In the primate family, to which humankind belongs, there are certain heritage features which display ”clear dominance relationships among members, and the proclivity to imitate”, hence such terms as ”aping and monkey business”. Alienated. Quarrelsome. Spoilers. Certain white males exhibit all the symptoms of the dethroned male baboon.
The funeral service of slain Free State government official Noby Ngombane will be held in Bloemfontein on Monday, a statement from Premier Beatrice Marshoff’s office announced on Friday. The funeral will start at 9pm at the Boet Troskie Hall at the Central University of Technology.
One full day’s production has been lost as a result of a strike by 21Â 000 workers at Harmony gold mines in the Free State. Although one official statement from Harmony says the strike has to do with unresolved issues, chief executive Bernard Swanepoel acknowledged that retrenchment notices triggered the strike.
Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff said on Wednesday she was shocked by the murder of Noby Ngombane, a top official in her office. Ngombane was the head of the Free State’s policy monitoring and evaluation unit in the premier’s office. He was the premier and the provincial government’s spokesperson, as well as a close confidant of the premier.
Western Cape police were on Friday hoping someone will come forward with information on the murder of University of Stellenbosch student Inge Lotz. ”Nothing was taken, there was no forced entry and there are no leads,” Superintendent Billy Jones said. ”We are relying on someone to come forward with information.”
More than three-quarters of South African households receive free water and more than half receive free electricity, Statistics South Africa said in Pretoria on Thursday — but two million households are without toilet facilities. The figures are part of a non-financial census of municipalities for the year ending June 2003.
A man died in an accident in an operation run by a contractor at Sasol’s Secunda plant in Mpumalanga on Tuesday morning. The employee of a company called Fluor was working in the pipe-fabrication shop, said Mark Flower, Fluor’s marketing director. The fabrication facility is operated by Fluor within the boundaries of Sasol’s Secunda plant.
The trade union Solidarity said on Friday that it is undertaking a full investigation into accidents at Harmony Gold’s mining operations in the Free State, which it said have claimed 13 lives over the past six months. The union had what it called "incisive" talks with the principal inspector of mines for the Free State in Welkom earlier on Friday.
Crime cost South Africa’s 46 000-odd commercial farmers about R1,2-billion in the financial year ending February 2002 — more than a quarter of their total losses, Statistics South Africa revealed on Thursday. Stock theft accounted for about R484-million of farmers’ total R4,4-billion losses for the year.
Any effort to stop Jacob Zuma from becoming president would be like ”trying to fight against the big wave of the tsunami”, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi said on Monday. Speaking at a Cosatu conference in Midrand, Vavi stressed that this was his personal view.
The Education Department confirmed on Monday that over 100 000 teachers who participated in a public servants’ strike last year will lose pay. ”The universal principle of no work, no pay is being applied,” said department spokesperson Tommy Makhode.
About 350 students of the University of the Free State handed over a memorandum on Friday demanding an end to the promotion of Afrikaans as a compulsory medium of instruction at the main campus. The students marched peacefully to the main campus entrance, before the memorandum was handed to university rector Frederick Fourie.
A traditional healer who told a young patient he had to have sex with her for his medicine to work has been arrested for rape, Free State police said on Thursday. Police spokesperson Sergeant Thandi Mbambo said the matter was reported to police on Wednesday after the 14-year-old girl discovered she was three months pregnant.
Bloemfontein Celtic scored one of their best victories thus far when they defeated Castle Premiership leaders Orlando Pirates 1-0 in a pulsating clash played at the Free State Stadium on Wednesday night. The foundations for the win were laid by Celtic’s uncompromising defence. It was a gutsy display and the home side earned their three points the hard way.
Transnet subsidiary Petronet is to spend at least R3-billion on a new pipeline to move petrol, diesel and jet fuel from Durban to Gauteng, in a move that is expected to shake up a fuel market still shaped by apartheid-era logistical constraints. Gas and liquid fuels transport capacity is among the most contested issues in the local industry.
Bulls captain Anton Leonard returns from injury to lead his side out against the defending Super 12 champions, the ACT Brumbies, at Bruce Stadium in Canberra, Australia, on Friday. Leonard, who missed the first game because of injury, has made a miraculous recovery and will start in his traditional eighth-man position.
The lion murder trial in the Phalaborwa Circuit Court was delayed on Tuesday while a pathologist examined the blood-soaked clothing of the dead man, Nelson Chisale. Dr Leon Wagner, head of the medical faculty at the University of the Free State, was flown up to give evidence in the defence of one of the accused, Mark Scott-Crossley.
