A campaign to oppose the removal of elephants from the wild for commercial purposes was launched this week by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and its partner organisation the Ethical Conservation Network. The organisations oppose the sale of elephants to buyers in the tourism industry.
Just more than 300 Metro police officers gathered at the Metro police offices in Johannesburg on Thursday to continue protesting against working overtime, Metro police spokesperson Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said. He said the protests have not negatively affected operations.
A 37-year-old ”mentally ill” man has been arrested for chopping his three-year-old daughter to pieces using an axe, Limpopo police said on Thursday. Police spokesperson Inspector Ntobeng Phala said neighbours called the police when they witnessed the man, who is married to a mentally ill woman, chopping up the child.
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund on Thursday denied being the beneficiary of any money-making art schemes, having never accepted participating in the so-called Madiba Art Project. This follows reports that Mandela’s former lawyer, Ismail Ayob, allegedly used Mandela’s name to sell works of art without his consent.
A new Afrikaans Sunday newspaper, Die Wêreld, goes on sale this week with 200 000 copies and promises of a fresh approach. ”We are hoping to sell out,” editor Maryna Blomerus said in Pretoria on Thursday before the weekend of the 80-page tabloid-sized paper’s virgin issue.
The Western Cape government was on Thursday finalising plans to close certain taxi routes and ranks to quell violence. The provincial transport minister said on Thursday that following an unsuccessful meeting with taxi associations, he ordered the closure and suspension of routes in Kraaifontein, Brackenfell and Bellville.
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Based on the present evidence and analysis of the Southern African Development Community guidelines, Zimbabwe’s elections cannot be pronounced free and fair without qualification, a South African observer consortium says. The consortium said it had requested, but was not afforded, observer status.
The leader of South Africa’s parliamentary delegation to Zimbabwe’s March 31 elections has accused the Democratic Alliance of abusing the mission for its own interests. But the DA member who was part of the delegation responded that there were no agreed-to guidelines by the participating parties prior to their departure for Zimbabwe.
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The defence in the Schabir Shaik trial on Thursday rested its case in the Durban High Court, but the State has applied to again lead evidence to prove the authenticity of a two-page document. Prosecutor Billy Downer said that the state was ”taken by surprise” when Shaik denied any knowledge of the document, known as BBB1 and 2.
Standard Bank has increased its administration fees on home loan accounts by 305% to recover part of the costs of maintaining these accounts, the bank said on Thursday. ”That is huge. It is really in a major way problematic. I wonder if the bank ever listens to what [Reserve Bank Governor] Tito Mboweni has been saying,” an economist said.
New research by South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) suggests that negligent breastfeeding at public hospitals in the Free State province is placing infants at risk of HIV infection. Besides the obvious route of mother-to-child transmission, shared breastfeeding emerged as the single most important factor associated with child HIV infection.
Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo has expressed satisfaction after the West African nation’s warring sides agreed to end a ruinous civil conflict, as United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged all factions to honour their pledges. Gbagbo sounded upbeat on his return to Abidjan on Wednesday.
Suzaan van Biljon has once again given selectors something to think about after qualifying for the World Championships for the third time at the Telkom National Swimming Championships in East London on Wednesday night. The 16-year-old claimed a comfortable victory in her 200m breaststroke semifinal in a time of 2:29,44.
Conceding a goal in each half saw Cosmos remain in the relegation zone when they went down 2-0 to Ajax in a Castle Premier League game played at Newlands Stadium on Wednesday night. Ajax can thank their goalkeeper, Moeneeb Josephs, for the three points. Josephs had an outstanding game.
Santos moved out of the relegation zone and occupy the 13th spot on the Premier Soccer League log after sharing the spoils with Wits University in their 0-0 draw on Wednesday night. Wits, who were the hosts of the unimpressive match in front of about 500 fans, remain 11th on the table.
Lance Klusener, the bowler, and Shaun Pollock, the batsman, could not prevent the Highveld Lions from sneaking home by one run in their Standard Bank Pro20 cricket match against the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins at the Sahara Stadium in Kingsmead on Wednesday.
