One of South Africa’s most wanted gangsters was arrested on Monday after a botched cash-in-transit heist in the East Rand’s Tsakane township, police said. Christian ”Seuntjie” van Wyk was one of eight people caught at a house in Palm Ridge in connection with the robbery, a police spokesperson said on Tuesday.
South African hotel and gaming group Sun International on Monday reported adjusted headline earnings per share (HEPS) of 546c for the year ended June — up 33% from the previous year’s 411c. Its full year diluted HEPS declined to 431c from 500 cents before.
Members of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) staged protests outside government offices around the country on Thursday. The illegal protest was part of a ”global day of action” to pressure the government on its response to HIV/Aids. However, the Department of Health said it will continue to focus on prevention in its fight against HIV/Aids.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) threatened on Thursday to escalate mass action if Merafong — a cross-border municipality — is incorporated into North West. Merafong includes Carletonville and Khutsong, which were part of Gauteng. The remainder of Merafong, including Fochville, is part of North West.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) had decided to deliberately stage illegal protests because it was tired of the government’s failure to act on HIV/Aids, it said on Thursday. ”We deliberately did not apply for permission to protest and we don’t apologise for that because we are tired of government’s inactivity in the face of the Aids pandemic,” said the TAC’s general secretary Sipho Mthathi.
In the big clash of the day Western Province on Wednesday upset defending champions Southern Gauteng by a solitary goal on the third day of the Spar Interprovincial Women’s Hockey tournament being played at the Randburg AstroTurf in Johannesburg.
Rainfall has eased in the sodden southern Cape but more is expected, said the South African Weather Service on Thursday. In the 24 hours to 8am on Thursday, the weather service recorded 11,6mm in Riversdale, compared to 28mm the day before, 4mm in George (71,5mm on Wednesday) and 18mm in Heidelberg (25mm on Wednesday).
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is remaining tight-lipped hours ahead of a planned international day of action on Thursday. ”It is a secret,” said Rukia Cornelius, the TAC’s national manager, on Wednesday. The day will see protests at South African embassies and government institutions in South Africa, the United States and Europe.
Tournament co-favourites Southern Gauteng and Western Province both had emphatic wins on the second day of the Spar Women’s Interprovincial Hockey championship being played at the Randburg Astroturf in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
A new, luxury R1-million Mercedes-Benz S500 with a special seat for short people is waiting at a Gauteng car dealer for its new owner — Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Beeld reported on Friday. The car will probably be delivered as soon as the minister returns from the International Aids Conference in Canada, the report said.
A young crocodile was spotted in the Vaal River system on Thursday morning, said the Vaal Rand police water wing. ”It was going from Klip River mouth into the Vaal River, a small one, about 1m,” said Inspector Gerrie Steyn. ”We’re going to look for that one, take it out and take it to the zoo.”
An innovative comic book catering for the deaf community has been developed by the Gay and Lesbian Archives to reach out to the deaf community regarding HIV/Aids, sexuality and rights and empowerment. The comic, aptly titled <i>Are Your Rights Respected?</i>, is part of an independent project of the South African History Archives.
Women police and metro officers handed a memorandum to Gauteng provincial minister of security Firoz Cachalia at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg on Thursday, pledging their support in the fight against crime. The event was part of Women’s Month celebrations.
Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan welcomed a new board — nine women and 15 men — to the National Arts Council (NAC) at a ceremony in Newtown in Johannesburg on Monday. ”We see the appointment of the new board as a significant development in creating a stronger NAC that will make it easier for our artists to pursue their chosen professions,” said the minister.
Three men from a Pretoria engineering company were killed and a woman critically wounded when one of the company’s directors opened fire on Friday, police said. The incident happened around 12.15pm at the Silver Unicorn offices in Sunnyside, said Gauteng police spokesperson Mary Martins-Engelbrecht.
The second phase of construction on the Gautrain will proceed in Johannesburg after judgment was reserved in a recent court application to stop work for an environmental impact report, the rail construction company said on Thursday. Last week, Pretoria residents applied to the Pretoria High court to halt construction immediately for an environmental impact report.
