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/ 12 October 2007
Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi has pledged his full cooperation with a panel of experts named on Friday to review a criminal probe against him. ”As an individual, I will fully cooperate with the members of the panel as announced … by the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority],” Selebi said in a statement.
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/ 12 October 2007
The names of the panel expected to review the case against police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi were released on Friday. The Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Moktedi Mpshe, said the panel would be made up of Frank Dutton, advocate Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Peter Goss and advocate Shamila Batohi.
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/ 11 October 2007
More than 200-million litres of raw sewage have spilled into three rivers in Gauteng, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Thursday. The Apies, Hennops and Pienaars rivers were all affected. The broadcaster reported that the spillage had been caused by power failures at sewerage works.
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/ 11 October 2007
Polokwane will be a busy town come December with an expected 4Â 500 delegates, both voting and non-voting, attending the African National Congress’s (ANC) 52nd national conference. Smuts Ngonyama, head of the presidency of the ANC, on Thursday updated the media in Johannesburg on preparations for the conference.
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/ 10 October 2007
Sasol and a conservation group clashed on Wednesday, with the petrochemical giant denying building in an environmentally sensitive area without permission. Environment and Conservation Association chairperson Nicole Barlow accused Sasol of erecting luxury offices, without authorisation, along the Natalspruit River in Germiston on Gauteng’s East Rand.
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/ 10 October 2007
No individual’s opinion on who should be elected to the African National Congress’ national leadership took precedence in Gauteng, the party’s new provincial chairperson Paul Mashatile said on Tuesday. Mashatile, reportedly a backer of ANC presidential hopeful Tokyo Sexwale, beat Angie Motshekga in the race to become chairperson at the conference on Sunday.
A high-occupancy vehicle lane between Southgate Mall and the Crown Interchange will be piloted on the M1 North from October 15 to 19, the Gauteng department of public transport, roads and works said on Tuesday. This is part of the ”Transport Month Campaign” in Gauteng.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has apparently thrown her weight behind leading businessman Tokyo Sexwale for the African National Congress presidency. Meanwhile, audited ANC membership figures have confirmed the Eastern Cape as the party’s strongest province, media reports said on Tuesday.
Police have rejected as a hoax an email detailing how women are raped in mall toilets, Superintendent Eugene Opperman said on Tuesday. He said the email claims that women are being raped and robbed of their valuables and clothing while in mall restrooms in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Heavy rains are set to continue over Gauteng for the next two days, clearing up on Friday and continuing at the weekend, the South African Weather Service said on Tuesday. ”There will be showers over the weekend, and I can’t rule out the possibility of heavy rains,” said forecaster Evert Scholtz.
The number of deaths in police custody or as a result of police action increased by 11% compared with the same period last year, a report by the Independent Complaints Directorate revealed on Monday. A total of 698 deaths occurred between April 2006 and March 2007, compared with 621 casualties in 2005/06.
Motorists will end up footing the R55-billion bill for the upgrading of Gauteng’s highways, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe announced on Monday. ”This project will be financed through the ‘user-pay’ principle, and it will allow our roads to be funded, without resorting to the national fiscus for such projects,” said Radebe.
Emails suggesting that a severe storm with a tornado was to hit Johannesburg and surrounds on Monday afternoon were "greatly exaggerated", the South African Weather Service said. One email on Monday read: "Please be careful as a tornado dropped in Randfontein on Saturday and is expected today."
Hundreds of University of Johannesburg students were protesting on their campuses on Monday morning, Gauteng police confirmed. Police spokesperson Constable Sefako Xaba said police had been called to the campus on Bunting Road where about 200 students had gathered.
South African President Thabo Mbeki came under mounting pressure over the weekend to explain his suspension of the country’s top prosecutor, a controversial move weeks before a crunch vote on his leadership of the African National Congress (ANC).
Forsaking high office in order to build the organisation should be the highest honour for members of the African National Congress (ANC), said the ruling party’s national treasurer Mendi Msimang on Saturday. ”Election to high office in the ANC should not be regarded as a stepping stone to government position or the accumulation of wealth,” he said.