Athletics South Africa on Tuesday announced that athletes Isaiah Nkuna (Gauteng North) and Francois Coertze (Free State) have been reinstated for competition after serving a two-year ban for an anti-doping control violation in 2003. Athletics South Africa also announced that Innis Viviers has once again tested positive for a banned substance.
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/ 25 February 2005
A 34-year-old Sebokeng handyman was sentenced to 207 years’ imprisonment on Friday for raping 14 women and attempting to rape another, Free State police said. Lekgaba Molamu used to travel to the Zamdela area of Sasolburg in the Free State where he befriended women between the ages of 14 and 21 under the pretext of offering them jobs.
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/ 25 February 2005
World number one diamond-miner De Beers said in a statement on Friday said that its planned restructuring at its seven South African diamond mines could see 1 270 people lose their jobs out of a total of 9 442 people employed by De Beers Consolidated Mines. Global resources group Anglo American has a 45% stake in De Beers.
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/ 25 February 2005
As the four South African franchises have one last go at winning the Super 12, the competition that gave southern hemisphere rugby its identity is being somewhat overshadowed by events elsewhere. The lobbying has begun for the right to host the 2011 World Cup and International Rugby Board chairperson Syd Millar is already accusing the Japanese media of misquoting him.
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/ 24 February 2005
The South African Rugby Union (Saru) continues to enjoy the full support of the South African government, despite serious unhappiness with its president, Brian van Rooyen, within the ranks of Parliament’s sports portfolio committee. Saru seems to have sorted out its problems with Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile, but has not yet gained the unconditional support of the portfolio committee.
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/ 23 February 2005
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There has been a 76% increase over the past three years in the number of people receiving disability and care dependency grants in the Eastern Cape, according to the Budget Review tabled by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel at Parliament on Wednesday.
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/ 23 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>The maximum old age, disability and care dependency grants will rise by R40 to R780 a month from April 2005, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel announced on Wednesday. In his national Budget speech he said that foster-care grants will be increased by R30 to R560 and the child-support grant goes up by R10 to R180 a month.
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/ 20 February 2005
So you missed the Prickly Pear Festival in the Western Cape last month but worry not, there’s a whole 10 months of local festivals and events to choose from. From the Philippolis Witblits Festival to the Calvinia Vleisfees, we’ve lined up some of your more interesting options.
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/ 9 February 2005
Three wickets apiece for the Conrad XI’s (read Highveld Lions) David Terbrugge and Garnett Kruger did the most to restrict a Cook XI (read Highveld Strikers) to 230 for seven, and eventually help their team to a five-wicket victory — according to the Duckworth-Lewis method — in their 45-over friendly played at the Wanderers on Tuesday.
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/ 4 February 2005
World number six gold-miner Harmony Gold on Friday said it intends to serve its unions and staff associations with notices of compulsory restructuring over the next two weeks. Harmony said it will be issuing Section 189 notifications, which will result in the start of the legally required 60-day review period.
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/ 4 February 2005
De Beers Consolidated Mines will most certainly start its planned job cuts in Koffiefontein. The <i>Mail & Guardian</i> reported three weeks ago that the diamond miner planned to cut 1 400 jobs in its South African operations. The Koffiefontein mine is located in the southern Free State and employs 795 people.
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/ 3 February 2005
The South African gold-mining industry has been in a period of decline over the past 10 years and further consolidation of the sector is a logical move, such as the proposed merger of Harmony and Gold Fields, Harmony chief executive Bernard Swanepoel said on Thursday.
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/ 1 February 2005
Murder charges against an elderly couple accused of killing five children at Molomini reserve near Msinga (Tugela Ferry) last month were withdrawn in the town’s Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. The couple was arrested two weeks ago after the children’s bodies were found in an abandoned car at the couple’s home.
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/ 28 January 2005
Former provincial rugby player and soap-opera actor Deon Coetzee was fined R10 000 or three years in jail on Friday for drunken driving. He appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court before magistrate Clive Linden, who suspended half the fine for five years, leaving Coetzee (43) to pay a fine of R5 000, which he did.
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/ 27 January 2005
SA Rugby has named a team of 12 to represent the country in the next two rounds of the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens Series to be held in New Zealand and the United States in February. The players leave on Sunday January 30 for the Wellington leg and then jet off to the US for the Los Angeles tournament.