Gauteng

Many Gauteng schools are experiencing a shortage of qualified teachers, the South African Teachers’ Union (SAOU) said on Wednesday. However, the education department has rejected the statement by the teacher body, saying there is no shortage. SAOU provincial spokesperson Carel Cronje said an increasing number of principals are experiencing problems in finding suitable teachers.

Mixed reaction continued to be expressed on Tuesday following weekend reports that First National Bank had shelved its anti-crime campaign that invited people to write to President Thabo Mbeki. Most Gauteng newspapers condemned the withdrawal the bank’s multimillion-rand campaign as a cowardly act.

Most Gauteng newspapers have condemned the withdrawal of First National Bank’s (FNB) multimillion-rand anti-crime campaign as a cowardly act. They also accused the government and big business of using bullying tactics in the matter. FNB’s R20-million campaign involved print, television and radio advertisements.

Gauteng provincial minister for community safety Firoz Cachalia has denied pledging to quit if crime levels did not decline in a provincial police operation, dubbed Iron Fist. Cachalia said on Friday he was asked by a journalist at a press conference at the launch of the operation if he would consider resigning should crime not decrease.

Gauteng’s provincial community safety minister Firoz Cachalia will on Friday provide feedback on the crime-prevention operation he launched six months ago, his spokesperson said. ”The briefing will take place at Prime Media offices in Sandton tomorrow [Friday],” said Phumla Sekhonyane.

Making former prisons chief Linda Mti 2010 World Cup security chief is ”inappropriate” and ”a national disgrace”, opposition parties said on Wednesday. ”How is it that the LOC [local organising committee] saw fit to appoint a man whose professional reputation is in tatters?” asked Democratic Alliance MP James Masango in a statement.

Former prisons chief Linda Mti has been appointed as head of 2010 Soccer World Cup security, the local organising committee confirmed on Tuesday. ”He took up his post in January,” spokesperson Tumi Makgabo said. Also on Tuesday, Gauteng police said that a case against Mti for alleged drunken driving had been struck off the court roll.

A former Miss South Africa finalist and her husband are due in court in Welkom on Monday on drug charges. Taryn Thompson — who was also Miss Goldfield in 1999 — and her husband, Bruce Dallas, were allegedly caught at Thompson’s parents’ home with drugs and ingredients to make drugs.

Gauteng provincial minister of safety Firoz Cachalia must provide figures of each major crime category when he releases feedback on his six-month initiative to bring crime under control in the province, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday. Cachalia launched ”Operation Iron Fist” in July 2006, pledging to resign if it can be found that he has failed to control crime levels.

Popular Afrikaans musician Anton Goosen was robbed of R584 000-worth of personal belongings by four armed men at his house in Hennopsrivier Valley near Hartbeespoort Dam, Gauteng police said on Thursday. The men made off with Goosen’s pistol, a DVD player, a TV set, a laptop computer, CDs and an undisclosed amount of money, spokesperson Captain Julia Klaasen said.

Expired medicines were given to only one patient at the Johannesburg Hospital, the Gauteng department of health said on Tuesday. ”We checked the records and this is clearly an isolated incident,” said the department’s chief operating officer, Abdul Rahman.

Ten people have been arrested for the possession of six tonnes of abalone with a street value of R10-million, Gauteng police said on Sunday. ”Police investigations are continuing and police are investigating the possibility that they have been operating as a syndicate,” Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said.

Parties who have not lodged a notice to appeal against the Gautrain viaduct to be built through Centurion can no longer do so, the Gauteng provincial government said this week. ”People were given time to lodge notice of intention … That period is now over,” said spokesperson for the Gauteng department of agriculture, conservation and environment Sizwe Matshikiza.

More than 3 500kg of toxic waste has been illegally dumped in a landfill site in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg, since late December. Working in the scorching heat at the Walkerville de Deur landfill site on Tuesday, the IFRT Spill Response team had to plough through metres of stinking garbage to locate two bags, weighing about 50kg each.