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/ 29 October 2004
The most alarming thing about the Schabir Shaik trial in Durban is that the revelations being made by various witnesses seem unsurprising. As each new narration unfolds we learn of chicanery, double-dealing, hustles, swindles, lies. And we do little more than shrug. If these things were even 10% true, we should be outraged.
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/ 22 October 2004
Adverse weather conditions continued to delay the start of oil-transfer operations from the BBC China, the cargo vessel stranded off the Eastern Cape Coast, authorities said on Friday. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said the ship has about 120 tonnes of oil on board.
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/ 19 October 2004
Listed retailer Pick ‘n Pay has managed the current South African environment of very low inflation and deflation in some categories by improving its operational efficiencies as well as encouraging higher sales volumes, reflected in an improvement in its operating profit margin to 2,6% from 2,4% a year earlier.
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/ 18 October 2004
Sectoral education and training authorities (Setas) are here to stay, Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana said on Monday about the oft-criticised learning institutions. ”We are not going to scrap the Setas. On the contrary, we are going to do what we can to strengthen them,” Mdladlana said.
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/ 18 October 2004
A six-hour maritime drama played out along the Wild Coast when 16 seamen were airlifted off a freighter in stormy seas in the early hours of Sunday morning, the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre said. Helicopters battled 40-knot winds and three metre swells to airlift 16 crewmen off the freighter BBC China.
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/ 15 October 2004
The European Union’s decision this week to extend the ban on ostrich imports from South Africa because of an avian influenza scare in the country has caught the local ostrich sector by surprise, industry representatives say. "We were hoping to resume export by November 1," said Anton Kruger, general manager of the South African Ostrich Business Chamber.
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/ 12 October 2004
Eight schoolchildren died and 60 were seriously injured in a bus accident in Tabankulu in the Eastern Cape on Monday, the provincial transport department said. Spokesperson Tshepo Machaea said the children from the Mtutukazi Junior Secondary School were on a tour to East London when the driver lost control while negotiating a curve, causing the bus to overturn.
The Eastern Cape education department has overspent its budget by more than R600-million, the province’s education minister Mkhangeli Matomela told MPs on Tuesday. Briefing Parliament’s education select committee, he warned the overspending would lead, among other things, to cutting the number of schools the region had planned to build this year.
A cold front will hit the Western Cape province from Wednesday evening and should continue moving over South Africa, while at the same time bringing rain, until Tuesday next week, said South African Weather Service (Saws) forecaster Evert Scholtz. There should be heavy showers over parts of the Western and Eastern Cape up until Friday.
The Constitutional Court on Friday denied the Port Elizabeth municipality leave to appeal a court ruling preventing the eviction of 68 people living in shacks on private land in the city. The case began when 1 600 people in the suburb of Lorraine sought an eviction order to have the shack dwellers removed.
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/ 30 September 2004
The official opposition Democratic Alliance has welcomed a commitment by Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk to complete a strategic environmental assessment in Pondoland, an ecologically sensitive area of the Eastern Cape currently under threat from mining and the construction of a toll road.
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/ 30 September 2004
If there is one lesson to be drawn from events over the past month in the Free State, Gauteng and Eastern Cape, it is the central importance of mature political leadership. Confronted by the <i>M&G</i> with serious allegations against provincial minister Angie Motshekga, Gauteng has acted quickly, ordering a set of investigations into reports that she unfairly privileged an empowerment trust.
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/ 30 September 2004
Since the front section of this paper seems to be getting all the good stories, Oom Krisjan is happy to be the first to bring details of Travelgate II. On a recent whip-around of city press clubs to tell the public why they are not a bunch of high-flying gadabouts, the speakers of the National Assembly and the National Council of Whatever all arrived in the Big Smoke on the same plane. Definitely a step in the right direction, you’d say.
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/ 29 September 2004
Either 4,6-million or 8,4-million people had no jobs in South Africa in March this year — depending on whether one used official or expanded unemployment figures released on Tuesday. This translated into an unemployment rate of either 27,8% or 41,2%, according to the results of Statistics SA’s latest Labour Force Survey.
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/ 28 September 2004
The Eastern Cape government has spent R104-million on treating botched traditional circumcisions since 2001, according to provincial health minister Bevan Goqwana. He released the figure on Monday at a three-day conference in East London on circumcision.
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/ 27 September 2004
The Eastern Cape experienced wild weather conditions on the weekend, which caused power cuts, accidents, and road closures. Heavy downpours, gale force winds, and rockfalls all took their toll on the province, and at least 11 people were killed — including two babies in hospital who died during a power-blackout.
