William Nkuna, accused of murdering missing police constable Frances Rasuge, handed himself over on Wednesday, police said. North West police spokesperson senior superintendent Pieter du Plessis said Nkuna had handed himself over at the Pretoria North police station.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma expressed her condolences, on behalf of President Thabo Mbeki, on Sunday at the death of British Labour Party MP Robin Cook (59). ”The people of South Africa have indeed lost a dear friend and a hero,” she said.
The Sharks produced one of their finest second-half displays in years to defeat the Currie Cup champion Blue Bulls 18-14 at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night. The Griffons received a beating in their last qualifying Currie Cup match in the North West stadium on Friday night when they were thrashed 43-0 by the Free State Cheetahs.
Achieving single-digit inflation was identified on Friday as a key goal for the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) 14 member countries. The goal was set out at a meeting of SADC finance and investment ministers in Pretoria. It was identified as a key element of economic stability in the region.
Talks on financial assistance to Zimbabwe are expected to be concluded soon, the South African finance ministry said on Friday. Discussions between the two countries on a ”principled decision” to assist Zimbabwe are at a sensitive stage, spokesperson Logan Wort said.
A Pretoria cosmetic surgeon has been found guilty of unprofessional conduct for performing unnecessary surgery on a patient and leaving her scarred, the Health Professions Council of South Africa said on Thursday. The complaint related to two cosmetic eye operation Jacobus Francois Scholtz performed.
Police offered a R50 000 reward on Wednesday for information leading to the arrest of William Nkuna, accused of the murder of missing police Constable Francis Rasuge. Nkuna’s trial was supposed to have started on Monday at the Mmabatho Circuit Court sitting in Ga-Rankuwa, but he failed to arrive.
Police on Tuesday were still searching for William Nkuna on what was to have been the second day of his trial for the murder of missing police Constable Francis Rasuge. A warrant of arrest was issued for Nkuna on Monday after he failed to arrive at the Mmabatho Circuit Court sitting in Ga-Rankuwa.
South Africa’s long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings were raised one notch each by agency Standard & Poor’s on Monday. The upgrade, which reflects on a country’s ability to repay money borrowed on the international markets, is based on improved macro-economic stability, the agency said in a statement.
Springbok coach Jake White admitted that his team played poorly against the Wallabies at Loftus Stadium on Saturday, but was nonetheless delighted with the 22-16 win. It was just the start the defending champions sought to their Vodacom Tri-Nations defence, but far greater obstacles await them in Cape Town next weekend.
Two South African pilots who flew suspected mercenaries to Harare last year entered South Africa at the Beit Bridge road border post on Saturday evening, their lawyer said. A light aircraft took Yaap Steyl and Hamman Jacobus from Beit Bridge to Pretoria to be reunited with their families before facing prosecution in South Africa.
The Springboks had to dig deep before they recorded yet another Vodacom Tri-Nations victory over the touring Wallabies, 22-16, at a packed Loftus Stadium in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon. Australia led 13-6 at half-time. The result was in the balance right until the last minute, when Andre Pretorius slotted a drop goal to seal the win.
An 80-year-old teetotaller who has never had alcohol in his life had a nightmare experience when two police officers from Kwaggasfontein north of Pretoria arrested him for driving under the influence. Fanie Otto, of Vrede walks very slowly, but the officers apparently marched him from counter to counter, pistol to his back, at the police station to which he was taken.
Renosi Denise Mokate has been appointed deputy governor of the reserve bank, the office of President Thabo Mbeki announced on Thursday. Having been chairperson and chief executive of the Financial and Fiscal Commission since July 2004, she is a former chief executive of the Central Energy Fund.
If events during the week’s build-up to the opening Vodacom Tri-Nations clash between South Africa and Australia are a determining factor, then the Springboks are clear favourites to get their campaign off to a winning start. But little can be made of the varying factors in the days preceding a Test match between these two fierce rivals.
