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/ 29 February 2008
Media24 on Friday announced the closure of the Gauteng and Free State editions of its Afrikaans tabloid, Son, citing weak growth prospects. The Western Cape and Eastern Cape additions would continue to publish, a statement from Fergus Sampson, CEO of the emerging markets division, said.
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/ 29 February 2008
Police are investigating a case of crimen injuria in relation to a racist video made by students at the University of the Free State. The video, which caused national outrage, features black university employees on their knees eating food that had apparently been urinated upon by white students.
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/ 29 February 2008
A Drum magazine journalist was beaten up in what is believed to have been a racial attack in a café in Bloemfontein on Thursday night, the magazine said. ”Drum condemns the incident and believes there is no place for such racist behaviour,” said deputy editor Elmari Rautenbach on Friday.
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/ 28 February 2008
Two University of the Free State students apologised on Thursday for their involvement in a racist video which has sparked a national outcry. RC Malherbe and Schalk van der Merwe said they acted without malicious intent, and expressed sorrow for the embarrassment they might have caused any individual or group.
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/ 28 February 2008
Four young men in the Free State could hardly have known that their video of a demeaning mock initiation of black university employees would be flashed on the world’s TV screens.
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/ 28 February 2008
Last week the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> reported that the South African Communist Party planned to axe two senior Cape Town members for daring to criticise undemocratic practices at the party’s congress last year and suggesting that it is obsessed with "individuals" (read Zuma) to the detriment of its professed role as the party of the working class.
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/ 27 February 2008
A racist video — featuring University of the Free State employees on their knees eating food that had been urinated upon — was widely condemned by various institutions and political parties on Wednesday. The video, made by members of the Reitz men’s residence on the Bloemfontein campus, came to the attention of the public on Tuesday.
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/ 26 February 2008
A video of University of the Free State employees on their knees eating food which had been urinated upon was condemned ”in the strongest possible terms” by the university on Tuesday. The video, made by male students at the Reitz Residence, surfaced on Tuesday morning and adds to an already tense racial situation at UFS.
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/ 26 February 2008
Premier Soccer League log leaders Ajax Cape Town and the ever-improving Santos will face Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates respectively in the last-32 round of the inaugural Nedbank Cup. The draw involving the Soweto clubs attracted loud applause from the crowd and there was also a huge roar of approval for the R6-million first prize.
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/ 24 February 2008
A 10-man Golden Arrows team beat the listless Moroka Swallows 1-0 in an Premier Soccer League (PSL) match at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, Free State Stars ensured Black Leopards remained bottom of the log when they beat them 2-1 in Thohoyandou.
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/ 22 February 2008
Provinces will receive R238-billion this year, a whopping 16% higher than last year’s allocation. By 2010/11, provincial budgets will have doubled on their 2004/05 levels. All increases to key portfolios outstrip inflation by significant margins. But will they spend it well?
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/ 21 February 2008
Ten students were arrested on various charges at the Bloemfontein campus of the University of the Free State after a group took part in a ”disruptive march”, Free State police said on Thursday. Captain Chaka Marope said police had ”a hard time” on Wednesday night, until early on Thursday morning, containing the situation.
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/ 19 February 2008
The first of South Africa’s long-planned "new generation" prisons should be completed by February next year, MPs heard on Tuesday. The R662-million Kimberley Correctional Centre was more than one-third completed by the end of last month, prisons commissioner Vernie Petersen said.
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/ 18 February 2008
Public universities are expected to ask the government on Monday to exempt them from Eskom’s load-shedding, which has gripped the country in the past few weeks. The national outages have undermined the smooth running of university administrations, disrupted lectures and placed millions of rands’ worth of research at risk.
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/ 16 February 2008
In what might be described as circus soccer, with the goalkeepers in the role of trapeze artists taking a couple of tumbles, Golden Arrows and Free State Stars drew 2-2 in a Premier League game that contained some impressive skills and many laughable errors.
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/ 15 February 2008
South African rugby will enjoy an auspicious season this year. We begin the year as the envy of the rugby-playing nations, champions of both the world and the Super 14. Even the internecine wrangling for power in the South African Rugby Union (Saru) has failed to dim that envy.
