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/ 6 September 2007
Efforts to rejuvenate the South African Army will see 3 000 new recruits being taken in next year, with the figure shooting up to 7 000 in 2009, it was announced on Thursday. ”We need a young and fit group of soldiers,” army chief General Solly Shoke told reporters in Pretoria.
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/ 5 September 2007
The judge in the Boeremag treason trial on Wednesday ruled that enough evidence had been presented by the state on which a reasonable person might convict the 21 accused on charges of high treason, terrorism and sabotage. Judge Eben Jordaan dismissed applications by nine of the accused for their discharge on all of the 42 charges against them.
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/ 4 September 2007
The SAS Manthatisi has become the first naval submarine in the world to be brought into a new class by the International Classification Society, Germanischer Lloyd, the South African Navy said on Tuesday. ”Through the certification of SAS Manthatisi, the SA Navy adds another ”world first” to its long list of achievements,” Captain Digby Thomson said.
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/ 4 September 2007
A South African court sentenced a German man to 18 years in prison on Tuesday but suspended the jail term after he pleaded guilty in a case involving a global black market in atomic weapons technology. Gerhard Wisser, an engineer living in South Africa, was accused of having ties to a network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan.
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/ 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.
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/ 3 September 2007
United Nations agencies urged governments in Southern Africa on Monday to draw up legislation to combat frightening levels of human trafficking, saying action was vital ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Specific legislation to tackle the issue was needed to help law enforcement agencies get to grips with the situation.
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/ 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.
Crispin Mutamba fled exhausting bread and fuel queues in Zimbabwe for wealthy South Africa, only to find himself stuck in another one for three months outside Home Affairs in Pretoria hoping to get permission to stay. The chances are slim. Mutamba can’t find a job or a home, and, like many Zimbabweans, he feels like a pariah.
South Africa faces the challenge of how to use its 5% economic growth in ways that everyone, especially the poor, will benefit, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Thursday. He was speaking at the launch of the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s annual report.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula will appeal an order by the Pretoria High Court that he must rebuild the shacks of a group of Pretoria squatters — or face arrest. His spokesperson, Trevor Bloem, said on Thursday Nqakula would appeal against the decision of Judge Bill Prinsloo.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula was on Wednesday given two weeks to comply with a court order that the shacks of a group of Pretoria squatters be rebuilt — or face arrest. Pretoria High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo condemned the failure of Nqakula’s department to comply with an urgent court order, granted more than a week ago.
Opposition political parties on Wednesday expressed shocked at the reaction of local African National Congress (ANC) leaders on the ruling of the Pretoria High Court preventing the name Pretoria being replaced with Tshwane on road signs. On Tuesday the court granted an urgent interim interdict to the Freedom Front Plus and AfriForum.
The Tshwane metro council has been forbidden to replace the name Pretoria with Tshwane on route and guidance signs pending the outcome of an application to stop the name change. Pretoria High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo on Tuesday granted an urgent interim interdict to the Freedom Front Plus and AfriForum.
Thirteen years after the country shed its pariah status by scrapping apartheid, 96% of South Africans are now proud of their country, a new opinion poll revealed on Monday. Worryingly, among other figures revealed in the survey, nearly 10% of respondents said that domestic violence could be justified.
The preferred bidder to build and operate South Africa’s first private sector-owned power generation plants was announced by Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica on Monday. The AES Consortium — led by AES Pacific Ocean Holdings and several local companies — has been selected to build and operate the gas-turbine plants in Durban and Port Elizabeth.
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African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma does not have the right to look over the shoulders of investigators all along the way, lawyers for the state argued in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday. Zuma brought an application to stop the national director of public prosecutions from extending an investigation to the United Kingdom.
What remains of Pretoria is a ”cadastral area” registered in the deeds registry as a township, the City of Tshwane metropolitan council said on Wednesday in answer to a notice of motion of an urgent application for a ciourt interdict against the pending change of Pretoria’s name on road signs to Tshwane.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the state attorney have until Thursday to say if they will pay the legal fees of a former Scorpions boss accused of corruption, theft and fraud. The trial of Geophrey Ledwaba did not begin on Wednesday as his counsel asked for yet another postponement.
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Jacob Zuma will apply to court on Thursday to stop the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) from extending an investigation to the United Kingdom. At the end of March, the NDPP brought an ex-parte application for permission to approach banks in Britain with a view to the possible reinstating of fraud and corruption charges against Zuma
Railway safety in South Africa requires urgent and sustained intervention, the Railway Safety Regulator said on Tuesday. The Regulator released its State of Railway Safety in South Africa report, which showed a high number of incidents including collisions, derailments and security-related issues.
The United States hopes to increase the money it spends to tackle HIV and Aids in South Africa, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt said on Monday. He met Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya at the Union Buildings in Pretoria as part of an official visit to South Africa.
Adriaan Vlok and Frank Chikane shook hands in the Pretoria High Court on Friday, but later differed on how apartheid-era crimes should be put to rest. After the brief court proceedings, there were separate news conferences: one for Chikane, and one for Vlok and his four co-accused.
The fear of communism coming to South Africa justified committing acts during the apartheid era, which he has subsequently admitted were wrong, former police minister Adriaan Vlok said in Pretoria on Friday. ”We believed we were fighting a very, very bad enemy,” he said at a press conference at the end of the court case against him and four others.
South African hard-line apartheid-era minister of law and order Adriaan Vlok and four co-accused received suspended sentences on Friday after pleading guilty to attempting to murder a leading black activist cleric in 1989.
South Africa’s apartheid-era minister of law and order Adriaan Vlok and four co-accused pleaded guilty on Friday to charges of attempting to murder Frank Chikane, a leading black activist cleric, in 1989 by poisoning his underwear. They confirmed in the Pretoria High Court that there had been an agreement between the state and themselves over the charges.
The Public Protector will launch an investigation into service-delivery protests, he announced on Thursday. Advocate Lawrence Mushwana said the investigation will focus on specific municipalities and will try to establish if public-service protesters have legitimate complaints.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) opted on Thursday to increase its key repo rate by 50 basis points to 10%, its monetary policy committee said. The repo is the rate at which the SARB lends to commercial banks, whose prime lending rate will rise — also by 0,5 percentage points — to 13,5%.
A notice of motion indicating an urgent application for an interdict will be brought against the pending change of Pretoria’s name on road signs to Tshwane. The notice of motion was filed by the Freedom Front Plus and one of its councillors on the City of Tshwane municipality as well as Afriforum.
Three more Boeremag treason triallists on Tuesday applied for their discharge on all of the charges against them, claiming the state had not managed to link them to any conspiracy to overthrow the government. Counsel for accused Adriaan van Wyk, Pieter van Deventer and Frederik Boltman applied for their clients’ discharge because of a lack of evidence against them.
More than R45,6-million was lost by national and provincial government departments due to financial misconduct in the 2005/06 financial year, the Public Service Commission (PSC) said on Tuesday. Releasing the commission’s report on financial misconduct in government departments, PSC chairperson Stan Sangweni said there were 771 reported cases.
The Department of Minerals and Energy said on Monday that it wants to create a new industry around nuclear energy. Speaking at the release of the draft Nuclear Energy Policy and Strategy for public comment, the department’s director general, Sandile Noxina, said such a new industry would lead to the creation of jobs.
An indaba to discuss inflation and lack of transparency in the private healthcare industry will be convened next month, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Wednesday. The planned indaba will come after the Department of Health held a meeting with about 50 private healthcare industry stakeholders in Pretoria on Wednesday.