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/ 26 February 2007

Heatwave affects SA maize crop

Isolated drought conditions and the heatwave of the last 10 days in many parts of South Africa have affected the maize crop severely, said the general manager of Grain SA, John Purchase, on Monday. ”[With] the heat at 35 to 36 degrees Celsius daily, [or] even higher, there was no chance that maize crops could pollinate and produce,” said Purchase.

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/ 22 February 2007

Mpumalanga keeps tabs on cyclone

A disaster-management team was on full alert in eastern Mpumalanga as Cyclone Favio hit Mozambique on Thursday. The South African Weather Service said there was no immediate threat from Favio, which made landfall at about noon. ”There is no immediate threat in South Africa,” a forecaster said.

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/ 22 February 2007

Daylight robbery?

Creating two separate time zones in the country could lead to a massive annual saving of about 500MW of electricity generation, says an internal Eskom study. Eskom’s figures show that it currently costs R10-million per megawatt to build new power capacity, suggesting that energy savings from more efficient use of time zones could obviate the need for R5-billion in new capacity.

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/ 16 February 2007

Youth ministers to attend budget speech

Four finance youth ministers will be in Parliament as guests of Finance Minister Trevor Manuel when he delivers his budget speech on Wednesday. They will attend a pre-budget function and will meet Manuel and Minster in the Presidency Essop Pahad, Johan Reiners of the South African Youth Ministers’ Programme said on Friday.

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/ 14 February 2007

Opposition parties slam Pandor

Opposition parties have accused the government of exploiting the schooling and legal systems and of wanting to take control of every single school in South Africa. ”The minister of education [Naledi Pandor] is exploiting the schooling system and the legal system to lead an ideological crusade against Afrikaans,” Democratic Alliance spokesperson Desiree van der Walt said on Wednesday.

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/ 9 February 2007

Farmworkers’ risky behaviour creates HIV hotbed

January is mango season in Hoedspruit, in the Limpopo province, and casual fruit pickers, mostly women, flood the area’s farms in search of work. Conditions on the farms already make them a potential breeding ground for HIV infection. Workers usually live in overcrowded compounds away from their families and isolated from HIV and Aids interventions.

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/ 8 February 2007

Arrests, injuries in Moutse protest march

Police officers on Thursday shot rubber bullets at protesters burning African National Congress T-shirts bearing President Thabo Mbeki’s face during a march to the mayor’s office in Moutse district, a municipality of greater Groblersdal. More than 30 marchers were injured in the scuffle, and 46 protesters were arrested and charged for public violence.

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/ 7 February 2007

Aids strategies paying off, says mining body

The productivity of South Africa’s mining sector has not been affected by the Aids pandemic to the extent forecast in some of the ”doom-and-gloom” scenarios of a decade ago, the Chamber of Mines said on Wednesday. The chamber’s chief executive, Mzolisi Diliza, said that intervention strategies now mean that up to 94% of workers being treated are returning to work.

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/ 1 February 2007

Head-on collision leaves 20 people dead

Twenty people died and five were injured in a head on collision on the road between Standerton and Embalenhle, Mpumalanga police said on Thursday. Superintendent Abie Khoabane said a Ford Laser overtook a municipal water-tank truck and collided head on with a Quantam minibus taxi on Wednesday evening.

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/ 25 January 2007

Gauteng waits on date for taxi scrapping

No dates have yet been set for the scrapping of taxis in Gauteng, Transport Department spokesperson Sam Monareng said on Thursday. Dates have also yet to be set for the destruction of old vehicles in the North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, he said. All Monareng could indicate was that dates would be announced ”soon”.

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/ 22 January 2007

Bodies of illegal miners found in Barberton

The bodies of five men who died while illegally mining gold near Barberton were found on Monday, Mpumalanga police said. Superintendent Benjamin Bhembe said the bodies were found in a search by the miners’ families and friends. ”This [Monday] morning they recovered the body of one miner and they continued their search.

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/ 17 January 2007

Slight decrease in festive-season road deaths

Holiday season traffic deaths and accidents dropped by less than 5% compared with a year ago, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Wednesday. Radebe issued his report on the December 1 to January 10 holiday season traffic at Atteridgeville in Gauteng. The number of fatal accidents dropped by 59 from 1 428 to 1 369 compared with the same time a year ago.

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/ 12 January 2007

Focus on succession contenders

The African National Congress (ANC) is to celebrate its past 95 years in style in Witbank on Saturday — but thoughts about the future are more likely to dominate the minds of those attending. In nine months’ time, the ruling party has to make a watershed decision about who will be the new president of the ANC.

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/ 12 January 2007

All eyes on Mbeki at keynote ANC speech

President Thabo Mbeki will on Saturday deliver a keynote speech during celebrations to mark the African National Congress’s (ANC) 95th anniversary as South Africa’s ruling party prepares to elect a new leader later this year. The speech should be the last anniversary address made by Mbeki as president of the ANC unless he seeks an unprecedented third term.

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/ 10 January 2007

School year gets off to smooth start

Provincial education departments experienced a smooth start to the first day of school on Wednesday with no major problems being reported. Schools reopened in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the North West and Free State. ”All our schools opened today [Wednesday],” said Gauteng education spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi.

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/ 10 January 2007

ANC rally open to the public

The African National Congress’s (ANC) 95th anniversary rally will be open to the general public, the party confirmed on Wednesday. Spokesperson Steyn Speed said the party wanted to correct an impression that people attending the rally would have to submit their ID numbers in order to attend.

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/ 9 January 2007

Schools gear up for new academic year

Provincial education departments on Tuesday reported readiness for the arrival of millions of pupils at the start of the 2007 school year on Wednesday. Schools will reopen in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the North West and Free State. ”The Gauteng department of education is ready to roll out the 2007 academic calendar,” education provincial minister Angie Motshekga said.

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/ 9 January 2007

Young communists call for clampdown on shebeens

Shebeens near schools are a source of school violence and an access to drugs and alcohol for minors, the Young Communist League of South Africa said on Tuesday. The league was announcing at a Johannesburg press conference the launch of its Joe Slovo ”Right to Learn” campaign, which will run from Thursday until the end of January.

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/ 8 January 2007

ANC gears up for birthday celebrations

The African National Congress (ANC), which turned 95 years old on Monday, will celebrate its anniversary with a mass rally in Witbank, Mpumalanga, on Saturday. The party said in a statement it was expecting 20 000 people to attend the rally, with President Thabo Mbeki being the main speaker for the day.

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/ 30 December 2006

Holiday road toll rises to 1 277

A total of 1 277 people have died in 1 104 traffic accidents since December 1, the Department of Transport said on Friday. Spokesperson Collen Msibi said that while this was a slight decrease compared to 1 372 deaths in the same period last year, the department was concerned about the increase of fatal crashes involving pedestrians.