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/ 12 February 2008
The United Democratic Movement councillor for the Metsimaholo municipality in the Free State, who was shot in the face recently, has died in hospital, police confirmed on Tuesday. Isaac Mokgatla (38) was shot in the Tshepiso informal settlement after he collected his two children from a school on January 31.
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/ 8 February 2008
Trish Pollock might disagree, but what the hell: there is nothing sexy about her husband. Not for him the off-duty rock-star life loved and lived by Herschelle Gibbs, nor the model-go-round that Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis seem to spin on endlessly and effortlessly.
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/ 8 February 2008
Springbok coach Peter has challenged black clubs which claim he is neglecting black talent to name the players they say are overlooked. De Villiers reacted to complaints that rugby authorities paid no attention to black areas and therefore denied talented youngsters opportunities to play at the highest level.
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/ 7 February 2008
Diamond giant De Beers spends $100-million a year on exploration activities in the regions where the company expects to have the most impact, and has invested more than this in the past few years to establish a greater presence and activity rate in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, its group MD said on Wednesday.
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/ 6 February 2008
South Africa’s preparation for the World Cross-Country Championships enters a crucial stage when some of the country’s leading athletes compete at the 34th Janmeda International Cross-Country Championships in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Sunday. ”This race is a brilliant test run,” said Boy Soke, who hails from the Free State.
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/ 31 January 2008
Free State farmers were on Thursday asked by Eskom to cut their power consumption by 10%, mainly during the ”red periods” of between 6pm and 7pm every day. ”This is with immediate effect,” Free State Agriculture president Louw Steytler told journalists in Bloemfontein.
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/ 25 January 2008
The Nigerian method of low-budget movie-making is set to take off in South Africa if an upcoming producer has his way, writes Percy Zvomuya.
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/ 24 January 2008
Water restrictions could be next in line for Free State businesses and residents if scheduled power cuts increase, Bloemfontein businessmen heard on Thursday. Chief executive of BloemWater, Nolene Morris, said the water supplier was completely dependent on Eskom or Centlec, the local bulk electricity supplier.
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/ 23 January 2008
The man linked to the African National Congress (ANC) hoax-email saga, Muziwendoda Kunene, appeared in the Kestell Magistrate’s Court in the Free State on Wednesday. A court official said the matter was postponed to April 9 for further investigation. Kunene is facing a provisional charge of murder in the Free State court and remains in custody at the Kroonstad Prison.
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/ 18 January 2008
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota was on Friday sentenced to a R5Â 000 fine or 12 months’ imprisonment for reckless and negligent driving. Wearing a dark suit, glasses with gold frames and accompanied by his bodyguard, Lekota pleaded guilty to exceeding the national speed limit. Last Sunday Lekota was arrested for driving at 189km/h in a 120km/h zone.
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/ 17 January 2008
If the South African Reserve Bank needs further evidence of the dampening effect of higher rates on real economic activity, recent building data has been just that, according to independent economic analysts. A major challenge facing the government is also the extreme escalation in building costs.
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/ 13 January 2008
Zambia have dropped unfit striker Collins Mbesuma and veteran defender Elijah Tana from their final 23-man squad for the African Cup of Nations finals. Mbesuma, who plays in Turkey and was formerly, played last week in a friendly against Tunisia but was deemed too out of shape for the tournament in Ghana.
The number of fatalities on South African roads over the festive season decreased by 13,26%, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday. He was releasing the Arrive Alive campaign’s figures for the holiday season from December 1 to January 6. The number of people killed on the roads had declined to 1Â 419.
Former state vice-president Alwyn Schlebusch died in Pretoria on January 7 at the age of 90, his son said. Schlebusch, who served as a National Party MP for two decades and held several Cabinet portfolios, was admitted to the Pretoria East Hospital two weeks ago and was in the intensive-care unit when he died.
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/ 31 December 2007
North Korea appeared certain to miss a year-end deadline to finish disabling its atomic plants and declare all its nuclear programmes, a key element in a six-nation disarmament accord. After almost two decades of confrontation over its nuclear ambitions, the communist state in 2007 took an unprecedented step.
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/ 29 December 2007
The early stages of the 2008 Super 14 competition could be especially challenging for the five South African franchises — three of the teams have new coaches, and the training of all five has been affected to various degrees by the resting of their Springboks after the United Kingdom tour.