Solutions to Africa’s problems will work only if they reflect the will of the continent’s people, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Writing in the African National Congress’s online publication, ANC Today, Mbeki said the Pan African Parliament confirms the determination of the peoples of Africa to promote and achieve continental unity.
South Africa’s petrol price for all grades will rise by 40c a litre from April 6, the Department of Minerals and Energy announced on Friday. This brings the price of a litre of petrol to a record R5,02 in Gauteng and R4,89 at the coast. The wholesale price of diesel 0,3% sulphur will rise by 56,4 cents per litre and that of diesel 0,05% sulphur by 65,4c per litre.
The looming indemnity deadline for those fraudulently receiving social grants has resulted in a last-minute rush of people queuing to apply, officials said on Thursday. Almost 6 000 people have applied for indemnity in the various provinces since the indemnity was offered on December 12 last year.
Trainer Jabulani Malinga and his sons Vus’Umuzi and Patrick are back in the professional boxing game after serving their suspension. Jabulani said their suspension ended last week. Vusi and Patrick both failed four drug tests after fights in April, and tested positive for anabolic steroids.
South Africa’s robust economic growth made a small, hardly noticeable dent in the country’s massive unemployment rate. Yet those who are lucky enough to be employed in the formal sector saw earnings increase faster than the number of their peers. The latest figures show youth unemployment remains chronically high, while 60% of discouraged work seekers are female.
The price of petrol will rise by 38 cents next week, bringing the Gauteng price to R5 a litre — its highest to date. The Department of Minerals and Energy said on Tuesday the price of all categories of fuel will rise. Departmental spokesperson Yvonne Mfolo said the announced prices are projections, which will be finalised on Friday or Monday.
Department of Home Affairs offices will be open on the weekend starting from April 1, the department said on Saturday. ”This is to accommodate those who cannot visit our offices during the normal office hours by providing them with extra opportunities to access our services,” said a departmental spokesperson.
The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link will be ready for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the project leader said on Tuesday. ”It’s a brave man who says it straight like that but the answer is yes, we will commission the whole system in time for the World Cup,” said Jack van der Merwe, chief executive of the Gautrain project.
Listed South African hotel and gaming group Peermont Global continues to look at further acquisitions to boost its growth in 2005, and is currently examining "alternative methods" for funding this investment since the company has reached its maximum level of gearing, according to CEO Ernie Joubert.
The former acting vice-chancellor of Vista University, Professor Sipho Seepe, has accepted responsibility for ”sloppiness” in an essay he wrote after it was pointed out that certain passages are identical to those on a number of websites. The essay was published in the book Towards an African Identity in Higher Education.
Truck drivers ended their six-day strike on Tuesday with the signing of a wage agreement. Supermarket shelves were without many product lines and some petrol stations in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal were out of fuel by the time the truck drivers’ sometimes violence-marred strike entered its sixth day on Tuesday.
Red tape is the biggest constraint to the expansion of business in South Africa, according to Grant Thornton’s 2005 international business owners survey. Forty one percent of business owners in South Africa cite regulation and red tape as the biggest constraint to the growth of their business, up from 34% last year.
Josh Cunliffe (21) eagled Wingate Park Country Club’s par-five 18th hole on Monday to take a one-stroke lead at the halfway mark in the men’s Sanlam South African Stroke-Play Championship. Cunliffe, from Dainfern, carded a 71 for the day and is on 139, five under par, with the third and fourth rounds to be completed on Tuesday.
The Education Department confirmed on Monday that over 100 000 teachers who participated in a public servants’ strike last year will lose pay. ”The universal principle of no work, no pay is being applied,” said department spokesperson Tommy Makhode.
A union representing striking truck drivers will meet in Johannesburg on Monday morning to discuss Sunday’s negotiations with employers. Negotiations between truckers’ unions and their employers ended after 1am on Monday, with the unions saying they have to report back to their members first before divulging details about the negotiations.
The Gauteng government plans to introduce a provincial tax to increase its revenues, provincial finance minister Paul Mashatile said on Thursday. The nature and rate of the tax were not made clear. He said the additional revenue raised will be used for socio-economic development, reducing poverty and unemployment.
About 80% of Gauteng’s budget of R33,5-billion is earmarked for social services, the province’s finance minister, Paul Mashatile, said on Thursday. The budget will try to address discrepancies in Gauteng, which shows impressive economic growth while battling with high levels of poverty and unemployment and a lack of infrastructure.
