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/ 26 January 2005

Coronation announces BEE funding

Coronation Fund Managers (Coronation) has secured third-party funding for its broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) staff transaction with the Imvula Trust, the group announced on Wednesday. Arising from the transaction, the company is proposing a distribution of 25 cents per Coronation share to shareholders.

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/ 26 January 2005

Ajax signs Motlhajwa

Ajax Cape Town has signed former South African youth international Seuntjie Motlhajwa on a three-year deal. According to the Premier Soccer League website, the speedy Motlhajwa joined the Urban Warriors from Jomo Cosmos. Motlhajwa is a product of the Transnet Football School of Excellence.

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/ 26 January 2005

Sixteen of the best to race for Met honours

Sixteen of the best horses currently racing in South Africa go to the post just after 5pm on Saturday afternoon to contest the R1,5-million J&B Met at Kenilworth in Cape Town. As always, this is no ordinary race — it is an event that brings the Cape capital to a standstill for many locals and overseas visitors.

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/ 25 January 2005

Anti-retrovirals for R100 a month

Anti-retrovirals could cost South Africans as little as about R100 a month and local manufacturing of generics could start as early as next month, it was announced on Tuesday. South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare group is the first drug manufacturer in the world to receive approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration to produce generic anti-retrovirals.

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/ 25 January 2005

Champion Kaizer Chiefs player gets the boot

Kaizer Chiefs’ player of the year and former Bafana Bafana midfielder John ”Shoes” Moshoeu was on Tuesday suspended by the club with immediate effect. Moshoeu was also instructed by coach Ted Dumitru not to come to training, pending his appearance before the club’s disciplinary committee. A hearing date is still to be confirmed.

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/ 25 January 2005

SA film nominated for Oscar

Yesterday, South African filmmaker Darrell Roodt’s touching film about a young woman, played by Leleti Khumalo, coming to terms with Aids, has been nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign-language film, it was announced on Tuesday. The Howard Hughes epic The Aviator leads the contenders with 11 nominations.

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/ 25 January 2005

Call on govt to make books affordable

Local publishers called on Tuesday for a range of government action to help make textbooks and other learning materials affordable, even to the poor. The publishers were responding to criticism from civil society organisations that publishing companies are profit-driven and do little to promote free access to information.

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/ 25 January 2005

Convergence Bill gets the nod

South Africa’s much-awaited Convergence Bill has been given the nod "in principle" for its submission to Parliament by the South African Cabinet, according to government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe. However, the Bill is unlikely to be tabled in Parliament for a while as it must still go through checks by state law advisers.

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/ 25 January 2005

TAC lashes out at ‘stupid message’

The Treatment Action Campaign has criticised the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Southern Africa for saying the government should promote abstinence and not condoms in the fight against Aids because condoms are ”clearly not working”. ”It’s a sorry situation to find a person of such influence preaching such a message,” a TAC spokesperson said.

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/ 25 January 2005

Union attacks Dept of Education at conference

The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union accused the Department of Education on Tuesday of taking the credit when pupils from disadvantaged schools do well, while downplaying the bad conditions under which they learn. Tuesday was the last day of the Access to Learning Material Conference in Parktown, Johannesburg.

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/ 25 January 2005

Environment director general quits govt

Director General of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Chippy Olver is to quit at the end of February, the environment ministry announced in a statement on Tuesday. ”I guess his own feeling is he has been in government for the last 10 years and he wants a bit of fresh air,” departmental spokesperson JP Louw said.

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/ 24 January 2005

Minister launches new education website

Minister of Education Naledi Pandor officially launched the South African Education internet portal while visiting schools in George, her department said on Monday. The bright green site is easy to access and registration is simple. But the search for online information seems a bit more complicated, the Mail & Guardian Online found.

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/ 24 January 2005

Mbeki pays surprise visit to troubled municipality

President Thabo Mbeki paid a surprise visit to the troubled Moqhaka municipality in the Free State on Monday. Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff told journalists the meeting was part of the president’s unannounced visits to municipalities to check on service delivery. Marshoff said the Free State was privileged to be the first visited by the president.

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/ 24 January 2005

New Clicks changes pharmacy strategy

The new pharmacy operations of listed health and beauty retailer New Clicks Holdings continue to show a loss four months into the company’s 2005 financial year, with the government’s new dispensing-fee regulations eating into margins. This is leading the company to focus on rolling out pharmacy dispensaries in larger Clicks stores.

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/ 24 January 2005

Chiefs lose more points

Kaizer Chiefs failed to continue with their dominance over Manning Rangers when the Durban-based outfit held them 2-2 in a crunch Castle Premiership encounter played at Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The visitors were the first to find the back of the net in the 26th minute when Arthur ”10111” Zwane scored.

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/ 24 January 2005

Celtic hold Ajax to draw

Ever-improving Bloemfontein Celtic drew 1-1 with Ajax Cape Town in a tough Castle Premiership League encounter played at Vodacom Park Stadium on Sunday. Celtic’s defender and captain Lehlohonolo Seema led by example, scoring a brilliant goal for his team in the 57th minute as the strikers squandered several scoring opportunities.

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/ 24 January 2005

Easy win for Tim Clark

South African Tim Clark took the lead at the third hole during the final round of the South African Airways Open golf tournament played the Durban Country Club on Sunday and never looked back. When the 29-year-old from Umkomaas potted the final putt of the tournament, he had completed the tournament in a 15-under-par 273.

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/ 24 January 2005

Investec to raise R522,5m via share issue

Johannesburg- and London-listed financial services group Investec plans to raise R522,5-million via the issue of five million new preference shares at an issue price of R104,5-million, the company announced on Monday. The preference share offering opens on Monday and closes on Friday February 11.

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/ 21 January 2005

Mbeki: Africa should thank Fifa, Blatter

Africa owes a debt of gratitude to world soccer body Fifa and its president, Sepp Blatter, for agreeing that the 2010 Soccer World Cup be held in Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. He said Fifa received the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo for its part in the campaign that saw apartheid South Africa isolated on many levels.

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/ 21 January 2005

Tight security after murder of IFP leader

Security remained tight at Lindelani, north of Durban, on Friday following the killing of the area’s Inkatha Freedom Party leader, Thomas Shabalala. The Durban serious and violent crimes unit is investigating the killing. Shabalala was shot twice in the head and chest at his driveway gate just after 8pm. Police do not suspect the killing to have been politically motivated.

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/ 21 January 2005

Shareholders pave way for Metoz buyout

Shareholders of Australian-listed grocery and liquor wholesaler Metcash Trading have approved resolutions that will facilitate the group’s plans to buy the 60% stake in Metcash held by South African-listed holding group Metoz, Metcash confirmed on Friday. Metoz was previously known as Metro Cash and Carry or Metcash.

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/ 20 January 2005

Primary school takes education dept to court

A Cape Town primary school on Thursday lodged an application in the High Court challenging the Western Cape education department’s intention to send English-speaking students to the school, overriding the school governing body’s admission and language policy. According to the body’s chairperson, the matter has been brewing for the past three years.

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/ 20 January 2005

DA wants summit on crime against tourists

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk should break his silence on the escalating crime against tourists in Cape Town by calling a summit to address "this crisis" and raise its priority in the government’s Budget, the official opposition Democratic Alliance said on Thursday.

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/ 20 January 2005

SA golf boosted by R2m sponsorship

South African professional golf has received another major boost with the announcement that leading cellular network provider Vodacom will sponsor the R2-million Vodacom Tour Championship on the summer leg of the Sunshine Tour next month. The championship will be played in Johannesburg from February 24 to 27.