The tiny kingdom of Lesotho is the unlikely venue for ambitious plans to create the number one destination for skiers in Africa. "This is going to be the biggest ski resort in Africa," says Ollie Esplin, manager of the Afri-Ski resort, as he tries to explain how to minimise the risks of meltdown in Lesotho’s picturesque Mahlasela Valley.
The Gauteng provincial housing department has pledged R85-million towards the development of four hostels in the province. Provincial housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane held talks with African National Congress and Inkatha Freedom Party supporters who lived in hostels where a number of protests took place earlier this month.
Bekkersdal community leaders were urged by Gauteng housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane on Saturday to support the government’s planned relocation of 14 000 families from the informal settlement. Eighty percent of Bekkersdal residents will be relocated.
Eleven people were reported by police to have burnt to death in fires that engulfed parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal on Friday. In Mpumalanga, a holidaying Johannesburg couple were burnt beyond recognition after trying to escape an enormous fire that ripped through a tourist lodge on Friday night.
Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi says there is not a ”shred of evidence” to support the contention he gave instructions to members of his party to commit ”murder and destruction” in KwaZulu-Natal during the late 1980s. Responding to a Sunday Times column, he said on Friday he could not ignore certain ”serious charges” made against him.
Mozambique’s state-run railway company said on Friday it was investing -million to upgrade its fleet in a move to cut -million in wagon hiring fees charged by rail freight firm Spoornet. CFM, which operates the African nation’s railways and ports, plans to refurbish 820 refurbished wagons with the investment.
The retail price of all grades of petrol will fall by 15c per litre (c/l) on Wednesday August 1, the Department of Minerals and Energy announced on Friday. This follows an 8c/l fall on July 4 and a 23c/l rise that took effect on June 6. The latest changes bring the retail price of a litre of 95 octane unleaded petrol in Gauteng to 701c/l and to 677c/l at the coast.
Soweto’s Dube hostel — plagued in recent weeks by violent protests against poor service delivery — resembles a ghost town. Washing swaying in the wind is the only sign of life, along with the dank smell of urine mingled with that of burnt rubbish.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has warned taxpayers against applying for deductions for private household security as a form of protesting against crime. Honest, non-suspecting taxpayers could, as a result, end up committing a crime themselves, Sars warned in a statement on Wednesday.
Hospital group Netcare has denied allegations that private hospitals are presenting inflated invoices to medical-aid schemes. It was responding to a report in the Star newspaper that alleged that private hospitals inflate device and materials invoices when presenting them to medical-aid schemes.
A 28-year-old man is expected to appear in court in connection with the hijacking of Judy Sexwale outside a school last week, Gauteng police said on Wednesday. Police spokesperson Sergeant Sanku Tsunke said the man would appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. He faces charges of armed robbery and hijacking.
Protests in Soweto against poor service delivery should be a warning to the government that people were losing patience, the Independent Democrats said on Tuesday. Party leader Patricia de Lille said that while people understood the history and the backlog of service delivery, they were no longer willing to accept that there was not enough money.
A man who allegedly claimed over the internet to have had sex with a number of prominent South Africans appeared in the Kroonstad Magistrate’s Court on Monday. District court prosecutor Tanya Buitendag confirmed that Juan Uys appeared in court in connection with a warrant of arrest for theft in the Western Cape.
The man allegedly behind bizarre internet sex claims against prominent South Africans will probably be transferred from Kroonstad to Cape Town sometime this week, said police. Juan Duval Uys (39) was arrested at the home he shared with his mother in Kroonstad on Saturday after a months-long investigation.
Inspectors have found that the Mittal Steel company contravenes environmental laws at their facilties in Vereeniging, the Environment Affairs and Tourism Department said on Thursday. Spokesperson Mava Scott said some of the company’s activities had been taking place without proper environmental authorisation.
Judy Sexwale, wife of former Gauteng premier and presidential hopeful Tokyo Sexwale, was hijacked while picking up their son from school on Wednesday. The incident took place outside St David’s Marist School in Sandton where she was threatened by three armed men who pulled her from her BMW.
