The South African Weather Service has warned beach revellers to brace themselves for chilly conditions over the country’s coastal areas during this long weekend. Mark Todd, a forecaster from the National Forecast Centre, said on Wednesday that it was going to be cold and windy over the Southern parts [of the country].
The murder of a Mount Frere teacher in front of her grade two pupils raised the issue of security at schools, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Wednesday. ”It is intolerable that teachers and learners should face such horrific incidents when they are in school,” spokesperson Patrick Craven said in a statement.
A Sunday tabloid aimed at the ”new, modern Afrikaner” is to be launched in May, its editor said on Tuesday. Sondag’s Mike Vink said it would offer less sleaze than weekly Afrikaans tabloid Son. This will entail, among others, a page three pin-up girl, who will not be topless. ”It’s not going to be sleazy, but a genuine Sunday newspaper with a sports, news and business section.”
The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) says that President Thabo Mbeki is quite right to criticise ruling party African National Congress (ANC) councillors for not doing their jobs — but it argues that words must be turned into action. On Tuesday, DA local government spokesperson Willem Doman said: "A year after the local elections it is clear that many councillors are not effective."
The prospect of President Thabo Mbeki staying on as African National Congress (ANC) head would harm the country, official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon said on Monday. At a farewell meeting in Port Elizabeth the DA leader said an anointed presidential successor would become a ”puppet president owing his or her position to Mbeki”.
The most dangerous places in South Africa are not big cities but scantly populated rural or border areas, a new crime-mapping tool showed on Sunday. Although Johannesburg is synonymous with crime in the minds of many overseas visitors, the new computerised map showed that the chances of being murdered or raped were higher in isolated rural areas.
A draw to determine the order in which candidates’ names will appear on the ballot for a new Democratic Alliance (DA) leader was held at the party’s parliamentary offices in Cape Town on Friday. Top spot was won by DA federal chairperson Joe Seremane.
A petite Eastern Cape girl cornered two burglars with her motor scooter this week, attacking one with her crash helmet, media reports said on Friday. Marilee Hibbers (18), of Despatch, said on Thursday she never thought of the danger in which she could have been. Her only goal was to get the two criminals arrested.
A Port Alfred National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) station commander rescued her own Hobie Cat, which had been stolen, the institute said on Thursday. Keryn van der Walt said the NSRI responded to reports of a capsized yacht off-shore off Bhirah in the Eastern Cape at about 11am on Wednesday.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) will on Friday finalise the order in which the names of candidates will appear on the ballot-papers that will be used during the election process at the party’s congress in Gauteng in May. This will be done by means of a draw.
Six warders from Krugersdorp Prison appeared in the town’s magistrate’s court on Monday in connection with the deaths of three inmates over the weekend. The men are alleged to have seriously assaulted the prisoners on Saturday night after an apparent gang fight. The prisoners were taken to hospital, but died shortly afterwards.
South Africa’s upgraded transport information system was off to a shaky start on Monday, with some testing stations failing to reopen. Authorities in most provinces reported hiccups and constant technical failures. Testing stations in Midrand, Randburg, Sandton, Langlaagte and Pretoria were still closed due to technical glitches.
The elimination of the defending champions and a spirited performance against the odds were two of the features of a thrilling final weekend of league fixtures in the Vodacom Cup competition, which enters its quarterfinal stage this weekend. Holders the Valke went down 17-8 to the Blue Bulls last Friday.
The son of a senior Eastern Cape politician has been arrested for theft from a Bisho ministerial residence, the Dispatch Online reported on Monday. It said the grade-10 student (19) is suspected of breaking into the ministerial-complex home of MPL Pemmy Majodina at the Easter weekend.
Vusi Mahlasela, Simphiwe Dana and Siphokazi Maraqana vie for the big one at this year’s South African Music Awards ceremony, writes Nadia Neophytou.
A 47-year-old man has died of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in the Eastern Cape, bringing the number of deaths to 14 since November, the provincial health department said on Thursday. It also denied reports that XDR-TB patients were walking around freely at a hospital in the province.
