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/ 3 October 2007

Samwu heads for Labour Court

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.

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/ 2 October 2007

The state we’re in

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.

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/ 2 October 2007

MK veterans wait on voting-rights status

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.

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/ 2 October 2007

Rain on Jo’burg strikers’ parade

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.

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/ 2 October 2007

Toyota’s new Corolla

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.

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/ 1 October 2007

We dare not give up on our boys

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

Petrol-price hike set to hit motorists

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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/ 27 September 2007

SABC: Arrest warrant issued for Selebi

A warrant of arrest has been issued for police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Thursday. The state broadcaster said it had reliably learnt that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) obtained the warrant. NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali would not comment on the report late on Thursday afternoon.

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/ 26 September 2007

SACP ‘donor’ in court on fraud charges

The businessman who complained about an alleged cash donation to the South African Communist Party that went missing appeared in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. Charles Modise’s court appearance relates to charges of alleged fraud, forgery and defeating the ends of justice in relation to tenders awarded to him.

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/ 26 September 2007

Fraudulent land claims uncovered

At least 40 people who were given land or who were compensated under government’s land restitution programme might have made fraudulent land claims. The rightful claimants were forcibly removed from the area by apartheid authorities in the 1950s and 1960s and relocated to the KwaThema township.

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/ 25 September 2007

Gauteng highway gets onramp traffic lights

The South African National Roads Agency Limited will implement a pilot onramp metering project on four interchanges on Gauteng’s N1 Ben Schoeman highway from Wednesday. ”With ramp metering, the traffic flow on to the freeway is controlled to prevent stop-go conditions on the freeway,” a spokesperson said.

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/ 25 September 2007

New Captiva: More Hugh Grant than Bruce Willis

Last week, at the Gauteng launch of its reborn Uno, Fiat kicked off proceedings by setting us loose on a section of the Carnival City casino off-road route. This seemed a little strange until we heard that the Italian company now includes a raised-body version of the Brazilian-built hatch in its line-up, intended to make it more suitable for those pesky African and South American dirt roads.

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/ 24 September 2007

New pipeline to help ease SA fuel crunch

A -million diesel and petrol pipeline linking the Mozambican capital, Maputo, with neighbouring South Africa will be in operation by the end of 2009, an official with the company overseeing the project said on Monday. ”We will start building it in mid-2008 and it will be ready by 2009,” said an executive with pipeline firm Petroline.

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/ 20 September 2007

Gauteng hopes to fast-track housing delivery

The Gauteng housing department plans to fast-track housing delivery over the next two years, housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane announced on Thursday. This comes after the special investigating unit confirmed on Wednesday that it is investigating government officials believed to have fraudulently received housing subsidies.

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/ 20 September 2007

Rubber bullets fly at Khutsong court protest

Police fired rubber bullets at Khutsong residents protesting outside the Constitutional Court on Thursday. More than 1 000 protesters scattered into the streets of Braamfontein in Johannesburg but some later regrouped again, protesting outside the court against their municipality being included in North West province.

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/ 20 September 2007

Burn the past on National Braai Day

Monday September 24 is Heritage Day, a public holiday in South Africa. But this year it may just become more famous as National Braai Day. The day, supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, ”will allow us to get together, burn the past and cook up a succulent future”, says Jan Scannell, CEO of National Braai Day.

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/ 19 September 2007

Jo’burg taxi operators blame registrar for violence

Taxi operators on Wednesday blamed the registrar for public transport in Gauteng for violence that erupted between two taxi groups vying for the Clearwater Mall route west of Johannesburg. The Faraday Taxi Association and the Dobsonville, Roodepoort, Leratong, Johannesburg Taxi Association said the registrar had failed to decide who could use the route.