Police arrested seven protesters at Soweto’s Jabulani hostel alone on Saturday for public violence in a demonstration over housing. Arrests were also made elsewhere in Soweto and in Alexandra, but the exact numbers were not yet known. Metro police fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters from the Nancefield and Dobsonville hostels.
Johannesburg metro police fired rubber bullets at Soweto hostel dwellers protesting on Saturday against a lack of service delivery. Protesting residents of the Dobsonville and Nancefield hostels took to the streets at 4.30am on Saturday along with Jabavu hostel dwellers, blockading roads with stones.
Ah, the gutter. There’s plenty of mud down there — which is what it being used in the unseemly spat between Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride and some of his officers.
Film tourism might be an ambiguous term, but it refers to the idea that every time a specific location or destination is used in a film, the film indirectly promotes the destination to its viewers. "This has been evident within the Bollywood film market," says Mark Visser of the Cape Film Commission.
A meeting to resolve a dispute about moving ambulance services and clinics in Gauteng from municipal to provincial administration ”achieved nothing” on Monday, a trade union said. The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), which opposes the move, met provincial health minister Brian Hlongwa in Johannesburg.
With global diversified mining major Xstrata having met its 2014 targets in respect of ownership by historically disadvantaged South Africans (HDSAs), and making good progress on employment equity, you would expect them to be happy with the status quo. Not entirely, writes Erik Ratshikhopha.
The efforts of Gauteng’s environment management inspectors (EMI) were highlighted at the department of agriculture, conservation and environment in Johannesburg on Monday. Provincial minister Khabisi Mosunkutu said the quest of the specialised unit was to build a safe, secure and environmentally sustainable community.
An identification system linked to a website and more publicity on indigent burial is needed for the hundreds of unclaimed bodies in Gauteng state mortuaries, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday. DA health spokesperson Jack Bloom said there were now 607 unclaimed bodies in mortuaries.
The third round of the Currie Cup played over the weekend has left many teams with more questions than answers. Western Province and the Valke will reflect on their results and wonder what they have to do to resurrect their Currie Cup campaigns.
Two youths were killed in Limpopo on Friday after they were circumcised — bringing the number of circumcision deaths to at least 17 in four provinces in the last five weeks. At least 12 deaths were reported in the Eastern Cape, three in Limpopo and one each in Gauteng and North West since the winter ”circumcision season” started.
Two suspended Ekurhuleni metro police officers arrested for assault and allegedly interfering with a colleague’s duties would be freed on Thursday to allow further investigation, prosecutors said. The two are part of a trio who are suing Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride for harassment, discrimination and constructive dismissal.
Hours after being sworn in as a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Amos ”Toenka” Matila found himself behind bars, charged with drunken driving. Matila, who is acting chairperson of the South African National Civic Organisation’s Gauteng branch, apparently drove into the back of a truck on Tuesday night.
There have been 1 600 applications for taxis in Gauteng to head for the minibus graveyard in line with the second phase of the taxi-recapitalisation programme (TRP) in the province. The provincial transport department said on Wednesday that 75 old taxis had been scrapped since the end of March.
Vodacom and the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) disputed on Wednesday the number of workers on strike at the company. The strike — over working conditions — began on Monday. Vodacom said out of its workforce of 4 302 employees, less than 120 were striking countrywide. The CWU said 1 325 were on strike.
The latest crime statistics released on Tuesday prove crime is out of control despite government assurances to the contrary, opposition parties said. ”We are alarmed at the increase in murder [2,4%], the 118% increase in bank robberies … and the sharp increase in robberies at residential premises,” Inkatha Freedom Party spokesperson Velaphi Ndlovu said.
South Africa’s population at mid-year is estimated at 47,9-million, of which approximately 24,3-million are female, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Trevor Oosterwyk said Stats SA estimated that fertility had declined from an average of 2,89 children per woman in 2001 to 2,69 children by 2007.