A colleague remembers a lion of the struggle, a comrade with a sharp wit and firm principles
Journalists today are operating in a fairly hostile climate. Two great men died.
Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson died on Saturday
There are two candidates who would bring different skills to top government communication post. Mmanaledi Mataboge and Charles Molele report.
The moratorium on deporting illegal Zimbabweans has quietly been lifted by the department of home affairs, prompting an outcry from rights groups.
The home affairs department announced the Zimbabwean Documentation Project deadline was successful and that no deportations would take place yet.
The department of home affairs will open offices across the country to provide services on election day, Ronnie Mamoepa said on Tuesday.
About 255 000 Zimbabweans took advantage of the government’s special dispensation to legalise their stay in SA, a government spokesperson said.
Zimbabwean refugees sorting out asylum papers were allegedly assaulted by home affairs officials, the MDC said on Friday in Durban.
President Kgalema Motlanthe has invited the Southern African Development Community to send a team to observe the country’s upcoming elections.
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/ 27 November 2008
There were an unspecified number of South Africans staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel, one of the sites of attacks by militant gunmen.
Robert Mugabe is ”happy” at the veto of a draft United Nations resolution to impose tough new sanctions, as talks continue in Pretoria.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will not participate in a presidential run-off against Robert Mugabe, a top party official said on Thursday, after reports of escalating violence deepened a post-election crisis. The MDC believes its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the outright majority in the March 29 election.
A ship that was carrying weapons and ammunition destined for Zimbabwe lifted anchor and sailed from Durban less than an hour after the Durban High Court ordered that its controversial cargo cannot be transported across South Africa to that country.
Zimbabwean election officials are expected on Saturday to begin a partial recount of votes from the March 29 elections despite opposition protests and widespread fears the political stalemate could erupt in violence.The recount in 23 of 210 constituencies could overturn the results of the parliamentary election.
South African journalist Mark Klusener was ordered to pay 25 000 shekels (about R53 700) and placed under house arrest by a court in Jerusalem on Tuesday, said his wife, Peroshni Govender. Klusener and other staff members were arrested for operating a pirate radio station.
South African journalist Mark Klusener has been arrested in Jerusalem by Israeli police, the Foreign Affairs Department said on Monday. ”A South African journalist, Mark Klusener, was arrested along with seven other media workers, according to the South African embassy in Tel Aviv,” said department spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai visited South Africa on Monday for private meetings in his first foreign trip since the March 29 presidential election, a party official said. Meanwhile, about 200 Zimbabwean exiles gathered at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Monday to hand over a petition to President Thabo Mbeki.
South African satellite technician Sipho Maseko, who is being held in a Zimbabwean prison, has been admitted to St Anne’s Hospital in Harare after his blood-sugar levels reached danger levels, his employer, Globecast, said on Sunday. Globecast spokesperson Melanie Gibb said Maseko, a diabetic, was looked at by a doctor from the South African embassy.
South African helicopter pilot Brent Smyth, who was arrested in Zimbabwe last week, will appear again in court on Thursday, said his employer ATS aviation services. Smyth arrived at the court in Harare on Tuesday but was sent away after the magistrate said he needed two days to prepare his findings.
Zimbabwe police have pressed fraud charges related to a hotel booking against a Johannesburg-based pilot arrested while flying Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai to election rallies, the party said on Wednesday. Zimbabwe’s police were not able to confirm the arrest.
A war of words has erupted ahead of election day in Zimbabwe this Saturday, with the opposition saying the government has already rigged the vote. These elections were ”never meant to be an even playing field”, said Nkosana Moyo, coordinator of presidential hopeful Simba Makoni’s campaign, in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
South Africa on Wednesday rejected ”with contempt” claims by jailed British mercenary Simon Mann that it backed his plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. ”South Africa is thrown in just out of the blue … he says he had a nod from us. I would like to know in what sense he had a nod,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said.
A Cape Town nurse who was detained in Saudi Arabia would soon be brought back to South Africa, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. Dannelene Noach (54) reportedly went missing in November last year from a hospital in Riyadh.
The emergence of the Forum of Black Journalists (FBJ) indicates there are problems in the media, South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) CEO Tseliso Thipanyane said on Tuesday. ”What is going wrong in media rooms to lead to the establishment of the FBJ?” he asked at a discussion on how the media cover race and racism
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/ 7 February 2008
Three South Africans who had initially stayed in their homes in Ndjamena, Chad, arrived at a local French school on Wednesday and were ready for evacuation, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. ”They will be transported to the French military for evacuation,” said departmental spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
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/ 5 February 2008
Five South Africans who were airlifted from Chad to Gabon on Monday night arrived safely in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said on Tuesday that South African ambassador to Gabon, Jomo Khasu, confirmed that the evacuees had arrived safely.
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/ 4 February 2008
Thousands of civilians fled Chad’s capital Ndjamena on Monday after rebel forces pulled back from a two-day assault, but the rebels said they would attack again to try to topple President Idriss Déby Itno, whose government said it had beaten off more than 2Â 000 insurgents.
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/ 4 February 2008
Five South Africans will be evacuated from Chad on Monday night, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. The French Military will fly the South Africans to Libreville in Gabon where they will be met by the South African ambassador to that country, Jomo Khasu.
Mlungisi Sisulu, son of Max and Elinor Sisulu, died in London early on Thursday morning, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Departmental spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said Mlungisi, who was in his late 30s, died from a ”suspected illness” at 3am on Thursday.
The South African government has joined the international community in expressing concern at the high level of violence, death and destruction of property that has occurred since the outcome of the election in Kenya was announced, Ronnie Mamoepa of the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday.
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/ 5 December 2007
What does President Thabo Mbeki like to do in his spare time? Ballroom dancing? Playing the piano? No, the man likes to work during leisure hours, says his spokesperson. As the ruling party’s national conference in Polokwane approaches members of the South African Cabinet certainly need ways to unwind.