Internationally renowned ichthyologist Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer died on Monday, aged 97. Courtenay-Latimer achieved international recognition as the discoverer of the coelacanth in 1938 when it was thought to have been extinct for 70-million years. The fish genus was named Latimeria chulumnae in her honour.
According to a <i>Sunday Times</i> report, there are now nearly 700 "ultra-high-gross-worth individuals" with assets of at least R200-million each. I doubt that many of the local 25 000 "dollar millionaires" simply give away R100 000 each month. But this is exactly what the National Arts Council (NAC) is doing, writes Mike van Graan.
The losers in last month’s election (Oom Krisjan isn’t PC enough to buy that ”we are all winners” gumph) seem to be at a loss to understand why the African National Congress peformed so well at the polls. Despite concerns about lack of delivery (Lemmer sympathises, Mr Delivery is boycotting the Dorsbult, too), the ANC increased its majority to almost 70% of voters?
Calls went out on May 1 — Workers’ Day — around South Africa, for better conditions of employment, more jobs, transformation and the eradication of poverty. However, foremost in people’s minds was the memory of 51 Northern Cape municipal workers who died on this day a year ago, outside Bethlehem in the eastern Free State, when their bus plunged into the Saulspoort Dam.
A tough municipal by-election in a Chatsworth, Durban, ward will see the African National Congress-aligned Minority Front — led by new KwaZulu-Natal sports MEC Amichand Rajbansi — fight it out to retain a marginal seat from a determined challenge from the official opposition Democratic Alliance.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance has selected its team representing the nine provinces in the National Council of Provinces but former Western Cape premier and former Cape Town mayor Gerald Morkel failed to be selected for one of two Western Cape seats available.
In 1999 pregnant women in Khayelitsha were able to access the drug AZT and two years later, highly active anti-retroviral therapy was introduced to the area. The Western Cape is one of the best-resourced provinces in the country and spends a healthy R1 377 per capita on health, second only to Gauteng, which spends R1 668.
Despite a marginally firmer rand gold price, South Africa’s three major gold miners are likely to report that earnings remained under pressure during the March 2004 quarter, a survey of seven analysts shows. AngloGold is forecast to report adjusted headline earnings per share of 194 cents, down 15% from the December 2003 quarter.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress named its candidates for premiers in the nine provinces on Wednesday night, after a national working committee meeting was held in the Mother City. It is the first time that candidates have only been named after the election.
The Inkatha Freedom Party and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) have lodged founding papers with the Electoral Court on Wednesday contesting the declaration of last week’s elections as free and fair. The court says the papers will now be sent to court’s judges, who will decide on dates for the hearings, merit allowing.
IFP to stick with DA
The jostling over the spoils of Cabinet posts in the Western Cape and possible representation for the New National Party in the national Cabinet will begin this week. The NNP on Monday went out of its way to underscore the point that there was no suggestion of any calls for its leader to resign.
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The Democratic Alliance has vowed to pursue the matter of DA members being arrested at a Free State voting station, after a charge against them were withdrawn on Monday. Darryl Worth and other members of the DA were arrested in Botshabelo on April 14 after allegedly driving into a voting station in a vehicle bearing a DA logo.
Special Report: Elections 2004
Champagne corks popped, fireworks exploded and balloons dropped from the ceiling as this week’s general election was declared free and fair in Pretoria on Saturday and the ANC celebrated a hands-down victory. The party has for first time taken the majority of seats in all nine provincial legislatures.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>With just over 88,2% of votes captured by early Friday morning, the African National Congress has nearly garnered 70% of the votes. With the preliminary count updated at 3am, the ruling party was heading the national race with 9,39-million of the votes counted, which translates into 69,67% — continuing to make gains on its apparent two-thirds majority.
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The election in KwaZulu-Natal was a neck-and-neck race between the Inkatha Freedom Party and the African National Congress on Thursday. The counting of the votes has been slow in the province due to rigorous auditing of the electronic capturing of votes.
