A lack of capacity to spend their allocations from the integrated housing and human-settlement development grant has resulted in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga being stripped of R145-million by the national Housing Department, the Cape Town-based South African Local Government Research Centre has reported.
The ”Green Scorpions” begin an inspection of Mittal Steel’s Vereeniging plant on Tuesday, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said. The inspection, to last several days, marks the launch of a national environmental compliance campaign in the iron, steel and ferro-alloy industry.
The increase in electricity demand must be reduced, Eskom said on Thursday. "We have only so much generating capacity; therefore the only solution is to reduce the demand," it said in a statement. Rolling power failures affected parts of Gauteng and Mpumalanga on Wednesday evening.
Mdantsane fighter Ali Funeka was finally stripped of his title by Boxing South Africa (BSA) on Wednesday for refusing to defend it against top contender Godfrey Nzimande. BSA said Funeka was relieved of the title due to his failure to respond to numerous letters ordering him to honour the defence of his title.
Much of South Africa can expect another freezing night on Wednesday, the South African Weather Service said as the costs of this week’s cold spell mounted. At least 22 people have died of cold in different parts of the country this week, 15 of them in the Eastern Cape.
The South African Weather Service recorded 54 weather records in the icy wet and snowy weather this week. On Monday, there were 34 new temperature records and on Tuesday another 20. At least 17 people were reported dead from exposure or in fires trying to keep warm in the icy wet weather gripping the country.
More than 800 people were forced to evacuate their homes by the stormy weather that hit Cape Town on the weekend, the city’s disaster risk management centre said on Monday. And the South African Weather Service said more bad weather is on the way. Forecaster Stella Nake said Cape Town should expect another cold front on Thursday.
Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) listed on the JSE on Monday morning under the "Resources, Mining-Platinum" sector. "The JSE listing will enable us to access South Africa’s capital market and increase our investor base in an environment in which the PGM sector is well understood," said Eastplats president and CEO Ian Rozier.
An enormous gulf exists between the levels of service provided by different provinces, a Democratic Alliance (DA) study has found. ”If you are poor and reliant on the state for health, education and housing, the best provinces to live in are the Western Cape, Gauteng and the North West,” DA spokesperson Willem Doman said on Monday.
Widespread frost is expected over the central interior and Highveld of Gauteng from Tuesday until Thursday morning, the South African Weather Service said on Sunday. Very cold conditions were expected to persist over the central interior until Wednesday.
Tunisian doctors are coming to South Africa to alleviate a local staff shortage, the Ministry of Health said on Friday. KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape and Mpumalanga are expected to benefit, said spokesperson Sibani Mngadi. H said it was a short-term measure that would give the department time to train more staff and improve its ability to retain them.
The communities of Khutsong and Moutse will contest the demarcation issue in the Constitutional Court, their attorneys said on Thursday. ”We are now in a process of compiling papers,” said Rudolph Jansen of Lawyers for Human Rights. Jansen said papers for Khutsong would be filed soon.
One of the Boeremag treason accused, Herman Scheepers, has died after a long battle against a brain virus he contracted in jail. Scheepers (52) has been absent from the trial since last year because of his ill health. He was granted bail in July 2006 after four years in custody, following an urgent application by his attorney, Paul Kruger.
A court case opening on Tuesday is expected to expose the conflict within the South African government as it battles to balance the demands of mining expansion and environmental protection. Billions of rands are at stake as the government awards huge mining licences while it is accused of putting several animal species and ecosystems under threat.
In the same week that a major climate conference said that gas-emission cuts need to be both drastic and urgent, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk gave his go-ahead for a giant new Eskom coal-fired power station. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that the world has just 10 years to implement new strategies to combat global warming.
A 45-year-old man has appeared in a South African court for allegedly arranging three strippers for his son’s 16th birthday party attended by up to 20 teenagers, media reports said on Thursday. Prosecutors claim the teenagers were drinking alcohol at the celebrations at the boy’s parental home in March.
