Economic activity in Africa benefited from the strength of the world economy, and there are indications the robust expansion has continued in the first half of 2006, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said on Wednesday in its annual economic report for 2006.
Monetary policy had contributed to the containment of CPIX inflation to within the target range against the background of various risks to the inflation outlook, said South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni on Wednesday during his address at the 86th ordinary general meeting of shareholders.
New Zealand coach Graham Henry said on Tuesday that the rigours of playing last weekend against Australia and then travelling immediately to South Africa had led him to make 11 changes to the All Blacks team for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against the Springboks.
Smiles have been rare in the Bok camp recently, but Springbok coach Jake White managed to produce a few after his team’s practice session at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Tuesday. There seems to be some enthusiasm back in the Bok camp with White at his tactical best — board and all — out on the training field.
Twenty-seven Iranian doctors have been offered jobs in South Africa as part of an agreement signed by the two countries on Tuesday. According to a joint communiqué signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and her Iranian counterpart, the first group of Iranian doctors has already arrived in South Africa.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) denied reports on Tuesday that Major Mmathabo Zikalala, wife of the head of news at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Snuki Zikalala, was being investigated for refusing to do her duty.
Former provincial and Springbok rugby player James Dalton will go on trial on October 12 after the case against him was postponed by the Hatfield Community Court in Pretoria on Tuesday. The 33-year-old former hooker is accused of malicious damage to property and discharging a firearm in public.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry on Tuesday made eleven changes to his team to take on the Springboks in their Tri-Nations Test in Pretoria on Saturday. There is a total overhaul of the reigning Tri-Nations champions team, with 10 new faces making it into the starting line-up and one positional change from the team that beat Australia last week.
Seismic monitoring networks need to be improved and monitoring should continue, a panel examining seismic events in gold-mining areas said on Monday. The panel was appointed after the 5,3-magnitude quake in Stilfontein last year that killed two people and injured several dozen others.
Springbok coach Jake White said on Monday he was optimistic he would have a full squad of 28 to choose from for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand in Pretoria. ”We’ll see after training this afternoon, but I’m very hopeful the medical staff will give everyone the all-clear,” White told reporters in Pretoria.
Two police reservists and five other suspects were arrested on Friday on the R101 near Hammanskraal where they were apparently planning to rob a truck, police said. Spokesperson Inspector Katlego Mogale said Hammanskraal police spotted the men next to the road early on Friday and on closer inspection found police equipment and unlicensed firearms in their possession.
The Gautrain Rapid Rail link will be ready for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe said on Friday. Notwithstanding utterances from some involved that it will not be ready and delays on the project, Radebe said he believed Gautrain will be moving come the Soccer World Cup.
The scrapping of old taxis will start in October, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe announced on Friday. He said 115Â 000 or 98% of taxi operators have already applied for conversion of their permits into operating licences as part of the taxi recapitalisation programme.
The Land Claims Commission is refusing to allow voluntary sellers of land to appoint their own conveyancers, thus delaying the finalising of land claims, organised agriculture said on Thursday. ”In some cases documents were already at the deeds office … when the commission … withdrew the documents,” said Annelize Crosby, spokesperson for AgriSA.
The case against Cezanne Visser, alias Advocate Barbie, will be reopened in the Pretoria High Court later this month in an attempt to prove that she was abused. Judge Essop Patel on Wednesday postponed Visser’s trial to August 29 to give her new senior advocate, Johan Engelbrecht, time to find out if the fact that Visser was abused by her partner, Dirk Prinsloo, can be used as a defence.
The trial of sex crimes accused Cezanne Visser, alias ”Advocate Barbie”, might only continue in March next year if she has her way. Visser’s legal representatives on Tuesday withdrew from the trial after she terminated their services and appointed a private attorney and experienced senior criminal advocate to defend her.
The University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi campus will re-open on Wednesday, university management announced on Tuesday. This is after two weeks of sometimes violent protests by students and the temporary closure of the campus by management.
