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/ 20 January 2006
A five-hour SA Rugby president’s council meeting on Friday — supposedly regarding the future of SA Rugby president Brian van Rooyen — was much ado about nothing. The council decided to meet after the resignation of Judge Edwin King from heading an inquiry that was to investigate Van Rooyen on 11 counts of corporate mismanagement.
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/ 20 January 2006
Supporters of activist groups Khulumani and Jubilee South Africa are planning demonstrations in a last-ditch effort to get Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Bridgette Mabandla to withdraw an opposing affidavit in an apartheid-reparations appeal case due to be heard in the United States next week.
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/ 20 January 2006
A three-year-old child was reportedly among several people injured when police fired rubber bullets at a crowd protesting their eviction from a block of flats in Hillbrow on Friday. Police said the crowd started throwing bottles at the police shortly after 7am when a court official delivered an interdict calling off their eviction.
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/ 20 January 2006
The hills of KwaZulu-Natal’s Nquthu will echo with warrior cries of ”Usuthu!” at a re-enactment of the historic Battle of Isandlwana on Saturday. The Dundee Diehards, wearing red British army tunics, will confront amabutho — Zulu regiments — from Nongoma, Mahlabathini and Isandlwana itself.
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/ 20 January 2006
The four laundry-murder accused were denied bail as their supporting evidence was unconvincing, the Vereeniging Magistrate’s Court ruled on Friday. ”The accused will stay in custody for further investigation,” said magistrate Annetjie Pretorius, prompting a joyous response from family and friends of the deceased.
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/ 20 January 2006
The National Prosecuting Authority said on Friday that it has decided not to prosecute the son of a British-diplomat who was accused of rape. ”The NPA has decided not to prosecute in this matter, as there is no reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution,” Makhosini Nkosi, NPA spokesperson, said.
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/ 20 January 2006
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka should reimburse the presidency for the cost of her recent private trip to the United Arab Emirates, the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) said on Friday. It said there were clear guidelines the deputy president had flouted and would only begin to restore public confidence in her office once she paid back the money.
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/ 20 January 2006
Tshwane mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa is holding a R4,2-million festival this weekend while residents of the Winterveldt, Soshanguve and Olievenhoutbosch communities have been protesting a lack of service delivery, the Freedom Front Plus said in a statement on Friday.
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/ 20 January 2006
The unexpected exit with a damaged boat of overnight leaders Len Jenkins and Michael Mbanjwa on Friday turned the second day of the Hansa Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon on its head. Their withdrawal left the door open for defending champions Hank McGregor and Martin Dreyer to consolidate their lead going into the final-day run.
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/ 20 January 2006
The South African economy is capable of growing much faster than it has in the past, a panel of experts told a group of government ministers in Pretoria on Thursday. The panel comprised economic and political experts from Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of London.
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/ 20 January 2006
Gay men should not be excluded from donating blood on the basis of their identity or HIV status, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said on Friday, ”but rather on the basis of epidemiological data or research, which according to the SAHRC does not convincingly exist in South Africa”.
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/ 20 January 2006
The South African men’s hockey side sank to yet another series defeat when they were beaten 1-0 by a low-ranked Ireland side at the Tshwane University of Technology on Thursday evening. The match was a series decider that the hosts were banking on winning after a 3-0 series loss to England on Monday.
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/ 20 January 2006
”My days of racing are done,” stressed seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong during a press conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday. ”However, I would love to do the Argus Cycle Tour once. Is Cape Town flat?” It was Armstrong’s first visit to South Africa.
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/ 20 January 2006
African leaders should not elect Sudan’s president as head of the African Union, Human Rights Watch said on Friday. Omar al-Bashir is a candidate for the rotating presidency, expected to be finalised by the 53 member states at their sixth summit in Khartoum on Monday and Tuesday.
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/ 20 January 2006
It would be easy to suggest that in taking the Bafana Bafana job on a short-term contract, coach Ted Dumitru can spare himself the embarrassment that would come if the team were humiliated at the African Cup of Nations tournament in Egypt over the next month.
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/ 19 January 2006
Damage caused by a loose bolt inside a Koeberg nuclear power station generator will require repairs of at least three months. Eskom’s chief executive, Thulani Gcabashe said the bolt incident had no link to three power outages experienced last November, and had to date had ”no direct impact” on power supply to the Cape.
