No image available
/ 5 September 2007
With the stealth of a covert James Bond operation, the South African Football Association on Tuesday successfully ”smuggled” Benni McCarthy into the country for his first game for Bafana Bafana in 19 months. He will play in the African Nations Cup qualifier against Zambia at Newlands Stadium on Sunday.
No image available
/ 2 September 2007
Moroka Swallows completed a 1-1 Premier Soccer League (PSL) draw against Santos at an almost deserted Athlone Stadium on Sunday. Also, Jomo Cosmos beat SuperSport United, Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Stars drew 1-1 and Ajax Cape Town came back from behind to beat Benoni Premier United 2-2.
No image available
/ 2 September 2007
Uncertainty over the future of Cape Town’s coalition government continued on Sunday as the newly formed National People’s Party claimed to have secured the allegiance of 10 councillors. The coalition, led by the Democratic Alliance, holds power by a majority of 20 in the 210-seat council.
No image available
/ 1 September 2007
Springbok flanker Hendro Scholtz was one of the heroes in the Cheetahs’ Currie Cup win of 80-33 over the Valke at Vodacom Park on Friday night. Scholtz produced some of the magic that made him South Africa’s first choice number-six flanker in 2003.
The South African Constitution allows for the freedom of expression and for ordinary citizens’ participation in government by raising concerns in the form of petitions and protest marches. However, protests are being "censored" by government authorities, says the Freedom of Expression Network.
An intensifying drought that is bringing Eastern and Southern Cape farmers to their knees is certain to cause an increase in the price of mutton, lamb and beef, the Herald Online reported on Tuesday. Karoo farmers, who say they have not had good rains for almost a year, have been battling a crippling drought.
Four tries by wing Giscard Pieters helped the Free State Cheetahs to a 52-19 win over the hapless Pumas in a compulsory friendly rugby match played at Nelspruit on Saturday. After leading only 19-7 at half-time, the Cheetahs opened the flood gates in the second with Pieters the obvious hero of the day.
Free State Stars’ Dio Sibisi scored a brace to help his team beat Lamontville Golden Arrows 2-0 in front of a sizeable crowd in their first Premier Soccer League game played at home at the Gobel Park Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Stars led 1-0 at the break. Striker Sibisi received a back pass in the 35th minute and struck a lightning shot.
Taxpayers have coughed up about R2,6-million for security at the private residences of four Free State ministers, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday. The party’s Free State leader, Roy Jankielsohn, said the African National Congress provincial ministers must explain who they were afraid of.
The Golden Lions on Saturday further entrenched their position in the Currie Cup top four when they beat Western Province 19-16 at Ellis Park. In other matches, the Sharks beat Griquas, log leaders Cheetahs beat the Boland Cavaliers, Eastern Province gained a 25-20 victory over the Griffons and the Pumas had a narrow win over the Impala Leopards.
Kaizer Chiefs shrugged off their pre-season form to beat Benoni United 2-0 convincingly in their first 2007/08 Premier Soccer League clash in Germiston on Wednesday. In other matches, champions Mamelodi Sundowns were beaten 2-1 by Amazulu, Black Leopards beat Supersport United and Santos drew with Free State Stars.
The unfolding catastrophe in Iraq has condemned the political judgement of a president. But it has also condemned the judgement of many others, myself included, who as commentators supported the invasion. Many of us believed, as an Iraqi exile friend told me the night the war started, that it was the only chance the members of his generation would have to live in freedom in their own country.
The Blue Bulls played better than the scoreline of 44-18 in favour of the Free State Cheetahs indicated in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Free State led 10-6 at half-time. The difference between the two sides was the impact the replacements made for the home team.
A total of 28 people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed by a series of forest fires that have swept through parts of South Africa and Swaziland since the end of last month, officials said on Thursday. ”Twenty-six deaths have been reported thus far” in South Africa alone, said a statement issued after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Frances Beatrice Marshoff, Edna Molewa and Dipuo Peters.
