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/ 20 September 2007
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
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
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Thursday rejected the proposed shortlist of candidates to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board. An emergency resolution was brought before the union body’s central committee in Kempton Park, Gauteng, by three member unions.
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/ 20 September 2007
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
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.
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/ 19 September 2007
The special investigating unit (SIU) on Wednesday confirmed it is investigating thousands of government officials believed to have fraudulently received housing subsidies. In its initial findings, the SIU identified 53 000 public servants receiving housing subsidies, for which more than 31 000 did not qualify.
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/ 19 September 2007
The growing number of violent incidents in schools stems from problems within society and parents being too lenient, the Gauteng African National Congress’s education sub-committee said on Wednesday. ”We need good role models in society to be able to influence children,” said sub-committee chairperson Amon Msane.
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/ 18 September 2007
The mother of a schoolboy who was stabbed to death on the weekend is a senior Gauteng education official, the department confirmed on Tuesday. Mfundo Ntshangase, a grade 11 pupil at King Edward VII high school, was stabbed seven times by pupils from another school at a party on Sunday.
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/ 18 September 2007
A distraught Randburg mother determined to meet the teenagers arrested after her son was stabbed to death was advised against it by police on Tuesday. ”I want to see for myself that the culprits … were arrested and are behind bars,” Nonhlanhla Ntshangase said. Her 18-year-old son, Mfundo, was stabbed seven times by pupils from another school at a party on Sunday.
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/ 17 September 2007
When Ahmed Mursal was held up by a drug-desperate gunman in the tuckshop where he was working in the Cape Flats township of Delft, he offered to buy the gun for R250. He told the gunman he could pay only R30 then, but would speak to his Somali brothers, one of whom was sure to want to buy the gun. If the gunman brought the gun the next day, Mursal would pay the balance of R220. The gunman accepted.
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/ 15 September 2007
As the floor-crossing window drew to a close on Saturday, sole Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) representative in the national legislature, Motsoko Pheko, denounced the floor-crossing practice as ”political prostitution”. ”Floor-crossing cheats voters — it robs them of the mandate they have given to a political party of their choice,” he said.
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/ 15 September 2007
The judiciary must and should always be independent from the executive and Parliament, and be resistant to influence from any quarter, African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Saturday. In an address to the Gauteng Law Council, he said the country should guard against passing legislation that could give investigating powers to the judicial system.
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/ 14 September 2007
Twins Danielle and Danika Lowton were doing well a week after the operation that separated them, the Arwyp Hospital said on Friday. Spokesperson Henry du Plooy said Dr Wale Adedipe, Arwyp Medical Centre’s resident neurosurgeon, reported that the twins were doing ”very well” after he visited them on Friday.
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/ 13 September 2007
Since the beginning of the year not a single illegal farm eviction has been reported to farming union AgriSA, it said in a statement on Thursday. The union was responding to remarks by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Dirk du Toit that farmers who illegally evicted tenant workers would have their land expropriated.
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/ 13 September 2007
Transnet Pipelines has been given the go-ahead to construct a petroleum pipeline from Durban to Gauteng, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) said on Thursday. Expected to cost R11-billion to build, it will carry petrol and diesel and is expected to come into use in the third quarter of 2010, said spokesperson Wanda Langenhoven.
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/ 12 September 2007
The recent water shortage at Gauteng’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is over after repairs were made to a burst water pipe. Some sections, including the entire theatre block, at the large Soweto hospital had been without water since last week Wednesday.
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/ 12 September 2007
Mpumalanga and North West have spent R166-million on strike recovery measures, Education Minister Naledi Pandor told the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday. Replying to oral questions, Pandor said Mpumalanga had spent R96-million on teacher remuneration for Saturday and holiday classes.
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/ 12 September 2007
Samson Mashaba struggles to retain his sense of humour as he waits to see his doctor. ”If you’re unlucky, you’ll die standing here,” says the 69-year-old as he surveys the queue ahead of him at a rural hospital in Mpumalanga. While South Africa may boast some of the finest hospitals on the continent in cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town, rural healthcare is dogged by a lack of cash, personnel and facilities.
