on the table

Negotiations between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Group Five-led consortium building Durban’s Moses Mabhida Soccer World Cup soccer stadium have yielded a draft agreement. NUM’s KwaZulu-Natal regional coordinator Bonginkosi Mncwabe said the union’s leadership would present the agreement to workers on Saturday.

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/ 16 November 2007

IFP’s KZN leader apologises to premier

KwaZulu-Natal’s Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader on Friday apologised to the province’s Premier, S’bu Ndebele, over comments he made about the permier’s alleged conflicting business interests. Shortly after the original statement was issued, Ndebele had threatened to sue Mtshali for defamation.