Fifty years ago, Sophia Williams-De Bruyn helped lead 20 000 women in a march on white-ruled South Africa’s capital in one of the first major demonstrations against the tightening of apartheid laws. Having lived more than a decade under South Africa’s multiracial democracy, Williams-De Bruyn’s outrage has barely dimmed.
Western Province got off to the best possible start at the Spar National Netball Championships in Port Elizabeth on Monday, beating defending champions Central Gauteng by 45 goals to 38 in their opening match. Central Gauteng certainly did not appear to be champion material in the first quarter.
The South African government lacks the political will to address the high levels of violent crime in the country, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday. DA leader Tony Leon said the minister of safety and security’s remark that people who whinge about crime should leave the country is reflective of a government who has lost touch with the unspeakable horrors of crime.
Disaster relief in the Eastern Cape was well under way by Saturday morning, after the province was hit this week by flooding, disaster management said. ”We relocated 7 000 people yesterday [Friday] to about 25 community halls in Port Elizabeth and East London,” said a spokesperson for the Nelson Mandela Bay municipal council.
A police officer was shot dead in Actonville, Benoni, on Friday afternoon when he confronted a man who was acting suspiciously, said North Rand police. He was on duty and in uniform when he confronted the man, who tried to run away, said Superintendent Eugene Opperman. The police officer gave chase.
The National Sea Rescue Institute borrowed a helicopter, a rubber duck and a tractor to complete two rescues and a mercy mission along the flooded coast on Friday. Meanwhile, one of 14 people rescued from the Thaba ‘Tseka mountains in Lesotho has been airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.
A full bench of the Pretoria High Court reserved judgement on Friday in an application by a Pretoria residents’ association to halt work on the Gautrain. It could take up to eight weeks before the three judges — headed by Judge President Bernard Ngoepe — give judgement in the case.
A Tuberculosis (TB) Crisis Plan to increase the number of people cured of the infection was launched on Friday by the Gauteng health department, the department said. ”In 2005 there were 18Â 275 new reported TB cases in Johannesburg alone,” said provincial health minister Brian Hlongwa in a statement.”
Four thousand train commuters were arrested for various offences during a month-long operation, mainly by police reservists in the Gauteng Metrorail system, police said on Wednesday. Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht said: ”Several people were arrested for possession and dealing in drugs …”
Fourteen people were rescued from a truck in a flooded river in Plettenberg Bay using a front-end loader, the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Wednesday. A massive cold front has brought freezing conditions and flooding to the country. Four bodies were recovered after a car was washed away in floods in George.
The question over who should give the go-ahead for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link was argued on Wednesday in the Pretoria High Court. Pretoria residents argue that neither the provincial environment minister nor the head of the Gauteng agriculture, conservation and environment department had the right to approve the Gautrain.
Light snow fell over Sandton, north of Johannesburg, on Wednesday as a cold front gripped the country. Snowflakes were also falling in Rosebank, Bryanston, Soweto and Hyde Park. ”Snow over Gauteng seems to occur once every eight to 10 years,” said weather forecaster Kevin Rae.
A massive cold front sweeping across South Africa has brought freezing conditions to much of the country, with snow reported as far north as Bloemfontein in the Free State and parts of Gauteng, as well as reports of serious flooding in the southern Cape and a tornado in Dullstroom in Mpumalanga.
South Africa’s population was estimated at approximately 47,4-million at mid-year 2006, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Tuesday. In addition, Stats SA said the estimated overall HIV-prevalence rate is approximately 11%, from less than 9% in 2001, with the HIV-positive population estimated at approximately 5,2-million.
Labour unions embroiled in a wage dispute with mining company Kumba will continue strike action until their demands are met, the unions said on Tuesday. The workers are demanding a 9% wage increase for higher earners and 10,5% for lower earners. Kumba has countered with an offer of 7% for higher earners and 8% for lower earners.
Creating jobs without damaging the environment was the only way to guarantee workers’ livelihoods, a conference in Johannesburg heard on Friday. About 80 trade union leaders from 22 African countries were meeting with environmentalists for a two-day conference to examine connections between poverty and environmental damage and how these affected workers.