Striking municipal workers will regroup at the Methodist cathedral in the Johannesburg city centre on Friday morning to continue protest action against their salary increase for the year. Earlier, the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of the workers who had gone on the rampage.
Testimonies of pain from the father of Leigh Matthews and the father of the man who confessed to killing her, Donovan Moodley, were heard in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday. Rob Matthews told the court that Moodley has conducted himself in a way that no longer gives him a right to life.
Kelly Graham (14), the only survivor of a murderous attack on a family of Benoni on Wednesday evening, is still fighting for her life in a Johannesburg hospital. Her mother, Pearl (46); father, James (48); and sister, Nicole (16) died in the attack, a North Rand police spokesperson said on Thursday.
If events during the week’s build-up to the opening Vodacom Tri-Nations clash between South Africa and Australia are a determining factor, then the Springboks are clear favourites to get their campaign off to a winning start. But little can be made of the varying factors in the days preceding a Test match between these two fierce rivals.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union has accepted a deadlock-breaking pay offer from South African Airways (SAA), a union spokesperson said on Thursday. The other striking union, the United Association of South Africa, had already said earlier it would sign the agreement.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of striking municipal workers who went on the rampage in the Johannesburg city centre on Thursday. Police action came as the strikers advanced on the Johannesburg Civic Centre in a march authorities said was illegal.
The 19 current and former African National Congress MPs in the Travelgate case are to ask the national director of public prosecutions to drop the charges against them, their lawyer said on Thursday. He told Cape Town magistrate Hennie le Roux that plea-bargain negotiations with the Scorpions have reached a dead end.
Wage negotiations between the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union and retailer Pick ‘n Pay will continue on Thursday after Wednesday’s talks deadlocked. Pick ‘n Pay spokesperson Tamra Veley said there was no change in the offer on the table by the end of Wednesday’s talks.
The provinces have put forward the names of four possible candidates to take over as South African Davis Cup captain, Ian Smith, CEO of the South African Tennis Association, said on Wednesday. The four named to replace outgoing captain Kevin Curren are Michael de Jongh, John-Laffnie de Jager, Pietie Norval and Jeff Coetzee.
The owner of an animal ranch near Addo in the Eastern Cape has died after being mauled by a lion, his family said on Thursday. Lourens van Straaten, owner of the Addo Croc Ranch, was attacked while repairing an electrical fence in the lion enclosure last Friday.
There was uncertainty on Thursday on whether Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool had ordered a raid on the city of Cape Town’s procurement offices targeting tender documents relating to his former transport MEC Mcebisi Skwatsha. Rasool and Skwatsha have been at loggerheads in a bruising leadership battle, which led to Rasool being deposed as provincial leader.
Shares in listed airlines group Comair, the British Airways operator in South Africa, continued to gain ground in early trade on Thursday, climbing 4,2% or seven cents as the company continued to reap the benefits of the damaging six-day strike at rival South African Airways (SAA), despite news that the strike is set to come to an end.
Land reform in South Africa needs to be managed in a statutory framework that is just and fair to all, AgriSA executive director Hans van der Merwe told the land summit in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Van der Merwe said because land reform is a national interest, its cost should be borne by the Treasury.
Witnesses called to testify in the Leigh Matthews murder trial provided the court with gripping facts on Wednesday, contradicting Donovan Moodley’s claims that he didn’t move Matthews’s body after he shot her in cold blood. On Monday, Moodley (25) was found guilty of kidnapping, extortion and the murder of Matthews.
A Pretoria man claimed on Wednesday he is the world’s real champion blood donor and that a Guinness record of 350 pints set in Johannesburg on Tuesday is not genuine. Lionel Lewis (72) provided a South African National Blood Service document showing he has donated 368 pints.
Springbok coach Jake White made three changes and one positional switch in the starting line-up for the opening Vodacom Tri-Nations clash against Australia at Loftus on Saturday afternoon. The revamped outfit that beat the Wallabies 33-20 at Ellis Park last weekend have largely been retained — just reward for their sterling efforts.
