The author Frederick Forsythe observed recently that if a train driver made a grievous error that cost lives, he would not walk away grinning. If an airline pilot did the same he’d probably never fly again. If the driver of a train fell asleep and caused a smash he’d end up in jail. But, considering recent events, it appears that politicians and their manadarins are exempt from all such responsibility.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa has approved loans to the value of R25-billion over the past 10 years to finance development in the region. The bank, which describes itself as a financier, adviser and partner in development funding, estimates that since democracy its work has benefited four million households and created, with other funders, 527 874 jobs.
A basic income grant is affordable, sustainable and desirable, a coalition arguing for the adoption of such a scheme said on Thursday. The coalition told journalists at a press briefing at the Turffontein racecourse that giving every South African a basic income of R120 a month would cost between R10- and R24-billion a year.
Reports that 40 000km of the KwaZulu-Natal road network have disappeared are ”untrue and misleading”, provincial transport department head Kwazi Mbanjwa said on Tuesday. Mbanjwa said the decline in maintenance of provincial and national roads started in the 1970s and KwaZulu-Natal had ”inherited roads from a number of authorities in the province”.
There was laughter in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday when "Rottweiler" and "KGB" emerged as some of the <i>noms de guerre</i> assumed by the alleged Boeremag coup plotters. One called himself "Motherfucker" and another "Volla", accused-turned-state-witness Henk van Zyl told the court.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=119751">Whites were to be ‘slaughtered'</a>
The Media magazine every year recognises the top 10 women in the South African media who have made a significant contribution to the industry. This year Mail & Guardian editor Ferial Haffajee has been included in this select group.
The Inkatha Freedom Party has suspended national organiser and MP Albert Mncwango after he received a prison sentence on Monday for raping his former girlfriend in 2001. The African National Congress welcomed the 10-year jail sentence imposed by the Eshowe Magistrate’s Court.
Jazz legend Sipho Gumede, who died on Monday after a battle with lung cancer, was laid to rest in Durban on Saturday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. Kwazulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele announced the establishment of a music academy as a tribute to Gumede, the report said.
Mail & Guardian editor Ferial Haffajee was on Thursday evening in Cape Town appointed Woman of the Year in the media and communications category. Sponsored by Shoprite Checkers and SABC2, the Women of the Year Awards recognise achievements by South African women in nine categories.
An estimated half or more of the country’s kilometres of roads, and as much as two-thirds of roads in KwaZulu-Natal, have disappeared, largely due to ineffective administration, said a roads expert on Thursday. While the roads have not physically disappeared, they do not show up on official records.
The African National Congress won a by-election in Umtata on Wednesday — the fifth upset victory by the party in the past few weeks — over General Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement. In other by-elections on Wednesday, the Democratic Alliance snatched a municipal ward in Somerset East from the ANC.
Former Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) security chief Philip Powell will not be extradited from Britain to face charges relating to gun-running in South Africa, SABC radio news reports. This was according to the National Prosecuting Authority, following a suggestion that the former IFP strongman be questioned about two weapons caches found at Ulundi two weeks ago.
The Inkatha Freedom Party on Wednesday rebuffed a call by KwaZulu-Natal’s minister for safety and security, Bheki Cele, to extradite Philip Powell from Britain to stand trial in connection with arms smuggling before the 1994 elections. The call was made after the discovery of weapons caches in the Ulundi Legislative Assembly two weeks ago.
About 400 bus passengers were stranded on the snowbound Kingscote Pass between Underberg and Swartberg in southern KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday, SABC radio news reported. Four buses, two trucks and two buses were trapped in the snow on the R617 road.
KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial government may seek to have Inkatha Freedom Party member Philip Powell extradited from Britain, SABC radio news reports. A call for Powell’s extradition by Safety and Security MEC Bheki Cele followed the discovery of two caches of weapons in the storeroom of the Ulundi legislature two weeks ago.
Although the economic powerhouse of Gauteng has only 1,4% of South Africa’s land area of 1,219-million square kilometres, it has 24% of the population aged between 25 and 59 years, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. It also announced that the life expectancy at birth in South Africa is forecast to be only 50,7 years next year.
