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/ 11 January 2008
Three days into the school year and Gauteng’s teenagers are already hanging around on street corners rather than in class. Bunking classes and smoking outside buildings are a common problem in some high schools, and truancy rates are high in many disadvantaged areas.
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/ 10 January 2008
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) made a ”concerted effort” to undermine investigations into Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel and prevent his prosecution, Gauteng police said on Thursday. In a statement, Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said prosecutors had refused to look at evidence presented to them in September, which implicated Nel in criminal activity.
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/ 10 January 2008
Thousands of South African motorists may lose their driver’s licences by the end of 2008 if they fail to adhere to the rules of the road, the KwaZulu-Natal transport department said on Thursday. Bheki Cele, provincial minister of transport, community safety and liaison, said the demerit system will be introduced this year.
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/ 10 January 2008
Three National Lottery winners in November and December have still not claimed their prizes, new operator Gidani said on Thursday. Since the return of the National Lottery in October last year, 15 millionaires have been made and a total of R222-million has been paid out to charity organisations.
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/ 10 January 2008
Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s bid to stop the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from proceeding with prosecution against him will be heard in the Pretoria High Court on Friday. Selebi has brought an urgent application seeking more information about the charges the NPA intends levelling against him.
Gerrie Nel, the head of the Directorate of Special Operations in Gauteng — also known as the Scorpions — who was released on bail on Wednesday following his dramatic arrest by police the night before, hopes to be back in his post on Thursday. Nel was arrested at his Pretoria home in front of his wife and children at about on Tuesday night.
The arrest of Gauteng Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel is a witch-hunt to protect police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, said the Democratic Alliance on Wednesday. ”The axing of Vusi Pikoli and now Gerrie Nel has all the appearance of a witch-hunt to protect Selebi,” said DA spokesperson on Safety and Security Dianne Kohler Barnard.
Shortages of teachers and textbooks and belated efforts to enrol children were some of the problems plaguing public schools on the first day of term on Wednesday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said. ”It’s clear that the shortage of classrooms and teachers is dire. One teacher told us that there are between 60 and 70 children to one class.”
The legal team of arrested Gauteng Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel began an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday for his release. ”The police did not play open cards when they asked for his arrest,” said Nel’s lawyer Ian Small Smith shortly before the application.
Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel was arrested at his Pretoria home on charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice on Tuesday night, his attorney Ian Small Smith confirmed on Wednesday. Nel was arrested by about 20 armed policemen in front of his wife and children at his home at around 9pm on Tuesday.
The number of fatalities on South African roads over the festive season decreased by 13,26%, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday. He was releasing the Arrive Alive campaign’s figures for the holiday season from December 1 to January 6. The number of people killed on the roads had declined to 1Â 419.
The ANC’s national executive committee elected its 28-member national working committee (NWC) on Monday. Get the complete list of NWC members here, as well as the names of the eight ANC members who will form part of the ad hoc committee to draw up a report on the arms deal.
The weeding out of apparent corruption in the Gauteng education department was to blame for textbook order delays for the 2008 school year, Gauteng provincial minister of education Angie Motshekga said on Tuesday. ”We had our own internal challenges,” she said at a media briefing in central Johannesburg about the department’s readiness for 2008.
The December holidays always bring turmoil and carnage to South African roads, but this year has seen the number of road fatalities reduced by 18%. Statistics released by the Department of Transport for last month show that the number of deaths had dropped by 263 from the previous year.
A determined search by internet-coordinated volunteers on Saturday found the body of pilot Dirk Boosyen 11 days after he went missing in the Bavianskloof region of the Eastern Cape, police said on Sunday. ”They discovered the burnt-out wreck at about 6pm [on Saturday] in the Matjiesfontien farm in the Baviaanskloof area on the peaks of the mountain,” said Captain John Fobian.
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/ 28 December 2007
Brenthurst Clinic in Parktown, Jo’burg, was the one of the first clinics to allow single women to have babies.
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/ 27 December 2007
Over 20 000 Gauteng matric pupils who attended public schools failed their final exams, Gauteng’s provincial minister of education said on Thursday. ”It is indeed sad to have 21 572 learners failing their matric,” Angie Motshekga said.
