South Africa’s national parks are poised for a surge in gay tourism now that a tourist operator has launched a series of tours designed to initiate gay visitors to the delights of the savannah. While Cape Town is one of the world’s top five gay holiday destinations, the operator aims to lure gay tourists out of the Mother City.
South Africa’s upgraded transport information system was off to a shaky start on Monday, with some testing stations failing to reopen. Authorities in most provinces reported hiccups and constant technical failures. Testing stations in Midrand, Randburg, Sandton, Langlaagte and Pretoria were still closed due to technical glitches.
Sophie Edington of Australia picked up six gold medals at the 2007 Telkom National Aquatic Championships, which ended at the Kings Park pool in Durban on Sunday night. She took both the 100m and 50m freestyle medals, the 50m butterfly, and the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke races in her stride.
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There is no truth in media reports that Cosatu leaders have ”dropped” their support for Jacob Zuma as a candidate for the African National Congress (ANC) presidency, the union federation said on Sunday. According to the Sunday TImes, Cosatu leaders had expressed reservations with regards to Zuma becoming ANC president.
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Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu) leaders have demanded that the federation ditch its support for Jacob Zuma as its preferred candidate for the ANC presidency, media reports said. Zuma’s candidacy came under debate at a heated Cosatu central executive committee meeting held at the federation’s Johannesburg headquarters from February 26 to 28.
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Hundreds of people converged on Durban’s International Convention Centre on Friday night for the 65th birthday of African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma. Those attending included South African Communist Party secretary general Blade Nzimande and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi has added a note of caution to the proposed name change of Durban highway in KwaZulu-Natal — currently named "Mangosuthu Highway" in his honour. eThekwini mayor Obed Mlaba has proposed that the highway be named, instead, after a late liberation-struggle hero.
A 47-year-old man has died of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in the Eastern Cape, bringing the number of deaths to 14 since November, the provincial health department said on Thursday. It also denied reports that XDR-TB patients were walking around freely at a hospital in the province.
Six people, including four foreign nationals, were arrested in Camperdown near Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday morning in what South African Revenue Service (Sars) officials claimed was the country’s second-largest seizure of perlemoen yet. Between five and six tonnes of perlemoen (abalone) were found.
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Hush-hush preparations are under way for a lavish birthday banquet this week for Jacob Zuma, media reports said on Wednesday. More than 1Â 000 people have been invited to celebrate the 65th birthday of the African National Congress deputy president at Durban’s International Convention Centre on Friday.
A keenly contested final of the women’s 400m freestyle is expected on the opening night of the 2007 Telkom South African National Aquatic Championships at the Kings Park Aquatic Centre in Durban on Tuesday following the heats on the first morning of the six-day event.
President Thabo Mbeki will meet members of the Johannesburg public at a two-day imbizo (meeting) this weekend. His programme includes a community imbizo at the Safa-Simba Stadium in Klipspruit on Saturday afternoon, where residents will discuss their concerns directly with him, a Gauteng government spokesperson said.
Police investigating the recent discovery of bones on a beach at the KwaZulu-Natal holiday resort of Umhloti are expecting to receive an ”interim analysis” from the state pathologist this week. The bones were discovered protruding from the sand on March 21 after the KwaZulu-Natal coast had been pounded by heavy surf.
The number of people killed on South African roads over the Easter weekend has risen to 181, the Department of Transport said on Monday night. Of the 181 people who lost their lives in 143 crashes, 41 were drivers, 71 were passengers and 69 were pedestrians, spokesperson Ntau Letebele said.
Dear delegates to the 52nd national conference of the ANC, This December you will be discussing issues of paramount importance for all South Africans. Allow the Afrikanerbond to raise some issues that we believe are necessary to ensure that the miracle of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s "rainbow nation" does not fade.
A 21-year-old man was rescued in the Drakensberg mountains in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday morning after falling 10m down a cliff, the Mountain Club of South Africa said. A German exchange student at the University of Stellenbosch, the man was among a group of 32 hikers who had gone camping in the mountains on Wednesday.
Human bones found near the resort town of Umdloti following the heavy waves that hit the KwaZulu-Natal coast recently are in Pretoria for forensic testing, police said on Thursday. Some media reports have said the bones may be those of young girls who disappeared about 18 years ago, allegedly kidnapped by Gert van Rooyen and his lover, Joey Haarhoff.
The Transport Ministry on Wednesday called on motorists to drive carefully over the Easter weekend. Among others, main routes out of Gauteng are expected to carry heavy traffic from noon until 10pm on Thursday and from 6am to noon on Friday, said ministry spokesperson Ntau Letebele.
A mineworker at a coal mine near Dundee in northern KwaZulu-Natal died on Wednesday when a roof support apparently collapsed and struck him. Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said the miner was brought to the surface by the mine’s own rescue team. The miner had suffered severe head injuries that probably led to his death.
The extent of multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB) strains of TB in South Africa was not currently known, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday. ”We know there are quite a lot of MDR and XDR-TB, although we don’t know the extent,” said Dr Fabio Scano, a tuberculosis expert from the WHO.
The Cabinet has dismissed suggestions that the government is insensitive to the plight of its employees.
This is the CHEF 860 Zodiac XLE mobile braai,” said braai manufacturer Guile Lundgrin at Rand Show on Friday. ”You can cook with the lid open due to the high-pressure flame mechanism.” Having a stand at the Rand Show at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec makes for good sales. Lundgrin should know — this is his 16th year at the show.
Literary lion Ngugi wa Thiong’o tells Niren Tolsi about the hurdles facing Africa and African writers and how they can be surmounted.
Rather than scrapping provinces, South Africa should adopt a ”fully fledged federal system”, acting Democratic Alliance (DA) leader James Selfe said on Friday. In a weekly newsletter published on the DA’s SA Todaywebsite, he said a resurgence of regional identity was one notable feature of a globalising world.
Learner drivers should prepare themselves for a long wait to get their licences, media reports said on Friday. With stringent new measures being introduced at testing stations, only 15% of applicants for driver’s licences can expect to pass the test the first time.
South Africa’s insurance industry is waiting with bated breath as claims roll in for damage caused by the freak tides that hit the KwaZulu-Natal coast recently. More than 300km of the KwaZulu-Natal coastline needs to be reconstructed after it was devastated by 8m waves that struck in the early hours of March 19
Bookings for the Easter holidays have not been seriously affected by storm damage along KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) coastline, the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) said on Thursday. Fedhasa’s East Coast chairperson, Alan Vels, said: ”There has been no impact in Durban. In fact there seems to be a curiosity factor more than anything else.”
This week saw the official launch and installation of Parliament’s new emblem, a design created by the people as a cornerstone for South Africa’s new democracy. ”A new emblem was an important step in establishing an identity for Parliament, one that represents its values, vision and mission,” Parliament said in a statement.
Twenty undergraduate students who received the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship last year were congratulated by former president Nelson Mandela in Houghton, Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) coastal municipalities will get help from the National Treasury in footing the bill to clean up in the wake of the freak surf that battered the province’s coastline, Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi said on Tuesday. However, Mufamadi refused to be drawn on how much aid would be forthcoming.
South African and foreign intelligence agencies have been monitoring an alleged training camp linked to Muslim fundamentalists at Greenbushes, Port Elizabeth, the Herald Online reported. According to an intelligence source, the camp is no longer operational because of possible botched surveillance activities.
The renaming of Durban’s Mangosuthu Highway has raised eyebrows and left the Inkatha Freedom Party threatening to march through the city in protest, media reports said on Monday. Also, the decision by the city fathers to rename Point Road after Mahatma Gandhi has generated huge debate within South Africa and India.