Pretoria

Three Boeremag treason trialists lost yet another bid in the Pretoria High Court on Friday to be freed on bail. Acting Judge Lyzette Meyer said the three had failed to prove that exceptional circumstances existed to warrant their release on bail.

Two of the alleged rapists arrested in connection with the gang rape of a matric pupil at a University of Pretoria hostel have been identified as relatives of a high-profile politician in the former government of national unity.

Two University of Pretoria students have been arrested on Thursday in connection with the alleged gang rape of an 18-year-old woman in their hostel a week ago. A third man is believed to have handed himself over to police on Thursday.

The religion and education policy launched on Tuesday is aimed at reintroducing spirituality into schools, according to Minister of Education Kader Asmal, who has also said that religion is currently being handled in a haphazard way with a lack of seriousness.

South Africa on Monday noted with grave concern the resignation of Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas and called on Israel and the international community to refrain from driving wedges between the Palestinian president and the prime minister.

Thirteen alleged Boeremag members won the right on Thursday not to have to listen to centralised radio broadcasts in prison — provided they buy portable radios for fellow inmates who would otherwise be left in silence.

The government has rejected as ”blatant lies” questions raised this week by Independent Democratic Party leader Patricia de Lille about President Thabo Mbeki’s role in South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal.

Entities producing nuclear waste in South Africa will have to bear the financial burden for the management thereof, proposes a draft radioactive waste-management policy by the Department of Minerals and Energy.

Thirteen alleged members of the rightwing Boeremag organisation brought an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday to stop prison authorities from ”tormenting” them with radio broadcasts.

The Boeremag treason trial was delayed yet again in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday, this time by the ill health of two defence counsel. The trial, due to have started on May 19, has been postponed several times due to wrangling over legal aid and an array of applications by the defence.

Prospects are ”not particularly bright” for progress in trade liberalisation at next month’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Mexico, says South Africa’s chief negotiator Xavier Carim.

The government sought to assure agricultural leaders on Tuesday that it had no intention of tampering with a report on violent farm attacks, Agri SA said.

South Africa’s weaker-than-expected economic growth suggests that the 3,3% forecast for 2003 is out of reach, Razia Khan, chief economist for Africa at the Standard Chartered Bank in London, said on Tuesday.

The Boeremag treason trial was postponed in the Pretoria High Court on Monday for some of the accused to prepare an urgent application to stop prison authorities from ”torturing” them with loud music.

Deputy President Jacob Zuma will not be prosecuted for anything related to South Africa’s multi-million rand arms procurement deal, Public Prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka said on Saturday.

A 40-year-old man was arrested in Sunnyside on Friday afternoon in connection with more than 50 fraud cases after he had been evading police for almost 10 years, Pretoria police said.

South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni, facing criticism for accepting a 12% pay rise last year, got another increase above the inflation target he set this year, the bank said on Wednesday.

Three of the 22 Boeremag treason trialists brought an application in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday for their trial to be separated from that of the other 19. Some of the men complained on Monday that they were suffering psychological breakdowns for being forced to listen to ”black music” in prison.

There has been a dramatic increase in the use of heroin in Southern and particularly South Africa since 2000. This is the finding of a report by the United Nations’s regional office on drugs and crime.

South Africa will support the Central African Republic in the process towards reconciliation and elections, even though it does not recognise that country’s present government, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Thursday.

A lack of money is hampering arms procurement agency Armscor to an extent that could be to the detriment of the defence force, says chief executive Sipho Thomo.

Another interest rate cut is in the air as the monetary policy committee of the SA Reserve Bank met in Pretoria on Wednesday to review its monetary policy stance.

The prosecution in the Boeremag treason trial was accused by the defence on Wednesday of trying to create an impression of danger around the 22 men in the dock.

President Thabo Mbeki has indicated that he is ready to respond positively to requests to contribute South African troops to a UN-led peacekeeping force in Liberia, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The Pretoria High Court has dismissed a special plea by 13 of the 22 Boeremag treason trialists that the court had no jurisdiction over them.