The Comrades Marathon will go ahead peacefully on Sunday. This is the commitment from Athletics South Africa (ASA) president Leonard Chuene and president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Willie Madisha. The two leaders have had discussions around the matter, and they have both agreed that there will be no disruption to the ”ultimate race”.
As South Africa prepares to open its Vodacom Tri-Nations campaign against Australia this weekend, former Springboks Andre Joubert and Wayne Fyvie have declared the team capable of making it all the way to the World Cup final. ”I think we definitely have the players now,” said 1995 Rugby World Cup winner Joubert.
Niren Tolsi looks some of the documentary films to be featured at this year’s Durban International Film Festival.
A KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) domestic worker who called an emergency number in a bid to save her pregnant daughter’s life was told ”there were no workers and there was nobody at the hospitals”. The 12-hour struggle to get an ambulance has left Busi Dlamini’s daughter on a ventilator battling for life with her dead, unborn baby inside her.
Researchers, scientists and healthcare workers resolved on Friday to open a new front in South Africa’s war on Aids, encouraged by the government’s fresh approach to the crisis and improved weapons to protect those most at risk of infection.
African, especially Southern African, nations must link tuberculosis (TB) testing and treatment with HIV-prevention programmes if they are to win the Aids battle, a top World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Thursday. Dr Kevin de Cock, head of WHO’s HIV/Aids department said that traditional treatments for Africa’s rampant TB problem could worsen the Aids pandemic.
Aids experts have called for a mass circumcision programme in South Africa, condemning a ”deafening silence” from policy makers since studies revealed it sharply cut infection rates. Delegates at South Africa’s national Aids conference this week called for the roll-out of such a programme.
A South African doctor’s recent call for compulsory HIV testing triggered a lively debate on Wednesday at the South African Aids Conference in Durban. ”It’s dangerous to go this route,” said Heidi van Rooyen of the Human Sciences Research Council.
South Africa will not be able to halt the spread of HIV/Aids unless it increases wages for government healthcare workers, the head of a leading HIV/Aids advocacy group said on Wednesday. An estimated 12% of South Africa’s 47-million people are infected with HIV, and about 1Â 000 die each day from Aids and related diseases.
South Africa’s new Aids plan was on Tuesday lauded by the chief of the United Nations’s Aids/HIV agency, who said the country was now well placed to lead Africa into a new phase in responding to the pandemic. ”You have a better chance than any other country in the region to deliver on Aids. If you can’t, who can?,” said Peter Piot.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has withdrawn from the third South African Aids Conference after apparently being sidelined by the conference’s organisers, it emerged on Tuesday. Speaking at the official opening, the South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said: ”The minister has withdrawn because of the place you have allocated to her.”
A 10-year-old Durban boy accidentally shot dead his 13-year-old friend after finding a gun in the garage where they were playing, police said on Tuesday. Superintendent Danelia Veldhuizen said that Khanyisani Mngadi and his 10-year-old friend were playing in the garage at another friend’s house on Monday when the younger boy found the gun behind a sofa.
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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is allowed to retrieve documents from Mauritius that relate to Jacob Zuma’s alleged role in the multibillion-rand arms deal. Judge Jan Hugo of the Durban High Court gave his ruling on Tuesday granting the NPA permission to continue to proceed with a letter of authorisation.
Sibusiso Zuma scored twice as South Africa overwhelmed Chad with a record 4-0 victory in their African Nations Cup qualifier in Durban on Saturday. German-based Zuma got both his goals in the first half as the 2010 World Cup hosts stretched their lead in Group 11 to three points.
The intensive care unit at Durban’s King Edward VIII Hospital, South Africa’s second largest, was shut down on Saturday. This was after striking workers reportedly threatened nurses at the unit with knobkerries and whips. Doctors were awaiting ambulances to transfer critically ill patients to other hospitals.
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The state will know on Tuesday whether it has succeeded in obtaining an execution order to allow it to retrieve documents from Mauritius about meetings believed to relate to arms-deal corruption. Judge Jan Hugo heard argument this week from the state, African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturing giant Thint.
