The trial of former spy boss Billy Masetlha will proceed, the Hatfield Community Court in Pretoria ruled on Thursday. The court dismissed Masetlha’s application for discharge at the close of the state’s case. Magistrate Dreyer van der Merwe said after considering all evidence presented so far, Masetlha had a case to answer.
Most South Africans — 79% — are against the proposed legalisation of prostitution in the country for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, a survey by African Response has found. The survey included a sample of 400 respondents from the major metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The participants were interviewed face to face.
The case of former spy boss Billy Masetlha was rolled over to Thursday because some of the assessors in the case could not make it to court. Chief state prosecutor Matric Luphondo said the disruption of public transport due to the public-service strike meant that some of the assessors could not reach work.
As the country braces itself for a mass public-sector protest action on Wednesday, government and union negotiators moved closer to clinching a deal in the wage talks. Talks between the two parties at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council in Centurion continued well into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
South Africa could experience a total economic shutdown on Wednesday as hundreds of thousands more public-sector workers join an ongoing strike in a pay dispute, labour unions warned on Tuesday. ”It’s going to be a total shutdown … in public services and the economy,” said Willie Madisha, president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
Former National Intelligence Agency director general Billy Masetlha was using ”evasive tactics” to avoid giving information to the inspector general of intelligence, the Hatfield Community Court heard on Tuesday. Masetlha is accused of contravening the Provisional Oversight Act by withholding evidence from Inspector General Zolile Ngcakani.
Less than an hour before they were scheduled to resume talks with government negotiators on Tuesday, all the public-service unions rejected a 7,25% wage increase proposal brokered by mediators. ”This is not substantially different from [what] the government has been offering …,” Willie Madisha, president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, said.
Springbok coach Jake White is to pay a courtesy call on President Thabo Mbeki on Friday, a presidential spokesperson said. Spokesperson in the Presidency Mukoni Ratshitanga said the ”courtesy call” between the two would take place in Cape Town, either at the president’s office or his residence.
Following another impasse in the public service wage talks, independent mediators on Sunday came up with their own proposal of what a comprehensive wage offer should look like. Mediators Charles Nupen and Meshack Ravuku drew up a document which was handed to government and union negotiators late on Sunday night.
Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi is multiplying her problems by dismissing strikers and threatening action against others, said Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Sunday. ”We will not settle the strike until all threats have been withdrawn and every person who went on strike goes back to a workplace.”
Mediators were meeting separately with government and union negotiators on Friday evening trying to find common ground between their two conflicting wage increase proposals. Public-service unions on Friday officially made a counter-proposal demanding a 10% wage increase from government.
Public-service unions officially made a counter-proposal, demanding a 10% wage increase from the government on Friday. ”Unions’ demands remain the same but in order to facilitate the reaching of a settlement the unions have agreed to put on the table a proposal of 10% ..,” Don Pasquallie said on behalf of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
Armed soldiers and police were deployed at schools and hospitals around the country on Friday as the government flexed its muscles to rein in striking public servants. Casspirs off-loaded troops wearing bullet-proof vests and armed with R4 automatic rifles to join police keeping watch at the Kalafong Hospital.
Three Cabinet ministers were jeered by striking workers when they arrived at the Kalafong Hospital near Pretoria to assess security during the public-service strike. Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula arrived at the hospital under heavy guard.
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The so-called ”Special Browse” report alleging that Jacob Zuma had enlisted the help of African heads of state in his succession battle bore ”malicious intent”, Director General in the Presidency Frank Chikane said on Wednesday. He said the report was aimed at causing confusion, mistrust and division in the government.
Young people have not benefited from South Africa’s economic growth as most are still unemployed, African National Congress Youth League president Fikile Mbalula said on Wednesday. He was addressing about 1Â 000 protesters, made up of mostly young people, who gathered at the Union Buildings to protest against a lack of jobs for the youth.
No country in the world has been able to flout international law as much as Israel in the four decades since the Six Day War. Speaking at a reception for Arab ambassadors posted to Pretoria, South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said the international community had failed the Palestinian people by not putting an end to the occupation of their land.
Public-service unions rejected a revised offer of a 6,5% pay rise by the government on Monday, saying it was nothing new. Union leaders said at the end of pay talks in Centurion on Monday night they would come up with a counter proposal. It was not immediately clear when negotiations would resume.
South Africa is still negotiating the release of one of its citizens kidnapped in the Niger Delta, the Foreign Affairs Department said on Monday. ”We are still negotiating [for the man’s release] at this stage. We are, however, in contact with both the man’s mother and his wife,” spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said.
South Africa produced a commanding second-half performance to hammer England 55-22 in the second Test in Pretoria on Saturday. Northern Bulls heroes Bryan Habana and Pierre Spies both scored two tries on their home ground, while Percy Montgomery finished with 18 points to his name.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair ensured that Africa was firmly on the agenda of the international community during his time in office, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. The two leaders met at the Union Buildings in Pretoria as part of Blair’s farewell tour to Africa.
The political crisis in Zimbabwe needs to be resolved by fellow African governments, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Friday after talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki. He said that Britain supported Mbeki’s role to mediate between veteran Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
Fifty-four percent of South African drivers claim to have been on the receiving end of aggressive or threatening driving behaviour in the past 12 months, a recent study has found. A total number 1 986 respondents from Gauteng, Durban and Cape Town were asked about various acts of road rage experienced, ranging from persistent honking of horns to actual physical violence.
A man died and 11 others were seriously injured in an explosion at a scrapyard in the Bon Accord area of Pretoria on Wednesday, the Tshwane metro said. ”Preliminary indications show that there were explosives in the metals with which the men were working at the time of the explosion,” spokesperson William Baloyi said.
A man died and 11 others were seriously injured in an explosion at a scrap yard in the Bon Accord area of Pretoria on Wednesday, the Tshwane metro said. ”Preliminary indications show that there were explosives in the metals with which the men were working at the time of the explosion,” spokesperson William Baloyi said.
Friday’s public-service strike is set to go ahead after the government and unions failed to reach agreement on wage increases after two days of talks in Pretoria. Last-minute talks called by the government broke down in the early hours of Wednesday morning at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council.
A document containing proposals to resolve the deadlock between the government and public-sector unions over wage increases was circulated at talks between the parties in Centurion on Tuesday afternoon. The document was handed to all the representatives at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council.
A new database intended to help reduce unemployment among science graduates was launched by Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi Mangena in Pretoria on Tuesday. "I have no doubt that what we are engaged in today is a necessary step in the right direction to begin closing the gap of the skills shortage," Mangena said.
Technical committees continued negotiations throughout Monday night in an attempt to resolve the impasse between public-sector unions and government on wage negotiations. On Monday the talks almost collapsed when the government said it would refer its dispute with essential-service workers to arbitration.
The government had by Monday afternoon made no new offer at a special bargaining council meeting with public-sector unions called to discuss the current wage dispute. Some union negotiators, who did not want to be identified because negotiations were ongoing, said there was ”no new offer on the table” and that it was likely that strike action planned for June 1 would proceed.
The father of notorious prison escapee Annanias Mathe was granted bail at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Zaphanias Mathe (80) was granted R500 bail. He will appear in court again on June 19, coincidentally the same day that the younger Mathe will also appear to face his prison-escape charges.
More than 10 000 public-service workers started marching in Pretoria on Friday demanding better pay and working conditions. Much of the protesters’ anger was aimed at Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi. Protesters sang songs blaming her for the breakdown in pay talks between the unions and the government.