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/ 14 January 2005
Emergency rescue personnel were trying to rescue 20 people stranded high on a roller coaster that malfunctioned on Friday afternoon at the Ratanga Junction entertainment complex outside Cape Town. A strong south-easter blowing at gale-force was complicating the rescue. Metro emergency officials said no injuries were reported.
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/ 14 January 2005
England captain Michael Vaughan led a remarkable comeback after tea on the second day of the fourth Castle Lager/MTN cricket Test against South Africa on Friday. At close of play, England had 411 for the loss of eight wickets, and appeared to have taken total control of the match again.
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/ 14 January 2005
A gale-force south-easter, blowing at more than 50kph on Friday and predicted to continue over the weekend, threatened to cause flare-ups on the fire-ravaged Table Mountain area above Muizenberg on Friday. Since Thursday, an area from Boyes Drive to Steenberg, Swanswyk and further had been affected by the runaway fire.
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/ 14 January 2005
An MP of the ruling Zimbabwean Zanu-PF party spied for a ”South African agent” and was paid 000 (about R60 000) a month to provide political and economic information, media reported on Thursday. This emerged when the court case against Phillip Chiyangwa was moved from Harare’s Magistrate’s Court to the High Court on Thursday.
Cosatu: Return to Zimbabwe
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/ 13 January 2005
One more South African has been confirmed dead after the December 26 tsunami in Thailand, bring the total of dead South Africans to 11, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in Pretoria on Thursday. The number of people missing, feared dead, dropped to four as a result, a spokesperson at the department’s operations centre said.
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/ 13 January 2005
The president of world soccer governing body Fifa, Sepp Blatter, on Thursday accepted on behalf of the body one of South Africa’s highest awards. Blatter, in the country to meet members of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, met President Thabo Mbeki before accepting the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo.
Jordaan ‘perfect’ for 2010
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/ 13 January 2005
Team South Africa’s swimming golden boy, Terence Parkin, smashed his fifth deaf world record in six days as the medals continued to flow the rainbow nation team’s way, at the Deaflympics in Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday. Durban-based Parkin set a 200m butterfly world record of two minutes and 5,23 seconds.
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/ 13 January 2005
The Red Cross has appealed to the public for food and clothing donations for victims of the recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, where some people began receiving assistance on Thursday. "Some dramas, like the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, are right on our doorstep," said provincial Red Cross manager Derick Naidoo.
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/ 13 January 2005
A Pretoria High Court judge on Thursday questioned why ”obviously intelligent” Boeremag trialists had never debated predictions by Boer prophet Siener van Rensburg that there would be a large-scale attack on whites by blacks. The judge remarked that historical events in South Africa did not point to the feared large-scale attack.
Boeremag trialists apply for bail
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/ 13 January 2005
Uncertainty surrounds exactly which medicine-pricing regulations are currently in force, with the Department of Health and pharmacists each insisting that a different law is in place. In December, the Supreme Court of Appeal ordered that the newly introduced medicine-pricing regulations be ”declared invalid and of no force and effect”.
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/ 13 January 2005
It was honours even at lunch on the first day of the fourth Castle Lager/MTN cricket Test at the Wanderers on Thursday. England, who won the toss and chose to bat, went to lunch on 77 for the loss of one wicket. South Africa made two changes to the team that won the third Test.
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/ 13 January 2005
South African pop-culture icons have joined the Treatment Action Campaign and jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss in a campaign to limit the spread of HIV/Aids among youth. All money raised by the campaign’s first event, the Rage for the Revolution concert on February 12, will go towards treatment of HIV-positive people.
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/ 13 January 2005
The share price of South African clothing retailer Edcon rose by 2% or R5,50 in early trade on Thursday after the group reiterated that it expects its headline earnings per share for the year to the end of March 2005 to be 60% higher than those of the previous year. Edcon also reported a 24% rise in sales and a 26% rise in gross profit for the 13 weeks to January 1.
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/ 13 January 2005
Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, on Thursday formally pleaded guilty to involvement in last year’s failed Equatorial Guinea coup. He has agreed to a R3-million fine as well as a four-year suspended jail term. The deal will allow Thatcher to leave South Africa.
The wayward son
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/ 12 January 2005
Three of the alleged masterminds behind a right-wing coup plot to overthrow the government were described on Wednesday as responsible, non-violent men who are not a danger to society. A psychology professor said the results of a series of psychological tests gave no indication that any of the three men are prone to violence.
