South Africa is at the forefront of research into so-called clean-coal technology, aimed at reducing the huge volumes of greenhouse gases emitted by its power stations, MPs heard on Wednesday. The country’s high-quality coal was mined out, leaving more environmentally harmful, lower-grade coal for use in the country’s power plants, MPs were told.
Two Labour Department inspectors were arrested after allegedly receiving a bribe from a construction-site employer on Monday, the Department of Labour said. ”The suspects were extorting R3 000 from a construction employer whom they had found to be unlawfully employing illegal immigrants,” said a spokesperson.
Murder accused Florence Lukhele will remain behind bars until her case is finalised, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday. The Evander Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga refused Lukhele bail for allegedly masterminding the murder of Govan Mbeki deputy mayor Thandi Mtsweni.
Twenty-two people have been killed in a smash involving a truck and a minibus taxi on the N4 near Komatipoort in Mpumalanga, radio news reported on Sunday. The minibus taxi apparently hit a truck from behind and caught fire. The passengers were trapped inside and burned to death.
Fires that engulfed five Mpumalanga municipalities, killing an old man and injuring a number of others, have been extinguished, the Department of Local Government and Housing said on Friday. Mopping-up operations were under way at the Mbombela, Albert Luthuli, Emakhazeni, Umjindi and Bushbuckridge municipalities.
Three men linked to the murder and rape of a four-year-old girl in Mhluzi near Middelburg appeared in the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, Mpumalanga police said on Wednesday. The case of the three suspects aged 27, 20 and 17 was postponed to August 21 for a bail application.
Three men arrested for allegedly stoning an albino man to death will appear in the Mapulana Magistrate’s Court near Bushbuckridge on Friday, Mpumalanga police said. A police spokesperson said a group of about 50 people attacked the man at his home on Friday night.
The Mpumalanga man who decapitated his Siberian Husky puppy with a chainsaw earlier this year has died in a car accident, according to newspaper reports. Phillip Matthysen (31) was thrown from his black Toyota Land Cruiser when it rolled several times on the R50 to Delmas in the early hours on Sunday.
About 3 500 mine workers will continue their strike over low salaries on Tuesday, trade union Solidarity said. Spokesperson Reint Dykema said Solidarity members started striking at coal mines around the country on Monday over an inadequate pay offer, particularly for artisans.
About 3 500 mine workers downed tools on Monday over low salaries, trade union Solidarity said. Spokesperson Reint Dykema said Solidarity members were striking at coal mines around the country over an inadequate pay offer, particularly for artisans.
The mayor of the Govan Mbeki municipality in Mpumalanga, arrested in connection with the murder of his deputy, will make a bail application next Friday, police said. Sipho Nkosi made a brief appearance in the Evander Magistrate’s Court on Friday and his bail application was postponed to August 17, Superintendent Sibongile Nkosi said.
A total of 28 people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed by a series of forest fires that have swept through parts of South Africa and Swaziland since the end of last month, officials said on Thursday. ”Twenty-six deaths have been reported thus far” in South Africa alone, said a statement issued after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The mayor of Mpumalanga’s Govan Mbeki municipality is expected to appear in court on Friday on charges of killing his deputy, police said. Sipho Nkosi will appear in the Evander Magistrate’s Court charged with Thandi Mtsweni’s murder, said Superintendent Sibongile Nkosi on Wednesday.
All veld fires that raged through Mpumalanga recently have been brought under control, the department of local government and housing said on Tuesday. ”Although the fires have been brought under control, fire fighters and the provincial disaster-management team are still monitoring the situation,” the department said in a statement.
As fuel shortages continued countrywide and panic buying set in, the Department of Minerals and Energy insisted on Friday it would not intervene in the strike by fuel workers. ”It is a huge problem and we are not happy with it, but our hands are tied. It is a very tough one … it is an in-house issue,” said spokesperson Sputnik Rantau.
Rural fires that blazed for weeks in South Africa killed at least 26 people, marking the worst loss of life from such infernos since the 1980s, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday. Ten deaths have been confirmed in Mpumalanga and 16 in KwaZulu-Natal, where veld and forest fires broke out on July 2.
