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/ 2 February 2006
Schabir Shaik might owe the state even more than R34-million should his appeal against Tuesday’s asset-forfeiture order fail, News24 reported on Thursday. From Tuesday, 15,5% annual interest will be levied on the R34,3-million Judge Hilary Squires awarded to the state.
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/ 2 February 2006
Fires that caused havoc and extensive damage in the Overberg area in the Western Cape were put out during Wednesday night, Gansbaai police said. Constable Sanele Mantanbo said on Thursday morning the fires were completely out and the road between Gansbaai and Hermanus has been reopened for traffic.
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/ 2 February 2006
As the strike by Transnet employees in KwaZulu-Natal ended on Wednesday, four trade unions handed over a memorandum to Transnet management. In the memorandum, directed to Transnet CEO Maria Ramos, the unions urged management to respect processes and structures established for the purposes of negotiating.
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/ 2 February 2006
It could take several more weeks to finish the paperwork and legal processes needed to start building the Gautrain, the project’s spokesperson said on Thursday. ”Construction will only begin once we’ve signed the concession agreement, but we don’t want to put a timeline on it,” Barbara Jensen said.
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/ 1 February 2006
Fires that have been raging in the Overberg since Monday continued to burn out of control on Wednesday, destroying five buildings at an upmarket resort and coming dangerously close to homes in the Gansbaai area. The fire, which started near Elim on Monday afternoon, was burning on a continuous front of 40km.
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/ 1 February 2006
The grandfather of murdered baby Jordan-Leigh Norton collapsed in a doctor’s surgery upon learning she could not be resuscitated, the Cape High Court heard on Wednesday. ”I think I just collapsed in a bundle on the chair and sobbed,” testified Vernon Norton at the trial of five people accused of killing the six-month-old child.
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/ 1 February 2006
The South African Football Association (Safa) will not shoulder the blame for Bafana Bafana’s dismal first-round exit from the African Nations Cup currently under way in Egypt. This was the message delivered by Safa vice-president and head of delegation Mubarak Mahomed on Wednesday.
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/ 1 February 2006
A march by thousands of Transnet workers in Durban ended on Wednesday, bringing to a close the first in a threatened series of strikes at the parastatal, a trade-union spokesperson said. A Durban metro police spokesperson said marchers were well behaved.
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/ 1 February 2006
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The Inkatha Freedom Party should desist from politicising criminal incidents in KwaZulu-Natal to enhance its campaigning for the local government elections, the African National Congress said on Wednesday. However, the IFP denied the allegation, saying the ANC should have its facts right before releasing statements.
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/ 1 February 2006
Bafana Bafana coach Ted Dumitru has apologised to South Africa for the failure of the national soccer team at the African Nations Cup. ”It is difficult to find all the reasons why we lost,” he said. Bafana Bafana captain Sibusiso Zuma said the team had been delusional to expect victories over teams such as Tunisia and Ghana.
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/ 1 February 2006
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The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) disqualified 932 people from standing as candidates in 129 positions in the March 1 municipal elections, it said on Wednesday. IEC chairperson Brigalia Bam said one of the biggest reasons for the disqualification was that they had not registered as voters for the municipal elections.
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/ 1 February 2006
Police refused to confirm whether a man was wrongfully arrested in Johannesburg on Wednesday for the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble. ”It’s an ongoing investigation and we are not prepared to comment on any aspect of the case,” said national police spokesperson Director Sally de Beer.
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/ 1 February 2006
The upmarket Grootbos private nature reserve in the Western Cape, which includes a lodge and conference facilities, has been evacuated in the face of fires burning out of control in the Overberg. Helicopters were water-bombing the buildings — some of which have thatched roofs — in a bid to save them from the flames.
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/ 1 February 2006
”Eish, what can we say?” was the mantra of Bafana Bafana players as they pushed their way through a crowd of booing supporters at Johannesburg International airport on Wednesday on their return from a goalless performance in Egypt at the African Cup of Nations. ”We expected this kind of welcome,” said midfielder Siyabonga Nkosi.
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/ 1 February 2006
South African President Thabo Mbeki will focus on setting the course for a 6% growth rate in his State of the Nation address at the opening of Parliament on Friday, says the trade union movement Solidarity. It says this "would give a useful indication of proposed policy directions".
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/ 1 February 2006
The safety of road users is further threatened as South Africa becomes a dumping ground for unsafe and stolen vehicles, Business against Crime South Africa said on Wednesday. More worrying is the fact that the number of illegally imported vehicles appears to be increasing, it said.
