No image available
/ 11 September 2007
I meet the spook at coffee shops on the post-industrial fringes of town, past the tile warehouse, table at the back. The spin doctor prefers a fashionable bar where art-school luvvies with constructivist haircuts serve espresso kissed with golden foam. We take a high-visibility table and I listen as he tells me the truth with a slant, writes Nic Dawes.
No image available
/ 10 September 2007
It was ”unacceptable” for government bodies to threaten the withdrawal of advertising from newspapers, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said on Monday. It was ”unacceptable” for public bodies to use this as a punitive measure to promote self-censorship, the forum said in a statement.
No image available
/ 10 September 2007
Views expressed in the media that the African National Congress’s (ANC) upcoming national conference was nothing more than a ”power struggle” also came in part from within the organisation, its secretary general said on Monday. ”We know that the media also speaks to members of the ANC from time to time,” Kgalema Motlanthe said
No image available
/ 10 September 2007
Cape Town city councillor Badhi Chaaban said on Monday he is a member of both the African Muslim Party (AMP) and the newly formed National People’s Party (NPP), as both allow dual membership. But he has asked the AMP leadership for permission to formally cross to the NPP, taking his council seat with him.
No image available
/ 10 September 2007
Police arrested Democratic Alliance (DA) leader and Cape Town mayor Helen Zille on Sunday in connection with a protest she led against drug lords wreaking havoc in Cape Town’s poor districts. DA councillor Grant Pascoe said Zille was arrested after she went to a police station to inquire about the arrest of a religious leader who had participated in the protest.
No image available
/ 9 September 2007
From a macroeconomic perspective, the massive disparities in South Africa, coupled with considerable expectations of economic empowerment, require sustainable growth of more than 6% in the next decade, writes Iraj Abedian, the chief executive of Pan-African Capital Holdings.
No image available
/ 9 September 2007
Congress of South African Trade Unions secretary general Zwelenzima Vavi on Saturday warned that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was ”showing clear signs” of becoming a broadcaster of the state. ”Increasingly our government and the SABC talk about controlling and limiting what the public broadcaster can or should convey to our people,” he said.
No image available
/ 7 September 2007
One of the Cape Town councillors embroiled in the city’s floor-crossing battle said on Friday she did not know what party she belonged to any more. Georgina Sass was one of five Independent Democrats members that the newly formed National People’s Party claimed on Thursday had defected to it.
No image available
/ 7 September 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is looking at the legality of the Tshwane metro council’s reported ban on ”white businesses”, and the matter could even end up in the Constitutional Court, DA leader Helen Zille said on Friday. ”Such a resolution amounts to naked racism and flies in the face of the Constitution,” she said in her weekly online newsletter, SA Today.
No image available
/ 7 September 2007
![]()
No issue must be ”taboo” for debate in South Africa if its people want to succeed with reconciliation and nation-building, African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. ”Debate in the country must be promoted,” Zuma said in delivering the annual public management commemorative lecture.
No image available
/ 6 September 2007
![]()
The African National Congress Youth League has vowed to stick by Jacob Zuma as its candidate for president of the country, even if new criminal charges were brought against him. ”He is innocent until proven guilty … until such time we will continue to support the deputy president,” league president Fikile Mbalula said on Thursday.
No image available
/ 6 September 2007
Community members who are furious at the lack of sufficient housing and service delivery in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, have met ward councillors to discuss their frustrations, which had led to public protests and the occupation of government-built homes earlier in the week.
No image available
/ 6 September 2007
The newly formed National People’s Party (NPP) on Thursday claimed that five former members of the Independent Democrats (ID) had crossed the floor, bringing their Cape Town metro seats with them. However, the ID said two of the five — Abdulla Omar and Aaron Kallie — were expelled from the party before the floor-crossing window opened.
No image available
/ 5 September 2007
African National Congress national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota has defended his negative remarks about people singing freedom songs such as Umshini Wami, saying the issue was not about ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, but about policy. ”These liberation and freedom songs are not pop songs … which we sing for personal entertainment here and there,” he said.
No image available
/ 5 September 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape suffered a further blow on Wednesday with the defection of two of its senior MPLs to the African National Congress (ANC). The defecting members are DA provincial chairperson Kent Morkel and Kobus Brynard, who is a member of the provincial executive.
No image available
/ 5 September 2007
South Africa’s business confidence slipped further in August to its lowest level in 2007, affected by global financial market turbulence, the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) said on Wednesday. The Sacob Business Confidence Index declined to 98,1 from 99,6 in July, confirming a downward trend as most of the indicator’s sub-indices deteriorated during the month.
