After protracted negotiations, the strike by the National Union of Mineworkers at Harmony’s Free State operations will be called off by Wednesday night. The parties reached an agreement in principle that the issues in dispute have been adequately addressed, and an agreement will be signed later on Wednesday, Harmony said in a statement.
Big business has urged the South African government to be bolder about economic growth at a meeting of the two parties held at Tuynhuys in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Working in a partnership — of business and the government — Africa will be highlighted "as a place to do business", said Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa.
A century ago, ostrich plumes were South Africa’s most valuable export after gold, diamonds and wool. The outbreak of World War I and the advent of the motor car — which made fancy-feathered hats impractical — snapped the trend in flight. Today, ostrich feathers and other luxury goods such as ostrich leather and meat are making a global comeback, one that faces new threats.
Government is to take further action to ensure that employers comply substantively with the Employment Equity Act, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana announced on Tuesday. He said that those opposed to the act could shout as much as they wanted to but that employment equity was here to stay.
Poor infection control at dental, maternity and paediatric facilities is possibly contributing to the spread of HIV/Aids, statistics showed on Tuesday. The findings were in a study commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council and released at an international Aids conference in Cape Town.
South Africa is one of three countries lagging behind as the World Health Organisation tries to get anti-retroviral drugs to three million people with HIV/Aids by the end of 2005. Of the 20 countries that have the highest ARV need, only Botswana and Brazil have met the interim goals of ”3 by 5”, with South Africa faring the worst.
Schoolchildren may soon be allowed to wear beards if the proposed national guidelines on school uniforms are introduced later this year, Parliament was told on Tuesday. ”A uniform may not impede or infringe upon any constitutional right,” said the deputy director for education and training in the Department of Education.
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A forensic auditor has told the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial that money paid on behalf of Deputy President Jacob Zuma did not affect the financial state of Shaik’s Nkobi group of companies. Gregory Johnson, who runs a private auditing and accounting firm, was giving evidence for the defence.
The separation of state-owned South African Airways (SAA) from its parent company, Transnet, should be completed by the end of the year, says Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin. The minister briefed members of the National Assembly public enterprises committee at Parliament on Tuesday on his upcoming budget vote.
South Africa’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel should cut the fuel levy, which is not a specific targeted tax used for road maintenance, but is a general revenue raising levy, by 50 cents per litre (c/l) on 6 April. In the February 2005 Budget, Manuel raised the fuel levy by 5c/l to 116c/l for petrol and 100c/l for diesel.
Diversified industrial group Imperial Holdings has concluded a black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction in which it will sell a 7,25% stake in the company to Lereko Mobility, a BEE company owned 51% by a broad-based BEE consortium, for the equivalent of R96,85 per Imperial share, or a total of R1,4-billion.
SA Rugby has confirmed that two referees will be brought before a disciplinary hearing following remarks made about an administrator. The two top rugby referees allegedly brought the game into disrepute after criticising Griquas president Baby Richards in a newspaper article.
A police inspector died and two officers were injured when their police helicopter crashed into a house in Lakefield on Monday. Operational Response Services spokesperson Director Sally de Beer said Inspector Anton van Vuuren, of the South African Police Service air wing in Johannesburg, died at the scene.
A family holiday to Namibia ended in tragedy on Tuesday last week when a church minister from Modimolle (Nylstroom) fought in vain to rescue his youngest brother from the jaws of a crocodile, News24 reported. On Thursday, police divers called off the search for Mannetjies Coetzer, a businessman from Heidelberg.
Deputy Chief Justice Pius Langa expressed his impatience with the speed of transformation of the judiciary during his interview for the post of chief justice in Cape Town on Monday. Quizzed by fellow judges on the Judicial Service Commission and the minister and deputy minister of justice, Langa dismissed reports that he was a transformation ”gradualist”.
The world is undoubtedly a better place for the legacy and the teachings Pope John Paul II has left behind, former president Nelson Mandela said on Monday. Mandela joined the millions of Roman Catholics around the world in mourning the death of Pope John Paul II, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement.
