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.
The Gauteng government’s attempt to negotiate with violent taxi organisations sent out the wrong message about crime, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. The DA’s Gauteng transport spokesperson, James Swart, said bus drivers in Alexandra in Johannesburg had been attacked recently.
Education Minister Naledi Pandor and leaders of teachers’ unions will meet on Tuesday to discuss an education recovery plan designed to help pupils catch up on the 10 days of schooling missed during the recent public-sector strike. Also expected to be discussed is a review of the results of the interrupted June examinations.
The Gauteng department of health believes that the chances of recovering at least 40% of R426-million in outstanding patient fees is ”doubtful”, the department said on Monday. Steps taken to recover the money include having a credit bureau verify patient details because some patients avoid providing the correct details to evade payment.
A total of R22-billion will be spent in the next seven years on upgrading and expanding Gauteng’s highways. The Ben Schoeman highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria will get an additional lane in each direction and two lanes will be added to the R21 highway in each direction.
African National Congress (ANC) president and head of state Thabo Mbeki says he will stand for a third term as head of the organisation if asked to do so by its leadership. The ANC policy conference that ended on Saturday produced a compromise resolution on this and several other high-profile issues.
A pilot had to be airlifted to hospital by helicopter on Friday afternoon after he crashed his light aircraft into a tree outside Tzaneen, said Limpopo police. Superintendent Ronel Otto said the pilot was practising for an annual air show in Tzaneen on Saturday when he developed problems with the plane.
SA’s own dramatic tenor comes home for performances in Johannesburg and Cape Town, writes Dillon Davie
Thursday was described as the ”toughest yet” by a delegate at the African National Congress (ANC) policy conference in Midrand. ”It was the toughest … there are different views in terms of the decision to nominate a presidential candidate,” said Ernest Makopo from Gauteng.
African National Congress (ANC) delegates attending the party’s policy conference in Midrand agreed there is still a need for the tripartite alliance, national executive committee member Joel Netshitenzhe said on Thursday. The alliance should be made up of the social movement, trade-union movement and the revolution movement.
”Very cold” conditions were expected to persist over some parts of the country, the South African Weather Service warned on Thursday. The Eastern Cape, eastern Free State, Lesotho, western KwaZulu-Natal and Highveld areas of Gauteng and Mpumalanga would be affected, according to the service’s website.
Freezing weather and snowfalls in parts of South Africa have seen the death of a homeless man in Johannesburg, the delay of airline flights and the closure of mountain passes. Snowfalls left more than 300 bus passengers and 20 truck drivers trapped between Harding and Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal.
The number of community-service doctors in Gauteng will be reduced from 202 at present to 45 next year, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Wednesday. ”This is a 78% cut that is bound to adversely affect health services,” said the party’s health spokesperson for the province, Jack Bloom.
Johannesburg’s first real snowfall in more than 20 years and the freezing temperatures that accompanied it claimed at least one life on Wednesday morning. Motorists were warned to avoid all passes in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday due to snowfalls, the South African Weather Service said.
Delegates were on Wednesday morning filling up the ballroom at Gallagher Estate, venue of the African National Congress’s (ANC) policy conference in a bitterly cold Midrand, Gauteng, raising the roof with song. About 1Â 500 delegates are expected to attend the four-day conference, due to be opened by President Thabo Mbeki.
President Thabo Mbeki is to deliver the opening address at the African National Congress’s policy conference in a bitterly cold Midrand, Gauteng, where delegates started arriving on Wednesday morning. The conference takes place against intense behind-the-scenes jockeying over the leadership of the party, and coincides with a bitter public-service strike.
Many residents of Gauteng woke up on Wednesday morning to a layer of snow turning lawns, rooftops and cars white, while the South African Weather Service predicted a freezing day with temperatures staying below eight degrees Celsius in Johannesburg. A number of roads in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal were closed to motorists due to snow on Wednesday morning.
Severe cold and more snow is to hit large parts of the country later on Tuesday and Wednesday, the South African Weather Service has warned. It said temperatures will drop as low as minus nine degrees Celsius in places such as Sutherland in the Northern Cape. The town was blanketed in snow on Monday.
Gauteng’s development programmes are not only about readiness for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said on Tuesday. ”We must avoid creating the impression that our programmes are driven by the desire to prepare for the 2010 World Cup,” Shilowa said in his budget speech to the provincial legislature.
Confusion reigned at a press conference of the Western Cape branch of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Cape Town on Tuesday. After calling a media briefing on the ”suspension” of the public-service strike, Cosatu organiser in the province Mike Louw told journalists: ”We’re not suspending the strike.”
A national warning was issued by the South African Weather Service on Monday morning with regards to a strong cold front affecting the country this week. Already prevalent in the south-western Cape, the cold, windy conditions are expected to sweep across the central interior of the country on Tuesday.
An initiation-school surgeon was arrested following the death of two initiates in Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, the health department said on Sunday. Meanwhile, in Gauteng, a 15-year-old boy was found dead by fellow circumcision initiates at a mountain between De Deur and Orange Farm on Sunday morning.
Gauteng residents should brace themselves for a strong cold front and isolated showers accompanied by wind in the coming week, the National Forecast Centre said on Sunday. Forecasters said the chilly weather should be expected in the middle of the week, with chances of light isolated showers on Tuesday.