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/ 1 February 2006
Sales of the RSA government retail bond have reached the R1,660-billion mark since it’s launch in May 2004, the Treasury said on Wednesday. It said 18 674 people from all walks of life had made a total of 31 563 investments. December sales increased from R17-million to R35-million.
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/ 1 February 2006
A massive marquee being erected to house VIPs including President Thabo Mbeki at a lunch after Friday’s opening of Parliament collapsed on Tuesday evening. No one was injured. The marquee was set up on a lawn near the South African National Gallery, alongside Mbeki’s Tuynhuys office building.
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/ 1 February 2006
An outcry has met the sentence of a Port Elizabeth teacher who tried to sign his name on schoolgirls’ buttocks, the Herald Online reported on Wednesday. It said the matter also raised questions about the employment screening process at schools.
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/ 1 February 2006
Trade unions on Wednesday said they were ”very satisfied” with their first in a series of strikes against Transnet’s restructuring programme. ”We are very satisfied. On the short notice that we organised it, we never thought it would be this successful,” the United Transport and Allied Trade Union’s Chris de Vos said.
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/ 1 February 2006
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has quashed a resolution put to the standing committee on public accounts calling for the auditor general to investigate the recent holiday jaunt to the United Arab Emirates by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
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/ 1 February 2006
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One in 10 candidates for the municipal poll could be disqualified, senior electoral officials have told The Star newspaper. The paper said that no high-profile names were among those facing the chop. When the initial submissions were made, there were 45Â 000 candidates according to the Independent Electoral Commission.
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/ 1 February 2006
BMW dealers on Wednesday agreed to pay a R8-million penalty after the Competition Commission found they had been involved in price fixing and anti-competitive trading conditions. The agreement will be referred to the Competition Tribunal for confirmation.
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/ 31 January 2006
Fresh interest by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in a report on the affairs of the Moqhaka municipality was ”unfortunate”, Free State premier Beatrice Marshoff said on Tuesday. DA leader Tony Leon has called on the premier to release the Majavu commission of inquiry’s findings on alleged corruption and maladministration in Moqhaka.
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/ 31 January 2006
The IT Lynx Consortium, and not controversial oil dealer Sandi Majali, is suing Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya for R149-million, the company said on Tuesday. The consortium accused the Sunday Times on Tuesday of being ”inaccurate, misleading and mischievous”.
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/ 31 January 2006
The panel probing fuel shortages experienced late last year will soon call for public input into its inquiry, chairperson Marumo Moerane said on Tuesday. Moerane met the SA Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) board of governors on Tuesday to outline the process that would be followed during the investigation.
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/ 31 January 2006
Transnet workers in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State ended their second day of strikes on Tuesday with unions claiming success. ”No matter which way you try and spin it, there’s no doubt the strike has been effective,” the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union’s (Satawu) Randall Howard said.
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/ 31 January 2006
Parliament’s axed chief financial officer, Harry Charlton, is to approach the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration for his reinstatement. The man who helped expose Parliament’s Travelgate scam is also planning to sue for defamation, saying ”that his good name, standing and reputation have been called into question”.
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/ 31 January 2006
A mysterious skin-worm sickness has hit several villages around Mafikeng in the North West, health officials said on Tuesday. ”People come to clinics complaining that their body is itching. Within three days small sores develop. A yellow spot then develops from each sore as it gets ripe. Once the sore is expressed a worm comes out of it,” said provincial health spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane.
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/ 31 January 2006
Convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik’s legal team will appeal a Durban High Court ruling on Tuesday that he must pay back R34-million to the state, said to be proceeds of crime, media reports said. The state believes the money was involved in Shaik’s ”generally corrupt relationship” with former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
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/ 31 January 2006
Three people, two of them serving African National Congress MPs, have been added to the list of 21 Travelgate accused who will go on trial in the Cape High Court in July. A fourth name, that of ANC Western Cape MP Bruce Kannemeyer, will be added at a court appearance on February 16, Scorpions prosecutor Jannie van Vuuren said.
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/ 31 January 2006
Operations at the majority of state-held Transnet divisions were proceeding normally, company spokesperson John Dludlu said in a statement as the strike in KwaZulu-Natal entered its second day on Tuesday. Barring the Durban Container Terminal, Richards Bay port and Metrorail in "a few areas", operations were running at 100%, he said.