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/ 26 October 2007
South Africa’s lack of support for farmers is worrying and will have negative consequences for the agriculture sector if not addressed, a farm expert said on Thursday. Farmers have raised concerns over a lack of support from the government, which has seen farmers’ fortunes take a dive after a cut in state subsidies.
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/ 25 October 2007
South African theatre icon Patrick Mynhardt, famous for portraying the Herman Charles Bosman character Oom Schalk Lourens on stage, has died at the age of 75, it was announced on Thursday. Mynhardt passed away of natural causes in London where he was performing his biographical one-man show Boy from Bethulie.
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/ 25 October 2007
Rand Water intends spending R4-billion on upgrading and refurbishing its distribution infrastructure in the next five years, the company announced in releasing its results on Thursday. Of this, 57% would be allocated to augmentation projects and the rest to the renovation and upgrading of existing infrastructure, said Rand Water acting chief executive Zvinaiye Manyere.
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/ 24 October 2007
Two miners died at Marula Platinum Mine in Burgersfort, Limpopo, during a blast in one of the shafts, the mine said on Wednesday. Marula Platinum Mine’s spokesperson Elsabe Meiring said the incident happened on Tuesday night and no other people were reported injured.
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/ 22 October 2007
Stock theft in South Africa has amounted to R327 676 500 in the past year, the National Stock Theft Forum said on Monday. ”At the moment, stock theft is hampering the profitability of the stock farmers and it is also interfering with the government’s land-reform process, as well as the empowering of the emerging farmers,” the forum said in a statement.
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/ 18 October 2007
South Africa’s mining industry, which records an average of 200 fatalities every year, is seeking to reduce death rates by at least 20% by 2013, the Chamber of Mines said on Thursday. ”To be world-class by 2013, an annual milestone of reducing fatality rates by at least 20% a year is needed,” the chamber’s chief executive said.
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/ 18 October 2007
Free State crop-spraying pilot Johann Foley described on Thursday how he survived a crash after his aircraft’s engine faltered near Clocolan. ”I made two passes spraying on Wednesday afternoon and was about to make the second turn at a mountain when the aircraft lost power,” Foley said.
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/ 13 October 2007
The Free State Cheetahs advanced to the Absa Currie Cup rugby final against the Lions when they beat the Blue Bulls 11-6 in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The soggy underfoot evened out the odds, with the Cheetahs running on as favourites after losing only one of their 14 league matches.
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/ 11 October 2007
Polokwane will be a busy town come December with an expected 4Â 500 delegates, both voting and non-voting, attending the African National Congress’s (ANC) 52nd national conference. Smuts Ngonyama, head of the presidency of the ANC, on Thursday updated the media in Johannesburg on preparations for the conference.
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/ 11 October 2007
The taxi industry will soon be part of the government’s public-transport subsidy system, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Thursday. Radebe said more than 60% of South Africa’s people used taxis. ”We need to support our taxi industry,” he said in Thaba Nchu in the Free State.
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/ 10 October 2007
Bottom of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) log and booted out of the Telkom Knockout competition in the first round, Orlando Pirates’ woes continued when they were handed an effective R200 000 fine. ”Pirates were fined R150 000 on charges of crowd misbehaviour and bringing the league into disrepute,” PSL general manager Andrew Dipela announced on Tuesday.
The stakes will be raised considerably this weekend as the Absa Currie Cup premier division enters its semifinal stage. The two semifinal clashes are the highlight of a bumper weekend on the local rugby calendar that also includes the promotion/relegation play-offs.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has apparently thrown her weight behind leading businessman Tokyo Sexwale for the African National Congress presidency. Meanwhile, audited ANC membership figures have confirmed the Eastern Cape as the party’s strongest province, media reports said on Tuesday.
Most of the land claims in the Free State and Northern Cape are on schedule to make the cut-off date in March next year, newly appointed regional commissioner Sidney Hlongwane said on Tuesday. He said at least 90% of claims lodged at the two provincial offices have been settled.
Emails suggesting that a severe storm with a tornado was to hit Johannesburg and surrounds on Monday afternoon were "greatly exaggerated", the South African Weather Service said. One email on Monday read: "Please be careful as a tornado dropped in Randfontein on Saturday and is expected today."