Nine municipal by-elections will take place in South Africa this Wednesday, but the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has already won another five wards uncontested. Trends indicate that the ANC could win all but two of the contested by-elections.
Four of the 22 Boeremag treason trialists lost their bid on Friday in the Pretoria High Court to secure bail. Acting Judge Peter Mabuse dismissed the bail applications of Mokopane medical doctor Johan Pretorius Jnr and Bela-Bela farmers Gerhardus ”Oom Vis” Visagie, Rudi Gouws and Herman van Rooyen.
President Thabo Mbeki has reappointed Tito Mboweni as Governor of the South African Reserve Bank for a second period of five years. ”President Thabo Mbeki, after consultation with the Minister of Finance [Trevor Manuel] and members of the Board of the SA Reserve Bank, has decided to re-appoint Mboweni as governor of the bank for a period of five years,” said a government statement.
A second arms cache has been found in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature building at Ulundi, the province’s safety and liaison minister Bheki Cele said on Wednesday. An intensive search was under way at the legislature buildings on Wednesday morning, after police found a second arms cache there on Tuesday.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions said on Tuesday the discovery of bombs in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Ulundi last week justified its call for the arrest of Inkatha Freedom Party member Philip Powell. ”We have long been calling for explanation as to why Phillip Powell has been allowed to go overseas … [because] he had not disclosed … where other tons of arms and ammunition [were],” Cosatu regional secretary Zet Luzipo said in a statement.
New research by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has shown that 57% of South Africans are living below the poverty line of R1Â 290 a month for a family of four. And the ”poverty gap”, which measures the required income transfer to all poor households to lift them from poverty, grew from R56-billion in 1996 to R81-billion in 2001.
Ten bombs were found in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature at Ulundi last week, the African National Congress in the province said on Monday. ANC spokesperson Mtholephi Mthimkhulu said the bombs were found hidden in one of the storerooms of the legislature on Thursday.
A team from the national Department of Social Development is visiting the Western Cape to outline the processes of the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency, the government news agency said on Monday. The agency will ultimately take over from provinces the payment of social welfare grants.
South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, worst-hit by Aids in the country, faces a lack of burial space due the growing number of deaths from the disease, officials warned at a two-day conference that ended on Friday. The city of Durban is struggling to keep up: only two out of 22 cemeteries have vacant plots left.
Minister of Education Naledi Pandor on Tuesday urged the Education Labour Relations Council to get more of South Africa’s best school children to train as teachers. ”Around 17 000 teachers leave teaching each year, and only 3 000 new ones graduate from the 25 universities,” she said.
South Africa’s top Catholic bishop said on Monday he cannot understand why the South African government is not considering sanctions against neighbouring Zimbabwe, given the success that sanctions brought for South Africa. ”What further suffering will sanctions bring to the people of Zimbabwe?” the bishop asked, pointing out that he is not calling directly for sanctions against Zimbabwe.
A war cemetery near Newcastle was vandalised by robbers who were apparently looking for treasure, the Amafa Heritage in KwaZulu-Natal said on Monday. The robbers used a front-end loader to gouge at graves and destroy headstones at Skuinshoogte, a burial site of a battle of the first Anglo-Boer South African War.
In November 2003 the Cabinet approved a national plan for HIV/ Aids prevention, care and treatment. The plan estimated that 53 000 people would be placed on anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment by the end of March this year. Eight months on, fewer than 10 000 people with HIV/Aids are receiving anti-retrovirals through the public health system.
Aids activists in South Africa hope that the inclusion of sex workers in an HIV research project will draw attention to the need for outreach programmes targeting this often marginalised group. About 600 female sex workers in and around Durban in KwaZulu-Natal are expected to participate in the study.
Tourism authorities have embarked on an aggressive registration drive to flush out fly-by-night establishments, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal said on Wednesday. ”Tourism establishments that fail to register … face stiff penalties of up to R10 000”, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal official James Seymour said in a statement.
Warders at the medium-security prison and the C-Max prison in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, as well as warders at St Alban’s prison outside Port Elizabeth, have embarked on a strike, SABC Radio News reported on Saturday. The warders were reportedly demonstrating outside the prisons.