Fewer than 1 000 children infected with HIV/Aids in KwaZulu-Natal are currently receiving anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment, it was reported on Friday.The figures were revealed at the Medical Research Council KwaZulu-Natal Aids Forum in Pietermaritzburg this week.
There was much ululating as President Thabo Mbeki and former deputy president Jacob Zuma entered this week’s gathering of the African National Congress’s policy conference. One was the overall leader of the country as well as the party while the other had fallen from political grace after being ”released” as the country’s deputy president by Mbeki before a joint sitting of Parliament.
King Mayitjha III of the Ndebele nation died on Thursday night, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported early on Friday. The Nzunza/Mabhoko royal house spokesperson, Chief John Mahlangu, said the king had attended the Nhlapo Commission on traditional leadership in KwaMhlanga earlier in the day.
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Jacob Zuma will be in breach of his bail conditions if he consults with former judge Willem Heath, media reports said on Friday. Heath’s name was apparently added to prosecutor Anton Steynberg’s comprehensive list of state witnesses late on Wednesday. Heath is former head of the Special Investigating Unit.
The final immigration regulations coming into effect on Friday will help remove the problem of fraudulent marriages, the Department of Home Affairs said on Thursday. A foreigner wanting to obtain permanent residence by marrying a South African citizen should have a marriage in good faith for at least five years before the status was granted to them.
Free State police have experienced a last-minute rush in the handing in of firearms before the gun amnesty ends at midnight on Thursday. Superintendent Annelie Wrensch said designated police officers at some police stations were having ”a busy day” by Thursday afternoon. More than 80Â firearms have been handed in.
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The African National Congress reaffirmed its confidence in former deputy president Jacob Zuma on Thursday, but the party’s national general council (NGC) meeting was instructed by President Thabo Mbeki not to discuss Zuma’s dismissal or the charges against him.
Global warming could have a major impact on Africa’s southern sand dune systems, spreading desert-like conditions and destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people before the end of the century, new research warns. The coming decades will see increased drought and wind, accompanied by an overall decline in rainfall.
After three months and 12 editions the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Die Wêreld has closed down, the publication’s management said on Thursday. It had been apparent from the paper’s beginnings that there was not satisfactory financing, Kobus Wolvaardt — head of a trust which funded the paper — said in a statement.
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday cited fears about the ”diminution” of Afrikaans as an issue that the ruling African National Congress should address in leading the country’s social transformation.
The names of the three people killed when a parcel exploded outside a house in Grahamstown this week were released on Wednesday. The victims were Justin Martin (52), Johannes Kortrooi (58) and five-year-old Leonardo Lottering, who died in hospital on Tuesday.
The South African textile industry says cheap imports from China are threatening to wipe out the local industry, where 75 000 jobs have been lost since 2002. "We’re a very distressed industry at the moment. We’re actually on our knees … we’ve been devastated," said the managing director of Gregory Knitting Mills, Selwyn Gershman.
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Members of the Congress of SA Trade Unions will be asked to help pay for former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s legal costs, Cosatu said on Wednesday. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said at a press conference in Johannesburg that members would not be forced to contribute to funds for this purpose.
South Africa’s Scorpions have arrested four people, three of whom work for cigarette producer Mastermind Tobacco SA, for allegedly being involved in a R48-million VAT fraud scheme in which cigarettes meant for export were instead sold in South Africa.
Comments likening them to delinquent children were insulting, a group of pharmacists challenging medicine pricing regulations said on Wednesday. Pharmacists and the department are in disagreement about laws introduced last year which limit what they may charge for medication and for their dispensing services.
Mercenaries could soon be prosecuted under the about-to-be amended Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Wednesday. ”We have information that [South African citizens] are involved in actual fighting in the actual conflict [in foreign countries],” he said.
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Former deputy president Jacob Zuma hoped for a speedy trial in which he was allowed to properly present his case in court, he said on Wednesday. ”The day the state has decided to prosecute me in a proper forum has finally arrived,” Zuma said. The case has been postponed until October.
The Democratic Alliance has again reported Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), saying the latest statements by the minister mean the council can no longer ignore her.
A R2,2-billion water pipeline from the Vaal River to Sasol and Eskom operations near Secunda has to be completed by July 2007, the project’s funders said on Wednesday. Work on the pipeline — that will provide about 160-million cubic metres of water — was to begin later this year.
Talks aimed at unblocking the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire entered a second day on Wednesday in Pretoria with leaders drafting a document that was to be adopted later in the day. The Pretoria accord ran into a major hurdle this week when rebel forces made clear they would not abide by the June 27 deadline to disarm.
Trade union the United Association of South Africa (UASA) has rejected a wage offer made by the Chamber of Mines, the organisation said on Wednesday. The 2,5% across the board salary adjustment was seen as ”totally inadequate”. The selective adjustment to living out allowance and the additional one percent contribution by employers towards risk benefit was seen as discriminatory.
New research by the Britain’s Medical Research Council has shown that routinely immunising infants against the haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB) bacteria has virtually eliminated HIB in Gambia. HIB is the bacteria that causes pneumonia and meningitis.
The firearms amnesty, in effect since January 1, will end at midnight on Thursday, said Safety and Security minister Charles Ngakula. ”We would like to appeal to those who are in possession of illegal firearms or ammunition to hand over these to the nearest police station,” he said. More than 80 000 firearms have been handed in.
The mercury plunged in the Northern Cape town of Sutherland this week, hitting a near-record minus 15 degrees Celcius on Monday night. Resident Mariana Bernardo, who collects data for the South African Weather Service, said it came close to the lowest temperature ever recorded in South Africa, which was minus 16C, also recorded in Sutherland, on the night of July 21, 2003.
Gari Dombo has been appointed as managing director of Alexander Forbes Personal Insurance Services, a division of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Alexander Forbes group, with immediate effect. He is the first black MD to be appointed by the group.
Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi has accused certain newspapers of being ”part of a faction of the African National Congress”. Among the accused is the Mail & Guardian. ”Where is the working class media,” he asked.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang says South African HIV/Aids patients should be given the option to turn to traditional forms of medication as an alternative to anti-retroviral treatment. She said garlic is a key ingredient in the fight against HIV/Aids and is particularly useful in fighting fungus ”in the intestines and in the vagina”.
Church’s Chicken, the world’s second largest fried chicken franchise, will soon be spreading its wings over the Western Cape. This follows the acquisition by a Stellenbosch-based company, Inkuku Holdings Ltd, of the American rights to establish a minimum of 50 Church’s Chicken outlets over the next five years.
Lucas Thwala and Hleza Mofedi, who have battled for some time to find a place in the Orlando Pirates line-up, have received call-ups to join the Bafana Bafana squad for next month’s 12-nation Concacaf Gold Cup tournament in the United States. A surprising line-up points to local clubs refusing to make their star players available.
President Thabo Mbeki is hosting Côte d’Ivoire leaders on Tuesday for a new round of talks aimed at reviving a stalled peace process in the war-divided West African nation. Two months after Côte d’Ivoire’s rebels and government signed the latest in a series of deals, the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire has only gotten worse.
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A night vigil will be held in Durban on Tuesday night for former deputy president Jacob Zuma. It will be supported by members of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu), the African National Congress Youth League, the South African Communist Party and others as a show of solidarity.
The rand must be devalued, Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha said in Johannesburg on Monday. ”The rand is too strong and because of its strength we have a problem,” Madisha told workers participating in a one-day strike to protest ”catastrophic” unemployment level of 40%.