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/ 24 September 2004
The estranged Eastern Cape province has been rocked by another shock move by that province’s government, apparently in an effort to weed out corruption. Late on Thursday night, the entire Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) board and the corporation’s chief executive officer was suspended.
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/ 24 September 2004
Twice a year the Chrissiesmeer shop owners put up signs on their doors that say, "Gone Frogging". Instead of preparing for World Tourism Day on September 27 by publishing a set of platitudes about the most prominent places to visit, we decided to abide by the spirit of these intrepid merchants and prepare a portfolio of the country’s more unpredictable and out-of-the-ordinary travel destinations.
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/ 23 September 2004
Deputy President Jacob Zuma has encouraged young women to take part in the virginity-testing programme of the OR Tambo district municipality. Speaking at the AmaMpondomise heritage celebrations held at Emdibanisweni Great Place near Umtata in the Eastern Cape, Zuma said the ancient practice of virginity testing is a viable solution to curbing the spread of HIV/Aids and teenage pregnancy.
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/ 22 September 2004
More than half the commercial farmers in the Eastern Cape will face bankruptcy if they are forced to pay a land tax set at 2% of market value, according to research released on Wednesday. That rate would lead to an 89% drop in profits for farmers in the province and have other equally serious knock-on effects.
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/ 22 September 2004
A senior Eastern Cape government official and an accomplice were arrested on Wednesday morning for alleged fraud and corruption involving R1,2-million. The National Prosecuting Authority said the official allegedly received a R50 000 bribe for fraudulently advancing payment of R1,2-million to the accomplice’s company.
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/ 21 September 2004
Aggravated robbery was the only violent crime to show an increase over the past two financial years, national police commissioner Jackie Selebi announced on Monday. Murders dropped by 9,9%, attempted murder by 17,8%, serious assault by 4,3%, common assault by 2,6% and common robbery by 7,8%, he told reporters in
Pretoria.
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/ 16 September 2004
There’s nothing like patting yourself on the back (something Lemmer has given up doing as it puts his spine out of place) when no one else is willing to hand you the kudos. The African National Congress Premier of the Western Cape placed prominent advertisements in newspapers to mark the first 100 days of his government elected in April.
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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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/ 15 September 2004
A hemp growing project which offers hope to small farmers in the poverty stricken Eastern Cape could be derailed because hemp is still an illegal substance. Department of Health rules which lump hemp together with dagga could scupper plans for the effective mass production and marketing of the fibrous plant.
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/ 10 September 2004
The extermination of 1 300 ostriches, that have been raised as part of an Eastern Cape black economic empowerment farming venture, started on Thursday after the birds tested positive for bird flu. All the birds are in Salem, near Grahamstown. ”The consequential loss of this will run up to R350 000 over the next three months,” said local Agri-Business managing director Martin Fick.
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/ 9 September 2004
When examining the Fair Trade movement it is important first to understand the concept of social consciousness. Becoming socially conscious does not require a paradigm shift in lifestyle — joining a commune, hugging trees or lying down in front of bulldozers. What it does require is lateral thinking and that you ask a few earnest questions about the products you buy, and, in this case, the places you go to on holiday.
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/ 7 September 2004
The appointment of Eastern Cape tourism board CEO Glenton de Kock has been put on hold after the Eastern Cape tourism board resigned en masse this weekend in protest against his appointment. However, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Andre de Wet says he hopes to have a new board by the end of this month.
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/ 7 September 2004
There are still at least seven prisoners facing the death penalty in the Eastern Cape, although the death penalty was finally written out of the law six years ago. Countrywide, there are thought to be dozens of prisoners who were sentenced to death before the abolition of the death penalty in 1995, who are still waiting for their sentences to be commuted.
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/ 6 September 2004
Eastern Cape finance minister Enoch Godongwana was fired on Monday, Premier Nosimo Balindlela’s office said. ”Both the suspension of the finance superintendent general, Monde Tom, and Godongwana’s dismissal come after a probe into financial irregularities in that department,” a spokesperson said.
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/ 2 September 2004
South African Democratic Teacher’s Union (Sadtu) members turned out in full force around the country to demonstrate their frustration with the government’s offer of a 5,5% salary increase. Sadtu spokesperson Jon Lewis said an estimated 30Â 000 people marched through the streets of Johannesburg.
Minister: Teachers’ strike ‘ill-timed’
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/ 2 September 2004
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel on Thursday launched the Large Business Centre (LBC), which will cover 9 000 companies with a minimum annual turnover of R250-million. Manuel said that the LBC has been established to make it easier for large companies to comply with the law.