Transnet subsidiary Petronet is to spend at least R3-billion on a new pipeline to move petrol, diesel and jet fuel from Durban to Gauteng, in a move that is expected to shake up a fuel market still shaped by apartheid-era logistical constraints. Gas and liquid fuels transport capacity is among the most contested issues in the local industry.
Athletics South Africa on Tuesday announced that athletes Isaiah Nkuna (Gauteng North) and Francois Coertze (Free State) have been reinstated for competition after serving a two-year ban for an anti-doping control violation in 2003. Athletics South Africa also announced that Innis Viviers has once again tested positive for a banned substance.
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/ 27 February 2005
A former councillor has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a baby at Mpumalanga’s Ermelo hospital exactly 10 days after she was born, the province’s police said on Saturday. The baby was found at Boschfontein near Komatipoort on South Africa’s border with Mozambique, Captain Abie Khoabane said.
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/ 24 February 2005
It is easy to be blasé about the Budget and label it ”boring” — but we shouldn’t. Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has once again announced major increases in spending, symbolically important tax cuts and a reduced budget deficit — the headline measure of sound fiscal management.
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/ 23 February 2005
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/197779/special_rep_icon_template.gif" align=left>The maximum old age, disability and care dependency grants will rise by R40 to R780 a month from April 2005, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel announced on Wednesday. In his national Budget speech he said that foster-care grants will be increased by R30 to R560 and the child-support grant goes up by R10 to R180 a month.
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/ 22 February 2005
Student leaders must ”sit down and talk” to resolve the issues sparking a series of student protests around Gauteng, a national Department of Education spokesperson said on Tuesday after a series of student uprisings around Gauteng and unrest at a school in the North West province.
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/ 22 February 2005
Gauteng is becoming the safest province in the country, figures from the provincial government and some independent organisations have confirmed, the South African government news agency said on Wednesday. Gauteng community safety minister Firoz Cachalia attributed all this to the increased number of police officers in the province.
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/ 22 February 2005
There is no justification for violence and irresponsible action by any student on any campus in South Africa, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said on Tuesday. She was commenting in the National Assembly on protest action by students on several Gauteng university campuses.
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/ 22 February 2005
Effective policing and social crime prevention programmes are making Gauteng a safer place, but there is still a lot to be done, said Community Safety MEC Firoz Cachalia on Monday. ”Levels of crime are still too high so we cannot announce victory yet,” he said at the media briefing in Johannesburg.
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/ 18 February 2005
The debate over interest rate cuts could knock next week’s discussions on the 2005/06 Budget from the headlines, an economist said on Friday. ”An expected decline in CPIX inflation to 3,8% may prove to be the most positive news on Budget day from a market point of view,” said economist John Loos.
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/ 18 February 2005
In contrast to the corporate environment, small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) will shy away from voice over internet protocol (VoIP) in 2005. These are the latest findings from a study conducted by World Wide Worx, which announced in January that 78% of corporations surveyed will be using the technology by the end of the year.
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/ 17 February 2005
The Zimbabwe touring team beat a combined Gauteng/North West team by seven wickets in the opening game of their South African tour, thanks to a splendid unbeaten century by Hamilton Masakadza. Masakadza weighed in with 103 not-out off 120 balls and struck 11 boundaries and one six.
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/ 16 February 2005
South Africa faces a looming health crisis as increased wealth, poor eating habits and sedentary behaviour point to an ”epidemic” of heart disease, especially among the black population. ”We are sitting on a time bomb,” said professor Anthony MBewu, interim president of the Medical Research Council.
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/ 15 February 2005
The Zimbabwe cricket team arrived at the Johannesburg International airport on Tuesday morning for their tour of South Africa, eager to put their ordinary tour to Bangladesh behind them. Zimbabwe play three one-day internationals against South Africa, starting at the Wanderers on February 25, and two Tests, in Cape Town and Centurion.
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/ 14 February 2005
The South African Football Association (Safa) is planning to use 10 stadia for the 2010 Soccer World Cup instead of 13, the association’s CEO, Danny Jordaan, said on Monday. ”In the bid book, we submitted 13 venues. We are now looking at 10 venues. Fifa wants eight,” Jordaan said.