Special Report: Elections 2004
The Independent Democrats, contesting its first election on Wednesday, surpassed the long-established New National Party in early poll counts on Thursday morning. By mid-morning, the ID had garnered 123 292 votes or 2,24% of the votes counted, putting them in fourth place. The NNP was in fifth place with 121 928 votes, or 2,21%.
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As expected, the race for control of the South African provinces of the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal remains tight. In the Western Cape, with 23% of the votes counted, the African National Congress was only slightly ahead of the official opposition Democratic Alliance, with figures indicating that a hung legislature could result.
Special Report: Elections 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>Initial results from South Africa’s national election released early on Thursday morning indicated that the African National Congress (ANC) was heading for an unsurprising victory of near two-thirds of the vote, with 63,77%. Working off a low base of votes counted at 16%, the official opposition Democratic Alliance, with 19,75%, appears to be faring far more strongly than in the 1999 national election.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>Although long queues were reported across the country on Wednesday morning, South Africa’s third general elections got off to a smooth start, with no major logistical problems reported, says Independent Electoral Commission chairperson Dr Brigalia Bam.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>Tensions between the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance flared on Wednesday morning, with accusations that the official opposition workers had placed DA stamps and stickers in a number of identity books.
Two pilots were killed in the northern Free State when their gliders collided on Monday afternoon, police reported. The men, John McLachlan and Dieter Hiress of Welkom, were participating in a race with three other gliders in their group when the accident occurred.
‘Why should artists vote for you?" This was the question posed to the fishers-of-votes by arts organisations in different provinces over the past month. Generally, it is pretty hard for arts-related concerns to get on to the radar screens of political parties, but in the game of elections, even artists qualify as players, writes Mike van Graan.
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With the African National Congress assured of a large majority in the Free State, the main election battle will be between the opposition parties for the remaining seats in the provincial legislature.
Special Report: Elections 2004
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Tuesday announced its decision to suspend the current wage negotiations between the union and gold mining giant Harmony. This was in reaction to the company’s announcement last Friday that it might have to close six of its mine shafts, which could cost more than 6Â 300 jobs.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Solidarity trade union pledged their support on Tuesday for the National Union of Mineworkers in its fight against Harmony Gold over the possible closure of at least six mine shafts. Harmony announced on Friday that it might have to close the shafts.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=0&o=46097">Union suspends Harmony wage talks</a>
Twenty-seven facilities had met the basic requirements for accreditation to provide quality care for Aids patients, the national Department of Health has announced. The 27 facilities will begin admitting patients and performing HIV testing and medical examinations.
The Basque separatist group Eta may be about to call a ceasefire in response to the Islamist terror attacks in Madrid and the subsequent change in government, according to sources in Spain’s northern Basque country.
A pharmacy assistant’s dirty hands were the main reason why six babies died earlier this month in the Pelonomi hospital in Bloemfontein. Dr Victor Litlhakanyane, head of the Free State health department, told a news conference on Thursday that the assistant who prepared foodstuffs for the babies had washed his hands in a dirty basin.
The Karoo dorp of Beaufort West is a curious mix. It is the birthplace of heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard and has a museum in his honour. It is the place where anti-apartheid activists downed a helicopter in the 1980s. Unemployment stands at an estimated 60% among the about 60Â 000 Central Karoo residents. Taking the Central Karoo from bust to boom needs more jobs that will stay.
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Ten percent to 12% of the vote — that is what Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille predicts her party will get in next month’s general election. The fiery party leader, called the one-woman-show by many of her opponents, on Tuesday introduced her provincial leaders and premier’s candidates to the media.
Special Report: Elections 2004
The Western Cape director of public prosecutions has decided not to prosecute three men arrested in connection with a fatal shootout last week in front of former president Nelson Mandela’s Constantia home, SABC radio reported on Tuesday. The three men had been facing charges of attempted murder.
The three men who were arrested following the shooting of an ex-soldier outside former president Nelson Mandela’s home on Tuesday were to appear in court on Thursday afternoon. The matter would be postponed for seven days to allow the police to conclude its investigation, directorate spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said.