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/ 2 April 2008

Gauteng cops: Let the seller beware

Police have warned people in Gauteng who sell goods through advertising publications to meet their prospective buyers at police stations because robbers and fraud convicts have been targeting advertisers. Police spokesperson Captain Jan Sepato said that criminals had been responding to advertisements and then either defrauded the seller with false cheques or robbed them.

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/ 2 April 2008

Mother raped in front of her six-year-old son

Police were searching for three men — one of whom raped a 35-year-old woman in front of her six-year-old child in their house in Leeufontein in the Roodeplaat area. Captain Jan Sepato said the woman and her husband were asleep on Monday night in their house in the Pebble Rock complex in Leeufontein when the gang struck.

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/ 1 April 2008

Ramakgopa lays plans for poverty reduction

Poverty mostly affects women, Tshwane mayor Gwen Ramakgopa said on Tuesday at a two-day conference on poverty reduction and community development in Pretoria. ”Poverty involves not only the lack of necessities of material well-being, but the denial of opportunities to lead a tolerable life,” said Ramakgopa.

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/ 1 April 2008

Extreme power cuts to black out entire cities

In the latest blow to South Africans already reeling from scheduled load-shedding, entire cities will now be plunged into darkness as Eskom institutes even more extreme power cuts. The shock development, which will be known as sector-sharing, will see the country divided into four vertical zones, each spanning many thousands of square kilometres.

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/ 31 March 2008

New barometer measures W Cape economy

The Western Cape’s economy remains extremely healthy, although some factors are hampering accelerated growth. This is one of the key findings of the new Sake24 Western Cape Barometer (WCB) launched in Cape Town on Monday. The WCB is a unique statistical index that measures business activity in the province.

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/ 31 March 2008

AA: Petrol price hike will hit shop shelves

Hikes in the petrol price will impact negatively on motorists’ and commuters’ disposable income, the Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa warned on Monday. ”The impact of the highest fuel prices ever in the history of transport in South Africa will without doubt be felt on the supermarket shelves,” the AA said in a statement.

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/ 30 March 2008

Stop and smell the roses

When it comes to rushing around like the proverbial blue-arsed fly, I’m guilty as charged. So when new Lexus GM Kevin Flynn told us, at the recent launch of the Lexus SC430, that the new addition to the range was about "savouring the moment", I cynically wondered to myself if he was stationed in sleepy Cape Town, writes Sukasha Singh.

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/ 28 March 2008

More misery for motorists as petrol price set to rocket

The retail price of petrol will increase by between 66 cents and 68 cents a litre (c/l) on Wednesday April 2, the Department of Minerals and Energy announced on Friday. This follows an increase of 61c/l last month, and 17c/l the month before. The retail price of a litre of 95 octane unleaded petrol in Gauteng increases to R8,91 and to R8,67 at the coast — new highs.

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/ 25 March 2008

Metro cops deployed to Jo’burg parks

Johannesburg’s metro police have deployed 34 officers to help police by-laws in Johannesburg’s parks, cemeteries and open spaces, City Parks said on Tuesday. They will work with 30 park wardens already policing the areas, as well as community policing forums and the South African Police Service.

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/ 25 March 2008

Patient or prisoner?

For thousands of patients quarantined for up to a year with multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, the Easter holiday period only reinforces their loneliness. Last December, patients in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape broke out of TB hospitals to be with their families during the festive season.

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/ 20 March 2008

Eskom adds to Tito’s woes

Eskom’s application to the national energy regulator for a 53% hike in electricity prices could well have been an application to Reserve Bank boss Tito Mboweni for yet another interest-rate hike. Experts estimate that, if granted, Eskom’s request to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa could hike the annual rate of inflation by at least 2%.

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/ 18 March 2008

Eskom wants 53% tariff hike

Eskom has applied for a 53% hike in electricity tariffs, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa announced on Tuesday. It said it had received the application earlier in the day. Eskom is seeking this hike in place of the 14,2% increase it was granted in December last year.

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/ 16 March 2008

Wet weather ahead: Jo’burg drivers told to slow down

Heavy rains, cold weather and strong winds will continue in Gauteng for the rest of the week, the South African Weather Services (SAWS) said on Sunday. This was due to a cold front passing through the area, said SAWS forecaster Evert Sholtz. He said rain and heavy winds would continue on Sunday and Monday would see strong winds blowing throughout Gauteng.

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/ 15 March 2008

Corruption may ruin 2010 World Cup for SA

The 2010 World Cup soccer tournament is a prime target for corruption, editors were told in Johannesburg on Friday. ”There is a real fear that South Africa, in the staging of the World Cup, could look bad in the eyes of the world because of the dangers of corruption,” said Professor Danny Titus, of Transparency International.