The wife of slain Free State official Noby Ngombane and four of her relatives were granted conditional bail of R10 000 each at the Bloemfontein District Court on Wednesday. Ngombane’s wife, Nokwanda, her brother and sister and two cousins all face charges of murder and defeating the ends of justice.
The African National Congress must break its silence over the so-called Oilgate scandal, and explain how millions of rands of taxpayers’ money ended up in the ruling party’s coffers, says the Democratic Alliance. ”The exact nature and purpose of that transaction needs to be explained to the public,” the DA said on Wednesday.
Lawyers on Wednesday lashed out at photographers sneaking pictures of killer Donovan Moodley in the dock of the Johannesburg High Court, where he is on trial for the murder last year of student Leigh Matthews. His furious defence counsel, Johan Pretorius, threatened to lay criminal charges against them.
Sporadic incidents of ill-discipline, including the hurling of glass bottles at Cape Town city manager Wallace Mgoqi, marred an SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) march on Wednesday. The march follows a deadlock in wage negotiations between the SA Local Government Association and Samwu.
South Africa’s consumer price index excluding mortgage rate changes (CPIX) for metro and other areas, which is used by the South African Reserve Bankfor its inflation target, rose by 3,5% year-on-year (y/y) in June after increasing by 3,9% y/y in May, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) on Wednesday said thousands of municipal workers were beginning to gather in different cities across the country in preparation for their three-day wage strike. The union expects between 150 000 and 200 000 workers to heed the strike call across the country.
The land summit has to be groundbreaking in order to speed up the pace of land reform in South Africa, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Wednesday. ”This has to be a groundbreaking summit. Everybody’s neck must be on the block by the time we leave here,” she told the opening of the five-day summit in Johannesburg.
The remaining two crew members on board the yacht Mystic Lady were brought safely to Port St Francis in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday night, the National Sea Rescue Institute said. The two were stranded off the coast near Port Elizabeth on Tuesday morning after a third crew member fell overboard.
Anglo Platinum has posted shining results for the half-year ended in June 30 with headline earnings per share attributable to ordinary shareholders increased to R9,24 per share. This was 33,7% higher than in the first half of 2004. The increase in headline earnings resulted from a combination of higher US dollar metal prices, increased refined production and once-off benefits.
British bank Barclays has completed a deal in which it has acquired 53,96% of all ordinary shares in Absa. In a joint statement on Wednesday, Absa chief executive Steve Booysen said the banks will now start combining their resources and skills. Absa also announced its new executive committee team on Wednesday.
It’s hard enough completing an intricate jigsaw puzzle, but when some of the most important pieces are missing — as in the case of Stuart Baxter’s planning for the World Cup qualifying matches against Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo — it’s hardly surprising the Bafana Bafana coach finds himself more than a little bemused.
Blue Bulls scrumhalf Fourie du Preez is expected to be the only change to the Springbok backline for Saturday’s opening Vodacom Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies at Loftus on Saturday. With a punishing schedule in the coming weeks, coach Jake White is looking to rest certain players in key positions.
The South African Airways pay strike is still on, the SAA help desk said on Wednesday following an overnight mediation attempt by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). Unions and the airline were not immediately available to comment on the outcome of the CCMA mediation session.
A driver’s assistant was hit by a bullet and 16 commuters were injured on Wednesday morning when a truck driver committed suicide while driving in Randfontein, Gauteng. West Rand police spokesperson Sergeant Katlego Mogale said witnesses saw a 24-wheeler truck approaching a T-junction at high speed and collide with the packed taxi in Rand Street, Randfontein.
India’s National Aids Control Organisation is asking soft-drink manufacturers to include HIV/Aids awareness messages in their advertisements.
Murderer Donovan Moodley sat emotionless when details of Leigh Matthews’s autopsy report was heard in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday. Pathologist Hendrik Scholtz took the court through a graphic description of findings that led him to cast doubt on Moodley’s claim that he killed Matthews at the spot where her body was found.