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/ 20 October 2004
New data suggest economic activity has increased, but this may not translate directly into similar increases in the gross domestic product (GDP), Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said in Pretoria on Wednesday. Criticised for large revision figures of final GDP results, Stats SA admitted they are not on par with global adjustments to such figures.
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/ 19 October 2004
An estimated R13-billion will have to spent by the government to complete land restitution in South Africa, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza said on Tuesday. She was speaking to reporters after attending the commercial agriculture working group meeting at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
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/ 19 October 2004
The fourth state witness in the Boeremag treason trial will not be able to maintain his anonymity after the judge refused an application to keep his identity a secret on Tuesday. Pretoria High Court Judge Eben Jordaan said the witness, Deon Crous, had not proved the existence of exceptional circumstances to warrant such an order, which would limit the freedom of the press.
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/ 19 October 2004
The South African Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Tuesday that 14 South African fishermen had been arrested overnight in Zimbabwe and then released. Reports from Zimbabwe said 26 white campers were arrested at a government-run camp site after failing to pay camping fees in foreign currency.
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/ 18 October 2004
The Boeremag treason trial may be delayed yet again — this time because of a planned urgent application to stop some of the accused being moved from individual to communal cells. The Boeremag accused — who are being held at Pretoria local prison — have complained bitterly about plans to move them from their present single cells into communal cells.
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/ 15 October 2004
The judge in the Boeremag treason trial on Friday made an interim order that the media may not publish the name and image of the next state witness, who is expected to start testifying on Monday. Argument on whether the court should grant an order to protect the identity of the witness, now only known as the elusive Mr C, will continue on Monday.
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/ 13 October 2004
Any person in Iraq runs a very high risk of being killed, said the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria on Wednesday. Responding to the death of two more South Africans who were gunned down on Tuesday in a roadside attack on their convoy, ISS analyst Henri Boshoff said more deaths should be expected.
Two more South Africans killed in Iraq
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/ 13 October 2004
Two more South Africans were killed in Iraq on Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Wednesday in Pretoria. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the government was still trying to gather details concerning the attack. He said however that the two men had been employed by Omega Risk Solutions, Iraq.
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/ 12 October 2004
Interpol resources will be moved to where they are needed, said the newly appointed president of the international policing organisation, Jackie Selebi, in Pretoria on Tuesday. His priority will be to redirect resources to weaker countries. This will include the establishment of a centre in Africa to pool information on international terrorism.
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/ 11 October 2004
No discrepancies or irregularities involving the first day of the matric exams had been reported by noon on Monday, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said in Pretoria. Demanding a daily report on matric exams from each province, Pandor said so far all matters concerning logistics, delivery and security had been attended to.
The Boeremag treason trial was delayed in the Pretoria High Court on Friday after an alleged altercation between suspected leader Tom Vorster and a fellow accused.
Vorster had to be rushed for medical treatment after he lost his balance and tumbled down stairs between the court cells and the courtroom following the alleged altercation on Friday morning.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have 12 hours to get out of South Africa, the Jubilee Debt Campaign (JDC) said in Pretoria on Thursday. About 150 marchers walked from the IMF building in Park Street to the World Bank building in Pretorius Street to protest againstAfrica’s debt and the institution’s pro-privatisation policies.
Hundreds of anti-debt campaigners were expected to take to the streets of Pretoria on Thursday in protest against the World Bank’s privatisation policy. Sonto Mthimkhulu, chairperson of the Gauteng branch of the International Jubilee Debt Campaign (JDC), said they would march from the International Monetary Fund offices in Park Street to the World Bank building in Pretorius Street to hand over a memorandum.
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the construction of a R2,1-billion water project that will pump water from the Vaal Dam to an existing water supply infrastructure near Secunda, Mpumalanga, the department of Water and Forestry said in Pretoria.
One of the Boeremag treason trial accused had to be rushed to a district surgeon after apparently suffering a nervous breakdown in the Pretoria High Court on Monday. Kobus Pretorius – whose two brothers and father are also on trial on charges including treason, terrorism and murder – suddenly jumped up and ran to the holding cells shortly after his advocate raised concerns about his client’s mental state.
A South African soldier has been arrested in Burundi in connection with the murder of a young woman, the Defence Ministry said in Pretoria on Monday. Sergeant Philippus Jacobus Venter, 32 – a VIP protector – was arrested on Friday and was being detained at the SANDF base in Bujumbura after local law-enforcement agencies laid a charge of murder.
