Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon has scoffed at suggestions that the party’s newly-elected Tafelsig ward councillor Sheval Arendse be suspended. Briefing the media at Parliament after Wednesday’s by-election, Leon said he was unaware of any charges against Arendse.
The role of the South African government in the covert "rendition" of Khalid Mehmood Rashid is an affront to the foundational values of our democracy. The Constitution was written with the ghosts of those who had suffered arbitrary detention, torture or disappearance watching over its drafters with the expectation that never again would such abuses be allowed.
President Thabo Mbeki has reached new heights of public popularity, with current job-approval ratings matching the best ratings given to Nelson Mandela, the Afrobarometer survey said on Wednesday. According to the survey, conducted in January and February, nearly eight in 10 South Africans approved of the job Mbeki was doing as president. When asked about the way Mbeki had performed his job over the past year, 77% said they approved, with 28% strongly approving.
About 11 people burnt to death on Thursday in an accident involving a taxi in Isipingo near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal police said. Spokesperson Inspector Rani John said the accident happened on Old Main Road and Umbumbulu Road when a taxi and truck collided.
Residents in Johannesburg and other inland and KwaZulu-Natal regions who are experiencing gas shortages need not panic because "there will be gas", Colin McClelland, director of the South African Petroleum Industry Association, told the <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i> on Thursday. "I’m not concerned that people won’t get gas," he said.
The medical industry is losing billions of rand a year due to fraudulent claims by doctors, dentists, pharmacists and optometrists, the Cape Times reported on Thursday. Its website quoted health-care funders as saying fraud is costing the industry up to R12-billion a year.
South African retailer Mr Price on Thursday reported a 48% rise in diluted headline earnings per share to 154,7 cents for the year ended March from 104,7 cents a year ago. A total distribution of 81 cents per share — based on a cover of two times — was declared, up from 60 cents last year.
South Africa faces a massive task in reaching the Millennium Development Goals for child survival in 2015, with trends showing that the mortality rates of infants and children under the age of five were increasing rather than decreasing. ”Currently, the prospect of having to reduce the child-death figures … by two-thirds by 2015 seems dismal,” a two-day conference heard.
There is no crisis in the African National Congress, the party’s deputy president Jacob Zuma told the National Union of Mineworkers on Wednesday. ”Many commentators and analysts would have you believe that there is a crisis in the ANC,” Zuma told the 12th national congress of the union at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. ”That is not so. There is no crisis in the ruling party.”
Suppliers of gas cylinders for heating have run out of stock after this week’s cold spell and customers in Johannesburg and other inland and KwaZulu-Natal regions have been turned away empty-handed, media reports said on Wednesday. Liquid-gas supplier Afrox is experiencing an unprecedented demand, the company said.
The death of Aids-infected Nozipho Bhengu was unnecessary and premature, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said on Wednesday. ”It is highly likely that she would still be alive and well today if she had chosen to take anti-retroviral treatment when she developed Aids,” the TAC said in a statement.
Winter will not be exceptionally cold, it will just be normal, Weather South Africa said on Monday. ”According to our models the temperatures will be normal for this time of year,” meteorologist Selebaleng Gaebee said. Last winter was exceptionally warm, which may explain why people feel the current cold weather more intensely.
The icy weather experienced over the country was set to continue until about Thursday when the days will become slightly warmer, the South African Weather Service said on Sunday. Forecaster Ezekiel Sebego said another cold front would move in over the Western Cape on Monday night, bringing with it rain for that area, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
South Africa’s road network, conservatively estimated to be worth R550-billion, is deteriorating at an alarming rate according to the South African Road Federation (Sarf). Sarf says that the under-funding of road maintenance over the past 25 years is the prime cause of the problem.
The third annual Mutual & Federal South African Cricket Awards, held on Thursday night at a glittering function in Johannesburg, saw Makhaya Ntini walk away with the prestigious South African Cricketer of the Year Award, as well as the Castle Test Cricketer of the Year Award, both for the second consecutive year.
Metrorail has called on the South African Police Service to intensify police security on its trains, in response to continuing security strike-linked violence.
