A South African Airways (SAA) flight was forced to return to Cape Town International Airport shortly after take-off on Saturday after a passenger threatened a crew member with a weapon, the company said. An SAA spokesperson said the passenger had been subdued and the plane had landed safely at the airport.
A Pretoria Correctional Services official was arrested following a high-speed chase during which traffic officers reported speeds topping 200kph, the KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) said on Saturday. RTI spokesperson Rajen Govender said the Correctional Services assistant director was initially flagged down by RTI officers after he went through a speed trap at 168kph on the N3 near Cedara, north of Pietermaritzburg.
Spy bosses, rugby bosses, political bosses, diplomats and former deputy president Jacob Zuma were all on stage at the Absa Stadium in Durban in front of nearly 50Â 000 people for the Youth Day celebrations on Friday. Zuma’s message was one which stressed the unity of the ruling African National Congress and attacked ”analysts” who predicted the downfall of the party.
One day prior to June 16 the pupils of Inkwenkwezi Primary School in Soweto gather in the assembly area. They are asked to think about the day thirty years ago when police opened fire on schoolchildren protesting in the streets of the township. The headmaster of Inkwenkwezi tells how, back in 1976, young people decided they had put up with racism and repression for long enough.
Oleg Kharitonov of Russia has won the 81st Comrades Marathon ”up run” from Durban to Pietermaritzburg on Friday. The 38-year-old captured his first Comrades Marathon in a time of five hours, 35 minutes, 16 seconds — nearly 10 minutes outside the record time of 5:25,33 set by Vladimir Kotov in 2000.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is suffering a haemorrhage of key staff officials, in part because of the federation’s stand on African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma. Among the spate of senior leaders who have resigned from the federaÂtion, or are planning to do so soon, is senior economist Neva Makgetla and organising secretary Mncedisi Nontsele.
President Thabo Mbeki laid wreaths at the Hector Pieterson memorial site in Soweto on Friday as part of the 30th anniversary of the June 16 1976 student uprisings. Mbeki was accompanied by Minister in the Presidency Dr Essop Pahad, Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa and Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo.
Former South African president FW de Klerk was on Friday being gradually taken off a ventilator following respiratory problems after an operation to remove a cancerous tumour, his spokesperson said. ”He is responding well to treatment. He is being taken off sedation and being weaned off the ventilator and gradually starting to breathe himself,” David Steward said.
Against a tide of criticism and a government application for his incarceration, the lawyer for deported Pakistani national Khalid Rashid is persisting in his bid to have Rashid’s disappearance declared a crime against humanity in South African and international courts.
Despite suffering a double blow to their midfield, South Africa are favourites to wrap up the two Test series against Scotland in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. The Springboks beat the visitors 36-16 in the first Test in Durban last weekend. Rib injuries to midfield partners Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie means the Boks go into the game with a new centre pairing.
South Africa on Friday marked the 30th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, one of the bloodiest chapters of apartheid, amid renewed debate over whether whites should own up to the atrocities of the former regime. Hundreds of black youths died at the hands of police in Soweto during protests against the enforced use of Afrikaans in schools that began on June 16 1976.
By taking to the streets with courage and a strong sense of defiance, those brave young people involved in the Soweto uprisings helped to bring down apartheid and usher in the democracy we enjoy today. Although young South Africans can stop focusing on liberation and enjoy more freedom of expression than ever before, the problems they face are as serious to them as apartheid was for the youth during the protests.
A group of men sits huddled around a two-plate stove. They rub their hands, trying to stay warm; one eats porridge with a wooden spoon straight out of the pot. This is the end of the line for Johannesburg’s homeless, and every night between 500 and 800 people bed down in the halls of the Central Methodist church in Johannesburg’s inner city.
Squatters living next to an East Rand aerodrome robbed an aviator after his Rans S10 aircraft landed in a dam, Beeld reported on Thursday. Flight instructor Mirek Zalewski told the Johannesburg daily that he was forced to perform an emergency landing in a Brakpan dam this week because shacks had been erected too close to the airstrip.
Gauteng police on Wednesday nabbed 600 people linked to rape, murder, hijacking and robbery cases. ”At least 43 suspects can be linked to outstanding rape cases and 10 hijackings. The rest were arrested for crimes such as murder, armed robbery, drug dealing and other crimes,” said Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht on Thursday.
