An African National Congress (ANC) councillor was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his home in Umhlali, KwaZulu-Natal, early on Friday morning, police said. KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesperson Mtholephi Mthimkhulu said Khumalo had been ”receiving death threats for quite some time”.
Escalating violence in South Africa’s schools is a reflection of society and not of a defunct education curriculum, the national Department of Education said this week — this after criticism that the school curriculum fails to prevent school violence because it does not address pupils’ emotional and psychological development.
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.”
The towns flooded in the southern Cape and Eastern Cape this week are being assessed for aid, provincial officials said on Friday. All except one of the national roads in the Eastern Cape are now open. Meanwhile, a three-night ordeal for eight people trapped in their cars by snow in the mountains in Lesotho has finally come to an end.
Criminals have become so determined that they have resorted to blowing up ATMs with explosives believed to have been stolen from mines. In the last two months, seven ATMS have been blown up, and the police believe that the explosives were stolen from mines. Three of the affected ATMs belong to Standard Bank while four belong to Absa Bank.
More than 100Â 000 copies of a CD containing a song about Jacob Zuma have been sold legally, and more have been pirated, music-industry insiders said on Thursday. Eric Majola, promoter of the band Izingane Zoma, said the pirating of the popular album, with the catchy Msholozi title track, is ”really bad”.
KwaZulu-Natal Aquatics president Peter Thompson has confirmed that eThekwini Municipality was among the six cities announced by the world governing body of swimming, Fina, bidding to stage the 14th Fina World Aquatic Championships in 2011.
Rescuers trying to save a woman who got stuck in a tree after her house was flooded were hampered by snakes making for their jet ski, the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Thursday. ”There were lots of snakes in the flood waters. They were using the rescue gear and the jetski for floatation,” spokesperson Craig Lambinon said.
A joint South African-Lesotho police operation resulted in 264 people being arrested, Free State police said on Wednesday. ”The aim of the bilateral operation was to combat the flow of illicit firearms, ammunition, drugs and vehicles between the borders,” Superintendent Sam Sesing said.
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.
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.
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Jacob Zuma will have to wait for more than a month for the corruption trial he believes will clear his name after it was adjourned to September 5 by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday. In less than two hours judge Herbert Msimang adjourned the trial to allow the defence and the state time to prepare replies and heads of argument to the state’s application for a postponement.
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Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial was adjourned until September 5 after a short session at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday. Judge Herbert Msimang did not accept state prosecutor Wim Trengove’s assertion that it should be postponed till September 7 because colleague Anton Steynberg would be overseas at a conference.
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Former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial began shortly after 10am in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday with Judge Herbert Msimang at the helm. Zuma had smiled and nodded his head when asked how he was feeling as he entered court A.
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KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele joined African National
Congress secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe and KwaZulu-Natal finance minister Zweli Mkhize in the front row of the Pietermaritzburg
High Court ahead of Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial on Monday.
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KwaZulu-Natal judge president Vuka Tshabalala was on Monday morning still not providing the name of the man who will preside over African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma’s corruption case. ”You don’t have long to go before he [the judge] enters the court,” Tshabalala said on Monday, barely an hour before Zuma’s case begins in Pietermaritzburg.
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Jacob Zuma on Sunday spoke out against what he described as infighting within the ruling African National Congress. ”Fighting for positions is wrong and should not be influenced by sources within the media,” he told the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) anniversary rally in Pietermaritzburg.
Rough justice meted out to suspected Lesotho cattle rustlers — shooting dead one and cutting off the ears and a hand of each of two others — by KwaZulu-Natal stock owners was visited by 16-year jail sentences by the Pietermaritzburg High Court Friday. The stock owners were sentenced for murder, attempted murder and robbery.
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South African trade unionists and communists rallied on Friday to demand authorities drop corruption charges against former Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Zuma is set to stand trial on Monday in a case that could wreck or resurrect his presidential hopes.
The Young Communist League (YCL) has accused the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of ”hiding crooks who have political interests”. Addressing a crowd of about 1Â 500 people in Durban on Friday, the KwaZulu-Natal deputy general secretary of the YCL, Buthi Manamela, said: ”There are crooks hiding in the NPA under the guise of prosecutors.”
<i>Mail & Guardian</i> editor Ferial Haffajee took top honours at the MTN Women in the Media 2006 awards ceremony in Johannesburg on Friday, claiming the overall award. The awards honour women in the South African media industry who have excelled in their careers.
KwaZulu-Natal’s education department on Friday repeated its warning to schools that had not submitted audited financial statements that they will lose their Section 21 status. Departmental spokesperson Christi Naude said: ”Parents need to know that even if a school loses its section 21 status, it does not mean that those schools that are no-fee schools will lose their no-fee status.”
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KwaZulu-Natal’s top leadership of the tripartite alliance will be out in force to support the African National Congress’ deputy president as he goes on trial for corruption next week. From 6pm on Sunday the city centre is expected to be packed with thousands of supporters of Jacob Zuma who will turn out for an all night vigil.
Business is helping tackle crime, with several initiatives by Business Against Crime bearing fruit. Vehicle theft and hijackings are down about 16% over the past five years from about 115 000 in 2001 to 96 000 last year. Even more impressive is the 30% reduction in Gauteng hijackings last year.
A quiet battle is being waged in the African National Congress over the powers of South Africa’s nine provinces, with a sizeable body of opinion coming to the realisation that they represent a huge drain without much gain. Look at the figures. In the past seven years, provinces have underspent — yes, underspent — by R4,7-billion.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele has expressed his best wishes to King Goodwill Zwelithini, who celebrates his 58th birthday on Thursday. The premier said: ”Our government and the people of our province will continue to draw inspiration and courage from his wise leadership.”
The Public Protector has nearly finished his investigation into complaints over the incorporation of Matatiele into the Eastern Cape, his office said on Wednesday. The Public Protector, advocate Lawrence Mushwana, met on Wednesday with the Matatiele-Maluti Mass Action Organising Committee to discuss its complaint.
The South African Trade and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) will launch another national strike next week after a wage dispute involving the contract cleaning sector, the union said on Wednesday. The union is demanding that workers be given a 12% increment, and 15 % for those working in rural areas, said spokesperson Dolly Mlotshwa.
The Durban High Court on Tuesday granted Westville prison authorities leave to appeal against an order to speed up the provision of antiretrovirals (ARVs) to prisoners. The court simultaneously ordered prison authorities to provide the service pending the appeal.
KwaZulu-Natal education minister Ina Cronje on Friday threatened legal action against the Inkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade after it claimed a ”link” between Cronje’s husband and the company distributing stationery for the education department. The brigade on Thursday called on KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele to sack Cronje.
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Papers in an application for a postponement of the corruption trial of Jacob Zuma and the French arms dealer Thint have been lodged in the Durban High Court. The defence teams of Thint and the former deputy president have indicated that they would oppose any postponement of the trial.