Pretoria police found the body of a man missing since Wednesday in Brooklyn, police said on Monday. ”Mohammed Asif Ayob (20) went missing on Wednesday evening. A post-mortem will be held to determine the cause of death,” Inspector Anton Breedt said.
Students who fail perpetually should not be allowed to continue their higher education studies indeterminately, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said on Friday. The minister sought to explain a draft proposal she has submitted to the higher-education sector for consideration.
Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) beneficiaries are to have their grants paid directly into their bank accounts in future, in terms of an initiative launched by the fund and First National Bank on Thursday. ”This is the second phase of our struggle — to liberate people from queues,” UIF commissioner Shadrack Mkhonto said.
Mamelodi Sundowns kept up their hopes of finishing second in the Castle Premiership after they scored a hard-fought 1-0 win over Supersport United in a Tshwane derby played at Loftus on Wednesday night. The winner came from a diving header from Downs’ new teenage sensation Lerato Chabangu.
Police warned Pretoria businesses on Thursday to beware of criminals using stolen cheques to buy goods costing thousands of rands. The scam artists, who usually purport to be professional people in order to win the trust of their victims, place telephonic orders and request the companies’ bank particulars to ”deposit” money.
The Competition Tribunal gave the go-ahead on Tuesday for mining company Harmony’s hostile takeover of rival Gold Fields — provided it caps retrenchments arising from the merger at 1 000. The figure includes contracted employees, and retrenchments have to be confined to management and supervisory posts.
The era of disposing landmines by detonation could be over after a high-tech device was unveiled on Tuesday that neutralises mines with a remote-controlled gas flame. The MineBurner is a remote-controlled device that burns landmines without the need to move, touch or detonate them.
Allowing a hostile takeover of mining company Gold Fields by rival Harmony is not in the public interest, the Competition Tribunal heard in Pretoria on Monday. A merger could be to the detriment of the industry, to empowerment and to at least 1Â 500 Gold Fields employees who stand to lose their jobs, lawyers for the company said.
Burundi’s interim president and a former rebel leader have resolved a dispute that was threatening the peace process following 12 hours of talks in South Africa with President Thabo Mbeki and his deputy. Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma opened talks on Sunday evening with President Domitien Ndayizeye and former rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza.
A South African-brokered meeting to iron out differences between Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and his chief political rival will finally take place on Sunday. Ndayizeye and Pierre Nkurunziza are locked in a bitter row over the appointment of a new interior minister.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad on Friday defended criticism of President Thabo Mbeki’s numerous foreign trips by saying they are meant to build ties for Africa’s economic and social recovery. Speaking after Mbeki’s audience with Pope Benedict XVI, Pahad said all the visits consolidated the country’s political and economic initiatives.
A South African-brokered meeting to iron out differences between Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and his chief political rival to resolve the country’s lingering crisis will finally take place on Sunday, a South African government spokesperson said. The official earlier said the talks had been postponed.
The National Health Council had its first meeting on Friday in Pretoria, replacing the former health policy body MinMec. ”Today, we are formally dissolving what is called MinMec in order to make way for the National Health Council,” Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said.
Consistency in measles immunisation programmes is emphasised as an effective way to curb the disease, a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert told health officials in Pretoria on Friday. ”We must facilitate the service delivery level of the measles vaccine,” said Robert Kezaala, epidemiologist for the WHO regional office for Africa.
South African citizens and refugees alike could shortly be issued with ”smart identification cards”, replacing the old green bar-coded identity books, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula said on Thursday. Addressing reporters in Pretoria, Nqakula said the first smart ID cards are expected to be issued in 2006.
South Africa has been proved right by its plan to aggressively engage nutrition as a means of combating HIV/Aids, Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in Pretoria on Thursday. She said she would refuse to be ”pressured” into increasing the anti-retroviral rollout to meet the target of three million patients on ARVs by 2005.
The quest for seats on the United Nations Security Council is not to divert South Africa and Nigeria from African challenges, South African Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Thursday in Pretoria. Pahad was addressing the special implementation committee on binational commission matters between the two countries.
