Tony Leon on Saturday delivered his last speech as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), predicting that the party would one day bring about a new government in South Africa. In an emotionally charged session of the party’s federal congress in Midrand, he thanked supporters for the ”incredible journey” they had allowed him to take in heading the DA.
Spending by South Africa’s provincial governments dramatically improved in the past year as they managed to spend 98,7% of their budgets in the 2006/07 financial year, the National Treasury reported on Thursday. The provinces spent R185,6-billion of their combined adjusted budgets of R188-billion.
Businesses in parts of Ekurhuleni, the Free State and Northern Cape are counting losses running into millions of rands after power failures, media reports said on Tuesday. A prolonged power failure has affected Eastgate Mall, one of South Africa’s largest shopping centres, in Bedfordview, east of Johannesburg.
South African world heritage site, the Vredefort Dome, is under threat, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported Monday. The area around one of the world’s oldest meteorite craters is experiencing major development as tourists and investors flock there. Geologist Frans Waanders said people and even scientists chipped off pieces of rock during visits.
Ace Magashule, the Free State African National Congress (ANC) chairperson, has made a scathing attack at a regional conference on supporters from the Thabo Mofutsanyane district in the eastern part of the province, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday.
Thousands of South Africans gathered in various locations across the country on Friday to celebrate the country’s 13th year of freedom from apartheid rule. In the Eastern Cape, President Thabo Mbeki addressed the packed Bisho Stadium and urged South Africans to join the fight against crime and corruption.
Ninety-five percent of South Africans are proud to be South African, a survey by the University of Stellenbosch found. ”The overwhelming majority of South Africans are proud to be South African, prefer democracy as a governing system and believe that our democratic system will develop positively in the future,” said spokesperson Mari Harris on Thursday.
An aggressive bull buffalo killed a man and hampered the retrieval of his body on a farm near Bethlehem on Wednesday, Free State police said. Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said that Sam Shongwe (26) was returning from a pit latrine to a fenced area with two homes when the buffalo attacked at about 10am.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) on Wednesday added more than 1 000 new applications to the small-business tax-amnesty process through an extensive registration campaign across the country. Several thousand Sars and police officials visited 4 160 small businesses in 30 towns and cities.
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.”
Game-park owner Dirk Brink (58) died of a stroke and was not killed by the lions that mauled him, media reports said on Tuesday. This came to light during the post-mortem on Brink, who owned the Krugersdorp Game Reserve. It showed that he was attacked by the pride at Ngonyama Lion Lodge only after his death from a stroke.
The African National Congress (ANC) provincial executive committee in the Free State on Monday dismissed a failed court challenge to its leadership as ”counter-revolutionary”. ”The matter referred to the court has never been a legal matter but has always been a political matter,” said Free State ANC deputy chairperson Pat Matosa.
More members of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State are planning to take on the leadership of provincial party leader Ace Magashule in court, the Volksblad reported on Friday. Members of four more ANC regions are expected to apply for court interdicts to stop ANC ward meetings.
South Africa’s national parks are poised for a surge in gay tourism now that a tourist operator has launched a series of tours designed to initiate gay visitors to the delights of the savannah. While Cape Town is one of the world’s top five gay holiday destinations, the operator aims to lure gay tourists out of the Mother City.
Sophie Edington of Australia picked up six gold medals at the 2007 Telkom National Aquatic Championships, which ended at the Kings Park pool in Durban on Sunday night. She took both the 100m and 50m freestyle medals, the 50m butterfly, and the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke races in her stride.
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 African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State is stable and united, provincial party leader Ace Magashule said on Wednesday in reaction to questions about party leadership battles and ”factions” within the ANC at regional level in the province. ”The ANC is stable and united at all levels,” Magashule said at an ANC media breakfast.
A stork that flew from Germany to die on a Free State farm in December last year is now making headlines on the internet, the Volksblad newspaper reported on Tuesday. Prinzesschen (Princess), a white stork (Ciconia ciconia), died on December 23 last year on the farm Uitzicht between Wesselsbron and Hoopstad.
Action in the Vodacom Cup resumes this weekend after the Easter break with quarterfinal contenders looking to secure home-ground advantage for the knockout stages of the competition. This weekend sees the final round of league fixtures with four semifinal places still up for grabs.
A damages claim of more than R500 000 against the police and prisons services will cost rightwinger Piet ”Skiet” Rudolph and two others dearly. A Pretoria High Court judge on Tuesday dismissed with costs a damages claim instituted by Rudolph and fellow Orde Boerevolk members Wentzel Laubscher and Andre van der Walt.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) wants the government to investigate ”properly” the circumstances around the escape of a lion from a game farm near Winburg in the Free State, it said on Tuesday. It said it was relieved to hear the escaped animal was finally shot at by a local farmer.
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.
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African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma called for people to go back to their values at an Easter Sunday service in the eastern Free State, media reports said. Zuma called on churches to make sure that the laws that govern are not in contradiction with the laws of God.
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.
Judgement was reserved on Thursday on further applications made in an interdict to suspend the election of new office bearers by an African National Congress (ANC) regional conference. Judge Corne van Zyl in the Bloemfontein High Court reserved judgement until April 4 after hearing argument on an application by 17 people wanting to join the original applicants in the matter.
This week saw the official launch and installation of Parliament’s new emblem, a design created by the people as a cornerstone for South Africa’s new democracy. ”A new emblem was an important step in establishing an identity for Parliament, one that represents its values, vision and mission,” Parliament said in a statement.
The regional land claims commission and the body representing the Pniel estate land claimants in the Northern Cape had not reached agreement over their differences on Tuesday afternoon, legal counsel said. Legal counsel for the Pniel community property association Adrian Horwitz said the parties were still engaged in an attempt to reach a settlement.
Fires in the Free State have already destroyed more than 60 000ha of veld, the provincial department of water affairs and forestry said on Monday. Spokesperson Malcolm Proctor said last year’s figure of 69 000ha destroyed will probably be exceeded by next week. ”This is bad,” he said.
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.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has expressed its shock at an incident in which a Free State farmer chained two girls to a tree. ”Cosatu is shocked to learn that a farmer in the eastern Free State chained two young girls from Lesotho … to a tree,” Free State and Northern Cape provincial spokesperson Sam Mashinini said on Friday.
While Bafana Bafana on Tuesday took a further step towards closing ranks for their away African Nations Cup qualifying game with 19 of the 20 players now ensconced in their Johannesburg camp, the modestly regarded minnows of Chad were not allowing the dust to settle under their feet in dusty Ndjamena — the venue for Saturday’s game.
South Africa is investigating two main sources of biofuel, maize and sugar, and already proponents are starting to square off. The windfalls task team has recommended investment incentives for the manufacture of biofuels, or liquid fuels from indigenous raw materials, excluding crude oil and natural gas.