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/ 11 September 2007
Taxi violence is disturbing and must be curbed in order to build confidence in the taxi industry, the Gauteng registrar for public transport said on Tuesday. ”We all come to the point of saying enough is enough and let us stop the carnage. Let us all bring back confidence in the taxi industry,” Sam Ledwaba told a media conference in Johannesburg.
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/ 8 September 2007
The violent nature of many recent protests was a major concern, said Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa on Monday. He was briefing the media in Johannesburg on the recent Gauteng Extended Executive Council lekgotla. ”Many [protests] were characterised by street blockades, the burning of tyres and the destruction of property.”
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/ 8 September 2007
Separated conjoined twins Danielle and Danika Lowton remained in a stable condition on Saturday having survived a successful 16-hour operation to separate them. Arwyp Medical Centre Private Hospital spokesperson Henry du Plooy said the twins were being monitored constantly.
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/ 7 September 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is looking at the legality of the Tshwane metro council’s reported ban on ”white businesses”, and the matter could even end up in the Constitutional Court, DA leader Helen Zille said on Friday. ”Such a resolution amounts to naked racism and flies in the face of the Constitution,” she said in her weekly online newsletter, SA Today.
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/ 6 September 2007
After years of waiting, thousands of people who lodged a claim to have their land at Wallmansthal, north of Pretoria, returned to them will on Saturday receive the deeds of their stands. The land set to be restored measures 4 186ha. Approximately 4 270 people will benefit from the settlement, the Land Claims Commission said on Thursday.
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/ 6 September 2007
”Regardless of the BEE types’ penchant for emaciated white girls whose figures might be attributed to the sort of galloping bulimia offensive to any self-respecting peasant living below the bread line, it is time to ensure transformation occurs at all levels of society. Including the air-heads,” writes Niren Tolsi.
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/ 5 September 2007
Soweto residents who protested violently over housing earlier this week should not be misinformed and misled, Gauteng housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane warned on Wednesday. The Anti-Privatisation Forum claims that the government had promised residents in 1994 that houses would be built in the Protea South area.
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/ 5 September 2007
The Pan African Congress (PAC) on Wednesday became the first casualty of the floor-crossing season as its former deputy president launched a new party. Themba Godi announced the launch of the African People’s Convention (APC) at a hotel near Kempton Park. APC spokesperson Mafemane Maringa said the party had been joined by 40 councillors.
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/ 5 September 2007
South Africa’s most wanted ATM suspect has been linked to nine ATM bombings across the country so far, police said on Wednesday. Police spokesperson Captain Thulani Zwane said he had been linked to nine bombings in areas including Vereeniging and Soweto in Gauteng and northern KwaZulu-Natal.
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/ 5 September 2007
"I know this might sound corny, but the sound of the Aston Martin Vantage Roadster’s V8 engine gave me indescribable pleasure. Yes, I’ve driven V8s, V10s and even a V12-engined vehicle before, but none has ever sounded as viciously sweet as this," writes Sukasha Singh.
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/ 4 September 2007
The matric exam season is upon us. And once again it is the fate of black children that hangs precariously in the balance; it is they who will be hardest hit by the interruption in classes earlier this year during the public-service strike. More worrying, however, is the silence of their parents on the matters that affect their children.
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/ 4 September 2007
The embattled Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) has suffered a further blow with the defection of its deputy president Themba Godi and two MPLs to the newly formed African People’s Convention (APC). Godi’s move to the APC was announced by National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete at the start of proceedings on Tuesday.
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/ 4 September 2007
The Gauteng branch of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) will go to the police to find out whether Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya applied for amnesty over political activities during apartheid, the organisation said on Monday. Earlier this month, Sanco asked the National Prosecuting Authority whether Makhanya had applied for amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
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/ 3 September 2007
Information and communication technology (ICT) in South Africa is expected to get a boost from the 2010 Soccer World Cup, with infrastructure providers and local government spending billions to ensure a successful tournament, according to key players at the recent ICT Journalist Media Forum.