Former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla has dedicated his graduation from Grahamstown’s Rhodes University to his grandfather and late father Makgatho Mandela, who died in 2005. The graduation ceremony comes only days before another historic moment in Mandla’s life.
A candidate for a post on the bench of the Cape High Court faced tough questioning at the Judicial Service Commission on Tuesday over her claim that judicial appointments were often steeped in racial and gender prejudice. Advocate Nona Goso was also quizzed over incidents in which she appeared to have signed off review cases without reading them.
The number of people killed on South African roads over the Easter weekend has risen to 181, the Department of Transport said on Monday night. Of the 181 people who lost their lives in 143 crashes, 41 were drivers, 71 were passengers and 69 were pedestrians, spokesperson Ntau Letebele said.
A deaf-and-dumb woman was raped, allegedly by two men, in Butterworth on Saturday morning, Eastern Cape police said. The 20-year-old grade-11 pupil from Gauteng, on holiday in the area, was accompanied to her family’s house following a party in the Bungeni informal settlement, said Captain Jackson Manatha.
Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan has paid tribute to renowned academic Professor Archibald Monwabisi Mafeje, who died in Pretoria on March 26. ”The demise of a pioneering intellectual powerhouse will always be a great loss to a nation,” Jordan said in a statement.
The use of government-issued condoms as business cards at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn has irked Eastern Cape authorities. The culprit was a T-shirt and clothing company, Gooi Mielies, which was distributing promotional stickers stuck on to free government condoms.
Eastern Cape traditional leaders want the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to slaughter an animal to apologise for screening a documentary on circumcision, media reports said on Wednesday. The leaders found SABC1’s drama Umthunzi Wentaba insulting because it stripped the tradition of its secrecy and sacredness.
The Transport Ministry on Wednesday called on motorists to drive carefully over the Easter weekend. Among others, main routes out of Gauteng are expected to carry heavy traffic from noon until 10pm on Thursday and from 6am to noon on Friday, said ministry spokesperson Ntau Letebele.
Organisers of the 13th Klein Karoo National Arts Festival in Oudtshoorn have been quick to remove posters of the right-wing Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB). The Herald Online reported on Monday that the posters also made reference to controversial Afrikaans song De la Rey and apartheid South Africa’s coat of arms.
Alcohol abuse costs South Africa in the region of R10-billion a year, or 1% of GDP, but the excise tax on alcohol collects only about R7-billion. This leaves the country with a shortfall of about R4,5-billion in costs to health services, the criminal justice system, and, of course, human lives.
Twelve people were killed when a minibus taxi overturned on a highway in the Western Cape, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Saturday. Five people were seriously injured in the accident, which occurred as members of the same family were taking a corpse to the Eastern Cape province for burial.
The South Africa Bus Employers’ Association (Sabea) said all staff reported for duty on Wednesday morning in accordance with a Labour Court ruling, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. On Tuesday, the court granted an interim order in favour of Sabea preventing a strike planned for Wednesday. This means that any strike will now be unprotected and illegal.
Most people believe that corruption occurs to speed up approvals to which people are legally entitled, a survey has found. The number of people who believe this roughly equals the number of people who think that corruption is a means to ill-gotten gains. Business Against Crime and the German Technical Cooperation Agency commissioned the survey as part of business’s contribution to the South African National Anti-Corruption Forum.
R1-billion has been allocated this year to eradicate bucket toilets in established settlements by December, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Friday. ”All bucket systems that exist in formal establishments and townships will be completely removed by December 2007,” said a departmental spokesperson.
Fifteen unidentified bodies, badly decomposed and with only shreds of clothing, have been found at a mortuary in Umzimkulu, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Thursday. Superintendent Zandra Hechter said the grisly find was made by two officials of the health department on Monday.
A R37-million project to reduce maternal infant mortality has been launched in the Eastern Cape, the province’s department of health said on Wednesday. A spokesperson said the ”Saving Mothers Saving Babies” project will be implemented in 30 district hospitals and community health centres in the Eastern Cape.