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Thousands of supporters of former deputy president Jacob Zuma and protesters from the KwaZulu-Natal Transport Alliance merged outside the Durban City Hall on Wednesday. Shop owners locked their doors as a precaution and there was a large police contingent keeping watch.
The case against former deputy president Jacob Zuma was postponed to October 11 by the Durban Magistrate’s court on Wednesday. He was granted bail of R1Â 000. Zuma will not have to hand in his passport but will have to inform the prosecution every time he leaves the country.
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A night vigil will be held in Durban on Tuesday night for former deputy president Jacob Zuma. It will be supported by members of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu), the African National Congress Youth League, the South African Communist Party and others as a show of solidarity.
Bryce Easton of Kloof Country Club, a 17-year old Westville Boys High matric student, roared his way to a course record of 64 over the testing Durban Country Club Beachwood course on Sunday. Easton won the the men’s section of the second annual 36 holes SwedoCar Natal Invitation golf tournament by eight shots.
Ahead of their opening Absa Currie Cup match against the Cavaliers on Friday, the Sharks team has unearthed some exciting new talent from the ranks of clubs in KwaZulu-Natal. Coach Dick Muir said on Tuesday he was very bullish about the team after some hard preparatory work. ”We have been working very hard on our explosive power,” said Muir.
Reports of intimidation and violence related to the one-day strike by taxi owners and drivers in KwaZulu-Natal have been received from around the province, traffic officials said on Monday. Thousands of commuters were stranded in the morning as taxi drivers embarked on a protest against the government’s taxi recapitalisation programme.
South Africa and France played to a thrilling 30-30 draw in an epic first Test at King’s Park Stadium in Durban on Saturday afternoon that leaves the two-Test series up for grabs. The Boks maintained their unbeaten record against France in Durban, but only just, as the teams drew for the third time in six matches.
Unheralded Harmony Gold athlete Sipho Ngomane won the 80th running of the Comrades marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on Thursday and at 23 years old became one of the youngest champions.
Participants at the second national Aids conference that ended in Durban on Friday have hailed the event as a huge success. Professor Jerry Coovadia, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the conference was proof that South Africa was really a democracy because of the solidarity between academics, non-governmental organisations as well as the young and old.
Blue tents with sunshine posters are starting to become a familiar sight in townships near South Africa’s major cities, inviting locals to come in for free HIV testing and counselling. A new programme is providing free, anonymous testing in poor areas on the outskirts of Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
Two babies are critically ill with the Klebsiella infection that has killed 11 babies in the past two weeks, the KwaZulu-Natal health department said on Wednesday. One is at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial hospital and the other has been transferred to the Mt Edgecombe hospital.
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Durban businessman Schabir Shaik said he would resign as director and chief executive officer of his Nkobi group of companies immediately after he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for fraud and corruption in the Durban High Court on Wednesday.
Describing corruption as a ”pervasive and insidious evil”, Durban High Court Judge Hillary Squires sentenced businessman Schabir Shaik to an effective 15-year jail term for fraud and corruption on Wednesday.
South Africa’s health minister angered Aids activists on Tuesday when she told a national Aids conference that they should focus on other diseases and reiterated her view that drugs are not the only answer to fighting HIV. ”I hope you have come in such big numbers not just to focus on one ailment but to focus on all of them,” she said.
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Schabir Shaik is still waiting to hear his fate after Durban High Court Judge Hillary Squires provisionally set aside Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning for sentencing. On Tuesday, Shaik’s advocate called on the court to show ”mercy and compassion”.
Subsistence agriculture makes for a hard life, particularly in areas that are badly hit by HIV. Put farming and Aids together, add drought or disease, and you have a diabolical mixture of circumstances. This assertion has become an article of faith in many African countries, not least South Africa — said to have the highest number of HIV-positive citizens in the world.
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Deputy President Jacob Zuma must have been aware of bribes sought by Durban businessman Schabir Shaik on his behalf, High Court Judge Hillary Squires said as he convicted Shaik on two charges of corruption and one of fraud on Thursday.
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Judgment in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in the
Durban High Court is expected to be completed by midday on Thursday. On Wednesday Judge Hillary Squires adjourned the delivery of his verdict for a second consecutive day.
Opting for an outside field on neighbouring Kings Park instead of the main ground at the Kingsmead Soccer Stadium in Durban on Wednesday, Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter was able to get into the task in hand of preparing his side for the Cape Verde World Cup qualifier on Saturday without too much interference.
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Judge Hillary Squires was preparing on Wednesday morning to deliver the last 114 pages of a 165-page judgement in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in the Durban High Court. Squires’s secretary Margaret Parker said she was hoping the judge’s voice ”holds up”.
Reporters started gathering at the Durban High Court on Tuesday morning as security was being beefed up ahead of the judgement in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial. Judgement is expected to continue until Wednesday afternoon.
Bafana Bafana preparations suffered another blow on Monday when Sibusiso ”Rhee” Zuma was ruled out of the squad to play Cape Verde in a World Cup and Afcon 2006 qualifier on Saturday, due to injury. Apart from Zuma, there is doubt about the availability of South Africa’s number-one goalkeeper, Hans Vonk.
Police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) were on Monday investigating an incident in which a cat was strangled and thrown into a garden at the Bluff yacht club in Durban. Meanwhile, there is still no progress in the search for those who microwaved a live cat at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Pinewood residence.
The person responsible for microwaving a live cat at the University of KwaZulu-Natal could be slapped with a fine of up to R20 000 or a prison sentence of up to four years, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said on Thursday. R31 700 has been pledged for information leading to the arrest and conviction of this person.
People attending Saturday’s imbizo (meeting) called by Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi will be allowed to enter the Princess Magogo Stadium with sticks, shields and knobkieries, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Friday. Buthelezi has come under fire for calling the imbizo.
Legal experts must decide if Saturday’s imbizo (meeting) of the Zulu nation in Durban is traditional or political before police decide whether traditional weapons will be allowed at the gathering. On Thursday, a spokesperson said Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini has distanced himself from the imbizo.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini on Thursday said the drafting of a constitution for KwaZulu-Natal is intended to ”culminate in the restoration of the monarch to its [sic] rightful position and status”. He was speaking to members of a constitutional ad hoc committee in Durban.
A cat was killed by being cooked alive in a microwave oven belonging to students at a men’s residence at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, reports said on Thursday. The cat reportedly died an ”extremely painful” death. Provincial education minister Ina Cronje has condemned the act as ”barbaric” and ”shocking”.
The African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday called on the Zulu nation not to attend an imbizo (meeting) at KwaMashu, south of Durban, on Saturday. The imbizo was called by Inkatha Freedom Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi in his capacity as traditional prime minister.
Siyabonga Nkosi’s brace earned Bloemfontein Celtic maximum points away from home when they beat Lamontville Golden Arrows 2-0 in a Castle Premiership encounter on Sunday. Meanwhile, Jomo Cosmos escaped relegation when they beat fellow relegation candidates Dynamos 4-1 at the Rand Stadium.
A 16-hour stand-off between police and a man who had threatened to shoot himself at Phoenix outside Durban ended when the man dozed off on Thursday afternoon and was arrested. Police spokesperson Inspector Alan Govender said the drama started on Wednesday when the man’s wife asked a policeman friend of theirs to trace her husband, a salesman, who had been missing for two days.
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Four years after the start of fraud and corruption investigations into businessman Schabir Shaik in 2001, his marathon high-profile trial finally reached closure on Wednesday. ”Many people told me the trial would last for years,” said chief investigating officer Johan du Plooy, who has mixed feelings about the end of the trial.