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/ 12 January 2006
South African horse racing was struck by yet another tragedy when newly qualified jockey LJ Katjedi (26) died in a car accident on Wednesday night. He had qualified as a jockey on January 3, only eight days before his death, and was due to ride his first races as a professional jockey on Wednesday at the Vaal.
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/ 12 January 2006
South African horse racing was struck by yet another tragedy when newly qualified jockey LJ Katjedi (26) died in a car accident on Wednesday night. He had qualified as a jockey on January 3, only eight days before his death, and was due to ride his first races as a professional jockey on Wednesday at the Vaal.
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/ 12 January 2006
The Phokwane local municipality in the Northern Cape has paid a salary of more than R1-million to a suspended municipal manager who has not been working for more than two years, the South African Broadcasting Corporation website reported on Wednesday. The official was suspended in July 2003.
The government is strongly committed to implementing the no-fee school policy in 2006, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said on Monday. ”KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng have already proceeded to identify schools that will be declared no-fee schools as agreed by the Council of Education Ministers in 2005,” Pandor said.
The wet weather experienced over most of the interior is likely to continue for another two days before starting to clear up, Weather SA said on Monday. Forecaster Siyabonga Mphethwa said the rain is caused by a tropical low that moved in over the northern part of South Africa on Friday from Mozambique.
The City of Johannesburg removed 441 shacks from the Jukskei River banks on Friday following this week’s floods in Diepsloot. ”Temporary accommodation has been provided to the victims while the clean-up process is happening,” said city spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane.
The number of shack dwellings in South Africa rose from 1,45-million in 1996 to 2,14-million in 2003, according to Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu. That was 417 new shacks a day on average between 2001 and 2003 and 210 shacks per day on average in the five years between 1996 and 2001.
The Democratic Alliance on Friday warned that the ”unfair” allocation of houses to locals and foreigners could exacerbate the situation in Olivienhoutbosch south of Pretoria. Violent clashes broke out between South Africans and foreign nationals from Mozambique and Zimbabwe at the informal settlement on Wednesday after a South African was killed, allegedly by a Zimbabwean.
The road death toll for December has risen to 1 215, the Department of Transport said on Wednesday. Spokesperson Collen Msibi said 512 of the fatalities were pedestrians, 414 were passengers and 289 were drivers. The figure is down from 1 234 reported in the same period last year.
The body of a woman who drowned on Wednesday after her shack was swept away by a river in Diepsloot outside Johannesburg has been found, Gauteng police said. Superintendent Eugene Opperman, of the province’s water wing and diving unit, said the 30-year-old woman was found just after 10am.
A ”lacklustre” performance by Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula and the ”disappearance from the radar” of National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi have left the Democratic Alliance wondering who is in charge of fighting crime, the party said in a statement on Tuesday.
Road deaths during the Christmas holidays were at 1Â 162 by the end of December, the Department of Transport said on Monday. There was heavy traffic on the country’s main routes on Monday as holidaymakers returned home. Meanwhile, the bodies of five people who drowned after their car plunged into the Vaal River have been recovered.
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/ 29 December 2005
Education Minister Naledi Pandor was disappointed on Thursday at the 68,3% pass rate recorded by the 2005 matric class. ”I’m not satisfied,” she told a media briefing in Cape Town where the figure was announced. ”How can anyone be satisfied when more than 30% of our children are failing? Surely you can’t have that. I’m not happy.”
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/ 28 December 2005
The death toll on South Africa’s roads over the holiday season has reached 965, the Department of Transport said on Wednesday. Spokesperson Collen Msibi said 411 of the casualties were pedestrians and 88 were children under 14. Msibi said that although ”shocking”, the figure was down from the 1 140 deaths over the same period last year.
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/ 28 December 2005
Bus subsidies cost the national Transport Department R2,17-billion in 2003/04, according to the department’s annual report for 2005. The report, tabled in Parliament, noted that Gauteng received the largest cut of the nine provinces — with R788-million — followed by KwaZulu-Natal with R452-million. The Western Cape received R380-million.
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/ 24 December 2005
The Matatiele-Maluti mass action group has filed an urgent application with the Constitutional Court asking to be excluded from Friday’s legislation on municipal boundaries, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reports. The legislation will transfer the Matatiele area from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape.
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/ 23 December 2005
The Bafana Bafana squad announced on Wednesday for the African Nations Cup will play warm-up matches against a Premier Soccer League (PSL) XI in Johannesburg and Durban — but while the game at the coast will be open to the public, Johannesburg soccer fans will be shut out from the match at the Johannesburg Stadium.