The Gold Fields mining company painted a grim picture on Thursday of the financial state of rival Harmony, whose hostile takeover bid it is seeking to halt. Figures presented at the Competition Tribunal in Pretoria showed that Harmony’s cash burn for the year June 2004 to March 2005 amounted to R1,75-billion compared to Gold Fields’ R748-million.
Two unrelated shootings at schools in Gauteng on Tuesday claimed the lives of a principal and a teenager. The woman principal was shot dead in Soweto and a pupil was arrested for allegedly killing a teenager in Pretoria. Nthabiseng Nkoni, the 49-year-old principal of Asha Pre-School in Mapetla, Soweto, was shot and killed in her office, said police spokesperson Sergeant Richard Munyai.
A hostile takeover of mining company Gold Fields by rival Harmony would be to the detriment of black economic empowerment (BEE), the Competition Tribunal heard in Pretoria on Tuesday. Jeremy Gauntlett, SC, for Gold Fields said 28% of the company suppliers were BEE entities, compared with a Harmony figure of 9%.
Mamelodi Sundowns moved to the second spot on the log when they beat struggling Wits University 3-2 in a lively Castle Premier League encounter on Monday. Also, Black Leopards beat Manning Rangers, Lamontville Golden Arrows shared the spoils with Silver Stars and Moroka Swallows defeated Bloemfontein Celtic.
The Bulls kept South Africa’s flame firmly flying in the Super 12 Friday night as they demolished the Auckland Blues 38-24 at Loftus Versfeld. With the game a win-at-all-costs affair, the Bulls came out snorting and scored five tries to three to take the full compliment of points from the game.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila on Friday suggested the creation of permanent structures to ensure agreements signed between his country and South Africa are put into practice. He was speaking at the start of a Binational Commission meeting he is to co-chair with President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria.
A name change from Pretoria to Tshwane will increase alienation among Afrikaners, the Freedom Front Plus said on Friday. ”We have determined through research that a name change of the capital will continue to increase alienation among the Afrikaner minority,” FF+ MP Willie Spies said in a statement.
The government denied on Thursday claims of radioactive danger in the vicinity of Pelindaba outside Pretoria, and threatened to change the law to sanction anybody spreading baseless alarm in future. ”There is no security or proliferation risk,” Minister of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
Taxi owners cautiously welcomed a new government code unveiled on Thursday for minimum wages and basic employment conditions in the industry. Workers embraced the announcement and warned employers that attempts to violate or undermine the initiative will face ”vigorous challenge”.
The Titans celebrated Freedom Day in style in Pretoria on Wednesday, with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over the Warriors in the final of the Standard Bank Pro20 series. The Warriors started reasonably well, with their first 50 coming up in the eighth over, and at 102 for four appeared set for a challenging total.
Santos plunged deeper into the Castle Premiership relegation zone at the Loftus stadium on Wednesday night when they were beaten 1-0 by SuperSport United. The only goal was scored in the 47th minute by Abram Raselemane. There was no score at halftime.
The Pretoria High Court on Tuesday heard how a self-confessed male prostitute killed a client because he desperately needed money. In a statement before court, 25-year-old David Swanepoel admitted to throttling Allen Sim and stabbing him with a knife. Sim’s body thrown into a bath after the killing.
The Bulls had to endure a strong comeback from the Chiefs to win their tense Super 12 clash and keep themselves in with a chance of a semifinal place. After two tries in the first half and a strong 23-9 lead, the Bulls took their foot off the pedal and watched as the Chiefs reeled them in and snatched a bonus point in controversial fashion.
Claims of South Africa being a mecca for organised crime are based on speculation, the police’s head statistician said on Thursday. Measuring the contribution of organised crime to the country’s general crime statistics is a near-impossible feat, said assistant commissioner Chris de Kock.
Fewer cases of Marburg fever were reported in Angola this week, but medical experts said on Thursday it is too soon to say this indicates the hemorrhagic virus is waning. And countries of the region, under the 13-member Southern African Development Community, are certainly not dropping their guard. This week saw two scares in South Africa as travellers, both from Angola, suffered high fevers.