No image available
/ 4 September 2007
The notion of having both a president and a prime minister is intriguing. It is also gathering some traction behind the scenes. The question, however, is whether it is attractive because it has genuine merit, or because it provides a way out of the appalling mire in which the African National Congress has immersed itself.
No image available
/ 4 September 2007
Government incompetence and not apartheid is to blame for the Land Bank’s woes, says the Freedom Front Plus (FF+). ”Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Lulama Xingwana’s accusation that the current problems of the Land Bank are the direct result of apartheid is a lame excuse,” FF+ agriculture and land affairs spokesperson Pieter Groenewald said on Tuesday.
No image available
/ 4 September 2007
Representatives from Sunni and Shia groups in Iraq agreed on a road map to peace based on the experience in Northern Ireland after four days of secret talks in Finland. The meeting brought together 16 delegates from the feuding groups to study lessons learned from successful peacemaking efforts in South Africa and Northern Ireland.
No image available
/ 4 September 2007
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Young Communists League took issue on Tuesday with African National Congress national chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota over his remarks about those singing the freedom song, Umshini Wami. ”We respect comrade Lekota’s views but we disagree with them strongly,” Cosatu said in a statement.
No image available
/ 4 September 2007
Former National Intelligence Agency director general Billy Masetlha and his two co-accused, software specialist Muziwendoda Kunene and IT specialist Funokwakhe Madlala, had their fraud case postponed in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday. The case was postponed to October 1 for trial and plea.
No image available
/ 3 September 2007
The floor-crossing saga took another turn on Monday as the African National Congress claimed control of the Drakenstein and Knysna municipalities. Meanwhile, the ID’s caucus leader in the Cape Town city council, Simon Grindrod, strongly criticised former ID councillor David Sasman, now leader of the National People’s Party.
No image available
/ 3 September 2007
The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) on Monday commended the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) for its ”brave and patriotic decision” to break ties with the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef). The SABC broke ranks with the forum in protest over its stance on Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
No image available
/ 3 September 2007
The leader of South Africa’s main opposition party on Monday said floor-crossing would not change the balance of power in Cape Town, the only major city not controlled by the ruling African National Congress (ANC). The DA opposes floor-crossing, which it says favours the ANC and weakens democracy.
No image available
/ 2 September 2007
Businessman Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said he has no interest in joining the African National Congress presidential succession race — this after the Sunday Times reported that Ramaphosa had joined the race. ”I have no interest in standing for this position,” he said in a statement.
No image available
/ 2 September 2007
Uncertainty over the future of Cape Town’s coalition government continued on Sunday as the newly formed National People’s Party claimed to have secured the allegiance of 10 councillors. The coalition, led by the Democratic Alliance, holds power by a majority of 20 in the 210-seat council.
No image available
/ 2 September 2007
African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe has dismissed President Thabo Mbeki’s call for the party to take action against axed deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge. Motlanthe told the Sunday Times on Friday that he did not see any need for a disciplinary hearing.
No image available
/ 2 September 2007
Businessman Cyril Ramaphosa has joined the African National Congress (ANC) presidential succession race, according to weekend media reports. The ANC’s powerful OR Tambo district in the Eastern Cape has formally stated that it will nominate Ramaphosa for the presidency. Regional secretary Mlamli Siyakholwa said that "we have been lobbying Ramaphosa, I must admit".
No image available
/ 1 September 2007
After all the drama of the court cases that preceded it, the floor-crossing window got off to a low-key start on Saturday. The only excitement was provided by a senior African Christian Democratic Party politician in the Western Cape, Johan Kriel, who accompanied his move to the Democratic Alliance (DA) with a blistering attack on ACDP leader, Kenneth Meshoe.
No image available
/ 1 September 2007
A movement similar to that of the anti-apartheid movement was needed to make a success of South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday night. Mbeki said it was time for the country’s leaders to come together to think of ways to address the common challenges in the country.
No image available
/ 1 September 2007
The first politician to publicly announce he was crossing the floor did so on Saturday with a blistering attack on his former leader, president of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) Kenneth Meshoe. ”He thinks he is president for life, anointed and appointed, and that the only one who can unappoint him is God,” said a disillusioned Johan Kriel.
No image available
/ 1 September 2007
South African unions have wrested hefty wage increases from employers, wielding strikes as weapons at a time of high inflation and strong performance in the key mining sector and government surpluses. The strength of unions, traditionally allied with the left wing of the African National Congress (ANC), could become critical with a looming showdown over who will succeed President Thabo Mbeki as president of the ANC.