Just a week after the statue of Chief Tshwane was unveiled in front of the city hall in Pretoria, vandals have painted it in the colours of the old South African flag. Tshwane metro police spokesperson Superintendent Alta Fourie said the statue, which was found painted on Friday morning, must have been vandalised on Thursday night.
Deputy Minister of Defence Mluleki George will attend the 90th commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood in France on Sunday, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. During the ceremony — which commemorates the South Africans who perished in World War I — a new South African coat of arms will be unveiled at the South African memorial on the site.
Six major South African businesses will officially back the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, the local organising committee announced in Pretoria on Wednesday. First National Bank has already announced that it will sponsor the soccer extravaganza to the tune of -million (about R212,7-million).
North Korea’s Vice-Minister Kim Hyong Jun arrived at the Union Buildings on Tuesday for bilateral discussions with Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad. High on the agenda of the meeting, that is expected to last just over two hours, would be North Korea’s test firing of seven missiles last week including a long-range Taepodong-2, believed to be able to hit Alaska or Hawaii.
Western Province played an impressive and near clinical game of rugby to record a morale boosting 15-10 victory over a lifeless Blue Bulls team at Loftus Versveld on Saturday. Last week the Bulls looked like possible Currie Cup champions when they convincingly beat the Lions at Ellis Park, but this Saturday they were a completely different outfit.
The Democratic Alliance says it hopes Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula will redeem himself with an anti-crime drive he announced on Friday. Nqakula said in Pretoria that police would launch special operations in the coming six months to combat serious and violent crimes.
While South Africa will urge North Korea to stop its missile testing, it is not convinced that United Nations Security Council action is the best way to solve the crisis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Friday. He said the issue will be on the agenda for a meeting on Tuesday with his North Korean counterpart.
Police will launch special operations in the coming six months to combat serious and violent crimes, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula announced on Friday. ”We would bring to the attention of the criminals out there that we’re going to be on their necks,” Nqakula vowed.
The plastics on Thursday finally came off the controversial statue of the man said to have inspired the naming of the metropole of Tshwane. The 6,2m bronzed figure of Chief Tshwane was unveiled in a low-key ceremony outside the Pretoria city hall, months after it was erected and put under wraps.
The ”recklessness” with which some South African lose their identity documents (IDs) is a concern, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba said on Wednesday. ”Some people in South Africa have been applying for an ID five times a year,” Gigaba said.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Affairs has budgeted R1-billion to update its management of money in trust programme (MMIT), its chief operations officer Khotso De Wee said on Wednesday. His remarks come after Auditor General Shauket Fakie tabled a report in Parliament on Tuesday identifying serious financial and administrative inefficiencies in the MMIT.
More than 240 experts have been placed at problem municipalities to help them improve their affairs, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Wednesday. Gigaba said a total of 112 experts, 18 graduates and 80 students had been mobilised and deployed to the 69 Project Consolidate municipalities.
French arms dealer Thint on Tuesday lost its application to have a search warrant declared invalid and documents seized from its offices by the Scorpions returned. The search-and-seizure warrants, granted by Judge President Bernard Ngoepe, form part of the Scorpions’ investigation into allegations of corruption, money laundering, fraud and related offences.
Speaking during the July update on the government’s programme of action for 2006, the second report back since the State of the Nation address, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said in Pretoria on Tuesday that all of the programmes of the economic and investment cluster were "well on track".
An independent investigation into the Jeppestown shooting is the only way to restore confidence in the police, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday. DA spokesperson on safety and security Roy Jankielsohn said an investigation should look at who ordered the police into a situation in which they were ”outgunned and outmanned” by armed criminals, and why.
German prosecutors have not approached the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to help investigate possible kickbacks in a sale of four corvettes to the South African Navy. NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said on Monday the office had received no requests from the German authorities on the issue.
Employees of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the office of the compensation commissioner could go on strike in July, the public service union (PSA) said on Wednesday. PSA and several other unions’ members were planning ”full-blown strike action” over what they called the Department of Labour’s ”unilateral phase-out of a production bonus scheme”.
South Africa must move away from its ”stubborn” obsession with race and focus on the socio-economic backgrounds of people to transform the country, political analyst Frederik van Zyl Slabbert said on Wednesday. ”If you make yourself hostage to a racist past you could budget on a racist future,” Van Zyl Slabbert said.
The government will look at buying up commercially available agricultural land in an attempt to speed up land reform, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Lulu Xingwana said on Tuesday. She was speaking after a presidential working group meeting on agriculture in Pretoria.
The South African mediator in the Burundi peace talks on Tuesday shot down claims of a walkout by the country’s last remaining rebel group. South African Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula said the perceived walkout was ”participants breaking into small groups to continue talks”.
If Israel invades Gaza it would be the beginning of the end to finding a political solution in that country, South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. He said South Africa had sent messages to both Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, urging them to put pressure on groups who kidnapped an Israeli soldier over the weekend.
The case against an IT salesperson involved in an alleged hoax e-mail conspiracy within the African National Congress was postponed in the Pretoria Regional Court on Monday. Muziwendoda Sikhona Kunene, who stands accused of contravening the Intelligence Services Oversight Act will again appear in court on July 14.
Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula said on Monday that he was very concerned about the serious and violent nature of crimes against ”soft targets”. He said police action in high-crime areas sometimes drove criminals out to other areas and places considered to be soft targets.
Four armed robbers on Monday overpowered a Coin security guard and made of with tens of thousands of rand that he had collected at the offices of Sunday newspaper publisher RCP Media in Pretoria. Police spokesperson Inspector Katlego Mogale said: ”He was accosted by four suspects, all armed. They made off with the money in a black Toyota Tazz.”
The Blue Bulls were lucky to scrape home 18-16 against a motivated Falcons side in a game on a cold and bitter evening at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night. The Bulls struggled in a second-half performance that must go down as one of the worst in years as the Falcons stormed back in the game.
Invalid decisions by the Free State premier, unlawful payments by two Northern Cape municipalities and problems at the Commission on Gender Equality were the major focus of reports released by Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana on Tuesday. He has also completed his probe into Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s controversial trip to the United Arab Emirates.
The Commission on Gender Equality has structural problems, which has strained relations between its CEO and its commissioners, the Public Protector said on Tuesday. Mabedla Lawrence Mushwana released a report on his investigation into various allegations made against the commission, including abuse of power and mismanagement.
The Pretoria High Court will rule on Monday on the urgency of an application for it to declare the arrest, detention and removal from South Africa of a Pakistani national unlawful. Attorney Zehir Omar asked on Thursday that the arrest, detention and removal of Khalid Mahmood Rashid be declared unlawful.
A 29-year-old blockman from Meyers Park, Pretoria, was referred for mental observation by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court for a second time on Wednesday. Daniel Petrus van der Walt was arrested after he had allegedly confessed that he killed 20-year-old Marlene Mauer with a hammer.
South Africa will send a 128-member observer mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to monitor that country’s election, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. Pahad said the observer team will be deployed in key areas in all the provinces of the DRC ahead of the election scheduled for July 30.
South African President Thabo Mbeki will visit Sudan next week to evaluate the peace process in the war-ravaged western Darfur region, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. Mbeki is to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir and Vice-President Salva Kirr during the one-day visit on Tuesday.
Another man has been arrested in connection with the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) hoax e-mail saga, police said on Monday. The NIA’s manager for electronic surveillance, Funokwakhe Madladla. was arrested on Monday morning after he handed himself over to the police.