It was unacceptable that South African universities produced the same number of PhDs today as they did 30 years ago, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Friday. Local universities were not producing enough post-graduate students, she told a research indaba at the University of Pretoria, according to a statement issued by her office.
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/ 30 September 2004
Year-on-year producer price inflation for all commodities for South African consumption (PPI) rose to 1,1% last month from 0,7% in July. This 0,4 of a percentage point increase could be explained by increases in the annual rates of change in the PPI for petroleum and coal products, transport, agricultural products and food at manufacturing (from -1,4% to -1,3%).
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/ 29 September 2004
Either 4,6-million or 8,4-million people had no jobs in South Africa in March this year — depending on whether one used official or expanded unemployment figures released on Tuesday. This translated into an unemployment rate of either 27,8% or 41,2%, according to the results of Statistics SA’s latest Labour Force Survey.
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/ 28 September 2004
A music publishing house in the United States has offered to pay all future royalties on the song Wimoweh to the family of its South African author, lawyers for the late composer Solomon Linda said on Monday. New York-based TRO/Folkways has also offered to contribute to the erection of a memorial structure for Linda, law firm Spoor & Fischer said in a statement.
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/ 23 September 2004
Despite an outcry from the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA), South Africa’s first National Fireworks Competition is set to go ahead, NSPCA spokesperson Christine Kuch said on Thursday. ”It makes me sick to the teeth,” Kuch said
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/ 23 September 2004
Technically, the wage dispute between the government and the public sector unions came to an end on Wednesday with the state signing a wage agreement and leaving organised labour 21 days to follow suit. Edwin Mohlegedi, chairperson of the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council, said he expected all parties to sign on the dotted line.
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/ 22 September 2004
South Africa recorded its first trade account deficit in 22 years during the second quarter of this year, according to the South African Reserve Bank’s quarterly bulletin released on Wednesday. It also recorded a current account deficit of nearly 4% of gross domestic product.
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/ 22 September 2004
Global defence company BAE Systems has awarded Denel, the South African arms manufacturer, an export contract worth about R14-million to supply artillery electronics, the two firms said on Wednesday. Under the contract, Denel would supply ”layers display and control units” for incorporation onto a BAE Systems new light field artillery gun being marketed worldwide.
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/ 22 September 2004
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has ordered a forensic audit into an auditor-general finding that unknown net debit entries totalling R10-million in the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s (UIF) 2003/04 annual report were incorrectly accounted for as bank charges.
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/ 21 September 2004
Just more than a million people — about 2,2% of the population — were arrested in South Africa in the past financial year, 445Â 779 of them for serious and violent crimes, according to the South African Police Service’s annual report released this week. More than 2,1-million kilograms of dagga were seized.
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/ 21 September 2004
A total of 347 police members were suspended between April 1 last year and March 31 this year for their alleged involvement in corruption-related activities, according to the police’s annual report released this week. The report says considerable effort was put into detecting corruption.
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/ 21 September 2004
Aggravated robbery was the only violent crime to show an increase over the past two financial years, national police commissioner Jackie Selebi announced on Monday. Murders dropped by 9,9%, attempted murder by 17,8%, serious assault by 4,3%, common assault by 2,6% and common robbery by 7,8%, he told reporters in
Pretoria.
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/ 20 September 2004
Public servants have put on hold plans for further strike action after a working group set up by labour unions and the government re-drafted a proposed pay rise agreement on Sunday afternoon. The latest draft provided for a 6,2% increase for public servants for this year and consumer inflation plus 0,4% for the following two years, a union negotiator said.
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/ 20 September 2004
In the Nguni languages, an indlavini is a violent and reckless man who disrespects elders and tradition. The tough cities also produced the utsotsi, a street-wise petty criminal who asserts his masculinity through violence. Amplified by the media, such notions have now become entrenched. With the introduction of HIV into the social equation, their consequences are also deadlier than ever before.
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/ 17 September 2004
A working group set up by the government and labour unions on Friday morning to explore ”all possible options” for a resolution to the public-service pay rise impasse had compiled a document by late afternoon. The document was due to be tabled in the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council urgently.
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/ 17 September 2004
Work stopped at the South African Reserve Bank in Pretoria and a nearby branch of Absa bank for about an hour on Friday as police searched both buildings for bombs. The police’s dog unit and bomb disposal unit were sent to both scenes shortly after midday, said spokesperson Inspector Percy Morokane.