Organisers of the annual Comrades Marathon have expressed concern over the possible effect the strike by public-sector workers may have on the event, the Daily News reported on Wednesday. It quoted Comrades Marathon Association chairperson Dave Dixon as saying: ”We’ve been keeping a close watch on the intended strike action by the civil servants.”
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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Wednesday it had made no decision on whether to charge African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma. Reports that such a decision had been made were ”incorrect and misleading”, NPA spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi said.
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A Durban High Court judge on Tuesday queried Jacob Zuma’s defence team over its efforts to stop the retrieval of documents from Mauritius that might relate to arms-deal corruption. He asked Zuma’s advocate Kemp J Kemp: ”If a person professes his innocence, then why go to all these lengths to prevent the evidence being obtained?”
Durban businessman Elias Khumalo on Monday confirmed that his house and offices had been raided by the police.
The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has informed two of its mechanical engineering professors that they are under investigation. In a statement on Monday, the university said the two men were informed that ”investigations are under way and charges relating to misconduct are being prepared”.
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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint return to the Durban High Court on Tuesday. The NPA will attempt to obtain an execution granting it permission to get documents from Mauritius about meetings believed to relate to Zuma’s role in the multibillion-rand arms deal.
International Cricket Council president Percy Sonn, who died on May 27, will be remembered as an able administrator and a firebrand who sometimes spoke his mind too freely for his own good. He was a major figure in the racial unification of South African cricket and served as president of the United Cricket Board from 2000 to 2003.
African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma on Saturday warned party members to ensure that the party does not become "power-drunk". Speaking at an ANC branch meeting in Durban, he said: "The ANC is going to rule South Africa for a long time. But, we must not fall into the mistake of being power drunk."
Ajax Cape Town spoiled the celebration plans of thousands of Mamelodi Sundowns fans who came all the way from Tshwane only to see their team outplayed and outclassed in an exciting Absa Cup final at a packed Absa Stadium on Saturday night. Sundowns were aiming for a domestic double but Ajax were more confident and evidently better prepared.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Wednesday claimed it had proof that KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele ordered provincial government departments to cease advertising in the Sunday Tribune. On March 1, IFP KwaZulu-Natal caucus leader Lionel Mtshali released a statement that the provincial government had pulled R200Â 000-worth of advertising.
The eThekwini municipality has backtracked on its plans to rename nearly 200 streets by extending the deadline for objections and inviting further submissions, the Mercury newspaper reported on Wednesday. The deadline for submissions of new names and objections to the existing proposals was extended to the end of June.
Fraud convict Schabir Shaik has been sent back to Durban’s Westville prison, the Correctional Services department said on Tuesday. It is believed that Shaik was returned to the prison on Monday night. He was referred to the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban over a month ago, after he spent two months at a prison infirmary, and 83 days at St Augustine’s hospital.
Two men alleged to have been involved in concocting the recent ”assassination plot” against African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma lambasted the City Press newspaper on Monday. Barnabas Xulu and Peete Mbambo read out a statement saying the City Press article was ”riddled with inaccuracies and untruths”.
Sharks coach Dick Muir refused to blame a missed conversion for his side’s 20-19 defeat by the Bulls in the Super 14 final in Durban on Saturday. Wing Frans Steyn, who had celebrated his 20th birthday during the week, missed the conversion to Albert ven den Bergh’s try that would have given the Sharks an unassailable eight-point lead with only 80 seconds remaining.
Springbok wing Bryan Habana scored a try two minutes into injury time to lead the Bulls to a thrilling win over the Sharks for their first Super 14 title. Bulls flyhalf Derick Hougaard added the conversion from next to the uprights to spoil the party for the 54 000 home fans who turned out to witness the first all-South African Super 14 final.
Saturday is one of the biggest days in South African rugby history. Whether it goes to Pretoria or Durban, South Africa is guaranteed to hold the Super 14 title for a year when the Bulls and Sharks face up in the final at the Absa Stadium in Durban. The final will square up two of the strongest and most consistent teams in this year’s edition of the Super 14.