M&G Media, which publishes the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> newspaper in Johannesburg, has been contracted by Mafube Publishing to take over its key management functions, it was announced on Monday. M&G Media will market and distribute all magazine titles published by Mafube — including <i>Enterprise</i> magazine — and assist with advertising sales.
South Africa’s drive to abolish colonial and apartheid-era place names has met resistance in parts of the black community, where activists accuse the ruling African National Congress of honouring only its own heroes. Thousands of demonstrators thronged the streets of Durban on May Day to protest proposals to rename close to 200 buildings, roads and other landmarks.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) on Wednesday added more than 1 000 new applications to the small-business tax-amnesty process through an extensive registration campaign across the country. Several thousand Sars and police officials visited 4 160 small businesses in 30 towns and cities.
A slippery 11-year-old boy is terrorising a luxury Durban suburb, entering homes through burglar bars too narrow for adults, the Daily News reported on Wednesday. Once inside, his light footfall is barely heard as he robs his unsuspecting victims, leaving via the same route.
A Sunday tabloid aimed at the ”new, modern Afrikaner” is to be launched in May, its editor said on Tuesday. Sondag’s Mike Vink said it would offer less sleaze than weekly Afrikaans tabloid Son. This will entail, among others, a page three pin-up girl, who will not be topless. ”It’s not going to be sleazy, but a genuine Sunday newspaper with a sports, news and business section.”
President Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, the African National Congress deputy president, and other top ANC leaders are expected to meet the party’s KwaZulu-Natal leadership on Monday. This followed newspaper reports that some ANC leaders in KwaZulu-Natal were plotting to make the province a no-go area for the president.
Sasol and Engen’s proposed merger received an unprecedented amount of attention last year from the competition authorities and was eventually rejected, despite initial recommendations that it go ahead. Government has been trying to ensure prices are competitive by increasing pressure, particularly on dominant suppliers
Labour offices in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga were shut down by their own inspectors after being found to pose a serious health hazard to workers, the Department of Labour said on Thursday. A notice halting all the activities was issued on Tuesday. A department spokesperson said inspectors found that the building had a water leak in the ceiling.
The Afrikanerbond on Wednesday welcomed the National African National Congress’s (ANC) stance against the damage to the Great Trek memorial in Standerton, Mpumalanga. ”The Afrikanerbond is heartened by ANC national spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama’s unequivocal message …,” said Afrikanerbond spokesperson Jan Bosman in a statement.
Both the number of malaria cases and deaths caused by it have decreased in Mpumalanga over the past seven years, the provincial health department said on Tuesday. There has been a steady drop in cases and a ”pleasing decline” in deaths since 2000/01, according to statistics released by the department.
A father was arrested for allegedly bombing a shack and killing his two-year-old son in Embalenhle in Secunda, Mpumalanga police said on Monday. Inspector Thabiso Ncongwane said the baby had been sleeping along with his mother and her partner when their shack was bombed with mining explosives.
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.
The Freedom Front+ has laid a formal complaint over the destruction of a Great Trek memorial at Standerton, party leader Dr Pieter Mulder said on Sunday. Mayor Queen Radebe-Khumalo ordered the destruction of the memorial, which was in front of the municipal offices, apparently with the approval of the Mpumalanga African National Congress.
The destruction of a Great Trek memorial stone in Standerton should be condemned, the Afrikanerbond said on Friday. The destruction was apparently ordered by the mayor of Standerton and approved by the African National Congress in Mpumalanga, which told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday there was ”nothing wrong” with the destruction.
A Johannesburg metro cop who was caught in a hijacked truck in De Deur on Thursday was already under suspension for taking a bribe, it emerged on Thursday night. Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the 40-year-old police officer took a R230 bribe from a motorist in February.
A 40-year-old Johannesburg metro police officer and a 43-year-old man were arrested when they were found driving a hijacked goods truck in Gauteng on Thursday, said Vaal Rand police. Captain William Mcera said the truck, carrying canned foods, was hijacked in Mpumalanga by three men on Wednesday morning.