Anet Ahern, Helena Dolny, Tina Eboka, Ingrid Johnson, Faith Khanyile, Elizabeth Maepa, Angela Mhlanga, Nombulelo Moholi and more …
A picture of death and destruction emerged on Monday as officials counted the cost of veld fires that ravaged several provinces. By late afternoon, nine fires were still burning in Mpumalanga and Swaziland. More runaway fires were also reported in KwaZulu-Natal.
The possibility of declaring fire-ravaged parts of Mpumalanga disaster zones could not be precluded, Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi said on Monday. Earlier in the day, Mufamadi and Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks conducted a helicopter surveillance of sites destroyed by fires in the province.
Six firemen died on Sunday while trying to bring raging fires in Mpumalanga under control, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Monday. The department’s commercial manager Kim Weir said five firefighters died after they could not get their vehicle away from the front of the fire.
Eleven people were reported by police to have burnt to death in fires that engulfed parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal on Friday. In Mpumalanga, a holidaying Johannesburg couple were burnt beyond recognition after trying to escape an enormous fire that ripped through a tourist lodge on Friday night.
Police on Friday defended the redeployment of officers dealing with crimes against women and children, saying the new system was proving to be effective. ”Rape cases have decreased significantly in Mpumalanga, while the conviction rate has increased substantially,” said spokesperson Director Selby Bokaba.
The JSE came off in the opening on Wednesday but has come back a bit, supported by a tad lower rand at midday. The bourse has also had a little nudge by the resource index, which has improved. At 12.01pm, the all-share index was flat (-0,01%). Resources gained 0,50%, the gold index eased 0,76% and the platinum-index slipped 0,12%.
With global diversified mining major Xstrata having met its 2014 targets in respect of ownership by historically disadvantaged South Africans (HDSAs), and making good progress on employment equity, you would expect them to be happy with the status quo. Not entirely, writes Erik Ratshikhopha.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula will look into Democratic Alliance (DA) allegations about problems in the restructured specialised family violence, child abuse and sexual offences (FCS) units and take corrective steps if necessary. Nqakula’s spokesperson, Hangwani Mulaudzi, said on Monday that, previously, the FCS units were based in area offices.
African National Congress (ANC) delegates attending the party’s policy conference in Midrand agreed there is still a need for the tripartite alliance, national executive committee member Joel Netshitenzhe said on Thursday. The alliance should be made up of the social movement, trade-union movement and the revolution movement.
There were varying responses on Thursday from delegates who had attended African National Congress (ANC) policy conference ”commissions” to discuss the strategy and tactics document at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. A delegate from KwaZulu-Natal said there were different views from most of the delegates at the commission he attended.
”Very cold” conditions were expected to persist over some parts of the country, the South African Weather Service warned on Thursday. The Eastern Cape, eastern Free State, Lesotho, western KwaZulu-Natal and Highveld areas of Gauteng and Mpumalanga would be affected, according to the service’s website.
Freezing weather and snowfalls in parts of South Africa have seen the death of a homeless man in Johannesburg, the delay of airline flights and the closure of mountain passes. Snowfalls left more than 300 bus passengers and 20 truck drivers trapped between Harding and Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal.
Johannesburg’s first real snowfall in more than 20 years and the freezing temperatures that accompanied it claimed at least one life on Wednesday morning. Motorists were warned to avoid all passes in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday due to snowfalls, the South African Weather Service said.
President Thabo Mbeki is to deliver the opening address at the African National Congress’s policy conference in a bitterly cold Midrand, Gauteng, where delegates started arriving on Wednesday morning. The conference takes place against intense behind-the-scenes jockeying over the leadership of the party, and coincides with a bitter public-service strike.
Many residents of Gauteng woke up on Wednesday morning to a layer of snow turning lawns, rooftops and cars white, while the South African Weather Service predicted a freezing day with temperatures staying below eight degrees Celsius in Johannesburg. A number of roads in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal were closed to motorists due to snow on Wednesday morning.