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/ 12 January 2005
A man frustrated by his inability to have his daughter enrolled at Potchefstroom Girls’ High School took four staff members hostage on Wednesday, North West police said. The man, who had been turned away from the school last week because it was full, took four administrative personnel hostage just after 9am.
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/ 12 January 2005
South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance has called for Transnet CEO Maria Ramos to break her silence surrounding the sudden resignation of Spoornet CEO Dolly Mokgatle. Railway group Spoornet is a subsidiary of government-owned transport group Transnet.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Business&a=12&o=195046">Spoornet CEO quits</a>
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/ 12 January 2005
On the first day of school, pupils should think about the whole year ahead, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor advised Free State children on Wednesday. ”The first essay for all learners at the beginning of a new school year should be about their aspirations for that year,” Pandor said in Bloemfontein.
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/ 12 January 2005
Employees with chronic health conditions are often seen as a liability to a company, but it’s the bellyache and bronchitis brigade that employers should really worry about, according to research released on Wednesday. Workers with chronic conditions can be more cost-efficient and productive than their colleagues with no long-term health problems.
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/ 12 January 2005
The leader of the Democratic Alliance in Johannesburg, councillor Mike Moriarty, said in a statement on Wednesday that an independent survey has shown there has been no improvement in customer satisfaction levels regarding service provided in the city. In fact, he said, there has been a marginal decline in residents’ satisfaction levels.
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/ 12 January 2005
World number-four gold miner Gold Fields on Tuesday indicated that no viable alternative has emerged from recent talks and that it continues to pursue other alternatives other than rival Harmony’s offer. It is too soon to have expected a viable solution to emerge, Harmony marketing director Ferdi Dippenaar said.
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/ 11 January 2005
Sensitive South African restaurant patrons have found the use of the word ”tsunami” by local eateries a bit hard to swallow, accusing it of cashing in on the Asian wave disaster, a report said on Tuesday. Offended because of the devastating waves, several people have lodged complaints at two Johannesburg eateries.
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/ 11 January 2005
The Department of Health on Tuesday reiterated its warning that its disputed new medicine-pricing laws are in force in spite of a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling to the contrary. It said the controversial regulations remain in force until the Constitutional Court makes a final decision on the matter.
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/ 11 January 2005
The sectoral education and training authority (Seta) for the services industries denied on Tuesday it is in a financial crisis, or asking the government to bail it out.
”From a solvency point of view, we don’t have any problems,” CEO Ivor Blumenthal told reporters in Pretoria.
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/ 11 January 2005
A group of labour unions and youth organisations, the Education Alliance, will monitor the start of the new academic year in schools and other institutions from Wednesday. This year, it will concentrate on the reintegration of unsuccessful matriculants and stabilising the education system so that transformation can proceed.
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/ 11 January 2005
Although South Africa has not made any promises to send direct aid to the Seychelles after the tsunami disaster, it will ensure African countries are not overlooked by relief efforts, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. The island state sustained losses of R179-million in damage to its roads, bridges and ports.
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/ 11 January 2005
The South African retail petrol price is likely to be increased once again in March if the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket price remains above $38 per barrel and the rand stays near R6 per dollar. On Monday, there was already an under-recovery of almost 20 cents per litre.
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/ 11 January 2005
The share price of listed general merchandise, food and alcohol retailer and wholesaler Massmart rose by 1,7% or 75 cents in early trade on Tuesday, supported by its favourable trading statement released late on Monday in an otherwise mixed market for retail stocks.
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/ 10 January 2005
Although the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) in November announced the list of 31 preferred suppliers for the R2,5-billion Seat Management Services tender, the state-owned company has not yet signed contracts with the vendors. It remains unclear when the actual procurement processes will get off the ground.
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/ 10 January 2005
The vice-president of the International Finance Corporation is not worried about the emerging black elite in South Africa, he said on Monday. ”You have a rich elite in every country. Let them get rich — as long as they reinvest in the country and show corporate responsibility,” Peter Woicke told journalists in Johannesburg.
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/ 10 January 2005
The policy statement issued at the weekend by the African National Congress neither threatened nor attacked white judges, the party said on Monday. "It is instead an honest assessment of the state of transformation within the judiciary, consistent with … the requirements of the Constitution," the ANC said in a statement.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=177656">DA slams ANC’s ‘judge-bashing'</a>