Gauteng

The retail price of petrol will decline by 50c to 51c per litre from Wednesday October 4, the Department of Minerals and Energy said on Friday. The retail price of Petrol 91 ULP will fall by 51c a litre, while that of 93 and 95 ULP and LRP will fall by 50c a litre. The wholesale price of diesel 0,05% sulphur will decline by 34c a litre (c/l) and that of 0,005% sulphur will fall by 37c/l on the same date.

The Gautrain link between OR Tambo International airport and Sandton will be finished in time for the Soccer World Cup in 2010, Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said at a sod-turning ceremony for the project on Thursday. ”Bombela [International Consortium] has given me their assurance that we will be well in time for the Soccer World Cup,” Shilowa said at Alexandra in Johannesburg.

Gauteng public servant Crish Naidu has been paid R1,25-million in the past 27 months for doing nothing, media reports said on Thursday. Naidu was suspended after uncovering alleged fraud involving at least six members of staff. He worked as director of management services in the department of finance and economic affairs, with a monthly salary of R46 000.

Following rigorous testing of multi-drug resistance tuberculosis patients, the Gauteng department of health has confirmed six cases of extreme drug-resistance tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in Gauteng, the province said in a statement on Tuesday. ”Three of these patients are already receiving medical care at Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital,” the statement said.

Community and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) voiced anger on Tuesday over the disbanding of several Gauteng police protection units. ”We have worked so hard and for so long to establish an environment where victims of abuse feel safe enough to report, and this disbandment reverses what we’ve done,” said Miranda Friedmann, director of Women and Men against Child Abuse.

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) vice-president Lucia Matibenga and a colleague, who suffered police beatings last week, have been admitted to the trauma unit of a Gauteng clinic, the Congress of South African Trade Unions said on Thursday.

Gauteng police will be reinforced by 3 011 additional members, the provincial minister for community safety said on Thursday. ”This will increase Gauteng’s capacity [to fight crime in the province] by 15% in terms of additional detectives and 8% in terms of visible policing,” said Firoz Cachalia. Cachalia was briefing media in Johannesburg on the province’s safety plan.

Crime in Gauteng is unacceptably high, a recent provincial lekgotla (meeting) attended by premier Mbhazima Shilowa agreed. It impacted negatively on quality of life and was a threat to development, Shilowa told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday. ”The retreat agreed that government and all law-enforcement agencies must adopt a zero-tolerance approach to crime.”

Gauteng detectives have confiscated R2-million-worth of perlemoen (abalone) in sting operations around the province, police said on Friday. ”The abalone was seized at Mondeor, Crystal Park and Lyttelton,” said Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini of the national police commissioner’s office.

The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) has accused the police of trying to murder one of its Gauteng officials by shooting him — possibly with rubber bullets — at close range in Johannesburg on Tuesday. Oupa Mbhele was wounded four times in his knees and lower legs and underwent surgery at the Garden City Clinic, where he was in a serious condition.

Tree felling in Rosebank and Sandton will begin this week to make way for the Gautrain, the company said on Monday. Golden trumpet trees will be removed along Sturdee Avenue in Rosebank and one lane of the road will be closed to traffic during off-peak times, said Barbara Jensen, spokesperson for Gautrain Rapid Rail Link.