The African National Congress parliamentary caucus has publicly backed the decision of the forum for the minister of housing and provincial housing ministers to remove the Democratic Alliance-led City of Cape Town from the N2 Gateway Housing Project ”with immediate effect”.
Former South African rugby boss Brian van Rooyen has been barred from serving in any capacity on the general council and committees of the South African Rugby Union, the union said on Thursday. It said Judge Joos Hefer imposed this penalty after finding Van Rooyen guilty of contravening the union’s code of conduct on six of the 11 charges that were brought against him.
Gauteng local governments are owed R17-billion for unpaid services, provincial minister Qedani Mahlangu said on Thursday. Mahlangu said, while delivering her budget speech in Johannesburg, that the debt, which was incurred due to unpaid services, was hampering service delivery in the province.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union on Thursday warned of a possible national strike by its 200 000 members should they reject a proposed 6% wage increase. The South African Local Government Association is also considering the proposal, made by the facilitator in the wage negotiations that started in March.
The Pretoria High Court will rule on Monday on the urgency of an application for it to declare the arrest, detention and removal from South Africa of a Pakistani national unlawful. Attorney Zehir Omar asked on Thursday that the arrest, detention and removal of Khalid Mahmood Rashid be declared unlawful.
Johannesburg police undertook on Thursday to probe claims of a delayed police response at the crime scene of Cape Town journalist Megan Herselman, who was killed on Tuesday night at the Rivonia offramp on the N1 north. She had arrived from Cape Town that evening and lost her way between Johannesburg International airport and Midrand.
The South African government has urged Israel to act with the utmost self-restraint in ensuring the legitimate defence and security of its own people. ”The South African government wishes to express its concern at the continuing Israeli military actions in the occupied territories,” the Department of Foreign affairs said in a statement on Thursday.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the plea-bargain agreement entered into by a travel operator with the directorate of special operations. The NPA it said that travel operator Shamima Lamalia had entered into a plea-bargain agreement on Thursday. The case relates to Parliament’s travel fraud, which has been dubbed ”Travelgate”.
It was unclear on Thursday what the condition was of Elita, wife of hospitalised former president FW de Klerk, a family spokesperson said. He confirmed that Elita had been admitted to Cape Town’s Panaroma medi-clinic, which is also treating her husband, on Wednesday evening after she developed a stress-induced allergic reaction.
Striking security guards — members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) — were forced to call off their march to Sandton on Thursday. Their leaders told them to disperse after police fired stun grenades at them in central Johannesburg, injuring guards in the process.
South Africa’s youth helped win the liberation struggle, but this generation is now hugely challenged by poverty, lack of education and HIV/Aids, trade-union federation the Congress of South African Trade Unions said on the eve of Youth Day. Friday is the 30th anniversary of the widespread youth protests, which began on June 16 1976.
A new stadium, that will host one of the World Cup semifinal matches in 2010, was unveiled in Durban on Thursday. Named after King Shaka’s father, the King Senzangakhona Stadium will cost R1,6-billion to build and will seat a crowd of up to 80Â 000 soccer fans.
The official opposition Democratic Alliance is to call on Auditor General Shauket Fakie to carry out a forensic audit of housing departments in all the provinces and at national level. Standing committee on public accounts DA member Eddie Trent said national and provincial housing officials were unable to account for irregularities involving more than R300-million.
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In the auditorium of the Goethe Institut, Johannesburg, a movie is being shown, but it is running late. Moments before 9pm, the screen goes black and film fans are told they are welcome to borrow the film to watch the ending at home. It’s time for the Soccer World Cup, and the big screen comes alive again just in time for the German national anthem.
Striking security guards will bring business operations in Sandton to a standstill, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) said on Thursday. ”They cannot be working and enjoying lunch while workers are hungry,” said union spokesperson Jackson Simon.
The black-and-white photo illustrates the brutality of the apartheid regime: young Hector Pieterson carried by a fellow schoolboy after being gunned down by police on June 16 1976 in Soweto. Thirty years on, photographer Sam Nzima remembers the day that was to change the destiny of South Africa, and end his career as a photojournalist.
South Africa recalled fit-again winger Bryan Habana and Scotland made six changes to its run-on side for the second rugby Test on Saturday. South Africa won the first 36-16 last Saturday at Durban. Habana missed that match because of an ankle injury he aggravated in the Bulls’ Super 14 semifinal.