Sex-crimes accused Cezanne Visser has told the Pretoria High court she has appointed a new legal team to handle her future defence, South African Broadcasting Commission radio news reported on Tuesday. Visser, an advocate herself, said she fired her former legal representative because she was not satisfied with the way he was handling her defence.
Eskom on Tuesday disputed the findings of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa that the energy supplier’s negligence and breaches of licence conditions were causes of power outages in the Western Cape. Eskom CEO Thulani Gcabashe said it accepted certain shortcomings on its part but that these did not amount to a breach of licence conditions or negligence.
Farmers’ unions on Monday said they want Minister of Land Affairs Lulu Xingwana to clarify remarks that farmers had six months to agree on a selling price before their farms would be seized. Xingwana’s statements seem to be in conflict with land-reform laws that set out procedures for expropriation, said Hans Van der Merwe, executive director of AgriSA.
Management of the University of Pretoria are to meet student leaders on Monday afternoon to try resolve the impasse over the future of the university’s Mamelodi campus, vice-chancellor Calie Pistorius said. Students have damaged property in protests against the announcement, at the end of last month, that the university planned to phase out undergraduate programmes at the campus.
The Lions managed to score a famous 19-17 victory over the Blue Bulls in an ill-tempered game at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. But the match will be remembered more for the genius of Bulls flyhalf Derick Hougaard, who engineered an amazing comeback from 19-3 down to leave his side two points shy at the end.
The University of Pretoria’s management and the Pan Africanist Movement of Azania refused to budge from their respective positions on Friday. The student body said they would continue with their protest, while management said it would not reopen the campus unless violent protests came to end.
Veterans of the 1956 women’s march returned to Pretoria on Women’s Day on Wednesday to march on the Union Buildings as they did 50 years ago. The benefits of freedom must reach everyone, women told President Thabo Mbeki at the Union Buildings. ”This constitutes a failure when we say the fruits of our liberation have not reached our women,” Mbeki agreed.
Fifty years after 20 000 women marched on Pretoria to protest against the pass laws, women are marching again. Wednesday is the 50th anniversary of the women’s march on the Union Buildings to protest against the extension of pass laws to black women. Thousands of people gathered at Strijdom Square on Wednesday morning.
It would be unfair and unjust to force alleged millionaire fraudster David King to enter his marathon criminal trial without legal representation, a High Court judge said on Tuesday. Judge Ronnie Bosielo directed the National Prosecuting Authority to assist King to have reasonable funds made available for his defence.
South Africa has been asked to use its political influence internationally to help end the conflict in Lebanon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. He said at a media briefing in Pretoria that President Thabo Mbeki had received a letter from Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora asking the government to intervene politically and help with humanitarian aid.
The first koala to be born in Africa has finally emerged from his mother’s pouch, the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria said on Monday. Conservation staff at the zoo have reported that the young joey, as young koalas are known, is regularly seen with its head out of mother Renée’s pouch.
A mere 2 647 taxi operators of more than 135 000 in the country have registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), the Department of Labour said on Monday. Said departmental spokesperson Kgomotso Sebetso: ”It’s not fair that the taxi owners don’t want to comply with the law.”
Violence erupted at the University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi campus on Friday, university authorities said. Students are protesting following a decision by the university that the campus will be turned into a community centre to cater for the needs of the Mamelodi community.
A full bench of the Pretoria High Court reserved judgement on Friday in an application by a Pretoria residents’ association to halt work on the Gautrain. It could take up to eight weeks before the three judges — headed by Judge President Bernard Ngoepe — give judgement in the case.
A Tuberculosis (TB) Crisis Plan to increase the number of people cured of the infection was launched on Friday by the Gauteng health department, the department said. ”In 2005 there were 18Â 275 new reported TB cases in Johannesburg alone,” said provincial health minister Brian Hlongwa in a statement.”