Springbok coach Jake White made three changes and one positional switch in the starting line-up for the opening Vodacom Tri-Nations clash against Australia at Loftus on Saturday afternoon. The revamped outfit that beat the Wallabies 33-20 at Ellis Park last weekend have largely been retained — just reward for their sterling efforts.
Blue Bulls scrumhalf Fourie du Preez is expected to be the only change to the Springbok backline for Saturday’s opening Vodacom Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies at Loftus on Saturday. With a punishing schedule in the coming weeks, coach Jake White is looking to rest certain players in key positions.
The African continent has much to learn from the successes of Asia, President Thabo Mbeki told reporters in Pretoria on Tuesday. He was speaking after the signing of an agreement at the Union Buildings on the avoidance of double taxation between South Africa and Malaysia.
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Friendship and camaraderie was the reason for payments made by Schabir Shaik to former deputy president Jacob Zuma, the Durban High Court heard on Tuesday in Shaik’s corruption and fraud appeal bid. Shaik’s defence also called his 15-year jail sentence ”shockingly inappropriate”.
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Durban businessman Schabir Shaik arrived at the Durban High Court on Tuesday morning appearing in good spirits as he prepares to seek leave to appeal against his corruption and fraud convictions and a 15-year sentence. He stopped to greet police and journalists outside the court.
Springbok coach Jake White and his assistant Gert Smal on Monday said something has to be done about the way the Wallabies manipulate the scrums. The Boks conceded two free kicks to the Wallabies at scrum time during Saturday’s Mandela Challenge Plate Test at Ellis Park, won 33-20 by South Africa.
Municipalities are to take control of taxi ranks and their management, as some taxi associations have taken to charging operators for using them, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe said on Monday, adding that the government has committed R2,5-billion to increase its capacity to enforce public-transport laws.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, the main mediator in Côte d’Ivoire’s peace process, said on Sunday that Pretoria is heightening its intervention in the West African nation to pave the way for elections later this year. Côte d’Ivoire’s President Laurent Gbagbo promulgated new election laws on July 14.
The Cabinet has agreed to the creation of a risk-equalisation fund to ensure access to health care for all South Africans, President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday. While only a minority has access to private medical aid, larger amounts of money are spent in the private sector than in the public sector, he said.
The South African President, Thabo Mbeki, gave his clearest indication on Sunday that his government will give financial assistance to Zimbabwe. ”We engage them because we don’t want Zimbabwe collapsing next door. South Africa would inherit all the consequences of Zimbabwe collapsing,” he said.
Four of eight South Africans suspected of involvement in a planned coup d’état in Equatorial Guinea appeared briefly in the Pretoria Regional Court on Friday. The men’s defence team received a copy of a draft charge sheet and an undertaking that the final one will be handed over by August 31.
A Limpopo smallholding owner was ordered by the Pretoria High Court on Thursday to allow the re-erection of a school that burnt down on his property earlier this month. The judgement followed smallholding-owner Johan Pienaar’s refusal to allow the units on to his land.
South African citizens do not enjoy an automatic right to diplomatic protection, the Pretoria High Court ruled on Wednesday. Judge Essop Patel dismissed an application by a mining group seeking diplomatic protection arising from the cancellation of its diamond leases by the Lesotho government in 1992.
Despite slow progress, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan believes it is possible to achieve the organisation’s Millennium Development Goals by 2015 through cooperation, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said on Tuesday. ”What is needed is for us to work together,” Chissano said.
The names of Department of Home Affairs officials found to have been corrupt or to have committed serious acts of misconduct were released by the department on Monday. Sixty-six officials were dismissed between April last year and June this year for serious acts of misconduct, Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said.
Schools will not be obliged to offer new, updated subjects when the National Curriculum Statement is introduced for grade 10 from next year, the Department of Education said on Monday. The new curriculum has updated and sometimes renamed versions of subjects currently on offer.
President Thabo Mbeki has promised support for church relief efforts for people displaced under Zimbabwe’s so-called urban clean-up campaign. He made the undertaking during a meeting with representatives of the South African Council of Churches in Pretoria on Friday afternoon, church leaders said.