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/ 19 January 2006
South Africa could have more women than men serving as metropolitan mayors after the local government elections, the African National Congress said on Thursday. Fifty percent of the ANC’s public representatives in local government have to be women, said party secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe.
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/ 19 January 2006
It is better to take anti-retrovirals continually as regular breaks can cause further health problems, a United States study which included South Africans said this week. Taking regular breaks to avoid side effects and to save money, was more than twice as likely to make people ill, the study said.
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/ 19 January 2006
The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has embarked on a plan to build a R90-million multistorey parkade at Durban International airport (DIA) to increase the current capacity to 2 950 bays. The project will be completed in July next year, Acsa said in a statement on Thursday.
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/ 19 January 2006
Statesmen, politicians and business leaders paid tribute to South African entrepreneur Anton Rupert on Thursday, calling him a patriot who fought the inhumanities of apartheid and contributed to wildlife, conservation and the arts. Former president Nelson Mandela said the country had lost a friend.
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/ 19 January 2006
Health workers and a doctor at the Rose Park hospital in Bloemfontein are being monitored for symptoms of Congo fever after treating a Petrusburg woman who died of the virus, a local newspaper reported. A specialist physician and personnel have been placed under observation.
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/ 19 January 2006
Multimillion-rand soccer takeovers are becoming something of a habit among Russians — and FC Moscow are not immune. The Russian club, fresh from a recent takeover that is designed to lift them into the top echelon of European clubs, arrived in South Africa on Wednesday for a friendly fixture against Kaizer Chiefs.
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/ 19 January 2006
Titans fast-bowler Brendon Reddy put the skids on the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins with two wickets in his second over in their Standard Bank Pro20 cricket match at Kingsmead on Wednesday night. Requiring nine runs to the over, the Dolphins, batting second after losing the toss, were always up against it.
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/ 19 January 2006
South African business tycoon Anton Edward Rupert (89), who died in his sleep at his home in Stellenbosch on Wednesday night, was a pioneering billionaire, entrepreneur and conservationist. From humble beginnings as a chemistry lecturer, manufacturing cigarettes in his garage, Rupert built the tobacco and industrial conglomerate Rembrandt.
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/ 19 January 2006
Newspaper reports on Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s state-funded holiday trip to Abu Dhabi continued on Thursday despite official assurances that no laws were broken. Beeld said if Mlambo-Ngcuka were not so ”fussy” about an ordinary seat in business class, she could have saved the taxpayer R530 000.
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/ 19 January 2006
Unions representing about 85 000 workers at Transnet are considering strike action as management at the parastatal is ”steamrolling” negotiations over restructuring. ”There’s a very big possibility of strike action within the next month,” a South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union spokesperson said.
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/ 19 January 2006
South Africa has appealed to all parties involved in the Iranian nuclear programme to refrain from any action that could further increase tension and confrontation. This followed a meeting between Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad and Iran’s acting Foreign Minister, Mehdi Mostafavi, on Wednesday.
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/ 19 January 2006
As many as 60 Zimbabwean border jumpers could have drowned in the flooded Limpopo River last week, Zimbabwe’s Herald newspaper reported on Thursday. It said on its website police could neither confirm nor deny this figure.
The border jumpers are believed to have perished last Friday night in the Dite area.
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/ 19 January 2006
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on Wednesday night took time out from the controversy surrounding her flight to the United Arab Emirates to open the Women’s World Cup of Golf, to be played at Sun City from Friday to Sunday. Mlambo-Ngcuka emphasised the role women have played in post-apartheid South Africa.
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/ 18 January 2006
Pay television channel M-Net has also turned down an interview with former state president PW Botha, spokesperson Lani Lombard said on Wednesday. Earlier on Wednesday, e.tv said it had decided against broadcasting the interview because the production company, Thuthuka Productions, wanted too much for it.
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/ 18 January 2006
Iran on Wednesday started what it termed a ”close consultation” with South Africa on the dispute over its nuclear programme ahead of a key meeting of the United Nations atomic energy agency. ”Our countries have always had positive and constructive negotiations,” Iran’s acting foreign minister told reporters in Pretoria.
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/ 18 January 2006
Three female employees of a dry-cleaning operation were put one by one and still alive into a large washing machine containing chemicals before being tied up and strangled, the Vereeniging Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday. The grizzly details of the murders were laid out by investigating officer Inspector Sello Molapisi.