Niggling injuries of the kind that needed time to heal kept six Springbok rugby players sidelined on Tuesday evening as the World Cup squad continued its strenuous build-up to the World Cup in France. Sitting it out while their teammates sweated were Bryan Habana, Wikus van Heerden, Ashwin Willemse, Francois Steyn, Danie Rossouw and the latest addition to the side, Bismarck du Plessis.
A picture of death and destruction emerged on Monday as officials counted the cost of veld fires that ravaged several provinces. By late afternoon, nine fires were still burning in Mpumalanga and Swaziland. More runaway fires were also reported in KwaZulu-Natal.
Six firemen died on Sunday while trying to bring raging fires in Mpumalanga under control, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Monday. The department’s commercial manager Kim Weir said five firefighters died after they could not get their vehicle away from the front of the fire.
On a freezing cold and windy Saturday afternoon, the South-Western Districts Eagles managed to outplay the North West Leopards to beat them 27-21 at Outeniqua Park in George. In Kimberley, Griquas defeated the Boland Kavaliers 43-32, and Free State beat Western Province 45-13 in Bloemfontein.
Eleven people were reported by police to have burnt to death in fires that engulfed parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal on Friday. In Mpumalanga, a holidaying Johannesburg couple were burnt beyond recognition after trying to escape an enormous fire that ripped through a tourist lodge on Friday night.
Eight community halls have been opened for people forced out of their homes by flood waters after a massive cold front brought heavy rain to Cape Town and surrounding areas on Thursday night. About 15 000 people have been displaced by heavy rains in the Cape peninsula, reports said on Saturday.
Two rugby players were killed, another may be paralysed and three other people were injured in a road accident in the Free State on Tuesday. Captain Magda Muller said six people were en route from Soutpan heading in the direction of Welkom when their vehicle overturned after a tyre burst.
A decision to appoint a mediator to facilitate a resolution to the impasse between Vodacom and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been agreed to by both parties. The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union has threatened to call for a boycott of Vodacom unless it extended organisational rights to the CWU.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) has threatened to call for a boycott of Vodacom unless it extends organisational rights to the Communication Workers’ Union. Satawu would ”seriously consider” withdrawing its contracts for cellphones and airtime, Satawu general secretary Randall Howard said on Monday.
A man who allegedly claimed over the internet to have had sex with a number of prominent South Africans appeared in the Kroonstad Magistrate’s Court on Monday. District court prosecutor Tanya Buitendag confirmed that Juan Uys appeared in court in connection with a warrant of arrest for theft in the Western Cape.
The man allegedly behind bizarre internet sex claims against prominent South Africans will probably be transferred from Kroonstad to Cape Town sometime this week, said police. Juan Duval Uys (39) was arrested at the home he shared with his mother in Kroonstad on Saturday after a months-long investigation.
Sharon Farr’s documentary <i>Bram Fischer’s Story</i> is an absorbing and often poignant account of a remarkable life, writes Drew Forrest.
Riots, marches on Parliament and the lynching of a local official have highlighted growing unrest at the failure to improve the lives of South Africans who bore the brunt of apartheid. ”It is like we are not living in South Africa, we are not part of the democracy everyone enjoys,” says Ngethembi Myaka.
A 39-year-old prisoner at the Ncome prison near Vryheid claims to be the hit man in the murder of Free State official Noby Ngombane, media reports said on Wednesday. Ngombane was shot dead at his home in Bloemfontein on March 22 2005. He was a senior official in Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff’s office.
Four members of a gang believed to have blown up at least five ATMs have been arrested in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), police said on Wednesday. Police spokesperson Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said two were arrested last Friday, a third on Monday and the fourth on Tuesday.
Free State were crowned the top team at the 2007 Coca-Cola Under-18 Craven Week after scoring a one-sided 52-3 win over hosts Western Province (WP) in the tournament’s final game at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch on Saturday. WP scored first, but from there on it was all one-way traffic.
Nine young girls have been found dead around South Africa in the past seven months after they had been reported missing. The nine comprise the most widely publicised cases. The most recent find was the decomposed body of Elizabeth Martin (13), found in a water tank at a farm in Leeu-Gamka in the Western Cape.