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/ 27 December 2007
The retail price of all grades of petrol will remain unchanged on Wednesday January 2 from a previous increase of 43 cents a litre, the Department of Minerals and Energy announced on Thursday. The retail price of a litre of 95 octane unleaded petrol in Gauteng remains at R7,47, and R7,23 at the coast — new highs set in December.
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/ 25 December 2007
Black outs could put the entertainment industry into the red, writes Zahira Kharsany.
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/ 24 December 2007
A national plan is in place to give thousands of matriculants who are not expected to pass this year a second chance, a newspaper reported on Monday. ”Education departments confirmed on Sunday that the plan was being finalised at provincial level,” the report in Beeld said.
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/ 24 December 2007
Santa Claus will have to slide down slippery chimneys on Christmas Day as thunderstorms are expected in most parts of South Africa on Tuesday. Rain and thunderstorms across several parts of the country have been predicted by the South African Weather Service.
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/ 24 December 2007
Gauteng drownings are a cause for concern, as the province’s number of instances of drowning is higher than on the coast, provincial minister of local government Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu said on Monday. Mahlangu said 15 more people have recently drowned in Gauteng than at the coast.
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/ 22 December 2007
At least 10 people were killed and more than 20 injured in a collision when a bus ploughed into the trailer of a stationary truck near Estcourt in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Saturday morning, paramedics and the provincial road traffic inspectorate said. Of those injured, eight were in a critical condition.
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/ 20 December 2007
South Africa’s second-largest housing market, the Western Cape, continued to have the lowest house price inflation in the country, fresh data showed on Thursday. Price inflation in the province dropped from 12% in July to 11% in August, the Lightstone residential property index showed.
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/ 19 December 2007
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An attempt to get the principle of gender parity elevated to the top structures of the ANC was trounced on Monday night, the Mail & Guardian has learned.
The policy, also known as the 50/50 principle, is a steep change in empowerment in the ANC and requires that every alternative position available for leadership be reserved for a female candidate.
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/ 19 December 2007
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=ancconference_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/327874/livefrompolo.gif" align=left border=0></a>Did the ANC fatten up for the slaughter in Polokwane? An audit of membership statistics suggests the wholesale recruitment of new members to boost the girth of provincial delegations has played — and will play — a role in the outcomes at Limpopo.
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/ 19 December 2007
Gauteng’s economy remained under pressure in November although strong performances were reported in several sectors. The Gauteng business barometer decreased by 2,7% to 142 index points, compared with November last year. However, it is 1% higher than the level of one month ago.
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/ 18 December 2007
More than 560 people have died on South African roads since the beginning of December, the Department of Transport said on Tuesday. At least 119 people were killed in accidents in Gauteng, 86 in KwaZulu-Natal, 58 in the Western Cape, 70 in the Eastern Cape, 52 in the Free State, 74 in Mpumalanga, 51 in Limpopo and seven in the Northern Cape.
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/ 18 December 2007
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A third day of cool, rainy weather in Polokwane did little to quench the fiery support for the front-runners in the ANC presidential race: Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Voting for the party’s top six officials started later than the scheduled time of 6am on Tuesday morning due to computer-related delays.
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/ 18 December 2007
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=ancconference_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/327874/livefrompolo.gif" align=left border=0></a>Membership of the African National Congress has grown to 620Â 000 members from 416Â 000 members in 2002. A national conference, the most powerful gathering of the party, is a perfect opportunity to assess who makes up the ANC. Who is the typical ANC member and what do they believe in?
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/ 18 December 2007
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Secretary-general of the ANC Kgalema Motlanthe spared no punches when he presented his organisational report to the national conference this week. Mandy Rossouw looks at which provinces came out tops and which need to take a long hard look at themselves.
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/ 18 December 2007
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President Thabo Mbeki’s team fought back after a first day of humiliation at the ANC’s 52nd national conference at Polokwane, holding an unprecedented rally at lunchtime. Jacob Zuma’s people responded with an even bigger rally. The Mbeki rally was part of a package of measures to turn back the voting gains of deputy president Jacob Zuma, who is set to take the top job.