An underground fire has claimed the lives of 23 miners illegally working a disused shaft of the St Helena mine, in Welkom, on the Free State Goldfields, police said on Sunday. A number of illegal miners were feared to have suffocated or burned to death while trapped underground by the fire — which was thought to have started last month.
For the faithful observing Ramadan in El Geneina, West Darfur, the sun takes too long to set. Here breaking the fast happens a full 40 minutes later than it does far to the east in Khartoum. Ramadan will be over this week and will end with a celebration. It is hard to imagine people celebrating in this part of the world, but it is easy to understand that they use their faith to keep going.
An underground fire has claimed the lives of 23 miners illegally working an unused shaft of the St Helena Mine, in Welkom, Free State police said on Sunday. Their bodies were discovered on Sunday morning and brought to the surface by colleagues who had been arrested when the fire forced them to leave the mine on Tuesday.
The Free State Cheetahs pulled off the double over the Blue Bulls with a near-clinical 29-17 victory at Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening. The Bulls had begun with plenty of gusto but soon found themselves running out of steam and handing the game to the Cheetahs.
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/ 25 September 2007
The government is committed to meeting its target of eradicating the bucket-toilet system in all formal settlements established before 1994, it said on Tuesday. To ensure this deadline was met an amount of R1,6-billion had been made available ”to provide better and more acceptable sanitation for all”.
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/ 24 September 2007
Respecting the diversity of all cultures and living in the spirit of ubuntu were highlighted at Gauteng’s Heritage Day celebrations.
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/ 24 September 2007
People without a memory cannot chart their past to the future, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said during Heritage Day celebrations.
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/ 23 September 2007
Golden Arrows beat Orlando Pirates 2-1 in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) clash at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban on Saturday. There was no score at half-time. Amazulu registered their second win of the PSL season when they beat Black Leopards 2-1 in scorching heat at Giyani Stadium, Thohoyandou.
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/ 23 September 2007
The battered and bruised bodies of 22 Western Province (WP) players bore witness on Saturday to an exceptional 34-20 Currie Cup victory for the home side over Free State, who had not been beaten in 14 matches. The blue-and-white jerseys gave the Newlands faithful a spectacle that will be remembered for quite some time.
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/ 21 September 2007
The Sharks secured themselves a home semifinal berth in the Currie Cup when they came back from behind to beat the Blue Bulls 26-18 at Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening. The Sharks almost let it slip in the first half when they found themselves trailing 18-9 and with only 14 men on the park.
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/ 20 September 2007
Orlando Pirates travel to Durban for their Premier Soccer League (PSL) clash with Golden Arrows this weekend, while SuperSport United host Bidvest Wits in another big match. Pirates, fresh from their first home victory, travel to Chatsworth to face an Arrows side who will not easily succumb.
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/ 20 September 2007
A devastating veld fire has destroyed the well known artist’s retreat Rustlers Valley in the eastern Free State, the provincial department for water affairs and forestry said on Thursday. Spokesperson Malcolm Procter said the fire destroyed everything. "There is nothing, nothing." All buildings were destroyed.
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/ 15 September 2007
It was not a pretty game to watch or one to remember as the Free State Cheetahs and the Lions made far too many mistakes in a Currie Cup game in Bloemfontein that was eventually won by the home side 24-19. The stars of the night for the hosts were undoubtedly Marius Joubert (centre), Heinrich Brüssow (replacement flanker) and Jannie du Plessis (prop).
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/ 9 September 2007
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African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma questioned the ”Americanisation” of culture in South Africa, criticising television images of sex and violence during a speech in Johannesburg on Sunday. ”There’s more violence on the TV … there’s more open sex on TV. What education are you giving to us? Is that part of our culture?”
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/ 8 September 2007
Leading 14-3 at halftime, the Free State Cheetahs made heavy weather of retaining their unbeaten record when defeating Griquas 21-17 in an error-riddled Absa Currie Cup match played in warm, conditions at Absa Park, Kimberley, on Saturday afternoon.
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/ 8 September 2007
A head-on collision between a truck and a bus killed 13 people and seriously injured four others in the Eastern Cape on Saturday. Emergency workers were trying to extract two other passengers from the wreckage while two men and two women had been taken to hospital.
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/ 7 September 2007
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No issue must be ”taboo” for debate in South Africa if its people want to succeed with reconciliation and nation-building, African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. ”Debate in the country must be promoted,” Zuma said in delivering the annual public management commemorative lecture.