As many as 18 people have been killed on Metrorail trains since the strike began, said Metrorail spokesperson Thandi Mlangeni.
Every great city, from ancient Rome to New York, was, at some point, ringed by shacks. Today, about one billion people live in shacks and the number is growing rapidly. In South Africa it is often confidently asserted that shack settlements are an apartheid hang-over that will soon pass.
Thousands of workers heeded a call by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to down tools on Thursday in protest against South Africa’s high levels of unemployment and poverty. The mining and car-manufacturing industries appeared to be hardest hit.
Tributes and messages of condolence streamed in on Wednesday afternoon after former KwaZulu-Natal social welfare minister Prince Gideon Zulu (72) died on Tuesday evening following a long illness. United Democratic Movement president Bantu Holomisa hailed Zulu as a ”fierce warrior … who showed humility and warmth”.
Tributes and messages of condolence streamed in on Wednesday afternoon after former KwaZulu-Natal social welfare minister Prince Gideon Zulu (72) died on Tuesday evening following a long illness. United Democratic Movement president Bantu Holomisa hailed Zulu as a ”fierce warrior … who showed humility and warmth”.
South Africa’s vibrant game auctions replete with animals ranging from rhinos to giraffes are being seen as a key element to the country’s conservation efforts. As game hunting as well as camera safaris and eco-tourism earn mega bucks, more and more people are being lured to open game farms.
Thousands of people attended the funeral service of late public works minister Stella Sigcau at her birthplace of Lusikisiki on Tuesday. Those attending the ceremony ahead of her cremation included President Thabo Mbeki, Cabinet ministers and traditional leaders.
Teachers may search anyone on school property without a search warrant, the Department of Education said in Pretoria on Monday at a meeting following a month of violence in schools that has resulted in the deaths of at least two pupils and numerous injuries through stabbings and gun violence.
The Umkhonto weSizwe Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) in KwaZulu-Natal has called on the African National Congress to ensure that Jacob Zuma is deployed to a position that would guarantee his contribution to the country’s socio-economic development and growth. The call came as they celebrated the triumph of justice in the exoneration of Zuma.
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An HIV-positive woman who sparked a storm when she laid a charge of rape against former deputy president Jacob Zuma has left South Africa after his acquittal, a daily said on Thursday. The 31-year-old Aids activist boarded an overseas flight late on Wednesday, reported the The Star newspaper.
Eight KwaZulu-Natal road-traffic inspectorate officials were scheduled to appear in court on corruption charges on Thursday, media reports said. After eight months of investigation and observing the allegedly corrupt officials, police descended on the men while they were in a meeting at work.
Gases and welding products group African Oxygen (Afrox) is to invest approximately R350-millionin several major new gas production facilities around South Africa during the year. Craig Falconer, Afrox’s general manager process gas solutions, says this expenditure results from increased demand from the company’s existing customer base as well as by new business wins.
The JSE reached a new high on Wednesday, buoyed by rampant precious metals prices. Players were jittery, however, on concerns that the market was ripe for a correction after a phenomenal run.
Listed South African retailer Spar Group has reported a 16,8% increase in headline earnings per share to 121,7 cents for the six months ended March from a restated 104,2 cents at the interim stage last year. Revenue rose by 22,6% to R8,2-billion from a restated R6,7-billion.
The KwaZulu-Natal Transport Alliance agreed on Monday to end a proposed week-long taxi strike, following discussions with the provincial transport department. The alliance was protesting against certain aspects of the government’s taxi recapitalisation programme, which is intended to replace the country’s ageing taxi fleet.
Minister of Public Works Stella Sigcau has died at Durban’s St Augustine hospital, ministerial spokesperson Lucky Mochalibane said on Monday. He said Sigcau (69), who was appointed minister of public enterprises in the first post-apartheid government in 1994, died of a recurring heart problem on Sunday.
A matric boy fired shots at fellow pupils aboard a school bus in Pinetown near Durban on Friday afternoon, wounding two classmates, KwaZulu-Natal police said. Spokesperson Inspector Rani John said the boy, from Pinetown Boys High School, was apparently playing with the gun when it went off.