Alleged baby killer Dina Rodrigues was granted bail of R20 000 in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town on Wednesday. Magistrate Hafeesa Mohamed said Rodrigues will be placed under 24-hour house arrest for what she described as ”one of the most serious conceivable crimes” the country has seen.
Two of the three women arrested in Brazil for allegedly dealing in cocaine are South African, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. Officials were able to confirm the nationalities of the women after their fingerprints were sent to the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria.
A group of protesters started burning tyres at the entrance to the informal settlements at De Doorns, near Worcester, in the Western Cape, on Wednesday, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported. Residents threatened to blockade the N1, which runs past De Doorns and Worcester.
A R14,2-million "interim maintenance" project is in the planning stage for President Thabo Mbeki’s official Tshwane home of Mahlamba Ndlovu on the Bryntirion Estate, according to Minister of Public Works Stella Sigcau. Three ministerial homes are also to be built on the estate in the next two years.
South African President Thabo Mbeki has agreed with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to wait for a report on Zimbabwe by a UN special envoy before taking any course of action, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reports.
The National Prosecuting Authority will focus increasingly on crimes occasioned by greed rather than those arising out of poverty, National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli said on Tuesday. However, this does not mean that poor people committing crimes will not be prosecuted.
South African Tourism said on Tuesday that it recognises all 10 indigenous languages and that the Democratic Alliance’s complaint of an airport billboard insulting Afrikaners is based on misunderstanding. According to the DA, the advert is insensitive and a ”smack in the face of everyone who spoke Afrikaans”.
There were gasps in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday when it was revealed that the former boyfriend of Cape murder accused Dina Rodrigues will testify that she had paid R10 000 for a contract murder on a baby. ”You told him, ‘I paid R10 000 to sort out the problem,”’ the state prosecutor said.
Empowerment firm Imvume Management is suing the Freedom Front Plus for defamation, the party said on Tuesday. Two months ago, Imvume obtained a court order gagging the Mail & Guardian after the newspaper revealed that Imvume donated R11-million to the African National Congress before last year’s general elections.
The country’s first female deputy president had a group of women in the palm of her hand as she elaborated on Tuesday on daily tribulations facing the fairer sex, at a conference on gender issues. There were murmurs of agreement and some giggles as Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka painted a picture of the day in the life of an average woman.
Although the business confidence index of the South African Chamber of Business increased in June to its highest level so far this year, there are economic developments that could adversely affect future confidence, the chamber said. The index increased to 128,2 in June this year from 127 in May.
The Durban bus driver accused of killing a toddler during a road-rage shooting incident at the weekend is due to appear in court on Wednesday. Three-year-old Luyanda Khanyile was shot in the back during an argument between the driver of the Mynah bus and her father, Cedric Khanyile.
Rand Water has managed to stop the water flow that flooded parts of Meredale in Johannesburg after a pipe burst early on Tuesday. Assessors are examining the extent of the problem and damage to surrounding houses. Emergency services have rescued 18 people, including a six-month-old baby, from about 50 houses.
Three more boys have died as a result of botched circumcisions in the Eastern Cape, bringing the death toll over the past few weeks to 12. Last week, the National House of Traditional Leaders called on the government to establish a special task force to deal with deaths in traditional initiation schools.
Just when it seemed nothing more could go wrong with Bafana Bafana’s hazardous preparation for the Concacaf Gold Cup tournament in the United States, along came Independence Day. On Monday, the US embassy was closed, leaving six Bafana players stranded in Johannesburg without visas.
According to South Africa’s Competition Tribunal, any public-interest concerns over the merger between listed retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores (Edcon) and Topics, regarding cheap clothing imports from China and the effect on local employment, cannot be cured by the imposition of a merger condition on a single firm.
Prolific South African soccer agent Mike Makaab left South Africa on Monday in what is believed to be ”hush-hush” negotiations to conclude the transfer of the PSL’s player of the year, Collins Mbesuma, from Kaizer Chiefs to an English Premier League club.
Red distress flares are to be fired in emergencies only, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) warned on Monday. The call followed a false alarm on Saturday and another possible false alarm on Monday night in Simonstown, in which red distress flares were fired.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has recognised the critical role to be played by the private sector in combating poverty in Africa, while pledging to push for the "best possible package" for the continent during the summit of the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrialised countries in Gleneagles, Scotland, set to begin on Wednesday.
The Democratic Alliance has accused South African Tourism of discriminating against the Afrikaans language in an airport advertisement. The DA feels the advert, with the words ”nine indigenous languages, 44-million people”, is grossly insensitive and a ”smack in the face of everyone who spoke Afrikaans”.
A multimillion-rand probe into possible cases of radiation sickness caused by the Pelindaba nuclear plant will be the first step towards a proper survey of the true costs of nuclear power to the country, Earthlife Africa said on Monday. However, it voiced concern about what the probe will accomplish.
Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile, while congratulating the performance of rugby teams, still wants the South African Rugby Union to work on racial transformation in the sport. ”His praise of the teams does not in any way represent a change of heart on certain issues,” a departmental spokesperson said on Monday.
A taxi driver from the Dolphin Coast Taxi Association was shot dead at Shakaskraal on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, South African Broadcasting Corporation news said on Monday. Meanwhile, police are mediating between two rival taxi associations at Umhlali near Stanger.
The Medical Research Council plans to launch a national study on hospital infections later this year, council president Anthony Mbewu said on Monday. On Thursday, the Department of Health is expected to release a report into the causes of the deaths of 19 babies at KwaZulu-Natal’s Mahatma Gandhi memorial hospital.
South African Tennis Association chief executive Ian Smith was ecstatic on Monday about the success of two South African players — Wesley Moodie and Liezel Huber — at Wimbledon over the weekend, but he believes there could be more success for South Africa if tennis could attract a long-term sponsor.
South African new vehicle sales hit another record last month with a 31% increase on the figures of June last year. A total of 50 044 vehicles were sold — 11 858 more than in June last year, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) said on Monday.
The National Sea Rescue Institute has ended its search off the Western Cape coast for the remaining crew member of a ski boat that went missing in rough seas on Saturday. Five rescue boats and a Dakota aircraft from the Ysterplaat air-force base in Cape Town were used in the search.
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa at the weekend announced that the Bombela Consortium has been appointed as the preferred bidder for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link. Shilowa said it is "the biggest public-private-partnership project yet tackled in the country and indeed in Africa".
The ruling African National Congress’s policy-making conference has agreed that a further "look" at the labour market in South Africa is necessary, says President Thabo Mbeki. The president spoke on his labour-market reform in an interview on South African Broadcasting Corporation television, broadcast on Sunday night.
The decision of who should succeed President Thabo Mbeki as leader of the African National Congress in 2007 depends on the ”sense of comfort” among party members closer to the time, he told the South African Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday night.
The African National Congress’ national general council meeting ended in Pretoria on Sunday with the party reaffirming its support for axed deputy president Jacob Zuma. ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe told journalists the party was working on the principle of innocent until proven guilty.
Public servants should be open and honest and not engage in corruption and ”wheeler-dealing”, Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane said on Sunday. ”Tangible hope comes when elected representatives — at national, provincial and local level — and the officials who support them, are there as public servants, not to play with power and pursue self-enrichment,” he said.