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/ 23 December 2005
”Don’t you just hate the Cape? Not only do they have those fabulous wines, but they can now lay claim to some of the best olives and olive oil as well. Do yourself a favour and when next you’re in a deli, hunt around for some Kloovenburg olive jam,” writes Elizabeth Badenhorst.
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/ 22 December 2005
Jubilant 2,05m Mame Niang was walking extra tall at the Charles Mopeli Stadium in Qwa Qwa on Wednesday afternoon after scoring all four goals for Moroka Swallows in a 4-2 Premier Soccer League (PSL) win against Free State Stars. In other matches, Jomo Cosmos beat Silver Stars 2-1 and Arrows and Celtic played to a goalless draw.
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/ 22 December 2005
The troubled Orlando Pirates’ ship continued to flounder in turbulent waters at Johannesburg Stadium on Wednesday night — with the Buccaneers surrendering their Premier Soccer League lead for the first time since the opening weeks of the season after a goalless draw against modest Classic.
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/ 20 December 2005
Rain and a drop in temperature to below 20 degrees Celsius are predicted for the entire coast from Plettenberg Bay to Durban on Christmas Day, according to the South African Weather Bureau. Mpumalanga and Limpopo will be hit by the colder, wetter weather late on Sunday, but Cape Town should experience fine Christmas weather.
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/ 20 December 2005
A national lottery ticket worth R10 066 972 expired on Sunday after the winner didn’t claim the prize, said Uthingo spokesperson Shenanda Janse van Rensburg on Tuesday. The Quickpick ticket was bought in Gauteng for the draw that took place on Saturday December 18 last year.
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/ 20 December 2005
An announcement to take the National Council of Provinces’ decision to do away with cross-border municipalities possibly to the Constitutional Court was well received by Khutsong residents at a public meeting on Monday. Sabelo Ngwane of the SA Communist Party’s Young Communist League announced the decision when he addressed hundreds of Khutsong residents at a local stadium.
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/ 19 December 2005
Police kept a close watch on Khutsong residents as they gathered on Monday for a public meeting on the redemarcation of the Merafong municipality from Gauteng to North West. Armed police in and around Khutsong Stadium monitored a crowd of about 500 residents who sang and danced.
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/ 19 December 2005
Since the beginning of December, 560 people have been killed on South African roads — mostly due to drunken driving, driver fatigue and speeding. At about the same time last year, 726 road deaths had been reported. Road accidents have also decreased, from 619 up to this time in December 2004 to 466 thus far.
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/ 19 December 2005
A massive effort is under way to provide fuel to the two sectors most in need — the deciduous fruit farmers in the Western Cape and the summer rainfall farmers of Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Free State and North West — the South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) said on Monday.
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/ 19 December 2005
Residents of Khutsong will hold a meeting on Monday following the lifting of a ban by police on public gatherings in the area. Violence erupted again in the troubled township, near Carletonville, last week when residents protested against the National Council of Provinces’ approval of legislation to do away with cross-boundary municipalities.
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/ 19 December 2005
North Rand police on Sunday arrested a 35-year-old man believed to be a hijacking and robbery kingpin, at his hideout in Tembisa. Spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman said the man was wanted in connection with 14 cases of armed robbery in Gauteng.
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/ 18 December 2005
Dean Elgar of Free State was unfortunate to just miss a well-deserved century by one run when he scored 99 against Border at Fort Hare University, Alice, on Saturday on the second day of the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Cricket Week. Elgar made his runs off 154 balls with eight fours and Free State totalled 192-6 in their 50 overs.
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/ 15 December 2005
A South African Lotto winner has until noon on Sunday to claim a prize of R10 066 972, else the ticket will expire. Uthingo spokesperson Shenanda Janse van Rensburg said the Quickpick ticket was bought in Gauteng for the draw that took place on Saturday December 18 last year.
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/ 15 December 2005
Gauteng police put a halt to a meeting on Thursday at Khutsong Stadium by residents protesting their municipality’s incorporation into the North West from Gauteng. Although the situation in Khutsong remained calm on Thursday, police maintained a strong presence in the area.
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/ 15 December 2005
Word from Cape Town that Parliament had rubber-stamped a Bill that put an end to cross-border municipalities triggered violent protests in Khutsong on Wednesday. By evening, a police officer had been badly burnt during a petrol-bomb attack and five houses had been torched.