COUNTERPOINT: One can only conclude that the decision on Zuma was politically palatable to the president, whereas the decision on Selebi was not. The suspension of National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli represents a profound crisis of governance, writes Sam Sole.
The government has ten days to submit its reports to an official inquiry on why National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli is not fit to hold office, former speaker of the National Assembly Frene Ginwala said on Thursday. These reports would be examined at an official hearing into Pikoli’s fitness to hold office.
Telephone bills and furniture were prioritised over hospital equipment at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the national and provincial health departments said on Thursday. In a joint statement, the departments cited ”deficiencies on the management side” as the reason the hospital did not have required equipment.
The South African Human Rights Commission has spoken out against children’s rights violations at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, where newborn babies were put in a cardboard box. ”The commission reiterates that section 10 of the Bill of Rights provides that everyone has inherent dignity,” spokesperson Vincent Moaga said in a statement on Thursday.
One year into the construction of railways of South Africa’s first partly underground express train, the focus is on the completion of routes that are crucial for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Transport Minister Jeff Radebe visited the sites of the Johannesburg and Rosebank rail tracks and stations on Wednesday.
President Thabo Mbeki must not be re-elected for a third term as party leader, the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) in Gauteng said on Wednesday. "We reject the notion of two centres of power … whoever is elected as the ANC president must be the president of the country," said secretary general Lebogang Maile.
South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) members are expected to converge on the Labour Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday to hear a final ruling on a secondary strike. Union spokesperson Dumisani Langa said if the court ruled in their favour, they would rope in other Gauteng municipalities to join the strike.
Most of us barely cope with the day-to-day onslaught that technology brings. Everything is faster, but not necessarily better. The inaugural, 2007 Flux Trend Review was held in Jo’burg recently and offered delegates an opportunity to hit the pause button and get a sense of "the state we’re in" by editing out the barrage of information flung at us.
Athletics South Africa responded on Tuesday to an article that appeared in Rapport newspaper on September 30 regarding the non-ratification of Karen Mey’s recent long-jump South African record of 6,93m, achieved on July 7 in Bad Langensaiza, Germany.
There was still no word on whether Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) veterans would get voting rights at the upcoming African National Congress (ANC) national conference, the MK Military Veterans’ Association (MKVA) said on Tuesday. ”We are trying to get representation at the conference,” said newly elected MKVA president Kebby Maphatsoe.
The second day of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) strike in Johannesburg has had little impact on service delivery, city officials said on Tuesday. City spokesperson Gabu Tugwana said the first day saw about 1 500 marchers — 50% of which were from the Johannesburg metro police department.
Striking Johannesburg municipal workers will not be marching along the city’s streets on Tuesday — because it’s raining. ”We will gather outside the Metro Centre for a short while to hand over another part of our memorandum and that will be it,” South African Municipal Workers’ Union spokesperson Dumisani Langa said.
The new Toyota Corolla appeals at a more primal level than pure logic dictates. It’s better looking by far than its predecessor, having lost that chunky styling, and it’s fun to drive. The car feels like a quality European offering, and even the base model is pretty well specced. Gavin Foster reports.
This is the story of Jabu Nyembe. Jabu was born and raised in Zola, Soweto, just as the 1960s were coming to an end. He lived an interesting life. Especially for one who died when he was only 15. Jabu was my cousin. He was also a thug. The streets gave him the name Mgedla. He always was a problem child. Before he was 10, he had quit school and he returned many times.
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/ 28 September 2007
The retail price of 91 unleaded and 93 unleaded and lead-replacement petrol will rise by 9 cents a litre on Wednesday October 3, the Department of Minerals and Energy announced on Friday. The price of 95 unleaded and lead-replacement petrol will increase by 10 cents a litre. The wholesale price of diesel — all grades — will rise by 23 cents a litre.
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/ 28 September 2007
Heavy storms hit North West province on Wednesday and Thursday, damaging dozens of houses and killing livestock, said the provincial department of local government and housing on Friday. In Gauteng, several areas suffered power failures on Thursday as gusting winds and heavy rainfall swept through the province.