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi has acknowledged that corruption is sometimes involved when dockets for criminal court cases go missing. He told Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts on Wednesday that officials could be offered up to R25 000 to lose dockets.
The number of fraudsters who have applied for amnesty regarding social grant embezzlement has swelled to 300 000, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday. A spokesperson from the Department of Health said ”drastic steps” will be taken against those who do not apply for amnesty.
Cape Town police were monitoring taxis in the city on Thursday following a decision to close some ranks to quell recent violence. Certain ranks were ordered closed on Wednesday, with the South African Broadcasting Corporation reporting that this was related to at least four recent deaths linked to disputes among local taxi organisations.
The desperate shortage of water in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape has reached such chronic proportions that residents sometimes fight one another to get at it. Others, in order to steer clear of the trouble, have resorted to storing up water in containers, and there is even a third option of buying water from self-styled water hawkers.
General Motors South Africa has been awarded an R18-billion contract to manufacture and export the United States-designed Hummer H3 vehicle, the company said on Wednesday. Production of the Hummer H3 2006 model will start in the fourth quarter of 2006 at the Struandale plant in Port Elizabeth.
The Western Cape agriculture department will on Wednesday announce quarantine measures and other plans to curb the spread of the blue-ear virus among pigs, the department said on Wednesday. Western Cape agriculture spokesperson Ali van Jaarsveld said an assessment would be done on Wednesday to establish the exact area to be quarantined.
One of the men accused of the kidnapping and murder of a Pretoria-based Chinese businessman and his family implicated a state witness in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. Siyuan Liu was testifying against an application by the state to withdraw his R3 000 bail and keep him in custody until his October 10 trial.
Côte d’Ivoire political, rebel and opposition leaders on Wednesday formally declared an end to the war in that country. ”The parties … hereby solemnly declare the immediate and final cessation of all hostilities and the end of the war through the national territory,” stated an agreement signed in Pretoria, South Africa.
About 21 000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in the Free State have suspended their strike at Harmony Gold’s Free State operations and will return to work for the evening shift, ending a two-week strike, the NUM said on Wednesday. An agreement was reached between the union and the company on Wednesday afternoon.
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Zimbabwe’s main opposition said on Wednesday an investigation into last week’s election indicates massive fraud in at least 30 seats won by the ruling Zanu-PF. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said in 11 races the winning Zanu-PF candidate got more votes in the official returns than the electoral commission said were cast.
The South African Revenue Service is targeting a total tax revenue cake of R372,8-billion in the 2005/06 financial year, with corporate tax representing a slightly lower figure than the provincial outcome for the 2004/05 financial year, according to figures provided on Wednesday to Parliament.
A public library was burned and a police station stoned on Tuesday night at Phomolong, near Hennenman in the northern Free State, police said on Wednesday. The disturbances — in protest over municipal service delivery — followed an agreement between residents and police earlier in the day to restore calm.
The two-week strike by 21 000 National Union of Mineworkers members at most of Harmony Gold’s Free State mines will add to the group’s losses for the current June quarter, analysts said on Wednesday. Harmony has already reported six consecutive quarterly losses.
George du Rand produced the performance of the evening on the second day of the Telkom National Swimming Championships in East London on Tuesday night. The Bloemfontein student shattered his own South African record on his way to victory in the 200m backstroke in 2:01,72.
The Titans cruised to a seven-wicket win over the defending champion Eagles in a Standard Bank Pro20 Series match at Supersport Park on Tuesday evening. Having been set a target of 151 runs in 20 overs, the Titans scored the winning runs with four overs to spare as their entire top order chipped in with runs.
Two people died when a small aircraft crashed on to Vergelegen farm outside Somerset West in the Western Cape at about 2.20pm on Tuesday, police said. ”The pilot was performing flying techniques when one of the wings fell off,” said police spokesperson Captain Elliot Sinyangana.