Only 15 of 120 cardinals in the conclave at the Vatican to elect a new pope will be from Africa, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) said on Monday. Speaking to reporters in Johannesburg, the SACBC expressed little hope of Pope John Paul II’s successor coming from Africa, because the church in Europe looked on its African congregation as living half in a pagan world.
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KwaZulu-Natal finance MEC Zweli Mkhize told the Durban High Court on Monday how fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik financed a cash-strapped African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal from 1994. Mkhize was also questioned about a document dated May 1999 that was presented to the court by Shaik’s defence advocate Francois van Zyl.
Another two MPs pleaded guilty and were convicted of defrauding Parliament in a summary trial in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday. The two African National Congress MPs — Nozabelo Ruth Ntshulana-Bengu and Increase Zandisile Ncinane — signed a plea bargain with the National Prosecuting Authority.
Jomo Cosmos managed to deal best with the wet and cool conditions and beat Black Leopards 3-1 in their Castle Premier Soccer League match played at the Rand Stadium on Sunday. Cosmos scored all of their goals in the first half while Leopards managed their consolation effort just two minutes before the final whistle.
Western Province-Boland (WP-Boland) recovered from their defeat on Friday to entertain a Sunday crowd of about 7 000 in their Standard Bank Pro20 cricket match against the Warriors at Newlands on Sunday. They were kept on tenterhooks for a long time as the local batsmen again struggled against the slow bowlers.
Chiefs dropped two valuable points when they held Lamontville Golden Arrows to a 1-1 draw in an entertaining Castle Premiership encounter played at Kings Park Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The home side led 1-0 at the interval thanks to a goal by Bheka Phakathi in the 38th minute.
Another six children were removed from an unregistered Soweto orphanage this weekend after 27 were taken last week, the Gauteng social development department said on Monday. ”On Sunday night we were tipped [off] that there were children in the house … we found six children, three boys and three girls,” a departmental spokesperson said.
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The Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial resumes in the Durban High Court on Monday. Shaik’s instructing attorney, Reeves Parsee, said the defence will call a further two, or possibly three, witnesses but remained tight-lipped about who they will be. The state will also apply to call two more witnesses.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Sunday welcomed reports that former askari Joe Mamasela has backtracked on his statement that the bodies exhumed recently by the NPA were not those of the ”Mamelodi 10”. An NPA spokesperson said Mamasela changed his tune after a meeting with NPA officials last week.
The death toll from an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in Angola has reached 150, media reports quoted health authorities in the south-west African country as saying on Sunday. About 163 cases have been recorded of the virus that, like the Ebola virus, causes massive internal bleeding that results in death.
Visitors to the Addo Elephant National Park will be able to see the big five as well as whales and great white sharks, due to the addition of the St Croix and Bird Islands to the sanctuary. The new marine area also cements the park’s eastern boundary in Algoa Bay, providing protection to populations of Cape gannet and African penguins.
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday led national mourning for Pope John Paul II, the pontiff who often denounced apartheid and later praised the country’s peaceful transition to democracy. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said he hopes an African will succeed John Paul II, who died late on Saturday.
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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe plans to scrap holding separate presidential and parliamentary elections, he said in an interview with South African Broadcasting Corporation television on Sunday night. He also plans to introduce more MPs and a two-tier parliamentary system.
A sea of umbrellas met Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti as the skies over Pretoria opened on Saturday night for his farewell concert from Africa. Persistent rain did little to dampen the spirits of the thousands of faithful, but an undisclosed malady compelled the Maestro, as he is popularly known, to finish his performance early.
Silver Stars hammered struggling Manning Rangers 4-1 in their Premier Soccer League match played at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday. There was no score at half-time. Stars took control from the first whistle but failed to find a way past Rangers goalkeeper Chad Harper in the first stanza.
Supersport United were held to a 1-1 draw by Dynamos in an entertaining Castle Premier League clash played at Loftus on Saturday. United opened the scoring in the 22nd minute from the header of veteran defender Themba Mnguni, who was at the end of a corner kick taken by Tony Tsabedze.